Weight Loss Testimonials:30 pounds or more

[asuperwoman]

For those who have lost a drastic amount of weight (30 pounds or more) can you answer the following questions?:

1) what was your preferred method of weight loss?
2) how much weight did you lose & how long did it take you to lose it?
3) what kept you motivated?
4)did you have to start over repeatedly before being successful?
5) do you think losing a lot of weight has more to do with mindset rather than mere ability?
6)what advice would you give someone who is trying to lose a lot of weight?
7)please feel free to add any other suggestions,tips, advice, or before & after PICS!!

Sometimes the best motivation is someone else's testimony. I'd love to hear some right about now!!

Thanks!

[~*Tigget*~]

I look forward to the responses. Thanks OP good post

[asuperwoman]

I look forward to the responses. Thanks OP good post


Thanks! I'm looking forward to the responses too.:yep:

[kbragg]

Iooono I think ya'll night be getting a little tired of me...kinda like a weight loss/fitness BeySasha:lachen:

[asuperwoman]

Iooono I think ya'll night be getting a little tired of me...kinda like a weight loss/fitness BeySasha:lachen:

Tired of you?? Never. :nono: You are a true inspiration to a lot of ladies. Please feel free to share. As they say: "do tell, do tell!"

[~*Tigget*~]

Iooono I think ya'll night be getting a little tired of me...kinda like a weight loss/fitness BeySasha:lachen:

For those that it helps, I think your story is inspirational. Please spill it.

[kbragg]

1) what was your preferred method of weight loss?

Please don't slap me for this:lachen: but diet and exercise.

As far as diet, it has varied widely. I started on Weight Watchers when I was released from the hospital (after having Caleb). I then tried going on Atkins when I stalled but only lasted like 2 weeks (I was nursing at the time and my Pediatrician advised against it though Caleb was VERY mad at me for going off Atkins and didn't want to nurse for like 3 days. Mr. Greedy eventually got over it:lachen:I tried a regular balanced diet and didn't have any results. I did a little intermittent fasting using Beachbody's 2 day fast and did start losing again. I lost 19 1/2lbs on in 20 days on the Master Cleanse and kept 10 of it off. I went vegan for about a month but my blood sugar was going haywire so I added in eggs, some cheese and fish. I am currently back on Atkins and am doing very well. This will be my WOE for life, as my body just does not process a bunch of carbs well at all.

So needless to say my diet has been all over the place. I was one of those unfortunate souls whose body hangs on to weight while nursing so that contributed to the back and forth with the dieting.

I really think that there is no cookie cutter pan for everyone. Some people can eat whatever, just in moderation. Some of us (me) have a carb addiction and moderation ain't happening so we have to practice abstinence and save them for special occassions. Some people do not do well on meat at all, others love raw. It's all about trying different things to see what works best for your body.

My exercise has been consistant the entire time though. Exercise is like personal hygiene for me. It's also how I manage stress. Best Prozac ever:yep: I love Beachbody workouts which is why I became a Coach. Time and time again they've proven to be results producing.



2) how much weight did you lose & how long did it take you to lose it?

It took me 11 months to lose (currently) 80lbs. It wasn't a consitant 1-2lbs a week. It would literally be 1lb one month and then 2, then 10. I think changing the diet up actually worked to my advantange because it kept my body guessing, it didn't have a chance to adapt to one way of eating. I lost 38lbs really fast during the 6 weeks postpartum and then STOPPED:wallbash: That was the hardest time for me, but I just kept pushing play, kept trying new things and never gave up because I knew my body wasn't designed to carry all of that fat. I had created the problem (hormonally induced or not) by my eating and it was only by changing it that I would get results.

3) what kept you motivated?

This is a hard one. I think initially for me it was the fact that I had balooned up so fast that all I had were "skinny clothes" and maternity clothes and was too broke to buy in between stuff. Thankfully I had friends and family who had given up on losing weight and gave me their "little clothes" which were just my size at the time (18).

After that it just became habit. I clean my body on the outside, might as well do something consistently for the inside. Exercise REALLY helped me through postpartum depression. My hairline became non-existent due to post partum shedding (and is still recovering) and add to that being newly natural and you can imagine the body image issues I was having. I used those pent up emotions to fuel my workouts...I guess that's why I could burn 600 calories during one circuit of Burn (ChaLEAN Extreme) and my feloow coaches were wondering how on earth it was possible:lachen: Turbo Jam is great for anger:lachen:

The biggest thing was after losing 40lbs pre-pregnancy using Turbo Jam I was confident that what worked once would work again. So it wasn't a matter of discipline, willpower, or motivation. For me it was about a habit that I knew created consistent results. I took the what if out of it if that makes sense. I knew that God did not desire me to be obese and unhealthy. I just "knew" I would lose the weight. The habit creates the knowing.

