Success without over the top workouts. Pics plz.

I've lost 60 pounds just eating less and walking/light workouts. No foods cut, just less.

heatherjolly92 wrote: »

ElvenToad wrote: »

I hit my goal weight 8 months ago after losing 142 pounds. I ate what I wanted that fit into my calorie goal and walked anywhere from 45-60 minutes per day. Coming up on my 3 year mfp anniversary now

Have lost a couple more pounds since my last set of progress pictures, but I am far too lazy to take new ones haha
Anyway, I used a Fitbit, a food scale, and mfp to log log log!

Thanks I'm just worried that I wouldn't get where I want to be by the way my schedule is and the budget we are on..

Yes making yourself a priority can be challenging. I understand! I do my walking/jogging in front of the tv and have done that for the whole 3 years. I just don't have time for the gym or traditional exercise. I have a special needs child and barely time to shower everyday so I get it!

As for the budget, you don't need to buy special food. Whatever you are eating now or have always been eating will work. You just need to portion it properly by weighing out the individual foods and fitting them into your calorie goals.

If you want weight loss to be a priority you will find a way to make it work

All bodies are different- and you will have success with things that other people don't. For me - it's watching my carbs and eating a balanced amount of protein and fats. But if I go nuts and cut them out almost completely I lose my mind and get loopy.

Listen to your body. Love yourself. Be patient and kind to yourself as you make progress and as you stumble, and with others as they begin to have feelings about your journey. They will have feelings and they will say things as you show progress. They will think its helpful " be careful not to gain it back (oh thank you that was totes my plan)" "oh you must be dating more now (as if you suddenly have value or are more desireable because there is less of you)". Their comments have more to do with their issues than yours.

You are awesome and can do anything.

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Thanks I'm just worried that I wouldn't get where I want to be by the way my schedule is and the budget we are on..[/quote]

The thing that helped me is realizing that I wasn't in any rush. The time is going to pass, and my weight can either go up, stay the same, or go down. So I set MFP for just 1/2 pound loss per week so I didn't feel deprived. I often exceeded that, but if I didn't it didn't matter - as long as I was heading in the right direction it was all good. I didn't cut anything from my diet altogether; just moderated how much I was having to stay within my calorie goals for the day.

As for fitting in exercise, you don't need to do anything crazy. As others have said, taking a walk every day counts, and should be easy to do with kids in tow. Playing something active with them instead of just watching counts, too. If you're watching TV at night, spend some of that time doing something active while you watch before settling in to the couch (on the rare occasions I have time for this, I'll do crunches, planks, and leg lifts, and I bought some exercise bands that I can use for upper and lower body training anywhere). And if you don't exercise every day, it's not a big deal - you do what you can, and on days you don't do much active you just stay within your calorie limits by way of your food choices.

Finally, you mentioned your budget. I recently bought an Instant Pot electric pressure cooker and it's making it really, really quick and easy for me to make healthy food for a fraction of what it costs to buy it prepared. I tend to make a bunch of things on weekends and then have them available all week for lunches and snacks, but it's also really easy to throw a dinner together in it without much attention late in the day. So I'll throw something in, go take my daughter where she needs to go, or do some work, or pay bills and sort through the mail, and then come back to dinner ready to eat. Might be worth looking into (especially if you can get the IP on sale).

FTR: I'm 5'5", 50 years old, and have lost just over 50 pounds since starting MFP 401 days ago (started around 170, now around 120). I weigh less than I did when I got my first driver's license, and am in the best shape of my life. :-)

You can totally do this! Good luck!

The first 50lbs I lost I didn't step foot in a gym. Just ate less and walked 3 times a week.

I DROPPED 113 LBS IN 10 MONTHS JUST CUTTING OUT EXTRA SUGAR (INCLUDING DRINKS) AND PORTION CONTROL I EAT ALL THE SAME THINGS JUST LESS. NO EXTRA EXERCISE EITHER.

Left was about 15 to 20 lbs down from my heaviest. Right was today down 45 lbs. I did it mostly through a calorie deficit. Occasionally running or random YouTube workouts.

Believe it or not I've not once done any form of exercise (besides walking). -80Ibs difference.

I too have spent years feeling guilty about doing what I think I "should" do to lose weight. I know all about calories, exercise, cooking, time management etc. But I just can't make it fit together for me. There's so many websites, articles, conflicting research, opinion etc that it just confuses and delays me!

I've now decided that a little bit of consistent progress is better than nothing. Losing 0.5lb a week but being able to stick to a plan is going to bear me more fruit than being stuck in a corner like I was. It's time to be compassionate to ourselves!

On the exercise front, I have tried gym/trainers/home work outs. I can do it, but other than walking, swimming and weight lifting, I just don't like it!! It's too much at my weight. So I'm finally accepting that and not asking myself to be a gym bunny anymore, it's liberating. I've chosen to stop punishing myself. I'm personally working on the food front, and using exercise occasionally to balance out any over eating for occasions etc. Every decent personal trainer I've met has told me that food is 90% of the battle anyway.

On the food front, I've found lately it's really helpful to me to stop eating by 5pm and to only have something light like Veg and toast or fruit and yoghurt. I've essentially cut 75% calories off of one of my meals. This is great for me, because I don't move much on an evening and I actually don't like eating loads before bedtime. Interrupts my sleep! So I'm listening to my body.

If I find myself wanting a big evening meal on a weekend, I ask myself how I could eat my 'normal' family meals but chop 100-200 calories off each. So yesterday lunch time we were having tuna sandwiches, and for mine I dropped a piece of bread and used less mayo. That was 150cals saved. Then because it was an open sandwich, I dumped a load of salad on it to replace the bulk of the bread. Easy! That left me feeling full and it stopped me snacking - saved another 120cals. Then when it came to dinner, I had what I really wanted which was a lamb curry, but I served myself less rice and bread - saved 150cals - and replaced it with broccoli. I didn't miss the rice at all, rice was not the star of the show for me. I satisfied my craving as it was the sauce I wanted.

Today I'm going out for a family Sunday lunch. I've had berries and yoghurt for breakfast. Then we'll have the lunch - and I'm going to have what I wanted make sure I don't leave feeling unsatisfied - but then we'll have a long hilly walk and I'll run around the park with my toddler to counter the lunch. I'll probably not want dinner, but I've got wholemeal pitta and homemade chunky tomato veg if I do.

When I watch my naturally slim friends, this is how they eat.

Live your life and eat how you want to, just make clever tweaks as you go. The beauty of food is that there's always another meal, always 3 or 4 chances a day to trim it back.