Testimonials
Name: Justin
Weight Lost: 100 lbs
Time it Took: 6 months
How He Did It:
- Aggressive calorie restriction after calculating TDEE
- Walked 16,000 steps every day (7ish miles)
- Exercised at the gym 3-5 times per week
Name: Margaret
Weight Lost: 115 lbs
Time: Unspecified
How She did it:
- Swapped takeout for home cooked meals.
- Became more active
- Enjoyed treats but in moderation
Name: Fay
Weight Lost: 120 lbs
Time it Took: 1 year
How She Did It:
- Making weekly calorie goals
- Learning how to make recipes healthier by using lean meat and lower calorie oils
- Making foods that she was excited to eat
- Followed workout DVDs at home and incorporated more activity into her daily life
- Later, took swimming and spinning classes
Advice: Avoid getting bogged down with how long the process will take. Time will pass anyway. You might as well just take it one day at a time and each day you’re a step closer to your goal.
Name: Laura
Weight Lost: 160 lbs
Time it Took: 3 years
How She Did It:
- Stopped eating chocolate biscuits, pizza, fried chicken, and soda
- Traded junk food for fruits, vegetables, and lean protein
Name: James
Weight Lost: 120 lbs
Time it Took: 6 months
How He Did It:
- Downloaded LoseIt and tracked calories
- Planned meals to avoid junk
- Became more active
- Went to the gym several times a week
Name: David
Starting weight: 400+
Weight Lost: 200+ lbs
Time it Took: 4 years
How he did it:
- Hanging out with people who find fitness important
- No more emotional eating
- Regular exercise
Name: Tony
Weight Lost: 210 lbs
Time it Took: 2 years
How he did it:
- Began eating fish, poultry, vegetables and fruit instead of roast dinners and McDonald’s
- Took up walking, starting with a half mile and gradually increasing the distance
Name: Matt
Starting Weight: 440 lbs
Weight Lost and Time:
- 30 pounds in 6 weeks
- 200 more lbs after 2+ years
How He Did It:
- Joined a weight-loss program called Slimming World
- He began cooking more, packing his lunch, and walking places instead of driving
- He never looked at the big picture because he thought it was more useful to focus on the small changes he could make each day.
- He always found something on the calendar to look forward to like a wedding or birthday that he could prepare for
Name: Alasdair
Weight Lost: 100 lbs
Time: 10 months
How he did it:
- Went to the gym 3 times a week
- Walked uphill on a treadmill for an hour everyday
- Changed eating habits
- Set small goals. 15 lbs at first.
Name: Jenna
Weight Lost: 200 lbs
Time: 2 years
How She Did It:
- cut out sugary drinks and swapped them for water.
- Started eating salads and more vegetables
- Started walking every day with her dog. Then she started doing things like jumping jacks and jumping rope even though these small exercises felt difficult at first.
Advice from her:
- “It’s not easy. You are going to be sweaty and sore and you are going to have to keep fighting.” It took months for Winchester to develop the stamina to perform cardio for a half hour. She’d get winded easily so she’d stop. Then start again.
- Don’t bother with easy fixes. She tried crash diets only to gain the weight back.
- A piece of pizza is not the end of the world. She focuses on eating lean protein, vegetables, and fruit but also irregularly enjoys a burger or a piece of pizza.
Name: Anthony
Weight Lost: 210 lbs
Time: 1 year (beware sagging skin from rapid weight loss)
What he did:
- Changed eating habits to eliminate junk and follow Paleo
- Started walking 30 min everyday
- Started doing strength training 3 days per week and running 3 days a week
- Tracked calories with a fitness app
More Stories
How a man dropped 200 lbs in a year
12 more stories of Weight Loss
The Most Common Denominators:
- Stop eating junk food (push away the plate)
- Watch what you eat (Track calories)
- Make small goals, then more small goals
- Start with small exercise and build on it over time (Exercise with Intensity and Progressive Overload)
- Be patient. Results take time (It’s a lifestyle not a diet)