I am afraid to even post this...

casmithis

Welcome Tom. . That first step is a doosey. So glad you did it.

Cindy

tjphelps73

Hello!! I bet you are thinking - I never thought I would get so many replies! I remember starting mfp and never dreaming I would come as far I have come today.

SW - 362lbs
CW - 220lbs
GW - 160lbs

I have been using mfp since Oct 2011. When I started I soon learned that losing weight is a lifestyle change and NOT a diet. Eat to live, DO NOT live to eat is my motto. I remember walking on the treadmill for the first time and could barely walk 1.8 speed for 30 minutes - I now run for 5mins and walk at 3.3 at a 15.0 incline for 25 mins.

I am sure everyone gave you lots of suggestions and recommendations so I will say GOOD LUCK and remember slow and steady will lead you toward your goal. No one says it is easy but I can assure you it is worth it.

Closing motto - Nothing tastes as good as being healthy feels!

Best Wishes on your journey!

diamier

There a one very good rule at weight loss - when you try, but you don't succeed, just don't give up. Try again and again. We all come here not for a month, not for a year, but we keep this lifestyle for a lifetime. It's really nice what you've decided to do, that means you still have a feeling that things will change. They will! But like I said, people who come here usually change their thinking. At first they think that weight loss is a work and that they just don't like themselves for how they look, they don't feel right. But like I've noticed, most people some weeks or months or even days after start to think that there's no reason to hate your body. You are the one in whole universe and so you have to respect your body. Why don't we just care for it, if we want to live for a better life?

Everything starts from your mind, then it shows in your body.

Gradually, you will know that eating some foods makes your body sick, the main idea is to listen to your body and to yourself. Don't give up!

And that is really not some kind of yoga bull***t, but a real story. I am not here mainly for a weight loss, but I have to tell you, that I have so severe acne all over my face, neck and back, that I can't go outside without 30minutes of puting foundations and powders on my face. It's really hard to be that one in society, but after joining mfp, I started to listen to my body... Best of luck )))))))))))))

fredhack

Hey Mate...good luck on your goal..... Have a look at this for inspiration...It worked for me...This guy has done an amazing job. His name is Pu_239 look him up and invite him as a friend.

Fred :-)) http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/974665-success-stories-any-method

DancesWithDogz

Tom... I feel your pain. Do yourself a favour and start small. Aim for 5 lbs by July 4th (i'm from Canada so I would say July 1st...) but take baby steps...thats the way to go... the best motto to stick by.... eat less, move more. Switch up one "bad habit" (i.e. soft drinks) for one good one - "water"....
Keep in touch and keep online - there are some awesome people here...although I am new here, I know there is a great support system to help you through... chin up... smile and think positive thoughts.... "change one habit starting today"! :--)

MC552cats

Thank you for saying what so many people feel regarding discomfort and shame about weight. But it's also about how food becomes such a source of comfort during those times of stress, loss or even happy times. LIke you, I felt I could never get the weight under control. However, I was lucky enough to join the YMCA Diabetes prevention program (I'm pre-diabetic). It's a free 16-week program where you learn what and how to eat. It's very supportive. The program is proven to be successful. It's not the least bit judgmental . Maybe NJ is offering this program? There are many aspects to the program - you're not alone, you keep a food journal, you get weighed each week but the focus is less on weight loss and more about eating for a healthier life. Yes, anyone can read about fat having 2xs the amount of calories as sugar, starch or protiens (thus by default you reduce weight by reducing fat) but it's far more important to be with people, one hour a week, attending this educational forum with you. Now I keep within 42 grams of fat per day (your daily fat intake would be 55 per day). I think of food alll the time but I'm making big progress with replacing very high fat foods with lower fat foods. There is much more to the program than what I'm describing. I do hope this helps in some small way. There is hope.

missybct

Firstly Tom, you need a massive stinging high five for not only recognising that you need change/help/support but actively posting and asking for it - trust me, you won't regret it.

A weight loss journey is not easy. There is no quick fix if you want to do it healthily and responsibly. What works for one person might not work for the other - it's all about finding what you can fit into your life and what you enjoy. You'll have weeks where you lose 5lbs and weeks where you gain - but this is a lifestyle overhaul, not a short, swift diet - mentality is the key.

