In desperate need of motivation.....

All of you women out there who have lost weight recently - can you please share with me how much weight you have lost and how long it took you to do it?  (And a brief "how I did it" wouldn't hurt either!)

Seriously - need motivation!!!!

I have lost 42 pounds since January 2007, and 31 pounds since January 2008.  I did it with a lot of hard work and a lot of plateaus.  I constantly had to rework my entire plan every time it wasn't working anymore - sometimes because I stopped losing sometimes because it was too hard to follow or it didn't fit into my life.  I think I owe my sucess to knowing when to back off - but never giving up.

38 lbs in 18 months & going for a total of 40 lbs by year end. It did it mainly by changing my eating habits and very little change in activity levels. For me it's not a diet but a way to eat that will last for the rest of my life.I've been eating low carb, more or less following the South Beach plan. I used to never eat breakfast and snacks were always carbs. Now I eat 3 meals a day and snack on protein & fat. It's really easy and I don't get hungry.

If I snack on carbs I feel as though I didn't even eat anything and I feel starving. So all carbs are whole grain & high in fiber and I eat them with meals rather than as snacks. No sugar, corn sweeteners or enriched white flour.

I find it's best to plan out all the meals of the day ahead of time and stick with it. No surprises. There are a ton of free SB recipes out there so it's easy to plan but I do recommend the books that are out there as well. The hardest part for me was getting up early enough to have time to make breakfast but I love to eat and I love eggs, cheese & turkey bacon so that's my reward (and egg-muffin sandwiches and french toast...).

After I proved to myself I was losing weight (a few months into it), I allowed myself one cheat day a week and my husband & I go out to eat for dinner. Usually we'll get a pizza or a burrito or a steak or something but I eat only half (if that) of what's on my plate. Then take the rest home & have it for lunch the next day. Watch portion sizes! That's the key.

I know it's hard to start but once you start losing & you see the results that's more motivation! Yeah, you'll hit plateaus (everyone does) but just stick with your plan and make sure you're getting enough calories and you'll start losing again. Good luck with your weight loss!