623lbs, Trying to Get Going Again

Congratulations!!! You have definitely come to the right place to succeed. I agree with all the posts that say to take baby steps. The only thing I would add is to be honest with yourself and post everything for at least a week and then take a good look at where you can make changes. Right now I think that you are feeling like you have to give up the comfort that food is giving you and that scares the h*** out of you. I don't think you have to give up anything but instead use moderation when having those comfort foods and in time you will find other healthier foods that will comfort you. This is a process that will take time. Remember there is 100's of people here to support you any time of the day. You are not alone. You are soooooo worth it.

Chair exercise might be a good option for you to increase your physical activity and work on mobility, without stressing your joints.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/351431-cardio-exercises-while-restricted-to-a-chair/

You have taken the hardest steps by starting and opening up about your feelings. It is soooo... easy to get discouraged but do not give up. What you are doing is a positive thing and with the right tools will get easier. For myself, it was such a help to find foods that I really liked that were low in calories so I never felt like I was giving anything up. I agree with irisheagle post about comfort zone and change. It is really difficult to change old habits, but it can also be exciting to know that you are doing something positive for yourself, maybe for the fisrt time in a long time (speaking from personal experience). I wish you well.:flowerforyou:

Can I just say that I admire you to post on here with such honesty.

Keep working at it and sticking to your daily goals. Take one day at a time. If you have more good days then bad days you'll start to see that number drop. As it drops, you'll gain momentum. It won't happen overnight and may take quite a bit of time, but just imagine how good you'll feel as you start to lose weight and gain back your health.

I wish you the best of luck. And keep posting here. I'd love to keep up with your journey!

Do one thing each day - you can do it! For me, the biggest thing is to log log log - even if I don't know perfectly how much I ate or how many calories, I at least log something. This helps me stay accountable to myself.

And keep writing in the forums. There's a fun group of people here, and we will do our best to help you keep focused!

I totally agree with what everyone has been saying. Start with 1 thing at a time. For me I stopped drinking sodas and sugary juices. You can do it!

You are actually already at a good start. The most important step is realizing that one needs to do something. Back in 2003, my wife's Dr. told her she had to do something and he recommended she join TOPS(Take Off Pounds Sensibly). We searched the local papers(nowadays one would just go to www.tops.org) and found one near us. She and our daughter joined. For a month, they came home and TOPS does not preach going without anything. Our bodies are complex and need a little of everything so if we are craving something, it may be that there is something in it our body needs. We just need to eat sensibly and in moderation. I did not feel I needed to lose weight but I joined to support her. When I reached my goal weight of 195 in 2005, I had lost 94 3/4 pounds. However, the amount of weight lost is not important. What is important is how much better I felt. I am now 53 and I feel better than I did in my 30's. Over the last two years, we experienced some difficulties and I found that I had put back on some of it, but still I am not where I was. My quality of life is so much better than it was. With the support of TOPS with education, accountability and membe support, combined with tools like MFP, am well on my way back to my best Quality of Life at My Doctor Prescribed Goal weight. I strongly urge you to continue your quest because the result is very worth it.

Hey, Dani, I'm gonna add myself to the list of people that are happy to see you reaching out again! You've gotten a lot of good advice. I just wanted to share with you one of my favorite quotes: "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." You've already taken that step, so you're on your way, and you are not alone. Feel free to add me as a friend if you want!

Good job at getting motivated to try to lose weight.. it is a long, hard journey for most of us and it will be just as hard for you... but if you keep at it, and stay with it you can lose the weight.

Good job at getting under 4k calories, with your eventual goal to be around 2000 I am guessing? And its all about getting into a habit and changing the way you may eat.

I looked at your diary, and if your really in this for the long haul you need to really change the way your currently eating into a healthier eating pattern.. I hate to be the kid that rains on the parade but sweets, sodas, and little protein isn't going to get you really anywhere you want to be.. More protein, less carbs, and more cooked meals and you will see the scale really drop.. Cut back on the sweets, muffins, and soda and it will drop.. Not saying Never eat the stuff again, but there is self control involved. Also just be in motion, the more you move the more calories you burn even foot tapping whatever.. all helps to get exercise in.

