If you've been able to lose 20+ pounds...

[Photo Ninja]

I use LoseIt (online, like MyFitness Pal, with a convenient app on my phone) and have a FitBit to monitor my activity. I log everything I eat and all exercise. The FitBit has been a huge motivator to keep moving. I like to meet my goal of a minimum number of steps daily. I have lost 50 lbs since the middle of January, and have another 30 to go.

 

I keep to fewer than 100 g carbs/day, usually around 80 g or so. I cut out potatoes, pasta, rice, sugar, flour, grain for the most part. After the first month or so, I stopped missing them and am not tempted very often. I eat sweet potato a few times each month because I like those and they have more nutrition than white potatoes. I have 1/2 cup of fiber cereal daily with breakfast, but otherwise, no grain as a general rule. I eat lots of veggies, and most my carbs come from the 1/2 cup of cereal/milk and fruit. I choose filling foods, and have not been hungry at all.

 

I walk almost daily, up to 6 miles or so. It is difficult to come home from work and walk for up to 2 hours, but I enjoy it. It gives me time to think. If I run a bit, then it is shorter time commitment.

 

Another thing that has helped me is to be sure I expend 500 - 1,000 calories each day more than I eat. That is where the exercise comes in. As a general rule, you need to burn 500 cal/day more than you eat to lose about 1 lb each week, and burn about 1,000 calories each day more than you eat to lose about 2 lbs per week. Generally speaking, of course, because there can be other factors that affect weight loss. This obviously becomes more difficult when you are close to your goal weight, and is difficult if you don't exercise.

 

It is a lifestyle change. I still go out to eat, but choose foods that are mostly veggies and protein instead of pasta and fats. It's all about choices. I don't feel like I need carb heavy, fatty, sugary foods in order to have fun when out to dinner or out with friends. I try to put the focus on the people I am with, not the food and drinks. Occasionally, I will eat a piece of no added sugar pie, or a strawberry tart (usually leaving the crust). It satisfies my craving, and I still lose weight. I don't want to totally deprive myself, and as long as I do it seldom, it is a satisfying treat. I prefer the real food, so I don't eat no fat/artificial sweetener foods. I log all treats, too, so I see those calorie numbers. I may exercise a bit more that week to help cover the extra calories if I have a piece of pie or whatever. I usually drink water, along with some unsweetened iced tea or hot tea.

 

This may not work for everyone, but it is working well for me.

[LAmom]

Wow. Just had time to read all the helpful responses. Thank you! If I were to sum up what I got out of a lot of the posts it would be to watch carb intake, exercise, count calories or track what you are eating (portion control) and it is a lifestyle change and not a diet. I KNOW this stuff, it is just hard to implement. I know that it will be work and is self-denial...I guess the hardest part for me is that I can get quite shaky or irritable or even a little nauseous if I'm hungry. I have gotten a lot better, not needing constant snacks so I won't "crash." But, it can sometimes still be a trial. I don't think I'm diabetic (yet..). I've had these same issues while pregnant and passed the glucose testing for gestational diabetes. There is some issue there though. Hypoglycemia maybe? Or is it hyper? One of those...

 

Anyways, I will start writing down everything I consume and maybe even log how I'm feeling physically. Breakfast is very, very hard for me. While I like eggs, it is not always a convenient and fast breakfast, and I do get really sick of them. I have tried to like oatmeal but only find it edible with lots of brown sugar. LOL. Right now Bran Flakes from TJs with some added raisins holds me over until lunch. Though it is probably more than a portion. I also love yogurt with granola but that probably has more sugar than I should start my day off with. Maybe I could have that for lunch or should I avoid that completely? I will have to learn how to deal with the hungry feeling until my appetite decreases I guess. Years and years of eating portions way bigger than I should complicates this a bit. I know what carbs to avoid and may need to also eat more veggies and less fruit for snacks. I love fruit. :(

 

Thanks for sharing your experiences. I need to come up with a plan. My dh is on board and wants to lose weight, too. He wants to increase exercise and I want to change diet. So maybe we can encourage each other.

