How I Lost the Weight

Created by Carrie on 16 Jan 2008 | Tagged as: Uncategorized

Feb., 2006  "Finishing"

Since hitting about 70-75 pounds gone, I seem to have crossed the threshold “in real life” where most people can tell I’ve “been losing weight, haven’t you?” When I say yes, I’ve lost a bunch, they always ask how I did it. I find myself telling the story over and over, so I figured I’d put it here for posterity.

  • June, 2007: I started the Couch to 5K program. I used Robert Ullrey’s podcasts, which are available here, to keep me going. On Week 7 of the program, I ran my first 5K, an Independence Day run. The program works!
  • When I was about eight weeks in, I started doing South Beach. Starting a diet while simultaneously starting a running program isn’t advised, since your body needs extra calories for energy at first. Mind you, you shouldn’t necessarily eat more when you start running. By eight weeks of running, I had just reached the point where my distances and running times were beginning to add up to enough to cause weight loss on their own, and when I started South Beach, the pounds began to fall off.
  • July, 2007: I discovered that I suck at dieting. When I cut back on bad carbs, I fell way short on total calories without realizing it, and it took several disastrous attempts at running for me to figure that out. I joined SparkPeople.com as a way of simply tracking what I was eating so as to avoid doing that again. I continued to use my own eating plans, based on South Beach (SparkPeople’s menus are not my cup of tea).
  • When the time changed and I was no longer able to get runs in before Eric left for work in the morning (I don’t like running in the dark by myself!), we joined a gym and I started using the treadmill on work days. It’s boring, but it fills the need. I also started doing two days of weight training between running days.
  • Now I’ve reached the point where I’m playing fast and loose with the South Beach guidelines, but I’m continuing to use the calorie, carb, and fat trackers on SparkPeople, which have kept me losing weight. I also do a lot of shopping online through PeaPod, and that helps encourage me to plan meals in advance, for which I frequently rely heavily on SparkRecipes and on the South Beach Diet Quick & Easy Cookbook (the foods in which involve low prep times; a big criticism many people have about South Beach is that the regular cookbook has you chopping for ages).

That’s it! :mrgreen: Any questions?

21 Responses to “How I Lost the Weight”

  1. on 16 Jan 2008 at 6:25 pm  Daphne said …

    Congratulations. You look fabulous. And I’m sure you feel even better! Would you be comfortable sharing what your calorie, carb and fat numerical targets are each day? Thanks.

  2. on 16 Jan 2008 at 6:31 pm  Carrie said …

    Not a problem! They’ve changed over time (SparkPeople adjusts them automatically for you), but as they stand at present, my calorie goal range is somewhere between 1200 and 1550; my carb range (which I can never seem to hit using South Beach) is 163 - 236 grams; fat gram range is 32 - 56; and protein should fall between 60 - 127 grams.

  3. on 16 Jan 2008 at 7:53 pm  Cristen said …

    You look fabulous! The husband just dropped from obese to overweight. I’m just waiting to drop a pant size. :razz:

    Thank you for the link for the couch to 5k! I’m thinking it would be good for the husband, dogs and I.

  4. on 17 Jan 2008 at 9:20 pm  akemi said …

    Add me to the list of people you’ve inspired. I did my second day of couch to 5k today. So far I’m loving it! Thank you!!!

  5. on 18 Jan 2008 at 6:48 pm  Vena said …

    Congrats, you’re an inspiration to me also. I had lost 80 lbs but my weight loss stalled for the past two years. Thru you I discovered couch to 5K and although I never thought I could be a runner, I’ve been running for the last two months. I’ve lost 10 more lbs and only have 10 more to goal. Keep up the good work and thanks for the link.

  6. on 19 Jan 2008 at 8:01 am  Carrie said …

    Best advice I can give for you guys starting C25K: sign up for a race that’s scheduled about the time you’ll finish! Paying the registration fee and putting it on your calendar will give you incentive not to give up, even if you don’t quite make it and have to walk a bit during the race (I had to on my first one, and lots of people do!)

  7. on 19 Jan 2008 at 5:20 pm  Shana said …

    You look incredible! Good for you. :grin:

    I started running several years ago, then got pregnant. Three pregnancies later, and I’m pretty fat now. I broke my leg in 2006 that left me in a cast for 7 months, and now I can’t run anymore. I’m wondering if an eliptical would have the same affect.

    Anyway, you look like you feel good and that’s wonderful.

  8. on 26 Jan 2008 at 8:18 pm  Sarah said …

    Did you say that there are pod casts to go with the running program ?

  9. on 27 Jan 2008 at 7:18 am  Carrie said …

    Yep, linked up there! :)

    Ooh, Sarah, I hope you do the program! Come running with meeeeee! I’m actually thinking of starting up a Family Club running/walking group come warmer weather - sort of combine with the stroller walkers, maybe - if I can find enough circular loops that we could at least pass each other on a regular basis. ;)

  10. on 01 Feb 2008 at 4:28 pm  Kelly said …

    When you reach a year on your weight loss, you are eligible to sign up with the National Weight Control Registry, which I think is really cool. Their website is at http://www.nwcr.ws.

    Also, I wanted to recommend subscribing to Nutrition Action, which is the newsletter to the Center For Science in the Public Interest. The newsletter is short and sweet to read, and they pack a lot of great information in it. Their website is http://www.cspinet.org.

