Losing the First 40 Pounds in Four Months

Don wants to weigh 210 pounds again.

He has been overweight for over 25 years.

Four months ago he weighed 365 pounds. That's when he set his goal to lose the weight and to bike an average of 100 miles a week. He has lost 40 pounds since then.

Last week he posted this on his blog;

"I am a half pound from my official “40 pounds lost” day! It has been a little bit of a culture shock.

Don on Day One, Four Months Ago

I can get in and out of my car easier. I am now wearing 3X shirts instead of 4X. I’m ready to buy a new belt…I’m on the last hole! 


When I hear people talking about getting in shape, I smile inside knowing that I am riding my bike 20 miles every day. I remember when I needed to lose 155lbs!! Now it’s only 115lbs! I know you’re laughing…Only 115lbs I say. But it is great to know that things are changing." 

Please check out his blog - 210 Again - and encourage him on his journey. He has made a couple of inspiring short videos - one from the first day and one after 100 days.

 Congrats on your fabulous progress Don!

160 Pounds of Butter Lighter Now

 

Jough recently reflected on his four years of "clean livin'". He made the decision to lose weight four years ago when he weighed 451 pounds. He has successfully lost 163 pounds since then, although there have been many plateaus along the way. He's now at 287 pounds, and would like to ideally reach 200.

He's lost the weight so far by aiming to stick to a 2000 calories a day diet and by exercising regularly. He does two miles on his treadmill most mornings. Check out his wonderful blog at Clean Livin'.

When Jough lost his first 50 pounds in 12 weeks, he posted this pic on his blog. It's 26 pounds of 1-pound slabs of butter. It was unbelievable to him that he could lose '50 pounds of butter' in such a short time.

Check out his milestone blog post about his journey so far.

Amy Reaches 100 Pounds Lost Milestone

Congrats to Amy who has lost 100 pounds. She used to weigh 297 pounds and now she weighs 197. She is exercising regularly and eating a healthy diet. She lost the latest seven pounds in the past month and hopes to lose another 35.

Check out her blog at Simply Amy.

Losing 60 Pounds in Six Months

before losing 60 pounds

after losing 60 pounds

Thanks much to Teresa for sending in her story. She is 5'6" tall and used to weigh 255 pounds. She was able to lose 60 pounds in six months. 


How being a loser made me a winner
by Teresa Profiri

At the time that I lost 60 pounds, I was a 37 year-old woman and I had accomplished most of that weight loss in a 6 month timeframe. It was one of the most difficult, and one of the most satisfying things that I have ever done.

My weight loss story began when my workplace sponsored a “Biggest Loser” style contest for weight loss. With a $20 buy-in per person at the initial weigh in coinciding with New Year’s resolutions and an ending weigh in scheduled for June, enough people had participated that the first place prize would be $750! That was a big motivator, but the task of losing the highest percentage of weight was daunting. My starting weight was 255 and I was 5’ 6,” grossly obese according to BMI charts.

One of my good friends and coworkers was tall, beautiful and a lean 20-something compared to me. She wanted to participate too, and we decided to compete with and support each other in our efforts to lose weight for the contest. When she weighed in she was over 200 pounds and I hate to say it, but that number was just so satisfying for me to see. She looked healthy to me and had a figure that I wished for. Her “number” seemed attainable to me and so now I had a goal to shoot for. I know that this is not necessarily rational, but this mental shift was key for me.

Although several factors helped me to lose the weight, the main one that helped me was a shift in my thinking about food and exercise. I knew that I would have to reduce calories, learn to be okay with my stomach rumbling, educate myself about nutrition and add daily workouts. The achievement of this goal would require me to change many areas of my life.

Knowing what would work for me was important. The exercise had to be something that I wouldn’t dislike and could do without feeling self-conscious in workout clothes at the gym. I was almost 40 years old and felt like a whale in Spandex. I started using the recumbent exercise bike that had become a clothing rack in my bedroom. I moved it into the living room where I could sit and watch TV. The best part of this was being able to wear comfortable clothing (even going braless!) and not having to worry about going to a gym and feel like I was being judged by others.

Making exercise a rewarding experience would be a challenge because I had been inactive for a long time. I began by listing ways I could improve the experience and make it more pleasurable. Music was something that gave me great joy so I listened to Christina Aguilera. Being alone at home was private and convenient for me so I had fewer excuses not to workout, plus I was already sitting and watching TV. I focused on doing activity that didn’t involve a lot of sweating or pounding of my joints so I avoided pain and discomfort. Variety in my workouts kept me engaged and sticking to 30 minute durations kept me from getting tired and giving up. Activities like crunches felt good because I could feel and see the results of the workout.

Adjusting my diet was more difficult since food is by nature a reward for me. A technique that I used was to give in to my cravings, just a little. I love bread. If I had to follow a diet that said I could never have bread, I would be bound to fail. I know that I’ll crave it and binge on Olive Garden breadsticks one day and hate myself the next. But if I told myself that I could have 2 breadsticks as long as I stick to one bowl of soup and salad after a workout that day, then I could feel satisfied by having eaten what I crave and not having overdone it. Making these kinds of “bargains” with myself with “if, then” rules was very helpful. For example, “If I finish this 45 minute workout, I can have 2 Dove dark chocolate squares.”

