I lost 30 lbs when I was 22. Am now 40 and have had 2 kids and have maintained the weight loss.

My biggest lessons:

Yes to a trigger weight. I don’t weigh myself every single day but definitely several times a week and if I go above a certain weight I cut back eating. I am not a calorie counter, but I’ve been doing this so long I know what to do to move the needle.

I don’t drink calories. Occasional social drinker of alcohol and that’s it.

I generally don’t snack. Light breakfast, bigger lunch, light dinner.

I look at the big picture all the time and try to make adjustments based on when I know I have meals out, parties, etc. If I know I’m going out to dinner that night, I pass on the donut or bagel at the morning meeting. If I haven’t had a treat in a week and I have nothing planned, I go for the donut/bagel. That kind of thing. Just constant mental calculations that become second nature.

I never, never eat at home in the evenings. I eat with my family at around 6-7pm and that’s it for the night.

I’ve kept 20 pounds off for the past 10 years. 40 years old.

I’m a runner. I run at least 25 miles a week. Occasional yoga and strength training which is mostly for injury prevention.

I eat whatever I want but I log it in Lose It! I don’t deprive myself of anything but if I have a treat or eat out then I have to cut back the rest of the day.

Anonymous wrote:I went from approximately 195lbs to 155lbs in about 8 months in 2013-2014 as a 32 year old male and have kept it off as I approach 40. I have always lifted weights and done some cardio at the gym my whole life but this never helped me lose weight. I lost weight entirely by cutting portion size and letting my elastic stomach shrink so that slowly, over time, I felt full much quicker. I still have a bad sweet tooth and periodically pig out and cookies or ice cream so try not to keep it around the house. I also like alcohol and probably drink 3 drinks 3 times per week. But the main key is just eating about 25%-33% less each meal. I found that overeating for years had increased the size of my stomach and you don't even realize it. This is the principle behind gastric bypass.

This is what I do. I lost 60 pounds in 2018, and weighing daily helps me maintain. Now that I have adjusted to being smaller, when I creep up 5 lbs, I can feel it in my body in a way I that I just hate. My taste buds have adjusted so that while I still have a sweet tooth I don't scarf all the sweet things down like I used to because it's too much. Anyway, I have my stop and drop number and when I hit, I go back to the basics. I don't deprive myself of anything but I watch calories and pay more attention to how much activity I am getting.

Almost 51, menopausal, and lost 17 lbs in 9 months. I was always slim until my 40s (BMI around 19) but had put on 15-20 lbs over the past decade through my increasingly sedentary lifestyle, stress, and drinking wine daily with my husband. A lot of wine.

I quit drinking last February and started walking or slow jogging most days in August. I eat pretty well and drink lots of water. Fasting makes me crazy, I hate the gym, don’t count calories, weigh myself every few months or so. I love good food and walking in nature. I try not to obsess over counting calories and just try to listen to my body - not my mind. That has helped a lot with portion control and not eating out of boredom or as stress relief.

It feels great to reclaim my body after gradually letting myself go for so long. My joints feel better, I sleep more soundly, my mood has improved, I have more energy, and my old clothes fit again - but now they are so old I don’t want to wear them anymore.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone tried a plant-based diet? I actually started it because I have terrible cholesterol, but I was pretty shocked by how easy it was to lose weight. I’ve lost about 20lbs (not quite 20lbs so perhaps I don’t qualify to answer but I’ve kept it off for more than a year) but it’s easy to maintain and I’ve really enjoyed it. Also so much easier than counting calories. You really cannot overeat, which used to be more my issue.

What do you mean by a plant-based diet? We eat a lot of plant-based food, would characterize our household as flexitarian, but we also have some dairy, flour and sugar in our diet. Do you cut those out? I am a PP that is maintaining a 25 pound loss, but I have to be aware of what I eat, it is not without effort.

Really just plants. Very limited meat, very limited dairy. Limited eggs. I never had a huge sweet tooth, so cutting out sugar happened quite naturally. Nothing processed. Minimal/no white flour/rice. I occasionally make chocolate chip cookies with the kids because, you’ve got to live life but other than that very limited sugar. Exceptionally good fresh bread. I cook with chicken stock and butter but otherwise very limited dairy. Lots of fruit. I also eat really dark chocolate, which I love. I feel like my body is recalibrating back to the weight it was designed to be. The whole experience has been eye-openning. Also, surprisingly delicious.

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone tried a plant-based diet? I actually started it because I have terrible cholesterol, but I was pretty shocked by how easy it was to lose weight. I’ve lost about 20lbs (not quite 20lbs so perhaps I don’t qualify to answer but I’ve kept it off for more than a year) but it’s easy to maintain and I’ve really enjoyed it. Also so much easier than counting calories. You really cannot overeat, which used to be more my issue.

What do you mean by a plant-based diet? We eat a lot of plant-based food, would characterize our household as flexitarian, but we also have some dairy, flour and sugar in our diet. Do you cut those out? I am a PP that is maintaining a 25 pound loss, but I have to be aware of what I eat, it is not without effort.

Has anyone tried a plant-based diet? I actually started it because I have terrible cholesterol, but I was pretty shocked by how easy it was to lose weight. I’ve lost about 20lbs (not quite 20lbs so perhaps I don’t qualify to answer but I’ve kept it off for more than a year) but it’s easy to maintain and I’ve really enjoyed it. Also so much easier than counting calories. You really cannot overeat, which used to be more my issue.

PP here, one more thing-- I bought the peloton last january with no hope of weight loss. My goal was really just cardiovascular improvement. I did not really think I could lose weight. I posted a couple of years ago here in despair that my husband can lose weight by saying he wants to, and I couldn't seem to do it. I really thought I was stuck. Anyway, if there is one thing I could highlight above, it is IF. I am still convinced it was mainly IF that resulted in weight loss.

