How I “myth busted” my way to 85 pounds lighter ! Pics included

Hi Fitness Pals! I’ve recently hit the 85 lbs lost mark. I’ve gone from a size 22 to a size 10 in the last year. I’ve lost 12 inches around my hips, waist and chest areas. I still have some work to do. But I’ve decided the scale is no longer the main concern.

My new goal is exercise – I need to be more consistent with strength training.
As I focus on new goals, I thought I would share some of my lessons learned from the first part of my journey. I’m no expert – but I hope that some of these thoughts will help anyone else kickstart their journey.

I can’t eat carbs – Sure some carbs are bad for you. But avoiding them completely kept me on the perpetual yo-yo diet hamster wheel. I wouldn’t eat carrots because they had too much “sugar”.
Here’s what I’ve learned –
• Eat fruit and whole grains – just watch the portion size
• Stay away from over processed white flour most of the time
• Does the food have any nutritional value? No? Then don’t eat it
• Eat them before 4pm
• Quinoa is awesome

I don’t have any willpower –
I used to believe that my problem was that I didn’t have enough willpower to avoid overeating or “bad” foods. This meant restricting my calories so much during the day and then being so famished at dinner that I would probably eat twice my daily calories! And then I would continue to snack at night while watching tv. Turns out, when I allow myself to eat something of substance at breakfast and lunch, it’s incredibly easy not to overeat at dinner. And I never snack at night anymore! I had it backwards for so many years!

I can eat as much as I want as long as I exercise – No, that’s called maintaining! Yes, exercise is important. For many, many reasons. But nutrition is 80% of the battle. I may have days where work and life get in the way of exercising, but I can always control what I consume. If I don’t overeat, then I don’t have to worry about burning it off.

I can’t do that –
I said that about so many things. But that’s because I wanted to do everything perfectly from the beginning. The best example is: I can’t run! Well of course, I couldn’t run 5k my first time out. I needed to work at it. The important thing was to start. C25K is awesome by the way!

I can do this on my own –
That may have been true. I had the knowledge but couldn’t stick with it. If I could have done it on my own, I would have. Asking for help and signing out for a weight loss program held me accountable so I would make smatter choices when faced with an obstacle – whether emotional or physical.

I’m always looking for supportive friends and would love to support you with your goals! Feel free to add me.

2009 vs 2015
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My wedding dress - August 2010 vs August 2015
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My first meeting with my weight loss counsellor - August 19 2014
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Just climbed a mountain - September 2015
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Replies

  • sashayoung72
    sashayoung72 Posts: 441 Member
    Great Job!!!
  • Roxmom66
    Roxmom66 Posts: 297 Member
    Congrats! You look marvellous!
  • neldabg
    neldabg Posts: 1,452 Member
    I love this so much. Your wedding dress picture is especially telling. ^^
  • GoGoGirl1111
    GoGoGirl1111 Posts: 46 Member
    Awesome! Thanks for the information and pictures :smiley:
  • Sassyk35
    Sassyk35 Posts: 113 Member
    Fabulous job!!
  • hollynono
    hollynono Posts: 80 Member
    Congratulations on your fantastic work! And thanks, I loved your post with the lessons learned.
  • MargueriteMuguet
    MargueriteMuguet Posts: 230 Member
    Brilliant! It looks like you learnt a lot along the way and that is great. I looooove your wedding dress by the way (are you going to take it in so that you keep it for your new figure?).
  • Patttience
    Patttience Posts: 975 Member
    You've done a great job and i agree with a lot of what you say but you are wrong about exercise. Its only important for health, not for weightloss and its not a great idea to start running when you are significantly overweight. Exericse is the reason why so many people fail at weightloss. They think they have to do it and when they lose the motivation they throw the towel in and go back to square one. This happens a lot.

    Also people who rely on exercise to lose weight tend to put it all back on when they stop for whatever reason because they've got a big appetite and it doesn't automatically change when they stop exericising.
  • skinnyb05
    skinnyb05 Posts: 87 Member
    You are awesome! Congrats on your success! Great tips you offer. I love your spirit, these success stories motivate all of us, thanks for sharing. Would love to have you on my friends list.
  • ohmscheeks
    ohmscheeks Posts: 840 Member
    Congrats, you look great!

    Even when you are 'maintaining', exercising doesn't mean you don't have to watch what you eat.
  • Funship
    Funship Posts: 86 Member
    you are awesome! Fantastic job and thanks for sharing what you have learned.
  • pbryan66
    pbryan66 Posts: 6 Member
    You rock!
  • mommyof4cpa
    mommyof4cpa Posts: 82 Member
    Outstanding work and some really good lessons learned for sure!
  • johnmaschio9
    johnmaschio9 Posts: 1 Member
    Keep up the good work! Man you look great!! I'll bet you feel twice as good as you look. I'm on my own journey and doing really well. I've knocked out the cakes and candies thru hypnosis which is in and of itself a little piece of awesome! I work with two personal trainers 4 days a week and just do a 2 mile walk on off days. Sundays are for my wifes Honeydo list. I haven't lost a ton of weight, but, my clothes fit way differently than they did two months ago!
  • CJBasque1977
    CJBasque1977 Posts: 40 Member
    Patttience wrote: »
    You've done a great job and i agree with a lot of what you say but you are wrong about exercise. Its only important for health, not for weightloss and its not a great idea to start running when you are significantly overweight. Exericse is the reason why so many people fail at weightloss. They think they have to do it and when they lose the motivation they throw the towel in and go back to square one. This happens a lot.

    Also people who rely on exercise to lose weight tend to put it all back on when they stop for whatever reason because they've got a big appetite and it doesn't automatically change when they stop exericising.

    I actually agree with you Patttience :). My point was that "You can eat whatever you want as long as you exercise" is a myth that I've found to be untrue in the past year. I used to work out with a personal trainer but the minute I stopped going I regained all my weight because I never changed my eating habits. I've lost the 85 lbs due to reducing my calories intake. I only started running after I lost 70 lbs.

    I've read a lot of posts from people who have had great success with exercising. I think people need to do what works for them! Nutrition is what worked for me. But now I want to focus on activity (while maintaining my new eating habits)! Every single activity is easier now that I'm lighter and I'm loving every minute of it!
  • nicnoahshaun
    nicnoahshaun Posts: 63 Member
    Great Job!!! Thanks you for the advise. One thing I have problem with is the snaking before bed! You have encouraged me. I need to work on that : )
  • CJBasque1977
    CJBasque1977 Posts: 40 Member
    Thank you Sashayoung72, Roxmom3, neldabg, Ameliabea, Sassyk35, hollynono, MargueriteMuguet, Patttience, skinnyb05, ohmscheeks, Funship, pbryan66, mommyof4cpa and johnmaschio9!!!! Sending you all good vibes :)
  • CJBasque1977
    CJBasque1977 Posts: 40 Member
    [quote="MargueriteMuguet;34074925"I looooove your wedding dress by the way (are you going to take it in so that you keep it for your new figure?).[/quote]

    Thanks! I love it too! And yes I plan to have it tailored to my new size once I've stopped losing inches :)
  • CJBasque1977
    CJBasque1977 Posts: 40 Member
    Great Job!!! Thanks you for the advise. One thing I have problem with is the snaking before bed! You have encouraged me. I need to work on that : )

    Thx nicnoahshaun! You can do it!
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,139 Member
    congrats on your success OP ..

    I want to clear up one think you said which is "sure, some carbs are bad for you" …No carbs are bad for you unless you have a medical condition. The only "bad" carb is the one that put you in a caloric surplus or the one that makes you not meet your goals.
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