I hope I can motivate some people here, when I was 14 or so I was extremely fat, I weighed over 220 pounds at one point, that is allot for a 14 year old kid (keep in mind I'm not particularly tall) ... I'm 16 now and weigh 140lbs now and am half a foot taller than I was before, my weight is pretty much ideal. I lost over 80lbs in 1 year, here is my before an after pics -

http://members.cox.net/nasco/after.jpg

It's really not that hard to lose the weight, there's a secret to doing it and it's called water. I lost all my weight just drinking gallons of water everyday, I didnt even go on a diet, I just gradually an naturally started getting less hungry because the water mixed with the food and made my stomache full. Water is like nothing, it is like empty space, you drink 2-3 gallons of water and you will feel like you wanna puke, you wont want to take anything else in, if you take that bite of pizza after the 3 gallons you might really just puke... it fools your stomache into believing there is something there and making it feel full when really its just water or as I like to call it, nothingness... liquid space even. Your body cant get fat off nothingness so drink allot of water, mix it with your food if you have to, but just drink it.

Gradually I started getting less and less hungry because the water made me full, so as a result i started eating less, very slowly, but I could feel myself not wanting as much food slowly, day by day... so the intake of food was reduced, when this happens you lose weight, you get smaller, you shrink, so does your stomache, eventually you just reach a point where you just dont eat allot and get full easily... I live off a sandwich at noon, and a microwaveable taco or slice of pizza at night... that's it, I just dont get hungry, little by little I started getting less hungry until eventually I reached this point, I have to force myself to eat sometimes cause I'm getting too skinny (and I never thought that would ever be a cause of concern for me!).

And that's all it takes, there is nothing more to it. I never worked out to lose the weight, not ONCE, NEVER.

I started working out after I got skinny cause yeah I dont want people to push me around and I wanted to be strong, but not because I was fat, I was already thin. I just wanted strength. You dont have to work out to lose the weight.

Well I had little episode with marijuana a few months ago, lasted about a month or 2, I finally layed off it though it was making me academically retarded and I gotta go to college.

Nas

That is great keep up the great job. You look good...your young yet so you will fluctuate with you weight getting taller and gaining muscle.

Yes keeping your grades up is a better idea then experimenting with drugs...glad to hear you stopped going down that nasty path. Look at your future and aim HIGH...not get high.

Firstly congratulations on the weight loss and Looking so good.
You must remember to eat healthily though, if not for now but for later to keep all you bodily functions working at there best. and if your working out now your body will benefit from a few extra calories, You can eat quite a bit of fruit and veg without consuming too many calories, I probably eat more now than before but consume less calories.
Seeing your own progress is all the motivation you'll need to keep at a healthy weight.
take care
Ellie

I dont eat salad and fruits per se, I eat mostly sandwiches and tacos I put allot of lettuce, tomato, and other healthy vegetables on top to balance it out a little and when Im at the gym I eat the vitamin and protein bars they sell there.

I should eat salad once in a while though... just to stay healthy, I know skinny people like my dad, they are very skinny but still have cholesterol problems because they dont eat healthy.

Hi Nascobar
Like you know being skinny doesn't mean being healthy, to eat salads all the time is enough to put any one off of them, but the body gets other essential minerals and vitamins from a variety of food, fish, nuts, just to name a few.
I am not an expert on the subject, but I do feel that as we get older lessons learned early on will benefit us then.
take care
Ellie

Daaaaaaaaaaamn your lookin good....

You definitely gave me inspiration to drink more water so thanks and congrats on your weight loss. You look great. Luv ya, Alecia

Hi ppl! I'm new on this board thingy and I just wanted to say hello :) I too drink LOTS of water- my highest weight was 188 pounds, then I went to 176 by just cutting out sodas. Currently I am at 170 pounds, I lost 6 pounds in ONE week, by using these grapefruit diet pills...they work great, and they give me tons of energy to excercise. I do yoga and i do some cardio. I jump rope,do crunches,jumping jacks,and ride the stationary bike EVERY day except for Saturday which is my break day...So I think that contributed to my 6 pound loss. I hope to go down to 140/135 SAFELY and hopefully before this summer ((Which i HIGLY doubt)) thats too much to lose in that short amount of time :c(
Anyways.....I have to go figure out how to updat my profile thing.
bye bye
~Krisi~:wn

