For those who are at the finish line....
 

I am curios how many false starts you had? Or was it one and done? I am starting for the second time and I really feel committed. But I did this earlier this year and only made it two month. I gained all of that back now six months later. How many times did it take you until it stuck?!

I was up and down pretty much all 30 something years of my life. But last year, I finally told myself it is time to get serious. It also helped that my husband joined my journey to fitness and health. We both made the decision to eat clean and work out at the gym. I have been maintaining for over a year now.

Here's the link to my journey. I havent updated the photos yet, but I'm a lot leaner than the last pic posted here. :)

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/goal...nths-goal.html

Good luck and believe that YOU can do it!

Thank you so much for the link to your blog. I get so much motivation reading about others' journeys!

I never really tried. Thought I was 'destined' to be obese. When my uncle got dementia I said enough.

I then had the thought conventional wisdom CW, HAS to be wrong. People have cut fat, massively cut red meat, are eating way more whole grains, veggies, fruits. Even exercising more. Remember America 100 years ago very few areas people could eat fruit year round. Now they can.

Anyhow once I let fat be my medicine, magic happened. And I mean good fat, good quality lard, tallow, grass fed butter and meat, organic virgin coconut oil. NO vegetable oil except olive oil and few others cold

So once I said CW HAS to be wrong, bam success.

I lost 110 lbs on my 3rd real weigh loss attempt. The first was a loss of maybe 20 lbs (210-190) the 2nd was 30 lbs (250-220) and the final one 110 lbs (265-155)... now I'm back a year later with a 15 lb regain the past 2 months. It never gets easier!

I've lost the same 30-50 pounds six or seven times in my life. Also had a bunch of smaller false starts where I would lose steam after a few days or weeks.

I finally seem to have figured it out (more or less) in my mid-fifties. I lost 50 pounds three years ago and have maintained the loss since then. The difference seems to be that I now exercise regularly. Not only does it burn extra calories, but it keeps me in a "maintenance mindset."

I still have lots of indulgent meals and the occasional binge. I just make sure to get back in the saddle right away.

F.

p.s. Conventional wisdom may not work for some, but it works just fine for me. I eat 2,000 calories per day and don't follow any specific regimen. "Eat less, move more" is all it takes.

I tried once twenty years ago. Lost a lot of weight. Never really thought about what I was doing (just turned vegan and walked a lot to see a girlfriend I was dating and the weight dropped off). Became a skinny-fat guy (fat and muscle loss...bad look). Eventually stopped this lifesyle, got married, got comfortable, ate a lot of bad fat ;), had kids, forgot about myself. And slowly gained 5lbs+ a year over two decades to reach 281lbs.

This time is different because I am educating myself on how to lose weight and maintain it via a healthy diet and lifetsyle that works for me. I am focused on it now. I enjoy it. It's a hobby. I also have more cash which...sorry to say this peeps...helps.

I am also learning from the mistakes I made last time. Like giving a sh!t about what anyone says. Don't. Do it for you. And that exercise is not just good for weight loss....it makes you fit and kicks anxiety to the curb. In fact, my main motivation to exercise is mostly to get over a sh!tty day. Nice.

I was taken to a nutritionist at the age of 10 because I was so heavy. Needless to say, I've been on a semi-permanent diet ever since (now almost 40). I starved, I binged, I lost and gained the same 75 - 100 pounds over and over again. So yes, I've had a few (hundred thousand) false starts! What was different this time?

1) At my heaviest (265), I developed plantar fasciitis and heartburn - I knew that more serious health problems couldn't be far behind

2) I developed an exercise plan and STUCK TO IT, no matter what. Was absolutely killer with the plantar fasciitis for a while but it eventually went away as I lost weight.

3) I committed to a modified eating plan. Not necessarily healthy at first, but less food. Journaling. Personal honesty. I'd lose and then plateau - that told me that I needed to clean up my eating. I'd make it a bit healthier. Lose, plateau. A bit healthier. This way forced me to eventually add in fruits and vegetables and ditch the white flour and sugar (except for weekly treats). And ditto for the person who mentioned fats. I now eat full-fat cheese, yogurt, bacon, butter, milk, etc. The calories fit into my food plan, and the fat keeps me from being hungry and helps to fuel my workouts (along with the carbs from the fruits and veggies, of course).

4) I committed to getting back up after I fell down. Did I have binge episodes? Yes. Did I have holidays/celebration weekends where I ate nothing but sugar? Yes. But I was never off-track a third day.

