Please share your success stories (without medication or unrealistic calorie deficits)

[Anonymous]

Just looking for some positive encourgement. I'm a low 40's female with extra weight since babies and working from home. I have tried to lose weight off and on over the past year but I am not very disciplined and haven't stuck with something for more than a few weeks, even when it was working. I'm feeling a little more hopeful about building healthy habits (weight training, healthier eating habits) this time around. I have started a weight program this week and have been tracking my food (with an emphasis on hitting protein, carb, and fat macros, as that has worked for me in the past).

I'd love to hear from others who successfully built healthy habits to lose weight and build muscle, and have been able to make it a part of their daily lives. I'm not interested in using medications or major calorie deficits. I'm glad those work for some people and am not judging, I just know those aren't the right methods for me. Thank you in advance.

[Anonymous]

skipping breakfast and cutting out alcohol worked for me

[Anonymous]

I think you’re right to track. I am 45 and reversed my thinking on fasting and now eat 3 square meals a day- no snacks. I follow glucose goddess tips for blood sugar and reducing cravings. I have cut out all alcohol for 6+ months and hopefully forever. I prioritize 30-40g protein at every meal. I eat 1600-2000 calories every day. Doing all of this since March and I’ve lost 7lbs and 10 total since last year. It’s a slow go at this age with hormones.

I have not cut out sweets completely but have reduced and really need to be better about it.

I am very active. Cardio and weights and yoga and I am a teacher so I am on the go.

[Anonymous]

I'm four years into a health journey - have maintained 25 lb weight loss

1. Beck Diet Book - 45 day mental plan to deal with all the negative thoughts
2. Keep a diary - make plan for the week - what's going on mentally, is week extra busy, keep track of what is working not working
3. Calorie tracker like myfitnesspal - focus on protein goals
4. FitBod weight lifting app
5. Books by Stacy Simms for exercise priorities
6. Meal plan for week - prep Sunday nights. Avoid eating out as much as possible.
7. Focus on sleep - tracker such as Oura Ring
8. Consider CGM such as Signos which can track blood sugar spikes. Glucose Goddess book is good
9. Body scan app such as Me 360 to track body comp

Good luck

[Anonymous]

I think I qualify. I was 20 pounds overweight once everything leveled out after the birth of my younger child, and about 25 pounds heavier than I was before I was pregnant.

This calendar year, I’ve lost 12 pounds and improved my health, and I feel really good about the progress and the sustainability.

It’s a VERY slow rate of change - 2 pounds a month. But it’s been pretty consistent. Here’s what I did:

I actually started last year with exercise. Exercise is unlikely to impact your weight (it didn’t for me) but IMHO it’s much more important for overall health. I had a back injury at brought me to a physical therapists office and it quickly became clear how out of shape I had become. I walk a lot, and I’ve kept that up, prob an average of about 30-60 mins a day (I don’t have a car which makes this easier). But I added in twice a week core exercises during the work day. Takes 20 mins. Then I added in 15 mins of Pilates 3x a week after the kids go to bed. Such a small time commitment, but I feel way stronger and healthier. I did this consistently for over 6 months before I started worrying about my food intake.

Then for food, I actually started with ADDING not subtracting - have a green smoothie with lunch every day, and a fruit with breakfast and a veggie with dinnner. Got into a groove with that, again no weight change. This was all last year.

This year - it was time to stop cutting out some of the crap I was eating, and that’s when I started to see the numbers on the scale move. I started by brainstorming/imagining what a moderately healthy (not necessarily weight loss, just healthy) day of eating would be for me. Here’s a sample day:

Breakfast: banana and some peanut butter crackers
Lunch: turkey sandwich, green smoothie, cheese stick
Dinner: Reasonable portion of pesto pasta with chicken and asparagus.
Evening snack: low fat ice cream sandwich

So i decided I would focus on eating three healthy meals and one small treat each day. And then I gave myself some wiggle room. 15 “points” (yes, this is weight watchers inspired). A point is roughly 100 extra calories. At any given time.

So if I go out for ice cream with the kids and get a full fat cone, I figure that’s prob about 200 calories more than my usual evening treat. So that’s 2 points. If I randomly eat a few chips with salsa before dinner at a party, that’s a point. Extra portion at dinner? Maybe 2 points. I keep it to 15 points a week, Thurs-Wed, and I weigh myself on Thursday morning.

No tracking, rarely googling, no math, just super imprecise estimations, and the only thing I have to keep in my head is my current number of points, one simple number. And there are weeks when my weight has ticked up a bit and I’ve had to say, “Okay, you’re getting a bit liberal with what constitutes a healthy meal, tighten up a bit next week.” And that does the trick.