First let me say congrats to everyone... as i almost always put in the end of my messages "Life is only what YOU make it." remember this... life isn't what your husband makes it, isn't what your teacher makes it, and definitely is not what you peers make it... i'm glad to hear Nascobar that you've chosen school over drugs... i had a very bad school "period" lets call it.... i never got into drugs or smoking but never the less i did hang out definitely with the wrong crowd.. and because of this i ended up very much over weight... i kinda did the oppiste that you've done... i use to be in the track team and every swim team and then i ended up pregnant... not a good thing at 15... anyhow... water is never a bad thing for you but as every one has been saying you need to eat healthy as well... you have to remember on this site alot of the people that are on here are well past their teens... even me *sigh* have to admit to that even though i'm still only 25 ;)... but once you do get out of that age your body does tend to slow down and you don't get rid of the weight as easily as you have... your young, your body responds very nicely to any kind of drastic change like weight lose... now that you have reached your goal weight... get up a healthy eating plan to maintain it.. tacos are great specially with lots of fresh veggies on them but try going to chicken instead of beef *cuts fat intake by more then half* our bodies don't been red meat... it's high in cholesterol and also high in fat *specially from places like taco bell where they use the highest fat meat stuff they can get their hands on cause it's cheap* try bringing nuts and seeds into your diet.. these are good protein substitutes and both have the "good" kind of fat in them.... just a few suggestions... keep up on the water but please remember too much water isn't good for your system either... healthy water intake should be from 8-10 eight ounce glasses... this increases and decreases with what you do as well... i've mentioned before if you drink stuff with caffeine *coffee, cola, teas* then you need to drink as much water as you do those drinks on TOP of that 8 glasses... same goes if you exercise alot or are out in the sun alot... your body loses that water and it needs to be replaced... but if you home and sitting at the computer all day not breaking a sweat then your body doesn't need it... the reason i stress this is because over "watering" one's body for a while may not do harm but keep it up for years and over time your system won't be able to keep up and you'll start having bladder, kidney, liver problems because it just got over worked... keep up the goal weight and think about some of the stuff people have said...huggles
Missy9000
"Life is only what YOU make it!"

Congratulations on the accomplishment, Nascobar!!! I know how bad it was being overweight! Trust me, you don't wanna be overweight, much less obese! It takes a lot of enjoyment out of life.

I'm currently 19. I used to be quite obese as well. I started high school at 220 pounds at age 14 at a height of 5'8". My highest weight was 232 on January 2000. I had grown to about 5'9.5" at the time. At ~30% body fat, my body fat level was extremely high, and I was pretty fat back then. I think I had a 45" waist at the time. I stayed in the high 210's/low 220's through much of high school, with a 44" waist, though. I always wore 42W pants, though.

I started a journey to lose fat at the beginning of 2002. I started at around 225 with a fat 44.5" waist, I believe. Body fat percentage was pretty close to 30%. During the journey, I was losing an average of about 2 pounds per week. My ultimate goal was to get to a 29" waistline, which is ideal for me since I have a small frame. After the first week of June, 2002, I got to 171 at a 35.5" waist and about 18% body fat, which got me out of the overweight category. In the middle of October, I got to 150 pounds at a 32" waist and 12% body fat. I decided to take a long break from the fat loss and maintain. My weight fluctuated somewhat, though, since I often had wide swings in eating habits. At first during the break I was still losing, but much slower, and lowest I got to was 146 pounds with a 31.5" waist at 11% body fat. I slipped a bit for a few months from February to the beginning in May and binged a lot. I was back to 158 at a 33.5" waist at 14% body fat by first of May. By then I decided to go on a another regimen to finish the fat loss. My goal is to get to a 29" waistline.

Today, I'm at 151 pounds and a 32" waist at 12% body fat. I forecast that it will take a little over 2.5 months with a possible ending date of October 1, 2003, to get to my goal. To create a daily Calorie deficit, my plan is to take in 2000 Calories/day. I don't plan to go to the gym because my occupation involves a lot of walking.

BTW, my eating habits are much more steady now these days.