What I can promise you that even a 30lb loss will make you feel 5 times better than you do now. You'll have more energy, your blood pressure may drop and you'll just feel more alert - it's a very empowering feeling.

Don't rush out to buy a bunch of low calorie, low fat products. Tweak around with your diet until you find the right combination that works for you - some people swear by high carbs, some hate them with a passion. Some people track macro's (sugar/fibre/salt/carbs/protein/fat) and some people only rely on calories. I do both, but my main principle is just to do what I WANT to do. Don't force yourself to the gym if you despise the place - find a sport or activity that you enjoy and work at it and find methods to make it more beneficial. Don't beat yourself up if you have a bad day or a day where you eat "bad" food - there is no such thing as bad food - it just needs to be used in moderation.

This took me over 10 years to figure out. I'm still overweight, but I'm working everyday at being healthy after spending the majority of my 20's being about as unhealthy as possible.

I'll send you a friends request if you don't mind GOOD LUCK x

MarandaEdwards

At my heaviest I was 301 lbs but I am only 5' 2". I have lost 115 lbs it wasn't easy but if your mind is set you can achieve all things. My fitness pal is a great way of keeping things in your power. I have been using My fitness pal since the end of December. I do water aerobics and treadmill a few ideas for you, water aerobics helps you move without the weight being a factor as much. You can do this there are many people here to raise morale, and encourage each other. Not all my loss was using My fitness pal but it helped so much more than on my own. No need to fear we all understand.

llmcconnell

Congrats on wanting to change and get healthy for yourself.. Good luck to you and I look forward to your successes

bearsfan67

Congrats on being brave and for joining.....you can do it. Feel free to add me for support and friendship!!!

LBNOakland

Tom,
Please feel free to add me. I have been overweight forever!! I got really serious after my dad died in November. I realized I was damaging my body the way he had damaged his and I didn't want to leave that legacy to my own kids.

I am not trying to be negative when I tell you to set a more realistic goal. 160 pounds in 7 months is not realistic. That's about 20 pounds a month. You didn't get overweight overnight. You won't lose it in a healthy, sustainable way by trying to go too fast.

The best way to start is to start. Try not to binge on anything. You need to practice self-control first and foremost! When you slip, don't think you will just start back tomorrow or next week. Start back at the next meal! And don't beat your self up! We all slip!!

Coach Calorie is a great online mag to give some great nutrition and exercise tips. Start lifting weights. Start light and and a few pounds at each workout. New Rules of Lifting is a great resource book!

Good Luck!! You can DOOO this!!! :bigsmile: We will all help you!!!

260ToGo

Tom,
Please feel free to add me. I have been overweight forever!! I got really serious after my dad died in November. I realized I was damaging my body the way he had damaged his and I didn't want to leave that legacy to my own kids.

I am not trying to be negative when I tell you to set a more realistic goal. 160 pounds in 7 months is not realistic. That's about 20 pounds a month. You didn't get overweight overnight. You won't lose it in a healthy, sustainable way by trying to go too fast.

The best way to start is to start. Try not to binge on anything. You need to practice self-control first and foremost! When you slip, don't think you will just start back tomorrow or next week. Start back at the next meal! And don't beat your self up! We all slip!!

Coach Calorie is a great online mag to give some great nutrition and exercise tips. Start lifting weights. Start light and and a few pounds at each workout. New Rules of Lifting is a great resource book!

Good Luck!! You can DOOO this!!! :bigsmile: We will all help you!!!

Thank you so much. And it's just a stretch goal, not really realistic more of a extreme motivater.

kenh14

Just wanted to add to the support. You can do this!!! You definitely got this!

Elena1259

Tom- I can totally understand what you're saying. Don't give up! When I was a teen, I was the only ne in my family who WASN'T skinny. My mom would always call me fat, but never did anything to help; like change the meal items. When I recently had gallbladder surgery, I gained more weight-I didn't realize I had to change my habits then. The only good thing about it is that I have support from the 'myfitnesspal' community.

All you can do is take one day at a time. And keep track of all you eat; I'm sure you know all that already. And, if you believe, say a prayer---I will be.

