Whats your Success Story?

There are a few of us here that have finally reached that goal of Maintaining, so we come to the forum sometimes to see whats going on, if there is anyone that we can over advice to, or just see how friends are doing with their weight loss. I was thinking tonight about what is the best way to help someone get motivated, know that they can do it if they take the time and effort- They WILL Reach their goal!!!

There are soooooo many success stories on this site that are amazing to hear and see the results. Some of these are at maintenance level and some aren't.

To be a success at something doesnt mean you have to already "BEEN THERE, DONE THAT" type of person. To me it means you have AMAZED yourself in what you have accomplished.

The success stories that are shared on here are a way for each of us to support, motivate, encourage and meet each other. Everytime someone comes to the forum and says they broke a 2 week plateau- we cheer! Or 1lb lost!!! we cheer! AND WE SHOULD!!! it is awesome! We came to this site for the support and we are getting it! We should continue to give our support to one another and know that we too will be where that person is when it is the right time for us. We all started at different times, different heights, different weights,....you get my drift.

The stories aren't here for us to compare ourselves to someone else, noone shares their success to "rub it in others faces" they do it because this is a place where they know they can be honestly excited about their loss, jump up and down for it and not have to be quiet about it- they are among friends!! The stories are shared to help motivate each other so don't compare yourself to any of the stories told, use it to motivate you. Find one that you can relate to...maybe you dont have 100lbs to lose but only those last 15lbs to get rid of- wouldn't it feel great to hear someone say they did it! See how they did it! Wouldn't it motivate you, give you hope that you can reach your goal?

So with All of that said, yes I had coffee late at night and can't go to sleep, I would love to hear what your success in YOUR journey so far has been.

Did you go a full day without a soda?

did you stick to your goals for last week or last month?

Did you lose 1lb or 100lbsso far??

They are all wonderful success stories, those are what motivate us, the person sharing gets motivated and the person reading will get motivated.

There are alot of us here that are Maintaining, Almost there, some that are half way, and some that are just starting or even starting over, thing is we all have a story of Some type of success, maybe yours will help someone else? :)

So what is everyones story????

-slappy(nope, not going first :P)

adding to my success story!  I JUST RAN MY FIRST 5k!!!!!  I was never a runner before April when Neeners drove 5hours to run my first mile with me!

THANK YOU NEENERS! 

Woah!! Congratulations on the incredible job!! You're an inspiration to all of us! ; )

Someone linked to this in a post today.  Thought I would bump it up.  There are so many great stories on here from people who have been around for a long time.  Thanks for sharing, especially those of you who don't post a lot!

My success story so far:
I started CC in February at 175 lbs, 5'4".  After 4 years of college eating, and 6mos of married life, I figured something had to change.  When I started logging my calories, I had no idea I was eating so much! 

My ultimate goal: be in great shape by the time we decide to have kids (which is still probably 4-5 years off).  So far, I have lost 17lbs, which isnt a ton, but my time here at CC includes 6 weeks on some medicine that makes you puffy and increases your appetite (I didn't gain any weight while on it though, and I don't think I even got puffy!!!).  My official goal weight is 128.5lbs.  Although, I haven't weighed that much since I was a freshman in high school, and I think a more realistic goal may be around 135.

I started eating healthier, not eating everything in sight at work, and working out.  I had started going to the gym in December, and had some Winsor Pilates dvds (highly recommend them!).

Now I weigh ~158lb, go to a step class 2x a week, a weigh training class 1x a week, and have been riding my bike to work every day for the last two weeks.  I even went on a run/walk somewhere in there (never been a runner). 

However, I think one of my favorite parts of all this is the new foods I have tried!  This week I made 3 new recipes!!!  Cooking Light Magazine is great, by the way.  :-)

I wish you all the best in your journey.  Thanks for all the uplifting stories!

Wow!  You guys are all such a source of inspiration.  Hats off to you all for sticking to it and making it work!
On a personal level I had an eye opening chat wiht my docotor in February when he told me I could be on my way to developing diabetes since I was becoming insulin resistant.  Only thing to do he said was shed some weight.  That very night I was poking around on the internet and found C-C.  Thank the gods!  I soon found all the cool tools and logged EVERYTHING.  It took me a while to find the community part and then I felt even better seeing everyone else struggling with the same things that were going on in my life.  I did take a 2 month maintenance break over June and July, but to date I've dropped a minimum 30 pounds (I couldn't face the scales for a few weeks so I'm still not positive about my starting weight) and I'm still working at it.

*BUMP*

I find this a very inspriring thread, and thought other people who werent around when it was made might want to read it or add to it :)

Congrats everyone!!

Bump!  happy anniversary Forums!

Happy Anniversary!!!

Very happy to be apart of such a great site that offers motivation and support.

I'm happy to say I've lost about 57 lbs.  My new confidence helped me get a new job. My self esteem got alot better and I landed a great job. I finally got the courage to leave my dead-end job.

Thanks to everyone for their great advice and support!

Just bumping this up for any newbies that want to see what this site can do for you!

Thanks guys! I needed some inspiration. It would be neat to have a list of everyones progress that wanted to show off like:

Date of start and weight

and then a colume for current date and current weight.

Janna

Mines is that i feel great. I lost my way to my weight lost Goal 10 months ago. But i am back on the right track to lose the weight again. I was here last year as... lynn60gonow.. now i am lynjustlose56, and right now i got 49 more to go from that ugly 56.


But you know what my Success really is.. I found me.. And i found you all again... That is my real success.. AND Slappy.. Girl you know I am waiting for a challenge from you.. You made me push harder, and my abs look good for that month of abs. Thighs i didn't do as good as i wanted.. But i want to thank you for all your wonderful post.. And Lady O She looks great.