 

Is there something online that says how many calories I should try to take in? Do I really eat the same portions as a 5'8 skinny woman? I'm 5'10 and 240. Shhh, don't tell anyone that! I am completely out of shape, aging quickly (I'm 34) and probably going to have some kind of heart disease or diabetes or both. I hold up a pair of pants and CAN"T believe how huge they are. Blah. Really? So much easier to gain weight. Husband's side is filled with health problems, high BP, heart attacks, diabetes, etc. :( We need to get ourselves together.

 

OKAY. Portion control. Healthy low carb foods. More protein and healthy fats. Definitely more veggies. Exercise. I can do it, right? Have been only trying on and off for 10 years! :tongue_smilie:

[4everHis]

I did Atkins about 2 years ago. We followed it strictly, and I lost all I wanted to quite quickly - about 15 kilos, just over 30lbs I believe. I've tried calorie controlled diets & exercise and was never able to lose those last 8ish kilos (15 lbs ish I think). When I cut carbs and sugar it just fell off. It also came back on when I started eating them without restriction again (I fell pregnant).

 

I want to try it again when I finish breastfeeding this next baby - so a good 18 months away yet! - but with a better stabilizing/exit plan. I do not want to be trapped in atkins-land forever (though the theory works amazingly for my body) and I do not want to be paranoid about food/weight.

 

this made me chuckle :laugh:

[trudence1]

I also have lost just over 20 pds mostly using MyFitnessPal....logging everything, food and exercise, and have kept it off for over a year now. I had tried just logging my food in a notebook in the past, but that didn't work. I didn't realize just how calorie packed some foods are...MFP opened my eyes to so many things.

[kwickimom]

Wow. Just had time to read all the helpful responses. Thank you! If I were to sum up what I got out of a lot of the posts it would be to watch carb intake, exercise, count calories or track what you are eating (portion control) and it is a lifestyle change and not a diet. I KNOW this stuff, it is just hard to implement. I know that it will be work and is self-denial...I guess the hardest part for me is that I can get quite shaky or irritable or even a little nauseous if I'm hungry. I have gotten a lot better, not needing constant snacks so I won't "crash." But, it can sometimes still be a trial. I don't think I'm diabetic (yet..). I've had these same issues while pregnant and passed the glucose testing for gestational diabetes. There is some issue there though. Hypoglycemia maybe? Or is it hyper? One of those...

 

Anyways, I will start writing down everything I consume and maybe even log how I'm feeling physically. Breakfast is very, very hard for me. While I like eggs, it is not always a convenient and fast breakfast, and I do get really sick of them. I have tried to like oatmeal but only find it edible with lots of brown sugar. LOL. Right now Bran Flakes from TJs with some added raisins holds me over until lunch. Though it is probably more than a portion. I also love yogurt with granola but that probably has more sugar than I should start my day off with. Maybe I could have that for lunch or should I avoid that completely? I will have to learn how to deal with the hungry feeling until my appetite decreases I guess. Years and years of eating portions way bigger than I should complicates this a bit. I know what carbs to avoid and may need to also eat more veggies and less fruit for snacks. I love fruit. :(

 

Thanks for sharing your experiences. I need to come up with a plan. My dh is on board and wants to lose weight, too. He wants to increase exercise and I want to change diet. So maybe we can encourage each other.

 

Is there something online that says how many calories I should try to take in? Do I really eat the same portions as a 5'8 skinny woman? I'm 5'10 and 240. Shhh, don't tell anyone that! I am completely out of shape, aging quickly (I'm 34) and probably going to have some kind of heart disease or diabetes or both. I hold up a pair of pants and CAN"T believe how huge they are. Blah. Really? So much easier to gain weight. Husband's side is filled with health problems, high BP, heart attacks, diabetes, etc. :( We need to get ourselves together.

 

OKAY. Portion control. Healthy low carb foods. More protein and healthy fats. Definitely more veggies. Exercise. I can do it, right? Have been only trying on and off for 10 years! :tongue_smilie:

 

MyfitnessPal will tell you how many calories you can have. Just keep in mind it is set up for you to eat your exercise calories. It has a calorie deficit built in. Exercise calories are a bonus. There are also 100 other calculators if you Google. All are pretty much the same.

The one thing I have learned- unless you are bedridden do not set your activity to sedentary.

[Melissa in NC]

I have not read all the replies so forgive any repeats.

