Ask me anything about fat/weight loss....

TheOfficialEpic

Stats:
Female
5'4"
247.4 lbs.
was eating 1900 PLUS my exercise calories, been gaining weight. My BMR is 1864, my TDEE is 2500.
When I ate 1600 calories PLUS exercise calories I was losing weight...that worked for me, but the whole "must eat BMR" confuses me, is that FOOD or NET, because if it's "food" and not "net" I am getting that with the 1600 Net calories.
I make sure I walk 10,000 steps a day, and calculate 500 calories for that (1600+500 =2100 food eating), would you say that's enough??? It seemed to always work, but I also hear about eating and NETTING your bmr (which for me would be 1864) but I wind up gaining and it's so frustrating for me. :-/

If you're losing, you're losing. Don't overcomplicate it with the bmr(it's usually way off anyways). Bmr, eating back your calories, netting....all this make such a simple thing so complicated. If you're losing, then keep on doing what you're doing. When you stall out, readjust your calories downward or add in a little more activity.

TheOfficialEpic

What is fat?.....Stored energy. If you are not ingesting enough calories to maintain it, then it gets burned. So who is going to need more calories to maintain their weight, a 300 pound person or a 200 pound person? Obviously the 300 pounder. So say the 300 pound person decides to diet down. He loses 50 pounds. What it takes to maintain himself at 250 is less than what he needed at 300(all things equal). Because of this, what may have been a deficit at 300 pounds, might be maintenance now that he is 250. If that is the case then he will most likely need to readjust his calories lower to continue to lose. I myself, when I start a cut, my maintenance is usually around 3,000+ calories a day just sitting on my bum.....towards the end it drops as low as 2,250. Make sense?....

Lol. I'd like to think so.
Wow!! Absolutely makes sense :flowerforyou:

weigh2go577

Stats:
Female
5'4"
247.4 lbs.
was eating 1900 PLUS my exercise calories, been gaining weight. My BMR is 1864, my TDEE is 2500.
When I ate 1600 calories PLUS exercise calories I was losing weight...that worked for me, but the whole "must eat BMR" confuses me, is that FOOD or NET, because if it's "food" and not "net" I am getting that with the 1600 Net calories.
I make sure I walk 10,000 steps a day, and calculate 500 calories for that (1600+500 =2100 food eating), would you say that's enough??? It seemed to always work, but I also hear about eating and NETTING your bmr (which for me would be 1864) but I wind up gaining and it's so frustrating for me. :-/

If you're losing, you're losing. Don't overcomplicate it with the bmr(it's usually way off anyways). Bmr, eating back your calories, netting....all this make such a simple thing so complicated. If you're losing, then keep on doing what you're doing. When you stall out, readjust your calories downward or add in a little more activity.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!

mikek333

I'd like to join the many who have already thanked you for doing this thread. It's very informative and motivating!

TheOfficialEpic

Wow. I am in complete agreement with those who elevate what they have found in your answers in this thread above any other source for weight loss and fitness. People aren't just saying it when they say that this is the best thread they have ever read on the subject. When I read those comments, I resonate with them; I second their emotion. You have a rare blend of "applied intelligence" that is informed yet street-level in its composition. I'd venture to say your heart and mind (read: soul) is in the same great shape that your phyisique clearly is.

My takeaway from all that I have read (and I have read it all) from you is that I need to lean out first (using basic calorie info) and then seek to add muscle. I am wondering if that is that possible for me at 56 years of age. I want that to be true mind you, but I get this fear that, in order to go down in weight class, I will lose my muscle tone for good; a sort of later-in-life muscle atrophy. I started at close to 250 lbs, and am presently at 236. I wonder, given my build, knowledge of my own body, and personal history, if leaning out for me might mean going down to like 155, then seeking from that lean base to add 10-15 lbs. of muscle.I am eating 1,550 calories a day (no possibility of hidden cals) and have recently build up to where I am running 6 days per week on a high school track for 2 miles without stopping.

Knowing that you are going to advise me to do this with the necessary weekly evaluations, I want you to tell me if I am on the right course. I've been overweight/obese for as long as I can remember, and it's high time for that to change. From some other research and personal knowledge of my own body, I THINK I can be at 165 lbs. by January 1st, a sort of inverted New Years Resolution. I am confused a bit about "refeed"...as a recovering food abuser I read "gorge". I know you will say just a few hundred over my then-adjusted-if-and-as-it-is-still-working-for-me target of 1,550 daily calories.

