made it into the 100s first time since high school
 

Just weighed in at 198. I am 5'10" and 36. I reached my highest weight just over 2 years ago at 320. It feels great. I am sure I was risking diabetes and a lot of other bad effects and socially it is a nice thing to lose weight.

The hardest part was patience. It is just so damm important to be patient. It is terribly hard because your only going to lose weight gradually (if your smart) but you just have to be happy you are moving in the right direction.

Also, I don't want to be preachy, and I can only talk from my own experience but just doing the common tried and true stuff, even though its not sexy, or fast, or in a 30 dollar book or on Oprah is, in my mind, the only way to do it. Exercise, healthy food choices (I can post mine if anyone cares), lots of water, eating slow, eating small portions WILL WORK. The other stuff more or less (and mostly more) will NOT work. And diet in the sense of changing your eating for a time period where you are 'on a diet' will not work either. Diet in the sense of all the choices you make about food day in day out, is however, fundmental to the weight loss process. People would ask are you on a diet? And I would say, quite honestly, no but I am making better food choices. I am relating better to eating, I am more concious of my eating, but I was never on a diet. I am not going back to what I did before. I am quite satisfied food wise, perhaps more satisifed from food then I was before...now.

So I know its just semantics the word 'diet'. But I just wanted to point out 'dieting' in the narrow sense never, ever works. New food habits does work, IT WILL WORK. You just have to be patient and find the right combination of changes that works for you. I would just suggest you start from a doctor or the USDA not from any trendy book. The water/exercise/eat slow blah blah stuff is boring, I know, but it is the best advice you will ever get if you want to lose weight.

BTW i didn't see this section and I posted to the WW 100s by mistake and can't delete it, oh well, I am not on WW btw, just the common sense stuff we all hear worked for me. Honestly I did try mu huang stuff for like 3 weeks, felt ok, was only taking one or two a day (not the 6! they said to take) then said forget it, its not worth it. So basically just doing the tried and true stuff for these past 2 years worked for me.

fantastic job!! you are truly a success story! You have taken the worda out of my mouth of thinking this a diet tht is your first failure!!! it is changing your eating patterns!!

God, Congratulations
 

I hope to be like you when I grow up...

I think I am beginning to under about patience. I think that's why I stopped. But after gaining it all back and then some, and then hitting over 300 pounds, I just can't afford not to stick to it now. Again, congrats, and how long did it take you?



Mello1







308.6/272 lowest pt./301.8 wk. 1/150

It took 2 years plus a little
 

It took a little over 2 years to go from 320 to 200. That is perhaps too fast, and it does go in stages. I found that plateaus are very real and they are very frustrating. Your doing everything (or most everything right) and your staying at the same weight. This is where patience comes in. I knew, just from physics and biology and chemistry that plateaus are real, the body is compensating for a loss of calories, but that eventually I was physically going to lose weight if I kept burning more calories then I took in. Also, I was keeping my metabolism up by eating enough calories and exercising. That is another thing people do wrong, they take in too few calories, they don't lose weight because the body shuts down, and they can't maintain that few calories mentally. Better to lose weight slower, keep a healthy metabolism, and get enough calories that you can handle mentally making sure they are healthy calories.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Huge congrats on all of your hard work paying off. That is truly wonderful and inspirational for us all.

Babe.... WOW !!!!!!!!
I dream of that day. I hope you are truly proud of yourself and pat yourself soundly on the back for all your efforts. One day I too will join you in this process. Keep it up! What an inspiration you are to everyone, especially me! Those plateaus are awful and for a long time time yo- yoing is a very real factor until you get down to a point the body begins to re adjust. Even after you are at goal this can be a problem for a year! That is a problem I can't wait to fight with!!!!!!!!!!! You are amazing and I thaank God for all who have done so well it keeps the rest of us going!
God Bless you you have earned respect and admiration.
Pam

Just for the record...
 

Thanks for all the positive feedback. Not that it really matters but I am a guy. And I actually am looking pretty good. I would like to get down to around 185 but that seems like a pretty reachable goal given my context.

Larry

the journey is the destination.

Larry,

In your first post you mentioned exercise and healty food choices.
can you post some guidelines you followed?? I also believe that good food choices and excerise is the KEY to weight loss. I just need to get my self headed in the correct direction.

Congrats on you weight loss! Your post opened my eyes again, that it really can be done!

Heidi

food and exercise suggestions
 

The best exercise suggestion is that the best exercise is the one you actually do. It is a joke but also true. Broadly speaking it is best to get some cardio and strength training. Strength training is important not only for body shape; you'll be firmer and since muscle is dense..smaller (unless you get huge old-Arnold type muscles which is really unlikely unless that is your goal), and your metabolism goes up 24hrs a day since muscle cells burn more calories then any other type of cell. Walking is wonderful. I still don't run. Going to the gym or getting some weights at home works really well. I do my routine in under half an hour that includes 12 or so mintues on a rower. (Rowers rock btw, I am convinced 10 mintues on a rower is better then 30 or 40 mintues on a walking machine) I just do one rep get in and get out.

For food I really tried to completly and I mean completly get rid of empty calories. In other words why eat things that are just ok tasting but packed with fat and sugar? I cut out fast food (mostly). I still go out for fast food but cut out manyonise, get grilled chicken, etc. I replaced fried potato chips with baked. The lightly salted kettle potato crisps are awesome. I have the low-fat microwave popcorn with tabsco on it. I use fat-free salad dressings that taste great. I cut out non-fat milk and drink water or diet sodas. I eat a lot of salas with baked chips. Both low or no fat. I have soy ice cream, I like soy delcisious (spelling). But all of this stuff tastes great. There are enough healthy AND good tasting choices out there, that you never have to settle for bad tasting good choices. I am not a huge fan of the low fat microwave dinners, too much sodium and they taste like crap frankly. Lunch meats are an excellent choice with some sugar free whole grain bread and spicy mustard....yum yum and great for you. I grill chicken on a geogre foreman type grill, veggie burgers, steaks occasionally. If you have a Trader Joe's near you. ..lucky you. No TJs in Texas. If you do, go to one and hunt around for all the great tasting low fat stuff...Really there IS great low fat tasting stuff out there. Being a fan of salas helps a lot, its nature's low fat taste sensation but there is still plenty of other stuff out there.

Larry


the journey is the destination.