Help me please!!!

The good news is you don't have to be perfect, you just have to be better.

1) tracking for a week or two before I worried about losing.
(although seeing what I was eating I couldn't help but rein back a bit)
be scrupulously honest... you can lie to your friends, you can lie in your diary, you can lie to yourself, but YOUR BODY KNOWS EVERYTHING YOU EAT. So you might as well be honest in your diary (keep it private if you like) but you need that info because you can't get where you are going if your are not honest about where you are right now.

2) seeing where I could make small changes on things that weren't that important to me.
(Don't even think of taking chocolate out of my diet!!!)
--Reducing quantities where I won't notice it so much
--Swapping out things instead of eliminating them.

3) Look at my diary and started adding foods that had positive healthy effects specifically for the health issue in my family.
I found most of the things I "should" add were really yummy too! salmon, avocado, oatmeal, mango, red grapes....
(Sort of think of food as medicine to deal with family history of various health issue oatmeal is good for heart health, mango and red grapes lower cholesterol, tumeric and cinnamon good for arthritis)

4) every couple of weeks I see where I can make another couple of small changes.
If you completely revamp your diet, it's way easy to revert to old ways in times of stress. (and who doesn't have stress?)
If you make a series of small changes, food still offers you some sense of comfort.
sort of a comfort continuum, and after a while the first small changes will seem comforting in themselves.
You don't have to be perfect you just have to do better.

5) also rather than being uberstrict with the target MFP set for me. (I swear this saved my life.) I was happier once I gave myself a range:

ROCK BOTTOM: 1200 cal
TARGET: MFP Calories for lose 1 lb a week (when that hit 1200 I changed to lose 1/2 lb per week)
TOP OF RANGE: Maintain Calories for my GOAL Weight.

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(SAFETY VALVE: Maintain Calories for CURRENT Weight - remember to keep updating this number as you lose)

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I naturally tended to do 2-4 days between 1200-1300 cal then a day at about 1500-1600 cal then back to the 1200-1300 cal. (No hard science here, but I credit the zig-zagging calories with preventing plateaus.)

--As long as I stayed under the top of my range I should continue to lose, even if it is at a slower rate.
--As long as I don't go past my safety valve I shouldn't gain.

6) I only worry about it 1 lb at a time.
Forget I *NEED* to lose 20, 30, 50, 100 lbs. I'm only worried about 1 lb the next one. I'll worry about the others later.
Once I found ways to lessen the stress, I found it way easier to focus on the process and let the results follow. (It's what worked for me some people need the stress to get them motivated. Me I get scared and overwhelmed and don't see the big goal as achievable. )

7)
The closer I got to my goal the smaller I made my deficit. Yes, this took longer to get to my goal, but I was focusing on (am STILL tweaking) strategies for maintenance. What I found difficult (and haven't yet conquered) it establishing a guideline for a range for maintenance, being that I'm not really good at hitting the same number everyday.


Food is not the enemy.

Oddly enough on my journey here I've reduced guilt over food.
I have the occasional treat and I fully enjoy it with no guilt involved.
The thing is since I'm not eating crap all the time, now the occasional treat is just that a TREAT it's special and I enjoy it so much more than when I was unconsciously shovel junk food into my face.

I figure if I've got a good plan that I can actually maintain I can keep this off for a long time to come, without feeling deprived.

I'm happy to see that you are going to ditch the slim fast shakes. They are no good. They have a ton of sugar in them. If you are looking for a shake option, get some whey protein powder. That will keep you satisfied for a lot longer than the slim fast will.
Good for you going to the gym and sweating your booty off!! I had the most success when I limited my carb intake. It's tough to do because it seems like everything I loved was a carb. It took some time to adjust, but once I did the weight came off quickly. If you want to add me I'd love to help you out! I'm proud of you for being here for support.

I just want to cheer you on! I am 5'3" and started at 209 pounds (or so). In my first month exercising daily (minus weekends) for a half hour to an hour I lost 10 pounds. So far I have lost about 40. You can do this. When you are "morbidly obese" you can actually lose weight faster because there is more to lose. One very respected local clinic actually puts people with a high BMI on nothing but broth for a week with 15 minutes of exercise a day before launching into a clean eating and exercise plan like you have done. Stay ambitious. Nobody feels like exercising every day. NOBODY. Accept this and keep moving.

