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rieraclaelin wrote: »Hello all! My name is Jessie and I'm looking forward to meeting new people in this group!
I am 37, been happily married for 11 years, and a mom to 5 fur babies. (Dog named Loki, then four cats named Boo, Charlie, Fern and Rolo, aka Bean)
I went to the doctor back in June of this year because of pain in my stomach, and was diagnosed with severe fatty liver (non alcoholic). It's been a kind of scary past week or so as more tests were run, I was convinced I had cirrhosis because of the results of a fibroscan, but my liver doctor is pretty positive it's actually still only in the fatty liver stage.
But, when I was first diagnosed, I weighed 380 pounds. Since then, thanks to dieting and exercise, I am now down to 356 pounds! Only about 185 more pounds to go... :P (I'm 5'9")
I am also a type ii diabetic, but I've managed to get my sugars well under control and am hoping that I can eventually be taken off my medication as I lose more weight.
But so far I've been having a mostly decent experience with dieting, once I realized how logging worked. And I can definitely tell a difference in clothes now, and I can technically squeeze into a size smaller jeans, but I'm gonna give it another ten pounds or so!
Hello Jessie
Glad that you have joined us. I started at 386 and am down to 364! It works-we just got to stick with it. Look forward to your post. Everyone is friendly and supportive. Good advice also.
Luann3 -
conniewilkins56 wrote: »deafenbaugh wrote: »Hello to the new and old. Excited that we have a good group. The support is great. I don't post often but read almost every day. Look forward to following you all.
Luann
Would love to hear more from you!...yes,this is an amazing group and so supportive...if you are struggling or have questions, someone in this group will guide you or find answers!
Thank you Connie1 -
Hi, I’m Carrie. Am embarrassed to say my weight; let’s just say I’ve got more than 100 pounds to lose. It’s really gotten out of hand; deal with foot pain, both feet. Need to lose! Going to start counting and tracking calories; that’s all there is to it!
HI Carrie
I also have more than 100 lbs to lose-more like 200. I am determined this time and plan to enjoy the journey-meaning watching my body change and esp the NSV (non scale victories). Haven't been able to exercise-also because of arthritis. Most of the comments I have read that the weight will come off with just watching your intake. There are many on the boards who added the exercise later. I think one of the most important things that we can do is to make sure we track-both good and bad days. Look forward to following you on your journey. This board is great-supportive with good advice.
Luann4 -
alligatorob wrote: »Hey all, NovisDies invited me here, so here I am. I did not know this group existed or I would have been here sooner.
I am Rob, a 67 year old man and I have lost 200 pounds, as of this morning. Today I weighed in at 160 pounds for the first time in over 50 years. It sure feels good.
I have been overweight pretty much since birth, my mother tells me the doctor at my first visit as a baby expressed concern about my weight. I do not remember a time that I was not overweight, except for a couple of very brief periods at the end of big diets.
About 10 years ago I was at 360 pounds, and about a year and a half ago 320. I started my current diet at 320 and am now down to my goal and in maintenance. I recently had a caliper based % body fat test and was at 16%, pretty good I think. MFP has been a great help, I have gotten a lot of support here.
I did it by reducing my calorie intake and tracking closely here. I found foods I like that fill me up without many calories (veggies and fruit) and have started exercising. I did not follow any particular diet and no drugs or surgery involved. On the surface its simple, burn more calories than you eat. In practice it is hard to do.
I am open to anyone who has questions or wants to be friends. And I am sure I will need more help and support with my maintenance.
Hi @alligatorob Rob,
Welcome to LL.
I really appreciate you sharing your story with the group and I hope you stick around.
I do have a question or more of a request. One of the things I try to promote here is that the NSVs we get are worth far more than the numbers on the scale. I know that it would be impossible and/or tedious to recount all you have had but I wonder if you would share some of your more notable ones here:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10758883/non-scale-victories#latest1 -
Hi all, I’m new to the group. I am 57 and started my journey on MFP over 1500 days ago and counting. My starting weight was 320lbs and through following the process I am currently at 226lbs and my doctor says to go down to 180lbs. I actively practice intermittent fasting and stay within my mfp allotted calories allowance but of course, life happens sometimes 😛. I try to walk a minimum of 10k steps using my Fitbit tracker. I have had my ups and downs in the past 4 years, but I always get back on track. I consciously chose to lose it the slow way this time around ( ofcourse this is not my first rodeo 😁) I still struggle with food but I am much more aware of what goes into my body now. I try to log my intake ahead of time, that way I am able to visualize my intake. Exercising was tough for me at the onset, but with persistence it has gotten easier. I recall that my first mile took me about 28 minutes to complete🙈, but now I can run a 10 minute mile. I started this journey because my doctor put me on medication for my high blood pressure and said that if I did not lose the weight I may likely be on medication to control it for life. Well, since I lost the weight, he has removed the medications 😀. I look forward to helping hold someone’s hand as they navigate through their own journey.
