Anyone lost a bunch of weight?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Inspired by other threads floating around now and then, I was wondering if anyone has lost a substancial amount of weight (without surgery, and without gaining it back +20 or so), and if so, how was it done? Lots of exercise? What type worked for you? Special diets? Which one? Support groups? Who?

I’ve begun working out on my Gazelle Glider, and in about 5 or 6 weeks, I’ve lost about 15lbs. without changing my diet. (I don’t actually own a scale, but I went to the doctor for a UTI and I weighted XXX lbs., then I went for my annual check up four weeks later and weighed XXX -10 lbs, and since then my pants have gotten even more loose…I’m estimating it’s been about 15 lbs.)

I was just wondering if anyone else was doing something similiar and what was working for someone else…

2

Since March of this year, I’ve gone from about 267 pounds to about 243. Mostly I’ve just been trying to eat better and have been putting in three workouts a week of resistance training with a healthy dose of cardio on an eliptical machine.

3

You might not define this as a ‘bunch of weight,’ but I lost 30 lbs. about two years ago and have managed to keep it off. I used Weight Watchers and designed a moderate exercise program I could do at home. I’ve slacked off on the exercise lately and need to start up again because the Big Food Season is coming up fast.

4

I think designed a moderate exercise program I could do at home bears a little expansion. Please.

5

From January to August, I dropped about 85 pounds. A combination of Atkins and 2-mile-a-day walks. I’ve been slacking lately, so it’s down to losing about a pound or so weekly, but that’s OK. I’ve got about 60 pounds to go.

6

I lost 50 lbs from the beginning of August 2001 to around April the following year by following the Weight Watchers points plan (not the new carb plan). I didn’t really exercise any more than usual (which is “none”).

7

Oh, and since April 2002 I’ve only ever gained back 7 lbs at the most, and that’s me not following the WW plan to the letter any longer. But I do pay a lot more attention to what I eat these days.

8

I already have some walking automatically programmed into my day (I can’t park near where I work, so I have to park in a garage and walk in), so the rest of the stuff I did concentrated on what else I wanted to do for myself, which was adding some strength and toning to my muscles. With my husband’s help, we came up with a series of exercises with free weights for my upper body. I also bought several videotapes - beginning and intermediate Pilates and several tapes called Quick Callanetics, which are designed for strengthening and toning specific areas of the body (my weight all resides in my butt, so that was an area I wanted to concentrate on). Every day but Sunday I would either do my free weight program or one of the tapes. The idea was to do stuff that I would like (as much as I’ll ever like exercising - I am truly and fundamentally lazy, physically speaking) and not quit on and that wouldn’t take too long (30 min. tops each day). For me, this, combined with Weight Watchers, worked. I could do these exercises regardless of what the weather was like outside and I didn’t need a lot of equipment or time or a gym membership. Since there was really no way to come up with any excuses not to do it, I did it.

9

Friend of mine lost 70 pounds or so over the last 6 months by walking several miles a day, cutting back on his calories, fat and simple sugars. After he dropped down to 210 or so, he took up jogging. He looks pretty good now, actually–I’ve known him for almost 15 years, since we were both teenagers, and he’s never looked this healthy before.

10

Between February 2003 and March 2004, I lost almost 70 lbs, going from 215 to 147 (ish). I started out by going to an hour-long low-impact aerobics class twice a week and limiting my calories to between 1500 and 1800 a day. I didn’t pay a lot of attention to carb consumption vs. fat consumption, but I did make sure I was getting enough protein and at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Given the calorie limitation, that meant I ended up not eating much junk at all, and I suspect the diet was reasonably low in fat and not very heavy on carbohydrates, or at least not on refined ones.

After a couple of weeks of aerobics, I started lifting weights once a week as well. In a month’s time, I felt ready to take a more challenging class, so I added in a step aerobics class three times a week. Yes, this means I was going to the gym five or six times a week. All of the aerobics classes included 45 minutes of cardio activity and 10 minutes of core and/or weight work (i.e., sit-ups, pushups, presses with hand weights, etc).

I lost about six pounds a month for the first nine months on this regimen, a little more at the beginning and a little less at the end. For the last four months, I lost about four pounds a month, again tapering off towards the end. I thought I was going to get down to 145, but that’s apparently not a weight my body wants to be, and I seem to be staying right around 147. My fat More important, I have visible muscle mass in my arms and legs, I have more stamina at the age of 43 than I did when I was a teenager, and I’m in incredibly good health. Even when I do (rarely) get sick, I tend to completely recover very quickly. I’m also looking pretty damn good, if I do say so myself, but while that was a major goal when I started, I find that I get much more satisfaction from how I feel than how I look.

As I got closer to my goal weight, I added more calories to my diet. I now eat between 2000 and 2300 calories a day, and I’m slowly beginning to feel secure about estimating my consumption rather than counting every calorie. Because I want to continue to be healthy and to maintain muscle mass, I still keep an eye on the nutritive value of my food, so I end up eating very little junk food by choice.

