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Tell your stories here.

I lost 75lbs by counting calories and walking. Still have another 20 or so stubborn pounds to go... stepped up from walking to running and added weight training. Slowly the rest is starting to come off

Watching my diet and portion size, changing what I eat, including more whole veggies and lean meats, eating 5-6 times per day, constantly changing your workouts to challenge the body and trying HIIT cardio.

Right after Easter, I started with the "Slim in 6" DVD, sold on TV. I used barbells instead of the elastic bands that came with the DVD. Towards the end of April, I did 3 weeks of the induction phase on Atkins, which involves consuming 20 grams per carbs per day (which is 6 triscuits.) Around that time, I began weight training as well.

I don't know how much I weighed when I started, but I was down to 187 lbs on a 6' 2" frame by early May. (Note: DO NOT buy clothes until you are sure your weight has bottomed out!) I still had that middle age spare tire, which at 44 years of age, is not unusual. As I came off of the Atkins Induction phase, I continued eating low-carb veggies which could be eaten in unlimited quantities while on induction.

By mid-June, I was down to 177 lbs. At that point, I decided to see a personal trainer, but only to be accurately weighed and get a body fat percentage. He weighed me at 175, with a 16% body fat percentage, advised me to up my carbs and told me I could not get rid of the rest of the love handles. I promptly ignored his advice.

By early July, my weight bottomed out at 170 lbs and the rest of my spare tire/love handles were gone, my stomach was flat as a pancake and I was into a 31 inch waist. My weight rebounded at 173 and has been there ever since. Now my problem is how to gain muscle weight, but not fat and I've not a clue as to how to pull that one off.

Most of you would probably laugh at me. Although I do have muscle now, it is nothing compared to some of you guys. Being 6'2" tall and weighing 173 lbs, still leaves me with the bean pole body type I have had all of my life. I wouldn't look muscled to most of you, but to me, the toning I have done looks massive.

Weight Watchers for me. Easy to follow and then worked in the gym routines.. Have lost 25 so far, and want to loose a little more.. My breaking poinbt was the 40 pants.... Those got tossed first!

The most recent weight loss was through a fundamental change in my lifestyle.

I started working out in the morning (around 7 AM) and started slow. I would spend 20 minutes walking on the treadmill or using the stationery bike, bench press at a low weight, and do about 100 crunches. Each week I would gradually increase the intensity. So week 2 would be bench pressing 60 and 120 crunces for example, with 20 minutes walking at a higher speed on the treadmill (4.0 mph instead of 3.9).

At the same time I started focusing on what I ate. I have not been a binge eater since coming out in 1986, but I tweaked my portions by eating less at supper, cutting out or severely restricting alcohol, and minimizing the intake of high fat foods.

Between April 2007 and July 2007 my weight dropped from 172 to about 154. My weight has stablized around 155-156 as I continue to work out every day and watch what I eat. I have never in my life gone on a formal diet plan such as the Atkin's or weight watchers.

I lost 70 pounds by cutting my calorie intake tremendously and doing A LOT of cardio. You just have to make sure that you are still eating healthy and drinking a lot of water. Lots of cardio really is the best way to lose weight because it causes your body to work harder and faster which burns more calories.

I also lost a lot of fat when I was going out and dancing at least three nights a week.




And for people that swear by crunches, it doesn't help all that much unless you are doing an equal amount of back bends to balance out your body. Otherwise, you lose your natural balance and your abs become short and tight.