Question for People Who Have Lost 30+ Pounds in 6 Months

You're young, you should have no problem dropping the weight. I'm more than twice your age and lost 30 lbs in 5 months, with one month of that time just maintaining my weight loss.
Log all of your food, eat breakfast every day and stay away from the highly processed foods that you normally eat.
Keep it simple- lean proteins and lots of vegetables. Watch your sodium, along with your sugar intake and you'll be fine.
Utilize the MFP forums, the internet and books to educate yourself about nutrition. You can do this, good luck!

I started the paleolithic diet exactly 1 year ago today. I've lost 114-115 pounds so far. I didn't keep good enough track, but I think I lost my first 70 pounds in about 6 months. I didn't start exercising until I had lost 70 pounds. I slowly started adding in exercise (once per week or so) until I dropped another 20 pounds and counting the plateau at the end of the 20 pounds, that took me about 4 months. The last two months I've increased my exercise to the point where I'm now exercising everyday and I've lost another 25 pounds.

As for why I didn't exercise at the beginning, the number one reason was that I was lazy. However, I've been told that it was probably better to not start exercising until I got down to a manageable weight. I'm not sure I really believe this, but I don't think anyone really knows whether or not that's true yet. I do know for a fact that I lost a significant amount of muscle in those first 90 pounds, and now I wish I was paying more attention to it back then as I now have to build the muscle back up.

I lost 40 pounds in 8 months -
Food: 1200 to 1500 calories/day, mostly fresh healthy food (fruits and veggies etc.).
Workout: at least 300 minutes a week of moderate to intense physical activity, including 4 hours of cardio (mostly cycling to and from work, maybe an interval run or elliptical), and 4 sessions of circuit training.

Here and there I had an off day or a weekend trip where I ate a bunch, but 95% of the time I followed what I did above. Feelin good and lost crazy inches!

PS: I don't at my exercise calories. On occasion I will eat a snack if I'm really hungry, but I never eat all of the calories back.

I have a weakness for sweet, salty and crunchy. One thing that has helped me is Sensible Portions Veggie Chips. They come in different flavors. My favorite is Sweet BBQ potato straws. 38 straws are 130 calories.

I"ve lost 52 pounds since the first of the year and I have to say that on Thursday I weighed in at 198.6 making it the first time in 15 years I've been under 200 so it's a huge accomplishment for me. So it's been 5 months and I have to say it's dedication both to accurate calorie counting (I weigh EVERYTHING!! even the milk I put in my coffee) and I try to keep my calories to 1400 a day. I think you can view my food diary, if not let me know and I'll open it up. Basically, I eat what I want and save enough calories for a treat at the end of the day, and I never feel hungry which is a big one for me. My downfall is sweet stuff, so I make sure I get something sweet everyday....my new favorite is the 100 cal pack of white fudge drizzled caramel corn; they are awesome

I'm also dedicated in getting to the gym. I'm a nurse and work shift work, so I don't always get there 5 times a week but that's what I aim for. I do an hour of cardio (elliptical making sure I hit at lest 85% of my max heart rate for most of my workout) on cardio only days and every other day that I"m at the gym I cut my cardio down to 40-45 mins and then do weight training; my exercise diary doesn't show my weight training because I can't figure out how to put it in, but I add a note to my food diary when I do it. When I started doing weight training, I hated it....really really hated it. My start weight was 250.4 and so I felt like a goof at the gym. My biggest obstacle ME. Once I started seeing a difference when I walk past a mirror, I started feeling better at the gym and now I really miss it when I have a busy week and can't get there.

Good luck on your journey!!

I've lost 64ish since the day after thanksgiving. I eat all day long-I eat carbs, I eat at night, I eat sugar-free & fat-free and processed food and I probably break every other diet "rule"-but I net between 1400 and 1600 calories a day (no matter what I shove down my throat). I eat a lot of fish and salads and fruit. I eat yogurt & cheese. I have some sort of crack-like addiction to special k snack bars-so I eat a lot of those. I eat sandwiches and soups and pretty much anything I feel like eating-as long as it all averages out for the week in terms of calories. So I still eat pizza and bacon cheeseburgers-but not often. I don't particularly like flavored or carbonated beverages-so I've always really just had water and coffee-and still do (with my artificial sweetener & fat free cream). I eat much better than I did-and I get plenty of servings of fruits and veggies and dairy and protien and whatever else. I've never once looked at my "macros" so I couldn't tell you what they are or if I "hit" them. I just eat-healthy stuff much more often than not-but I'm not above substituting a sugar-free/fat-free/low-cal option to still indulge on occasion-or throw caution to the wind and have the real deal. Whatever fits in my calories for the week is a-ok with me.

For exercise, I run-well slog I guess. I'm very, very slow-but I run 20-25 miles a week. That's all-no fancy DVDs or weight training or gym memberships or anything else. Just running.

I may very well revisit these approaches if they stop working for me - or I'm looking for something different later on. I started from the standpoint of making changes I think I can sustain forever. For me, that needs to be very low maintenance and non-restrictive. What I'm doing now, I can maintain forever. But as a woman, I reserve the right to change my mind without notice and completely alter my approach. We will have to see. But for now-I'm not "fixing" something that isn't "broken".

Look up foods that are low in glycemic index. Good luck to you. Also, you may want to get a heart rate monitor. It has done wonders for me. I can go outside and play with my kids and know exactly how many calories I have burned. You can also set the monitor to alert you when you are below your target heart rate.

