11 Things Women Whove Lost 50+ Pounds Want You To Know

Zernone longed to shop at Anthropologie when she weighed over 240 pounds. "There was literally nothing in the store that fit me," she said. Now her weight is in the 150s, and she's shooting for the 130s. She's down 12 sizes and in single-digit sizes for the first time in 2 decades. "It's such a thrill to buy clothes because they're my style, not just because they fit," she says. Now she frequently wears knee-high boots, something she was never able to do when she was over 200 pounds. "Slipping into a boot is such a simple pleasure, and you can't understand this unless you've been a size where your legs were too big to fit into the boots."

Tiffany Graf, 47, of Green Brook, NJ, reduced carbs, eliminated refined sugar, and upped her veggie intake. She's down 50 pounds since July from her peak weight of 236 pounds. She has 50 more to go and leans on two of her sisters-in-law for support. (Check out these 6 ways to get started when you have 50+ pounds to lose.) "We keep each other going with inspirational texts and reminders that we're not alone in this struggle," she says. "Most importantly, they help me when I slip so I don't get too down on myself and I'm able to move on."

People who have lost a lot of weight and maintained it have usually found success after a long history of crash diets and weight yo-yos. Zernone gets on the scale a couple of times a week. "It's so simple for 1 pound back to become 5 pounds, then 10, and 20, and so on," she says. "It's incredibly stressful and terrifying when you've worked so hard and it can slip away so easily."

Jade Levine, 30, a holistic nutritionist in New York City, went from a peak weight of 175 pounds to the weight she now maintains, around 125 pounds. "I began losing weight 4 years ago, and I'm just now starting to feel less stressed about it coming back," she says. Levine was so used to weight fluctuations and so fearful of them that she exercised 6 days per week and weighed herself daily. "I was overdoing it and making myself crazy with the scale," she says. "It's very stressful and emotionally exhausting to live that way."

Despite the remarkable gains Zernone has made, when she looks in the mirror, she doesn't see someone who is down 12 sizes. There's still the puffy, 200+ pound woman looking right back at her. Additionally, she finds that old habits die hard. She still twists her body to fit through doorways, even though she can now easily walk through them two abreast. "Sometimes I catch myself turning sideways to walk between desks, or unnecessarily stepping aside for someone when I don't need to," she says. "I'm not sure if that will ever go away."

Even after losing 50 pounds or more, the gym still feels like a chore for Zernone and Levine. It's effort to get there; there's always somebody slimmer, fitter, and younger who makes you feel inadequate. Both ditched their gym memberships for a new workout that seems to meet their needs: Levine goes to yoga classes and walks frequently. Zernone found a hot yoga class that meets three times a week.

Graf had arthritic knees, sciatic nerve pain, and plantar fasciitis. She needed cortisone shots in her knee, took naproxen (Aleve) daily, and yet she still cried from the pain at the end of her workday as a retail store manager. "I didn't think I'd be able to continue to work," she says. "It was all torture, but once the weight started to come off, all the pain went away. I feel alive and mobile again." Now she's medication-free and able to work a full day without complaint.

MORE: Your 10 Biggest Walking Pains, Solved

Zernone's arthritic knees would tighten up and become immobile on her 10-minute drive to work, and she relied on cortisone injections for relief. But her joints ached and her mobility was in free-fall. "I didn't want to admit that my body was falling apart with the weight," she says. "But it's true. Nobody needs to live with that pain. Now that so much weight is off, I'm pain-free. I can sled with my daughter. I can contort myself in yoga in ways that were totally impossible when I was over 230 pounds."

Zernone found that foods she once could eat endlessly literally make her sick now. "Sweets are just too cloying now," she says. "I used to eat cookies without restraint. Now I eat half of one and don't want the rest."

When the holidays come around and Graf indulges in ravioli and stromboli, she feels physically ill the next day. (Here are 8 things to eat after a junk food binge.) "Maybe it's part of being healthier, but the body really tells you that it doesn't want those things anymore," she says. "The nice part is you don't miss the foods you once loved. Now I crave veggies, not pasta and Italian bread."

Growing up in an overweight family, Zernone never learned one simple secret to maintaining weight—portion control. "If a box of sweets came into our house, it was gone that night," she says. "To this day, if I order Chinese takeout, I'll eat the whole thing. That's way more than anyone should be eating."

To get on the path to healthy eating, Zernone and Levine had to learn balance. A day filled with simple carbs like cereal, juice, bagels, muffins, spaghetti, and soda leads to overeating. Broccoli, carrots, and kale with a piece of salmon don't. "Once you replace white flour with vegetables and you replace processed food with natural food, you feel full and you learn portion control," says Levine. "Then you look back and can't believe how much you were eating unnecessarily."

Thinking about all the weight you want to lose, the ups and downs you've had in the past, the cravings, and the past failures may make you want to give up before you start. "It's depressing to think I need to lose 50 more pounds after all that I've done," says Graf. "Instead, I need to think about very small chunks. I'm 51 pounds lighter. Can I get to 55 before Valentine's Day? And, if I don't, it's not the end of the world. I've learned to accept that and stay on course, because I never want to go back to where I was."

Getting to an ideal weight, feeling comfortable, and maintaining it is a lifelong challenge. Levine found the process grueling, but also so rewarding that it has completely changed her life. She once felt adrift and lacked focus; now she has found her calling as a private chef and nutritionist. (Here are tips to get you started when you want to lose more than 100 pounds.) "The weight loss was a long journey, but it's worth it," she says. "And anyone can do it. It's hard to believe when you start or when your weight creeps back up, but if you stick with your plan, you really can meet your goals. That feels amazing."