623lbs, Trying to Get Going Again

shayemimi

Way to go Dania for starting your journey! I KNOW you can do it! Just keep making small changes, and they will start to add up! One day at a time, one meal at a time, etc. Drink lots of water and try just making your portion sizes a little smaller. Fill your plate with a veggie you love first...Move just a little more. It works! Good luck, and please keep us posted. You're more than welcome to add me if you need more support

babydoll789

You can do it hun! Good luck :-) ♥

turryandsally

I'm so proud of you for beginning this new lifestyle! It DOES get easier with time. For now, just go one day at a time. You can do this! Add me as a friend if you'd like. Best wishes!!

sherrin567

You can do this! Small goals, one day at a time. And every single success counts. I began by celebrating the stretch in my jeans. I started at 3% spandex, then was able to buy a pair that only had 2% spandex, then 1%. It may sound crazy, but since the size wasn't changing, this was a victory I could be happy about. It really helped me feel that I was gaining back some control. Good luck to you!

ZombieEarhart

I can really relate to one of the things you said, that the idea of restricting yourself of things you love is making this a difficult decision for you. I felt the same way for a long time- I told myself that I worked really hard in a stressful career and deserved to eat the food that made me feel good, whether it was my daily breakfast of a sugary coffee drink and donut, or yet another take-out meal for dinner.

The thing is, I was partly right- I do work hard, and I do deserve things that make me feel good. But when I started eating better and moving my butt, I realized that those were the things that really made me feel good, and being healthy is what I really deserved.

I guess what I'm saying is that sometimes the things we love don't love us back, and you deserve better. You deserve to wake up in the morning feeling unstoppable, and you deserve to be filled up with nutrients, you deserve the occasional sugary treat or fun meal out, and you deserve all the compliments and kudos you are going to get when you succeed.

I know we don't know each other, but I really want this for you, and I want you to know that YOU DESERVE IT.

salgalbp

Just wanted to reply again because I think of you often and I am SOOOOO ROUTING for you!

dania201

Thanks so much!

Also, there are some people who disagree with how/what I eat, but I'm taking this one step at a time. (A girl doesn't get to 626lbs overnight after all...)

breyn2004

Hey There! Just wanted to stop back in and let ya know that we're all still rooting for ya!!

Hope things are going well -one day at a time!

amyx593

Hi Dani,

There are a lot of great suggestions here! I would definitely say to start slow! Just make sure that you START! Small changes will reap GREAT reward. Try walking and cutting out a soda or juice each day. Green tea is delicious and helps you drink more water! Trade your favorite candy or cookie for fruit once a day. Once you see that this works, I believe it will motivate you to make additional small changes. I wish you the best of luck!!

Lmans77

Good luck Dani! I am rooting for you!!

SteelySunshine

Thanks so much!

Also, there are some people who disagree with how/what I eat, but I'm taking this one step at a time. (A girl doesn't get to 626lbs overnight after all...)

I have to admit what you eat shocks me. What I ate 7 years ago would shock me today. What I ate 2 years ago even. I could and probably am still capable of eating lots of food. I wouldn't say for you to change everything though and shock your system, cuz even little changes have consequences. I started eating oatmeal on a daily basis, at first well never mind it had consequences. But, my body adjusted and now I am eating more fiber over all and usually don't have a problem with it. Fiber and protein really are necessities for satiety. There is no reason to go on a diet just to feel hungry all day long every day. I do have periods of the day I am hungry but I am not hungry at least 20 out of 24 hours and usually I am hungry a lot less than 4 hours out of the day.


That being said. I think you can add things to our diet rather than subtract them. Like maybe a pint of strawberries or some other fruit. There might be consequences, but no change is without them. Go slowly to make adjustments easier. I have lost some weight making small changes rather slowly, but those were because of health reasons, losing weight was a side effect. Now I am here and much more aware of my calorie and exercise situation.

Also ditto on the people who say you are beautiful.

imaginec

Please try to think of this as a lifestyle change and not a diet. Diets do not work and they certainly don't work in the long run. Start out trying to do one good thing a day for yourself and work your way up. You have my prayers.

