Health AIds

There are NO magic pills. Ever. No matter what Dr Oz says.

Eat a calorie deficit but above your BMR.

I know what you are going through. I started MFP in February of 2011, lost 8 pounds, and then in June dislocated my left shoulder and tore my left pectoralis major. I can still do only about 5 pushups where I used to pop off 65. On February 5th I started the Ideal Protein diet at 200 pounds (+2 with clothes). This morning I weighed in at 181.6 (+2 with clothes). I have done very little exercise - mainly just rebounding on my Cellerciser. The first two weeks I was cellercising and lost 5 pounds of body fat. This is a great, no muscle loss protocol. The last two weeks I did not cellercise because my wife and I were packing and moving. I only lost about 2 to 3 pounds of body fat. The cool thing is that the foods come in little,special foil sackets and I still get to eat a lot. If you CAN'T workout like me, get a Cellerciser and just bound up and down on it. Trust me, you will be sweating in about 20 minutes. If you can afford the Ideal Protein diet - do it. You will lose body fat and preserve your muscle mass - which is what you need to do. Check out the Cellerciser on youtube. There are also lots of videos there on the Ideal Protein diet. Blessings! :-)

Lots of fast food (which included a lot of sodium). Eat more veggies, protein and fiber - whole foods. Eat less processed food, less fast food and you won't need a magic pill to lose the weight. Treat your body right and it will treat you right.

Can you do pool exercises like water aerobics or just walking in the pool? Might be easier on the back??

Firstly, congrats on wanting to improve on your health and the 1/2lb weight loss!

Agree with everyone that there is no magic pills! Unless eating the pills make you eat better (ie you feel you have to eat better because you already spent money on the pills), then they are useless. You can spend all the money you want and unless you change how you eat, they won't help!

Looking through your diary, I see quite a couple of days over by quite a bit, and some days you're under. Looking at the big picture you are over by your caloric limits you've set. Also, have you been logging EVERYTHING in honestly? This is important! I see some days that you earned close to 2000 calories from exercise! May I know what you did? A lot of times people also over estimate how much they burn because machines at gyms are inaccurate and I suspect mfp being a little higher on calories burned too!

Do exactly what this says to do and you will lose. I did.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/912920-in-place-of-a-road-map-3-2013

I'd say go to the above link of the road map and do your calculations!
Next, try to be as consistent as possible everyday!
If you have trouble sticking with the caloric goals because you feel like you don't have enough to eat, switch some of it to healthier foods! You can get much more for the same amount of calories for healthy foods And needless to say, there are many other benefits that come along, and healthy foods give you better energy You don't have to eat only healthy foods and feel deprived! Just make sure that it is substituting some of the fast food! Search the forums here and there will be lots of suggestions on yummy healthy foods, alternatives to your favorite healthy foods etc!

If you improve your eating and stick to your caloric goals and still do not see any weight loss after months then I'd suggest getting tested by a doctor to see if you have any underlying medical conditions hindering your weight loss!

I am sure you can do this, don't give up or feel frustrated!! Stay positive and know that you're worth it! And even if you stay with what you're doing, 1/2 a lb per month will still accumulate! But I'm sure slowly you would improve your eating habits and things will pick up Speed doesn't matter, as long as you're making progress