Success stories in weight loss?

[e.e.cummings]

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.

When I was younger, I was always very athletic and in good shape. I had my first and only child late (37 years old) and was happy when the weight melted off while nursing. However, once the nursing was over, I gained, and for 9 years, I was overweight. My normal weight was around 125-130 before I had my son but I was up to 165 at the beginning of this year (on a 5’4 frame). I had an expanding closet of clothes of sizes ranging from 4 to 14.

Motivation to try to lose? I started to become convinced that I either had a thyroid condition or was pre-menopausal because I felt like I was cutting back on my eating, increasing my exercise, but nothing was happening. I was checked out by doctors and I was neither. I just needed to eat less, move more. Also, I thought about my father who had had a stroke in his early 50s. My age was creeping to that. As my husband and I bought new bikes early spring, I was buying bike clothes that were virtually the same size as him (he is 6 ft tall, 175 lbs, no weight problems, never had). I felt like a pudding. I didn’t feel good in my clothes at all. I felt old – I had always been athletic before, I didn’t feel like myself. I was out of breath when I tried to run or climb stairs.

The cycling that we did through the spring and summer yielded some results but it levelled off pretty fast, plus I started to get ravenously hungry. I would come home and want steak for supper, and I barely ate red meat before. My increased activity fueled my appetite. I stopped losing anything.

In September I decided to join a gym. It had a program called Transform. For 4 months you had the services of a trainer and a nutritionist and full use of the gym and its classes. My husband was skeptical, he thought that I would fall prey to the usual ‘join a gym, go for a couple of months, then quit’ thing. Perhaps his skepticism made me want to prove him wrong. At that point, my goal was to lose 20 pounds and get down to 135. I remember the trainer saying ‘it’s not that much’. It felt like a lot to me!

I was thrilled that they had spinning classes at the gym. My trainer led me through my weight training, which helped a lot. On my own I would never have touched weights, but the trainer said it is a big part of getting into overall shape – just cardio was not going to do it. I bought a Polar heart monitor and it really helped in tracking my workouts. One of the most valuable things the nutritionist did was have me record my eating for two weeks. I used My Daily Plate on livestrong.oth and was amazed at some of the calorie content of foods that I had been eating. She advised me on how to balance my intake, the structure of my plate (half veg, quarter grain/quarter protein). She did not have me on a diet, she just gave me general guidelines. She was not at all in favour of prescribing ‘diets’ or even suggested menus. She wanted me to learn how to eat in general and make it part of my lifestyle, which is what our visits focused on. I was given Nancy Clarke’s book suggested in one of the above posts, which was a great help.

I should note that I was posting on this web site about weight loss and reading other people’s posts – it really helped me. Also, the camaraderie of the friends that I made at the gym was a real boost.

As I got into my training, I started to work out too hard. I started to becoming exhausted and sleepy. I was having problems fueling my workouts with what I was eating. My trainer said she had seen it many times, people work out too hard, they hurt themselves, get sick or just exhaust themselves, and eventually drop out. We had planned a vacation down south and the timing was good – my trainer said I should slow down. While I was away, I scraped my knee on coral while I was snorkeling and didn’t think anything of it at the time. Once I got back, I started feeling bad – increasing headaches, chills and started to lose my appetite. With H1N1 in the news in a big way, I thought that is what I had. Once I realized the scrape on my knee was not healing, I went to a travel clinic and sure enough, I was infected by the coral. I was told to not work out until it was fully healed, which put me out of commission for about two to three weeks. But I kept losing the weight, and I reached my goal. It was almost easier because I did not have the confusion of fueling my workouts while trying to lose weight. I just needed to make sure that as I got better I did not let my returning appetite get out of control.

I was really afraid of Christmas – visiting my parents, trying to stay away from my mom’s delicious cooking. But I managed – I allowed myself some treats, I didn’t totally deny myself. Before I went home, I bought the Tony Horton 10 minute workout DVDs that I saw advertised on tv – time was an issue for me and it sounded good. (First infomercial thing I had ever bought!) And they actually worked – I could do those workouts easily, just 10 minutes if I wanted to, combine some if I wanted something longer, but at least I had something to do while on vacation for when I had indulged. I came back from vacation and had not gained weight.

I became keenly aware of those around me who had taken the same program as I had and either not succeeded in the first place, or lost, then gained it back again. That is why I wanted to gather info from people who are successful at keeping it off – it is one thing to lose it, it is another thing to keep it off. I feel like my target weight is realistic and I don’t think that I need to do an unnatural amount of exercise to keep it off – left to my own, I probably would have set a lower target weight based on my weight in 20s, and I would have had to work very hard to get to that. But I feel good at this weight (135 lbs), I feel toned, I notice that I am treating myself better – it is more fun to buy clothes, I treat myself to manicures, pedicures, play with my hairstyle – things that I could have done when I was heavier, should have, for that matter, but I feel more positive now, and want to take care of myself better than ever. It goes without saying that it feels good to be in better shape, and I can’t wait to get back on the bike this spring. It has not been that long for my weight loss – I really hope I can keep this up!

[nolemom]

I have dealt with weight issues all of my life, but after my third child was born I really put on the pounds. I had gestational diabetes with each pregnancy so I only gained 15 lbs during the pregnancy but gained 30 after my daugher was born. I had 188 lbs on my 5'5'' frame when I tried the Carbohydrate Addict's diet. I lost 40 pounds but quickly put 20 back on. I don't consider that the beginning of my successful weight loss.
Motivation: My brother passed away 4 years ago at 47 from complications from surgery to remove a brain tumor. I decided that I had to take my health seriously and for once I focused on health and not weight. I began to make some real improvements in my diet but I continued to play at exercise - 30 minutes going slowly on the treadmill doesn't do it for my metabolism. I did lose about 10 lbs.
My husband started cycling a few years ago and fell in love with the sport. I was so out of shape that I really didn't think I could ever do what he did. I started riding my old bike around the neighborhood and eventually could make it around a nearby lake (about 16 miles) if I stopped halfway. I began adding miles slowly; switched from my Trek Calypso to my husband's old hybrid and eventually was riding 20 to 25 miles. My husband bought me a road bike and I ventured out to ride with some of the members of the bike club who liked riding with new riders. I only later realized that they were giving up their faster rides to help me improve and work on skills.
To make a too long story slightly shorter, I fell in love with cycling. I rode every chance I got and continued to up the distance. It helped that I have the most supportive group of cyclists in my bike club. My husband suprised me with my Madone for Valentine's Day a year ago. I now ride between 150 and 200 miles a week (weather permitting) and have gotten my weight down to the low 140s and my speed up on the bike.
My doctor originally thought that 135 was the lowest I should go but on the last visit said to just see what happens. I eat a healthy amount of real food and even splurge fairly often on sweets. I can maintain the weight loss because of the amount of exercise I do. I also run 4 miles at least 2 days a week and have recently added weight training.
I used to feel that I could not control my weight - that I was cursed to be heavy. I will probably never be really thin but I love the fact that my 47 year old body is strong and becoming more fit every day. I have finally fell in love with exercising and this former "non-athlete" is amazed daily with what I can accomplish - it is so empowering.

[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.