I have 70lbs to lose!! It feels hopeless!!

IWillWinSkinny

I am most definitely not eating from hunger. I seem to have gotten in the habit of just eating for the sake of something to do! I definitely need to work on portion control as well. My bf eats whatever he likes (bugger) and man he eats A LOT. So I do the same when I'm with him - and I really don't need as much as him. He's on his feel all day whereas i'm sat at a desk for 10 hours. I do go to the gym 3 or 4 times a week for body combat classes - but that is the ONLY exercise I do. I know exercise helps etc but I know full well I need to tackle my eating habits first. I know it's possible, I just feel weak atm.

Ilovepeppers

I joined MFP last December 28. As of today I've lost 68 pounds and I think it will be 72 by December 28. So, it will have taken me a yeart to lose 70 pounds. I started 245 and I'm now 177 with 22 more to go. All I can say is that I was obese for years and I'm really happy I'm not sitting here THIS December planning on losing 70 by next year.

What I'm saying is, you can begin now with commitment and be thrilled you reached your goal by 2012 or you can find yourself trying to lose 70 pounds next December. Time will keep marching on regardless of if youre losing weight or not, so why not make it so youre never in this position again at a later date?

I understand yo yo dieting and I know how hard it is to lose 70 pounds. I truly sympathize, but i know you can do this and find yourself on here next year giving someone else encouragment.

Heres what I did:
Ate at 1500 to begin with (for about 2 months)
Increased water (from none to 8 c a day)
Took a 30 minute walk daily
Ate a veggie in place of a bread in every meal
Didn't watch carbs


Those are the things that got me going and kept me motivated in the beginning. Now I have 1400 a day, lose 1.5 pounda a week and take 10 mi walks. It takes time.

You can do this!!!!!!

puzwuz1

Nothing is hopeless, if you want it and surround yourself with people who will be supportive and also help motivate you to break your habit you can make it happen. (i.e. pretty much anyone here on MFP ). I used to be the exact same way and hated myself for it. Never believed I could ever actually get on the right path and stay there, always started something and quit after 2-3 months, but I also didn't have people around me who offered much support to motivate me. This site has been a great help for me, and not only just to log food and realize what I was putting in my body, but also because the people I have met on here are amazing for motivation and support, especially when you feel like quitting again. Good luck to you! You can do this!

Best advice I can likely give is that you should set small goes for yourself. Don't aim at that 70lbs right now. Aim at 10, and when you get there, aim at 10 more and keep going; Before you know it you will be past your 70 lb goal! Feel free to add me if you'd like.

puzwuz1

Nothing is hopeless, if you want it and surround yourself with people who will be supportive and also help motivate you to break your habit you can make it happen. (i.e. pretty much anyone here on MFP ). I used to be the exact same way and hated myself for it. Never believed I could ever actually get on the right path and stay there, always started something and quit after 2-3 months, but I also didn't have people around me who offered much support to motivate me. This site has been a great help for me, and not only just to log food and realize what I was putting in my body, but also because the people I have met on here are amazing for motivation and support, especially when you feel like quitting again. Good luck to you! You can do this!

Best advice I can likely give is that you should set small goes for yourself. Don't aim at that 70lbs right now. Aim at 10, and when you get there, aim at 10 more and keep going; Before you know it you will be past your 70 lb goal! Feel free to add me if you'd like.

mjf0461

Me too.. But I am well on my way to losing the 70 plus a few more. How? I just finally decided I wanted to be healthier, look better and happier more than I wanted that hamburger, ice cream or candy. I went on a 1200 calorie diet on 01-01-11 and 65 lbs later I am still fighting to get to my goal weight, but I feel good, I am looking better, and I am happy with my success of the hard work I have put out. I see the pay off.. Closet eaters, binge eaters, stress eaters, your talking about me.. I really just decided to find something else to release my stress on, I bought a punching bag, I get uptight I put my gloves on and go to punching. Boredom I started doing hand crafts -crocheting, binge eating, I got everything out of my cabinets and fridge that would be a threat to me. I had so much fruit, veggie's and such that my binge eating came ot a hault rather quickly. I had even got to point of sticking my finger down my throat after I ate something. I no longer worry about that. I eat healthy, and I go off of it every once in awhile and eat something outside my normal realm of food. And then I start back to following my normal regimen.