 

I have lost 12 lbs and I am aiming for 10 more. Part of my motive is my doctor talked to me about my cholestorol and family history of heart disease. I really want to hold my grandkids. So motivations helps.

 

I added walking on the treadmill 3 times a week. My DH got me a heart rate monitor which estimates calories burned. I walk until I burn 150 calories while watching Netflix on my laptop. (Yoga flip works nicely.)

 

I use the app My Fitness Pal to monitor my calories and I do not restrict what I eat by group. I restrict my diet by asking myself if it is worth it to eat this item. My doctor put me on 1400 cal per day based on my size and gender. I still eat chocolate but I find a small piece satisfies me without blowing my calorie count out the window. I do not eat donuts because for the calories I do not find them satisifing enough.

 

It has become about finding a new normal. I do splurge without beating myself up. I feel better and I am looking forward to my next blood test.

[Hwin]

I track what I eat on myfitnesspal. There is no way I would lose weight if I just eyeballed my food and guessed at calories. I could easily eat 3000 calories/day :) Now I am in the 1400-1800 range, eat what I like, but adjust my portions.

 

I have been doing Zumba for a while, and get cranky when I have to miss a class. I do Couch to 5K with my 7 year old. We are starting week 8 tomorrow and can run 25 minutes straight now (it's a very mild progression...) Exercising feels good now that it's become a habit.

 

Editing to add that I have lost 40lbs over 8 months. I've had a couple of plateaus where I didn't lose, but my body slimmed up. I'm quite happy with the way this is going.

[DarlaS]

I haven't been exercising much because quite honestly I hate exercise.

 

Hope some of this helps.

 

 

The good news is that too much cardio makes you more efficient at conserving energy. IOW you end up burning less calories while exercising because your body gets used to it. This is the opposite effect we hope for, but it makes sense if you think about it.

 

Cutting calories has the same effect (reduced metabolism).

 

What I am doing is cutting calories very moderately, doing some weight lifting (with weights that will not fit into my purse. ;) ) and limited cardio. I've only lost a little so far, but this is something I can live with. I'm tired of losing weight only to gain it back. I no longer care how long it takes. I've only been doing the weight training since May and keeping track of my portions about a week or so.

 

The thing that makes me happiest so far? Less pain. I can go barefoot in my house on my hard floors again and not have sore knees before breakfast. That happened FAST. (I'd only been doing this about two weeks when I noticed.)

 

Oh, and intense short period of cardio are supposed to be more effective at fat burning than the old "target heart rate for 30 minutes" method.

[Venia]

LA mom - I went through a very similar thing with the shaking/grumpiness/weakness. It really is your blood sugar and you are likely in the pre-diabetic stages. Its time for change..and now! Whats happening is that you consumed too much sugar in your last meal. So you body responded by making a ton of insulin which then lowers your blood sugar too low causing those symptoms. Then in response, you crave more sugar/carbs and likely sooner than you would have normally. Its a vicious cycle that is going to cause major problems. When you balance out your meals, your body will stop overreacting and you will feel less hungry between meals. Think of sugar as an "addicting drug" that the more you take in, the more you want. The reality is you CANNOT avoid it, but you can be the "master of it".

 

I fully admit to be an addict and the first step of overcoming that addiction was realizing I was having a problem and feeding my addiction......which was going to kill me off before my time.

 

One of the biggest learning curves for this is to realize that some foods sound healthy, but really are packed full of sugars and fats.

 

 

The "Tons of Sugar" not so healthy list that is usually sold at supermarkets in the "healthy" department:

 

Packaged Granola loose and bars

Flavored Yogurt

Packaged Dried fruit (yes some brands of raisins too)

Canned or cupped fruit (Corn syrup...arg!)

Packaged flavored oatmeal

Packaged Nut Butters

Juice and its frozen counterpart

Packaged Soy milk & almond milk

Cereal

Bread (bread is terrible for salt too..Your heart will thank you for reducing this one!!!)

Salad dressing (yes lets have a healthy salad and drown it in sugar! not)

 

 

Now that I have depressed you, the good news is that you can have these things......make them yourself:

 

Rolled or steel cut oats (add a smidge of honey and nuts to make your own granola, oatmeal of course..eat in small portions always)

Fresh or whole frozen fruit (add it to plain yogurt for flavoring, blend it to make syrup or spread, freeze it, juice it, dehydrate it, love it, balance it always)

Whole nuts (eat a few in morning for protein, crush them into paste/spreads, add flax seeds or meal for an added boost, lignans for the win!)

