Did you exercise much? Any bits of advice for us newbies?
I planned to do more exercise (cycling), but didn't get that much done. I walked quite a bit and found that as the weight came off, the amount of general activity I did increased naturally.
My number 1 tip would be to really keep your fluid intake up. Some people will tell you that's to 'flush the toxins' out of your system, but that's nonsense. However the chemical process by which fat is broken down (called hydrolysis) requires water. It may seem like a chore, but I had really good losses when I drank enough.
Other tips:
Get it out of your head from the start (if you do think this) that you're being deprived. You're not. If you see thin friends eating what they like, remember all the times that you
didn't deprive yourself and they probably did. Reminding myself of this helped.
Also, don't be scared of going to restaurants or social occasions early on. I think some people avoid this and then it becomes a big deal. It's really not. You're there to see your friends and to enjoy their company and you'll see that you don't need to eat to do that.
Don't miss class. It's important that you're going. The counselling aspect of it is going to help you and you'll get as much out of it as you put in.
Throw out your clothes as soon as they're too big. Don't keep 'fat' clothes in the back of the cupboard. Too tempting to fetch something out that does fit if you put on some pounds once you've reached goals. Those clothes don't fit. You don't need them. I only have size 10 clothes in my house now. If I put any weight on, I have to lose it straight away or I will have nothing to wear.
Do keep trying on clothes in shops, even if you have no intention of buying them. I really found it helped having an event coming up and visualising myself wearing a certain outfit I couldn't get into yet. I would buy jeans in a smaller size and try them on every few days and think about getting into them.