Thanks for the help. And to help you, and given that I consider myself to be a pretty good judge of horse flesh, I'd like to plant a seed of thought in your fit soul...You should consider the prospect and future of taking your rarified gift of helping people in this arena to the next level. Methinks you have a following here, and that this could only grow, but only if a larger world were to be exposed. I appreciate your help in advance, even as I appreciate your help already.

1. You'll become MORE toned as you lose body fat because you won't have so much obscuring it.
2. As you lose body fat, you WILL lose SOME muscle. It is inevitable. But you can spare the STRONG strong majority of it simply by not reducing your calories in drastic amounts, making sure you're recovering between workouts, and meeting your daily protein requirements.
3. A refeed is NOT a gorge. It is basically a break on your metabolism to remind the body that everything is ok. The body is the master of adaptation. Go on a set caloric amount too long, and ya best believe your body is going to adapt to it. Throw in the occasional refeed and the body gets says basically "Oh, can't lower the metabolism too much just yet. This chippie's throwin' more calories at me."
4. Theoretically you CAN build muscle and lose fat at the same time, but it is DEFINITELY not going to be as effecient as the person who is concentrating on one or the other at a time. Noobs can burn fat and add muscle EASILY....but as I've said before, that will come to a SCREECHING stop and plateau withing 3-6 months from most of my observations. At which point I'd recommend them focusing on one or the other. At the moment, I'm cutting right now for the beach this summer....but VERY much so looking forward to my bulk in a couple months where I can relax the calories and indulge some more for while.

TheOfficialEpic

I'd like to join the many who have already thanked you for doing this thread. It's very informative and motivating!

Thanks. That's why I do it. I would have KILLED more lots of this knowledge 8 years ago. I can only imagine where I could have been by now! It's so funny how every decade it's something new. In the 80s, fat was the enemy. In the 90s, carbs were the enemy....now it's sugar. So much hype out there when everything we really need to know about dieting, we learned from our mothers when we were kids! I got the nutritional cert yes, and myself and my clients have been guinea pigs over the many years....but it's still funny how it all comes back to the basics.

jennifeffer

Bumping and loving this thread. You are awesome! A great kindness in you:)

t2kburl

Thanks for all the great tips!

Male
6' 3", 297 lbs, 41 yo

Got any for losing moobs?
I know I have a long way to go, overall, and I'm just getting started, but these things have to go!

TheOfficialEpic

Thanks for all the great tips!

Male
6' 3", 297 lbs, 41 yo

Got any for losing moobs?
I know I have a long way to go, overall, and I'm just getting started, but these things have to go!

Lol on the "moobs." Just steadily losing the body fat and throwing in some basic pressing movements for the upper chest yeh. Incline bench press for example assuming healthy and doc approval to participate in exercise.

ady41

bump

philfinallyfit

Thank you for your reply, and I thus take it that the thing to do is lean out first. Does 155 lbs. sound like the general vicinity of where I am heading, as I lean out prior to focusing on building muscle? I am 5'9", 56 years old, and the last time I was lean was college, and around that weight. I would love to add back around 10-15 lbs. of muscle once I get to that leaned out place where nothing jiggles like jello. I will be "cutting" as you say for months, hoping to reach my goal by year-end (2 lbs. per week sustained loss), and it helps knowing I am on the right course of action. Thanks!

tripod271

bump

Theweebarrell

Hi i am female, 42 years old, 5ft 1 inch and weigh 140lbs i would like to get to 122lbs, i am on feet for 8 hrs a day , 4 days a week, can you work out how many cals i should eat to lose weight - thanks

TheOfficialEpic

Hi i am female, 42 years old, 5ft 1 inch and weigh 140lbs i would like to get to 122lbs, i am on feet for 8 hrs a day , 4 days a week, can you work out how many cals i should eat to lose weight - thanks

I can only give you an estimate, hon. The big picture is energy in vs energy out. You need to just reduce calories on the weekly till you start losing. When you stall out, readjust down as necessary. There are too many factors that come into play. I can take two females exactly the same age, weight, and height as you....and all three could have drastically different caloric levels needed to maintain or lose.

twoboys2012

Hi there .. firstly your a legend doing a great thing here

Secondly I would like to know how to reset my metabolism and where to start from there? I have been low on cals and higher on cals and feel like i have been all over the place. Now very very confused.