This feels incredibly sustainable. I can do this forever. And to me, that’s key.

[Anonymous]

I'm 49 and have gained a few pounds over the last few years. I'm petite too so I really felt those 5-7 extra pounds. I used the app called Lose It to track my calories for 6-8 weeks. It's a very easy app to use. Once I got my calories to around 1350 or so, the weight slowly came off. Then I joined the gym that my son belongs to and the weight came off much more quickly. I alternate between arms and legs on the weight machines plus 45 minutes to an hour on the treadmill. That's it.

[Anonymous]

I have no control when there are snacks. A bag of popcorn? Gone within 24 hours. Once I accepted having no self control and only buying fruits and veg for snacks, I lost 50 lbs.

[Anonymous]

I took a screenshot from insta of someone I wanted to have a body like.

6 months in down 15lbs; have signs of abs peeking through.

I went hardcore - weights 6 days a week and HIIT at home 2-3x a week.

No alcohol, high protein and tons of vegetables.

I also take about 3-5 grams of creatine a day - at over 40 it is required to build muscle for males for females basically.

Once you have the muscles working and building you stop caring about weight and really it is just how
Much better can you look.

[Anonymous]

There aren't any, I am afraid.

[Anonymous]

This will sound dated, but I used the weight watchers app. Nothing is off limits, it’s about points. So if you want to have a piece of cake, have at it, but it’ll be lots of points. It kind of feels like weight loss gamified. If that appeals to you, give it a try. The program is structured to encourage fruits, vegetables, lean protein, so it feels sustainable.
I lost 15 lbs in about 2 months. I do OTF twice a week, barre3 once, and occasionally hot yoga.

Slow and steady wins the day with this. Good luck!!

[Anonymous]

Weight Watchers did it for me. I fit your demographic profile, so it IS possible.

For me the WW game changers were "0 point foods" and "no food is off limits." You can eat as much 0 point foods as you want (lean protein, fruits, vegetables, beans) so you never have to be hungry. And you can balance out high point meals with low point ones, so "cheating" is ok. Somehow evern with these policies you still lose weight! I always failed diets before because of hunger and cravings. I would give into cravings for high calorie food, and then I would say, Oh well, my diet is blown, I might as well eat whatever I want. WW fixed those problems for me.

Starting was brutal, it felt like everything I usually eat was off limits. I advised a friend to start by sticking to the points budget for a few days a week and build up to full time. You probably won't lose weight while doing it part time, but it wil help you build good habits, find new recipes, and find substitutes for high point foods. Over time, you will find yourself losing your taste for fatty, overly sweet foods and enjoying the healthy stuff. WW truly does help make lasting lifestyle changes.

Ask your doctor. Mine was 100% behind WW and said people who stick with it see big heath gains. I did!

TBH, I don't exercise consistently. WW makes allowances for that too. Only WW has allowed me to lose weight without excercise.

Following WW accounts on social helped me get meal ideas and find low point products. And there are many recipes in the app. Skinnytaste also gives WW points for recipes, and their recipes are great.

Give it a try! Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Skip breakfast. Big salad with protein at lunch.

20-30 minutes cardio 4-5 times a week after work. Sometimes I lift some weights.

Small dinner. Sometimes salad and fruit. Celery sticks or Wasa crackers and low-fat laughing cow cheese wedges as a snacks.

Light meal is always dinner. Sometimes I’ll do oatmeal with walnuts and raisins for breakfast and skip lunch.

Basically 2 meals a day. I’ve done this for over 10 years. My body has adjusted.

I’ve lost 25 pounds 26 years ago and that’s how I lost and maintained.

Calorie deficit and exercise. Not rocket science.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Skip breakfast. Big salad with protein at lunch.

20-30 minutes cardio 4-5 times a week after work. Sometimes I lift some weights.

Small dinner. Sometimes salad and fruit. Celery sticks or Wasa crackers and low-fat laughing cow cheese wedges as a snacks.

Light meal is always dinner. Sometimes I’ll do oatmeal with walnuts and raisins for breakfast and skip lunch.

Basically 2 meals a day. I’ve done this for over 10 years. My body has adjusted.

I’ve lost 25 pounds 26 years ago and that’s how I lost and maintained.

Calorie deficit and exercise. Not rocket science.

This sounds miserable. And lacking in nutrients.

This is what I eat on Weight Watchers (lost 10 pounds and maintained)

Breakfast: Big omelet with veggies (eggs are 0 points, veggies are 0 points). If I'm doing well on points, I will add cheese. Coffee with nonfat creamer. Maybe a whole wheat English muffin or toast.

Lunch: Usually leftovers from dinner. I can also do places like Sweetgreen, Potbelly or Panera within points budget.