Now let's talk cats (I have 3)--HA! HA! just kidding.

If you ever need someone to talk to, send me a message.

DeniseH112

Hey Tom, I am so glad that you joined myfitnesspal! I just wanted you to know that I believe in you! Like another person said take it one step at a time. I just joined here too, but with anything that I do I really have to learn patience with myself. Wishing you all the best! I'll send you a friend request.

Marianela626

A big contrats to you for reaching out! You can do this!

allcaring

Tom,
Good for you. I know you this is a hard step. Trying something new when other diets have failed. Everything you do will make a difference. Try cutting out just 200 calories a day. and be true to your food diary. When your really hungry drink some green tea or water.
I am here if you need to talk.
Annette

lairdg

Hello Tom,

I can totally relate to what you are going thru right now. When I started my quest to drop a few pounds I had to do it for my health. My doctor, god love her because she has such a no non sense approach to things told me, you have two options, get a gastric bypass surgery (which I did not want) or get the weight under control so that my heart rate, BP, cholesterol etc would be under control. She gave me 45 days to lower my BP, if not she was going to put me on medicine. 45 days later first goal met, no medicine needed. She then recommended me to a 'health coach'. thank god this person was not a dietician because I cant stand skinny people that like to tell me at over 400 pounds I need to eat more vegetables....geez really you think???? So my insurance offers sessions with a health coach at no cost. I would go to visit this lady every two weeks for 30 minutes. During these sessions she would review what I was eating and what my activity levels were etc. She was a fantastic resource in my life at that time. I was not on any diet per se. She would look at the meals I was eating and we would start to make small changes to it two weeks at a time. One thing was going from peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with Jiff and Smuckers jelly to natural peanut butter and natural jelly. Reason was for the reduced sugars in each. Then we looked at cheese, again a small change but when you look at the sodium between regular white American cheese and low sodium American cheese there is a difference and when you add it up over the course of a week the difference is significant. IT IS NOT EASY I KNOW. I am a creature of habit. I found foods that I could live with and salads for that matter as well and started to make small changes to my eating habits. Going back to the health coach for a moment she was a great resource and never told me I needed to eat more vegetables or needed to do this that or the other thing. She would offer suggestions to me. For instance I love yogurt and would have that and oatmeal everyday for breakfast. Rather than just have a regular yogurt that is loaded with sugar etc she asked me if I ever considered Greek yogurt. I told her no I have never tried it and that she was nuts for even suggesting I try. Then I tried it and love it. Once again a small change but I got rid of un uneeded sugar. If your Health care insurance offers a health coach you should explore that. I wish you the best of luck!

Regards,
Laird

mdoyle28

Welcome.....YOU CAN DO THIS! Friend request sent:)

psyche929

Congrats on your journey. Just know that you CAN do it! My ex was 450 at 5'8". He is now under 200 and doing well. It takes time, it takes patience. You can do it!

tootoop224

Good luck Tom. You are in the right place.

Portugueselove

Hi Tom,

My name is Lucy, I was up to 350 lbs in January of 2007. I didn't even know how much I weighed because my scale kept saying "error". I got a 2 free week gym membership and decided to go and that is when they weighed me there and i was shocked at how much I weighed. So i just started working out and counting calories. I lost a total of 70 and plateued for 3 years no matter what i did. I still worked out and counted calories. I gained about 10 lbs back. A lot of my friends had weightloss surgery and kept telling me to do it, but i really wanted to lose all my weight on my own with no need of WLS. Well after being unsuccessful I decided to find out more about the new WLS they had out there which was the Gastric Sleeve. So I decided to do that, even though a lot of people were against me doing it. At that point i was 290. I had it in July of 2012, so I am not even a year out but have lost weight slowly with it also. I don't know what is it about my body that it just tries to hold on to fat. I am still 216 lbs as of today. However someone thought i was around 150 this past weekend... yeah right.. i wish. So anyways i still think this was the best decision i made, i am no longer taking high blood pressure medicine after over 10 years of taking it.

You will lose weight on MFP if you eat the calories you are suppose to eat, but once you hit that frustrating plateau and your last resort is WLS you can contact me on here with any questions you may have.

Good luck buddy. U got this.