I am 5ft4
199lbs
female
32yrs
exercise 2.5hours a week, basically 30 mins 5x/wk (I burn 250-400cals each time)
2 days cardio, 3 days jillian michaels dvd

Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks

A reset. Just take a couple days and don't count ANYthing. Enjoy life. Spend time with your family. Don't exercise. Just relax. Afterwards set yourself around 200-300 calories above bmr. After a week goes by reevaluate. If losing, then great. If not, then cut 100 calories out of each day. Reevaluate again at the end of the next week. So long as you're losing, don't cut more. This is where most people go wrong and screw their metabolisms up. Simple cuts don't haywire the body. Going from 2,000 calories a day to 1,000, and 90 minutes of exercise a week to 5hours and the body is like "What the bloody hell is going on here?!! Protect. Protect. Protect. Protect." This is where immune systems go down, hormones go crazy, and metabolism goes to ****e. The slower the cut, 99x out of 100, from my experience with clients, the stronger their metabolisms in the end, and the more healthier they look in the end....AND the more options we have available to get rid of that last few inches.

Thank you so much ....

When i eat 200-300 above my BMR do i also eat back my exercise cals on top of that or just ignore them???

Don't exercise on the reset days. Relax and give your body a break.

Yip will do ... but once i start back at just above my BMR what do i do with exercise cals then or just eat at flat rate whole time regardless of exercise?

mpf1

saving to read later- thanks

TheOfficialEpic

Hi there .. firstly your a legend doing a great thing here

Secondly I would like to know how to reset my metabolism and where to start from there? I have been low on cals and higher on cals and feel like i have been all over the place. Now very very confused.

I am 5ft4
199lbs
female
32yrs
exercise 2.5hours a week, basically 30 mins 5x/wk (I burn 250-400cals each time)
2 days cardio, 3 days jillian michaels dvd

Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks

A reset. Just take a couple days and don't count ANYthing. Enjoy life. Spend time with your family. Don't exercise. Just relax. Afterwards set yourself around 200-300 calories above bmr. After a week goes by reevaluate. If losing, then great. If not, then cut 100 calories out of each day. Reevaluate again at the end of the next week. So long as you're losing, don't cut more. This is where most people go wrong and screw their metabolisms up. Simple cuts don't haywire the body. Going from 2,000 calories a day to 1,000, and 90 minutes of exercise a week to 5hours and the body is like "What the bloody hell is going on here?!! Protect. Protect. Protect. Protect." This is where immune systems go down, hormones go crazy, and metabolism goes to ****e. The slower the cut, 99x out of 100, from my experience with clients, the stronger their metabolisms in the end, and the more healthier they look in the end....AND the more options we have available to get rid of that last few inches.

Thank you so much ....

When i eat 200-300 above my BMR do i also eat back my exercise cals on top of that or just ignore them???

Don't exercise on the reset days. Relax and give your body a break.

Yip will do ... but once i start back at just above my BMR what do i do with exercise cals then or just eat at flat rate whole time regardless of exercise?

Still missing the point. Say you do say you don't eat back your "exercise calories"....whether you do or you don't, if you're not losing, then you're not consistently burning more than you intake, and THAT'S what matters most in losing weight.....the simple energy equation.

tashaa1992

My bodyfat is 20.8, what is a healthy bodyfat for my height?
I'm 5ft, would I need to lose weight to drop my bodyfat?
I have been doing just cardio up till now, but I would like to start up with weights, just don't know where to start really yet.
I would love to be toned, I don't want abs as such, just the toned look.

TheOfficialEpic

Will catch up with everyone tomorrow morning. Time to train. There are PRs needing to be broken, asanas needed to be mastered, and amalgamations needing to be drilled.

koutroulakis

What a great thread!...I have had to quit working out due to planters facitius( hope I spelled that right)...anyway, I've cut back on my calories so that hopefully I will continue to lose weight. Is it ok that my calories on some days is as low as 900 cal but on other days maybe 1900 cal? I tend to eat less on a regular day (no snacking, drinking, clean eating) but on social days I may drink or have a desert...but at this time I'm doing no workouts due to my injury...I'm losing weight but I want to be sure I am not messing up my body so that when my foot heals I can jump right back into my workouts...any advice is so appreciated

neti_call

I hope I'm not too late to this party. I've been playing with the same 5 lbs for 6 months. Started my weight loss journey about a year ago after my last kid was born, but I've been active and a gym rat my whole life. I'm sick to death of trainers telling me to eat 1100 cals and drink 2 protein shakes a day. I want to lose weight eating REAL food. I aim for 1200-1500 calories a day, lots of lean protein. I'm 5'4 and weigh 155. I work out 5 days a week and hit it HARD. I usually kill between 500 to 1000 cals a day. I'm in really great shape as far as fitness goes, but I can't get this damned weight to come off. I'd love to be about 140. I am careful about measuring food, too, so I'm pretty sure my calorie count is right.
I am just coming back after a couple of weeks of being discouraged and I need to fix this. Please help?

edited to add my body fat is 32.5%
Horrible. Something needs to be done!

