I'm now 5 months in, down 23 lbs. and am halfway to my goal of 135lbs

December 2018, I weighed more than I ever had: 183lbs. I was well aware that I was actively gaining and was ok with it, my fiancée didn't mind, as he was overweight too. We would joke about having "Snackie Sunday" which consisted of an entire lunch & dinner of crap food like chips & dip, ice cream sandwiches, sugary popcorn, etc. I began to notice I didn't like my picture taken, when it was taken. I didn't recognize myself as the person I had always seen. I was steady moving up in clothes sizes so rapidly I was constantly having to replace my wardrobe. My feet would ache because of the added weight I was bestowing upon them, and my back cried in pain. I had tried low carbing twice before, I had lost a decent amount (to me) to start out with. 12 lbs. I hated damn near every day of it. It was written on a chalk board at home that I begrudgingly looked at daily. I was educated as to what I could eat & what I shouldn't but was not satisfying myself and in a constant bad mood because of my lack of feel good carbs. Perhaps, working around doughnuts and pastries wasn't helping! This last time I began Keto I did it on somewhat of a whim. I was to be married in 3 short mos. My wedding was not my reasoning for doing it, but rather had a girlfriend who needed an accountability partner. I told her I'd begin after the wedding & she challenged me as to how much I could loose BEFORE just for fun. As I said before, I knew all the material, knew how to get on board. Jumped on, and told myself what to do so I'll loose weight. I purposely bought my wedding dress months previously a bit too big so I had no pressure to lose weight! I was a fat cat & ok with it - on the outside. January 4th, I began. Did the "before" pictures, wrote down my measurements, and settled into see how long I could last this time around. The initial water weight came off like I expected it to. However, something was different. I remember realizing it had being a month or maybe more into my low carb eating style! I didn't hate every day! Weeks actually passed that I hadn't even noticed! Shocked, truly surprised & pleased with myself. The time before I quickly got tired of the buffalo chicken dip I was eating on the regular & knew if I was going to have a fighting chance of success I needed to up my game & do some more research. It was then I decided meal prep was a deal breaker. It was one of the reasons I was so angry before: because I was always hungry & felt there was NOTHING I could eat!! I began spending the first part of the week researching recipes on Pinterest & writing them on index cards. On the weekend I would grocery shop with my list & then meal prep for a few hours. I eliminated the excuse of not having anything to eat because everything in my fridge was low carb. I HAD TO EAT LOW CARB BECAUSE THAT'S ALL THERE WAS! I became obsessed with weighing everyday, tried to stop - couldn't. But decided to use it to my advantage & was able to use it as a tool to monitor what worked for me & what stalled me: creamer, Splenda, ranch everyday with my fresh broccoli. These things were hindering me & I was now 3 months in. Longer than I had ever lasted! My clothes were baggy, people were commenting on my appearance. It was working and now I was motivated. I made myself get accustomed to black coffee. I heard someone say: You can drink black coffee or you can say: "I can't drink it" You CAN - you just haven't decided you have to yet. So, sit with your excuses and your blonde coffee or MAKE A CHANGE. That really reasonated with me in doing low carb across the board. I can do it, or I can start practicing my excuses why I "can't". I'm now 5 months in, down 23 lbs. and am halfway to my goal of 135lbs. Yes, I cheat on the weekends by having wine on Friday evenings or a baked beans at a cookout. Come Monday, I'm right back on board. A bowl of baked beans isn't going to erase all the progress I've made nor am I going to let a glass of wine be the reason I throw it all away. Perspective is key. I've seen many people make this way of eating damn near impossible for themselves because of what they WON'T do; like eat left overs (therefore they don't meal prep), insist on integrating all these different foods into their diet like fruit & berries because they can have SOME. No, no you can't. You need to eat meat & vegetables. Period. When you have a significant of time under your belt & results - ok maybe. JUST KEEP IT SIMPLE. You don't have to know 3 different Starbucks recipes, you don't have to go buy $18 almond flour, you don't have to put all these road blocks up so you feel ok about not succeeding! It's like anything else: If you want it, you will get it and if you don't know how, you will find out: If its important to you. I'm now 160 lbs. I have began IF. (Something I never thought I could do)Little by little, making myself even go to bed early sometimes just so I wouldn't eat, or pep talking myself to last just 30 more minutes until I ate, has gotten me to my second week of 16 and now 17 hr fasts. That's HUGE for me. Your dedication has to be huge, and it will grow, it will surprise you, you will begin to protect your victories like little gems.