I've been heavy all my life, when I started this I was hitting 267.5.. I am 5"10' so I can carry some weight. But I am knocking on onederlands door now and I am so excited.. You can do this, it has to start in the mind first that you want to be healthier, thinner, and hot, MORE than you want that bread or candy or whatever. And you keep telling yourself that. I went thru Thanksgiving and stuck to my protocol and lost and added 2.5 lbs the day after.. It can be done and I am proof to it.. Just make that mind up and go for it...

Good luck to you all in your life changing goals...

lisacandoit1965

It is not hopeless I started out having to lose 94lbs . I was 224 but I am only 5 2" I have lost 51lbs so far so I am more than halfway to my goal of 130 and I will get there

gorgeouss9

Thanks everyone. I feel like i've got some sort of addiction with food recently and it makes me feel so low and degraded for admitting it. Most of my waking hours are spent thinking about my next meal or snack. How do I break this?

This was me in 2007 when I was at my life heaviest (172 pounds!). I have never been a big girl, always the skinny girl. Stress and Life somehow made me eat more than I ever have- and I would eat when I was stuffed. Eating excessively and over obsessing about food is an emotional and psychological behavior. You have to take a look at your life and what's going on. Seriously evaluating your life and what you want, what's going on in your life that you want/don't want anymore, and try to figure out what steps you need to take in order to change things around. There must be something you're avoiding or ignoring, and instead your focus is on food, or meal planning.

For me, It's been putting myself last in my life. I went through a period where I was living for "me" and then suddenly I had to begin living for someone else- my dad. I went from being in the 120s to the 170s because I had no time for me- and when i did, i didnt want to focus too much on me because i knew soon after i had to think about them. esp my dad who was sick with cancer. It was very hard to be in my early-mid 20s and be in that situation. Once I was able to refocus on myself and think about myself solely, I was able to go back down to 130. I have since rgained 25-30 pounds and i'm trying to get rid of that here on MFP. My issue now is having to refocus on "me" - i keep getting bored w/myself lol.. A part of me saw life as being perfect the minute i'd lose weight, and it wasnt. I'm still alone, my friends are still out of state, and I've made it worse by gaining weight again.

But, you know what? Life goes on.. and unless we sit around and mope all day we won't make any changes in our life. We have to think of the positive and hope we reach our goals successfully! We're in this together!

Ljohnverrell

I sometimes eat just to be eating as well. I'M A HUGE STRESS EATER! (No pun intended).

A friend told me to make an "activity bowl". Put a bunch of things that you could do besides eating on pieces of paper and pull them out of a bowl. Do the activity instead of eating. Its worked for me. Try it. Nothing is hopeless if you put your mind to it and I see this site has a lot of people willing to help you!

Going into my bowl: Log onto MyFitness Pal and type in the forums!

IWillWinSkinny

You girlies / guys are truely motivating. I've been on this site for a long time and haven't had the courage to finally post and ask for help. I'm probably going to be on this site 24/7 for a long time to start with.

IWillWinSkinny

I sometimes eat just to be eating as well. I'M A HUGE STRESS EATER! (No pun intended).

A friend told me to make an "activity bowl". Put a bunch of things that you could do besides eating on pieces of paper and pull them out of a bowl. Do the activity instead of eating. Its worked for me. Try it. Nothing is hopeless if you put your mind to it and I see this site has a lot of people willing to help you!

Going into my bowl: Log onto MyFitness Pal and type in the forums!

That's such a fantastic idea!! I'm definitely going to give that one a try! Thank you!