Pick the right soy or almond milk..look for no added sugars or salts. flavoring is A-OK

Bread whole wheat, shop around or make your won. Low salt, low sugar, low intake

Balsamic vinegar is my "nectar of the salad gods" find yours (add boiled eggs to salads for a protein punch).

[Georgiana Daniels]

At one point I lost over 20 pounds by going low carb. Of course, that's not working for me now, so it's not always a sure thing, lol.

 

OP, it sounds as though you're currently eating a lot of "junk." If that's the case, start with cutting out the ice cream, etc and see how that works for you before making more drastic changes. Make time to get out and move every single day, regardless of weather. Those two small changes will likely yield good results in the beginning, and after you establish those good habits you can move on to more.

[Mom-ninja.]

My dh has lost over 20 lbs so far. He stopped eating most carbs. He does not eat any grains or grain products. This means no wheat products, no rice products, no corn products, and so forth. He stopped eating beans. He stopped eating sugar so no ice cream.

 

I've tried to make ice cream with stevia. Yeah, did not work.

 

He upped his protein and fat so he's not hungry. So for a snack he has celery sticks with peanut butter (no sugar) or cream cheese (full fat regular kind) instead of a banana. He used to eat a banana as a snack everyday but they are high carb.

 

He does eat fruit. However he sticks with lower carb fruit. I have a list printed on the fridge. He doesn't eat much fruit though and he is limited due to his allergies.

 

An example of a typical day for him is 2 fried eggs (in bacon grease) with salsa (check sugar content in salsa) for breakfast with coffee with heavy cream in it. No sugar. Morning snack is celery with cream cheese or nut butter. Lunch is a salad which is usually mixed lettuce, bell peppers, cheese (feta or something like that), maybe some nuts or diced meat. His salad dressing is balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Nothing else. Afternoon snack is usually a handful of nuts (little or no salt). He also really like kimchi. I make low carb dinners and then add a bit of carb as a side dish for the kids.

 

Tonight is talapia fillets with asparagus, kale (sauteed in olive oil and garlic), and cucumber salad (oil, vinegar, and spices for dressing).

 

I'm sure of he upped his exercise he would lose more faster.

[beaners]

Anyways, I realize I may have to try to squeeze in time to exercise. Boo. I do have a treadmill that I could use (I just hate it...). Going for a walk with the kids does not get my heart going fast.

 

 

You've gotten tons of great advice. I just want to say that walking with the kids is better than sitting on the couch! It's good for them too, both for the exercise and building healthy habits.

[Perry]

Ideal protein diet. My husband's PA provides this service, and she's seeing some really amazing results. It's only available through a medical provider. I started it a week ago, and have lost 6 pounds so far.

[SwallowTail]

I have lost a ton of weight doing low carb and paleo more than once. This, compared to my previous experience on a strict 1200-calorie diet + 3 hours hard exercise daily, convinced me that calories in-calories out is not exatcly "true" and is not necessarily the best way to lose weight or to maintain weight loss. However, even with South Beach and Paleo, I have found that eventually these strict diets gut your metabolism. It is nearly impossible to keep the weight off for a long period of time, and it often starts creeping back on even if you are still eating very strictly. There is evidence that they crash your thyroid and your adrenals.

 

 

There are a lot of newer books and blogs coming out citing that most "diets" put your body into long-term starvation mode, and that we simply are not feeding our bodies enough to be healthy and active, which result sin low energy and calorie hoarding by our bodies.

 

Check out GoKaleo - her blog describes her jjourney from weighing 220 pounds to being an extremely, extremely fit and beautiful 170 pounds. She eats 2500-3k calories per day, and works out with heavy weights. It is hard for me to wrap my head around, but since everything else has failed me long term, I am trying it gradually!

http://gokaleo.com/

[Jennifer3141]

The only thing that has ever worked for me was WW. I need that accountabillity.