" I am careful about measuring food, too, so I'm pretty sure my calorie count is right." Yes it is!....If your goal is to MAINTAIN! If you're not losing, then you're taking in too many calories. You're missing the big picture I keep talking about. As you diet down, you are going to need to readjust calories as necessary. A person may start at a certain amount of calories for a deficit, but as they diet down....eventually that same caloric level will eventually become maintenance because it takes more calories(all things equal) to maintain a heavier person. Depending on your LBM, 1500 is pretty high for a cut given your stats. Many professional bikini and physique competitors go as low as 1200 stat, and that is with next to NO subcutaneous fat on their bodies save their bums! As for having protein shakes, if you can get your protein from real food, then why take them?....It's a supplement! I MIGHT have 2-3 shakes a week, but if I can get real food, I'm gonna go for the real food every time. Hope this helps yeh.

ok, so I need to readjust my calories. It makes sense, but there are so many people who say you have to eat more to lose or that eating 1200 will put me in starvation mode. Just so many opposing viewpoints it's confusing!

littlepinkhearts

I'm finding the process of calorie counting to be very stressful. I've kinda been abusing my body for quite a few years now and have now decided to make it a priority to get back to basics. I've been slowly upping my cals from a very low 700-800 up to-now i'm at 1500. But like I said, i've been doing it since February of this year and the stress is killing me of trying to buy the proper foods to have in my kitchen for all kinds of days, circumstances (like going away for the wknd, heavy exercise). The actual EATING of the amount of food. Sometimes i'll make my food diary up in the morning for the whole day and it just is so overwhelming when I look at it and see all food I have to fit into my day. It's like i'm just always eating and thinking about food all the time. I seem to barely have time to exercise and have to take food with me everywhere I go just so I can get my cals in. Not to mention meeting the proper macros...that's another story. I know this journey is supposed to be fun, but I have to say it's kinda not right now. Anyways, sorry, I just wanna know if I can take a day off and exercise like hell, which is what I really wanna do haha and not pay attention to food unless I want to? And don't get me wrong..i'm totally 200% devoted to my journey.

Don't wanna track the food?....Then don't. Track your measurements and your weight then. Eat whatever you want and exercise however you want, but reevaluate at the end of every week still. If you're not losing, then eat a lil' less the next week and exercise a lil' more. At the end of the next week still, reevaluate again. It's that simple. SOMETHING has to be tracked though, or you're basically throwing spaghetti against the wall hoping something will stick. This ain't for everyone, hon. You say you're stressed, I bet you are! So are a lot of people who do this. And anybody that has made it through to the other side, they have DEFINITELY been stressed. I say take some time and truly ask yourself do you want this and is now the time. Maybe now is not the time for you. Sometimes we just have to get fed up with ourselves in order to step up to the challenge and do what is necessary to get the job done. Love yourself regardless though. Life is short.

Haha well my first thought while reading your response was omG not the spaghetti, throw anything but the spaghetti lol But seriously, I have taken some time and thought about your response and in answer to whether or not I want this, my answer is yes, I most definately want this, but unfortunately it is not the best timing, emotionally. However, time-wise and practicality wise, it is perfect timing and probably the only time I will ever have to completely focus on my own health. So, it needs to be done and no one else is gonna do it for me. As for the calorie counting, food prep and the non-stop eating...i'm just gonna have to deal with it somehow, because NOT tracking my food intake just leaves me wide open to falling back into my old eating habits....which means not eating at all when i'm stressed. I can only hope that it will get easier over time and I will become more efficient at it. And I truly am blessed in that I have people like you, who take time out of their own busy lives to help people like me who don't have a clue what they're doing sometimes and just need a guiding hand. So thank you for doing that and I WILL get the job done....one way or another. This is just one bump in the road that is a lot smaller now, I must say )

ExplorinLauren

bump

mshealy

bump

azznic

Hi,
Was wondering if anyone can help with some motivation/advice.
During the week I am really good sticking to 1200 a day. Two times a week I do boxing class for an hour which burns heaps of calories and I dont eat them all back. Then other days I walk for 30 mins or so or do DVDs. Exercise about 4-5 times a week.