Sorry to be the downer again.

Welcome back! You did the first and one of the hardest steps about losing weight. You been given a lot of good advice from others. Be patient with yourself. Let the weight come off slowly if that's what it takes to make it work.

I just ran your weight/age through a calorie calculator, and though I don't know your height, your BMR is somewhere around 3400 calories daily. That's a good thing. For now, you can eat at least that and still lose a healthy amount of weight. In fact, even if you are very sedentary, you still burn 4100-4200 calories daily. Actually, by eating as much as you do, you have trained your body to burn a vast amount of calories, so keep that in mind... you don't have to restrict to ridiculous levels to see some results. You just need to bring your intake to less than you're burning by changing up what you're eating.

If you can walk for 10 minutes, 3 times daily, your daily burn goes up to about 4900 calories. If you do that, and can meet a daily calorie goal of about 4000 calories for now, you will begin to see results.

Take every day as an opportunity to learn one new thing - a new recipe, a new way to make a meal that you like with fewer calories, a new realization about why you have been overeating. These are things we ALL have had to learn along the way.

Firstly, I concur with everyone else. Making this big of a change is absolutely admirable, and I think you are very brave. Secondly, the post quoted above is exceptionally sound advice. I would add that if you can, you should go see a doctor and ask for help to set up a plan. If you cannot, just be moderate, be patient, and set a plan that you can actually follow. YOU CAN DO IT! I believe in you.

So much great advice here already! Congratulations on making the first step! Use MFP! Log your food, the more you do the easier it gets (you can even copy whole meals from previous days to save typing). Knowledge is key and you have a head start because no on knows you better than you. Read food labels, the more your learn in these early stages the easier this whole journey will be. You can't fill up on the good stuff if you don't first learn what of the foods you like are filling and still good for you. It doesn't have to be all low fat cottage cheese and organically farmed celery unless you love that stuff. To reiterate the posters before... Baby Steps! The quickest way to burn out is too much too soon.

Read up on nutrition and read labels when you shop. Pick the highest fiber most vitamin rich least ingredient package of whatever it is you were going to get anyway.

Eat consciously: Be in the moment enjoying your meal or snack and really enjoy the food. I read this quote "Feed yourself like you feed your friends, you wouldn't invite a friend over for cold noodles over the sink or unheated lasagna while watching tv..why treat yourself this way" paraphrasing and probably misremembering but sometimes when I am failing to follow this advice I catch myself and I imagine my friends receiving their engraved invitation to my found some haloween candy in the junk drawer dinner party ...when did we have fun size baby ruths?

Drink water - water is free!

Move yourself a little more. Even if you just tap your feet while riding in the car or actively shrug your shoulders while waiting in line. Moving is moving and moving is good.

You have made an amazing start ! Best of luck and health to you :flowerforyou:

Hi Dani! I agree with what everyone else said above, and really like the advice of changing just one thing at a time and then adding a change to it each week (even if it's just increasing your water intake or walking by an extra minute each time you walk) and today is as good of day as any to start!

I also wanted to recommend the book "Half-Assed: a weightloss memoir" by Jennette Fulda (she's relatively funny, but has a great story that I think would inspire you!

Good luck and can't wait to hear updates!

I'll be honest., this short little dude has it right...


Remove the mental obstacle of TRY.
IF YOU WANT IT....GO GET IT.

I haven't read all of the posts, but you seem to have many cheerleaders. What you need is a coach, someone who not only tells you "YOU CAN DO IT!!!" but tells you HOW TO DO IT.

Yes, log your food, but more importantly, make better food choices. Do some research.

Three large double chocolate muffins is not breakfast. Eggs, bacon, toast is breakfast. For the 300 fewer calories (1550cals) than you consumed this morning, you could have a dozen eggs scrambled, 1/2 pound of bacon, 4 slices of toast with butter. And you will increase your protein consumption from 21gr to 108gr, decrease your carbs from 237gr to 57gr, and decrease your fat from 114gr to 103gr. And you will have a breakfast that will keep you full longer. Losing weight is not only about eating less, but eating better.

Once you learn HOW TO DO IT, you CAN DO IT.