Krushchev

I have a post-it stuck to my monitor at work that says "Impossible is not a declaration, it's a dare." I use it more for meeting really restrictive deadlines than for sticking to my calories, but its true there too! I second the breaking it down into goals- especially when combined with treats!
I'm also a stress / boredom eater. I find that if I make myself a cup of tea, it really helps. Yeah, tea sounds boring, but then you realise how much time you can fill with it. Fill kettle, wait for it to boil, pick tea (having a huge selection is really helpful), pick sweetener.... Especially if you keep all the components in different places. Sure, it makes having a quick cup on a busy day a bit of a pain in the *kitten*, but I think its worth it, lol.

staceyb2003

I am in the same boat. Compulsive dieter. 5'6" 185lbs and been over 200lbs. I just feel like it's useless to try sometimes. I am stuck at 185lbs. Honestly it's not the food. It is easy for me to eat great. My problem is I'm a beer drinker. All my friends drink and can get away with it. My body just holds onto it for some reason.

choccyqueen83

Hi everyone, i've got a similar amount to loose and am in it for the long haul.
I find it helps me if I can view other peoples diaries. I also think It may keep me in check. If anyone wants to add me... Please do

kristinkt

I know how it feels to start up the mountain of weight loss again and again only to fall over and over. I was at the point of not really thinking there was a livable program out there when my friend told me about MFP. What helped me begin and stay with it was focusing on one thing at a time. Like in the beginning I only focused on logging in and being truthful. Later I started watching my water intake. Then I decided to put some exercise into the mix. Then I began watching the macros more & decided to try a challenge. Reading the success stories and seeing that real people are achieving what I want is very motivating to me. I also tried to put encouraging friends on my friends list so that we can encourage one another.

It is not really just one thing - it is more like a package deal & it all works together to make you stronger. Kinda like that illustration of being able to break one thin piece of string, but not being able to break it when you have several pieces of string bound together.

Don't get down when you "only lose a little bit" - Celebrate that that weight is gone from your life & move on. Little by little it adds up to the bigger numbers. You can do it!!!

lynzobp

Wow I never realy thouht there were so many ppl on here with the same problems as me I need to loose like 50 lbs or more but the goal is fifty and it feels depressing to think of it as a big number but bein 5 2 makes me look like a fat little unpack lumpa or something I miss bein skinny

ShefMum

Thanks everyone. I feel like i've got some sort of addiction with food recently and it makes me feel so low and degraded for admitting it. Most of my waking hours are spent thinking about my next meal or snack. How do I break this?

I think you're right. I think an unhealthy relationship with food is like a kind of addiction, except you can't kick the eating habit or you die right? My advice to you would be to stop dieting and get off the whole crash/boom thing because the swings from high to low are v damaging (I used to be on that). I would focus instead on trying to really change your regular eating habits to healthy ones. That includes your relationship with food. If you are a closet eater maybe there is some emotional work you need to do? - Sometimes eating is about stuffing your feelings down. And develop a regular exercise pattern as well because this makes you feel better about yourself through natural chemicals as well as helping to regulate your appetite (for me anyway).

I don't know you obviously so I hope some of the above is useful. Think of what you are doing to yourself every time you crash down and binge-eat (which I assume is what is happening). Whatever you decide to do good luck, and just remember beating yourself up never helped to motivate anyone....

Apazman

I see a lot myself in these questions, its too much, how can I do it? i don't think i can blah blah blah ..

Here's the dope:

If you want something bad enough ... TRULY bad enough .. you WILL achieve it . Like everyone said, its not easy .. if it were, no one would ever be fat. The reason you feel hopeless is because that's all you know, failure in sight of something truly monumental. You have to deal with whatever it was that got you to this point, once you do .. then things don't seem hopeless. most people have a deep dark secret that hangs over them and took them 70 lbs overweight. I am not asking you to discuss it here.. but you will need to think about it if you really want to change your mindset from "It feels hopeless" to "It is inevitable"!

I am not going to wish you luck .. because luck has nothing to do with . It sheer will, determination and consistency. If you can't commit yourself to this 110% then you will fail like every other time. Take some time, think about it .. and get back to me. i would be interested to read your response.

chrislin2011

I feel like we have some things in common! I have always been a closet eater and have always thought about what I'll have at my next meal. I'm 5'6, 205 pounds and shooting to lose 40-50 pounds... I'm not sure where a healthy weight would be because I've never been there. Feel free to add me if you would like.

Circa1964

Every day you should look at the community tab and check out the success stories. There are so many people with pictures that have succeeded. They are inspiring! You can do it if you are ready. Everyone on this thread has given such good ideas. I'm stealing a couple of them!

