50 lbs lost, finally "normal"

We were the same starting weight ( I was 196) and I'm looking to get down to around 150 - so inspiring!

How long did it take you to drop the 50 lbs? What exercise were you doing?

Thank you to everyone for such wonderful comments - wow! Make me blush!! I honestly posted out of sheer excitement and wasn't fishing for compliments but I'LL TAKE 'EM!!!

I was in the mid-190's in January of 2011. It took me about 6 months to get to around 183 when I joined WW. In that 6 months time, I honestly (in hindsight) wasn't trying as hard as I could have. It took the public Saturday morning weigh in humiliation (Weight Watchers weigh in) to really get me motivated. I would look around and see all these women smiling from ear to ear because they'd lost 1 or 2 lbs and I would think, "I want to be smiling, too!" So it would give me the push I needed to have a good week.

In August, I started the Couch to 5 K running program and wasn't long before I became addicted to running. From June to September (so a combo of WW and running) I was at 170 lbs. So I'd lost about 13 lbs in 3 months or about a pound a week.

In September, myself and a handful of gf's on Facebook started our own private group where we check in with each other daily to see how we're all doing. Every Tuesday we post our weight loss results for the week. I was 170 lbs and in 3 months only managed to lose 9 lbs.

I got a lot more strict with my "treat" days (since I weigh in twice a week, I have to stay on top of my game all week long and I force myself to) and since December I lost another 13 lbs in 2.5 months or just over a pound a week.

I exercise every day (I used to take a rest day but I don't feel good on rest days - my body craves the workouts). I do at least 60 minutes of intense cardio and at least 100 push ups every day. I try to do at least 3 days a week of weigh training but to be honest, I currently struggle to get those routines in (which is really just sheer laziness).

I never have, never will, never would even consider going on any of those fad diets or purges or cleanses....or whatever "quick" or "easy" fix is out there. I eat regularly, 3 meals, 3 snacks a day. My meals consist of lean protein, complex carb, veggies with my daily dairy requirements being met at breakfast. Snacks are my fruits. I live in Canada (Eh?) and follow the Canada Food Guide. It is almost identical to what had been recommended to me by a dietician I saw about 3 years ago.

If there's something extra that I want then I make sure I do the work ahead of time and get the extra calories burned before I eat them.

I don't make it a habit of eating my exercise calories...I try to maintain as much of a deficit as possible. However, I listen to my body....if it's hungry, I feed it with good, power foods (high protein, high fibre).

I do my best to get as much sleep as possible but with an 18 month old that still doesn't sleep through the night, it's hard. I try not to stress about life. My philosophy is that while we can't control what life hands us, we can control what we put into our bodies and how we make them move. So I do my best to let things roll off my back. It's not always easy, but I want this weight loss far more than how bad any "problem" could ever be.

The biggest piece of advice is to just be honest. No one could lose the weight for me. I got myself into it - I have to get myself out. We can't just put our weight or health on a shelf and walk away from it for a few hours. So whatever ails us, plagues us, eats at us is constant.....24/7....you can't walk away from diabetes or heart disease. But you CAN walk away from the chips, the extra helping of potatoes, the pop, the extra three ounces of steak, the candy, etc. It's a conscious decision and sometimes you may need to verbalize things by saying out loud, "No...I don't need this."

Anyways....be honest. You can track your food to a "T" or you can kid yourself and think that you are....either way, the scale will eventually be your judge, jury and executioner.

It's not easy. It's not supposed to be easy. If it were, we'd all be thin. And then we'd all get fat again because we wouldn't have any appreciation for the hard work it really does take to get there.

Good luck - be strong.