BEFORE AND AFTER - how diiiiddd you do it?!?

Bump

bump

I have been meaning to upload photos but I have not yet. But I can provide numbers for my journey if you like.

Started February 6th, 2010 at 196 pounds. I am 5'7" and I was in a size 16 jeans.

Current weight - 123.5 and holding steady! Currently sporting a size 4 jeans.

I wanted to lose the weight the safe way and I decided to take a year to do it. My original plan was to reach 140 pounds and after hitting it - the rest naturally came off.

A few changes that I had made - I only go out to eat for lunches on the weekends. It is sort of like my treat to myself and to save my dishwasher. LOL But I still make smart choices while being out. I do have that occasional pizza and even indulge in Greek food on occasions, but I fall back into the healthy foods once again through the week and it evens out.

Thank you all for listening! Good luck on your journey!

Rather than post all that, I'll just send a link to my 8 month progress check in. I think I answered the questions you asked. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/gatorflyer

I don't know if I'm really considered an all star... but here is my story.

5ft 4

SW 295.5
CW 197

Took me since 4-19-11 to go from 275.5 to current weight.

What did I do? Read the Rosedale Diet by Ron Rosedale and Mastering Leptin by Byron Richards. Followed their suggestions of meal timing and foods to avoid.

I take karate, kickboxing and do p90x.

HOLY COW!!!! you lost around 80lbs in 2 months?!?!?! is that right??

if so, that's UNBELIEVEABLE!!! Great Job!!

and even if it's a typo, that's an incredible amount of weight to loose, keep it up girl!!!

I didn't have a lot to lose, but hated the way I looked and felt. I was at 240lbs at my heaviest, and am 6'. I started with portion control and less fried food about a year ago. Then I started trying to work out on my own. In January/February time frame I decided to get real and started focusing on eating healthy food with the very occasional cheat day. I also completed Insanity. One cycle got me down to 186 and 14% body fat, and I feel great!

Right now I'm 1lb away from my goal, but have decided I don't care about that pound. I just started a P90x / Insanity hybrid, and plan to increase muscle mass. Not looking to be a body builder, but I'd love to look like the guys on the cover of Men's Health!

I wouldn't consider myself a "star" by any stretch, but I feel that I've been successful with MFP, and I'd be happy to share the method that worked for me.

When I started to seriously try to get back into shape about 8-9 months ago, I was 49 years old, quite overweight - 224lbs at 5'7", BMI of over 35, which is well into the obese range. I'm now at 158, BMI just under 25 (my goal).

When I started out, I had not done any exercise, or anything athletic - ever - in my life. I have been a perennial nerd-geek - and I still am.

I suddenly found myself with quite a bit of motivation - my marriage dissolved, which in turn made my existence much more important to my daughter's well being. Combined with the ever increasingly bad news the doctor gave me about my state of health it was time to act - I hoped that it was not too late, and that I was not too far gone. And, I found myself (unhappily) back in the dating pool, as a "mature" person.

So, at age 49, it was time for a significant change.

As you can see, motivation is important. If you are still young it will be easier for you, and please believe me when I tell you that it's a worth-while investment in your future well-being to take care of yourself. Don't make the mistakes that I did - don't wait for a marriage to dissolve, or worse, a heart attack or other illness. Don't wait. If you do, you'll eventually get that "motivation", the hard way.

Enough with the sermon.

The method that worked for me is quite simple, and it seems to be the MFP mantra: Calories in < calories out. Every day. No exceptions. And get some exercise, for crying out loud.

I said "simple" , not "easy" (though after the first few weeks it's not really that hard, either - the benefits make it a pleasure, as a matter of fact).

Before I started dieting - actually, a month or two before I found MFP, I joined my local YMCA. I tried to learn racquetball, which I was terrible at doing because, as I mentioned earlier, I'm a nerdy, geeky guy, and that has a corollary that I'm also a bit of a spaz - and I'm being kind with that characterization. It was embarrassing for me to even show up, because the rear wall of the racquetball court is glass, so I was able to be seen in all of my klutzy, doughy glory by all. I swallowed my pride, and kept on.