My weight loss started slowly but had built to about 10 pounds lost by the second month. This was when I ramped things up with my workouts to compete with my coworker who was trying the diet shake and starvation method of weight loss. By the end of the 6 month contest, I had lost almost 60 pounds and although I didn’t win the contest, I came in second place and won $500! My friend came in third place and was as thrilled for me as I was for her. But even more rewarding than the prize money, I was ecstatic with my new leaner, more healthy body and I was inspired to share my success with others by starting Her Weight Loss Blog.

Amanda Has Lost 130 Pounds

Amanda during pregnancy

Amanda after losing 112 pounds

Amanda at 256 pounds

Thanks much to Amanda for sending in her weight loss story. She weighed 383 pounds at the end of her pregnancy and has since lost 130 pounds. She has not reached her goal yet, but can be very proud and happy with her progress so far.


I've always been overweight.  At the start of my second pregnancy I
was 333lbs.  Through the course of 9 months I managed to put on 50lbs
and get gestational diabetes.  The diabetes scared me.  A lot.  The
weight gain itself was a whole new kind of awful.  Even though I've
always been fat, I've never been disabled by my weight.  I never had
trouble DOING things.  Until I reached the point where I was closer to
400lbs than 300lbs.

Everything on my body hurt.  I couldn't walk; really I could barely
move.  Rolling over in bed hurt.  If there was ever going to be a wake
up call this was mine.

Most of the baby weight came off pretty quickly.. well, quick(ish).
By 3 months I only had about 15 more lbs to go to get to my
pre-pregnancy weight.  The rest stayed on til my girl was 6ish months
old.  In April 2011, I had a very short lived attempt at a workout
program.  I think I held in there for about a week!

When my girl was 7 months old (May 2011) I really committed.  I had
joined a weight loss challenge for moms and I REALLY wanted to win! I
started working out with my (now-ex) husband.  He had been doing P90X
for 5 months.  I started doing it with him.  If I ever got more than
3-4 workouts done in a week it was a small miracle! "I do my best and
forget the rest"  (You hear that a lot on the P90X dvds)  I lost 22lbs
that month, and still came in 5th lol

I took a hiatus in December 2011 and January 2012, but I'm back on the
wagon.  In Feb 2012 I started doing the program.. Really doing it.  As
of this writing I'm on day 22 and I've lost 80lbs doing P90X.  From
the day before my daughter's birth (17 months ago) I've lost 130lbs.

I'm documenting my progress and keeping myself accountable on my blog A Real Woman's Sweat Journal

23 Pounds Lighter, A Few More to Go

Jennifer has lost 23 pounds since she started her weight loss blog about three months ago. Check out her fun and honest blog at Diary of an Even Fatter Girl.

Here's an intro from Jennifer:

I'm a 57-year-old clinical counselor and social worker who's been overweight since 1985. That was the year that I successful quit smoking and transferred my addiction to food! My highest weight since smoking was 255 ---- 125 pounds more than the morning I smoked my last cigarette! Of course, adding to that weight was having a child (now 25 years old but I PROMISE, I still carry my pregnancy fat), getting divorced, living life.


I've tried so many weight loss strategies in the last 26 years - once eating no solid food for three months, only Optifast shakes. I took doctor-prescribed diet medication for a year and gained a heart murmur, but lost no weight. I've tried it all.

But...... on September 19, 2011, I started a blog in order to keep myself focused, accountable, and conscious of who it is I want to become. Since that date, I've gone from 244 to 221! I've still got "miles to go before I sleep" but I feel that blogging is the most nurturing thing I've done for myself in years. Having a place to document my fears, my musings, my successes and failures has kept me more motivated on my weight loss journey than anything else. I feel like, after 57 years, I'm beginning to know myself and what makes me tick (and eat). I have begun to live my life transparently - and in the process, I've discovered that, though we all fight different battles, our "insides are the same". We are all brothers and sisters of the heart.


Diary Of An Even Fatter Girl is an honest, funny blog about losing weight and living life.

Too Fat for the Gym?

Meet Tiff. She started off her weight loss journey weighing 352 pounds. The top photo you see above is one she considers her 'wake up call'. In the last photo she weighs about 225. Though her plan for exercise initially was just to walk a lot, she decided to face her fear of joining a gym and went ahead and started working out regularly at her local community center. She's lost about 130 pounds so far! Check out her story at Project 365.

Taking that First Step

This is not a success story. This is the story of a first step to weight loss. Here I only point you to one woman who has decided she really wants to lose weight and she is starting on her goal of losing 130 pounds now.

She weighs 260 pounds now, wants to lose 100 pounds over one year, and then 30 more pounds after that. See her initial thoughts about why she wants to lose weight and how she thinks sugar (including fake sugar) is the culprit. Check out her new start at The Journey of a 100lbs.

Help Motivate Diminishing Lucy

In 2008 Lucy made the decision to transform herself from an obese 275 pound goddess to "a lithe and supple goddess of healthier proportions". She has lost about 85 pounds so far and feels she has about 38 more to go.
She has a great blog at Diminishing Lucy. Please go visit and give encouragement.

Lose Weight Marlena's Way

Marlena has lost seventy pounds in about 10 months. In the video below she explains how she went about it by changing her lifestyle rather than going on a diet.

Marlena has a very popular YouTube channel called "MakeupGeek TV". She has over 200,000 subscribers and her makeup tutorial videos have been viewed over 34 million times.