Hi @Chibike64,
Welcome to LL.
That is an excellent story. You have demonstrated the power of incremental change really well and that having a plan and sticking to it most of the time is better than worrying about speedy results.
Some people might be disheartened by the fact you have been at it for 4 years but my own journey is over 2.5 years old now and seemingly slower path is far faster than all the paths that gave quick results but never lasted.
I hope you stick around!2 -
TwistedSassette wrote: »Hi, I'm new here! But not new to MFP. Just looking for more support and came across this group recommended in the message boards. Looks like everyone is very friendly
I'm 5'3" and weigh 138kg (around 300 lbs) which is the most I've ever weighed. I have really been trying to be more active lately and have had some success with that, though I still have my lazy days! My biggest problem right now is my portion sizes - I eat relatively healthily most of the time, but I just eat too much.
I also have PCOS and insulin resistance as a result, so losing weight is much tougher for me. I have to be more consistent as the results take longer to show up. I have an almost two-year-old son at home who is the absolute light of my life. We needed IVF to have him because my hormones are so messed up with PCOS, so every day I am thankful that I live in a time and place where that was an option.
My focus right now is to keep up with the exercise and track my calories more religiously. I can then start to focus on reducing the amount I'm eating and hopefully that will yield me some results!
Hi @TwistedSassette,
Welcome.
Congrats on having a son. I am sure he is helping your activity a little.... lol.
Reducing the amount is one way. The other way is to increase the amount of lower calorie foods to replace some of the higher calorie options. I will admit there was a time I felt kind of gluttonous eating such large amounts of food but then I realized it made things easier for me and that is far more important. I have no idea if it would work for you but it is an option that may be worthy of an experiment if you need it.
As you keep up with your exercise protect your joints. Wear supports and be liberal with the usage of ice. You may be young enough not to feel the strain but depending on what kind of exercise you are doing there is definitely strain and what you do now might be the difference between having things like knee replacements or not (or at least prolonging the need).
Your specific issues will add a layer of difficulty but that is all. It is still perfectly doable if you figure out your easiest path forward.
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DecryingShame wrote: »Hi all. I have 100 pounds to lose. Before coming to MFP I've never met anyone who lost 100 pounds without getting surgery. I was worried it wasn't possible but I wasn't willing to get surgery. Now I've read about several who have and I'm so excited. I'm going to make this happen!
Hi @DecryingShame,
Welcome to LL.
I wish it were very common to lose 100 pounds or more without medicine or surgery. Unfortunately it is not. I have lost closer to 300 pounds without medicine or weight loss surgery and I am sometimes treated like a unicorn... it can be very uncomfortable.
Don't make it happen though... allow it to happen. Be kind to yourself. Eat anything you can successfully moderate. Avoid drastic changes and try to make it as easy on yourself as possible. The best thing you can hope for are days you lose weight while barely realizing you are doing anything different. Of course you will have to make changes but if you do them slowly and incrementally it might help you avoid grieving the way you lived while gaining. It is not a fun thing to realize that we grieve the food freedom even if it costs so much in the way of health and physical freedom but it happens.
Jump in anywhere. Ask for anything you need. We are excited to watch you grow in one way while shrinking in others.
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Good morning all
I never really had a weight problem - was a preemie and then gained weight with my children and that's when I could not seem to keep it off. YoYo dieted. Had the lap band and did great - really active watched what I was eating...
Got a port infection and had to get the band out. Kept the weight off for some time and then had a lot of stress and hit the BIG 40 and gained it back plus some. I had the gastric sleeve - no bypass - which has helped a lot - max lost was about 100 pounds but gained back quite a bit because I was an emotional eater....
Learned that I had some PTSD and dealt with that and got some other factors in my life adjusted.
45 days ago I started DDP Yoga and he recommended logging daily such as with MFP which I have been doing for about half that time now. I am doing keto which my bariatric surgeon recommended in order to get in all the protein that I need for the day, keeping my calories between 1000-1300. I have dropped almost 18 pounds and have about 60 more to go. I am doing the Yoga daily and have to say I have not felt this well in years. My joints feel better and I feel so much more energetic.
I am grateful to see this group. I work with some awesome people and have a great family but...
