Accountability, Motivation and Community

abowman4221

My name is April. I am 43 and I am trying to lose a lot of weight -- about 150 pounds. God that hurts to see it in writing. I started at 310 about a month ago and I am down to 283. I was considering weight loss surgery, but surgery sounds scary and as I looked into it, it didn't seem like the right fit for me. So instead, I started a medically supervised weight loss diet. The diet is super strict, I don't really like it and I am not sure that it is the best diet to be on, but I need the accountability of the weekly weigh-ins. I have become fairly reclusive over the past few years for various reasons -- one being my weight and I do not have many friends or support. I am hoping that joining this website will give me the chance to meet other people and maybe get my social life back on track as well as my health.

MeechyLA

Welcome April! When I got started on my diet, I became a recluse so I could be 100% focused on developing good habits. YouTube was critical for keeping me sane, there's so much great content on there. One recommendation is Bodybuilding.com's Spark series: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bodybuilding.com+the+spark

Vicham76

Hello April, congratulations on your success so far. I am a 41 year old man who has lost 64 lbs since July by using this app and making adjustments to the quality of food i take in. I started at 380lbs and and still have a long way to go.
I use the app to track my CICO. Calories in / Calories Out. What has worked for me is, i first figured out what my "sedentary" calorie amount is (for a male 6'1" at age 41 is 2000-2200 calories per day). This is the amount i should be eating at a healthy weight (185lbs) to maintain. I go for a walk for 30 minutes a day (approximately 3 klms), taking 1 or maybe 2 days off. They recommend you should eat 500 calories less then whatever your Age, Weight and height calculates out to (to lose weight at a healthy rate). I am comfortable with the amount of calories i take in and do not feel starved or hungry throughout the day. It has been successful for me so far.
I stopped drinking pop and eating chocolate, chips and other candies. This is a personal choice because i know that if I eat these items I may not be able to stop. I am starting to feel more confident that I could have some and log them into my Calories but have not taken that step yet. I enjoy almost every meal like i did before i just what the amount i take in. No strict diet, just a better choice of diet.
People in the "Success Stories" part of My Fitness Pal seems to mostly say that CICO is what has worked for them. It makes sense because it is simple math. More calories burnt vs calories taken in. Your body needs to burn fuel to function so it burns the extra fuel (ie fat) when you do not have enough from you daily food intake.
Continue being strong. If you have a bad day, so what, make sure your next one is good. Just have more good days than bad and you will continue to be successful.

I hope this helps. Enjoy what you eat and who you eat it with.

abowman4221

I haven't had a soda in 5 weeks and honestly I don't miss them at all.