I just wish i never fell off the wagon, but i am back.. Married, and not falling off the wagon no more..


Thanks for this post..
~LYNN

hi all,

Found my way to your site looking for some motivation. The last few years have been up and down for me. At my highest, I weighed 268 before my little sister's wedding and I got down to 228 for it. I kept losing slowly and got down to 180 somehow.....I met the man of my dreams and we exericsed and did Atkins together, getting down to 150, my thinnest since grade school. As typically happens with new couples, we put aside our fitness regime eventually and took to staying in, watching movies and eating take out--I was soon growing larger and larger and all my skinny clothes went away and the fat ones came back out.  ) : Summer 2006 I was stubborn and stupid and almost died because I laid on my couch for a week after my appendix ruptured--needless to say, I was pretty sedentary for the summer before getting back to work as a school teacher. I am back up to 224 and I have started walking at least an hour a day with small hand weights all over my town. I am not seeing any movement on the scale yet, so I am frustrated. I have another wedding in September and lucky me, I get to stand between two skinny girls---wish me luck!

Thanks for listening, Olivia

wow!  i am 14 days into re-startng my weight loss journey.  i have about 46 lbs to loose and am very inspired!!!!!

any more stories?

I have a somewhat funny success story... my goal was to lose some of the weight I'd gained since I had to stop dancing... realized I'd succeeded when my pants fell off... literally... fortunately for me they dropped before I left the apartment. I don't know how much I actually lost at that time but I went strait to the stores and got a new wardrobe :) never had so much fun shopping for clothes in my life. 

Joined in July of this year. Walking up steps or walking from the parking lot into work had me panting cause I was at 406. Walking a mile was impossible. The last time I did that was probably five years ago. Now at 361, I walked 2 miles yesterday with ease my heart rate was up but I wasn't panting and gasping for air.

Wow, all you guys are so amazing. I lost a measly 20 some pounds, down from 165 at the end of July 2007, now at 143.5 on October 9.

I did it because I was slowly creeping back up from an earlier effort where I went to 150 and kept it for several years, but the trigger was that I signed up to hike through the Grand Canyon and figured that every pound I didn't have on me wouldn't have to be carried back up.

It was very impressive when I packed my backpack this Sunday, with two sleeping bags, a tent, a Thermarest pad, some food, and a change of clothes, stepped on the scale with clothes and shoes AND WAS AT 163.5!!! That's 1.5 lbs lighter than I was butt naked before I started! And it's a friggin' big backpack! 

Well August 2005  I weighed 202lbs...  I had just split from my husband.. I have three children and could not keep up. I started reading labels and tracking everything I ate. No more pop, very limited juice, no deep fried foods. Hitting the gym a little more regular. As of August this year..so two years from my start date I am 140lbs. I eat great, still read labels and watch what I eat. I  can keep up with my kids and we all eat much healthier.  I struggled with my weight all through my childhood and I am so happy that all my children  have great eating habits and we exercise( play) all the time.

Just after Christmas of this past year I weighed myself, I was 199.5, at 5'5" that is too much for me.  I was a tight size 16 (probably should have bought 18's, but just couldn't bring myself to).

After 10 months of starting this lifestyle change I've lost 56 pounds, surpassed my goal weight of 145 (143.5), learned to love running (even ran my very first 5k this summer), am a yoga fanatic, take spinning classes, and am a solid size 8 (even bought a pair of 5/6's this past weekend WOO HOO!).

I logged my calories every day, excersize 5-6 days a week, and try my best to avoid fast food.  Most days I win the battle, some days I don't... such is life!

I'm happier with my body than I can ever remember being, and along the way my husband has lost 55 pounds as well!  He is HOT! He always was, but his self-confidance is sooo much higher now, so is mine!

Good luck to everyone!  And a big THANK YOU to C-C!!!!!

Hey folks,

What great successes there are in this group!  For me I met the end of my proverbial during the fall of 06.  My blood lipids were high, I was huffing and puffing around, and having dreams of being disabled.  I joined a gym to swim and got on thier scale. On December 24th I weighed 276 lbs on my 5'2'' frame.  Yee Gads!  I was shocked and motivated to do something.

I said I wanted to see what I was actually eating and searched the net for a calorie count of some food item, and found calorie-count, my new home. What a wonderful place full of people who were supportive and working to deal with this scourge.

I began exercising and logging what I was eating.  I did not move below 1200 ever and kept it between 1300 and 1500 calories most days.  As of this week, I am 111 bls less and trying to decide when to start maintenence.  This is a miricle for me, as I have not been this weight since 1991, and then, only for a day. 

Thanks to CC and all of you, for the first time, I have a relatively healthy eating and exercise way of life. 

Hi everyone, what inspirational stories! Thought I would add mine..I have lost 156 pounds to date and started at 301 pounds in July 2005. I have also lost 76 inches off my body. I am a 5'8" 28 year old female. I am now the fittest I have ever been...I weigh 145 pounds and I ran my first half marathon late September and am so glad I got my fitness back :)

Wow! - For all the fabulous stories told so far

Wow Wow!! - For the fact that this thread has been in existence for so long

My story is still short. Always been overweight decided to try Easy Zone from my gym and lost 50lbs for the wrong reasons. Regained those 50 pounds and some in the period of 3 years. Decided in July this year that it was time to really make the lifestyle change. I wanted to count calories and nutrients of what I was eating.

CC was the result of my google search to find a place where I could do exactly that.

I'm 23lbs down with 96 more to go and I'm pumped right now. Just had a horrible TTOM week and only lost a few ounces since Monday last week. But instead of giving up I'm just gonna work all the harder. I've got some challenges to meet and goals to reach.

Keep the stories coming this thread is great.