So I decided last summer that I was tired of being overweight. I wasn't terribly overweight for my height but it was enough that I wasn't happy with it. Being unemployed had made a bad situation worse since I wasn't doing a whole lot most days.

So, last August I decided I was done. I weighed myself the next morning and was 226.6 pounds. This morning I weighed myself and was 189.3 pounds. That's a loss of over 37 pounds in about 9 months or about 1 pound per week (give or take a bit). My final goal is to hit 176.6 pounds by August this year which will be 50 pounds lost in about 50 weeks. Whether or not I make it doesn't really matter to me. I've lost so much weight already and I feel so much better that I know I'll get there eventually.

That's all really. Just wanted to brag that I finally managed to get my weight under control. It's been a long time since I've been able to do this.

Yeah, losing weight can be really hard sometimes, specially because it's very easy to gain it. I remember when I was at barely 100 pounds a couple years ago, but now I've stabilized myself in the 160 range.

Personally speaking, I'm not happy either with my current weight and I'd prefer to lose a bit. However, my doctor would totally be against it because I need some overweight just in case my disease decides to strike in, so it's a tough spot now for me: my disease was capable of making me lose 45 pounds in two months, so I cannot take this ever present menace slightly.

I hope you manage to hit your target weight. Achieving long lasting projects like this can be such a relief, and they may help in more ways than you can think.

I would like to know your method of losing weight during the last 9 months, if you don't mind posting it.

tRIUNE : there isn't really a secret to it.

I started it with a fast to shrink my stomach down so that I couldn't eat as much. Then I limited my calorie intake. I would eat a piece of buttered toast for "breakfast" before going to work. I would bring 1 apple, 1 orange and cheese slices to work to eat during the day. I would eat 1 piece of fruit around 10 AM, cheese at 12 and the other fruit at 2 in order to keep my stomach "full" and my blood sugar up as consistently as possible. Then I would come home and have a moderate helping of whatever my wife made for dinner and no desert.

That's been the "standard" day for the last 9 months. It leaves space for extras at work if they come up (donuts get purchased quite often and I almost always have one). Weekends also weren't as strict since I was at home and had more access to food. I tried to eat similarly as I did during the week but couldn't always.

I found eating the same thing every day made it a lot easier to stick with.

Congrats!! Losing weight is difficult enough, mostly because sticking with a healthy lifestyle can be tricky. 

Keep up the good work

That's really great. Congrats.

Its not always easy to stick to diets.

Did you do any exercise in addition to limiting your calories?

Vanelan : nope. I'm not a fan of exercising which is why using it as a way to lose weight has never worked for me.

However, now that I'm getting closer to my goal weight I am considering adding some simple free weight exercises a few times a week. Now that I don't have fat covering all my muscle I should probably build those muscles up a bit

First off: I'm so sorry for closing this thread on accident.

Now, congratulations, geeo! I'm just now starting on doing the same again, and hopefully this time I'll stick with it once I hit my goal instead of just losing interest and watching it come back. Maybe in a year I'll be making this thread.

Wow congratulations! That's really motivating. All it takes is some inner will power to make a step in a different direction. As long you're taking a step a day, you can't go wrong since you will eventually get to your destination! (goal) I am actually going to share this sentiment with my wife. She is really self-conscious, and I try to always lift her mood and be positive, changes don't happen overnight

Eirinn : I saw that and was wondering what was going on. I got a chuckle out of it

I personally find that instead of trying to lose weight really fast I went for a really long-term goal that lets me have more flexibility and that has made it easier to stick to it. I know in the long-term that a small blip of weight up or a bad weekend won't ruin my goal.

UserMike : my wife is the same way. It's ridiculous. We're not 20 anymore. We are never going to look that way and that's okay. I know what 20 year old's are like and I don't want any of that.

Congrats on the weight loss! that's some hard s*** to do, and the fact that you made it this far is great! keep at it and you will reach your goal in no time at all! I belive in you!

I'll be honest, I started exercising a lot to lose weight and uh... Well, I've become much smaller and slimmer... but I've gained 15 pounds... of pure muscle... So a lot of the time weight and BMI are not accurate ways of telling how healthy someone is. For instance, someone my height should be at about 100 pounds. I weigh 120, so going by BMI I'm obese, however, I have pretty damn good looking abs, and can see my rib cage when I stretch....

