How long did it take you guys?

From an in-progress success story, I have lost a little over a pound a week when eating in a calorie deficit to do so. I exorcise sporadically and am not currently doing any sort of exercise beyond living in a three story house.

Around Christmastime, I was feeling hungry on the strict calorie deficit and so knowing I was going into a season of important family eating, I ate at maintenance calories for two weeks. Then slowly went to a half-pound a week loss calorie goal and now back to a pound a week loss calorie goal.

My goal I initially set was to lose to a certain amount of weight, 175 (starting weight 237). I wanted to lose weight with my wedding looming. I started July 2017 and am getting married April 2018. I didn't set my goal to lose that weight by a certain date or by the wedding. I just wanted to look great for the wedding and lose some weight between now and then. I also didnt want to set the goal of just looking good by the wedding because I want to continue this healthy journey beyond then.

AnnayKaleem1653 wrote: »

Hey! To all those people who have lost weight with MFP, how much weight did you lose weekly? Did you exercise initially? Did you set goals for yourself? Were there times when you got frustrated with calorie counting but had to continue? Comment down below because I'd really like to hear how things went for everyone, and I don't mind detailed comments so don't hesitate!
Thankss.

1) About nine months to lose 40 Lbs...week to week was variable.
2) Initially I walked mostly. After a month or so I started a C25K program. A couple months later I added weight training. I've been in maintenance for almost 5 years and I exercise regularly...mostly cycling and lifting.
3) Yes, but not really weight related...blood work related and fitness related more than anything.
4) Calorie counting was a learning/teaching tool...I never got frustrated, but it did get to a point for a little while where I was overly obsessed and it started taking over my life. I realized eventually that I had learned enough to know what I need to be doing and that I didn't need to be so obsessed with things...I haven't counted calories in years.

Down 113 lbs from starting 272. I lost the first twenty five pounds in one month due to severe illness and undiagnosed diabetes. I don't recommend that as a diet.

Following my diabetes diagnosis, surgery for an ovarian tumor, and controlled weight loss, I lost about 10 lbs a month until I reached overweight BMI, then about seven lbs a month until normal weight, and about 4 lbs a month after reaching normal weight. Presently eating at maintenance more or less and coasting to a stop.

The max I lost when first starting out was about 3.5 lbs a week. I wasn't trying to lose at this rate, I was just exercising for the first time in years and cutting out so much junk I was used to having that the weight just fell off for a while. It did not make me feel well so I upped my calories until my rate slowed to 2 lbs / week.

My initial goal was simply not to be obese. I reached it in six months, then set a new goal of normal weight which took me a few more months. The whole 113 lbs took a little more than a year.

I started out exercising as much as I was able, since it's crucial for improving insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes. At first I was barely able to walk around the block, and could only pedal very slowly for ten minutes on my stationary bike. My strength training was water bottles and bodyweight squats and wall push-ups. I increased what I did as I became more fit. I can currently run 5 miles, squat my body weight, and do 20 toe push-ups in a row. Still can't do a pull up, but it's on my goal list. And my A1c is now within normal range, although I still can't tolerate carbs well.

I never really got sick of counting calories. Because of my diabetes, many of the foods that used to give me trouble are basically off limits except in small portions - I can only manage one thin crust slice of pizza before my glucose spikes, for example, so why bother - and eating more nutrient dense food keeps me from being hungry. What I do get sick of is exercising. I hate it, and it really really helps with the blood sugar. The day after heavy lifting I have good readings all day and can even eat pasta with no problems. After a run I can eat French fries without my glucose spiking. It's worth it. But I still hate almost everything about exercising, and I miss having free time, and I hate that I will be diabetic for the rest of my life and never ever get a break from needing to pay attention to my food and exercise.

Seriously, if you are obese and not diabetic, get thin while you can. Being diabetic sucks and obesity is a major risk factor.

AnnayKaleem1653 wrote: »

Hey! To all those people who have lost weight with MFP, how much weight did you lose weekly? Did you exercise initially? Did you set goals for yourself? Were there times when you got frustrated with calorie counting but had to continue? Comment down below because I'd really like to hear how things went for everyone, and I don't mind detailed comments so don't hesitate!
Thankss.

