Originally Posted by t.jane

I have lost a total of about 195 lbs so far. I began somewhere around 350+ and lost the first 30 by cutting out snacks at night and Coke. I started gaining back some of that weight and decided I really needed to get serious and start really taking care of myself and my body once and for all. On 10-2-06 I began low carb and lost 100 in 6 months. I didn't do anything extreme--no meat and eggs or fat fasts--just good ole low carb and portion control. I ate at least 2000 calories per day and upped my carbs whenever my weight loss seemed to be slowing down. The next 6 months I lost 50 lbs. I ran into some medical problems that both physically and emotionally slowed down the loss, but none the less I stuck to it. During the next 6 months I lost 15 lbs. Some of that was the weight loss naturally slowing down, some of it was me reacting to some kind of internal battle about actually becoming a normal size--which led to some not so healthy eating. In the last month or two I have been perfectly on plan and am slowly back to losing again. I continue to eat about 2000 calories a day so it's going to take awhile to get the lbs off--but one thing I told myself I would not do is anything extreme or anything that would compromise my ability to maintain (like messing up my metabolism which I have certainly done in the past). I did not do any formal exercise during most of my weight loss. I became much more active--taking little walks when I get a break at work, taking the stairs instead of the elevator and just basically getting out there and living a fairly active life. I have gone through spurts of more serious walking and/or jogging with bits of other cardio or resistance exercises thrown in--however I have never really stuck with them. This month I have made it a goal to exercise 30 minutes 5x per week and so far I have met that goal. I try not to tie exercise and healthy eating together, as I think they are actually very different things that serve different purposes and people who tie them together typically stop one as soon as they stop the other. With exercise I have tried to make sure whatever I do it is something I can do for life. My whole focus this time losing weight has been different--I have really had my mind focused on how to stay at a healthy normal weight rather than how to get there. Surprisingly it has resulted in an overall faster weight loss--which was just a bonus. I really think that taking care of your body and figuring out how to nourish it for life is the most important thing--the weight loss will naturally come if you do that. I am still learning how to do this--but I've never claimed to be more than a work in progress!

Originally Posted by takethat!

I lost at least 100 lbs the year I was 18. (i say at least because I stepped on a scale at 340, but I had been low-carbing for a short while and had lost some weight already) I got down to 242, kept it off without trying for about four years, and have started to gain again this last year. So I'm back to low-carbing! Don't really know why I ever stopped.

Originally Posted by MercyD

BUMP

I went searching for this thread for the encouragement it gives and thought I'd bump it up for the new year.
Mercy

Originally Posted by jschwab

I've gotten there since this thread was last active, but I talk so much on the forums, I don't know if my story hasn't been heard a million times already.

Janine

Originally Posted by NrgQuest

This would be a great sticky thread. I have 89lbs to go before I can join the club. I hope to join by about this time next year.