MAINTAINERS Introduce Yourselves!

Age 41

Start Weight: 22st 13lb - 321lb - 145.6kg
Current Weight 11st 3lb - 157lb - 71.2kg

Start Date: 15th November 2014
Maintenance Date: 3rd November 2014

Best Strategy for losing weight:
(1) Do it for you not anybody else
(2) Learn portion control
(3) Don't deny yourself the foods you love
(4) Don't turn a bad day into a bad week
(5) Diets don't work - lifestyle changes do
(6) It's not all about calories in verses calories out
(7) Everybody's body is different, what works for others might not work for you - you need to find your own weight loss strategies
(8) Remember weight fluctuates naturally, for varying reasons, especially the female body
(9) It's not a race, you'll get there as long as you just keep trying
(10) I don't cheat, because I'm not taking an exam - I eat because my body needs fuel and would not work if I did not feed it

Best strategy for maintaining weight:
I'm working on that, so I don't really have any tried and tested strategies yet - but I've upped my calorific intake, reduced my cardio exercises and increased my strength training exercises, so we'll see how it goes.

My actual goal weight is 10st 13lb - 153lb - 69.4kg, but I don't seem to be getting any closer to it, so I'm going to try maintaining whilst strength building and see what happens. I have started increasing my protein intake and controlling my carbohydrate intake and I am feeling fuller for longer, so I'm confident my current game plan is likely to work for me.

I class myself as being Maintenance Work In Progress....

Age 27
Before & after weight 183,118 now
Start & goal reached date august 2013 was my start date, finished in july of 2014
Best strategy for removing weightpre logging my day, planning snacks and desserts
Current strategy for maintaining the weightsame as my stratgies for removing excess weight, only with more calories now

Just a suggestion...any inputs?

30, Female, 1.60m (5'3")

Started at 68kg ( 150lb) in march 2011
Ended at 58 kg (127lb) in 2013, but had really low maintenance calories so did a metabolic reset, gained some weight back now im between 56 kg (123lb) en 57 kg (125lb) since may 2014

Strategy for loosing:
- exercise more, eat less
- went gluten free (found out i am intolerant to gluten)
- walk more during the day
- only eat my calories, dont drink any (i would rather have some chocolate than a can of soda or wine)

Stragegy for maintaining
- keep exercising
- watch wat i eat (i still cant stop counting calories because i will eat all the sugar i can find and thus gain weight back, im learning still)
- not denying myself anything, everything in moderation tho
- not drinking any calories

Things i still want to learn
- up my fruit and veggie intake
- eat less sugar (find more healthy snacks)
-

Age: 31

Starting weight: 254

Goal weight: 140 (137.5-142.5 maintenance range)

Start Date: April 2011

Goal Reached: August 2014

Best strategy for removing weight: Calorie counting and regular exercise, being consistent but not expecting myself to be perfect.

Current strategy for maintaining the weight: Doing the same thing that I've been doing, plus setting new athletic goals.

Age: 42
Height: 5'2.5"
SW: 192 lb
GW: 120-125 lb
Start date: Jan 22, 2014
Goal reached: Oct 2014

Best strategy for removing weight: Progressively changing habits/lifestyle, counting calories, focusing on macros that work for you (not just focusing on calories), taking emotion out of the equation, weighing daily (then logging and forgetting), moderation, moderation, moderation (especially when eating out on vacation or business travel)

Current strategy for maintaining the weight: Log weight daily, log food at home, minimum 10k steps, strength training 3x per week, progress to running for min 30 mins per day. Fitness goals include running a 5K July 2015, and (this is a real stretch target) do unassisted chins up and dips.

Hi!
Age: 52
SW: 268 started Jan 2013
CW: 144 reached March 2014

Strategy for losing: I wanted to do it in a way that was maintainable for me for the long haul. I pretty much ate whatever I wanted as long as it feel within my calories. I had a cheat day once a month. Decided to be casual about it, if I messed up, I wouldnt feel guilty or beat myself up, I would just carry on. Exercise was mostly the treadmill, hiking or swimming. I also have a fitbit.
Strategy for maintanance: pretty much the same except i get to eat more lol. I started by upping my calories a little every week for several weeks. I found I tend to eat more on the weekends, so I eat less on the weekdays. I guess I look more at the over all week, than the daily calories. I"ve also started lifting for exercise.

Age:
36

Before & after weight:
SW: 225
GW: 190
CW: 170

Start & goal reached date
I started June 9, 2014 and I hit 190 on Oct. 1, 2014. It was so easy that I continued to lose and decided to go for the 6 pack abs and started mixing in a little cardio. I hit 170 today and plan to stop now. Flat stomach and feeling great. I had to buy a new belt and now I'm probably in need of a new wardrobe.

Best strategy for removing weight
I logged everything I ate into MFP app on my phone. I tried to make sure I stayed in a caloric deficit and tried to stay as close as I could to my 1200 calorie per day limit between M-F. On Saturday and Sunday I would regularly treat myself to 2200 calories as a reward. Whatever I burned exercising, I'd eat a little more since I earned it. I didn't deprive myself of candy, cookies, cake, ice cream, cinnamon rolls, etc. I just saved those things for the weekend and tracked it to make sure I didn't go too far over 2200. A little self control went a long way. Treats are fine in moderation. To keep my calories low during the week, I ate healthy breakfast and lunches. No fast foods. I replaced all of my snacks at work with fruits, vegetables, nuts, etc. This allowed me to often eat whatever I wanted for dinner, in moderation of course. For example I'd eat pizza, but I wouldn't eat 5 slices of pizza. I'd eat 2 or 3 and supplement that with vegetables to make sure I was full. Still had the yummy pizza, just not as much as before and still felt full afterwards. I like late night snacks too, so I'd eat things like popcorn, grapes, or an apple.

Current strategy for maintaining the weight
I'm just starting, but I'm looking forward to it! lol...I plan to continue to monitor my calories with the app and stay around 2000 daily. Whatever I burn doing cardio, I'll allow myself to eat or drink over the course of the week. It is very easy to pile up calories over the weekend I've discovered.

Just a suggestion...any inputs?
Don't completely deprive yourself of the things you like to eat. I've been eating terrible things this whole time and I still lost 55 pounds in 5 months. There wasn't a week that went by that I didn't eat something like candy, cake, ice cream or fast food. Tracking the calories helped me make good decisions in order to supplement the bad ones. For example if I know I'm going to eat something bad for dinner I can make sure my breakfast and lunch are very healthy and filling, but low in calories. That is how I did it. Seems like a lost a lot of weight very fast, but I look good and I've never felt better.