Questions for those who lost 30 or more lbs

oceandaisies · March 2017

1. What was your starting weight and height?

238 lbs 5'4"

2. What is your current weight/goal weight?

CW 175 lbs, GW 135-145 lbs

3. How long did it take you to reach your goal?

Not at my goal yet. Started this journey on June 1, 2016, so 9 months in. Expect it to take another 10-12 months to get to my goal.

4. Did you feel different, mentally? e.g. did you have more confidence or did you feel awkward?

I feel more confident. I never felt "bad" when I was heavier but as the weight has come off I have noticed I am more confident, happier, more outgoing. No awkwardness.

5. Were you treated differently by family, friends, coworkers, exes, people who never used to talk to you, even strangers? Just anybody at all? And in what way? How did you take it?

Honestly, people didn't really notice or comment on my weight loss until I had lost 50 lbs, and finally broke down and bought some new clothes. Family and coworkers are all encouraging and supportive. People I know a little (I am a rural emergency room nurse) have come up to ask me "my secret" or tell me I look great etc. They don't really know what to say when I tell them my secret is "eat less, move more". I have had some people I know only a little tell me I have inspired them to start being more active and work on being healthier. I have had a few people say, "you're getting too skinny" or "don't lose too much more, you'll be too skinny". I just smile and say I am working on being hella the not skinny.

I am a pretty shy introvert so it's been outside my comfort zone to have people I don't know that well coming up to talk to me outside of work. It's made me stop and appreciate how far I have come. When I look in the mirror, sometimes I don't feel I look any different.

6. Is there anything that I should expect on my 60 lb weight loss journey, mentally, emotionally, and physically?

I have more energy. I sleep better and wake up earlier. I am happier.
I have less chronic back pain, sciatica pain.
Some days, I have something stressing me out and I want to reach for that easy crutch of food. It takes a lot of effort and willpower to do something else.
The people in our lives may or may not support your journey. You've got to do it for yourself.

7. Have you had any period changes (cramps, shorter periods, etc)?

I don't have periods - no ovaries. So was thrown directly into menopause 3 years before I started this journey.
I have noticed in the last month I am getting more hot flashes, maybe due to decreased fat stores as fat holds estrogen? I am on low dose estrogen/progesterone so could up my dose. I have just adapted to it. They aren't as bad as the first few months after surgery.

8. Did your skin change?

I have always had adult acne (Never had it as a teenager). I started taking spironolactone a few years ago for adult acne and it cleared my skin up dramatically.
With the weight loss, I have noticed my skin is brighter, I have less oily skin on my face. Otherwise, still the same dry winter skin.

9. Anything weird happen to you at all?

I have started a running program. Never thought I would ever run

Roosh513 · March 2017

1. What was your starting weight and height?

237 lb / 6ft

2. What is your current weight/goal weight?

186 lb / 180 lb

3. How long did it take you to reach your goal?

It took me about 1 year. I did several rounds of P90X and P90X3 with different variations of the routines (lean, classic, etc...). Being mindful of what I ate was the primary reason I continued loosing weight. I still ate burgers from time to time, I still had beers with friends occasionally. Just remember that small changes over a long period of time can make a huge difference!

4. Did you feel different, mentally? e.g. did you have more confidence or did you feel awkward?

Yes. I originally started my lifestyle change due to how depressed I was feeling, for no particular reason. I knew it wasn't normal, so I had to change something. I still have work to do, but I am confident that I can continue to make small changes to continue improving!

5. Were you treated differently by family, friends, coworkers, exes, people who never used to talk to you, even strangers? Just anybody at all? And in what way? How did you take it?

Not at all. After the initial shock and questions from distant family members when they saw my results for the first time, it was barely mentioned aside from the "you're looking thin" comments. The weird part is that I tend to bring up my own weight loss in conversation. I'm trying to work on that. As excited as I am about my own results, I'm sure others don't really need to know how big I used to be haha!

6. Is there anything that I should expect on my 60 lb weight loss journey, mentally, emotionally, and physically?

Expect to constantly stare at yourself in the mirror! I'm trying not to let it get to my head, but it's tough to not admire all the hard work you put into your results. My advice is to constantly remind yourself that healthy weight loss takes time. There may be weeks (and months) where you won't see visible results on the scale or in the mirror. Tools like myFitnessPal are great for your own mental battles. Track, track, TRACK! Data is important. Every time I reviewed my data, I noticed that I seldom saw plateaus that lasted longer than 3 weeks.

8. Did your skin change?

Yes! I used to have bad acne problems on my chest. It has since almost completely cleared, and I think it is related to my water intake. Drink water, stay hydrated, and you will see skin changes!

9. Anything weird happen to you at all?

Not really. As I mentioned before, I try to not let vanity pounds get in the way of my results. I believe staring in the mirror or watching the scale too much can get to your head and cause you to make unnecessary changes to your routine, which might not even be healthy. Again, small changes and lots of patience is the ticket to sustainable weight loss. It's not a sprint, it's a marathon!

rainbow198 · March 2017

samchez0 · March 2017

1. What was your starting weight and height?

205 and 5'7"
2. What is your current weight/goal weight?

Currently between 160 and 163. Goal around 140.
3. How long did it take you to reach your goal?

Not there yet but I started January 2016. Have not made much progress since Thanksgiving time though.
4. Did you feel different, mentally? e.g. did you have more confidence or did you feel awkward?

Definitely more confidence with clothes
5. Were you treated differently by family, friends, coworkers, exes, people who never used to talk to you, even strangers? Just anybody at all? And in what way? How did you take it?

Not really. More people make comments about my weight or ask me how I did it. It can be annoying depending on how the person asks but it doesn't usually bother me.
6. Is there anything that I should expect on my 60 lb weight loss journey, mentally, emotionally, and physically?
7. Have you had any period changes (cramps, shorter periods, etc)?

