Let me know how you lost weight?
 

what helped you lose weight??
what motivated you?
what was your routine?
what exercises did you find helpful?

I used the exchange program, specifically the Richard Simmons program of healthy eating and exercise. I bought and used some of his exercise videos and his Foodmover.

I also walked a lot, and I joined Curves for Women.

I wanted to be as healthy as possible for as long as possible. It worked for me. :wave: :)

For me I definitely pay attention to calorie intake and expenditure. I don't sweat too much where they come from, just what they are. However that does encourage you to weigh food choices for sure! If you are trying to reduce overall calories you are more mindful about how you use them.

My motivation is in part living alone and trying to be sure I am aging as healthy as possible and in part the death of a phenomenal woman about 2 months ago. She died in a climbing accident. She used that body of hers to its best potential and it reminded me to keep mine in top form because you really never know how long you have to enjoy it.

I can't say I have a specific routine. I tend to be a little unscheduled by nature.

Calorie counting and regular exercise. The regular exercise came first and when I started counting calories I started losing weight.

what helped you lose weight?? Eating less and working out.
what motivated you? My husband and I really want another baby. But my last pregnancy was so difficult (I'm blaming being obese) and I'm really hoping that if I can get into better shape that the next pregnancy will be easier. Now that I've lost a bit of weight I want to start training for the Wichita Marathon which is in October.
what was your routine? I started walking an hour 5 days a week. I have worked my way up to a 15% incline on the treadmill and am now up to 3mph for almost the whole hour. I just added 3.5mph for 10min today. It's killer! I also do weights, mostly arms as my legs get a pretty good workout with the incline walking, 3 days a week.
what exercises did you find helpful? Walking and weight training.

im debating on buying the workout dvd called insanity workout has anyone done it and saw or got results?

Initially calorie counting and incorporating interval exercise. I bought a food scale and weighed and measured everything!
I lost regularly, but slowly.
I'm now doing South Beach Diet with fantastic results.

What helped?

Running
WeightWatchers
Calorie counting
Clean eating (very little processed/take out food)
Protein and low white carbs

What motivated me?

Me
Old pics of me not obese (very old pics lol)
Revenge

Routine?

Prepare breakfasts/lunches ahead of time
Varies, but daily exercise, mostly running, some bootcamps and plyo workouts

what helped you lose weight?? : Calorie counting mostly, exercise
what motivated you? : I was tired of being dissatisfied with myself, I was bored of feeling sorry for myself, My life was in flux at the time and my health and appearance was something I felt like I could take control of.
what was your routine?: Calorie-counting 7 days a week- 6 days in weight loss mode, 1 day (my cheat day) eating at maintenance level. I worked out a lot too. Anywhere from 4-7 days a week. But to be honest, in terms of the scale, diet was more effective than exercise. In terms of toning up, exercise was important.
what exercises did you find helpful?: Cardio mostly. I don't really like weights at all. I do some body resistance strength training and light weight work. But mostly cardio. I started with C25K, a running programme, I still run, and do the elliptical but mostly I do workout videos (all of Jillian Michaels and I'm just getting into Kickboxing and loving it!)


im debating on buying the workout dvd called insanity workout has anyone done it and saw or got results?
I haven't yet got Insanity (although the programme is definitely on my wishlist- expensive though :( ) but I am quite familiar with the programme and have who has used it and have done a couple of the workouts a couple of times. It's really really intense cardio so I would ask you first how fit you are. It is NOT really a programme for beginners. You really should be in pretty decent shape (minimum: intermediate-advanced exerciser) to even attempt it in order not to hurt yourself or get too discouraged. However, I suppose a beginner could do it and pace themselves and take lots of breaks even though it would lose a little of the insane intensity of the workout. Results-wise people who've done it said they didn't lose much the first month but they did lose quite a bit the 2nd month. There are many other effective yet less "insane" workouts you could do if you are not sure about your fitness level. Ultimately though, for weight loss-type results, it's mostly diet, exercise will however tighten your body up if you're eating right. I saw in another thread, you mentioned you'd begun working out more. What kinds of workouts are you doing now? What's your fitness level?

on my fitness level not too sure on the treadmill i can run at 3.6 mph for a whole mile and ive done the advanced zumba but i feel like its the same routine over and over that its doing no change in me

what helped you lose weight?? I stopped eating so late, started restricting my carbs, wrote down what I ate so I can see where my calories come from, made better choices and got my active.

what motivated you? The fact that I am going to be 30. I don't want to spend my 30's fat, miserable, and unhealthy. My children, especially my daughter, is my daily motivation. Plus, feeling sexy again would be GREAT!

what was your routine? I started by doing Wii Just Dance 1 and 2 just to MOVE. Then, I started doing biggest loser dvds and now am doing Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred. I am active every single day unless I am extremely sick.

what exercises did you find helpful? Push ups for my chest and back, squats for the thighs, boxer punches for arms, crunches for stomach. Plus combos and honestly, everything Jillian Michael has to throw at me.

