What has helped you lose weight? How have you motivated yourself?

Keto, intermittent fasting, and a regular exercise plan that includes HIIT and cardio workouts for me. I've lost about 20lbs so far and am on track to lose about 7-12 more before the wedding. Hopefully... I've been stuck around 150lbs for about a month now. I've taken a small break from the keto and intermittent fasting for the past couple weeks and am hopeful that going back to that will kickstart the weight loss again!

As for motivation... I already wanted to lose the weight because I've gained a total of about 50lbs in depression weight over the past few years. I didn't like that at all and wanted it gone, but getting into a routine just wasn't happening. When John proposed the desire to fit (and look good in) a wedding dress was enough motivation. I felt like I lost that a bit over the last month as we moved in together about 3 weeks ago and we've been dealing with those stressors. I went dress shopping with my mom on Sunday, but the main dress I was excited about was only available online. I ordered it last week and it came in today. I tried it on during my lunch break as much as I could (unable to zip up the back on my own). I'm swinging by a friend's place after work so she can help me try it on and I think it's pretty dang close right now, but just need a few more pounds off. Knowing where I actually am on that will give me the determination (if not motivation) to either maintain where I'm at for now or lose a bit more.

I cut out sugar, white flour, and vegetable oils and dropped weight so quickly. Also my stomach troubles went away. People say vegetable oils are like poison

I’m probably going to give a little bit of unpopular advice, coming from a kinesiology major. honestly the best thing for me was finding a workout buddy to motivate me to go to the gym or workout everyday. It can be exhausting to go alone, and I always found myself being like “oh well I can just skip today” and then making a habit of it. Having someone who pushes you to go and workout really can help you not back out of an exercise routine. I also will give another piece of unpopular advice and say that I would never cut out fats, sugars, carbs or whole macronutrients out of your diet. I understand that this is obviously a fast solution, but often leads to bingeing or unhealthy eating habits when you completely cut out these things because you start craving them more and more when your body never has them. Everything is good in moderation, and it’s important to have a healthy relationship with food so you don’t relapse into old habits. Also, as soon as you reintroduce these foods back into your diet you’ll likely see a bigger increase in weight gain because your body won’t have a tolerance for breaking down those kinds of foods anymore. So my recommendation is trying to swap a meal or two for healthier alternatives (or even just ones that are lower calorically) but still eat foods you love in moderation. Hiring a nutritionist might also be a huge help if you need more guidane