Like as a kid for instance, you have a headache and mommy brings you that medicine. The first time you take it you never want it again. You may even fight it when you have to take it again. But over time you develop a trust that the medicine will get rid of the headache.

I believe in accelerated habit creation ala working out 7 days a week. It takes 21 days to create a new habit. If you only workout 3 times a week, it'll take almost 2 months for it to become a habit and for most people the results come so slow at that rate that you quit around week 3 or 4.

If you workout 7 days a week (3 days moderate to intense cardio, 3 days weights, one day stretch and very light cardio like walking or yoga) It will only take 3 weeks for it to become a habit and you'll start seeing changes in your body and mood by the end of the second week which spurs you on to keep going. You trust the process and it becomes second nature. You need a little willpower and motivation for that first week or two but once you experience how good you feel afterwards it's second nature.

Also the BIGGEST thing is find a workout and a trainer you LOVE. I love working out at home cuz I can look a hot mess and nobody knows it but me (well ya'll do now thanks to my youtube vids:lachen:) You can yell, cuss:look: grunt, make funny faces, whatever and no one will laugh at you or look at you funny. You can push harder and farther and thus get better results. But if a workout is boring I won't do it. I like videos also because you feel like you're part of the "crew" so you do't have that alone feeling you may get from working out at the gym. I no likey to be alone:nono:

4)did you have to start over repeatedly before being successful?

No. I don't ever look at it as starting or stopping. I mean what's the point of quitting? I never got that at all. I'd change things up, but quitting no that didn't make sense. How depressing to just say "Ill just be fat" and go back to abusing your body with junk and feeling miserable. If you stall then change things up but why quit? I think that's why people end up "losing the last 10 or 20lbs" for years and years.

It's cognitive dissonance. People get a belief in their head and no matter what you say they won't believe you. If they think you have to eat low fat high carb and 800 calories a day, even if they see you lose a ton of weight with Atkins, they'lll never listen. A person really just has to reach that point where they are open minded enough to realize that eating the same foods that made them fat will not make them skinny no matter how much they starve themselves and when they go back to eating the normal amounts and gain what little they lost back they give up. No, you gotta try something different. Whether it's Atkins, Raw, Intermittent Fasting, Weight Watchers, find what works for you and just commit to the plan. What do you want more fried chicken and Coke or to look good nekkid?

5) do you think losing a lot of weight has more to do with mindset rather than mere ability?

Most definitely mindset. The body can only take you so far. We're tossed to and fro by emotions and hormones, you have got to have some solid logic set in your mind to overcome those things.

Weight loss is hard as hell. Not because the process of losing weight, eating different and exercising is particularly complicated or difficult, but because you are literally setting yourself apart and putting yourself out there when you do it. 95% of everyone is doing the opposite. People will look at you funny, accuse you of being obessed with exercise, say you must have an eating disorder if you can't even have some Popeye's:rolleyes: You have to realize that many people though they are concerned out of misinformation (I actually read on another board where someone though Atkins was about eating a stick of butter wrapped in bacon:lachen:) but most of them just do not want to own the fact that they are accepting being fat.

They try and make excuses for your success. Oh she's young, she has good genes (well good genes didn't keep me from being over 200lbs for 4 years now did it!?:lachen:) and whatever else they have to do to hold on to their belief that they CAN'T lose weight. As long as one has that belief you'll never lose it. You gotta find someone who's done it and challenge that belief.

YOU ARE NOT SPECIAL!:lachen: I don't care what mommy and the church ladies say:lachen: You are not so unique that out of all the billions of humans that have ever lived you are just destined to be fat so why even try. If I can lose weight with 3 kids, if my friend Toni can lose weight OVER 40 after personally birthing SEVEN children, then darn it so can you!

I'm not some wierd breed of mutant that has a magically metabloism. That's Wolverine:lachen: I'm just a normal mom that was fat and decided I didn't want to live my life as a fat person.

[kbragg]

6)what advice would you give someone who is trying to lose a lot of weight?

Baby steps. Ignore the articles that say if you eat X number of calories then you will lose 1-2lbs a week because there will be weeks where you lose no pounds and weeks you lose 7. It happens in spurts. That's why it is sooooooo important to see your eating and exercise as a habit and not a temporal thing. Think of it this way. What if the week you decide to quit and binge could've been the week you dropped 4lbs?