Well the best kinds of workouts are the ones you'll do. What do you prefer? Do you like to run, do you want to build your speed on the treadmill? Do you enjoy dancing, do you love the zumba? If you want to go down the BeachBody route, you may want to try Turbo Jam. It's cardio, kickboxing, but contains a healthy amount of hip-shaking and is incredibly fun to get into. From there maybe you could do Turbo Fire. And after that maybe Insanity or p90x. I do like the BeachBody programmes.

However, if you're trying to build a workout library you have many cheap options available (on Amazon and ebay) that will give you a lot of variety. Definitely check out Jillian Michaels' stuff if you don't already have it. She is challenging but really effective. Not as fun maybe as the Turbo series but she'll work you hard. I particularly like Banish Fat Boost Metabolism but 30 Day Shred and No More Trouble Zones are pretty excellent. You can mix and match the three and come up with your own workouts. For the longest time all I did was running and Jillian Michaels dvds and a some yoga.

If you really want to try Insanity AND can get it at a good price, then do. But if you're just starting out, there's so many options out there available that are super effective without getting insane about it just yet.

By the way, congrats on your successes so far!!!

What helped you lose weight?? I started on Phentermine almost two tears ago for four months so I would see some action. When I went off, the weightloss stopped until I started calorie counting. I work out in a small group training class where we do interval training with weights and cardio and I run now.

What motivated you? I couldn't keep up with my new coworkers walking and I didn't like what the camera was showing.

What was your routine? I go to the gym 3x a week and work out for an hour, lifting weights and timed sprints and running on the treadmill. I do some street running as well.

What exercises did you find helpful? Weightlifting in combination with short bursts of intense cardio and running.

what helped you lose weight??

Logging foods (counting calories), low carb eating, a treadmill desk.

what motivated you?

I wasn't happy with how I looked, I had entered the obese category, my father passed away from complications due to diabetes, I wanted to be a good role model for my daughter and I wanted to enjoy a healthy retirement.

what was your routine?

Meal routine: A set of low carb go-to meals, with a target of 1200 - 1500 calories/day. Eating out limited to about once a month. Exercise routine follows.

what exercises did you find helpful?

Walking the dog and spending hours on my treadmill desk every day (like right now).

what helped you lose weight?? Dramatically changing my diet, then counting calories. Education

what motivated you? Health, vanity, relationship status.

what was your routine? Tracked everything

what exercises did you find helpful? Weight lifting, brisk walking

what helped you lose weight?? I started with counting calories. Then I did a bunch of research and decided the Weight Watchers Points Plus was the healthiest diet (counting calories doesn't take into consideration all of the other things necessarily, which I'm uncomfortable with). I don't go to meetings. I just use the apps on my phone that help me track points (and calculate).
what motivated you? Looking at pics and seeing how DISGUSTING I looked. Also wanted to be a better example for my son.
what was your routine? Other than following the Points Plus system, whatever I felt like. Some days I veg out in front of the TV with the laptop. Other days I do Zumba. I just recently took on walking at least 1/2 mile per day for a minimum of 3 days/week. Also... sit ups every morning.
what exercises did you find helpful? Anything other than finger exercises (typing/texting) and mouth exercises aka talking nonstop.

what helped you lose weight??

Counting calories and exercise!

what motivated you?

My health! I was hospitalized and the results of that stay and other tests that were run made me realize I was really ruining my health. I wanted something else for my life.

what was your routine?

I do Pilates and Spinning 3 times a week for 60 minutes. I ride (road bike) for about 60-90 minutes once a week. Sometimes more, if I have time.

what exercises did you find helpful?

The ones I do.

Calorie counting, carb counting and sometimes both at the same time.

I don't like being fat.

Walking and weight training. Weight training is awesome for losing weight and changing your body. I do some Geocaching which involves walking and hiking. I'm thinking about trying out biking but I haven't really been on a bike for longer than two minutes since I was a little girl. I have fibromyalgia so I don't tend to do anything too strenuous. I'm already in pain so I have to take it easy.

