Does anyone else have hundreds of pounds to lose?

Hello there!
First of all congratuations on your commitment to your health.
It's definitely a process of learning and growing.
I have lost about 125 pounds and still have about 80 pounds to go.
I've not had the gastric bypass surgery.
My sister has, and was a good strategy for her.
I don't know if I can add any more than what has been said.
I think that just taking one day at a time---finding what works for you, and finding what support you need would be my advice.
Each person's journey is so different.
I do sincerely wish you the best.
Warm regards,
Fabulocity.

I'm just getting started and planning to lose about 1/2 of me (about 130 pounds). I would love to both be supportive and have your support as well. So let's be friends!

My two cents on the psychology side of things. You have to get to a point where you realize and more importantly, ACCEPT that should you begin a journey toward a healthier life, it will take YEARS. Not weeks or months. You have a lot of weight to lose. At best, if you are diligent and maintain control, you might lose 100 LBS in the first year. That is less than 10 LBs per month. I've been at it for close to 2 years now. A lot of people who fail, do so because they do not see the results they want, and foolishly believe they can achieve, in a short enough period of time.

People around here throw the term "lifestyle change" around all the time. It seems a bit cliche, but it is absolutely on point. You have to change your entire attitude, not just about food and exercise, but about the fullness of your life.

I have at least 100 to lose but I am up for the challenge and know that many people have done it and I can too. I quit smoking 6 1/2 years ago, cold turkey, while my husband and everyone I know continues to smoke to this day. It was the hardest thing I have ever done, and to this day sometimes I get the urge, I guess just from habit and then remember how my husband often smells like an ashtray when he comes in from outside after smoking and realize that I will never go back to that.....LOL I want to feel proud of myself again for doing something I know most people think is almost impossible. I love it when I say I quit smoking and I WANT more than anything to say I lost a hundred pounds. I know you can do it and I am here anytime need encouragement.
Nicki

Yes, over 100 to lose. I've lost 21 in a little less than 3 months. Sending you a friend request. Anyone that wants to add me, feel free just send a message with your request so I know where you found me. Thanks and good luck!

No diet will work, as you have learned.

So when you are starting on this journey, you need to accept that what you are doing is not a "diet", is a way of life.

Can you be on Nutrisystem for the rest of your life? Would it be healthy for you? The answer is no. So even if you do loose that way, you know what comes next.

But eating healthy food, tracking what you eat, and being very active is a lifestyle choice. That is the same lifestyle that you will have after you loose the weight (except you can eat at maintenance level instead of a calorie deficit level). But I think the impatience derails many people from this sensible plan. The "I want this weight gone now, no matter what I have to do, as fast as possible" attitude can be dangerous. It is almost as people are willing to make enormous sacrifices in the short term, with kind of the expectation that they can go back to having a "normal" life after they are done and enjoy the fruits of their labor. But what really needs to happen, is for a person to re-define "normal".

bump

There are two aspects of disordered eating--physical and spiritual.

The physical aspect is leptin-resistance. Obesity experts say that every obese person has leptin-resistance whether or not they have yet developed insulin-resistance. In fact, their studies have revealed that leptin-resistance typically precedes and predicts insulin resistance. The following are the physical steps that you could take to fight leptin-resistance. The spiritual aspects can be addressed by attending a 12-step program like Overeaters Anonymous. You can find a listing for them in your local phone directory or contacting them on their website for a program near you. Their meetings are free.

The Physical Part

One thought is that it is very likely you have leptin-resistance even if you don't yet have insulin-resistance (in fact, leptin-resistance precedes and predicts insulin-resistance). You are on a likely path to Type II diabetes as well---a very high proportion of those who are "morbidly obese" become insulin-resistant and develop Type II. That must be your motivation---to get healthier---both for yourself and for those who love you. That's tip #1. Post that bit of motivation on your refrigerator and anywhere else in your house that you need a reminder. Remember that losing more slowly, is a better plan as you are less likely to regain. Calculate your TDEE and subtract 1000-500 calories a day from that (that will help you to lose about 2 pounds or 1 pound a week). Since you are pretty big, it is probably safe to go for the 2 pounds a week (1000 calories a day) but as your weight declines, you should go to a 500 calorie-deficit and that will reduce your loss to 1 pound a week. When you get to 20 pounds or less from your goal, you should drop the calorie-deficit to 250 calories a day to reduce your loss to a half-pound per week. If you follow this plan, you will lose all the weight you want to and are much less likely to regain.

