That's a good article! I guess, from the graph, that you did start weighing yourself. Many congratulations for keeping the weight off.

Mr alto is an "extreme resolutions" kind of guy, and he inevitably falls off the wagon pretty quickly. Luckily he's hugely tall and doesn't put on weight all that easily, which is precisely the opposite of me. I've lost nearly 2 stone since last summer, mostly by just watching food quantities (not particularly calorie counting, just making sure I eat small amounts) and by walking 3 miles a day (my commute), minimum.

The keys for me are not to be deterred by small failures, and to allow myself lenient days. Yesterday, for instance, I went for dinner at a friend's house, where I allowed myself to eat and drink as much as I liked. Which turned out to be not all that much, as over recent months I've lost my taste for over-eating. It's just not fun.

Excellent. Good for you. My weight fluctuates, it's up right now, but on the (slow) way down. I'm an emotional eater, unfortunately, although I do recognise when I'm heading down that road. But sometimes only carbs will fill that void, albeit temporarily.

I've recently cut out starchy/sugary carbs and feel so much better for it, as I always do. I find a fairly small amount of protein is filling, and I make sure I eat lots of vegetables and fruit. I've been making a really excellent Asian soup (without the rice noodles, substituting carrots cut into matchsticks) and it's filling and delicious.

Thanks all!

Yes, I did start weighing myself later.

Looking back, I think it's helpful to weigh yourself in the later stages as you get a sense of progress, and can see if you start doing something wrong.

The problem is that it's easy to get discouraged by random fluctuations. And if you start an exercise programme from nothing, you're likely to gain a bit of muscle which makes your weight rise slightly or stay the same.

Nice graph: I've always thought that the Stone is a cool unit of weight. I was surprised to see that the cheap bathroom scale we bought a couple of years ago here in the US was also calibrated in stone.

Congrats! I like the graph.

I've been using Lose It on my iPhone, which generates a similar graph. More importantly, it makes me concentrate on portion size (my downfall).

I found out today that I have a thyroid thing that causes weight gain, which would help to explain why eating less calories + exercising more haven't been doing anything at all (probably just prevented weight gain if anything). I'm so excited to start taking the medication to see if that means that I can finally lose the weight that I've been trying to lose for a few years. My goal is about 50 pounds less than where I am now.

fogovonslack, I wish my cheap scale did that, I'd always weigh myself both ways! I also flip my car back and forth between km and miles.

I did it once, in 2005. I lost 70 lb. and went from an Obese BMI to a Normal one. Unfortunately I've gained most of it back. On the plus side, though, I'm exercising a lot more than I used to, and I'm eating better lately, sharing vegetarian dinners with Mrs. Doohickie. I don't think I want to lose back to my low point; that was actually too skinny. I need to drop maybe about 30 lb. and then I'll be good.

One thing I try to do is make sure that everything I eat/drink is "worth the calories". Did that extra glass of wine make me feel terrible the next morning? Not worth the calories, don't do it again. For the most part, the enjoyment I get from calorific drinks is not that great, so I stick to water and black coffee. Was that cake just sugary and not rich and chocolatey? Don't have it again, spend more/ walk further to the better cake shop next time (cake intake thereby becomes less frequent and more pleasurable).

For me a lot of it is about thinking differently, which has taken years for me to work out, and I'm still not sure I've cracked it. That, plus lots of Greek yogurt.

I generally don't talk to *anyone* about my weight (it's a really sore point for lots of complicated reasons), so it's refreshing to be able to post here.

I really enjoyed the diary entry.

Speaking as a smallish woman who has never been fat, but has gotten plumper at times than I'd like. I found that what really worked for me last time I got truly thin (which took quite awhile) was changing the way I live . . . what I eat, whether I exercise, how much I exercise, the works. Here are the changes in my life I made then:

Eating whole foods
Eating local and organic
No fast foods, or for that matter eating at chain restaurants
No sugary drinks (except now and then a latte with a little sugar free syrup) or diet drinks
Regular small meals
Became a runner
Got into lifting weights, yoga and pilates.

I do like sweet stuff, esp. chocolate, and red wine, so gradually some of the weight has returned. Meanwhile I find that I want to make some more changes, and go back to being a bit thinner, so here are some more lifestyle changes I'm currently pursuing:

A lot less meat. I'm generally eating meat at 1-3 meals a week now, and thinking it wouldn't be tough to be a complete vegetarian. I may be ready to do that. I find myself more and more bothered about eating other animals.
A lot less alcohol. I'm cutting that back to a max of 2 glasses of red wine a week.
Doing some training for races, including an upcoming 12k and 1/2 marathon (respectively in May and June.)
Getting more serious about yoga and weight lifting, and really challenging myself.

I agree with TE that these aren't things you do fast or overnight . . . lifestyle changes need to happen relatively gradually to stick. Also, these are not temporary choices made for the sake of reaching a goal, but permanent changes in behavior.