I still do aerobics four times a week, although I dropped the low-impact class a couple of months ago after it morphed into a program that catered to people with limited mobility. I usually work out with weights once a week, although I should do it at least twice weekly. Over the past year or so, I’ve expanded my horizons a bit by substituting kickboxing and fitball classes for a couple of the step classes, and I go to a weekly yoga class. Oh, and I’m now teaching the Saturday step class.

11

I’ve only lost 20 lbs so far, by using a 3 day diet that they claim you can lose 10 lbs on but I only lose about 5. There are a couple of meals that leave a lot to be desired, but most are really not bad. Liking beets helps. :wink:

[sup]Started again, today![/sup]

12

As a kid I was a fat butterball and around the age of 11 or so my stomach and chest flattened over time. I really don’t know what I did, I think it was just I got more friends and went out and did things more often.

13

The university where I completed my undergraduate degree was in a little shithole of a town. When I joined, I weighed about 75 kgs. 6 months of extremely shitty food later, I weighed 58 kgs. Extremely oily, extremely spicy, distinctly non-nutritious and monotonous meals 3 times a day. There was no choice - each and every joint in that town served the same kind of food. The single university canteen was no different. I don’t know how I managed to get through 4 years of that food!

Trust me, you wanna lose weight in a hurry - go to my university.

14

I lost about 50 lbs in two diet periods. The first was june-early december of 2003 and the second was march-june of 2004. I lost roughly 50 lbs total on those two bursts. I’d like to lose another 30 lbs but i’m too lazy and unmotivated to start dieting again. And I figure these next 30 lbs will be harder than the first 50.

I changed my diet a bit. I ate more dairy, about 4-5 servings a day. I also ate more protein in the form of one drink a day. I sometimes ate lower fat (under 30% fat) and I tried to eat low GI, high fiber foods. For exercise I did 40 minutes on the elliptical or bike 4-5x a week.

I haven’t had any troubles with maintenance for some reason. Maybe i’m just lucky, maybe its the fact that even though i’m not dieting I still exercise 3x a week and eat alot of dairy. I don’t know but its not really a problem so far.

15

How much of that would you guess is exercise based? I’ve recently lost use of my car so I am having to bike to work every day (1.8 miles on way, 3.6 both, five times a week) and am hoping that that’ll knock me down a couple pounds, especially considering I’ve gained back the twenty-five I lost between January and May.

16

Starting in the SDMB weight loss club thread back in April, I lost about 30 pounds in a couple of months and have managed to keep it off; I changed my eating pattern to exclude a lot of the snacks I was having, took moderate exercise and just don’t eat quite so much now.

17

Yes. From March 2003- February 2004, I lost 70 pounds. Then I found out I was pregnant, and stopped dieting (so yeah I’ve gained some of it back, but it doesn’t count. There’s a BABY in there!). I followed Weight Watchers (without actually going to meetings other than the first month) and worked out 3-5x per week.

For me, it wasn’t nearly as hard as everyone always says it is. I’m due in 10 days, and will be right back on the plan when the baby’s born. It helps to be committed and I would say stubborn. I’m not going to be fat my whole life.

18

Yeah a shitload. I went from 13 st 6 to 9 st 2 about 15 years ago. I waiver half a stone now and again but I’m basicaly stable. I just stopped worrying :slight_smile:

19

In May 2003 I stopped taking two psychotropic medications, at least one of which had been slowing my metabolism as an unintended side effect. Over the next year and a half, I lost 50+ pounds, so that my weight dropped from 185 lbs. then to 127 lbs. now. The initial drop in weight afforded me the opportunity to begin a vigorous exercise program, due to my increased energy level and decreased inertia. The exercise regimen I adopted obviously accelerated my weight loss, but also led to a greater awareness of personal health issues in general, as demonstrated by my shift towards a vegetarian diet and my near-total elimination of soft drink consumption.

20

I’ve not lost “a bunch” but I am losing steadily. Here is what I did. (Do not expect instant results.)

I started lifting weights. I started with a weight that I could easily lift 10 reps, 3 sets. I increased 2 reps each week, until I hit 26 reps. Then I increased the weight and went back to 10, repeat. I do this at least 3 times a week.

I gave up beer. (I had to give up fizzy stuff due to a stomach operation.)

I started stair-climbing. I started with 5 minutes. I added 2(ish) minutes each week until I am now up to 20. My goal will probably be 25 or 30. I do this at least 4 times a week.

I am trying to give up sweets. I started by not eating any until 11:00 AM. Then after a few weeks, 1:00 PM. Now I may not eat sweets until 6:00 PM. One day it will be every other day, etc.

I cut back on carbs. Not “low-carb” but a sandwich and fries have turned into a sandwich and only a few fries.

I remember that when I am bad (as I was on Sunday) and break my diet and eat too many sweets and other bad stuff, that I can start again on Monday.

As you can see, this requires a lot of patience. I am not getting thin rapidly. But I am slowly changing my life style. It took me a long time to get this overweight. I can be patient and work at it little by little.