Ironic that you have to lose that because of a FAT finger mistake.
More on topic: CONGRATS! I’m the motivation/encourager for a weight loss myself and I know how hard it can be to lose just a few pounds (and how debilitating it can be when a pound comes back) and it’s great to see success stories!
For anyone else reading this: You can do it!
Congratulations!
Seriously. I was overweight for 3-4 years (I quit smoking and took up eating) and didn’t even try to lose weight during that time because we are constantly bombarded by people and media bemoaning how very difficult/impossible it is to lose weight. And if you do somehow manage to lose weight, you’re just going to put it right back on, and then some! When I did resolve to eat differently and the weight came off (55 pounds so far, 15 more to go) I was really surprised.
Congrats, Orionizer! Good job!
Thanks all! Here are a couple of hints that helped me for those of you trying the same:
[ol]
[li]DON’T try to weigh every day. Fluctuations happen during the week and can be quite discouraging. Pick one day a week to weigh and stick to it.[/li][li]Start by leaving a little on your plate at the end of a meal.[/li][li]As you continue leaving a little on your plate each time, it starts to add up! I got to where I was finally able to take 1/2 home (and save a LOT of money by doing this).[/li][/ol]
YMMV, but these hints worked for me. And by leaving a little bit more on my plate each time, I found out after a week or two, I really couldn’t finish it even if I wanted to!
ETA: Also, don’t let periods of no loss worry you. I spent 4 weeks at around 183-185. Up and down, up and down. Just stick with it and it’ll start to move again!
Wow, Orionizer! Fantastic job! 
I’ll add to this, if you don’t mind.
*I do weigh every day, because I have seen recent studies that show that people that weigh every day keep more weight off vs people that don’t. But that’s just a matter of personal choice- it works better for me, YMMV.
*I made small changes in the foods I regularly eat, such as lower calorie “thins” vs normal bread, almond milk vs cow’s milk, water or green tea vs soda or fruit juice, etc. There are so many decent substitutions for the things that you eat regularly and they add up.
*I don’t eat until I’m full anymore- I eat until I’m not hungry. Huge change for me.
*Started taking Metformin, which stabilizes my blood sugar. I’ve always suffered from wild swings in my blood sugar, even when I was young and thin. This meant that when my blood sugar dropped, which was regularly, I was suddenly STARVING, and had little control over what I put in my mouth. Metformin stops that from happening, and although I still get hungry, I don’t suddenly get STARVING, and am able to make better choices.
*I still occasionally eat things like pizza (thin crust now), brownies, cookies, etc. If I didn’t, I’d feel so deprived and crave them and I wouldn’t be able to sustain that very long. Now I just eat those things much less than I used to, and I balance them out with more activity and less other calories that day.
Little things practiced consistently add up to big changes over the long term.
Also excellent advice. Whatever works for you is what you should do.
By no means did I mean my list was the end-all list. Just what worked for me. And if it doesn’t work for you, find something that DOES!
Everyone’s different, so everyone’s list will be different. 
Ms. Cups is almost 20 pounds down because she has the premium (read: not free) version of the Lose it! app and a fitbit.
The main difference between premium and non is that premium will connect to your fitbit and give you a more accurate reading of your caloric intake/output than the free version.
By taking up jogging and being SUPER diligent in tracking her food she’s been able to make a ton of healthy headway without doing a massive overhaul in her diet. If she wants to cook for herself she puts it in the app the same is if she goes to Chipotle with her friends.
So I can personally vouch for a digital method of weight loss in case anyone was curious if things like that work
If you do make it, we will have to take you for science and turn you into a worm hole or a warp drive, or whatever negative mass can be used for. Sorry for the inconvenience, but you know, Science!
First… congrats to the OP. I recently lost 30 lbs so not as impressive but it still made a difference.
I have a Garmin Vivofit and I pair it with the MyFitnessPal app. The free version does everything I need and syncs with my Vivofit. My wife has a fitbit and I think it syncs with that too but I’m not sure.
I did two things… I started walking and counted my calories religiously. I started out having trouble hitting 5,000 steps per day and ended up doing over 24,000 steps every day (about 10 miles). Once I hit my target I slowly backed it down and am now doing about 14,000 per day to maintain my weight and health.
The calories though is what really made the difference I think. I would log everything I ate and drank like my life depended on it. I bought a food scale and weighed almost everything. You can calculate most things based on the nutrition labels and the number of servings and then with a little math you can get very close to the amount of calories when weighing whatever you plan to eat. The thing is you have to be honest and not decide that those four potato chips you snuck don’t really count. If you don’t have the energy to weigh and log them don’t eat them.
The biggest thing I found is we always kept a bowl of “trail mix” sitting around. Every time I would pass I’d grab a handful (it is all healthy stuff after all). I quickly figured out that each handful was about 100 calories so I could easily take in an extra 10,000 calories per day without even trying. The bowl is no longer out.
I didn’t cut anything out of my diet… just planned for it if I was going to splurge. MyFitnessPal has a great database of all sorts of food so it is very simple to check and add anything you plan to eat.
Good luck in keeping at your target! Keep the new habits you now have since it shouldn’t be hard after over a year of changing.
Missed the edit window… that should be an extra 1,000 calories per day. As much as I like trail mix I don’t think I could eat quite enough to get 10,000 calories.
Well, no, not with that attitude! 
Congrats, OP! Wonderful job.
[quote=“Orionizer, post:24, topic:718437”]
Thanks all! Here are a couple of hints that helped me for those of you trying the same:
[LIST=1]
[li]DON’T try to weigh every day. Fluctuations happen during the week and can be quite discouraging. Pick one day a week to weigh and stick to it.[/li][/QUOTE]
There is a different approach which also works (at least for some people) - weigh yourself daily, but track your weight loss in terms of weekly averages.
Holy cow! ivylass! It’s so good to see you. 
Congrats, Orionizer! That’s amazing work.
I really, really want to lose these 10 vanity pounds I have. Not only is it more difficult physically, but I feel like we in the U.S. are so used to seeing overweight people everywhere that someone like me seems thin (and in fact, my physician says I’m fine) and it can be difficult both to get support and to stay motivated. If everyone else thinks I’m thin, why even care?
I was wondering what on earth was in that trail mix! 
Good for you! You must feel such a sense of accomplishment! I know how hard that is. I lost 70 pounds two years ago, then it took me almost another whole year to lose 5 more and I still have 5 more to go. Hey maybe I’ll reach my goal at some point…