Hi everyone!
My story:
I started FTS September 1, 2010 and it worked GREAT for me. I lost weight almost every week, and ended up losing 80 pounds. Such a great feeling! I also was able to start running again, which I have not done since my college days. I am currently training for my first half-marathon - the St Pete Rock and Roll Half Marathon in February. Thankfully the weather here in Florida is going to start cooling down pretty soon. I got caught in heavy rain this morning, so that was a cooling experience
Since reaching my goal weight a year ago, I drifted away from regular visits to this forum. I regret that. My eating habits have gotten lazy and I've made too many "just this once" exceptions to what I know is the right way to eat. As a result, over the past year I have gained back about 15 pounds. This has not helped my running one bit!
One of the primary reasons for my success in dropping all that weight was my regular check-ins to this forum. Every week (Wednesdays) I would post exactly how much weight I lost since the previous Wednesday. This self-imposed accountability works great for me. I know when I am tempted to make a bad eating decision, I have to think, "Uh oh - don't want to have bad news to report on Wednesday" so it helps to keep me in line.
My goal now is to actually lose 25 pounds this time. I want to be "lean and mean" for the race in February, then I can decide if I want to stay at that weight or gain back a little. So all I have to do now is lose about 6 pounds per month for the next 4 months.
Everyone that's interested can follow my progress over in the "Share Your Success" category - I will be posting every Wednesday, starting tomorrow (October 3).
Glad to be back!