MamaDee2

Lot of good advice here and great support! Good luck

lissypriss

It is attainable!!! I've done it, you can too! I still have 20-30lbs to go, but when I look at where I started (233.3) It just keeps me motivated! Start out by making ONE change..stop drinking sodas--even diet, and replace it with diet green tea. That was MY first step, and I lost water weight right off the bat! Next, be a little bolder...like no white bread, replace it with 40cal wheat bread...etc. You are sooo worth it~

AmosRacki

I had 100 lbs to lose before next October and I only have 40lbs to go!.. I am also a closet binge eater. I lie to myself and others about the things I eat. The best thing I can tell you is get a diet family....I have three others that work out with me and one of them I hang out with all the time. She sets me right. Then when you are better at not closet eating you may hang out less with you diet family... It's really hard and you need to tell yourself it's for you! no one else. It's not okay to be this heavy, it's not okay to eat this amount of food and take one day at a time! You mess up one day SO what...get back on it. You can do it! Good luck!

Justkf

You can do this! Add me- I have great support and that is how this has worked for me.

Amanda_Jean87

I was pushing 190 this summer, I'm currently 32 pounds down, halfway to my goal, and still going strong. I've found that majority of major weight loss is the mental battle. Put yourself in the mind set of eating right becuase it's what your body deserves, make exercise a part of your daily life style. It also helps to make mini goals, looking at 70 pounds is daunting but if you break it down into mini goal of lets say 10 pounds, it's a lot easier to mentally grasp and it feels like your accomplishing something each time your hit a goal. I've also started a reward system, evertime I hit one of my minigoals I give myself a predetermined reward. It definitely motivates me to keep going.

Hope this helps and good luck!

kiwi1855

Late to this party... but!...

You can totally do it. It's just a matter of willpower and how much you want it. If you want it bad enough, nothing can stop you. Little steps - don't make huge changes all at once, because that is overwhelming and it's much easier to say "it's too hard!" and fall back to old habits if you do that.

30 days to make a habit/behavior change - the first 30 days SUCK. Not going to lie, no sense in lying. However, after that initial 30 days, IT DOES GET EASIER to stick with the changes you've made.

Make it a goal to make one small positive change each day or week, depending on your comfort level. Switch one snack for something a little more healthy, or sub water for the sugary drink you were planning. Little triumphs sure help keep you going, because breaking things down into doable, manageable chunks, you'll have a much easier time sticking with your "lifestyle change".

I was 288lbs when I started in mid January of 2011. I'm 174 lbs now. It is TOTALLY doable. It's just a matter of how much you want it.

gymshoe42

You took probably the biggest step forward by asking for help! I'm kind of in the same spot ... my weight has swung 50 lbs back and forth in the last several years and I'm working on a way to lose it for good. Make the commitment, hop on the MFP boards to be held accountable and you can do it. Drink water regularly. It will help stave off the super hungry feeling.

RenaPink11

We are about the same weight and the same height. For me, when I looked at my "big goal" I would get discouraged too. I would think OMG, how am I going to get there? It's going to take forever? I'm very impatient and need stronger will. So I created mini goals to help me out. My first goal was to get out of the 220's... I was 224 starting this. I'm still new and down to 217 BUT I hit my first goal and feel PROUD! My next mini goal is to lose 10 lbs...I'm 3 lbs away from that goal. I have found this helps me stay motived and also the support of friends on here. I sent you a friend request Good Luck!

LuciLawless

I'm currently 244.3lbs and I want to be 170lbs. I feel awefull all the time. I have depression that makes me think the worst before the best and it's really taken a toll on my body. I have very high blood pressure because of stress and because i'm so stressed i've been told if I don't get it down I could have a stroke before my 21st birthday in march.

porcia318

Same here. Just started. Weighing in at 240 lbs at 5"5. Im cant believe I let myself get sooo heavy. Working on trimming down hopefully 60 lbs.!!!!!!Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.

flabulous4

You can do it!
One important thing to remember is to keep going - you'll have some bad days but just keep trying, maybe do some different exercises.
You'll probably have periods where you don't lose any weight - but make sure you check your measurements as you're probably losing inches.
The other thing I'd say is to have a look at your goal weight. I'm 5'3" and just over 123 pounds, and my BMI is 22 - maybe adjust that up a little and see how you feel when you get there? It might take a little of the pressure off?
Friend me if you like and GOOD LUCK!