So many great, strong chicks succeeding here. I know everyone is different, but I am curious as to how you've eventually gotten to and maintained your success.

1. How do you approach exercise? Do you go along with standard guidelines/ recommendations as to #of sessions a week? Do you set goals? Do you journal? Do you catch-as-catch-can?

2. If you had to chose - for one month - to stay on plan with either your food or your exercise, (i.e. you would have to drop one for the month) which would you chose to stick with, and why?

Thanks

As far as exercise I try to get 45 mins/day of cardio (running, Zumba or fitness hooping). I am planning to start incoroporating strength training in the near future as soon as I finish some physical therapy.

If I had to choose to not be on plan for one month, I would choose to stay on plan with food. I don't think my weight would change with one month of not exercising if I kept on plan with food. One month going crazy with food and I could be 10lbs up easily.

I don't exercise near enough.....that needs to change! I haven't journaled or counted calories, (although I'm generally aware of what I'm taking in, I don't log them). When I get close to goal, I may have to fanatically count calories....we'll see. All I did was cut out ALL junk food, and *minimize* fats: margarine and oils, dressings, cheese, etc. I'm eating plenty, it just doesn't have many calories. A potato, rice, or salad doesn't have many calories until we dump all the fat on. Doing things like getting non-fat dressing on the side and dipping my food in it, instead of pouring it on has helped. Last week, we went to the Spaghetti Factory and I love their butter and mizithra on the broccoli. I asked for it on the side and dipped it....probably took in 150 calories of butter and mizithra instead of 1000. If I had to choose, I'd stay on plan with food and give up exercise. Food is what makes you lose or gain.

I've kept 20 pounds off for almost 3 years now; I know that's not nearly on the scale of some of the incredible losses here, but my situation might be similar to someone else's. My DH is a phenomenal cook, and I love almost everything edible. Mindlessly enjoying his cooking and mostly having seconds more often than not, put the weight on.

1. I haven't embraced regular exercise quite yet. You won't ever find me doing hours of cardio a week unless it's lap swimming. My goals are more about functional fitness and getting body parts to be able to do the things they should. My cardio will eventually look like Sears' PACE program, with a 20 minute set a few times a week that includes several 30-sec intervals of maximum intensity. Lifting weights doesn't interest me, but body-weight exercises do. I'd much rather be able to haul myself over a 6-foot wall than do a bench press. Just in case I need to pull myself into a tree to escape a predator, y'know? I have a TRX system that I'm looking forward to playing with as soon as my shoulder completely heals. And I bought an Xbox Kinect, which has been screamingly fun and often quite sweaty.

2. I took it off with calorie counting, which taught me how to measure portion sizes. Paying attention to the quantity that I'm eating has been my key lifestyle change - my off-switch is not set right, so I can't count on my tummy telling me when I've had enough. Unless it's a steamed vegetable, I eat one serving that's "regulation sized". If it happens to be something that's very calorie-dense, I make an effort to eat smaller bites and to eat slower. I haven't done much in the way of exercise (working on that), but I know I cannot go back to my old way of eating, no matter how much exercise I programmed into my day.

1. How do you approach exercise? Do you go along with standard guidelines/ recommendations as to #of sessions a week? Do you set goals? Do you journal? Do you catch-as-catch-can?

I go 3-4 days a week lately. My schedule changes every few weeks and I just roll with it. I don't set specific goals... I just know my time in the gym keeps me sane. I keep trying to lift heavier, and run faster .

2. If you had to chose - for one month - to stay on plan with either your food or your exercise, (i.e. you would have to drop one for the month) which would you chose to stick with, and why?

As much as I LOVE my lifting time... I know it's not what keeps the weight off. If I didn't track my eating, I'd start packing lbs on fast. The calories keep the weight in check, the exercise makes me look good naked. I firmly believe that weight loss is about 80% kitchen, 20% gym.

1. I exercise about 3 hours a week. In the colder months I go to fitness classes and in the warmer months I wog (alternating between jogging and walking). My philosophy is that the best exercise regimen for me is the one I can maintain, so I don't worry at all about recommendations, ratio of aerobic to strength, etc.

2. I would drop the exercise, because if I gave myself free rein with eating there's no end to the damage I could do. (Like many people here, I have the capacity to ingest vast quantities of food.) That said, my eating plan is not restrictive at all. As long as my calories average out to about 2,000 per day, anything goes, including all-you-can-eat pigouts.

F.

Let's make it clear: My success rate is good, but not impeccable. I lost over 108 pounds and have kept all but about 10-15 pounds off since 2007.

Compulsively, with an almost superstitious belief that working out every single day can stave off massive regain. (It won't and hasn't kept my weight from creeping up slightly, but truth and facts have never stopped me from enacting certain rituals meant to assuage my anxiety.) Also I've learned it helps me work off stress and elevates my mood slightly in the mornings. I do pay attention to some experts' recommendations, though not slavishly. I do not lift weights on consecutive days. I try to mix up my cardio. I don't run as much as I'd like because my toe and knee joints can't take it. I record it here but nowhere else. My only goal is doing something every day.

