Had to share!

Woo hoo! Congrats! That is an amazing accomplishment. You should be very proud of yourself and give yourself lots of kudos for doing that. I went from 230 to 195 few years back when I found out I was diabetic but have slowly creeped back up to 215. You have inspired me to go kick some butt like you did! Thanks!

 

Congratulations!

I'm down 75 pounds from where I was five years ago. The key to keeping it off is not to slip back into old habits and to exercise regularly including using hand weights. The muscle you will gain will burn off extra calories.

Keep up the good work!

 

The biggest key for my weight loss is learning to love exercise. I started from basically ground zero. You know it's bad when you're carrying a basket of laundry upstairs and you have to stop to rest. I had dieted most of my adult life and had successes off and on but without the key of regular exercise it didn't last. This time I knew I needed to start with that. I already ate pretty healthy and only wanted to focus on the exercise so I started 3 days a week of aquafit. At my weight, it had to be something I could move easily and I stuck with it, moving up to 4 times a week after a few months. Even though I didn't change my eating habits, at the end of 7 months of this, I had lost 20 lbs.

At that point I was ready to add the nutrition component. I had used a free website for tracking my food before (and had lost almost 50 lbs in the past but of course it all came back) so I signed up again for a fresh start. That was just over a year ago and I haven't looked back. Basically I follow a calories in/calories out formula based on all kinds of factors like my gender, age, activity level etc.. This formula adjusts as I lose too.

I have now moved from aquafit (although I still do it occasionally for fun) to Zumba 3 times a week, Cardio Core or a woman's weight training class once a week and an hour of cardio machines in the gym the other days. Normally I do 5-6 days a week but for the past month I did some sort of exercise every single day as I was on a mission to hit my goal before I leave on the 18th. And being a teacher, I have the time this summer to push myself. Strangely, considering how little I used to exercise, I now crave it big time.

I am super proud of myself and still can't wrap my head around some of the results. This week I discovered that I no longer have to buy my clothes from the plus sized store. Went in there a couple days ago to look for something nice on clearance for my trip (gotta save those slot dollars LOL). Tried on 2 items, both in the smallest size they carry but thinking to myself I was prepared to go up a size. Nope...they were both too big. Sounds dumb, but I actually sat in my car in the parking lot and cried for a few minutes when I left.

Sorry to have blathered on so long. LOL

 

which app is this? i have tried Livestrong and well i always forget to input anything..

 

You're awesome Dancemom. Have the time of your life in LV. You deserve it.

 

Sporty, I use Sparkpeople.com. The web version is free but the app for smartphones is $2.99. Well worth it. They even have a sister site called Sparkrecipes where you can find recipes or input your own and with one click, they can be put into your nutrition tracker. The foods in the nutrition tracker are extensive but if you ever have to put the nutrition info in there of something you can't find, it's in your profile forever and you can find it again easily. I've used it in the past and had success but never long term like this. It's been over a year now and it's just part of my day to use it.

 

Congratulations...So happy for you. Hope you win big in Vegas.

 

Insanity is one of the best things I've ever done in my life. In 4 weeks I lost 15lbs just from that. I still ate like shit, smoked cigarettes, and drank like a fish, but it still worked.

One of these days I'm gonna do it again and take it seriously, but for now I got other shit to do.

 

Congrats to all the success stories!!!

I've had pretty good luck the past 18 months dropping from 227 lbs to 193lbs.

I did nothing too major, but started walking about 50 miles/week and limiting portion size and snacking. Once a few lbs dropped off it got easier as the loose clothing was very motivating.

 

DFalk, thanks for the word to stick with Insanity. I'm through 7 days and ready for the day 8 workout today. Not overly concerned with sheer numbers in my weight but more my body composition. I started at 5'6" 163 pounds with 28% body fat. My actually goal is to get my body fat under 15% and show of some of the lean muscle I have put on through previous work as well as Insanity. I am following the nutrition guide as close to the letter as I can, which is tough because I am a picky eater but I'm toughing through the diet changes as well as the "insanely" intense workouts (Pun intended! :evillaugh)

As of this morning, my waist (measured at the belly button) was down to 35 inches from 37 just 7 days ago. It's good to see results and use as motivation. I will end my Insanity program on October 7th and leave for Las Vegas 3 days later so that is my motivation and reward if you will.

 

Good for you. I am looking forward to the same bit of reward of not having to ask for a seatbelt extender (or fatstraps as I like to call them) in November. It will be the first flight in years since I havent had to use one. So far since November I'm down 80, and will most likely be at my goal weight by November I hope. Keep up the good work and have fun in Las Vegas!!!

 

So happy to hear of all of the other success stories! As many of you probably know, losing weight can be a very lonely thing where it seems as if you're the only person in the world doing it. It's nice to hear other stories.