I started my journey March 15 at roughly 240 pounds and for the first couple of weeks i just lifted weights. About mid-april,about two months ago, I joined the YMCA and started a full body workout:

In order of succession: *****I do this every other day and run 3.5 miles at about the elliptical at roughly 6.5 miles an hour level1***

1.Machine Squats: Started out doing 3 sets of 10 reps at 95lbs now I am up to 5 sets 10 reps at 120lbs (smith machine aka squat machine)

2. Standing calf raises: Started out doing 3 sets of 10 reps at 95lbs now I am up to 5 sets 10 reps at 120lbs (smith machine aka squat machine)

3. Bent over rows : Started out doing 3 sets of 10 reps at 95lbs now I am up to 5 sets 10 reps at 120lbs (smith machine aka squat machine)

4. Hyper-extensions: Started out doing 3 sets of 15 reps now I am up to 3 sets 20 reps

5. Bench Press: Started out doing 3 sets of 10 reps at 95lbs now I am up to 10 sets 5 reps at 120lbs (I struggle with this not sure why????) (Olympic Bar =45lbs)

6. Barbell Curls: Started out doing 3 sets of 10 reps at 45lbs now I am up to 5 sets 10 reps at 55lbs (alternate between straight and ez(V) bar)

7. Upright Rows: Started out doing 3 sets of 10 reps at 45lbs now I am up to 5 sets 10 reps at 55lbs (alternate between straight and ez(V) bar)

8. Triceps Extensions: Started out doing 3 sets of 10 reps at 20 lbs now I am up to 5 sets 10 reps at 35lbs ( dumbbell)

9. Shoulder Press: Started out doing 3 sets of 10 reps at 30 lbs now I am up to 5 sets 10 reps at 50lbs (machine)

10. Incline leg raises: Started out doing 3 sets of 15 reps now I am up to 3 sets 20 reps

11. 3.5 mile run on the elliptical machine roughly 30 minutes on level1

On my off day I kick the cardio up to 7 miles roughly 30 minutes still on level1

Almost everything I eat is protein based you can check my diary to get an idea but generally i stick to 1750 calories and 200 grams of protein. I have lost almost 40 pounds of fat and added atleast 5-6 pounds of muscle judging by my chest and arms.

One of my favorite things to make (since it's so easy to reheat for lunch at work) is chicken breasts roasted in the oven with a little seasoning and then diced. I throw those into brown rice, along with black beans, broccoli, peas, and any other veggies I feel like eating (onions and carrots make it in sometimes).

It's *extremely* filling, and the only thing in there that has any significant amount of calories is the brown rice, so I tend to go heavy on the beans and veggies. The chicken is for protein, and the brown rice is for fiber (i.e. filling).

I find I don't need to eat much before I'm stuffed, and it's so delicious and full of nutrients. If you find it to be too dry, you can add a tiny bit of low-sodium (or sodium free) chicken stock.

It's also cheap. I got hooked on beans and rice when I was in college. You can get a huge bag of brown rice, black beans, and frozen veggies for just a few dollars, and it makes quite a few meals.

That pico de gallo recipe was amazing... except I didn't put garlic in, but still it was spicy! I can still feel the burn on my hands from holding the jalepeno. Oops! Ate almost a whole bowl of it for dinner, only used two tomatoes, a half of a half of onion, a little cilantro, half a jalapeno (which was too much, I found out), and some lime juice. Amazing! I wanna eat the rest...

Glad you like it! I find that if I remove the seeds from the jalapeno before dicing them up, it's a little less hot.

I also add pico de gallo to my salads sometimes. It adds flavor, and eliminates the need to use dressing.

Also try local farmers markets for inexpensive fresh fruits and veggies. Local farm stands to if you have any in your area. I never have a problem finding inexpensive produce and I live in a metropolitan area.

It's absolutely doable. I've lost 25 lbs. in less than two months, with no exercise (yet). Granted, I have a lot more weight to lose than you do, so yours may come off more slowly, but 30 pounds in six months is a very reasonable pace. The key for me has been portion control, and logging everything BEFORE I eat it. I've also eliminated sodas from my diet completely, and eat as few processed foods as possible.

I was not a big vegetable eater before, and made a conscious effort to learn to like them more. Now's the perfect time to start incorporating more vegetables in your diet. I highly recommend visiting your local farmers markets. While frozen veggies are fine, there's nothing like eating something that was just picked that morning. Get to know the vendors - they can offer good suggestions for cooking.

My favorite veggies are spinach, yellow squash, tomatoes, asparagus, carrots, and green beans. I also love pico de gallo, and add it to a lot of foods. Adding vegetables to your meals allows you to eat a lot more with few added calories.

I would look to minimise veges like potatoes, carrots, corn and peas - all are quite high in carbs.

Carrots are actually a lot lower in carbs than potatoes and corn, and are packed with vitamin A. They're very good for you.

Actually, you should remove the seeds. My boyfriend was telling me that if you eat the seeds, they will stick to the lining of your stomach and give you ulcers.... just a tip. I don't know if it's true or not, but it makes sense since those are the hottest part of the pepper. And even half was on fire in my mouth! My hands were burning too, almost the whole night. LOL

I don't think they actually cause ulcers - rather, they cause pain for people who already have an ulcer. Peppers are actually very good for you.

I feel you on the hand burning thing, though. It hurts! To avoid this, I buy some of those disposable latex gloves (dirt cheap), and wear them whenever I'm working with peppers. If you are allergic to latex, there are some alternatives available that do not have latex.