Anyway, having those things in place helped me to slowly lose. I've lost this amount of weight before, but this definitely feels different for me because of the above steps. In the past, I'd be white-knuckling it down to a low weight, until I inevitably lost control and binged my way back up. I feel very peaceful now and know this is a permanent change I've made. Good luck on your journey!

Several times but once I found 3FC I got it done. Problem was that I had no clue as to how to lose weight and keep it off prior to this site. :dunno:

'I suggest reading the maintenance threads. One in particular 'What is the hardest part of maintenance', post #5 by JayEll says it for me:

"Most people go about this backwards. They let the diet dictate maintenance. They base everything on the scale or a clothing size.

Unless you come up with a way of eating and exercising that allows you to feel satisfied, you may find yourself feeling unhappy, guilty, and stressed most of the time as you struggle to keep your weight at that arbitrary number you chose as your goal. Eventually, you may get exhausted from this struggle.

I speak from experience.

A better way to proceed would be to start NOW thinking about what and how you want to eat for the rest of your life. Don't get caught up in the idea of "forbidden foods." Don't set calorie goals so low that you are hungry all the time. Don't make your choices so rigid that every social opportunity becomes a stressful event.

Think NOW about what kind of exercise you'll do and how often. Don't think that you can exercise strenuously every single day without a break as a way of controlling weight.

You may find that you can't stay at that arbitrary, low number you chose as your goal and have a life, too. So be it. It's better to be a few pounds above that goal than to stress yourself to the point where you give up a plan entirely."

I am not at the finish line, but I have been working on weight loss for about 4.5 years now (I stayed at about 165-169 for about three years after my initial loss, and am now losing again). Even in times where I wasn't trying to lose weight, or when I was actively overeating, I never forgot about my weight like I've done in the past.

When I was a teenager I lost a bunch of weight, and then I got lax and literally forgot about my weight and maintaining it. Though it wasn't on purpose, it just stopped occuring to me to watch what I ate. That was always my major downfall. I think it helps to be a bit older now. My brain is more developed. ;)

I also do better when I'm not hard on myself. If I get too strict, I get cranky and rebel (rebelling against MY choices makes zero sense to me, but it happens).

I honestly enjoy eating healthy, doing light (purposeful) exercise, and the whole shebang. It's when I fall into my old traps that I have big issues.

I think part of the trick is to accept that you'll have to keep at it even when you don't feel committed for a while, and don't really care about losing weight at the moment.

I have lost and regained about 4-5 times. I have "maintained" for a little over 4 years now.

But I don't think one should view reaching "goal weight" as reaching the "finish" line. There really is no such line. You have to keep on going.

I had probably a million false starts and some 20 and 40lb losses that were ultimately regained plus some, until finally I found what works best for me.

:)

Me, too! Exactly! I tried and tried to follow other diets and either I wasn't able to stick to them or I didn't lose any weight on them. I tried so hard!!! It wasn't until I learned the secret about fat that I was able to budge things. Once I did, it was all good! :D I did have a major setback at one point bc I was feeling sick and I was afraid that it was the diet, since, of course, everyone thought I was being a total wack job for actually eating fat. Over the course of a few months, I gained back 40 pounds of the 50 I had lost. Then, I discovered the Volek and Phinney books and decided to try again since it was the only thing that ever worked for me, and it worked right down to goal. :carrot: I did have a nine month stall in the middle, but I just stuck with what I was doing and eventually it got going again.

Also, I don't know if it's true that you have to lose the weight and maintain on the same way of eating, but I've had a relatively easy time of maintaining so far (maybe 3 months, so not that long) eating this way and I am planning on doing it for the rest of my life, or at least until I'm 80, at which point I may park myself in front of a tv and watch movies and eat chocolate cake for the rest of my life. :cool:

I think this was really important for me, too! I used to think "keep your eyes on the prize!" Also, I had a little list of things to think about that made me remember in a more visceral way why I was wanting to lose, and a lot of times that would bring back some motivation. (The list was the first step of The Beck Diet Solution, which I highly recommend.)

I have lost and gained, all kinds of plans, rinse and repeat! *deep sigh*

For me, WW is the ticket. But that's just for me.

I believe, that we have to find healthy balance, that we can live with. Because, it's a lifestyle change, not a diet.

What works for me, might not work for you. What works for you, might send me running to the hills with my hair on fire. ;)

As for me, a now 3 year maintainer, I've found the sweet spot for me. It might not be your sweet spot.

We're all different, it boils down to what works for you!:hug::D But, you have to be willing, to take the leap, and find your sweet spot!:D