My coworkers are always ordering out and it is very heavy on the carbs, a lot of them are overweight too and have not decided that it is a health issue at this time, my husband is Italian - loves pasta and burns calories fast, thinks diets are me trying to kill him....
In spite of this I love to cook, am trying new keto recipies, trying to keep exercising and logging daily!
Anyway thanks for having me and I am enjoying the journey.
Hi @BekkahNP,
Welcome to LL.
Weight loss is a solo journey and I believe, at least for me, it is better that way. In the past my wife and I would try to do a joint plan and it never worked out. We do not need the same things at the same times. I was able to skip breakfast for most of my weight loss she could not. I prefer fish over chicken. She does not. The list goes on. What is right for me is not right for her. It is sabotaging to try and conform to what someone else is doing.
Every member of this group has or had a serious amount of weight to lose. We are or were all in an obese category. They didn't even have a category for as high as I was. When we start we are not playing around with vanity pounds we are trying to improve our health and our quality of life. I was in pretty serious shape when I started and I had to learn that it makes zero difference what others are doing around me. If I couldn't make it fit or didn't want to go over my calorie budget I could eat a salad in the middle of an ice cream festival. I make mistakes and I have weak moments but those are just bumps or minor detours in the road. Nothing will stop me completely until I am ready to stop. Not anymore. Falling down is not failing. Staying down is failing.2 -
Looking to drop ~100 lbs myself. 20 lbs down so far from my heaviest, but only 2 since starting MFP. Not too concerned about that since it hasn't even been a week. I'm really excited to get back under the big 3 number soon. Can't wait to see everyone's progress here! Good luck everyone. Stay healthy, stay strong.
Hi @DDino22,
Welcome to LL.
Be excited but do not be overly ambitious. That is one of my most classic mistakes. The road to lose 100 pounds is a long one and it will have plenty of days you feel like conquering the world and plenty of days you want to keep hitting the snooze button on the alarm clock.
I believe a plan has to survive all kinds of days and provide a framework for some progress on most days. I do this by setting minimum requirements for myself with the hope of doing better or more. This requires the least amount of motivation to get started and once I start I almost always do better than the minimums. If I don't I still make progress and tomorrow will be the next day to go again.3 -
Hello! I'm 28 years old, 5' 6", and after gaining 13 pounds of quarantine weight, hit my highest weight ever at 223. My goal is to lose 88 pounds and in the past month I've lost 7 pounds through calorie counting and walking.
I spent the first 26 years of my life at a thin-average weight until I gained 70 pounds 2 years ago, so I'm really wanting to get back to feeling like myself again.
Hi @amart4224,
Welcome.
The challenge for you may be to restrain yourself from just immediately trying to re-become the person you were 2 years ago. Your weight gaining habits are fairly new but they still need to be replaced with a mixture of the habits you had before and some new ones. Life changes us. I gained weight after most of my changes. After graduations, after marriage, after job changes. Each of them took away some activities I was doing before and I failed to adjust my eating to keep me from gaining.
To gain 70 pounds in 2 years you were in an average daily calorie surplus of a little over 335 calories. That is not that much food but over time it adds up. Luckily it works the same in reverse as well. If you can maintain a deficit it will add up to losing it all. It just takes patience and persistence.
I look forward to watching you progress. I think many of us that are older really love to see younger people get it done and have a nice long life maintaining the loss.
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Hello! I'm Laura! I am a Disney-loving, Harry Potter-obsessed crazy cat lady! I have 5 cats of my own and also foster kittens for a local rescue. I enjoy watching hockey (GO AVS) and crafting - crochet, cross-stitch, cricut/vinyl, and some sewing!
I am 35, 5'6, and currently 261lbs. At my heaviest back in 2016, I was around 360lbs - I can't believe I've lost almost 100lbs! I have had many starts/stops along my journey.
My most recent journey started around 330lbs in March 2019. I made good progress and got down to around 280 by August, and then life hit me in the face! In September 2019 I was diagnosed with breast cancer. After going through surgery, chemo, and radiation, along with the stress of having cancer, I had gained 20lbs and was back up to 300. I decided then that I needed to take better care of myself, and make the best out of my life. I have been tracking calories and intermittent fasting since Mid-March 2020, and am now down to 261. This is the lowest my weight has been in my adult life and it feels fantastic! My ultimate goal is to get down to between 160-170.
Hi @Ldenzel Laura,
Welcome to LL.
Please do not make me change the LL rules to include daily limits on cat gifs!
Congrats on losing 100 pounds. That is phenomenal.