Snack: Fruit (0 points) or air-popped popcorn with flavored salt (0 points) Yogurt if I'm extra hungry and need some more protein (nonfat is 0 points, but I sometimes do lowfat). Sometimes veggies with dip.
 
Dinner: Chicken-based dinner. Chicken is 0 points, so I spend points on sauce, toppings, etc. I like creamy and cheesy chicken dishes and I can do those within points budget! I might have two chicken breasts, it depends on how hungry I am. Sides are veggies with various seasonings (0 points) or veggie noodles with no-sugar added tomato sauce (0 points). Most fish is also 0 points, so I might do that. I eat red meat occasionally for iron, but not often. Sometimes soup, gazpacho in summer (0-2 points), chicken soup in winter (1-2 points). If I want something sweet, meringues or a lowfat fruit and yogurt bar.

I eat until I'm full at every meal, I just make sure I'm filling up on low or 0 point foods. I'm never hungry and I weigh less than I did in HS in my 40s!

[Anonymous]

Part of it is mental. So if I lost a few lbs then ate badly a couple of days and saw a lb back on I’d give up… Now I tell myself every day is a new day and even if I had something crappy it doesn’t mean I give up. Just keep on trying. That mindset has really helped me.
My sweet tooth is also my struggle. I really try and limit it now, but don’t deny myself because then it’s all I can think about. So I probably eat about 1/4 of the sweets I used to.
Snacking at night. I was bad once my kid was in bed, I’d watch a show at eat constantly. I’ve stopped letting myself do that. I can have once snack in a small bowl of whatever I want, then that’s it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think I qualify. I was 20 pounds overweight once everything leveled out after the birth of my younger child, and about 25 pounds heavier than I was before I was pregnant.

This calendar year, I’ve lost 12 pounds and improved my health, and I feel really good about the progress and the sustainability.

It’s a VERY slow rate of change - 2 pounds a month. But it’s been pretty consistent. Here’s what I did:

I actually started last year with exercise. Exercise is unlikely to impact your weight (it didn’t for me) but IMHO it’s much more important for overall health. I had a back injury at brought me to a physical therapists office and it quickly became clear how out of shape I had become. I walk a lot, and I’ve kept that up, prob an average of about 30-60 mins a day (I don’t have a car which makes this easier). But I added in twice a week core exercises during the work day. Takes 20 mins. Then I added in 15 mins of Pilates 3x a week after the kids go to bed. Such a small time commitment, but I feel way stronger and healthier. I did this consistently for over 6 months before I started worrying about my food intake.

Then for food, I actually started with ADDING not subtracting - have a green smoothie with lunch every day, and a fruit with breakfast and a veggie with dinnner. Got into a groove with that, again no weight change. This was all last year.

This year - it was time to stop cutting out some of the crap I was eating, and that’s when I started to see the numbers on the scale move. I started by brainstorming/imagining what a moderately healthy (not necessarily weight loss, just healthy) day of eating would be for me. Here’s a sample day:

Breakfast: banana and some peanut butter crackers
Lunch: turkey sandwich, green smoothie, cheese stick
Dinner: Reasonable portion of pesto pasta with chicken and asparagus.
Evening snack: low fat ice cream sandwich

So i decided I would focus on eating three healthy meals and one small treat each day. And then I gave myself some wiggle room. 15 “points” (yes, this is weight watchers inspired). A point is roughly 100 extra calories. At any given time.

So if I go out for ice cream with the kids and get a full fat cone, I figure that’s prob about 200 calories more than my usual evening treat. So that’s 2 points. If I randomly eat a few chips with salsa before dinner at a party, that’s a point. Extra portion at dinner? Maybe 2 points. I keep it to 15 points a week, Thurs-Wed, and I weigh myself on Thursday morning.

No tracking, rarely googling, no math, just super imprecise estimations, and the only thing I have to keep in my head is my current number of points, one simple number. And there are weeks when my weight has ticked up a bit and I’ve had to say, “Okay, you’re getting a bit liberal with what constitutes a healthy meal, tighten up a bit next week.” And that does the trick.

This feels incredibly sustainable. I can do this forever. And to me, that’s key.

Love this. I am tracking my food this week and it’s a bit soul sucking. I really enjoy healthier foods to be honest. love vegetables and lean meats, and think food prepared simply is delicious (I think I compare it to the quick, processed food I grew up eating). However, I enjoy bread and sweets too and I think I’m a bit of an emotional eater too. I only plan to track for a a few months, when I hope nutritionally-better portion sizes are second nature and I hope to have curbed my tendency to eat high-fat/high-sugar when I am bored or stressed.