No
8. Did your skin change?

It's a little clearer thanks to less junky stuff and more water
9. Anything weird happen to you at all?

Nope

AnnPT77 · March 2017

1. What was your starting weight and height?

5'5", 183 pounds, April 2015. I was 59 then, 61 now.

2. What is your current weight/goal weight?

GW 120 (I was there for about 8 months, regained a few pounds Sept/Oct 2016, now on a very small deficit to re-lose it). This was not my initial goal, but a result of re-evaluating, as I'd planned, when I got down around 130.

CW 126.

3. How long did it take you to reach your goal?

April 2015 to about February 2016, so roughly 10-11 months.

4. Did you feel different, mentally? e.g. did you have more confidence or did you feel awkward?

No different about myself - at my age, my self-assessment is fairly settled, and I'm reasonably self-confident in general. I did find that post-weight-loss I felt mysteriously "better" in some ill-defined way, maybe just sense of well-being or positive outlook. I've wondered if it's biochemical, like an effect of reduced inflammation or something.

5. Were you treated differently by family, friends, coworkers, exes, people who never used to talk to you, even strangers? Just anybody at all? And in what way? How did you take it?

Not in any major way. I've been quite athletically active for about 15 years, even while obese (I'm a rower). I think people who meet me now, especially active people, are more likely to assume that I'm active, whereas they used to underestimate or totally discount the idea that I might be reasonably fit. I kind of miss being able to surprise some stereotyping younger, healthy-weight people with the fat older woman's ability to out-do them athletically. It's harder to surprise them now.

6. Is there anything that I should expect on my 60 lb weight loss journey, mentally, emotionally, and physically?

Sure. And there's little ability for anyone else to predict exactly what those things might be.

Seriously, a great deal depends on your current status - mental state, emotional state, and physical condition. For me, losing weight significantly reduced frequency and severity of pain from a torn meniscus/arthritis.

If possible, try to develop and/or maintain a healthy attitude toward both food and exercise, along the way - avoid obsession, demonizing foods, guilt or shame if you go over calorie goal, etc. Just log whatever you do/eat, learn from what happens, and go on. Don't do anything dramatically different from what you're willing to do forever, just in order to lose weight.

7. Have you had any period changes (cramps, shorter periods, etc)?

Menopausal throughout.

8. Did your skin change?

Not that I've noticed.

9. Anything weird happen to you at all?

Not sure. I've had a couple of very minor oddball but statistically common health things that aren't normally weight or weight loss related, that are unusual for me (without getting into distracting details, minor dermatological stuff, despite how I answered #8 - not being coy/shy, it would just take a long explanation). It's tempting to think that it could be related to the stress of having been at too steep a calorie deficit for a short time (an accident, not an intention, and quickly fixed as soon as I realized it). But maybe it's just an aging thing, or random. Who knows.

AFGP11 · March 2017

1. What was your starting weight and height? 5'4" 212 pounds
2. What is your current weight/goal weight? 150 pounds
3. How long did it take you to reach your goal? 7 months
4. Did you feel different, mentally? e.g. did you have more confidence or did you feel awkward? I felt back to myself since I had gained weight while pregnant.
5. Were you treated differently by family, friends, coworkers, exes, people who never used to talk to you, even strangers? Just anybody at all? And in what way? How did you take it? People annoyed me because they continually acted as though I were some kind of freak of nature because I wanted to take the weight off.
6. Is there anything that I should expect on my 60 lb weight loss journey, mentally, emotionally, and physically? Prepare to need a bunch of smaller clothes while simultaneously feeling like you haven't changed much at all.
7. Have you had any period changes (cramps, shorter periods, etc)? My cycle became regular but that meant more frequent periods that were longer in duration. That was a good thing for me because my old cycle was about 2-3 periods a year and each only lasted 2 days. It sounds nice, but it was worrying. I had never experienced cramps until that point though and I can't say that I enjoy them or approve.
8. Did your skin change? Yes. Less dry and less greasy. At the same time. Figure that out.
9. Anything weird happen to you at all? My boobs are not the same. They will never be the same. They will be missed.

fostersu · March 2017

1. What was your starting weight and height? 5'6" and about 210
2. What is your current weight/goal weight? I got down to 140, I've put some back on over the years and am now working on getting it off
3. How long did it take you to reach your goal? faster than it should have to be healthy, the first chunk came off because of an illness, the rest came off over a few months after learning to manage my meals and feeling good enough to work out
4. Did you feel different, mentally? e.g. did you have more confidence or did you feel awkward? I looked completely different. My own mother didn't recognize me at the airport. It felt bazaar to meet new people and almost feel like I had a secret. They had never known me as anything other than what they saw they had never known the big me
5. Were you treated differently by family, friends, coworkers, exes, people who never used to talk to you, even strangers? Just anybody at all? And in what way? How did you take it? to my face most people were great, but some rumors to come back to me accusing me of an eating disorder/unhealthy behavior. It was rough to hear that through the grapevine and not to my face
6. Is there anything that I should expect on my 60 lb weight loss journey, mentally, emotionally, and physically?The unexpected?
7. Have you had any period changes (cramps, shorter periods, etc)?after I reached 140 pounds mine stopped altogether for about three months. I was concerned, obviously, but it came back and has had no problem ever since. Perhaps my body was just adjusting.
8. Did your skin change? Loose skin on my stomach for sure. And some under my arms. But nothing that was dramatic or I felt uncomfortable with in any way
9. Anything weird happen to you at all?
Nothing other than almost flashing half of New York City as my loose clothes almost fell down

Questions for those who lost 30 or more lbs

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