For those who have succeeded, what does it feel like?

I hit my original weight goal a couple months ago after losing 40 pounds. Since then I have reset and reset and reset my goals, alternating between maintaining, losing another 10 to 12 pounds, or deliberately bulking through the winter. It was a lot easier to stay focused in one direction when I knew I needed to lose weight.

My goals have gradually changed from getting thinner to getting fitter to adding muscle. Of the three, getting thinner was definitely the easiest, although I'm finding the other two more rewarding. And confusing.

Much better to go by mirror weight and body fat loss. That's how I always judged it for me. I wanted to bulk for a long time and got to 313. After a few years of being huge which I liked I decided to lean down. Dropped down to 260's in 2 months. Not sure what weight will be once I finish leaning out. It feels great to follow thru with your goals. Once I get my body fat low enough I plan on doing a clean bulk without gaining fat. That's all in your diet though to control that kind of stuff. It's not really hard to do just need self control and proper workout regime. For females weight training with compound lifts like barbell squats, dumbbell presses and dead lifts work great. Women are scared they will get too muscular using fee weights but women don't have the hormones to actually get like that. Although you will have your 2% of genetic freaks but those women know who they are lol

Feels great...my family don't support it but I don't care. its my body and my choice.

It's nice to maintain. Though you still need to continue logging even in maintenance... Or atleast I did. I plan on logging for life.

Ive lot 120ish pounds over the last 2 years and in general feel very happy. Im more confident, and love to go shopping now.

But - I still have bad days. I dont want people to think just because you lose the weight you will automatically be happy. I still have days where I hate myself and the way I look and days that I want to eat EVERYTHING IN SIGHT.. but these are things I need to work on.

My family and friends has been very supportive and proud! And that feels great

I tell people losing 33% of my body weight hasn't made a huge difference, but I only say that to make them feel better and lower their own expectations. My life isn't any different, but I feel different.

I have loads more energy, I breath easier, my stamina is back to what it was 20 years ago, I have muscles you can see, my back doesn't ache as much, I can lift much heavier things than I used to be able to, my blood pressure has gone down (won't know about blood cholesterol until next year), I care more about my appearance, I have a whole new load of clothes (but less of them) that fit me, I have a neat little torso which I really like, I can pick up my 9 year-old daughter, I can wear my engagement ring (actually it's a tad loose), my digestion is great (better diet), I look like a teenager according to my boss, I'm planning on starting running (to burn off the excess energy primarily).

DH is supportive, but he loved me whatever, and DD loves that she can wrap her arms all the way around me for a real hug. The rest of my family doesn't know, and probably wouldn't recognize me. 99% of the comments I've had from colleagues/friends have been wonderful. They're genuinely pleased for me and proud of what I've achieved. I ignore the negative ones.

My progress is smaller than others - I'm 5'9 and was 170lbs and now im 157lbs. Would like to get to 145 then see how I feel. But for 3 years I'd been wanting to lose weight, and I've finally lost 13lbs. To finally see progress is amazing, and my friends are starting to notice - I've gotten about 6 comments this past week! I just love it. I might be imagining but I find people respect you more when you lose weight/work hard for a goal and reach it. Feels great! Keep going !!

Chief_Rocka wrote: »

It doesn't feel like much of anything. You have a picture in your mind of confetti and balloons when you hit your goal weight, and you life being better in every way. But it's mostly you staring at yourself in the mirror saying, "cool story bro."

That's about it for me. I'm more or less at goal, and focused on improving my all-around fitness. But even at my heaviest, I was very active. Mostly I enjoy not having a big gut to deal with when lounging on the sofa, and climbing hills a lot faster on my bike. It's satisfying to no longer be overweight. There are little pleasures, like a better choice in clothing at the store, or not feeling like I'm crowding my neighbor in the theater or on an airplane. But it isn't euphoric or anything like that.

It's cool when people don't even recognize you, but that wears off once people are accustomed to your new look. Even strangers though, will seem nicer towards you. But the best is being able to do stuff and not get tired. Feel more comfortable in an airplane seat. More comfortable in smaller cars. Clothes fit better, etc.

I'm losing fat quicker than I thought I would, so I am well ahead of my target. I have lost 60lbs so far in the past six months, and have about 20-35lbs to go by next summer.

It does feel amazing, seeing the difference and fitting into old smaller clothes again. It's surprising to discover bones in places I had forgotten there were bones!

The best thing though is feeling MUCH lighter when moving around. I can just bounce off the couch now, whereas in the past I would be struggling to get up. I climb stairs two at a time again. Brilliant.

I'm ten pounds away from my goal but now I'm at a weight where most of my clothes fit. It's an awesome feeling.

I'm sure someone else has suggested to make small goals so that you can achieve them. I would set easy goals and then laugh at the goals when I smashed them to pieces.

When I dropped from 230 to 215...nobody noticed...pretty much cuz the starvation diet is stupid. So then i joined up here, tracked calories, and started lifting and went from a flabby 215 to a solid 215 people commented on my arms...then i went from a solid 215 to a very solid 184 and my family was stunned.

I could fit into high school clothes at 29 years old. I could see some abs...i had like a 3.5 pack! My jeans would fall off without a belt, i had wind at the top of a staircase, my face was half the size it was before...

Best thing is that i've been eating basically whatever I want since August and I'm finding it hard to gain weight! Its amazing and it doesn't take that long in the grand scheme of things so get to work so next year you can answer a thread like this with your own story!!