Weekends I seem to just get a bit slack and eat a little more than I should.
Ive lost about 5 kilos .. 2 since I have been using my fitness pal.
But the past 3 weeks I have not lost anything at all. Should I change my routine?

I still have 10 more kilos to go.

Thanks,

jennifeffer

This question is for the OfficialEpic I am a 35yr old mother of two, I am 5'3". I started my healthier lifestyle on Jan. 2/12. My starting weight was 213.

I set my calories at 1350 and did JM dvds 5-6 times a week or rode my bike. I was able to lose 11lb this way by about March. Then i hit a plateau for about three weeks at which point i switched to not eating any grains (staying around 1350) and i lost three pounds that week. Then another plateau.

Through a lot of reading, i thought perhaps my calories were too low. So i upped them to 1570, end of March and continued to exercise, adding weight training and uphill sprints to my routine. I lost one pound in Apri.....one pound!!

So here i sit at 198 pounds, down 15 from where i started. I've lost 4 inches off my waist and 3 off my hips. I don't know which way to go........I did speak with a registered dietician who said to lower calories more.

So i dropped them back to 1200 about four days ago, but i've been eating back the exercise calories (which doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me but most people on this page swear by it). And the scale is not moving. HELP! I've read this entire thread and taken bits and pieces of what you've said to other people but i thought i'd throw my story at you.......thanking you in advance:)

TheOfficialEpic

I hope I'm not too late to this party. I've been playing with the same 5 lbs for 6 months. Started my weight loss journey about a year ago after my last kid was born, but I've been active and a gym rat my whole life. I'm sick to death of trainers telling me to eat 1100 cals and drink 2 protein shakes a day. I want to lose weight eating REAL food. I aim for 1200-1500 calories a day, lots of lean protein. I'm 5'4 and weigh 155. I work out 5 days a week and hit it HARD. I usually kill between 500 to 1000 cals a day. I'm in really great shape as far as fitness goes, but I can't get this damned weight to come off. I'd love to be about 140. I am careful about measuring food, too, so I'm pretty sure my calorie count is right.
I am just coming back after a couple of weeks of being discouraged and I need to fix this. Please help?

edited to add my body fat is 32.5%
Horrible. Something needs to be done!

" I am careful about measuring food, too, so I'm pretty sure my calorie count is right." Yes it is!....If your goal is to MAINTAIN! If you're not losing, then you're taking in too many calories. You're missing the big picture I keep talking about. As you diet down, you are going to need to readjust calories as necessary. A person may start at a certain amount of calories for a deficit, but as they diet down....eventually that same caloric level will eventually become maintenance because it takes more calories(all things equal) to maintain a heavier person. Depending on your LBM, 1500 is pretty high for a cut given your stats. Many professional bikini and physique competitors go as low as 1200 stat, and that is with next to NO subcutaneous fat on their bodies save their bums! As for having protein shakes, if you can get your protein from real food, then why take them?....It's a supplement! I MIGHT have 2-3 shakes a week, but if I can get real food, I'm gonna go for the real food every time. Hope this helps yeh.

ok, so I need to readjust my calories. It makes sense, but there are so many people who say you have to eat more to lose or that eating 1200 will put me in starvation mode. Just so many opposing viewpoints it's confusing!

Lol. Try this: Eat twice as much as you normally do for a week....See if you don't gain weight. I understand the logic of keeping the metabolism high, but either way....if you're not in a deficit consistently, whether that's at 1200 calories a day or 2000, then you're not going to be losing. As for starvation mode, lol on that. I almost fall out of my seat everytime I hear it. So when Muslim fast for instance, they are all in starvation mode?....I highly doubt that. What the hell does that even MEAN starvation mode?! Your body is a LOT smarter and resilient than that. Simply dieting in and of itself will eventually lower your metabolism! Takes more calories to maintain a 200 pound person than a 150 pound person(all things equal). Don't fall into believing the hype. You're just gonna end up wasting time and a TON of money.