I am glad you are approaching this as a means to take care of yourself. That is a key element, in my opinion. It means you have a long view of your health and you are not just interested in changing the numbers on the scale.
I hope you stick around!
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deafenbaugh wrote: »Hi, I’m Carrie. Am embarrassed to say my weight; let’s just say I’ve got more than 100 pounds to lose. It’s really gotten out of hand; deal with foot pain, both feet. Need to lose! Going to start counting and tracking calories; that’s all there is to it!
HI Carrie
I also have more than 100 lbs to lose-more like 200. I am determined this time and plan to enjoy the journey-meaning watching my body change and esp the NSV (non scale victories). Haven't been able to exercise-also because of arthritis. Most of the comments I have read that the weight will come off with just watching your intake. There are many on the boards who added the exercise later. I think one of the most important things that we can do is to make sure we track-both good and bad days. Look forward to following you on your journey. This board is great-supportive with good advice.
Luann
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Thank you for your hope and inspiration! Hoping for your continued healing and weight loss too.1
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rieraclaelin wrote: »Hello all! My name is Jessie and I'm looking forward to meeting new people in this group!
I am 37, been happily married for 11 years, and a mom to 5 fur babies. (Dog named Loki, then four cats named Boo, Charlie, Fern and Rolo, aka Bean)
I went to the doctor back in June of this year because of pain in my stomach, and was diagnosed with severe fatty liver (non alcoholic). It's been a kind of scary past week or so as more tests were run, I was convinced I had cirrhosis because of the results of a fibroscan, but my liver doctor is pretty positive it's actually still only in the fatty liver stage.
But, when I was first diagnosed, I weighed 380 pounds. Since then, thanks to dieting and exercise, I am now down to 356 pounds! Only about 185 more pounds to go... :P (I'm 5'9")
I am also a type ii diabetic, but I've managed to get my sugars well under control and am hoping that I can eventually be taken off my medication as I lose more weight.
But so far I've been having a mostly decent experience with dieting, once I realized how logging worked. And I can definitely tell a difference in clothes now, and I can technically squeeze into a size smaller jeans, but I'm gonna give it another ten pounds or so!
Hi @rieraclaelin Jessie,
Welcome.
The weight loss should help with the FL from what my wife's liver doctor has said. It won't reverse it but it should stabilize it keep it from going into further stages. I hope that is the case for you too.
Weight loss should help with the T2 as well.
You have done great so far. Hopefully your experiences with weight loss will only get better from here. I can't promise there will not be some bad days but we all have those whether or not we are trying to lose weight.
The first time you downsize in clothing it is fun and rewarding. I look forward to you sharing that NSV with us. I will warn you though it gets expensive over the course of a couple hundred pounds. I should know. Just don't wait until you accidentally moon the neighborhood before replacing them!2 -
Hi, I’m Carrie. Am embarrassed to say my weight; let’s just say I’ve got more than 100 pounds to lose. It’s really gotten out of hand; deal with foot pain, both feet. Need to lose! Going to start counting and tracking calories; that’s all there is to it!
Hi @ly2sing,
Welcome to LL.
You never need to share anymore than you want here. I have never actually shared my starting weight either. This is not the kind of group that holds each other accountable. We only ask that you approach your weight loss in a sensible and sustainable fashion. Mistakes and weak days are part of it. When you have one and you share it you will find that we just encourage you to learn from it if possible, let it go, and move on. Perfection is not allowed here!
I encourage you to take a "never quit" attitude but with a knowledge that whatever your first plan is may not be your last. We have to keep learning and refining our processes to make the road ahead as easy as possible. Deciding what does and does not work for you is an ongoing education.2 -
Hi all, I’m new to the group. I am 57 and started my journey on MFP over 1500 days ago and counting. My starting weight was 320lbs and through following the process I am currently at 226lbs and my doctor says to go down to 180lbs. I actively practice intermittent fasting and stay within my mfp allotted calories allowance but of course, life happens sometimes 😛. I try to walk a minimum of 10k steps using my Fitbit tracker. I have had my ups and downs in the past 4 years, but I always get back on track. I consciously chose to lose it the slow way this time around ( ofcourse this is not my first rodeo 😁) I still struggle with food but I am much more aware of what goes into my body now. I try to log my intake ahead of time, that way I am able to visualize my intake. Exercising was tough for me at the onset, but with persistence it has gotten easier. I recall that my first mile took me about 28 minutes to complete🙈, but now I can run a 10 minute mile. I started this journey because my doctor put me on medication for my high blood pressure and said that if I did not lose the weight I may likely be on medication to control it for life. Well, since I lost the weight, he has removed the medications 😀. I look forward to helping hold someone’s hand as they navigate through their own journey.