That is all I want to say so as not to be overwhelming. Oh, other than PUSH PUSH PUSH!!! I am cheering for you!

TRoberts can you explain a little more on the amount of strength training we should do, I don't know if I do enough to prevent muscle loss.

Phew... This is one of the areas where everyone really is different.

However, for most people, a full-body routine 3x a week - or 2x, if that's all you have time for - is good. In fact, some routines have you - if you're truly beginning - only start out at 2x a week, just to make sure you have ample time to recover while learning the basics.

Realistically, it should only take you about a half hour or so to complete most routines - longer when you progress.

New Rules of Lifting for Women (aka NROLFW) is a great place to start, as it is specifically designed for women. If you're a man, then you could go with one of the other New Rules of Lifting programs. This is a combination strength and hypertrophy program, although there is a little more hypertrophy than strength. In case you don't know, hypertrophy is where the muscles actually get bigger. Don't worry, extremely few women can get truly big, so this program is fine. In addition, if you're eating at a deficit, then any muscle growth you do get will be minimal and only for a short period of time. The one complaint I have against this program is that there ends up being a lot of different lifts, which can get a little overwhelming to someone that hasn't really lifted before. Thus, you may want to go with...

StrongLifts or Starting Strength - which are both exclusively strength building programs, where you're not likely to build much muscle at all, but improve strength while maintaining as much current musculature as possible. Both programs are designed for 3x each week, but you can get away with 2x, if needed. These programs are designed with progressive loading - where you increase the weight a certain amount - each workout.

StrongLifts is built around 5 lifts - squat, deadlift, bench press, overhead/shoulder/military press, and barbell rows. Thus, it's easier to learn 5 things. There are a couple groups here on MFP devoted to StrongLifts, even at least one specifically for women. I defer to those groups for more specific information, if you want.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/4601-stronglifts-5x5-for-women
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/5542-stronglifts-5x5

Starting Strength actually has a number of variations to it, and each variation is built around 4 lifts - squat, deadlift, bench press, and overhead/shoulder/military press - but each variation has one or two more varied lifts, such as pullups, chinups, and power cleans. I did SS, with a version called Practical Programming that incorporated pullups and chinups in addition to the big 4. I don't know for sure, but I'd imagine there are groups here at MFP devoted to Starting Strength. I did a quick search, but didn't find anything - http://startingstrength.com/ has more information. And you can find more about the various versions and a spreadsheet for calculating and logging the workouts here: http://startingstrength.wikia.com/wiki/FAQ:The_Program.

If you can't get to the gym or can't obtain equipment for whatever reason, there are a number of bodyweight programs that you could google that should at least get you going. Again, just make sure you hit all the main body parts with your exercises - just doing pushups, chin/pullups, lunges, and various squats will actually give you a pretty good workout, if that's all you can do. Of course, with bodyweight exercises, it's difficult to progressively load - especially if you're losing weight - so you'll either have to get creative, or simply keep doing more reps.


Ultimately, the amount and exactly what is dependent upon the individual. For the most part, tons of reps at light weight is basically cardio/endurance training, and won't do as much as either heavy weights at low reps (strength) or moderate weights for moderate reps (hypertrophy). The three most important questions to ask, IMHO, are: Can you get to the gym? Do you have your own equipment? And how much time can you devote? Once you answer those questions, you can look more at the above programs and decide if one of those is right for you, or see if they come close to what you're already doing.

In addition, bodybuilding.com has a number of programs available. They are fine programs, but I don't believe they are as efficient as the above - meaning you'll spend more time at the gym with those, than you would with one of the above three. Who knows? Maybe you'll like those better than what I've recommended. In just about any case, though - doing something is better than doing nothing.

Most of the advice I've seen here so far has been sound. I'm just going to tell you what I've done and how it’s been working.

I'm 51 and weighed 267 on Jan. 1. I'm diabetic and my blood glucose was approaching dangerously serious. I had to make a change. Doc said I was prime candidate for stroke, heart attack, etc... So, the first thing I had to do was change my thinking. I'm not dieting; I'm getting healthy (for my husband, my kids and my grandkids but especially for ME!).

