So I hope I haven't jumped the gun here, but I am finally seeing results. I have finally stayed on plan and as a result I have finally lost a significant enough amount of weight that I feel I can say I'm doing it. I am losing weight!

What is a bit confounding is why is is finally coming together? I have been trying to lose weight for a long time now. I am not doing anything different than what I have been trying to do all along. No special magic pill to make my will power stronger. But for some reason this time I am actually being successful. It simply clicked.

I am wondering if other people have had similar experiences and whether they can explain why it is happening this time.

My guess at why I am having success this time is that I am actually more focused on what I am doing right and more forgiving of myself when I do wrong. My dietary changes are what I have been trying to make them all along. But this time my goal isnt to not eat certain things. It's to ensure I eat a certain amount of the right things. And if I don't always only eat the right things its ok. I am getting the nutrients my body needs and trying to avoid foods that wont be a nourishment. But instead of focusing on avoiding things. I focus on ensureing I am eating others. And usually I dont eat the foods I would hope to avoid.

Share what finally worked for you. Maybe it can encourage others .

I think you answered your own question. You're sticking with it and putting in the effort. That ends what being what makes it wrok for all of us. Sometimes we need to change plans, eat more/less, exercise more, etc but in the end, it comes down to putting in the effort.

Sounds to me like you've changed you attitude towards food:

Congrats! Keep up the good work!!!

For me, it all came together when I started eating more. I have this stupid macho streak that makes me want to try to "outdo" everyone--it's this stupid need to prove that I am tougher than normal, whatever that is. So if others ate 1500, I'd eat 900-1200, by god.

And I couldn't sustain it. And the more often I failed, the more pathetic I thought I was, the less motivated I was to try again. It took 20+ years to figure out that it was ok to eat moderately on a diet--I didn't have to prove I could starve myself to deserve to lose weight. Once I figured that out, the weight just flew off. It's been the easiest diet I've ever been on.

Thank you so much for posting this- I found 3fc by googling "weight loss success stories" in a desperate hope to learn how to lose the weight (even though I have been an unsuccessful student of weight loss for 20 years). The reason I keep coming back to 3fc is for the stories from people who hit their goal. Of COURSE I know- calories in, calories out. But I know I need to find that thing that makes all the information click, and this is the best place for that. I think this time is different- I think I am learning slowly but surely. Being on these boards every day reminds me what I need to be doing, even what mindset I need to have. Maybe it will never "click" permanently- maybe I will always need to come on here to remind myself what the heck that it is I'm doing.

I have only a modest amount of weight lost since 5/10/10, and have surely lost more quicker on other plans. But from day one I have been making one change at a time, making sure each change is something I can keep for a lifetime. Like crossing a really shaky bridge! I know my success is real this time, instead of other crash diets, because I have been recording calories in and out. Before the loss was just water weight, etc. I also know that while I'm frustrated with my current weigh-in (1lb gain) and I would like to blame it on something else, I need to be honest with myself and find if maybe I underreported some calories or didn't eat any veggies.

Thank you for posting this! Good luck all on your journies, I am here for you

That's how it is for me. I was dieting in May, dropped 19 pounds and then sort of stalled. I kept trying to get back on the wagon but I'd always cheat and then out of nowhere, I got this surge of willpower and and I've been doing pretty good, sticking to my diet. It's weird.

For me, what clicked was realizing that I didn't have to be starving to lose weight, that I was going to have to eat my veggies AND that there are actually veggies I LIKE. I also realized that exercise doesn't have to mean killing myself. I can do six strength training exercise and notice results - I don't HAVE to do 20.

Really, I think it was about getting away from that "all or nothin'" mentality.

You know I have found its a bit of mystery why sometimes we just stay on track and other times it is so hard. This week I am away with my DH (he's on a business trip) and I am trying to find ways to stay OP instead of looking for an excuse to eat my way through the week! I've managed to go to the hotel treadmill each morning and bought healthy food for my lunches etc. I am trying to figure out why I sabotage myself every time I get within striking distance of going below 200. I was almost there 2 months ago, and once again I gained 5 pounds. Grrrr! I'm determined to break through that barrier once and for all.

Lor