Back in 2006, I weighed about 230-235 (I'd always been pretty heavy - ever since I can remember). Mrs.jingle and I got the motivation to drop some weight, and over an 8-month period, I got down to 183 and she lost 25 lbs... slow and steady, about 1-2 pounds per week. We did it exclusively on cardio (stationary bike for me; treadmill for her) and diet. It was a simple equation - burn more than you consume. And we kept it off for a long time. We even did a couple of p90x routines, and man did she have a smokin hot body in 2009. Then she got pneumonia right in the middle of a 2nd round of p90x, then broke her shoulder the following winter. Ever since, she's had zero drive to exercise, and at this point has put on all of that weight she lost 9 years ago.
Myself, I was still exercising, had a membership at the Y a year or so ago, and still doing a lot of things to stay in shape. Then, about 2 years ago, life problems crept up, and I just stopped caring about a lot of things as I've mentioned before. I'm back up to 214, and hating myself for it - which sure didn't help with my depression.
Life issues are starting to get resolved, so bought a new stationary bike 2 weeks ago, and am going to do some cardio for the next couple of months to get myself back into it, then get back into p90x and Insanity (which is absolutely appropriately named).
Will take a 'before' picture now, and and post my before/after results here on Jan 1 as motivation to stick to it.
Ya'll can hold me accountable.