How long have you been here?

Hi-I'm just wondering-how long have YOU been here? On CC that is-

how long have you been maintainging and how long did it take you to reach

your goals?

I started in March this year with 24 lbs to lose. Have been "maintaining"

for about the last month only but this is tricky business!! I go up anywhere

from 2-6 lbs in a very short time frame. (one day I lost 6 lbs) I know it was

mostly water but wowzers! How long before you get it all figured out?

Just curious.

 

I've been calorie counting for just over 2 years. Took me 16 months to lose 175 pounds, and I've been maintaining it for almost 9 months :)

I'm still counting, and I'll stay around to continue to do so. I don't think I've completely figured out how to maintain on an every day level, but I made a 'cycling' plan for myself. I count 1200 calories Sunday - Thursday, and Friday night + Saturday night are my 'free dinner' nights. I can have my cake and eat it too on those days. My weight goes up and down about 5 pounds every week. Most of it is water and food that needs to digest.

I went from 140lbs to 110lbs in 8/9 months (May 06-Jan 07)

I tried to lose weight desperately till about July 07 when i weighed 108.

started trying to maintain. Mostly gain/lose until February when I got to 113

Went back into weight losing mode from February-June 08 got down to 105 (weird how mybody let me take off an additional 3lbs after gaining some back.)

And I'm currently maintaining 105 by doing prettymuch the same thing Previous Poster said. I eat weight loss calories (1000-1400) about 4-5 days a week and 2-3 days a week I eat whatever (although i dont go overboard on purpose)... go to restaurants...etc.

Today I weighed 105 and I had 3 cheat days last week. It seems to work but I've not really figured out how to consistantly maintain. It seems like gain 1 or 2lbs, lose, gain, lose.

LOL thanks for listening - but it can be done!

I started losing in March of 07 (157lbs), but found this site in May 07. 

When I started on CC I was 147 and was 118 by Dec1st and have been maintainng ever since. Actually I am down a little bit from that. Today I weighed 113. (I'm 5'2'')   I don't know about any of you, but I think maintaining is just as hard as losing, which is why I am still on here almost every day.

I joined February 19th 2008 and til now July 29th 2008 i have lost 48lbs and plan to lose more. Last year i wasn't on it but i lost 42 lbs so i lost a total of 90 lbs.

i started here on 9/4 and i've lost 84 pounds.  i just started maintaining on sunday.  i seem to be doing fine, despite going to a dinner buffet on sunday & a chinese buffet today.

it's common for me to gain 5 or 6 pounds in one day.  that's just all the food you ate & liquids you drank during the day.  give it time to digest.  :D

although it seems to be working just fine already!  things might change though.  who knows...  i'm new at maintaining.  i'm just so happy i'm finally in this stage!

good luck!!!

I have been a CC member for 2 years. I'm 5'5 and started at about 150 pounds which put me at overweight status. It took me about 6 months but I lost 20+ pounds and I have been maintaining at/around 128.

There were so many times where I wanted to give up but I stuck with it and my body is completely different. I try to exercise 5 days a week and Sunday-Thursday I keep my calories low, while Friday and Saturday are my free days where I'm not as strict. This has worked for my life and has made it all managable for me.

I actually didn't find CC until after I lost all my weight went from 265 in March '08 to 205 in June `08.... 5'11 and have been maintaining for  little over a month. CC has help me maintain

I started my journey one year ago today. Ahhhh me!  I joined CC last August, a couple of days after finding out I had diabetes.  I need to look up  calorie and carb values for food.  I am 5'8" and my starting weighed was 250 pounds.  I reached my original goal of 170 on December 12th. While I transitioned to maintenance I lost an additional 10 pounds.   I have been at 160 pounds for over 6 months now   I have lost weight in the past but I have never lost so much or kept it off for so long.  Thanks to CC and finding a physical activity I like to do.  Running! who knew!

I agree that maintenance is tricky business.  I found it harder initially than losing weight.  With losing weight you see progress when the number goes down. With maintenance the number stays the same.  I didn't find that as motivating. My biggest challenge has been and always will be eating in the evening.  I know the key to my contunuing success will be to limit what I eat after dinner and keep remind myself that I can't eat like I use to. After all that was how I got in trouble in the first place.  Funny how the obvious can be so hard to see when you are in denial.

In maintenance I still eat very similar to when I was trying to lose weight.  I have just added about 400-500 calories to my daily intake.  Some days more if I do a long run. That equals a bit bigger portion at lunch and a bigger dinner.  The rest says much the same.  When I decided to live healthier I started eating the way I need to long term, just smaller portions to create a calorie deficit. It makes going to maintenance easier.

I got my 3 month blood tests back yesterday and my blood sugar and cholesterol numbers are perfect!.  if I had a camera you would see old guy dancing a jig.

My next big goal is to reach my maintenance 1 year goal December 12th.  My physical goal is to run a full marathon October 12th. 

Good luck everyone.  Great topic.