Overweight Mom--350 lbs I need help

Trying to stay away from over processed food filled with sugar is a good place to start. I myself dont believe that there are any bad foods and allow myself to eat anythign that i want. the key is to do so in moderation. a lot of us dont know how many calories we are actually intaking until we start logging.
Im not a nutritionist or anything, i just know counting the calories and watching your macros works!
excersise of any form is a good place to start!
feel free to add me

Any movement is better than no movement at all. I think that you are doing great right now. I eat chicken regularly. I also eat pork regularly, however, I only buy lean pork. Pork Tenderloin and the boneless loin chops is what I usually eat. You can eat whatever you want, in moderation. I bake everything.

I think you will find that what you are doing is working. Just keep at it.

Just remember that any change you make needs to be one you can stick to for life, otherwise it's very hard to stick with. I still have the 'bad' foods, just less of them. You don't have to eat things you don't enjoy, but it is good to try new things. A food scale is a great investment, along with measuring utensils. Good luck!

You didn't say anything about logging your calories to see how much you are eating, so I recommend that you do that. Exercise is very important, but as far as weight loss goes - it comes down to calories. Diet is 80% of the equation. You can use the MFP settings for your first calorie goal or go over to fat2fitradio.com and use their calculators to personalize your goals.

Welcome. I was about to say good luck, but it isn't about luck, it's about effort and persistence.

I am living proof that you do not need to give up the things you love in order to lose weight. I am also living proof that you do not need to eat salad in order to lose weight. In the past year I have probably had 4 salads, I am not a salad lover at all, but they are safe bet if you have to eat out.

You can eat the things you love, you just eat less and make them differently. Instead of going out for nachos I make my own, same goes for pizza, french fries etc.

Having said that you must allow yourself treats and eating out, otherwise you will tend to fall of your path.
As for exercise, start slow and work your way up, if you start off trying to do a mile and it is too much you are setting yourself up to fail. I started walking and little by little increased it, your body will tell you when you need to move more.

And last, willpower it what you really need, if you have that you can do this.

First of all, you ARE NOT along! Everyone on this site is here for some reason. I suggest you workout or walk at least 30 minutes a day. When, I first started this journey, I would workout for 15 minutes twice a day. Evenually, you will have energy to do more. Hungry Girl is a good book for recipes. Keep logging, this will provide motivation and ideas for your weight journey. Best wishes!

Hi
I just started too ! I started by getting rid of some of the junk and replacing it with healthy choices over several months. Exercise the same thing-started slowly and added more as I felt better. It is hard but it is worth it. Putting my food on this site every day really helps put things in perspective. You can add me if you like. I have good days and bad days and I journal every day to stop the emotional eating. Everything in moderation !!

First off it's wonderful you and your husband are making this commitment together. I would encourage y'all to include your children in your healthier choices as well.

I'm with the "everything in moderation" camp when it comes to food. Other than sodas which I've stopped drinking completely, I eat everything, good/bad/ugly, but just watch the portion sizes through weighing, measuring and counting. If I don't have enough calories for a bowl of icecream, I'll have a couple cookies instead. I have a huge sweet tooth. I do stay away from 'trigger" foods and foods that I know are difficult for me to eat just a serving of - oh Krispy Kreme how I miss you.

Here's a great thread with lots of explaination and resources to help calculate what you should be eating calorie wise: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/937712-in-place-of-a-road-map-ver-3-0 It's been very helpful.

As for exercise - do what you can, push yourself, but not so much that you seriously hurt yourself. I encourage you to look into weight training as well. Cardio is great for heart heath and burning calories, but weight training will help you maintain lean muscle mass while you're losing weight. Body weight exercises (situps, pushups, lunges, squats, planks) are a very easy at home way to include strength training into your day. I've even heard of folks creating a "commercial game". Each time a different type of commercial comes on TV, they do a certain exercise for the length of the commercial.

Lastly, while numbers on the scale are a way to track weight loss progress, sometimes our body does some wild and crazy things and the scale can be wacky. Use the scale as a tool but incorporate pictures, measurements, how your clothes feel & look on you. I've had several weeks where the scale either went up, didn't move, or barely moved, but my clothes fit better or looser than the week or two before.

I wish you the best on this journey!

I was at 354 at my highest. I understand the struggle, but I've lost the weight before and am now doing it again. Feel free to add me anyone

i need to lose 170lbs myself please add me we can support each other

If you have Netflix check out the movies "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead" and "Forks Over Knives". They are really good at explaining what foods do what to your body and why. Other motivating and educating movies I have seen are "Vegucated" and "Foodmatters."

It sounds like you are off to a great start! Keep doing whatever activity to you can - I would recommend also walking outside whenever possible because it's a lot more fun than indoors on the treadmill. Counting calories is a huge key to success as well.

my highest weight was 375 so please know that you aren't alone in the struggle to lose... especially in your 40's. I started on my journey last year... discovered MFP in January. Its been a blessing and a wonderful tool to help track what I put in my mouth...

I have arthritis and bursitis so exercise has been a struggle... but one worth doing. I swam during the summer... walk at least 30 min a day... dance with my kid in the evening for about 15 or 20 min. I move!

My advice is that you move as much as you can for as long as you can. You will feel better and gain energy! Also count calories... track everything you eat...even the bad stuff... seeing the caloric intake helped me make some conscious choices and made a difference in my diet (not as in plan but way of eating).

At this point I weigh 271.8 and I still have a long way to go.... by the grace of God, I will do it. WE will lose this weight!

You can so do this!!!! Logging in has really helped me. I couldnt believe how much I was eating before I changed my ways!!! Personally I dont count calories I count Carbs and Fats. Im allowing myself 75g of Carbs a day and 20g of Fats a day. Doesnt seem like a lot but it is plenty. I am never hungry and I drink a lot of water. I am a diabetic and I am feeling so much better. I dont even think of my new way of eating as a diet. I still have the things I like its just a matter of regulating yourself its like a savings accout. I wont eat as many carbs and fats during the day so I can have what I want later and I allow myself probably half of what I would have normally eaten. Im not going to say its easy there are days when I go over but I just start all over again the next day. Walking is great exersise! and doing 30 mins is great! inclining your treadmill and working to a goal of walking a mile in that 30 mins would be awesome!! If your not sure about what kind of foods to eat add friends add me and you can look at their foods and get ideas. I work in the healthcare field and it has really opened my eyes to keeping and staying healthy because if you dont have your health you have nothing!!!

Kimberly

I am right there with you. I am 41 years old, and I am guessing my weight to be somewhere around 280-300. I had lost all my weight before (140 lbs to be exact), but have since gained it all back. No matter what you do, it has got to be life changing. It is such a slippery slope when you start allowing the old habits to creep back in. This time, I am not cutting out all the "bad" foods. I don't allow myself to have it whenever I want though either. If you have never had a weight problem, it is easy to say "I eat whatever I want...just in moderation." If you have a weight problem, eating "trigger" foods is a problem, because like an alcoholic with "just one glass of wine"...there is no moderation! So, I don't keep trigger foods in the house. And, when it comes to the little snacks that I keep around for when I HAVE to have something, and the gum just isn't cutting it, I have already pre-measured it out into the little "snack size" Ziploc baggies. I have learned from my previous weight loss and then regaining it back that to deny yourself of EVERYTHING causes horrible relapses. So, know your trigger foods to stay away from and do not keep those in the house. Find the foods you really enjoy, and try to revamp them in a healthier light. With Pinterest and everything else out there, there are thousands of places to search how to make your favorite meals...just healthier! Water is key. Drink lots and lots of water! (Trust me on this one!!!) As far as the exercising goes, that will come with time. When you are at this weight, just do what you can. Park at the end of the parking lots when going to the grocery store, leisurely walk around the mall, etc. As you lost the weight, you will feel much more like doing more. The most important thing is to not beat yourself up. If you "slip"...see it as just that...a slip up and move on. Don't let it beat you down. Again, having lost the weight before, I know that this is mostly a mental game! The physical part of this...the eating healthier and the walking (or what ever) comes pretty quickly, but over time, it is the mental part of this that is the toughest part to beat. That is why accountability helps so much. I have several friends on here that help me out there. Having a cheering section really helps keep you going. If you know there are people "watching"...cheating is much harder! LOL! Anyway, I hope this helps (even a little)!!! Good luck...God bless!