I posted this is the 140's thread but I really would like to know from anyone... Obviously if you are in the 130's and 120's, you would probably have a lot of insight as well.

So here it is...

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Hello,


I am just trying to figure out what has been working for everyone.

What type of plan have you been using to get you where you are now?

Depending on where you are now, what has gotten you through each 10 pound zone?

For me:
200 - to the high 150's low carb
159 - 149 - Original fat smash
149 - 142 - Extreme Fat Smash

** then I had a little injury & a boyfriend.. that made me gain a little back

Anyway, fast forward, I started losing again with calorie counting now. So now I sit in the upper 140's and want out.

I can definitely say that eating my dinner early has helped a lot as well. Add calorie counting and a ton of exercise and that's pretty much what I have been doing.

I am just curious to see what works for everyone else, because sometimes I have to do things to "shake things up" !!!! I just figured sharing what we all actually do the lose the weight may be an idea that someone else can use to get things going!

I lost most of my weight counting calories. I used a site called fitday.com and read everything I could get my hands on. I learned an awful lot about nutrition, how my body works, how I feel when I'm eating what ...
From all those sources, I've come up with what appears to be working for me. I call it primal-ish
I prefer to keep my carbs low. Cutting all grain has made that very simple. Meat, poultry, fish, dairy, eggs, vegetables, a few fruits and some nice fats.
I walk. I like my elliptical and I should be lifting weights

I think I started eating this way about the end of February last year and have been in my size 2's and 4's since about early summer???

counting cals and excercising has done it for me... Good luck!

164-151 I just tried to eat more vegetables, fewer sweets, and to stop eating when I was full
151-142 Calorie counting and exercise

Thanks for all who posted so far..

For the ones who calorie count... do you remember what amount of calories you were eating through

140-130 range

then to get from

130-120 range

??

Right now I am usually around 1200.. maybe 1400 on high days. But I like to keep my claories low too. I try to pick the most filling foods for the least amount of calories.

I also TRY not eat too early in the morning unless I am starving. I like Waiting the closest to lunch time for my first meal works great for me...

1) It feels good to wait until I am actually hungry to eat
2) I have less time to go over my calories limit.

If I start eating my first meal when I get to work at 6am... then its a lot more challenging to stay around 1200 or so all day long. See what I mean?

If I start eating around 11am to noon... and I have my first meal, I don't get anxious over how many calories I eat because there are only a good 8 or so more hours left out of the day for me to be eating. If I consume foods that are really filling - I am not hungry all day long and its easier to keep my calories in check.

I can't give you the specifics you're looking for, but I love this thread idea!

I have stalled multiple times through this journey! The worst has been from October to just a few weeks ago. I think I finally broke it by cycling my calories and by taking an exercise break. I allowed myself to break my routine of diet and exercise from Christmas through New Years. The time just happened to be impeccable! I gained minimally during my little hiatus and lost it, plus it a little, quickly! It has been awesome. I was stuck between 158-159 and am now down to around 153.

I have tried decreasing my calories, which works, but if I go too low, I get no results.

I have tried changing up my exercise. That has worked before. It didn't work this time. This time actually stopping my routine and restarting again is what worked.

I have tried South Beach diet. It worked...but the weight came right back as soon as I reintroduced carbs. Ultimately, I like my diet plan, I just need patience.

I have alternated eating something before or after a workout. Sometimes that's enough to jump start a loss again.

I have gone from eating 3 meals a day to eating 6. Six works better.

I am calorie cycling now. I dip pretty low routinely, just because that's how I eat. I might eat only 1000 calories most days. But then I'll eat 1500-1800 a couple days a week now. That has made a difference like I had not expected.

I'm still experimenting!

Thanks for replying.. I spend a lot of time going though old threads to get ideas or searching through an individual's posts trying to figure out how they loss the weight. Then I just decided - why don't I just ask everyone what I want to know.. Haha.. I know we are all different but we are all focused on losing weight and good health, so its interesting to find what has pushed people through this weightloss journey!

Thanks again !!

i was told to eat something within 30 minutes of when you wake up to start your metabolism or you go into starvation mode

1200 cals and when I stalled and/or regained, I went looking for more nutritional information.
I used 40% protein, 40% carbs and 20% fats for a while.
Now, I don't count ... although now that I'm thinking about it I might have started Primal Blueprint at about 1500 cals. Yes, I think I counted to make sure I was getting enough protein and fat and little enough carbs. It's been almost a year, my memory is getting foggy.

I have read things of that nature, but I don't believe that whole starvation mode thing. I have lost almost 60 pounds and have never eaten within 30 minutes of waking.


I just don't believe in eating if you are not hungry.. That's probably what got me to get up to 200 pounds in the first place.. Well that and overeating/choosing the wrong foods..

For me, I usually wake up around 4am.. if I started eating at 4:30 a.m...oh my.. I would already be at at least 1200 calories by 12... hahaha.

There are so many rules/suggestions out here. I guess we gotta just sort things out, experiment, and see what works

I'm not big on calorie counting (although I counted for yesterday and the day before, I was hitting around 1300 a day). I just try to eat healthy and exercise (running and yoga). It seems to do the trick pretty well.