What I did/do:

1. I started drinking more water. At least 8 cups a day. Tea is OK but preferably decaf. You'll find as you start drinking more water, you will lose the first few pounds pretty quick. It is mostly water weight but OH WELL! It was motivation for me to keep it up.

2. Because I am a diabetic, I am doing my best to follow a diabetic diet. Low carbs, high protein, low fat, lots of veggies (have to watch the fruit though because fructose is sugar.) Most people, whether they are diabetic or not, can follow the diabetic diet and do very well.

3. I joined a gym. I see a trainer once a week. We work on strength training which builds muscle which burns calories. I do cardio (fat burning) at least 4 days a week but you HAVE to give your body a break! Be sure to stay hydrated!!!!! Your body is still burning calories even at rest but it burns even more calories at rest if you’re exercising regularly.

4. I found MFP which has really been a God send. I've never been able to keep track of carbs and calories before but using it really has made it a lot easier.

Results so far:

1. I’m down 18 pounds since starting on January 1, 2013. I lost the bulk of the 18 pounds in the first few weeks (water mostly). I was measured for the first time on 1/1 then again on 2/1 and was down a total of 6 inches. I’m not seeing the scale go down much lately but I am most definitely seeing a change in my strength, energy, body shape and most importantly my attitude. (You know you’re doing something right when your husband finally notices!) LOL My clothes are hanging on me (I refuse to buy anything until I hit 25 pounds but I may not be able to wait that long). At 5’7” and 267 you wouldn’t think that 18 pounds would make that much difference but it has!

2. In just 51 days, I’ve gotten my blood glucose down to a very good level (my doctor was very happy with my results!). If you know what an A1c is, I was at 9.2% last November but am at a very healthy 6.01% now.

3. At 267, I would sweat just standing in line at the Wal-Mart or just thinking about cooking dinner. I noticed a few days ago that I got through cooking a rather difficult dish and didn’t sweat AT ALL! I’m actually looking forward to the first time I need to cut the grass – just to see how long it takes me to start sweating. I do 60 minutes on the treadmill at 3.0mph. I'm finding my heart rate is improving so am facing having to increase my speed or incline which is a good problem to have. My resting heart rate is back to normal as well.


I think the most important thing to tell you is don’t pay too much attention to the scale. I know we want to see the numbers go down but just remember that the exercise you incorporate into your lifestyle, the more muscle you will build. Since muscle weighs more than fat, you may even see the scale go up. Do not despair! Pay attention to other things like your strength, energy level and track to see if you’re losing inches.

The 2nd most important thing is to not deprive yourself of what you love. If you’re really watching your calories, it won’t hurt you to have something “bad” once in a while. You won’t gain back everything you lost! Just watch the portions, include those calories in your daily totals so you can see what you’re putting into your body. I’m sure you’re like me that even if I have a 2,000 calorie per day diet, it’s still much less than I was taking in before – especially since I was doing nothing to burn any calories.

3rd, because we are both on the larger side and obviously we haven’t been very active, take baby steps! I’m 51 but have been overweight since about age 12. I didn’t implement all these things on day one. It took some time and patience but once I started seeing results my motivation just hit the roof! I’m on day 52 and I can’t think of one day that I felt like I was ready to give up. I’m actually proud of myself for turning down that piece of cake yesterday instead of feeling deprived! Don’t expect to be able to run 6-7 miles every day! It’s all I can do to walk on the treadmill for 60 minutes at 3mph – I can’t run. When I first started I couldn’t get 15 minutes at 2.0mph without feeling like I was going to pass out.

I hope what I’ve said here helps you. I’m not trying to brag and hope I’m not coming across that way. I’ve been heavy all my life, have tried many diets (Weight Watchers, 40grams of fat per day, LA Weight Loss, Jenny Craig etc…) I lost weight with each one but I just didn’t stick to it. Gained it back and then some! Somehow, this time is different. I’m going to do it! I know you can too.

Feel free to add me to your friends if you’d like. I believe one of the things that has helped my motivation is the support and encouragement you get from others who are in the same boat!!!

Good Luck!