Hi @Chibike64,
Welcome to LL.
That is an excellent story. You have demonstrated the power of incremental change really well and that having a plan and sticking to it most of the time is better than worrying about speedy results.
Some people might be disheartened by the fact you have been at it for 4 years but my own journey is over 2.5 years old now and seemingly slower path is far faster than all the paths that gave quick results but never lasted.
I hope you stick around!
Thanks for the warm welcome 🙏2 -
Hello! I'm Laura! I am a Disney-loving, Harry Potter-obsessed crazy cat lady! I have 5 cats of my own and also foster kittens for a local rescue. I enjoy watching hockey (GO AVS) and crafting - crochet, cross-stitch, cricut/vinyl, and some sewing!
I am 35, 5'6, and currently 261lbs. At my heaviest back in 2016, I was around 360lbs - I can't believe I've lost almost 100lbs! I have had many starts/stops along my journey.
My most recent journey started around 330lbs in March 2019. I made good progress and got down to around 280 by August, and then life hit me in the face! In September 2019 I was diagnosed with breast cancer. After going through surgery, chemo, and radiation, along with the stress of having cancer, I had gained 20lbs and was back up to 300. I decided then that I needed to take better care of myself, and make the best out of my life. I have been tracking calories and intermittent fasting since Mid-March 2020, and am now down to 261. This is the lowest my weight has been in my adult life and it feels fantastic! My ultimate goal is to get down to between 160-170.
I've been really remiss lately in giving my welcomes, so consider this a welcome to everyone!
@Ldenzel I'd say that I was the resident crazy cat lady with my 5 cats, but you have me beat with the fostering I don't crochet, but I do cross stitch and sew once in a while! I used to do more cross stitch, but carpal tunnel has my hands going numb so easily these days that I don't get much done.
But I still hold the title for crazy SPINSTER cat lady
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Hello, I'm Teresa., 61 years old. Happily married for 42 years, have 3 grown children and 6 granddaughters. Weight issues are a big part of our family and I would love to lead them all to victory in their struggles but I've never had success in any attempts I've made to take the pounds off. I would love to loss any amount of weight but my long term goal is 100 pounds. I've been active on MFP several times over the past years.
I was diagnosed as a type II diabetic 20+ years ago but did not take it serious so now I'm struggling with Diabetic Macular Edema in my right eye. I do not like exercise so that is one of my biggest areas that I need encouragement and support. I have a stationery cycle at home but haven't been on it for a long time. I have lower back pain so I'm not able to walk too far, however I believe if I started walking more it would get better.
I do a fair job of tracking what I eat here on MFP but I love food and enjoy eating and that is a problem.2 -
Hello all. I'm Beth. I am 36 and 276 lbs. I am married with 4 kids (ages 15, 14, 8 and 3) and my parents moved in with us this year. Being in the sandwich generation is no joke, y'all. I have gained over 50 lbs this year after my dad got sick and moved in with us Nov 2019. It's been very emotional, especially when you add in COVID, isolation school, blended family schedules on top of a two teens and a THREENAGER. I ate to deal with things, or rather, to avoid dealing with my own things while I take care of everyone else's things.
I've just come back to MFP under a new user name because it's worked for me in the past. I am looking forward to making new friends and being part of a supportive community. Anyone else finding themselves in the care giving sandwich?1 -
Anyone else finding themselves in the care giving sandwich?
Hi, Beth! Yes and no. Boyfriend and I are in our forties and while my mother and his parents are alive (My father died of frontotemporal dementia in '16) we are making a lot of our "in ten years" decisions with one eye on our parents' capabilities and health. My grown sons live with my mother, and so she gets a lot of her heavy lifting done that way, and I worry less about her but know that if someone had to step up it would be me she'd come to live with, because my sister had her daughter late and has RA as well.
My future MIL and FIL are doing okay, but MIL has a laminectomy with cadaver bone grafts for L3-5 scheduled, and I will be helping them out while she recovers. Mostly through offering respite time for my FIL to go play golf or run errands and by bringing them food so he doesn't have to cook and she doesn't have to try to stand in the kitchen at all. They both know I am a very good cook, so there's no problem with that. We are doing our long-term planning with the knowledge that if FIL passes first, MIL WILL be living with us, and if MIL passes first, FIL will wind up with us only if he gets to a place mentally or physically where he needs help with daily living of a sort that we can give.
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