Sarasmaintaining Member

Weight loss is about calories and math. It is what it is and you can save yourself a lot of time and frustration if you just start there.

I lost almost 60lbs while drinking diet soda (switched from regular when I started losing weight). I still drink diet soda and I've been maintaining my loss successfully for two years now.

Looks pretty gosh darn good to me :) I've got nothing else, sorry lol.

I'm really trying to drink more water since I started this (I don't track it in my diary though), I'd like to up it even more over the next few days :)

my husband likes rum and coke but I've never tried it-might have to with diet coke :) I'm done for the night, but maybe tomorrow night!

I finished it a few weeks ago (before I was lc so no stats for that). It was challenging but a lot of fun and I may do it again on a harder level, on my days off from the 200 squat challenge that I just started :) I'm also eying the 25 pull-ups challenge!

One of things I needed to do in order to be successful at this whole thing, was to remove emotion from the scale. I've been a daily weigh-er for 3 years now, and the scale has been a useful tool not only during my weight loss phase, but also now that I'm in maintenance. It's part of my morning routine, like brushing my…

Lol :p

We went yesterday and the famiily shared a large bucket, while I sipped on Diet Pepsi. It actually didn't bother me-I just made sure I ate before we went so I wasn't hungry :)

If I did the conversion right, your 5ft, 3 inches? I'm 5ft, 6in and when I hit my original goal weight of 135lbs (down from the high 170s), I realized I still had a ways to go, and ended up settling with a maintenance range of 120-125lbs. Still in the healthy bmi range, but those last few pounds made a huge difference in…

I'm brand new to a woe of zero grains, a 40 sugar gram limit and a carb goal of under 100 grams a day, and I've gone shopping three times so far since Wednesday lol. I'm also on a tight budget so what I've bought so far- frozen veggie mixes at Dollar Tree!! I got several bags of pepper/onion blend, which will be great for…

Oooh, I never thought to use brown sugar in my tea, going to try that next time :)

This. Very cool group and everyone is super nice/supportive :)

Yep, when I started losing weight I switched from regular to diet and had no problems losing almost 60lbs and now I'm in maintenance still drinking diet (drinking a diet Mt Dew right now actually). Is there a reason why you want to cut it out? I have cut back on it, just because I'm a soda snob and have to have the brand…

From my understanding, reading the article, he was under a doctor's supervision during this time and he was morbidly obese (or close to it). That's going to be much different than say someone trying to lose 50lbs.

Weight loss is really about CICO. However, from there you have a lot of flexibility with the way you eat. If you don't have a medical reason for cutting down on carbs, then maybe just focus on calories right now? That's what matters for weight loss. I'm coming at this from the perspective of someone who's lost almost 60lbs…

From my own experience with alternate day IF and then 5:2, you're correct :) I only felt like I was 'dieting' every other day, or twice a week (when I transitioned from adf to 5:2 as I went into maintenance). The other days were normal eating days and this was a huge mental 'plus' for me. I really do think this is what…

The same Dr. Oz who was called to stand before Congress over his weight loss scams? That's an interesting choice for a weight loss mentor ;)

I'm also 5ft, 6in, had a starting weight of 178ish pounds. I did alternate day IF (JUDDD) for my weight loss plan-I rotated high/maintenance calorie days with low calorie 'fasting' days (under 500 calories usually). I've now been maintaining for two years with a different form of IF. My maintenance range is 120lbs-125lbs.…

Wow, long thread! But, without reading through the whole thing and just going off the title/first post-yes, in our society 'thick' is in, but so is T2 diabetes, heart disease, etc etc etc. Remember, smoking used to be really 'in', and look how that turned out. If you're in the healthy weight range for your height and age,…

I just figured this out today! My Home-Check In-Edit Previous Entries. From there I was able to change my starting weight to reflect my original weight. Now my ticker shows my entire weight loss, not just since I joined MFP this week :)

I second this-I'm brand new to this whole thing and it's fascinating! Thanks so much for sharing your own experience-it gives me a place to start as I start diving into this woe more :)

Just teasing, though that does make me sad to know. I'm not a big drinker, but hubby and I have a weekend tradition of putting the kids to bed, doing some light drinking (I'm a one can girl lol), and gaming. I'll have to find another drink choice-maybe wine? Small update-down another pound today and solidly in my…

Thanks everyone, loving the group and how helpful everyone is!

Dang it, no I didn't. You just ruined my weekend :(

Best post I've read all day :)

Yep, that about sums it up.

I think I've read just about all the 'experts' books-Ornish, McDougall, Furhman, Esselstyn (Sr and Jr), Campbell, Taubes, Sisson, Cordain, Wolf, Fallon, Atkins, Davis, Perlmutter, Mosley, Johnson, Verady and about 20 others.... From what I've gotten from them all is 1. they all push their way as the only way to eat, and if…

My carb goal is 100 a day too right now :) I'm feeling fine on no gluten. I've had a nasty head cold so withdrawal symptoms may have been masked by that though. Started feeling much better today from the cold (finally, after a week yuck), and at 9:30pm I'm full of energy (like legs bouncing in place energy!). Usually by…

The day I hit my original goal weight I realized I wasn't there yet. I decided to start transitioning into maintenance and up my calories, but to still eat at a deficit. Ended up losing 15 more pounds before I knew I had arrived (I actually lost a few more than this and didn't like how I looked so I gained a few pounds…