I've tried diets before but they have never last more than a few days however I started a new diet 5 weeks ago and it is going very well. I have cut out late night eating, grazing, chocolate, peanuts and now sticking to three square meals a day. I feel I have more energy and I am excited about my potential.

I'm looking for peoples experiences after losing weight from being big to average/slender. Has it made you happier, more energy, confidence etc

more energy?..yes confidence?..absolutely. overall, all positive effects but my advice...
think of it as a lifestyle more than a diet. diets are fads, they don't last. like a kid with a new toy-plays with it all the time in the beginning but then forgets about it. or an adult taking real good care of a new car then after a few months parks it anywhere and leaves it dirty. its like anything else awesome in the beginning but then gets old...so to keep up with it i now don't think of it as dieting it's just me!

however, i still have some chocolate now and again

Definitely a lifestyle change.

Changes in life:
smaller clothes
can run more
probably will live longer
i have to wear coats in the winter now.

small clothes
more energetic
confident
can make friends easier, and socialize with women more effectively
more fit, endurance, strength, etc
blood pressure went down
complete change in ward drobe.
My life's quality has gotten so much better.

Thanks, how much weight have you lost and did you go about doing it?

40 pounds, eat less, lift weights. (that's very simplified)

i lost ~25lbs in 5 months; too bad most was muscle.

-shirts are now too big
-lost strength/look weaker
-i can run further/longer
-small improvement in sports/coordination

Used to be at 186, lost around 46 pounds and 140 was my lowest. Started weight lifting and trying to bulk and gain muscle and now am around 145-147
Eating healthy and jump skipping at first 3 times a week for 30 minutes, then worked my way up to 6-7 days a week of more intense skipping for 25-30 min.
Lifted every now and then, if i could go back in time I'd have incorporated a FBW so i could have minimized muscle loss.

How old were you when you lost this weight and did people treat you differently?

17, yes they treat you differently.

I dropped about 100 or so lbs in about 2 years - it has definitely made an impact on my life. Self confidence is up and interacting with other people is a lot easier, and a lot more fun. Ability-wise I can do things I couldn't before, like not being totally winded climbing a flight of stairs, and hope that that trend continues.

i've lost 15 pounds so far and the best things about the weightloss include:

1) wearing skinny jeans w/o looking like a sausage

2) fitting into a skirt that i bought 6 years ago that i absolutely LOVE and kept just in case i lost weight one day. AND, it's a style that happens to be on the runways right now so my knockoff fits just in time!!!

3) i realize for the first time that i can live without cheese! free at last...

I lost about 35 lbs over 10 months. It put me back in the shape I was in in my 20's. I look younger and have more energy. People were complimenting me left and right(I say were, because that does eventually dry up when people get used to you not being overweight), girls saying I have a nice butt . Loosing weight also turned me on to weight lifting, which I've come to enjoy in it's own right. It also got me to educate myself on nutrition and eating right, which will continue to improve my quality of life. My lifestyle changes have also influenced at least six other friends/acquaintances to improve their diet/fitness (without any preaching or shaming). At the moment I'm working on gaining back some of that weight, but as muscle rather than fat. It's been good.

Sure, you can live without cheese, but just ask yourself - would life still be worth living?


I've gone the other way to you guys, gaining 60-70lbs over the last year and a half and the things I've noticed -
I can't run as far anymore
I need to be careful when I lean back on things
I sweat more
People treat me differently - don't make eye contact etc...

I totally agree with the lifestyle changes. "Diets" are nothing but fads. You'll lose weight, but in the end you'll return to the way things were. You won the battle, not the war.

As for weight lost, I started at about 240 in March, and now I weigh in at 170-175 pounds. I feel great, my blood pressure is down, I have more energy, I can run miles, I don't sweat as much, I don't eat fast food any more (which I'm loving cause I save money actually), I don't drink any soda (again, I save money because I drank 2-3 lt. a day in the past), and finally smaller clothes. I put on a size 38 pants, and I was like whoa, I look like I'm wearing a tent for pants. I also have found a new hobby, swimming which I never thought was possible. I can swim for 1 mile, and feel like I could go on all day.

Also, in the past, I had massive headaches throughout the day, and I noticed it was gone after I stopped eating fast food for about a month or so. Pretty scary, if you think about it.