[Bear23]

My husband got me the Nike+ and I walk a lot. Someday I will run but right now lots of walking. I also go to our base gym and like the elliptical over the treadmill. We plan to buy a nicer elliptical after we buy a house. We had one before but it was a WalMart special that we gave away when we moved overseas What is working for me is the counting of calories and keeping all meals under 500 calories and limiting my yummy treats like ice cream on Sundays and having my cheat meal either at breakfast or lunch. I also keep track of what I eat and activities. I am not loosing as fast as I want to but I am slowly making progress. Instead of loosing my 50 pounds in three months, I am going to six months.

[Jennay]

Here's an article that addresses the reasons behind hypoglycemia and how it relates to diabetes, etc. I am on this same journey - after two major hypoglycemic episodes in the past month when I didn't make good food choices I realized I no longer have a choice. It's low-carb, no sugar, protein, & good fats for me from now on. I also have about 50 pounds to lose. http://www.westonaprice.org/diabetes/treating-diabetes

[Alyeska]

Google the No S Diet.

 

No seconds

No snacks

No sweets

except on days starting with S.

 

This is the one and only diet I have tried without feeling deprived. Deprivation is my downfall, I give in once, and then fall totally off the wagon. With No S, I know I can eat that treat on the weekend and it won't be any big deal. I've lost 4 pounds in two weeks.

[wapiti]

Here's an article that addresses the reasons behind hypoglycemia and how it relates to diabetes, etc. I am on this same journey - after two major hypoglycemic episodes in the past month when I didn't make good food choices I realized I no longer have a choice. It's low-carb, no sugar, protein, & good fats for me from now on. I also have about 50 pounds to lose. http://www.westonapr...eating-diabetes

 

Thank you for this link! It reminds me of Taubes.

[DarlaS]

There are a lot of newer books and blogs coming out citing that most "diets" put your body into long-term starvation mode, and that we simply are not feeding our bodies enough to be healthy and active, which result sin low energy and calorie hoarding by our bodies.

 

Check out GoKaleo - her blog describes her jjourney from weighing 220 pounds to being an extremely, extremely fit and beautiful 170 pounds. She eats 2500-3k calories per day, and works out with heavy weights. It is hard for me to wrap my head around, but since everything else has failed me long term, I am trying it gradually!

http://gokaleo.com/

 

 

You might just be surprised at how much you love it. Check out Starting Strength from the library and give it a good looking over before you get too serious. Also The New Rules of Lifting for Women has good information (The workout looks unnecessarily complicated to me.).

 

And don't let personal trainers try to convince you that women should only lift weights that weigh less than their purse. How did that idea ever gain acceptance?! It's a rare woman who gets bulky, and it would certainly take enough time that you'd notice it first. And really, who cares? I, for one, am already bulky! At least you won't be bulky, weak and in pain.

 

I just started early May, and can deadlift 110 lbs (one time! lol!). I've had a shoulder injury, so I'm taking it slow. (Really slow with overhead presses.)

 

Oh, and check out her vids. If that's not soft and feminine enough for the masses, too bad. I bet she eats too. :thumbup1:

 

 

 

[ailysh]

I lost my pregnancy weight this way:

1. Try to listen to my body. Am I really hungry or do I just feel like eating. Never eat while distracted ie watching tv.

2. No snacks after nine pm. Just water to drink.

3. I don't use no calorie sweeteners. Instead I gradually reduced my intake of sugar. Now most things taste too sweet.

4. Smaller portions. A true serving of meat is the size of a deck of cards.

5. Start exercising. I started running on my treadmill for one minute then walking for ten every day. From there I gradually increased to 30 minutes run/walk. The following year I ran my first half marathon. All very gradual.

6. Think of it as making little permanent changes.

 

Good luck!

[xixstar]

Haven't read other comments, here is my approach.

 

To be at an ideal weight I need to lose 90 pounds but I'd settle for 75. :) I've done drastic things in the past like going Primal/Paleo and I did feel awesome and I dropped 35 pounds in a few months without much effort beyond eating, but it wasn't a sustainable approach for me (and gained it all plus 10 more in a few months). Yeah, I liked feeling great eating that way but I hated that I felt like I had to constantly think about food. So, I finally got to the point that I just take the best of things - I try to keep my grain intake a low as possible and my veg and protein up high. I also like real foods and full-fat foods and I don't restrict those - I basically work very slowly to make all my choices better.