I'll use me as an example. My first month doing ChaLEAN Extreme I lost 9lbs. The second month (the muscle building month) I fluctuated up and down and ended up with a net loss of just 1 1/2 pounds! Now let's say I quit and went back to my old eating habits. The VERY NEXT WEEK I logged a weight loss of almost 6 pounds! I am in the 150's again! I could've missed out on that if I set myself up to think I was for sure going to lose 1-2lbs each week.

Now I'm no saint mind you. I have to literallly speak outloud to myself this fact because your emotions will tell you to turn to some sugary non food and ruin any progress you had. It's about momentum. JUST KEEP GOING! It will work I promise. Think of everyone you know who ever tried to lose weight. The ones who didn't lose or gained it back quit. The ones who lost it and kept it off KEEP GOING sooooooo if we set aside emotions and look at logic, what is the logical conclusion class? As grown up Lewis from Meet The Robinson's says "KEEP MOVING FORWARD!" Rent that movie this weekend and think about weight loss while watching and I guarantee you will cry like me

7)please feel free to add any other suggestions,tips, advice, or before & after PICS!!

Before 236 after 157 (I am currently 156)
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f7/kbragg1/beforeandaftercivies.jpg

[kbragg]

Sorry it took 2 posts, LHCF said I'm too dang long winded:lachen: Please 'scuse the typos if you can:lachen:

[Bosinse]

I've lost a 100lbs and 80lbs on different occasions but I've gained them back. I'm on my way to losing it again hopefully for good. I'm about 40lbs+ down from my highest now.

Just wanted to add that alliecat is a great inspiration. I believe she belongs to these boards because I've seen her name here. She has a blog with her pictures and motivation.
http://my.att.net/p/s/community.dll?ep=16&groupid=180296&ck=

[asuperwoman]

Sorry it took 2 posts, LHCF said I'm too dang long winded:lachen: Please 'scuse the typos if you can:lachen:

That was incredible! I mean absolutely tear jerking!!! Everything you said was inspiring. I'm going to go rent Meet the Robinson's this weekend (friday night is movie night @ my house anyway).

Thank you soooo much for taking the time to explain your progress and how it really happened. You put it into words so eloquently. I appreciate your elaboration.

I think I may print these off and make a little motivation book. Whenever i get discouraged by the scale (as I have been lately) I can just read these testimonials and KEEP GOING FORWARD!! :yep:

:thumbsup: You rock lady friend!! i mean looking at your before and after pics, it's just amazing! Go ahead then with your badd self!!

thanks again. :goodpost::thankyou:

[asuperwoman]

I've lost a 100lbs and 80lbs on different occasions but I've gained them back. I'm on my way to losing it again hopefully for good. I'm about 40lbs+ down from my highest now.

Just wanted to add that alliecat is a great inspiration. I believe she belongs to these boards because I've seen her name here. She has a blog with her pictures and motivation.
http://my.att.net/p/s/community.dll?ep=16&groupid=180296&ck=

Thank you. Congrats on your weight loss!! What are you doing to lose the weight this time? And, has your mindset changed from when you initially lost all the weight?

[curvycurly78]

1) what was your preferred method of weight loss?
Old fashioned exercise and eating clean (I hate the word diet)
2) how much weight did you lose & how long did it take you to lose it?
So far I've lost 51 lbs. and it's taken me 2 years to lose it :perplexed
3) what kept you motivated?
Seeing my progress (on and off the scale), the encouragement from the ladies here:grin: and periodically looking at my "before" pictures and reminding myself that if I were to give up, that would be my life all over again.
4)did you have to start over repeatedly before being successful?
I never stopped long enough to have to start over but I did have times where I stalled for loooong periods of time (hence the reason it's taken me 2 years)
5) do you think losing a lot of weight has more to do with mindset rather than mere ability?
Absolutely!! In the words of Jillian Michaels "tell yourself that you can, and you can". I knew the key was to keep myself mentally ready and the ability would come in time-that's exactly how it happened too :yep: 6)what advice would you give someone who is trying to lose a lot of weight?
1. In the beginning, focus on small goals, like losing weight in 5 lb. increments instead of saying, "omg, I need to lose 100 lbs." that makes it seem impossible, but setting small doable goals is a lot easier IMO.
2. Trying to lose weight without exercising is not only slower, it also requires a lot of dilligence that (let's face it) most people don't have when they're in the beginning stages of weight loss.
3. Exercise does not have to be boring or tedious and if you find that it is, you need to change the type of exercise you're doing. I paid attention to the forums and saw the good and bad reviews of workouts, I previewed dvds on www.collagevideo.com (http://www.longhaircareforum.com/forums/www.collagevideo.com)
and I found things that I liked. Exercise shouldn't be looked at as a chore.
4. A trainer and/or a gym membership is NOT MANDATORY to lose weight. There are plenty of fitness options you can partake in without even leaving your home. If you feel you may need a trainer, hire one if you're able.
5. Don't skip meals and or drastically reduce your calories to nothing. There are plenty of BMR Calcultors that can tell you how much you should be consuming for your weight and activity level.
6. Do your research. Trust me, taking 2 years to lose 51 lbs. makes you start Googling stuff really quick! I have gotten so much helpful information by just asking around and looking for answers.

