I was 270 in 2000 and lost down to 220, then gained back to 265...I started again at the beginning of May 2003, but didn't show a loss until June (when I got serious). So I've lost the majority in the last 5 months or so.
It started with me wanting to cut out all sugar, in doing that I had to give up coffee because I got into the habit of adding french vanilla cream to my coffee daily. So step one was no more caffeine or sugar (with the addition of exercise and water). I worked on that for a few weeks, and when I got used to it (and saw results), I cut out anything fried, and added fruits and veggies as close to the natural state as possible. That meant nothing canned because there's so much sodium. I replaced it with fresh and frozen.
Then I started working on my carbs. Instead of cutting out carbs which I knew I couldn't live with I switched them to complex carbs. I only eat whole grain products now, breads (all) to saltines to pastas (however I will eat the vegetable pastas which aren't whole grains but they have a lot of goodness in them). I switched to low fat/fat free cheeses, which I've discovered to be just as good if not better than the regulars, extra virgin olive oil (a little goes a long way because it packs so much flavor).
I cut back on the frozen microwave meals, and made my "quick" meals be salads with some protein added, like chicken or tuna (made ahead). Speaking of salads, no iceberg lettuce, it has little to no nutritional value...the darker the green the better so I played with that and discovered I really do like romaine lettuce, it's the ceaser dressing I can't stand, lol.
I started paying attention to my body and listened after eating meals to see how they made me feel. I now know that I can't eat chocolate during any time of day except right before supper, or I'll binge. Simple carbs makes me sleepy, and complex carbs fill me up without running me down. A cranberry bar is the perfect cure for a "sweet craving" etc. I also, as you may remember, started eating breakfast...or should I say drinking it. Smoothies helped me get the calories in I needed each day.
I shoot for base of 1200 calories, plus match each exercise calorie burned up to 1800 total for the day, with a 27% fat average over the course of a week.
Now onto exercise, which has been a HUGE part of my plan. I try to exercise for 30-60 minutes as soon as I wake up in the morning, then again for 30 minutes in the afternoon or evening after supper. My morning workouts are cardio (biking, walking, aerobics etc) and the later workout is pilates or body ball. Now that the kids are back in school most days I get those workouts plus 30 minutes walking in the morning, and another 30 minutes in the afternoon, to bring them to school and go get them. I love being active, workouts aren't "work", they're fun. But I have to keep them interesting and mix them up a lot. I also do free weights 3X a week for 30 minutes, and the occasional afternoon of loud music and DANCING, lol.
Of course I drink what started out being 1/2 my body weight in ozs, and just kind of stuck there.
After I had a bad experience with sodium I started cutting as much of it out of my diet as well, so now I buy anything I can find in "low sodium" and steer away from cheese as much I can without feeling deprived. I don't deny myself anything, I still eat chocolate, but I do it in small amounts and not very often. My chips are baked. I eat of the healthy choice menu at McDonalds, if I don't I spend the next hour wiping the grease from my mouth with napkins...since I'm not used to it, it really bothers me.
I'm doing everything right, by that I mean I take the best of every diet out there, and I've rolled it all into one, in a way that works for me. I had hit a plateau in the summer and Chara told me that eating fruit not as the first thing in the morning could be a bad thing (Somersizing, I believe) so I started eating it as the first thing, if I ate it all, and the pounds started coming off again.
It's been a major learning experience for me. I remember, early on into all this I read somewhere, "you're body is a machine and it counts every calorie you consume, even if you don't." So of course I started counting the bites of supper stewing on the stove into my calories and noticed they really do add up. And with that, I think I've covered it.
Any questions, just ask.
~Tanya
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