240lbs and not sure where to start

When I first decided to lose weight (I weighed 265), I decided to start with my diet. I ate a lot of sweets and fast food, and rather than wean myself off of them slowly, I decided to go cold turkey. I bought the book, "the biggest loser - 30 day jump start" and followed it for a month. By the end of the month, I was down 20 pounds, my cravings for junk were gone and eating healthy was second nature. I won't say it was an easy month, but 30 days was manageable, and it was worth it. After I got the eating habits down, I turned to exercise. It's a lot harder to motivate myself to work out than to eat right. If you just want to lose weight, fitness isn't a huge must, since a good diet will do a lot, but I've always hated being in horrible shape. The best ways I've found to motivate myself to exercise is by setting goals. Sign up for a 5k if you're a beginner or a mud run/color run if you're not. Training for things like that will keep you going. Fitocracy is a fun site to track your work outs and you can level up and receive props from your peers. Nerdfitness.com is a great site for info on how to stay fit without a gym, and the community there is really supportive about fitness and diet. You can also sign up for weight loss challenges, either in your area or online at sites like dietbet.com to help stay accountable to your eating habits. All of those things have helped me. I'm currently 188 and still going strong! and feel free to add me as a friend. I always welcome extra support.

Today is day 1, log everything you eat. Log everyday. Today is day 400 for me and down 71lbs.

Where I started this time ~ getting my mind right first about the necessity of losing weight for my health and my future and how it could affect my family.. Once that was done I became committed to logging in every morsel I stuff in my mouth, to me, that's the most helpful tool on this site, other than my incredible motivational friends. I started cutting out sugary drinks, like my beloved Dr. Pepper and sugar & cream laden coffee. Slowly I started cutting my portions, started using more turkey, changed most of my pasta and bread to whole grain, started making healthier choices like eating sweet potato fries instead of regular fries, eating black beans instead of refried beans, eating Special K cereal instead of skipping breakfast... I'm still working on increasing my water intake and activity level but I can see a big difference in the way I feel and how my clothes feel.. I still have my fav things that I keep in my diet but I try to keep everything in moderation. Start now, my dear. Because for me, at the ripe age of 46, it's much more difficult to lose.. it's much slower to come off. If you start making permanent lifestyle changes slowly that you can live with now, you will be a healthy woman living a long, rewarding life..

Take advantage of interacting with some of these wonderful people who will help keep you motivated and grounded!!

I know you can do this!

I know how it can be....there is so much info out there it can be overwhelming. I am in a different boat than you. I have never been excessively overweight. Most of my life I have been tall and skinny. Over the past decade as I have been creeping closer to 50 years old, my metabolism has slowed down and now I am unemployed. In Nov. I hit 185 and decided it was time to get healthy.
I have now lost 18 pounds. I jumped in with both feet. Unfortunately, my body does not agree with exercising 60 minutes a day six days a week. Right now I am healing shin splints.
Along with the calorie deficit on the road map, here is my advice;
Ease into a workout plan if your body has no experience with being active in the past decade
Start off easy with lots of walking for the first month, and light weightlifting. Weightlifting is important so when you loose the fat, you have lean muscles underneath.
Good luck!

Ok ok.......I know that I'm going to get blasted on this but...............When I find myself gaining weight, the first thing that I do is change up how I dress. I'll immediately retire the cute jeans and opt for that sweater that is just a little more loose-fitting and those pants that were a bit baggy a couple of months ago. Aaaahhhh.......that feels better, right? Eventually, when I go shopping I'll buy a bigger size because it just feels better.......Right? (Please tell me that I'm not alone in this.) One day, I recognized that I can cover up a lot of "extra ME" with clothes.

Sooooo..........the absolute BEST thing that I did for myself (don't laugh) was popped in a P90X DVD and exercised to it completely NAKED! Yep, I waited until I was home alone and I jumped around in the naked. (It was NOT a pretty sight!) Wiggle it 'til you jiggle it, baby! It will motivate you! I give this advise to all of my girlfriends who say, "What inspires you to go to the gym everyday?" I say the thought of me naked! If I find myself LETTING myself gain (it is a choice), then I strip down to my birthday suit, pop in my trusty plyometrics DVD, and I'm immediately motivated to jump back on that wagon, with both feet!!

Other than that........Know that you're sexy!! Know that you're toned!! Know that you're a fierce athlete!! You might have a layer of YOU covering up all of these things. But.......you ARE all of these attributes already!! You just have to shed the pounds to uncover them!

Just like I KNOW that there is a six-pack under my belly roll!! I just have to find it!! GOOD LUCK!!

bump

Where you start is really, truly one foot in front of the other, one step at a time. You will make it. I try to always say, focus on the actions and let the results work themselves out. Staying motivated is equally as challenging as getting started. Just pushing through and remembering, one bite at a time, one workout at a time will get you to where you want to be.

Good luck to you! You are welcome to add me if you want.

Try the Ideal Protein diet if you have the cash to spare! It's a great way to jumpstart a weightloss program!! Feel free to friend or contact me. I have had success on it with loosing 30+ lbs and am becoming a coach!

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