Name one thing you did that helped you get to you goal..

Acknowledging that I wasn't going to give up high-calorie foods, but that I was going to moderate portion sizes and plan ahead for them.

You can pry my frosted shortbread cookie and two pieces of potato kugel from my cold dead fingers... but knowing that I can totally have those means I don't go back for cake and rogelach (or two more pieces of kugel).

I stopped drinking soda, now I just drink water or squash which is only 9 calories per 500 ml so pretty much all of my daily allowance of calories can be used towards food and I feel much less bloated.

Food scale.

Surprised it took this far in to get mentioned.

I do some form of activity every day- walk, dvd, gym, sick day stretch, something.

I eat a fruit or veggie at every meal. I've also made it a game of finding the best low calorie substitute or best portion size vs. calorie bargain possible. I'm a volume eater.

Corny and cliche as this will sound, I gave up quitting. I get sidetracked, I backslide. I forget my "why" and lose motivation. But I get over it and keep on going. I don't look at the time it takes to get to goal, it will pass whether I do something or not. But I'd rather spend it doing something productive.

Consistently logging all my calories and moving a bit more.
Consistency pays off

Oh, and I stopped making excuses.

Counting calories and weighting portions for each meal, Increasing my fluids in take, gym at least 4/5 times a week with a 300/400 calories burned.

I glued (not really) a water bottle to my hand. Always carried it around to make sure I was intaking enough water each day. The more water I drank, the better I felt.

The other thing that helped me accomplish my goals was by joining an accountability group. After accomplishing each challenge, I felt that I was getting better and better. It was worth it!

Seeing everything as better habits to be formed and built. The logging, the weighing, the exercising, I have fewer bumps in the road and they are smaller bumps because I focused on the repetition early on.