50 here and I lost 25lbs in 2019.
What I did -

1. IF, 16:8. 5 days a week at least.
2.1. bought peloton. I started with the goal of 3x week but in reality ended up doing 5-7 days a week. Now am at 6-7. I vary the intensity but try to get on daily, even for a little bit unless traveling or sick.
3. weigh myself daily. as soon as I see upward creep rededicate to 16:8.
4. When hungry, drink a glass of water. Even if it's time to actually eat.
5. As someone else said, pre-plan for outings and adjust the rest of my eating around it.
6. allow myself some fun buying amazing clothes I didn't fit in 25 lbs earlier. Remember that when fantasizing about chocolate.
7. occasionally eat the chocolate anyway.

I've been at a plateau for a while. 2020 goal is to continue staying active, 5-7x week. Reduce sodium consumption and further reduce dairy (am already vegetarian but I do like cheese). Lose another 10 lbs I wish, but 5-7 is really my goal weight. Add yoga or core strength.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:After I lost 50 lbs a few years ago and found that was the easy part...keeping it off was the hard part...I read a book called Refuse to Regain about the maintenance phase. It was pretty good. It got it through my brain that I would never be able to "go back to normal." Normal got me 50 lbs overweight. The simple thing that helped me was the idea of having a tripwire weight - if I hit xxx lbs, I had to start the full diet phase again until I was well below that weight. I did, and still do, hit that weight and restart the weight loss phase at least once a year. It no longer panics me. I just remember our bodies are designed to gain and lose weight, and here we go. I will say that I find that I like to try different diets and new ideas just to keep it interesting. I dabble in calorie counting, low carb, and every form of IF. All just because dieting is deadly boring and trying new things is at least a challenge.

This is interesting -- just out of curiosity, how many pounds over your maintenance weight is your "trip wire" number? (i.e., do you go severe-course correct at 3 pounds, 10 pounds, 20 pounds over)?

It was 5lbs for 4 years or so, and that worked well (enough so it isn't just water weight, or my period or whatever). A couple of years ago I decided it was too restrictive, and that even 6 or 7 lbs should be easy enough to lose just by being more mindful of my diet, but not going full-out diet mode. Well, that resulted in me gaining a full 10 lbs over my previous trip wire weight over the course of a year as I was just being better, but not drastic. So I'm now back in full diet mode, have lost the first 2 of that 10, and should be back to usual in a few weeks. I'm trying the Fast 800 method, which is an IF variation. My trip wire weight is now back to 5lbs - my 10lb experiment was a failure! That was too much rope.

Thanks. I think that sounds like a good rule for me, when I get to my goal. I keep creeping up even when I want to go down.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:After I lost 50 lbs a few years ago and found that was the easy part...keeping it off was the hard part...I read a book called Refuse to Regain about the maintenance phase. It was pretty good. It got it through my brain that I would never be able to "go back to normal." Normal got me 50 lbs overweight. The simple thing that helped me was the idea of having a tripwire weight - if I hit xxx lbs, I had to start the full diet phase again until I was well below that weight. I did, and still do, hit that weight and restart the weight loss phase at least once a year. It no longer panics me. I just remember our bodies are designed to gain and lose weight, and here we go. I will say that I find that I like to try different diets and new ideas just to keep it interesting. I dabble in calorie counting, low carb, and every form of IF. All just because dieting is deadly boring and trying new things is at least a challenge.

This is interesting -- just out of curiosity, how many pounds over your maintenance weight is your "trip wire" number? (i.e., do you go severe-course correct at 3 pounds, 10 pounds, 20 pounds over)?

It was 5lbs for 4 years or so, and that worked well (enough so it isn't just water weight, or my period or whatever). A couple of years ago I decided it was too restrictive, and that even 6 or 7 lbs should be easy enough to lose just by being more mindful of my diet, but not going full-out diet mode. Well, that resulted in me gaining a full 10 lbs over my previous trip wire weight over the course of a year as I was just being better, but not drastic. So I'm now back in full diet mode, have lost the first 2 of that 10, and should be back to usual in a few weeks. I'm trying the Fast 800 method, which is an IF variation. My trip wire weight is now back to 5lbs - my 10lb experiment was a failure! That was too much rope.

I love 36 pounds at the start of last year and maintained it. Here is what i did.

1. Counted macros, not calories. I had it mapped out for daily and weekly.
2. Upped my protein and cut down on carbs (did not eliminate)
3. Stopped cutting things out my diet. It's what always ruined other weight loss attempts. Now I still eat junk and whatever, but in appropriate quantities and times
4. Cut out buying lunch at work so mucb (maybe once a month and worked into my diet)
5. I work nights and used.to come home in the AM and snack before sleeping. I cut that out.
6. Joined an amazing gym that I want to go to for the social aspect, let alone the fitness part.

Anonymous wrote:How do those of you who IF have energy to work out?

I am poster 1/7 - 8.17. Should have noted female 48 - work full time with several kids.

I find working out in the am easier on an empty stomach - and I often work out intense, think hard 45 min peloton or hard run . If I'm running a 10 miler or longer, than I do work on eating something. I would get used to IF first for a week, before do morning workouts fasted. Some people need a week or so to get used to IF. I also only IF for 14-16 hours, so I think that may make it more doable.

My caveat is that I'm pre-diabetic (very bad genetics, was pre-diabetic when I was very skinny) so I feel 100% better with IF without the sugar roller coaster I'm not sure if its different for non-diabetics.

Congratulations, OP! No advice here, I'm trying to lose 20lbs this year. I don't want to do IF, but I agree that the right diet is critical to weight loss, even more than exercise.