Keeping it off

mindsEye

mindsEye

New member
Hi to everyone. I am new to this forum but impressed at many of the stories I've read. As most of you already know, losing weight is only part of the process, many people gain it back... over and over. That is what happened to me. Now that I'm within 5 pounds of my goal, I don't want to end up as a regain statistic so I've decided to join the forum.
I guess my mind was always set on just losing the weight and worrying about keeping if off when I got there. So I lost it the wrong way. After 3 pregnancies and now being 33 years old, my body seemed to quit even losing weight at all. I was used to it coming off easy and if it didn't, I just gave up and got bigger. At 4'11, I weighed in at 203 lbs and struggled with acne, kidney and gall stones, tumors and depression. My 17 year relationship/marriage ended and life was out of control. Finally, I realized what was going on with me and decided last spring to do something about it.
Instead of starting with my body, I started with my mind. I found inspiration in the funniest place and it's working. It's even developed into a new career for me and keeps me going. So here is my most recent picture from 2 weeks ago at 107 pounds, acne free. If I come across a before pic, I will post it but there are only a few if that. I stayed away from cameras for years. Good luck to you all!

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Wow! you look fantastic! im amazed because you can't even tell that you were larger before!! As you said, keeping off the weight is the most important part of the whole journey! I wish i was within 5 pounds of my goal! hehe. Oh well. You are very inspirational - it makes me really motivated :) Goodluck with everything to come :) You look awesome!
 
Thanks for your comments. It is a good feeling to lose a lot of weight and other postive changes that come with a good diet and working out. I joined the forum however because I'm scared to death I will gain it back. At the moment, I'm dealing with quite a bit of stretch marks and sagging skin and the bottom of my stomach. Not sure if or how long it will take to firm up. Anyone who has lost a significant amount of weight and dealt with the sagging, please let me know how to improve it, if I can. Thanks again for your support.:p
 
The most you can do that doesn't include surgery or lasers, is moisturize. Just keep that skin moisturized and it should firm up. There are some creams that will help but you dont need to spend $50 on them! Don't let all those expensive ones fool you. But - wow! You definately do look great and you've got your mind set on keeping it off so if you stick to it you should have no problem! Great job though :) really, you're an inspiration.
 
Wow, really, really amazing. You give a lot of hope for those of us struggling to loose weight. I cannot even imagine that one day I could look like that, it does not compute in my mind! What amazing results you achieved! You have to share with us what you did, what you ate.

The main thing to keeping it off is to keep exercising and being mindful of your food. Although, I don't have any experience with that, I've been gaining all my life!!!
 
You look AMAZING! *jealous*

Just wondering how long it took for you to lose the weight and how you did it?
 
sorry so long guys... but hope this helps

Thanks again for all the compliments and support. And yes, I'd be happy to share with you what I ate and did if it would help anyone. It took me right at a year to get to this weight. At first, a lot of extra water loss and probably some muscle because I was losing 4 pounds a week average for the first few months. I like doing light weights combined with interval (my sissy version because I have to really convince myself to like exercise). Eventually, I balanced out at about 2 pounds a week. It wasn't that I did anything or ate anything special and never used suppliments!!! They don't work for me. I made a "me" plan. Did a lot of research and then drew it up. If things are too time consuming, I won't stick to it so I did a weigh in only on Monday and then a journal recapping for the week at that time. Then I planned out my meals and workouts for that week. Took an hour on Monday. A weekly adjusting and fine tuning fit in with me okay so that stuck.
As for workouts, that was the hardest. Started at the gym with friends but moved to NY newly single and broke so I lined up my yoga ball, bands, weights, etc. and made a little gym. Now, I don't have time for nor do I enjoy working out. But nothing happens for my body if I don't. Sooooo...
I read about interval training which gives me a little breather here and there. I decided to do some cardio and light weight training at the same time. Every other song I march fast or dance and then the other songs I will do abs, legs, arms at a kinda speed up pace so even those exercises keep my heart rate up a bit. So It's an up down type thing. It totals about 30-40 minutes with a stretch to finish. I did this Mon. Wed. and Fri. I got some additional exercise walking the dogs a few days a week.
For a long time I had trouble with that first fast march and thought I would suffocate so that next song being abs made me look forward to abs, ha ha. One suggestion if you do this, start abs with standing twists until you feel it's okay to lie down for crunches. I don't think you're supposed to lie down right after getting your heart rate up. The good thing about me doing this is I could mix things up and keep challenging my body. Plus, I get it all out of the way. Ideally, I guess this isn't the workout of a true athlete, but it's is the only thing I could manage and it stuck.
Eating was more of a science. I like the zig-zag thing with carb cycling but it seemed too much of a brain workout to devise right. So I did a couple of meals and added to the plan as I got better at it. Here is an example:

Monday, Wednesday and Friday (workout days) 1400 calories
breakfast- mostly complex carbs, lunch- veggies and complex carbs, snack- fruit, dinner- fish or lean chicken and veggies (very little carbs)

Tuesday and Thurdsay- (off days) 1300 calories with less carbs
breakfast- protein and carbs, lunch- veggies (usually a salad), snack- yogurt, dinner- fish or chicken and veggies

Saturday and Sunday- (fun activity days of my choice) 1500
Same as Mon, Wed, and Fri only I added a couple of low fat/low sugar treats for dessert

For the first few weeks I was aware of calories, fat, sugar and carb content. I had a few meals I didn't have to think of or worry about. After a few weeks I got creative and knew how to mix things for the right balance pretty easily. Now I can take about any recipe and make it healthy so I don't feel like I'm missing anything.
My favorite things are Ruffles fat free chips, whole wheat pancakes with bananas mixed in and sugar free syrup, turkey bacon with 1/3 less fat cream cheese and a low carb bagel, greek pizza (whole wheat tortilla topped with feta cheese, red onion, diced tomato, olives drizzled with low fat greek dressing and baked), baked acorn squash topped with can't believe not butter spray and light cream cheese, grilled 2 % cheese on whole wheat bread buttered with low fat mayo, easy to make sushi with edamame and green tea... these are a few of things I ate without worry.

I tried to read daily about nutrition and exercise to keep me motivated. But the one thing I will stress is everyone is different. Certain things work better for some and not so well for others. You do have to find what works for you and don't stop until you do. Make your plan around that using good judgement and sensible information. Then map it out...

For example:
My personal findings for my body include:
Carbonated beverages of any kind, including diet drinks make my stomach very puffy.
More than 2 cups coffee does the same
I'm okay with carbs if I eat them early on
My portions need to be small (I'm 4'11), this is especially true at dinner
My weakness is beer, I went to a glass of red wine 2 nights of the week
I lose control and want to munch before my period and after I talk to my ex husband so I use emergency food that I keep on hand to get me through
** I practice mindful, self control and constantly remind myself that I'm responsible for what goes in my mouth

That last step is the best reason my weight finally came off.
If I could give anyone advice that may make a difference it would be that losing weight takes a smart plan and a lot of dedication. I won't say it was easy but I won't say it isn't impossible either. It's just worth it. Bottom line... keep asking yourself, "how bad do I want this, is it worth it?" When you reach for that extra slice of pizza decide then. Most my life I didn't want it bad enough, finally, I did. So if your looking to lose weight then ask yourself, "how bad do I want this". If you really do, nothing will stop you.
Good luck guys and I hope this helps.
 
Thanks, MindsEye! This is very thorough and very detailed. I appreciate you taking time to write it all down. Did you experience any plateaus or did you keep loosing fairly steadily?

I like your workout routine. Can you point me to information sources of how you used bands/weights (exercises, etc)? I don't belong to any gym and now working out at home.

I am doing 1200 calorie diet, on 3rd month already, but I still find it hard to "guesstimate" calories. Every day in the morning I usually take time to "plan" what i'm eating with help of computer program, which makes it easy.
 
NothinToLose said:
Thanks, MindsEye! This is very thorough and very detailed. I appreciate you taking time to write it all down. Did you experience any plateaus or did you keep loosing fairly steadily?