Calorie counting is how I lose weight. I was motivated by constantly being depressed about my weight. Finally I summoned the willpower to do something about it. I don't really exercise consistently, just my elliptical every now and then. Exercise makes me sooo hungry all day, so right now I'm concentrating on diet, and will readdress fitness at a later time :)

Hi Delilah,

I've only started my new lifestyle a month ago, so I don't feel I'm ready to give advice yet regarding what works and whatnot.

However, regarding the Insanity workout: it's rather intensive, at least I feel it is.

I know everyone is different, but my starting weight isn't so different from your current weight, and I don't know what your current level of fitness is, but a few of the workouts that are effective (p90x, Insanity) are not for the faint hearted or physically unfit. At least that's my opinion... I had not exercised in a long time, apart from jogging 1 hour now and then and I tried to do p90x and I really couldn't find the muscle strength to do it. I switched to something that was within my range, both in terms of difficulty and available exercise time (30 day shred).

what helped you lose weight?? Counting calories and eating out less

what motivated you? My laptop (I started on changing things when I started to get back fat that made it uncomfortable to use my laptop) and the changes I see along the way keep me going. :)

what was your routine? Reasonable lunch, Large-ish dinner, with occasional breakfast. Walk into work most mornings, walking at lunch 2-3 days/week, walking home from work and biking on a stationary bike. I started at 20 minutes on the bike and have worked my way up to 45 minutes; I do this 5-6 days/week.

what exercises did you find helpful? Walking, slowly at first & then building up my speed as I lost wait/woke up late for work ;) Also using the stationary bike we'd bought to help us lose weight - it hurt at first, but my butt got numb pretty quickly and it got easier. I use my phone to read Kindle books or sometimes books from thrift stores/the library or just Cosmo depending on my mood! ;)

what helped you lose weight??
Sport and eating healthy + proper fat burners and proteins
what motivated you?
Well, I didn't like myself that much... lost my confidence. I wanted it back, so I started my regime. This was before. Now I'm trying to lose weight again, so I have the same way of thinking.
what was your routine?
Big breakfast - mostly carbs, lunch with carbs and some protein, work out at the gym, dinner - mostly proteins. Though, now I'm trying to eat less carbs than before. :)
what exercises did you find helpful?
Working with weights for about 20 minutes and then cardio for 40 minutes/ 5 times a week.

I'm not done yet, but I've lost 40 pounds since July.

what helped you lose weight?? Calorie counting.

what motivated you? Health concerns. And I was tired of hating myself for being fat and for my crazy eating.

what was your routine? I stick to a pretty regimented 3 meals/1-2 snacks a day during the week. On the weekends, I often skip breakfast so I can eat more at lunch or dinner.

what exercises did you find helpful? I recently bought a recumbent stationary bike that I love. I use it almost every day, sometimes twice a day. I also have a rowing machine and a mini stepper. I do some combination of these for 30-40 minutes twice a day. Twice a week, I lift weights for 45 minutes. I've been walking on the weekends, too, but the weather will soon stop that. I try to burn at least 3500 calories a week.

The exercise makes me feel better but it's the reduced intake that helps most with the weight loss.

what helped you lose weight: weight watchers... really. portion control and calorie counting didn't help me. all my calories were from sugar and it went right on my arse.

what motivated me: my step mother. she does weight watchers. her top weight was about the same as mine and she's now at her goal weight which is the same as mine...and she still goes to meetings and weighs in every month...and re: exercises...I didn't find my Y helpful. I tried swimming (which I used to love).. I tried running/walking...I tried cardio...now I'm doing jazzercize with my stepmother and am just glad to be moving three days a week.

routine...keeping track of what's in my refrigerator ... no bad stuff in there.. the only time I go off the diet is when I go out with a friend... and even then I try to be strict and keep track of points... It's either do the point system and really work it ALL the time or not do it at all...no middle ground for me...

What helped me lose weight is calories counting, a lot of water intake, giving up sweets and sodas and exercise. I also watch my carbs and fats. What motivated me was myself. I want to get myself is better shape. My routine is arms and legs excerising with weights and situps. I excerisie everyday for 25 minutes in the evening and 25 minutes at night. I drink plenty of water.

what helped you lose weight??
Calorie counting, excercise, WATER WATER WATER WATER!!!

what motivated you?
Summer!!!!! I've been overweight for more than 10 years and I was sick and tired of always being sick and tired.

what was your routine?
- Always eat breakfast
- Coffee
- Lots of water
- Fruit and veggies
- Limit sugar

what exercises did you find helpful?
Taebo, yoga, kickboxing, Zumba, Aerobics and Circuit Training

Re:Let me know how you lost weight?
 

