Success stories in weight loss?

[hoffsquared]

-What was your main motivation in getting started? Did something in particular happen that gave you a push to finally do it?

My moment of clarity happened one evening while watching TV. My last pair of 'comfy' jeans were no longer comfy. In fact, I could not sit and get comfortable while wearing them. I realized I needed to stretch myself with respect to working out. I'd been running for about 1.5 years but it didn't prevent the weight from slowly creeping up. That night I signed up to do a marathon that was 3.5 months away. So I had something on the calendar! Something to target.

-What was your main means of losing weight - did you join a program at a gym, followed by a doctor, join Weight Watchers,etc.?

Just additional time running. I don't recall really limiting my eating but I probably did. I did cut back wine to Friday and Saturday nights.

-How did you determine your goal weight?

No weight goal just wanted to fit back in my clothes.

-How long have you kept it off?

Kept off 10-15 pounds for 4 years now.

-Any tips for keeping it off?

I sign up for several races a year. I also sign up for a real test at least once a year like marathon or ultra-marathon. Last August I started commuting by bike as many days a week as I can. This year I'm doing olympic distance triathlon. Makes me get to the gym or get outside.

Refrain from that one/two glasses of wine on weekdays. Eat something small every few hours.

Have a big salad for dinner once a week w/o too much salad dressing.

I've vowed never to buy the next size up.

[Crankin]

I have had to lose weight twice in my life; the first time was the hardest. I was almost 25 years old and out of college a couple of years. I had been partying, going out to eat a lot, and I was divorced from my first DH. One day my dad looked at me and said, "Robyn, you are getting porky." Mean, but true. I am five one (maybe five, half an inch now). So, I stopped eating red meat, upping the fruits and veggies, and switching to a lot of whole grains. Remember, this was 1978; not a lot of stuff we know now was common then. I started going to the food co-op in Tempe, walking, and doing stretching. And, I laid off the fried stuff.
I lost 25 pounds in a year. It was slow, but it really never came back. Later, I started doing aerobics, got obsessed and actually weighed 92 lbs. at one point, after I had my second son. Most of the time my weight has been stable, around the same it was in HS; between 105 and 108. If it gets to 109, I cut back.
When I was around 45-46 I started gaining. I had slowed down on the gym stuff, as I was burned out. My DH had started riding and so had one kid. I was jealous! Plus, I felt pretty bad about my body. I think I weighed around 122 at the highest point. So, when I was around 47, I started riding. I started slowly, on an old mountain bike and after a year and a half, I got a road bike. The weight pretty much fell off, with just some minor changes in my eating. I eat way less carbs now and when I do, it's all whole grain pretty much. I vary what I eat a lot more than before and I eat much bigger breakfasts. I eat at least 2 snacks a day. I've had to switch up my exercise a lot more, too. I ride, I do core work, yoga, and lift weights. I still walk and hike, and do occasional months of running. I x country ski and snow shoe in the winter. My whole life revolves around outdoor activity.
Even though I eat out quite a bit, I no longer eat a lot of Chinese or Indian food. It just puts the pounds on. I have to take more rest time now, due to some chronic injuries and health issues, but I would say I exercise 5-6 days a week.
A lot of people think I restrict myself too much and plan all my food and exercise too much. Well, yea, I do. If I didn't, I would be a fat person.

[shootingstar]

I started this thread, and one of the reasons is that I am happy to be a ‘success’ story in achieving my target weight, but I am equally cautious to keep that weight off, and I want to learn from others. I can see all around me how common it is to lose the weight and then gain it back. I could hear it from friends at the gym when I returned from Christmas, I see it at work, from a close friend (an avid cyclist) who lost 30 pounds 2 years ago, only to put it back on, and he is now trying to lose it again. I am proud of losing the weight, but now the next goal is keeping it off.

While we continue to bike, try to eat healthy here, occasionally I can't help but think that way down the road, one will be frail enough that exercise will not be much of an option at all. I hope I'm wrong. Sounds like we should also develop tandem paths for a sideline passion that is non-cycling /non-exercise to keep us happy, mentally active to distract us from eating too much for the times we cannot cycle, etc.

When I do become weak forever down the road at the end of life I do want to say with confidence and good grace, for myself: I've tried to live well in body, mind and soul. I've tried my best, I've learned..and I've enjoyed it immensely.

[e.e.cummings]

Shootingstar, you just reminded me that my best motivation (more like inspiration) should really be my mom, who is getting close to 80. She walks everywhere, always eat on a lunch size plate, lives by the rule of a having a "king's breakfast, a prince's lunch and a pauper's supper", loves sweets but can make a chocolate bar last a week. She is tiny, but I can never remember thinking that she really deprived herself, it was just the way she managed her lifestyle. My great-grandfather lived to be 100, and what I remember of him is that he walked everywhere. Hopefully for all of us, particularly as most on this site are active and concerned about staying in good shape and aging gracefully, we will experience fit senior years.

[Crankin]

Shooting Star, I hope I have enough other interests to carry me through if i ever get too frail to walk, do yoga, or do chair aerobics! I read, go to theatre, etc. Most of my other interests are kind of cerebral, so no physical effort is involved. Since I mostly ride with people much older than me, I can see how they bounce back from serious medical stuff because they are in such good shape. Some (who are in their late 70's) have had to stop riding with the group, but they often meet us for lunch. They still ride on their own, at a slower speed. Sometimes they walk around our lunch destination. These are all guys, so it is interesting to see how they handle this, as opposed to people who have sat on the couch and watched TV all of their lives. I am glad my new career is one that I can do well into my older years; as long as I can sit, talk, and write!
Sometimes I feel like I am the only one in the world who lives this type of lifestyle. If it wasn't for you guys, my DH, and 2 friends, it would be very discouraging.