Lucy

kikass97

Don't be afraid! You should be proud! You have taken the biggest step of this journey, and that is recognizing the need for change. You won't get results until you are one hundred percent into this. I'm realizing more and more everyday that this is going to be one of the biggest, if not the biggest, challenge of my life. The greater the obstacle, the greater the accomplishment. Just don't crash diet, take it slow. Replace any pop, juice, alcohol with water, and lots of it! This alone will make a huge difference. Take baby steps and before you know it, you will be at your goal weight. Please know that you are not alone in this journey. We are all taking this step in our lives and that itself is amazing. Stay positive. You can do it! God bless!

anussab

Hello,

I started MFP a few years ago. However, I did not become serious about logging until January. Its true, if you can stick it out for 30 days, it becomes addictive. Make sure you log everything you eat or drink. You will learn so much about yourself.

I started with exercising only 20 minutes of walking 3 times a week, that was in January. I continued to add more time every week. Then I took the small amount of money I recieved back at tax time and paid for a personal trainer for 6 weeks. I only went to trainer for 1/2 hour twice a week and walked or rode the bike until I was up to 40 minutes.Before I knew it I started feeling so great that I started taking the classes at the gym.

At first I did not see the results I thought I should as I assumed I should lose 10 or 20 lbs in a month. I was told by the trainers at he gym that your body goes through a lot of changes when you don't diet, but cut calories and begin to exercise regularily. Its now the beginning of June and I have lost 19 lbs. I still have 60 or 70 pounds to lose, but now that I have made this a lifestyle I know it will happen.

The best advice I can give you is to get friends or family involved and let others view your food diary on MFP. It will help you stay accountable. But, NEVER lie about what you eat in your food diary. We all have bad days. Another thing I did was joined a weight loss challenge with friends. We all support eachother and are doing a 5k together.

No matter what, you have to exercise and eat less. ON less calories, you really can feel full and satisfied eating 6 times a day. There is not a magic pill or diet that will ever help you forever. As you know, diets don't work. Maybe give yourself one bad meal a week, but do it in moderation. Use a measuring cup to make sure you don't eat 2000 or 3000 calories when you eat the one bad meal. You will learn a lot on this site!

As far as a budget, I am on a very tight budget and only have $200 to $250 a month. It takes planning and going to the store weekly. You will be eating a lot less and that alone will save you money. Buy meat and fish on sale and freeze it in portions for 2-3 days. Lettuce (which I am sick of) and frozen veggies are cheap... so is yogurt and oats. I hope all of this helps

Dont give up! You CAN do this! You HAVE to do this!

Mkiniry9600

You can do it man I am on the same boat and as long as we all have a support group it will work out. We all need to take it one day at a time.

Jerkface4

If you put your mind to it you WILL succeed... Especially with all of us by your side.

cuttingshadow

My first day here too , the group here is a lot supportive... Really wonderful.... Kudos to MFP community

thepezzle

Welcome! Sent you a friend request, I'm also in Northern NJ. You can do this! I'm going to link you to an article that helped me (well, a blog that helped me!) http://zenhabits.net/normal/ It's called Zen Habits and encourages slow, progressive change instead of burning yourself out on things. It's a healthy way to approach a total lifestyle change.

Just realize that this won't happen overnight but it WILL happen. Welcome to the MFP community. Can't wait to see you progress!

PS: I'm a real person, not advertising that blog but it was a major eye opener for me so I wanted to share it, I hope that's ok.

Principal71

Hi,

You can do it. Take it one moment at a time. Don't give up on yourself. I'm not sure if you are a believer, but I know from personal experience that prayer can make such a positive difference in your life. He can give you strength when you think you can't take even one more positive step. Eat a healthy breakfast and walk right after for at least 15 minutes. Enter the info into your My Fitness Pal food and exercise sections as soon as you finish. Celebrate your great start to the day by sharing your joy in prayer. Remember, one moment at a time:) YOU CAN DO IT!!!!!

mrmurray0927

Hey Tom,

I just wanted to let you know that I'm so happy you are here! I'd love to cheer you on and help any way I can, I'm sending a friend request your way and I promise I won't talk about cats Welcome!

Melisha Murray