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I'm still early in trying to lose weight, so I've kept things pretty basic... get an eating routine and stick with it, no matter what. Even if I screw up, I keep trying. A partial success is better than not trying at all! Every day, even every mealtime, is a new chance to do my best. I plateaued for two weeks when I was around 17 lbs lost and it was SO HARD to keep going and not completely give up. One of my coping skills involved apple pie a la mode with a second helping of a la mode -.- Even so, I picked myself up, brushed myself off, and kept trying. I'm so glad I did. We are here for you, and you can do this!

Great advice---every bit of it! I think one of the key differences between maintainers and those who regain the weight is that that the former do not give up.

To the OP, I recommend really trying to figure out what derails you from sticking to a plan. Is it that you feel you will be forever condemned to eating "diet food"? (You don't have to be). Is it that you despise exercise? These were the reasons that I always regained any weight I lost. I figured out that I disliked having to plan my diet so much; I like a little spontaneity in my eating. So, even though I calorie count, I have a weekly rather than a daily total and I start my "day's" count with my most unpredictable meal (which is dinner, for me). That gives me A LOT more flexibility in my eating: If I overdo it one day, I'll just cut back a bit the next day. If I have a couple of days in a row of not being hungry or nothing special going on, I'll eat light, and that leaves me extra calories for those other days of the week where the spontaneous dinner plans pop up or if I go out for a few drinks. Also, I used to despise exercise until I found a way to incorporate it into my daily routine (with a homemade tread-desk; Google it) and found that I love the group fitness classes as my gym.

The point is to identify what is holding you back and create a plan that is customized for YOU.

Best wishes!

Oooh, a fellow cycler!

I just started a thread in the Exercise forum to keep track of how far I cycle, and on which days. Care to join me?

Not ot be rude, but you must eat a lot. I could never out eat my runs and I'm a pretty big eater, and I do have a nasty habit of binging. Even then, I could not eat enough ever while running to gain my weight back, and I can only imagine at 50 miles a week I struggling to keep weight on.
Some of the weight came back on after I *stopped* running completely, after 2 miscarriages. THen the bulk of it came back during this pregnancy. I'm sure it depends on someone's eating habits, but I doubt everyone can out eat running even 20 miles a week. That might just be your experience.

Beside other people seems to agree that running has really helped them with weight loss, so idk why you have a different experience??

ANd I said in my post I could't eat a whole pizza, but I could be a little more relaxed. So I never said it was a magic cure for stuffing your face all day, but it definitely helps when eating a healthy amount when you dont want to count every little calorie you consume, or would like to eat a little more than like 1200 cals a day with out gaining.

Oh and it only took me from January to October to go from walking on a treadmill to running outside. THat's only 10 months, yeah it takes some time but it takes time to increase endurance on any thing. I posted my post before the OP said she likes biking. Why do you have to be such a Debbie Downer?

So yeah - the same thing happens to me - if I eat a high sodium/unhealthy meal - I bloat up 5 lbs. And then it takes a week to lose that if I'm lucky.

If you are going to try running - get good shoes!! I started running 4 years ago and I was probably close to 240 lbs. And you can see my weight right now. And geting the right shoes with the right support helped so much. Like SO much. I can't stress that enough!

I do have to agree for me, that running is not enough - I trained last year for the Marine Corps Marathon and did not lose any weight because of how I was eating. I can really out eat a long run - it's not hard for me at all. So for some they can run and eat what they want and lose weight. I am not that way at all. And I pretty much ran outside the whole time because really - who wants to run 20 miles on a treadmil?? :)

I do think both the treadmill and running outside have benefits - different benefits.

ETA: It just shows how everyone is different and how you have to find what works for you.

as everyone else has been saying, exercise is the answer! and you can go out to eat and have dessert. you just can't do those things every day. ;)

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If the average person burns 100 calories per mile running, even if you ran 5 miles a day that would only be 500 calories. You wouldn’t really need to eat A LOT to eliminate any deficit. But calories aside, running is a great exercise!

You could also try HIIT (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-in...erval_training) – you can do it on pretty much any cardio equipment at the gym or while running.

I didn't mention running because unlike weight lifting there is no magic with running other than it burns calories while you're running. :D

I would agree it is easy to out eat the calories you burn while running, depending on how you eat.

When it comes to exercise though - the important thing is doing something that you like so you do it regularly.

You guys are all giving great advice.
Honestly, when i first lost these 45lbs, i maintained for a good year! I think me quitting my job of 3 years, and then 2 weeks later getting married, i was stuck in a "I'M FREE" mindset. I wanted to do whatever, and be free with my new husband.
i'm past that now. lol I realize i can't live in lala land, and like i said, i've joined a gym and found a similiar job that i love. I guess you learn from your mistakes! Lol
I love doing the elliptical. And i can't wait to find a good bike. lol

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There IS a magic pill. The pill is keeping your head in the game.

Whether it's exercise you like to concentrate on or diet that gives you the big boost you need, the most important thing is to keep doing whatever it is works no matter how many times you waiver.

How do you do that - keep your head in the game constantly? I do it by coming here, or reading about weight loss, or watching health shows - ANYTHING that keeps your mind in that zone.

Yep, 5 lbs comes and goes on me like you wouldn't believe possible, but losing weight does not condemn you to salads for the rest of your life. I love going out to dinner and I love dessert. You can still do those things. Have something healthy on the menu, and if you really want dessert, have a small one and keep it within your calorie limit. If you go over, big deal, get right back to it tomorrow.

The scale is not the most reliable indicator of fat loss. Water fluctuations can be wildly misleading and upsetting. Having a 5 lb. gain in one day is very unlikely to indicate what is truly going on because you'd have to be consuming an extra 17,500 calories in one day. I recommend taking measurements and before photos to see how you're doing, along with weighing....but only weigh if it helps you. I sometimes have to take weighing breaks if I find it frustrating.

A lot of us wish we didn't have to worry about calories or weight loss or deserts, but we do so what do we do? Give up? Throw in the towel? There are people (myself included) who have to deal with chronic medical conditions. Most people struggle with something but the great thing about weight loss is that it is something you can actually control. If you have a disease, there might not be a cure and even though it's hard to accept, believe me that there is something empowering once you get your mind in the game. I'm actually having a good time, now that I've made some progress. I hope you find that to be the case as well.

I wasn't trying to be a debbie downer, just realistic. No hard feelings! If you search through running forums, there are tons of people out there wondering how it's possible that they're gaining weight while marathon training. Burning that much fuel and putting that much stress on your body makes you HUNGRY. If you haven't run that many miles on a regular basis, you can't understand how it feels. Not to mention, once you start running those kind of long runs, you need to fuel your body during the run as well. It's not hard to eat back your calories. I do eat a lot. I realize I'm not the typical person here. I'm an athlete; I need to fuel like one.

I do think the OP would benefit from some form of exercise. Having more calories to play with because you burned off some is easier mentally, I find.

You can most certainly outeat your running, especially when you're "carboloading". It doesn't take that much pasta for me to eat back whatever calories I burn after a long run.