New to the boards

New here. My name is James. I've struggled with my weight since i was about 18. I am 28 now. After losing the girl i dated for 7 years. I realized the problem was me. I wasn't a happy person. Most of my depression was because of my weight and how much confidence i lacked.

So i decided to do something about it. I started eating better and exercising a little over two months ago. I was 285 pounds. I am now down to 245. I realized yesterday that my weight loss has slowed down quite a bit. So i figured i'd join a forum and look for advice.

So here's what I've been doing. I joined planet fitness, i try to go 3-4 times a week. The days i do not go. I work out at home. My family owns 100 acres in Fishkill Ny, a small mountain. So i have been hiking the mountain, flipping 150 pound tractor tires down a field the size of a football field and back up. I also bought a weight machine from ****s sporting goods.

My biggest problem is the diet its self. I come from a pretty large family who loves to eat. So I've been doing my best there. I am now going to try the low carb diet. But we will see how it goes.

Replies

  • Train4Foodz
    Train4Foodz Posts: 4,298 Member
    Welcome to MFP!
    Being a big eater was my problem at one point too! My family on the whole are pretty big eaters and I guess I also followed suit!
    Realizing where things were going wrong and setting yourself on the path to correcting them is the first major step that you have already taken.. With the help and motivation from others here it's so much easier!!

    I also do a fair bit of mountain hiking, I love the outdoors..

    The diet if reasonably easy once you get yourself into a pattern with it. It's just breaking those initial bad habits.

    Feel free to add me as a friend if you like..

    Either way, good luck and all the best with your fitness goals!
  • hkristine1
    hkristine1 Posts: 950 Member
    Way to go on your weight loss so far - you've accomplished a lot already. You should be aware, though, that losing weight too fast can lead (and often does lead) to gaining it back + some because once you hit a "goal" and go back to eating as you always did (and/or stopping the exercise), you just yo-yo back. It can also lead to more problems with excess skin, etc. when the weight is gone.

    I think the advice you're likely to find here is to not cut out any food from your diet that you can't envision yourself living without for the rest of your life. Rather, you should be focused on learning how to eat that food responsiblry. So, if you can't see yourself living without bread, don't cut it out as you try to lose weight. Rather, figure out how much you can eat while still gaining weight.

    Log all your food intake. Do it religiously. The weight will come off - probably more slowly than you would hope for (2 lbs per week is generally the max that is recommended), but you will learn the skills you need to know so that you can maintain the weight loss over the rest of your life.
  • Thanks for the comments and advice.

    Yeah i don't plan on doing a low carb diet my whole life. So maybe it is a bad idea. I noticed just changing one thing in my diet has helped a TON. I was a big Pepsi drinker. I would sometimes drink near a whole bottle a day. Just switching to around 8-12 cups of water a day has helped me lose weight and make me feel better.

    I am aware that most people who lose weight fast put it back on. As around two years ago i was around 300 pounds and got down to 260 in a hurry, ended up going right back to 285. But i literally was starving myself then. So i hope i can manage my diet better this time.