7)please feel free to add any other suggestions,tips, advice, or before & after PICS!!

I probably could sit here all night with suggestions, but I'll stop. I have before/after pics in my album here (just click on my profile and the albums are to the right), on my fotki and for your enjoyment my tummy pics in my siggy.

HTH! :grin:

[asuperwoman]

1) what was your preferred method of weight loss?
Old fashioned exercise and eating clean (I hate the word diet)
2) how much weight did you lose & how long did it take you to lose it?
So far I've lost 51 lbs. and it's taken me 2 years to lose it :perplexed
3) what kept you motivated?
Seeing my progress (on and off the scale), the encouragement from the ladies here:grin: and periodically looking at my "before" pictures and reminding myself that if I were to give up, that would be my life all over again.
4)did you have to start over repeatedly before being successful?
I never stopped long enough to have to start over but I did have times where I stalled for loooong periods of time (hence the reason it's taken me 2 years)
5) do you think losing a lot of weight has more to do with mindset rather than mere ability?
Absolutely!! In the words of Jillian Michaels "tell yourself that you can, and you can". I knew the key was to keep myself mentally ready and the ability would come in time-that's exactly how it happened too :yep: 6)what advice would you give someone who is trying to lose a lot of weight?
1. In the beginning, focus on small goals, like losing weight in 5 lb. increments instead of saying, "omg, I need to lose 100 lbs." that makes it seem impossible, but setting small doable goals is a lot easier IMO.
2. Trying to lose weight without exercising is not only slower, it also requires a lot of dilligence that (let's face it) most people don't have when they're in the beginning stages of weight loss.
3. Exercise does not have to be boring or tedious and if you find that it is, you need to change the type of exercise you're doing. I paid attention to the forums and saw the good and bad reviews of workouts, I previewed dvds on www.collagevideo.com (http://www.longhaircareforum.com/forums/www.collagevideo.com)
and I found things that I liked. Exercise shouldn't be looked at as a chore.
4. A trainer and/or a gym membership is NOT MANDATORY to lose weight. There are plenty of fitness options you can partake in without even leaving your home. If you feel you may need a trainer, hire one if you're able.
5. Don't skip meals and or drastically reduce your calories to nothing. There are plenty of BMR Calcultors that can tell you how much you should be consuming for your weight and activity level.
6. Do your research. Trust me, taking 2 years to lose 51 lbs. makes you start Googling stuff really quick! I have gotten so much helpful information by just asking around and looking for answers.

7)please feel free to add any other suggestions,tips, advice, or before & after PICS!!

I probably could sit here all night with suggestions, but I'll stop. I have before/after pics in my album here (just click on my profile and the albums are to the right), on my fotki and for your enjoyment my tummy pics in my siggy.

HTH! :grin:


Thanks for making your pics available. You are looking fabulous!! The fact that you have lost 51 pounds is a huge accomplishment despite the time frame. You gave excellent advice & words of wisdom. It's always nice to hear from someone who's been there, doing that. It's kind of cliche' but i guess the old adage rings true: the race is not to the swift but to those who can endure. I see that in both you & Kbraggs weight loss successes.

[BKVincy]

thanks ladies

[~*Tigget*~]

I've lost a 100lbs and 80lbs on different occasions but I've gained them back. I'm on my way to losing it again hopefully for good. I'm about 40lbs+ down from my highest now.

Just wanted to add that alliecat is a great inspiration. I believe she belongs to these boards because I've seen her name here. She has a blog with her pictures and motivation.
http://my.att.net/p/s/community.dll?ep=16&groupid=180296&ck=


OMG, she looks good, wow, impressive. thanks for sharing:yep:

[asuperwoman]

bumping.... c'mon ladies- share!!

[Nyssa28]

Wonderful thread! These stories are so motivating.