Diamond05

Hi there, I just came across your post and had to drop in to encourage you! You seem like you want to make some change in your life for an happier and healthier you, congratulations! You will have plenty of support here!


I had a look at your diary and girl.....you need to Improve the quality of what you are eating! A whole lot bunch of crap food there....Don't get me wrong, I am not judging you nor trying to be mean, i am/was that girl...Menu of a day, pizza, poutine, cake , sausage, fries, stuffed myself until i was having an hard time breathing.... And i'd repeat that the day after and so on! It didnt get me in an happy place..

. I think that you should try to have 2 main goals everyday, one would be to fit in a nice meal loaded with veggies and lean protein . You need to learn to eat better and find healthy stuff that youll love to eat. I don't think that cutting a cookie here and there will do it... Insert good for you food and meals instead progressively. Look online for recipes, try some new stuff, I' m sure you can find stuff that you'll love. I've stopped all thw bad food for about 9 weeks now and i try a new recipe everyday! Eating healthy doesnt mean flavorless... I even tried a cauliflower crust pizza! Yummy! Find healthier alternative to what you like! Eating better will make you feel souch more energized and will keep you going!

Second try to get moving as much as you can. Walk, clean the house, dance, whatever you:re comfortable with. Plus when you keep busy , you think less about eating even when youre not even hungry....


I really do wish you to suceed in this journey and keep posting!! You can add me as a friend if you want too I'll ne glad to support you and help you if you need!

MyOwnSunshine

I have not read all responses to your original post, so please forgive me if I'm repeating what someone else has already said.

One of the problems that occurs in compulsive eaters who are morbidly or super obese is that food becomes the only pleasure. People who are extremely heavy become so self-conscious and activity becomes so difficult that it is hard to participate in meaningful or pleasureable activities. Staying home and watching TV while eating a lot of food becomes our comfort and our only source of pleasure.

I know that for myself, I grew up in a dysfunctional home without much affection or positive interaction, so I do not seek or receive pleasure or comfort from other people naturally. I learned at an early age to associate food with love, comfort and pleasure. I suffered from social anxiety and was very self-conscious about participating in any public activity.

My advice for you is to find something that you love to do -- not even an exercise or activity, but just something that gives you pleasure, comfort or happiness besides TV or food. (It's too easy to eat while watching TV. Find something that requires concentration and use of your hands.) Draw, paint, play an instrument, knit, make beaded jewelry. Just find something that makes you happy, so that you can start filling your life with actions instead of eating. Find something that makes you feel special and accomplished and proud, and then make time to do it every day.

Once you start filling your time with something other than food, food will become less important to you.

Best wishes.

SanteMulberry

I have not read all responses to your original post, so please forgive me if I'm repeating what someone else has already said.

One of the problems that occurs in compulsive eaters who are morbidly or super obese is that food becomes the only pleasure. People who are extremely heavy become so self-conscious and activity becomes so difficult that it is hard to participate in meaningful or pleasureable activities. Staying home and watching TV while eating a lot of food becomes our comfort and our only source of pleasure.

I know that for myself, I grew up in a dysfunctional home without much affection or positive interaction, so I do not seek or receive pleasure or comfort from other people naturally. I learned at an early age to associate food with love, comfort and pleasure. I suffered from social anxiety and was very self-conscious about participating in any public activity.

My advice for you is to find something that you love to do -- not even an exercise or activity, but just something that gives you pleasure, comfort or happiness besides TV or food. (It's too easy to eat while watching TV. Find something that requires concentration and use of your hands.) Draw, paint, play an instrument, knit, make beaded jewelry. Just find something that makes you happy, so that you can start filling your life with actions instead of eating. Find something that makes you feel special and accomplished and proud, and then make time to do it every day.

Once you start filling your time with something other than food, food will become less important to you.

Best wishes.

I agree with this. It is next to impossible to focus on the negative (depriving yourself of foods that you love) for any length of time. BUT is is very possible and rewarding to focus on the positives of better health, a wider range of activity, improving relationships, and feeling that you are are living the life you want.

When all is said and done at the end of our days, we likely will not be saying, "Gee I wish I had eaten at least 100 more pizzas and 5 dozen more cookies." We need to focus on what is important in life and food just isn't very important in the grander scheme of things.

Onaughmae

First of all...you are amazing for taking the steps to get healthy. It is difficult. Start slow, take it in little chunks. If you start out thinking about how much you want to lose total it seems too big to achieve. A lot of the work we have to do is absolutely mental. Speaking only for myself, I know I did not eat my way to a high of 335 pounds just because I like the taste of chips. Food becomes a source of comfort...even when you know the choices you are making are killing you. It just all becomes a vicious cycle. Don't try to make too many drastic cuts at once. Slow and steady wins the race here. You can do this! Please feel free to add me if you like. :flowerforyou:

brit_lah

I never post but I felt compelled to reply.

I noticed lately that the large bulk of your calories come from Pizza Hut. I understand you're just trying to make small changes at this time. I'm guessing at this point it may be hard for you to do what I want to suggest, which is only eat half that pizza. But what if you bought lower calorie options of frozen pizzas and stocked up on a few of those instead? Even frozen junk food is better than fast food. You could stock up on the lower calorie frozen food versions of the fast food or restaurant ones that you love. It's not the best of choices but it's an idea and a start just to help get those calories down.

And it may not be what you want to hear, but personally since you're at a very dangerous weight and your life could be threatened by this, I think it would be the best for you for seek a doctor's help and a therapist's to start making big changes *now,* to where you're not eating whole pizzas a day at all.

Either way, good luck and you can do it, don't give up!

Ejwelton

It will have been said already, but I think you'd benefit from seeing a professional to help you learn about food groups and nutrition.

Maybe initially finding an alternative to pizza? it's obviously a favourite food, but if you could find recipes to make yourself you can much better control the nutrition.
Also avoiding skipping meals too.

I admire you for your honesty in your logging, and your determination to change.

Something I have read in the thread is to focus on what you can have rather than what you can't. Denial of anything automatically makes you crave it whatever your weight and size might be.

Good luck on your journey.

juliefuhrman90

Girl never give up I weighed 303 when I first started you can do it

Doogiezz

You can do it! Remember -- it's whatever works --FOR YOU! For some people, it's a support group like OA. Others might find help from the doctor. Some might pay lots of money for a trainer, surgery or a fancy spa. And some might find online tools like MFP, Sparkspeople or the Three Fat Chicks On A Diet blog most helpful. Starting is no fun, but once results start showing it can be very motivating to stick with WHAT WORKS FOR YOU. And it's one pound at a time! Keep posting. I'd love to know how you are doing.

hannahjames295

Hi,
I'm quite new here too, first of all, congratulations for posting, took me ages to put myself out there, but it really does help!
A few tips I've picked up:
Start by changing things you normally eat just by cutting calories, brilliant places to look for alternative low cal recipes are skinnytastes blog, slimming world and here!
Then look at portion size, this can be difficult because we get used to seeing things piled high on plates, but cutting down in baby steps make it easier
While doing this gently increase your activity, even if this is only an extra 30seconds on your walk or an extra trip upstairs/down the path in the yard.
From my point of view as a physio I would always recommend low impact exercise for example walking in a swimming pool, closed chain exercises like squats or working on getting up from a chair without using your arms (obviously if you have problems this may not be the right thing for you) please message/add me if I can help with anything else from an exercise point of view.
keep looking forwards, looking back does not always help, if you had a "bad" day, think about why it was bad or what triggered less than ideal eating, then move on and plan the next day.

Good luck to you, please get in touch if I can help
Xxx

toojuicy057

mine over matter i have made in mind thats i have to get this weight off me. if i have a bad day i just try again the next.

Skinnymunkii

You are worth it, my friend. Every drop of sweat, every minute in the gym, every good decision you make when you plan your meals...you are WORTH all the hard work. You are WORTH the hard choices. You are. Never forget that.

lizofvictoria

Dani, Don't get too caught up with numbers & don't be hard on yourself. Habits are tough to break & just need to be replaced by new habits. Maybe you could think of substitutes for some habits. I am a night time snacker and so I started knitting. I can only knit a straight line and couldn't follow a pattern if my life depended on it. So if my hands are busy knitting, I can't snack. The upside is that everyone will be getting a scarf this year for Christmas. Tell me your favourite colour & I will send you one this year too!!
Hang in there kiddo.
Liz from Canada (that's why there is a "u" in colour!!)