When you are maintaining, it is important to "exercise off" any slip-ups or occasional indulgence in your diet. When you go on vacation, step up your exercise to compensate for the higher number of calories but it is very important that you make wise choices while eating out and still log your calories so that you know how much extra you have to exercise to compensate.

#2. The only way to "cure" leptin-resistance and avoid insulin-resistance and Type II, is to follow a sugar-free, lower carb diet (around 100 grams of carbohydrates but reduce the carbs a little if you find that you are still having trouble controlling your appetite). Sometimes, it is useful to reduce carbs to around 20 grams for a couple of weeks to "kick-start" the weight loss but it is VERY important that during this time, you allow yourself to eat as much fat as you want. This will necessitate eliminating all added sugars and any starch in the diet as well as eliminating fruit for that two week period. That will back off your fructokinase hormone production. Once the two weeks is over, you will want to add a serving or two of low-fructose fruit per day (berries or citrus) back into your diet but avoid putting back any added sugar and/or starch. The majority of your carbohydrates, at that point, should be coming from vegetables--doesn't matter what kind. You will want to cut back your fats at that point to keep yourself within your calorie allotment. My fats usually run to about 100 grams per day, some days more, some days less but I always stay within my calorie framework. Once you cut out the empty calories of sugar and starch, you will be surprised with how well and nutritionally you can eat (and how satisfying it is).

# 3. You must exercise. If you have joint problems, then, you will probably want to do as I do, and go to your local public pool for vigorous exercise in the water. They have different programs based on fitness levels. Ours has four different programs. The cardio (a couple of hours a week---but you can start with an hour a week) will help with a lot of what is messed up in your body but the most important part is weight training. It won't hurt to get a couple of lessons from a trainer to learn to lift weights properly. Weight-lifting is amazing for increasing insulin response and helping you to burn calories 24-7---something that cardio does not do.

If you find that you are still hungry, then eat more but make sure that it is nutrient dense food--and continue to pursue your exercise goals, gradually increasing over time. This will work and you will improve your health a lot. I'm about two-thirds of the way toward my goal and I feel SO much better (and I'm a lot older than you---I wish I had had this information when I was your age). smile You CAN lose body fat AND improve your health in the process. Good luck!

I started this journey for the first time 3 weeks ago, I started at 270 lbs, today i am at 261....my goal right now is to lose at least 130 lbs....then see how i feel/what i look like at that point in time and go from there. And i can tell you, i definately did the babysteps thing! lol, I was scared to proceed, scared to fail, blah, blah, blah...I have slowly changed almost my whole way of eating, i love finding new recipes to try, and i actually love logging my food everyday and reading all labels, measuring EVERYTHING out and all of that. To me right now, it is alot of fun, and i give myself a goal everyday of how i want that day to look. I started my exercise off with just walking, now im incorporating situps and also as of Friday i bought 2 biggest loser workouts dvds and some hand weights. Let me tell you, they are awesomely hard!! lol! I'm loving it, and i even started using a curl bar yesterday, yay me! Anyone and everything can do this journey as long as they have support and inspiration. Everyday it gets easier and I start feeling better! that is what is keeping me focused and motivitated at the moment! And all the amazing success stories on here

Feel free to add me as a friend and we can help each other through this!

I'm a bit like you. Have put on loads of weight and tried every diet on this planet. Non have ever worked. So, I've given up trying to diet and I've changed my way of thinking to boot. Trying NOT to binge, eating 80% healthy & 20% not so! and logging EVERYTHING on here. I've set myself a target of 1lb a week weightloss (started 31.12.12) and am down 17lbs. Not a lot and could have been double but I'm happy going at this slow pace. You can do this. Here to cheer you on :bigsmile: