MORBIDLY OBESED, SCARED, LOOKING FOR SUPPORT

I was almost 300 when I started my healthy journey. At first I just walked. I couldn't walk very far without getting short of breath but I perservered and stuck with it. My motivation was signing up for a 5k and my only goal was to finish. I did finish in last place but I was proud. I have since done about 10 5k's and 1 10k this past summer. I mostly walk all of them but do a little bit of jogging. I only want to beat my previous time, sometimes I do and sometimes I don't but I don't let it get me down. I have lost 50 pounds so far and still have a ways to go.
I joined a gym and try to get there at least 3-5 days a week. No one laughs at me because I am trying to do something. I have found great support there and just love the trainers they have for the classes. Zumba is my favorite but I also do a Boot Camp, A Get Ripped, Circuit classes are great because you set your level of intensity you want, pilates and yoga to increase my flexibility and I recently started a TRX class for toning. This all comes with time. Start out with one class and see how it goes. I tried step but didn't enjoy it, my knees hurt too much. You have to try to find out what it is you like.
Eating out you will gain weight because of all the sodium and fat that you can't control. Start cooking at home. Lots of chicken breasts. Use Mrs. Dash seasonings. I do make potatoes ,rice and pasta but eat it sparingly. Lots of veggies. I love lemon pepper on my veggies. Baked sweet potatoes are also good.
Another suggestion is but the Hungry Girl cookbook, I absolutely love it!
I have started getting compliments on how good I am doing and this is a good motivator. People even ask me how I am doing it and I tell them to walk, walk, walk.
Hope this helps and feel free to add me as your friend on here.

The hardest part is starting. The first 2 weeks are really, really tough, but you can get through them!! I think my first non-scale-victory was going to the gym and not wanting to cry. It is so hard to start making those dietary changes, but pick a small change you think isn't too scary, and stick with that.

Things like drinking water or unsweetened tea instead of sweet drinks is a great first thing.

Swapping out fried foods for grilled is another good place to start.

What made a huge difference for me at first, and I didn't even know this until months later, was cutting out as many processed foods... specifically the ones with the simple refined carbs (straight sugar)... as I could bring myself to leave out. I didn't know it then, but the less simple sugars I eat, the less likely I am to lose control over them. (Today I let myself splurge and have big cupcake with icing for dessert with lunch, and I'm REALLY struggling to make good decisions... I can feel that sugar and insulin in my system. Ugh.) I didn't even cut calories at first, just tried to make slightly better choices.

Many folks don't start exercising until a while into their journey, especially if they are very large. It just seems to hard to move when you are over 300. I know. But the other change I made early was exercising. It is the other thing that accidently made a difference for me this time. Exercise also reduces cravings by making our bodies more sensitive to insulin. When I started, I couldn't even last 3 minutes on a elliptical. So I would do 2 1/2 on the elliptical, 5 or 10 slowly on the treadmill, go back for little more on the elliptical, and then maybe a few minutes on the bike. Doing a little bit of different things seemed to work better for me sense my muscles just couldn't do much at a time on one thing.

My first goals were 1) to show up for exercise, even if I only did 10 minutes, 2) to not get injured, and 3) to weigh less at the end of the year than the beginning. I did that for about 6 weeks and then I decided I was ready to make a few modifications in my diet (the ones I mentioned above).

Nothing that I did was hard, except starting and to a lesser degree, not stopping. Once you start, all you have to do is not stop!! Little changes, lots of imperfect days where you maybe eat a little bit less than you might have otherwise, and the occasional BEAST day where you do everything right and are sure you have this licked.... of course followed by the day that teaches you some humility.

But start with this mantra: If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

Look at restaurant menus before you go. Log your food so you can see where you are for the day. Don't leave home without healthy snacks and drinks. And these are mostly things you can figure out while sitting on your butt!

Start with that and then remember that everything that challenges us, changes us.

It starts an hour or minute at a time, then a day at a time, and then it is all about not stopping.

just remember: No matter how many times you fall off the wagon, it's still a win when you get back on.

^ This. It's SO important to realize this. That's why people fail at losing weight so often...they fall off the wagon, disappoint themselves and just give up thinking they ruined everything. Falling off the wagon is almost guaranteed to happen. Continuing to get back on is what will make you successful.

This THIS lol. And add ... if you fall off the wagon, don't wait 'until tomorrow' or 'I'll start again Monday', love yourself enough to get back on the wagon the very next meal or snack. You can do alot of damage to your success and self confidence by waiting until tomorrow or 'Monday'.

I have not read every post but just wanted to jump in.....
Take this in BABY steps!!! Maybe try NOT eating fast food 1 day this week. I know some people will think I am a WHACK job but that is fine...I have been there. My highest weight was 283 so I 'get' it. You can do ANYTHING for 1 day....dont think of it as all or nothing right now. Also, dont look at your weight at what it is right now. Tell yourself you have 10 pounds to lose (or for me, I had to tell myself 5 lol) Once you lose 10, then tell yourself you have 10 pounds to lose. Etc etc. This is a journey, it is not going to happen overnight. Sometimes I get REALLY frustrated when I see people on here lost 80 pounds in 6 months. I try not to feel like a failure because it is taking me forever. But the realitiy is, I am doing it the best way I know how. Am I anywhere close to where I need to be? NOPE! Am I closer than where I was before?? YES!!! Am I making lifelong changes? YES. Is this EASY for me? HECK NO!!! Most likely never will be. Start slowly, and lean on US! We are here to support you. You will have people on here that MEAN well when they tell you to completely cut out all fast food and eat tofu and plain greek yogurt, but the reality is, that most likely aint gonna happen right away so do what you can...the other stuff will fall into place. Do not give food the power to be 'good' or 'bad' food. YOU get to choose what to eat...will you make choices that might not help you meet your goals? OF COURSE! But how you DEAL with those choices will determine how you will succeed (or not) on this journey. Eat it, journal it and move on.
Please feel free to friend me....You CAN do this! Getting on here asking for help is a HUGE deal!!!! Praying for you!!!
Kathey

I was once nearly 400 pounds and could not even run up my short driveway. A few weeks ago I ran my first half marathon. I was fortunate enough to have LapBand in October of 2010 and while it has been an enormously helpful adjunct, I have some good friends who have lost as much or more than I without it. The single best piece of advice I can give you is this: Just Begin and Begin Again Each Day. Tomorrow is not guaranteed for any of us and yesterday is a distraction. What you have or have not done in the past is completely immaterial to what is happening today. What may or may not happen tomorrow is also immaterial because tomorrow is only a hoped for thing. Each day you wake up focus on improving you mind, spirit and body. In the beginning do not make any changes. Use MFP to track your intake and output for a week or two just to get a feel for what your are doing. Once you see where you are, then begin to make small changes. Add exercise at least 3 times per week, but if you only exercise 1 day a week, that is once more than most people. Research substitutions for your favorite fast foods. You may not be able to go from a FF junkie to a clean eating machine overnight, but you certainly can eat Subway instead of McDonalds and drink water instead of Coke. Most importantly, DO NOT beat yourself up or compare yourself to anyone. This is your race alone and the rest of us are spectators regardless of where we are in our own races. You are born with unique talents and gifts we do not have and you were born to complete a journey we cannot complete. Best of luck to you!

hun its never too late to make a good change in ur life! you can do it!

Try this link hun: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1267356/The-Dukan-Diet-Put-fat-cells-revolutionary-weight-loss-plan.html

if followed strictly you can lose about 10-15 pounds in the first week!

hope it helps! x

good for you for getting started.. it takes a lot of will power to say i can do this. you have to believe you can and you will succeed in your journey. when i first started i purchased a food scale.. and a measuring cup.. i measured all i ate and weighted all my meat even my can tuna in water. i also ate tortilla wraps even two if i was still hungry and lots and lots of salad without dressing. i had a treat every now and then, but not too often, as it holds alot of fat.. feel free to add me and i give you help when you need it.. congrats to you...to keep the hunger down and shrink your belly drink lots and lots of water.

Welcome! And congratulations on taking the first, scary step of reaching out for help! You CAN do this, but like any change, you have to take is one day at a time, one meal at a time. Don't focus on NEVER eating fast food, just work on not having it TODAY. You can work on tomorrow, tomorrow. I'm up to planning my breakfast & dinner a weeks at a time, now, but it took me 2 years to do that. You CAN do this, you just have to remember that food is fuel, not comfort. I believe in you!

im in the same boat... im 29 and 270 pounds...

WE can do this! I study other peoples food diaries to get ideas. I cant tell what my body needs just by eating...I have to keep my food diary! This has changed my life! We can be friends, add me!

Right after the birth of my son I weighed 345lbs and was miserable. As of today I am 239lbs and feel amazing, I still want to lose another 50lbs but it is a work in progress.
Feel free to add me for support!

79 POUNDS!!! Wow!!! Can I add you as my friend too??? LOL!! I need all the help I can get!!!

Please feel free to add me.

WOW . . . don't you already feel like you made the right choice? As I was reading all of the posts, I couldn't help but get motivated. What you did by going on here and seeking out help was a MAJOR first step. It took courage, it took strength, and it took you looking in the mirror and saying enough is enough.

All the advice is good . Even if you don't do anything different today, just read everything thru a couple of times, let it sink in and tomorrow decide you are going to change ONE thing about your eating habits, for the better and stick with it. Then when you are ready, add another, and then another.

All I can say, from my experience, is that I am a sugar and carb-a-holic. I can't get enough. I could easily live on it. I did go thru what I considered withdrawal symptoms, BUT within just a couple of days the cravings were gone. I NEVER thought I could go on a diet where I didn't have bread with every meal, but now I don't miss it like I thought I would. I know that just sounds so simple, but in actuallity it is. Your body craves what it's used to taking in. That's true for drugs, cigarettes, alcohol, sugar, carbs, fastfood, whatever our vice may be.

And, like so many folks have said, you have to be patient and forgiving of yourself. You didn't get this way over night, and it's going to take a while to get where you want to be. BUT, the journey is so worth it. I read in one of my health magazines that it takes you two weeks before you start to notice a difference in your body, it takes 4 weeks for your close friends and family to notice and it takes 6 weeks for the rest of the world. And from my experience, everytime I've tried to lose the weight, that is pretty much the time table.

I would recommend you work on making sure you get your 8 glasses of water in - the more you take in the more you pee out! And then decide what one thing you want to work on and GO FOR IT! And when you are tempted or depressed or just need a kick in the pants, come back and read all of these posts - they are GREAT motivation! I will be praying for your strength, guidance, and courage to make the right choices and to be patient with yourself. I hope you have a strong support system at home. That is another very important thing. If for some reason you don't, you do have us!

Take care, and be sure to keep us all posted as to how you are doing. Please feel free to add me as a friend!

Jean

I posted this in another thread, but I believe this.

God bless you,

O. G.

I spent decades believing that I couldn't do anything about my weight. One day I saw the myfitnesspal app recommended, read a little bit about how this all works, and understood that if I were to just stick to the numbers, I'd lose weight.

I have.

If you record faithfully what you eat (measuring's a pain, and having to say "No" to seconds can be whine-inducing!) and don't go over your daily goal (at least not too much), not only can you still eat your favorites, but you'll lose weight. (A tip: Activity will either speed your weight loss or add to the number of calories you can eat. I prefer the latter. )

You *will* lose weight.