Deloresbolt

There are so many people that will support you Dani, I read about 1/4 of the replies and totally agree with all of them. One of the best, is take baby steps. Cut one item at a time. And drink more water. I have learned, that even though I slip, my friends keep me up. Add me as a friend if you want.

sarab99

You should be proud. You hit your first goal of being under 4000 calories. Woo Hoo! Everytime you think that it's too hard, remember that you've already hit your first goal. Try to just stick with that for one week, then pick a new one, it doesn't have to be a huge one. Maybe replace one food you can live without that day with something healthier. (You never have to give it up forever, just remember moderation), or go outside and walk around the yard or up the street for a bit. Even in business, big projects get broken down into smaller steps because thats the only way we get things done. Use the same thoery and pick goals that are acheivable, one at a time.

bunnymum150

WOW - so very proud of you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Cutting out regular pop alone will show weight loss results on the scale. We all could do with a bit more water.
Agree with others that the scale is not the end all - focusing on overall health and healthy foods is super. Any little changes that you make all add up.
If I may suggest - if you are at all interested - there is a program on PBS - not sure what channel that would be in your neck of the woods - "sit and be fit" gal does the majority of activities sitting down and each individual can modify any movement to fit their needs. I would love for you to at least check it out. Some people have the ability to DVr/tape programs for use at times that are convenient to do.

:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:

glad to have you on our MFP journey to best health!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

crobert

Hi Dani:
I've been using MFP for about 2 years or so, but just recently clicked on the community tab and started participating in these message boards due to my needing advise on how to kick start my metabolism again.... Anyway, I'm not sure if anyone else has mentioned this. I did read one response about seeking professional help such as a dietician. I completely agree with that, but I truly feel at this point you should seek professional help from a mental health therapist. I say that from experience. I packed on a ton of weight during and after a pretty horrible marriage. I was depressed, unmotivated and lonely. My perfect evening consisted of take out chinese, ice cream and a few block buster movies to get me through the weekend. I was completely tuned out of the rest of the world. I began to see a therapist in order to get my mind in a better place first and then slowly I began to make life style changes which included my social life as well as my diet.

This is not something that in my opinion you should go through on your own. Having friends and supporters on MFP is fantastic, but in my case at least, I strongly believe that had I not sought out mental health, I would not be where I am today. I ate mainly because I was bored, lonely and depressed. The moment I sat on my couch to watch TV I wanted to eat. The busier I kept, the less I thought about food.

I don't know what your financial or health insuarnce situation is... but two things that helped me a ton were getting a therpist to get to the root of my problem and getting a used treadmill. I remember recording a show on TV I liked and telling myself I would walk on the treadmill for the full 30 min the show lasted. At first I would rest during commercials. I also joined on line groups such as meetup.com and signed up for different activities just to keep me busy and keep me moving. I'd go bowling or to the movies or museums, etc... Signing up for those activities forced me out of the house, forced me to interact with people and make friends, got me moving, thus burning calories and kept me busy so I wouldn't think about food.

It will not be easy and it will take time, but it is so worth it in the end ! My life has turned around completely in the last 8-10 years. I have a crazy fun job where I travel non-stop and meet friends from all over the country and I am extremely happily married. AND... I still go to therapy ! No one has the perfect life and although I am in a much better place now, I bascially think of going to see a therapist as getting a tune up, if you will.... I wish you all the luck in the world!

dont_give_up

First off, I would like to say how proud I am of you! You should be proud of yourself too! All I can say is take it one day at a time. Don't rush into anything, making changes in your life like this, take a lot of hard work and dedication. Some days will be easier than others, but you can do it, I know you can!!
Don't ever give up, and know that you have a lot of people supporting you. Feel free to send me a friend request, I'm here everyday!!

squirrell79

I don't know what your financial or health insuarnce situation is... but two things that helped me a ton were getting a therpist to get to the root of my problem and getting a used treadmill.

^^^ This!

Getting a therapist may sound expensive and intimidating at first, but there are many sliding scale options out there. Please consider researching this and taking advantage of whatever such opportunities exist where you live.

BEST of luck in your journey!