Much as I swear by exercise, I know it's not really keeping my weight down. I know it's mostly about intake. I learned when I had to salvage stuff from my apartment after the flood that I could maintain or lose weight without exercising as much as I do. Also, when I was ill with an inner-ear virus that left me mostly deaf in my left ear, I had balance issues & debilitating vertigo. I didn't exercise until my system adjusted. (Your eyes eventually learn to make up for the loss of inner ear balance function.) I gained but lost it so quickly, it was as if it had never happened. So it's food, really.

What great achievements - Thanks to All for your posts.

Food prep has been my downfall. Especially lately. I have this ongoing cycle of eating well but not exercising, then exercising but not eating well. Part of this is because most of the places I go to exercise are not near where I live and so there's travel time involved. I need to use my neighborhood more.

I think not eating well is more damaging than not exercising. Gotta focus on this one...I want to be successful like all of you. I want to get to my 'goal'

How do you approach exercise? Do you go along with standard guidelines/ recommendations as to #of sessions a week? Do you set goals? Do you journal? Do you catch-as-catch-can?

Saef is reading my mind again!

I believe that, as well as helping me to maintain my weight loss, exercise helps to reset the hormones which regulate weight, as well as reduce anxiety and depression, which I came to realise long before I read about it here.

I exercise twice a day, with a mix of strength training (heavy lifting at the gym, kettlebell/bodyweight circuits, TRX/kettlebell circuits, TRX/sandbag circuits, strength/cardio circuits, or maybe some metabolic strength training) cardio (hiking, incline training, spinning, step aerobics, shadow boxing with weighted gloves, heavy bag workouts, MMA-inspired workouts, kickboxing, or sports drills), and other stuff such as yoga and Pilates.

I plan my workouts and keep a log, switching things around every six weeks.

If you had to chose - for one month - to stay on plan with either your food or your exercise, (i.e. you would have to drop one for the month) which would you chose to stick with, and why?

I'd stick to my food plan, but if I can't exercise I cut way back on calories. Since I lost weight, I've been through two major surgeries and a few injuries without regaining.

Have to agree with this.

90 pound loss maintained is awesome!
How much time a day do you spend exercising RedPanda? Thanks for your post.

I'm going to have to incorporate more at-home exercise sessions, because I've come to enjoy exercise - finally!

1.) I try to get out and do something active most days. I tend to have 1-2 totally motionless days each week, which I'm never thrilled about. I go to the gym 2-3 times a week and lift twice, and I try to get out and run a few miles on the bike path when I have time and the weather's nice. Since it's spring now, I like hiking and going on long walks outside on the weekends.

2.) A month huh? If I choose exercise does this mean I am required to binge wildly all day every day for that month? By this point, that would not be pleasurable at all and I don't think I'd do it. I almost feel worse for skipping activity than overeating, and it would be terrible to start over getting in shape.

1) I always try to be active and exercise has been a big part of my life since I was 16. I go to the gym four or five times a week, and usually do something outside of the gym one day a week. So 5-6 days I am exercising and I like to give myself one rest day a week. I never really sit around on that rest day though, I go for a walk I LOVE weight training and I lift heavy twice a week, do bodyweight exercises once a week and use some lighter weights once or twice a week, depending on what goes on in my group fitness classes.

I like to do what I like when it comes to exercise. I set goals for myself and try to make sure things are challenging. My general rule with weight training is: if I'm not sore the next day (or the day after that) then I need to up the weight.

2) It's a tough choice but I would have to stick with my eating plan. I know that's what makes or breaks me. I was fat and fit for YEARS and it wasn't until I got my eating under control that I lost a substantial amount of weight.

I have a deal with myself that I'll work out at least 4 times a week. I usually do 5 or 6. Mostly weight lifting.

I don't count calories or anything to maintain my weight, I just eat the way I learned to eat while I was losing weight. Small meals throughout the day, vegetarian, whole foods, lots of veggies and fruit. I don't really have a "plan" per se. This is just how I eat now. So I don't think I would be able to "take a month off", but I know if I did go back to eating pizza and chips, I'd regain fast. That's not an option. This was a lifestyle change. I have taken a month off from working out (moving) and my weight didn't change.

No, not binging, but not paying as close attention as usual. I guess the point of the question was to find out which of the two - food or movement - has more impact on weight

Up to 2 hours a day, plus a longish hike on the weekend. It averages out to about 15.5 hours a week.

Just adding - I know I don't need to do that much exercise to maintain my weight loss, but I figure my routine gives me some leeway if I have to skip a session due to work pressures or sickness.