What helped you lose weight? When I first started loosing my weight I ate more chicken, Stopped eating out (limited myself to once a week or week and half) and drastically reduced how much soda I drank( I would only drink maybe a can every week and half to two weeks)

What motivated you? I work in a bridal shop, seeing all the brides and bridemaids coming in and trying on the super tiny dresses. My health a bit, my doctor thought my blood pressure as a bit high and I knew if i lost weight it would help with it, also from my knees down to my feet would be sore after work. Also I do WW2 reenacting and went to my first camping out event in August. I by then lost like 25 pounds and thought I was looking slimmer, I felt good in my uniform and also dress for the USO dance, but once I left our camp area and I seen the other ladies wearing sleeker dresses and being petite I felt like a huge blob. There is another event I'm going to in April, and I hope and pray every night to be at my goal weight to show those girls up.

What was your routine? What exercise did you find helpful? same answer for both. I first started doing the Slim in 6 dvd, it did help me loose some weight but i plateaued at 15 pounds, so i went online and looked at other dvds and i bought Jillian Michaels "30 day shred" that helped me loose my 15 plus. Its a great dvd. There are 3 stages and each are a bit more tough. I have noticed when I get off the exercise for a few days its hard for me to do the dvd multiple days in a row. But if I stay with it i'm less tired when it comes to working out.

what helped you lose weight?? Calories in v. calories out. You won't lose much if any weight exercising w/out cutting food intake. But, if you work out and burn calories, it allows you to create a bigger deficit than eating better alone and thus you'll lose more weight.
what motivated you? First, my clothes not fitting right and needing bigger sizes. Second, realizing I weighed the most I ever had. The last part was other life stressors making me unhappy-- I thought if I could lose a little weight and get healthy, that would help with my happiness. (And it has!)
what was your routine? Eating between 1300-1500 calories a day, with 2 1800 calorie days. Also, working out 5-6 days a week faithfully for at least 45 minutes.
what exercises did you find helpful? In the past I've been a treadmill only kind of girl, but I love the elliptical this time around. I don't do much strength training, but I'm working on incorporating it into my routine.

what helped you lose weight? So far, tracking every thing that goes in my mouth on livestrong.com/myplate. Counting calories

what motivated you? being the biggest person in the gym at my son's school

what IS your routine? Staying under my daily calorie goal, exercising on outdoor fitness equipment Tues-Friday for 45 minutes a day. Walking other days.

what exercises did you find helpful? weight lifting, walking

what helped you lose weight??
counting calories
taking it slow & easy
cutting WAY BACK on sugar

what motivated you?
my health was not-so-great & getting worse
I looked like ****

what was your routine?
I assume you mean exercise.
I just try to get at least 30 minutes of movement each day.


what exercises did you find helpful?
I like to do what's fun. Swimming, biking, taking a walk on the beach.
I also enjoy yoga, esp. when I'm feeling "not so limber".
I like lifting weights and I do that, too, but I need to do it MORE OFTEN
and that's my NY resolution for 2012.

Also, I am considering taking up karate lessons. (that will depend on cost)
Like I said... "FUN".

The first 7 weeks I did calorie counting and regular exercise and lost 25 lbs. Then plateaued and started the PALEO eating plan and have lost another 11 lbs.

what helped you lose weight??

Initially, meal replacements. Now I revert to them whenever I feel like I need to remind myself of what a 250 calorie meal looks like. I find it super helpful, because I am a notorious overestimater.

what motivated you?

The idea of feeling comfortable in my own skin. Realizing that I am lying to myself about having gained weight and being a size 12. I kept pretending it didn't happen, but it did. Being honest, reaching my full potential, and eventually seeing the belly flat. Also, seeing the pounds drop in the first couple of weeks was super encouraging.

what was your routine?

I pre-plan my food, limit snacking. I did Slim in 6, which I find to be a really great program for toning up. I run every other day, 4-6K.

what exercises did you find helpful? See above.

what helped you lose weight?

Cooking and calorie counting. I never knew how to cook before and it really opened a new world to me to find healthy food could taste amazing and I didn't have to give up flavor. I went with calorie counting because I don't have any extra money and it was something I could do immediately.

what motivated you?