So

If you start doing stuff with free weights don't be surprised if you stop losing weight. Just keep going with your diet and your exercise. You will notice yourself get smaller and more toned. believe me.

AND DONT SKIP LEG DAY

seriously.

Oh and one more thing. Martial arts are a good way to get yourself to exercise because it's so fun to beat the crap out of someone that it doesn't feel like exercise until you are done....

Good job, Geo. Glad to hear that. The first thing I'll tell people when it comes to weight loss is that it all starts in the kitchen. If it weren't for consuming a lot of food in the first place you would not be overweight. You eat for the weight you want. Want more weight? Eat more. And vice versa. Exercise is a big supplement to that. In addition to not consuming a lot of calories, you are also losing calories from your body by exercising in some way.

So, it doesn't matter too much how you go about doing it. Eating less and being active, no matter how long it takes, will cause you to lose weight down to what you seek.

Loosing weight isn't easy but keeping the weight you want is even harder. I am cheering for you!

50 pounds in a year is amazing, good job with actually being able to go through with it.

I hate exercising also, but really exercising like with machines and stuff. I always walk a lot, and that usually helps, but I could never deal with full blown exercise.

So quick update - I wasn't able to hit my goal and actually put 10 pounds back on (there was a vacation and birthday parties and things like that). However, after only 2 weeks or so of trying I've dropped 3 pounds back off.

I've also changed up my routine a bit. My eating habits haven't changed much but I am slowing starting to add in a work out to my weight loss. It's a simple bunch of exercises that I can do with dumbbells at home. I hate the gym so that was never going to happen.

I did some research and came up with a fairly simple workout I can do that works my chest, biceps, triceps, shoulders and legs. Nothing serious or hardcore but it should help to build some muscle slowly which should help to maintain my weight even more going forward.

No idea if I'll ever hit my 50 pound goal but I'm back on track and maybe over the winter I'll manage to get close again.

Congratulations on your weight loss. A real simple way to lose weight that O try to share with everyone is try to drink 64 ounces of water everyday. It will cut out the calories of any other drink out of your diet and more importantly it stops you from feeling hungry. I know it probably too much information but you will also probably lose weight by how many times you have to run to the bathroom ( the one downside but hey at least your getting rid of toxins).

As far a free weights guides go my favorite is Body for Life. However I would advice that you start measuring your weight differently if you start working out with strength training because muscle actually weighs more than fat. So you do not want to step on your scale and go "that was a great workout, What! Why did gain six pounds!?!?" You will have to tell how much of you body composition is fat and how much is muscle.

Congrats Geeogree, I'm glad to hear that you were able to more or less able to achieve your general goal of getting your weight under control (hey that rhymed!) A net loss of about 30 pounds is a huge improvement no matter how you look at it.

Although I've always had a pretty fast metabolism, I'm at a stage in my life where I'm almost 20 and will soon be moving out for college several hours away. This makes it easy to make bad decisions and neglect my health due to a college lifestyle. 

Your post has made me cognizant and cautious of my future eating habits and decisions. I'd like to turn my current weight into muscle by any means possible.

I sincerely hope you are eventually able to reach your goal of 50 pounds lost. Your routine sounds promising and I have faith that you will succeed in your endeavors.

I've got a few questions regarding losing weight.

Question 1: Are Dancing Games a great way to burn calories? I'm mainly talking about Dance Dance Revolution and the recent Danz Base.

Question 2: How many glasses of water is 64 ounces? I'm not good with measuring ounces unlike inches or meters.

Question 3: How exactly does drinking lots of water reduce the amount of calories taken in by other drinks?

Touchmaster97:

Anything that moves your body and keeps you off a chair or a couch is a great way to burn calories.  If you're having fun, you're doing a good job.  Danz base?  Go for it.  It'll help.

5+ glasses of water is about 64 ounces.  A glass of water is around 12 oz if you fill it towards the top.  Knock down five of those and you'll get your 64, more or less.

Lastly, water takes up space in your stomach so instead of having food in there, you have water.  Water has no calories so you can fill your stomach and not feel as hungry all the time.  Or, better yet, you can pick different calories.  Instead of eating fried food, desserts, sugars, and chips and all that garbage, try healthier foods like apples, oranges, bananas, eggs, and so on.  There's a lot of information for nutrition and you can google it to your heart's content.

Congratz for reaching your goal weight, doing so must be really hard, especially for me.