TheOfficialEpic

What a great thread!...I have had to quit working out due to planters facitius( hope I spelled that right)...anyway, I've cut back on my calories so that hopefully I will continue to lose weight. Is it ok that my calories on some days is as low as 900 cal but on other days maybe 1900 cal? I tend to eat less on a regular day (no snacking, drinking, clean eating) but on social days I may drink or have a desert...but at this time I'm doing no workouts due to my injury...I'm losing weight but I want to be sure I am not messing up my body so that when my foot heals I can jump right back into my workouts...any advice is so appreciated

Do you feel strong and healthy?....Are your mood levels good?....If so and you're losing, then I see no problem with it. Depending on your height and weight, 900 could be perfectly fine if you're not doing anything but sitting in front of the computer during the day. In the long run I recommend matching your consumption to your activity levels as often as possible for overall health. If I train more, then I eat a little more. If I'm not doing anything during the day, then obviously I don't need as much food.

TheOfficialEpic

My bodyfat is 20.8, what is a healthy bodyfat for my height?
I'm 5ft, would I need to lose weight to drop my bodyfat?
I have been doing just cardio up till now, but I would like to start up with weights, just don't know where to start really yet.
I would love to be toned, I don't want abs as such, just the toned look.

All toning up is is leaning out to the desired level. You can do all the triceps work in the world, but your arm is still gonna jiggle if you don't burn the bodyfat on them. Same with the stomach, butt, thighs, etc. Fatloss is achieved through a calorie deficit. This can be accomplished through more activity, less food, or a combination of the two.

TheOfficialEpic

I'm finding the process of calorie counting to be very stressful. I've kinda been abusing my body for quite a few years now and have now decided to make it a priority to get back to basics. I've been slowly upping my cals from a very low 700-800 up to-now i'm at 1500. But like I said, i've been doing it since February of this year and the stress is killing me of trying to buy the proper foods to have in my kitchen for all kinds of days, circumstances (like going away for the wknd, heavy exercise). The actual EATING of the amount of food. Sometimes i'll make my food diary up in the morning for the whole day and it just is so overwhelming when I look at it and see all food I have to fit into my day. It's like i'm just always eating and thinking about food all the time. I seem to barely have time to exercise and have to take food with me everywhere I go just so I can get my cals in. Not to mention meeting the proper macros...that's another story. I know this journey is supposed to be fun, but I have to say it's kinda not right now. Anyways, sorry, I just wanna know if I can take a day off and exercise like hell, which is what I really wanna do haha and not pay attention to food unless I want to? And don't get me wrong..i'm totally 200% devoted to my journey.

Don't wanna track the food?....Then don't. Track your measurements and your weight then. Eat whatever you want and exercise however you want, but reevaluate at the end of every week still. If you're not losing, then eat a lil' less the next week and exercise a lil' more. At the end of the next week still, reevaluate again. It's that simple. SOMETHING has to be tracked though, or you're basically throwing spaghetti against the wall hoping something will stick. This ain't for everyone, hon. You say you're stressed, I bet you are! So are a lot of people who do this. And anybody that has made it through to the other side, they have DEFINITELY been stressed. I say take some time and truly ask yourself do you want this and is now the time. Maybe now is not the time for you. Sometimes we just have to get fed up with ourselves in order to step up to the challenge and do what is necessary to get the job done. Love yourself regardless though. Life is short.

Haha well my first thought while reading your response was omG not the spaghetti, throw anything but the spaghetti lol But seriously, I have taken some time and thought about your response and in answer to whether or not I want this, my answer is yes, I most definately want this, but unfortunately it is not the best timing, emotionally. However, time-wise and practicality wise, it is perfect timing and probably the only time I will ever have to completely focus on my own health. So, it needs to be done and no one else is gonna do it for me. As for the calorie counting, food prep and the non-stop eating...i'm just gonna have to deal with it somehow, because NOT tracking my food intake just leaves me wide open to falling back into my old eating habits....which means not eating at all when i'm stressed. I can only hope that it will get easier over time and I will become more efficient at it. And I truly am blessed in that I have people like you, who take time out of their own busy lives to help people like me who don't have a clue what they're doing sometimes and just need a guiding hand. So thank you for doing that and I WILL get the job done....one way or another. This is just one bump in the road that is a lot smaller now, I must say )

I'm happy to hear that. Never stop fighting, and eventually you'll get there. Hats off for taking a stand. Yeh, it's gonna be hard...but the strength you gain back in the long run, not to mention your health, is WAY more than worth it.