My name is Susan. I was researching weight loss tricks and tips and came across a post of yours to Laura in response to her goal of losing weight before a trip with her family.

I have been on this up and down roller coaster my whole adult life after child birth. I was 5'8 and 150lbs 9 years ago. Unfortunately I let myself go because of health and went from 150 to 237 after my daughter was born. If that was not enough I worried more about sleep and day to day activities (not including working out to get my body back) and continued to watch my weight rise from 237 to 277lbs as of June of 2010.

I got motivated and worked hard everyday since then and lost 90 lbs in a year. When I reached 187lbs I suffered an emotional hardship and my life changed dramatically and since June of 2011 I have gained back 24 lbs regrettably being 210 lbs. Yet again. I have now started eating lighter and doing more and in a couple of days lost 2 lbs so far.

I would love to continue on my journey to 150lbs. Hopefully reaching that goal by June of 2012.

I was hoping with a little advice from an outsider I could find out if this goal of losing another 58 lbs is attainable.

I am hoping but not expecting. Thank you in advance for your vast knowledge on this subject.

Sincerely,
Needing advice

My heart was touched by your obvious sadness and frustration. I've done the roller-coaster myself, and I know how it feels to get a leg up only to have some disaster in your life cause you to lose focus and drop right back again into your "comfort food" habit. In fact, it wasn't until my doctor threatened me with statin drugs for my cholesterol that I got my act together.

I'm going to recommend that you go to www.webmd.com and create a free account there. Once you've done that (it only takes a minute), look at the top of the page and you'll see a bunch of options. You want the "Eating and Diet" tab. Mouse-over that, and scroll down to the "Food and Fitness Planner". That's also a free app that you need to set up an account for (that's the only drawback to the site... endless account set-ups!). You'll find a daily log there. You'll need to get the hang of inputting your food intake, but once you do and it becomes a daily habit (no cheating!), I believe you'll find very quickly that portion size is the key and having graphs and charts at your fingertips will make the process a lot more manageable than just winging it. At least that's how it worked for me. It's been almost a year now, which is the longest I've ever gone without a relapse, and I find that I have lost my desire for a lot of foods I thought I couldn't live without. Despite some serious traumas in my life this year, I haven't slid back because my mind and my body are both trained better now.

I really hope you'll find success! Endless dieting can be so depressing, it becomes its own stressor. My best to you.

Thank you so much for your advice. I have also found something similar to the charting on an app called "my fitness pal" it has also helped keep me focused on the amount of food I eat as well as the kinds of food I seem to navigate towards. I have tracked my weight again today I am now at 205lbs so I am feeling really confident. :)))

I'm really happy for you! Keep up the good work! :)

I should also have mentioned that I bought the Wii Fit game. Boy is that a big help! The pad weighs you (whether you like it or not), and tracks your calories burned and you weight changes. I wasn't using it at the time I found the WebMD app, but it did help me get back into a exercise routine when I'd let depression and inertia take over. It's silly and fun, and there are a dozen different packages available including Zumba... not my all-time fave as I can't quite seem to get the moves down so I never score a single point. LOL

I'll be thinking of you while I'm drinking my energy shake today.

Lol... Thank u!! I have the wii fit as well but I have only used it once. It was fun now that I think about it, just forgot about that option all together. =~>

Well, you'd better get right on that, Susan! Lord knows I might even drag mine out this afternoon. Stranger things have happened. LOL

I know right!!

Susan, I just wanted to check in and see how you're doing. I hope you'll touch base occasionally so you can share your progress. :)