MFP was the game changer for me. For the first time in a life as a serial starter, I’ve kept to the plan for a full year (+ 6 days now!) and have lost the most I ever have. Here’s what worked for me:

1. Rate of weight loss - I started 1/1/17 and by year’s end has lost just shy of 50 lbs. My initial goal was 40 lbs and I had hope to lose that over the course of a year, so every pound beyond that was a bonus. So my average was just shy of 1 lb/week. Like others have said, I lost weight faster in the beginning- 11 lbs in the first month. Definitely slowed down after that and had moments of plateaus and eventually wooshes. I only weigh in once a week - Sunday mornings - to keep from getting obsessed by the scale. Beginning with the US Thanksgiving to year end, my goal was to enjoy the holidays but not gain more than 3ish pounds since I tended to gain 5-7 during the holidays. I finished the year having gained no weight during the holidays (nor did I lose) so I was quite happy.

2. Exercise - my initial exercise plan was to hit at least 10,000 steps walking per day. It was harder than I realized, especially with a desk job! This worked great for the first several months - I’d do long walks whenever I could and found it helped greatly with my mood as well as the weight loss. I had linked the iPhone steps tracker with my MFP app sothe steps tracked automatically and gave me exercise points. You’ll see that the number of calories burned awarded for walking decreases as you lose weight, so i eventually realized that walking wasn’t enough. Plus, at a lower weight, my body stared craving more movement and intensity (who knew?). So July/August, I went back to the gym, focused solely on cardio (treadmill and elliptical). Love the calorie boost and how it made me feel! For 2018, I’ve just started strength training with a trainer. This is brand new for me, so will see how it goes!

4. Setting goals - yes, I set two initial goals: 40 pounds lost AND sticking to the plan for 1 year. No matter what happened, I had to track every single day. It helps that MFP gives you congrats messages for major progress! Like others, I also broke the big weight goal into mini goals - moving into a new “decade” (ex, getting below 200, then below 190, etc). I also didn’t look beyond the initial 40 pounds, figuring I’d decide what to do next once I got there (maintain? Lose more?). I thought a lot about this over the holidays, and decided to move forward with these goals: 30 pounds loss, strength training (signed up for 13 sessions), average of 1/2 pound per week and hitting 730 days (2 years) of consecutive logging. It’s more of a habit now.

5. Frustration with calorie counting? Oh yes! Especially when I thought I had worked hard during a given week and the durned scale didn’t move the right way! But I kept going. What helped a lot was these discussions. I’d read about other people’s experiences and frustrations, and realize that I wasn’t alone. So I’d make the decision to keep going. Also, the process of logging actually made it feel like progress (hey! I logged today!) so it helped to have the goal of 365 days of consecutive logging. So have some non-weight loss goals so you have some NSV (nonscale victories) even when the scale isn’t moving.

I also paid attention to what was happening in my head. When did I feel like binging? Did my body/metabolism act differently in colder seasons vs the summer (yes! I’m craving carbs and sugar now in the short days of winter when I could do without them in the summer).

Finally, I surrounded myself with positive images of people of all sizes, ethnicities doing things in the great outdoors, since nature soothes me. My Instagram is filled with images from #UnlikelyHikers, #OutdoorJournalTour, #NatGeo and others (including cats, because I like cats). Instagram has become the positive place I go to when I'm feeling low.

Hope this helps!

I’ve lost 192 lb so far; it’s taken me about 15 months. The rate has varied from 3 or 4 lb initially to 1 or 2 lb at the moment; my body just can’t sustain the rate of loss it used to when it was much bigger.

I was only able to do limited exercise initially, but as I got lighter I’ve been adding it in and ramping it up. For me that’s mostly about wanting to improve my fitness and look more toned, though, rather than giving me extra calories to eat back. I only rarely get tired of calorie counting, now it’s mostly just habit. I have the odd day of loose logging when I go out to a party or something, but I still estimate so I can stay roughly within my goals. It’s not as if I’m depriving myself of anything; I ate a lot of chocolate and lebkuchen over Christmas, I just had to eat less of other stuff to make room.