  11. on 22 Feb 2008 at 3:57 pm  Kathie said …

    Wow you are an inspiration. Do you think a 56 year old can do the Couch to 5K progam? I recommited to Weight Watchers but need to exercise too!!!

    HELP!!

  12. on 22 Feb 2008 at 4:02 pm  Carrie said …

    Oh, definitely! C25K is such a gentle, gradual program that I’d recommend it to anybody! Of course, if you have other medical issues (bad knees, etc.), you’d want to ask a doctor, but otherwise, I can’t see why it would be limited to younguns! :lol:

  13. on 25 Mar 2008 at 9:45 am  wendymc said …

    I was looking for an email contact for you, but will just post here instead.

    THANK YOU for posting about the C25K program. Your success with it was a huge factor in my taking it on this year. I’ve always (since I was like 10!) wanted to be a runner, but am just not built like a runner, so I didn’t give it a go. But with this program, I did it! I started in January, and ran my first 5k on March 17th, and rocked it! (21minutes!)

    I haven’t lost any weight, but I’m hopefull I can do that soon, too!

  14. on 25 Jun 2008 at 6:27 pm  Jasson said …

    Hi, I am Melissa Goines brother Jasson. Take it from someone that has lost weight 3 TIMES now, went from 273 to 191 pounds, then back up, then back down, then back up, back down and unfortunately back up AGAIN, that you have done an AWESOME job! Melissa told me you did the TEN MILE light house run and you did it with 9 minute something miles, that is GREAT! You are totally an inspiration and you UNLIKE ME have kept it off so far! Way to go, BIG difference, I had seen you at least once and remember what you looked like, now you like like an athletic person! All I can say I wow!

    Jasson

  15. on 20 Aug 2008 at 3:51 pm  Meghan said …

    I am starting the c25k program this coming week. I need to lose 100 pounds and probably then some. You have inspired me. I would love to be able to email you for support on my journed. I can’t afford to give up this time. I am 31 and I want to get healthy so that I can have children. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. You always think in the back of your mind no matter how motivated that you can’t really do it and seeing people who have is proof and it helps stay motiviated. thank you!

    Meghan :wink:

  16. on 12 Sep 2008 at 3:56 pm  HaggisGirlie said …

    I have just finished week 5 of the c25k program and I have to say the 20 min run almost finished me off… however, I did find myself listening into the first few mins of the week 6 podcast to find out what next week holds for me - so I can’t have been put off entirely! I wanted to let you know that I don’t think I would have started this program / believed in it if I hadn’t read your story - so thanks! The question I have is this… I think I am a similar size and body type to where you started. I am headed into week 6 and have only really seen about 2-3 lb weight loss although I definately feel better / fitter. I haven’t added in any more exercise above the program and while I do feel like I am making better food choices I haven’t really attacked the food side of the equation yet. Need to get some internal energy up to address that. So… based on what little you know of my journey thus far.. is there any indication of when I will start shedding the pounds, assuming I stick with the program and begin to address my food intake. I think I remember reading that you noticed a difference in weight loss around week 8. Thanks again - you are an inspiration!

  17. on 15 Sep 2008 at 11:36 am  Carrie said …

    I didn’t really start losing weight until 8 or so weeks in. It was about at that point that the weekly mileage began to reach a number that could affect weight loss, and it’s when I felt that the running was a strong enough habit that I could start looking at food and other areas of health. You do need fuel to run, so at the beginning, it makes sense to only focus on the running and not try to focus on food as well. One thing at a time. ;)

    Good for you, Wendy! :-) That’s an awesome time; beats my PR! :D

    Sure, you can email me, Meghan. :-) I’d encourage you to journal about it, too; having records on which I could reflect was immensely helpful to me.

  18. on 23 Sep 2008 at 10:01 am  Renee said …

    Hi Carrie - used to read you on LJ but I’m not there anymore. Wanted to come back to this site because of everything I have seen online, your experience makes the most sense. I’ve gone on and off Couch to 5k and am more recently on it for the last couple of weeks. What you said about weight loss showing after about eight weeks makes sense, in fact, everything you said here makes sense. I need to lose about 50 to 75 lbs in total and I wanted you to know that I have directly drawn inspiration from your journey. Many thanks, Carrie.

    Renee.

  19. on 01 Oct 2008 at 4:51 pm  Laura said …

    Hey there, inspiration! Time to update this page to include what you’ve done over the past six months or so to be so TINY! I’m really proud of you!!!

  20. on 09 Oct 2008 at 8:10 pm  Missy said …

    I’m terribly excited. I was reading here a few weeks ago, and was so inspired by your story, and so enjoyed reading your blog, that I popped off and joined SparkPeople (I’ve been working on this baby weight for a loooooooong time.) Then I forgot where I was reading, and how I got here in the first place. Lucky for me, you commented on another blog I read. So I found you!
    Thanks for the recommendations, and I look forward to starting my own journey.

  21. on 25 Nov 2008 at 8:53 pm  Tamara said …

    You are an inspiration! After having three kids back to back I have found it hard to lose weight AND have energy! I ran/walked my first 5k a few years back and came in almost last. I wasn’t prepared and want to go for it again this year. I am going to look at the sites you listed and go from there! Thanks for sharing your success story!

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