 

I also started moving more. In January I started going to the gym 6 days a week and that gradually worked down to 3-4 days a week at this point but I've been able to keep it up. And in all that time, I've lost little weight which was highly frustrating except for the fact that I feel awesome and my strength and fitness is awesome. I can now jog for almost 30 minutes straight and when I started just going 2.5 minutes was awful (couch-to-5k program has been good for me). I also do a lot of weight lighting/strength training because I enjoy it more and it doesn't wipe me out as fast. I've watched massive improvements in that department (going from lifting barely 4,000 pounds in a session to lifting 25,000 pounds a session).

 

So, I've stopped gaining weight which had been going on for a couple years and have been losing, very slowly. Last I checked I was just down about 12-15 pounds but I stopped checking religiously because I was getting very depressed when the scale didn't move. But in that time I've lost 15 inches which is actually a fair amount and I can see the difference. And I feel different.

 

I know that I will get to the point I need to be at and it won't be because I'm on a diet or on some new exercise kick. It is because in the past 6 months I have made slow but steady and consistent steps to improve my overall health. I still eat more ice cream than I really should (like it shouldn't be a daily treat) but I'm still okay with that for now, maybe later I'll have a couple times a week instead. But to me, when I hit deprivation mode or over-ambitious exercise mode, I can't keep it up. I've found that I can keep up some diet changes and moving a lot more than I was before.

 

These are some very, very slow changes and at times I get depressed when I hear of people losing 45-65 pounds in the same amount of time. But in the many years of on-again-off-again focus on improving my body, I can tell this is the method that is going to win in the end. I could dial things up and get drastic but I know it'd all fall apart in a few months, this slow method is right for me.

[DavidArchuletaFan]

I lost 120 pounds in 2012.

Most of that with hardly any exercise. Food choices are a much bigger part of the equation than the measly amount of calories you burn during exercise. That's not to say exercise isn't important - it's incredibly important for all sorts of reasons - but in terms of weight loss, focus on what you put into your body.

 

All sorts of weight loss programmes will help people lose weight - because when you look closer, people are actually simply consuming less calories than they used to. Losing weight really is a mathematical equation. Eat less calories than you burn and you will lose weight.

 

There is so much I could say about all I have learnt over the years (I also once lost over 40 lbs on weight watchers and helped to run several meetings every week, I've read lots, listened lots, watched lots and observed lots) and I could go into details about how I lost 120 lbs (without weight watchers), healed my health problems and am maintaining my weight ....but there is one thing I have learnt (even right here on these boards too actually lol) ....and that is people are going to do what they want, think what they want, pick and choose what they want regardless. That's not necessarily a bad thing either, everyone has to do what resonates with them right.

 

My only advice I would give is....focus on HEALTH, and the weightloss will follow. Too many weightloss programmes are not healthy, they are just temporary band aids to an aesthetic problem. Many weight loss programmes will say their participants cholesterol dropped etc on their programme, but that is often simply a result of having lost excess weight rather than the programme being healthful over the long term. The other thing I would say is GET EDUCATED about health, diet and wellbeing. One person said...Make health your hobby. Imagine if you made health your hobby and every day you woke up and focused on feeding and doing for your body only those things which made it sing with vitality and vibrancy and energy. Weight loss would surely follow. My last piece of advice - vegetables and fruit are your BEST friends. make them your constant companions, fill your life with them till there is no room left for all those yucky life sucking foods that drag you down.

 

All the best! :-)

[kubiac]

Portion size.

 

Frequent exercise.

[DavidArchuletaFan]

Anyone with diabete's issues should read this book by Dr Neal Barnard:

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1594868107?ie=UTF8&force-full-site=1&ref_=aw_bottom_links

 

There are other Doctors, Scientists and organizations who give the same advice. Diabetes can be significantly improved within one month. It is a lifestyle disease.

 

In a very brief way....he explains how cells in your body have doors with a key lock. If the key lock is jammed with gluggy fat, the door can't be opened and so the sugar can't get into the cell to be metabolized and instead hangs around in the blood stream causing blood sugar issues. Cut the fat and your body can metabolize the sugar.

[MIch elle]

Atkins