It took a while of lonely practice, but after a few months, I was invited to play a game with a couple of other guys, and I accepted. At that point, I had never sweated so profusely in my life as I did in that first game. And I had to quit, after only about 7 points. But, I kept on, and started playing with them regularly. (BTW, I played those very same guys, this very morning). I started losing weight at this point, but not too, too much.

I found that I liked r-ball, even though I wasn't very good... but I was, indeed, getting better. I started playing much more often, up to 5 days a week, sometimes 6....

At about that time, I found MFP. The simplicity of the plan, and the ease of use of the android app made it easy to start. I set as my goal a weight of 159, which was what I'd have to weigh to have a BMI of 25, or "normal". I went the 1200 cal/day route, and at first, I didn't eat my exercise cals back. I started losing weight quite smoothly and predictably, at about 2.5 lbs/week. I found that the clarity and focus that the app gave me regarding my intake made it easy to control my eating habits. I had never really thought much about it before, but with all of the facts so easily available, I had the "feedback" I needed to make it easy to govern my consumption. This was a critical piece of the puzzle, and now you have found it, too!

As far as my eating habits, I eat what I want to, just in a controlled way, taking into consideration that if I splurge, I will have to make up for it later. That's a big disincentive for Fritos, and a big incentive for veggies.

All of that r-ball playing led to a shoulder injury - rotator cuff something or other. I had to take a couple of weeks off to heal. I was unhappy about this, because the new diet and all of that exercise was paying off, with my weight coming down noticeably, and predictably.

But not being able to play r-ball is what led me to discover the elliptical trainer. I noticed that the folks who used it regularly were in good shape, so it made sense that this would be a good thing to do - duh. So, I gave it a try. The first time I did, I lasted a whole 3 minutes, again, dripping with sweat. I remember feeling looks of scorn as I walked away, huffing and puffing. But still, I kept on - I returned the next day to try again, and the day after....

I was increasing my elliptical use quite steeply, and kept using it even after my shoulder healed up. After a couple of months I was able to do an hour, albeit with great sweaty effort. I did the elliptical 5 days a week for a few months, usually between 30 and 60 minutes a day, depending on if I had an r-ball game or not.

The pounds kept coming off, and my BMI crossed the threshhold of being merely "overweight". Better still, my doctor told me that (almost) all of my issues, notably blood sugar, cholesterol and lipids were all normalizing. My resting heart rate went from over 90 BPM to under 60. My blood pressure, which was only a little high to begin with, became normal.

The graph of my weight was a nice smooth line, gently descending at a rate of about 2 lbs oer week. My health was getting better, and my clothes were falling off of me. I got some new ones, and I actually went out on my first date in over 20 years. I kinda feel sorry for her, as I was so inept. I'm getting much better at it now.

I was approaching "normal" BMI - my goal - when I was hit with the dreaded "plateau". It seems that the closer you get to "normal weight", the harder it is for you to lose more. It's very frustrating when what you've been doing so successfully no longer works.

I did a bunch of stuff trying to break the plateau, which has now lasted for several months (yes, I think it's still going on now). I added a variety of cardio exercises - including the treadmill and the rowing machine - and I bought some dumbbells, and added a small amount of weight training - which has been beneficial to my r-ball, and the way my clothes fit. (I've lost 9 inches around my waist - from a 38 to a 29)

And that brings us to today, a couple of days before my 50th birthday, and about 8 or 9 months in. After starting at 224 lbs, I am right at my goal weight (a little under today, at 158), but still struggling to break this plateau - which I will do, eventually. All in all, I'm quite happy with my progress, and I expect to lose about 5-10 more lbs, then enter the next phase, maintainance, with it's new challenges.

I hope you folks who are new here see a theme in my little tale, which is "keep going". It might be hard, or embarrassing, but if you wish to succeed, perseverance and overcoming discouragements are necessary ingredients.

There is a quote (which I stole from someone else here at MFP) in my signature, below, that might be of interest to you, as well. The next time you face the temptation of self defeating behavior, whether it's the temptation of a food you'd like to eat, or the temptation to blow off some exercise, it might help you to think of those words. I do.

I would wish you luck, but for the majority of us, luck is not necessary, as your success is in your own - quite capable - hands.