I was just tired of not enjoying my life, plain and simple.

what was your routine?

I plan my meals the night before, aiming for 1400-1500 calories. Emphasis on whole foods and homecooking. I don't track officially though, it's all in my head. Exercise-wise I try to do 30-40 minutes a day, but I can't lie, exercise is my weak point and I've gone through long periods of not doing it at all.

what exercises did you find helpful?

I usually run on my elliptical and do some weight-lifting with dumbells. I like doing exercise videos too. Can't afford a gym so sometimes I have to get creative.

I am currently using the bodybugg and counting calories. going the in/out ratio. It's my second week using it and I lost 2 pounds.

I got tired of being fat. Every picture of me makes me sick.

I rotate between my recumbent bike and ellitpical 45-60 min/day. Then I do abs on the exercise ball and weights...

Fingers crossed this works for me

what helped you lose weight??
counting calories using MyPlate on Livestrong
exercising 1/2 hour 5 times a week
no eating after dinner

what motivated you?
the last time I flew with my family (Sept 11 2011), the lap belt was awfully close to the end and the seat felt tight on my rear. I hated it.

what was your routine?
30 mins most weekdays, an hour of hiking most sundays.


what exercises did you find helpful?
I don't have a gym membership, as they're SUPER expensive here in Chile. So I do a combination of circuit training type exercises (kick boxing, pushups, situps, squats etc), I have a 10 inch step for cardio, which I do with hand weights, and if I just want to zone out, I sometimes just do a recumbent bike ride.

I lost about 50 lbs this last year, but gained it back, so I'm relearning these things I did :)... but here is what I did then.

Nutrisystem really changed my life, if I could afford it I would go back on it, but I was on it long enough that the food sort of got old for me - though there are some great meals. I also did Atkins for awhile and had good success with that - but found it was too difficult to maintain as a lifetime thing.

I was motivated by my wedding at the time, but now that I'm married and didn't meet my goal for that day, I'm motivated to be healthier (have had some precancerous issues due to excess weight & estrogen), pathetically pant less, be a sexy wife for my hubby, and to be able to have a healthy pregnancy and be a mom that stays around for a good long time.

I would find a diet that I could fall into a routine - one that doesn't feel like you are dieting really. Nutrisystem was great for that, but now I just eat proportioned meals that I plan out even though sometimes it isn't the HEALTHIEST stuff, it's proportioned. I used to exercise 1 hr every morning but now that I work very early I exercise 1 hr at night.

I did c25k and made it to week 7 or so out of 9 before I got off track. It is a week to week program to get you from a sedentary level to a 5k running level. It's AMAZING! I want to move onto the 10k one.

Best of luck :) Looks like you are doing fabulous

What helps me lose weight ?
Tracking what I eat. Making sure I have some protein at each meal. Filling my plate at least half full with (mostly low carb) vegetables. Very little processed food, except for low calorie frozen meals (served with roasted vegies or a salad) when I'm short of time. Making big pots of soup to have handy. Keeping healthy food choices in stock. Eating breakfast. Not going hungry.Stashing a few points (I'm doing WW) for treats ( brandy and dark chocolate LOL) Three hours per week at the gym for cardio and strength training.Taking the time to take care of myself.

Motivation?
Confidence, improved health and fitness, and keeping my boyfriend on his toes.

what helped you lose weight??
I used the original points system of Weightwatchers. I did NOT attend meetings however. I do have to say that exercise was also key. I also got online and read message boards like 3fat chicks to stay motivated. In the beginning of my weight loss journey, I ate a lot of the "diet food" like "100 cal" packs, skinny cow ice cream, etc... I do think that helped me. For the last few years, I do not count points but I do eat "whole foods" I did not have a splurge day while losing weight but I have incorporated one after a few years of maintenance.


what motivated you?
I was motivated by how much better I felt physically and emotionally as I lost weight. I was also motivated by the encouragement I got from family and friends.

what was your routine?
In the beginning of my weight loss, I would "save my points" in order to eat a large dinner. I have eaten about the same thing for Breakfast for years. An egg white omelette with tons of veggies and reduced fat cheese.


what exercises did you find helpful?

I started with just walking as that is all I could handle. I gradually increased the distance and then got into power walking. After that, I got into running. Exercise really did help my weight loss although I will say what you eat has more of an affect on your weight loss. The pounds did seem to drop off with running though. Unfortunately, I had to give up running due to issues with my knees.