Pics of 87 lbs lost... entered "Healthy Weight Range"

Wow, you are such an inspiration, and obviously a very strong person to be successful at such a journey!

What things did you find the most helpful in your journey?

I've had this before hehe, so I wrote it out and saved the answer..... Here it is below!

Hey Everyone
I have gotten quite a few people who have asked me to explain how it is I have lost the weight I have.
There is no easy way to put this in a short paragraph since details were asked. So... I'm going to take some time tonight and write this out for ya'll!There are two areas to this process. Food & Exercise. No rocket science there

1ST OFF..... whow there. If you are looking for answers or ideas, I may have some below that worked for me. But I have to stress...Most of us are this way because of years of neglecting our body. Frankly, mine has put up with a whole lot from me and I'm thankful it hung in there.We must ALL realize... there are NO quick fixes. My rule was, "It took me 27 years to ruin my body... it'll take me 27 months to claim it back". It just might take that many months till I'm fully there, but it's the least I owe myself. At one point, it becomes the norm and I'm thankful to say I'm there. It does happen!

1) FOOD:
I use myfitnesspal.comIt is a wonderful tool!
It's a free tool at that hehe. It's a community of people going through the same battles and I owe so much to those friends who stuck through every day by my side

I track ALL my food and exercise here. I am a visual learner, so this has truly been a great way to teach myself good habbits to replace horrible ones.I log all my food before I eat it.
I have found this has helped me to conciously make better choices. If I notice what I'm eating will really affect how much more food I could eat to hold me through the rest of the day, it gives me the ability to stop myself and either break the portion in half... or to just find a better selection of food.
I don't "deny" myself... I rather give myself the power to choose what's best for me

FOODS I AVOID:
- Processed Foods / Pre Packaged Meals
- White Flour / Sugar products
- Fast Food
- Foods with chemical sweeteners
- High Sodium Foods- Complex Carb foods with little to no nutritional value (cheezey puffs?)

Many have asked what I do eat. I'll break the trouble areas for some down and give just a few ideas for each.

SNACKS:
(My snacks most always involve some sort of source of protein.. I want to feed my body foods which will help it to continue to burn throughout the day)
- Almonds (unsalted)
- Turkey Bacon
- Weight Watchers String Cheese
- Peanut Butter
- Veggies
- Protein Bar
- Fruit ( I limit this to the morning since it takes the body longer to break sugars down)
- A treat is 100 cal popcorn
- Boiled Egg

MEALS:
I usually stick to the basics. A lean meat with a veggie. I enjoy lentils and beans too now! I Really watch my salt intake... water retention is no fun, and produces bad numbers on the scale!

2) EXERCISE

I do several types of cardio/strength. They are as follows:

1 - Lesley Sansone "Walk Away The Pounds" DVDs
This is a FABULOUS program. It is something ANYONE can do. Whether you have an injury, a health condition... no matter.When I started this journey at 250 lbs, exercise just down right hurt. I was in pain... wore braces... tensors. Gradually I got rid of them as the weight came off, but this program allowed me to go at a healthy pace. You can sample her videos on this site, but I suggest purchasing them from ebay for a better price if you are on a budget.

I own 14 of them!
http://www.collagevideo.com/searchresults.aspx?type=all&search=Lesley+SansoneWE
ALL have at least 15 minutes a day... Her work outs are in 1,2,3,4 or 5 mile sessions. Each mile approximately 15 minutes. There are interval "walk/jog"... strength, low and high impact moves to keep ALL parts of the body moving
If exercising scares you... THIS IS FOR YOU!, it's far from boot camp and you feel great afterwards.

2 - ZUMBA!
Everyone knows about this I'm sure ... by now. It's a high calorie burning activity

3 - Gym
I now have a YMCA membership, but it wasn't till a couple weeks ago.
Up until now I did this BY MYSELF at home using Lesley Sansone Videos.
At this point, my body has flab skin... and I just need more strength training. Financially it wasn't cheap but I made some cuts in order to make this work as it's the last leg of all my efforts!


Well... I really don't know what else to say. Honestly I could go on forever, this has been a learning process... but I just wanted to put the basics. If you have a question, write it below and I'll reply
Thanks everyone... I am so proud of you ALL!

Joey