I like your workout routine. Can you point me to information sources of how you used bands/weights (exercises, etc)? I don't belong to any gym and now working out at home.

I am doing 1200 calorie diet, on 3rd month already, but I still find it hard to "guesstimate" calories. Every day in the morning I usually take time to "plan" what i'm eating with help of computer program, which makes it easy.
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Hi NothintoLose! I'm glad you found this helpful. I did hit plateaus. Some weeks I would work harder than ever and no weight loss at all. I kept at it and then some weight would start coming off quickly until it would steady again. To get off the plateau, I would mix up my exercise routine and zig zag my calories. That is supposed to keep your body working and sure did mine.
When I bought my bands and yoga ball, they came with some exercises. I would pull them tight and then do super quick isolated mini reps of each exercise. Pick maybe 2 arm exercises, 2 legs, etc. and do controlled reps, isolate and do a few mini reps. I wasn't really good at them at first but it's something you get the hang of. Just experiment a little and see what you like.
For weights, read about proper form and safety so that you don't stress your joints or swing uncontrollably. I had to go real slow at first and make sure I was doing the exercises right. What I ended up doing is using light dumbells in combination with other exercises. For example:
lunges side to side while doing triceps pushing the weight back with each rep.
marching in place while doing hammer like movements with dumbells.
squats while lifting my arms to the side.
or walking quickly in place and doing different arm movements.
If you move your arms it helps get the heart rate up, the light weight and high reps tone, the added weight adds resistance to leg workouts. That was my interval to get heart rate up and down and to weight tone a little. I do not lift heavy weight at this point. Not ready for that yet.
For plateus:
There is an article I read about calorie intake and fat loss. This may be something you've already heard, if so disregard it, but if you take in a little bit more healthy calories on your workout days, you will get better workouts and force your body to shed fat and keep lean tissue. Too little calories will cause your body to use lean tissue (organ tissue and muscle). I just read that many dieters can eat 700 calories a day and not lose weight at all. People that are active can eat way more and be thin. Their bodies get adjusted. So think of it like a cycle, you don't eat enough, you can't do enough. Eat more, can do more. So maybe plan to zig zag your calories to keep plateus from happening. On days you do more, plan to eat a little more. But your meal planning is excellent and will definately help you.
I had a hard time guessing calories too, and then checking fat, carbs, sodium and sugar. Sent my head spinning. I came up with 3 breakfasts, 4 lunches, 5 dinners and a few desserts. I created a 3 week plan to use these meals only changing them up a little for variation. Some I made in abundance so I could get meals quick and easy. I didn't have to think about anything really for these 3 weeks. Then I added a few more no brainers. After many months of this, I could write a recipe book. lol. So stick with what your doing because it will work and you will get good at it. If you ever want any ideas for meals or anything, feel free to ask. :)
 
Thanks, MindsEye! Thanks for the info! Those are all good ideas. To be honest, I'm doing squats but my legs are not strong enough yet to add a few extra lbs with weights, but I can use them for marching and stuff. I am also not into heavy lifting, but I know small weights definitely help to tone up and build muscle.

I also put some meals together that I know are low on cals, but hubby and I keep inventing new meals, and every time that happens I have to calculate how much it is per portion. But, at least we have a large variety of foods. :) I hate restrictive diets with low variety, so at this point we can cook almost anything and make it a light, healthy meal. Part of it is knowing what sauces to use, how to prepare (like no frying), and portion control.

Interesting about eating more on days with exercise. Totally makes sence. However, the days when I have the most physical activity I tend to eat less, because I'm out of the house and doing stuff. But, when I'm not active, I just sit down, and seems like I want to eat more those days.

Anyway, those all are really good points. I am glad to have this website, there are as many resources as people on it!
 
Wow, you look so wonderful! Congradulations!

I'm bad for yo-yoing as well... About 8 months ago I was at my goal weight, but now I've gained it all back (plus a few)! Staying connected to the forum I'm hoping will really help.

Take care,

Lauren :)
 
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