need hellp and advice on losing 100 pounds

My best advice, dont be too aggressive with your weight loss. Those who have a large deficit and dont eat back exercise calories will lose a lot of muscle, especially if they don't eat a high protein diet or heavy weight train. Also i suggest eating like the person you want to be, so when you reach your goal you are used to your new lifestyle. So eat a moderate deficit, do heavy weight training and eat lots of protein.

I've got a lot to lose too. What is working for me is being realistic, not expecting to lose the excess weight overnight, eating when hungry, smaller portion sizes, eating slowly and waiting to see how satisfied I am before automatically having extra helpings, not snacking unless really hungry, attending the gym twice a week, moving around more at home doing chores instead of sitting down and completing my food and exercise diary daily. The food diary is brilliant. It is helping me to make sensible choices. I realised recently that the small cup of hot chocolate from the vending machine at work contains over 100 calories and I easily had two of these a day. It's been no hardship to drop this because I can quench my thirst with warm water or tea for 0 or just a small handful of calories. I don't always eat back my exercise calories but will use my hunger level as a guide.

Be consistent. (Not trying to be a smart @ss) and exercise! It will make the process that much quicker!

I think the first mistake is to emphasize the end goal. 100 pounds sounds like an enormous total (and it is), it might be best to break that goal down to (pardon the food reference) "bite sized pieces". Go ten pounds or maybe 20 at a time.

Secondly, you will probably need to eat better and better as you lose weight and your BMR goes down. Thirdly, as you get in better shape, if you have the time, you should try to increase the level of exercise.

My own experience is that I had approximately 100 pounds to lose and broke it into two subgoals. The first sixty, I am concentrating, perhaps even obsessed with losing the weight. When I get to 220, I plan to slow the weight loss and emphasize more the healthy lifestyle habits I have picked up.

Don't thing you're not working out just because you're under water!! It's just so much easier on the joints than doing it on land! I started doing water aerobics about 6 months ago and have found that it not only has helped my weightloss, but working with the foam weights (different densities) have helped immensely with my endurance! Last year I felt like I was going to die when I helped my daughter build two garden walls with those bulding brick stones. This year we did a patio and although I was tired, My arms and back did not hurt!!! and we hauled a whole lot of stone pavers!! I attribute that to the weights exercises we do in the water aerobics class.

Consistency in your exercise routine ( ie. x number of days a week) even if you mix up what your exercises are, and tracking everything will work for you. Set small goals that are easily attainable. I don't want to lose 150 lbs, I want to go down another 5 If I can do it, you can too :flowerforyou: I finally fit into a size 18 jeans, down from size 26. It's take me some time to do it, but I haven't seen this size in over 25 years and I'm not going back!!

MFP is designed for you to eat your exercise calories back. There are other programs/people that say not to but if you are using MFP the way it was designed, then you should eat back your exercise calories...or at least try. If your goal is 1390 and you exercise/burn 200 calories, you can eat 1590. It may seem counter productive but it works, I always eat my exercise calories (or try to) and it hasn't hurt me at all.

You do not need to join a gym. There are plenty of workout videos, water aerobics (like you mentioned), running/jogging or even going for a walk that you can do on your own. I used to belong to a gym but now I live 60 miles from the closest one and it's just not cost effective for me to drive to town on a regular basis to join a gym and membership fees aren't worth it unless you can go regularly. So, there are lots of things you can do without a gym.

That being said, you can lose without exercising too. I have days/weeks where I just don't feel like it for whatever reason. Like, right now I've had a cold. Last winter, I went through a few weeks where I just didn't want to. As long as I stay within my calorie goal, I'm okay.

Really, MFP is helping you with a lifestyle change, not a diet. It helps you make better portion choices, better food choices and all that good stuff. You don't have to cut stuff out, just be smart about it.

I also think it's necessary to have a"free" day. You can't live your life avoiding restaurants, sweets, parties or holidays. So, for me, I only go to town 1 day a week just because of the distance. I go out to dinner, usually get a latte and sometimes froyo on the way home. I don't bother tracking calories for that day because it's one of my relaxation days. It doesn't hurt my progress and you just can't avoid things all the time. I'm not saying go out to Olive Garden every night or drink the Large Latte every day but every now and then won't hurt.

Last, to accurately measure. Invest in a food scale. If you are just guessing what 4oz or 2oz is for something, you are probably over estimating. I was shocked when I bought my food scale and started really paying attention. It can seem like a lot of work but it will become second nature and routine. It is definitely worth it!

I have a lot more tips/tricks but they can get lost in the shuffle. If you'd like, feel free to add me or ask any questions (same goes for anyone else too)

You might want to try and find a beginner's yoga program that has set days/times each week. That was how I started my progress. It helped immensely with back pain. All of the stretching and breathing really helped me start my initial weight loss. Since I was obese and had never committed to exercise before, having prepaid for 8 classes gave me the motivation I needed to show up each week. Since it was beginners, there weren't a lot of high intensity flows. We did asanas (poses) and held them for about thirty seconds at a time. I worked up a sweat and started shredding pounds.

When I was ready, I started drinking more water. Then I added in ten minutes of walking a day, three days a week. After three weeks, I added another day. Then I kept adding minutes and now I strive for twenty minutes a day for five days a week. After a few months I got bored with just walking and started throwing a little running in there. My highest weight was 283 and I'm down to 224 now. I'd like to get to 180. I joined a gym just to give me a place to work out in the dark and in the cold weather, but I highly recommend starting with a yoga class.

Just try making one small change at a time. I also upped my calories to 1600 a day. As long as I get some physical activity I don't gain anything. If I work out according to plan, then I lose a pound every two weeks or so. It has been working great for me so far. I started as a size 24 and I'm down to a women's size 16. Next goal - misses size 16.

Feel free to add me if you would like more support!
Joanne

I took the "easy" way out. After decades of trying to "diet" I took my physician's advice and opted for a gastric bypass.
The procedure I had done is a Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy.
The original connections are left alone, all they do is modify the size of the stomach so it is much smaller.
It can be a little difficult to get health insurance to pay for any gastric bypass surgery, but if your doctor can make the case that this is necessary for your health, you can get most of the expenses covered.
You need to work with your physician and meet the insurance company guidelines for the procedure.
You will still have to "diet", this is not a magic bullet.
The missing stomach tissue means you produce less ghrelin enzyme, and you are less hungry, and have better glucose control if you are a diabetic.
This may work for you. Look into it, do some research.

Ghrelin link here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghrelin

My best advice, dont be too aggressive with your weight loss. Those who have a large deficit and dont eat back exercise calories will lose a lot of muscle, especially if they don't eat a high protein diet or heavy weight train. Also i suggest eating like the person you want to be, so when you reach your goal you are used to your new lifestyle. So eat a moderate deficit, do heavy weight training and eat lots of protein.

ive never heard such crap. ive lost 101 so far, i feel better walk better my self esteem is higher ive not lost muscle just fat. dont eat crap exercise every day if you eat your exercise calls you wont loose.

Do you track your body fat? If not, you really don't have a leg to stand on. Also, it's is well known that when a person loses weight, they lose lean body mass too. It's a lot easier to mitigate when you are morbidly obese though.