623lbs, Trying to Get Going Again

Dani - God Bless ya girl! Keep the focus! You definitely got a pom-pom shake from me for you. Forgive me if you or someone else has already mentioned it.. but you can have some factors controlling this that need identified and are fighting against you. The thyroid of course, is a little stinker for dragging you through weight hell that leaves you baffled. The most sneakiest though, is meds that the doctor has you on to "help" you with whatever conditions you are battling. I personally gained 20lbs in ONE WEEK that way (and that chub don't come off just by stopping those meds), so you can just guess how THAT next doctor visit went!! Getting your daily calories lowered (as well as the water retention sodium) is definitely important yes.. but I've found if you don't exercise at all - you basically maintain and don't visually lose much. Where mobility is an issue, you've got to adapt to what CAN be done - such as water aerobics, or upper body weight exercises or lower body leg lifts while sitting on the couch. I hope that helps .. thinking outside of the box, because that's where the view is.

I read your Diary and noticed Dani you are lacking in fruits and veggies and this means you appear to be lacking in getting enough fiber a day. I suggest like others you up your fruits, veggies and protein. I did see you have salads on some days and that is one way you are helping yourself to get the fiber.

I just had home made beef stew for lunch with a piece of baguette bread,lightly buttered and thought of you. Do you like Stews and soups? Do you Cook Chili, Beef Stew, Chicken Stew and you could even have dumplings since you are allowed a higher calorie count than I am on. Dani, You could eat filling food that is healthy for you and home made and never get hungry. I prefer to eat my food in a stew or soup because it is more filling in my opinion. Berries are a great desert and there are many varieties. I see you like Mexican food so you could make your own tacos, beefy bean with cheese Burito with healthy avocado slices and cherry tomatoes as a side dish.

I love my Salads with Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing on the side only using as much as I need not drowning it in the dressing. I make a huge salad with rainbow colors of veggies the salad is a meal in itself. When I make the Salad I make sure I have plenty of protein. I had a huge salad for dinner last night, and the ingredients were boiled egg, cucumbers, red peppers, cucumbers, romaine lettuce, green onions, radishes, imitation crab meat, pepedew sweet peppers, kidney beans from a can, carrots blueberries, raspberries and sometimes I fry up a piece of bacon and add that as flavoring I also add flax seed for omega boost.

I have many health issues that forces me to only use diet instead of exercise to lose weight. I log in daily for nearly a year now and my weight loss is slow but it is staying off. My goal is to lose 100 lbs and my calories are between 1400-1650 some days 1200. I calorie cycle so my body does not get accustomed to the same number, I also carb cycle because of health issues I have to keep my carbs under 100 a day or I gain weight. I am back to not eating sugar and eating gluten free.

I love MFP because although there are mean trolls on MFP the majority of People care for one another and the proof is in the responses you have had. I am not going to send you a Friend invite because you already have over 400 on your list but I just want to encourage you and offer some suggestions. Sugar is an addiction and I did not realize how much I was using it to handle emotional traumas in my life until I stopped eating it. I subbed the sugar for Stevia, not made in a lab but it comes from the leaf of the Stevia plant I use non bitter nu-naturals nuStevia and sprinkle it in my coffee, tea, anything that needs sweetened. I have to admit I miss the emotional sugar high, sugar use to give me. I battle hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and I realize now the sugar highs that hid the depression and anger also came crashing down when the sugar high wears off, this leaves me worse off mood wise than I started out. I realized a truth Dani, and that is it is much easier to eat a chocolate candy bar with high carbs in form of sugar when I was feeling emotional and depressed or angry, than to deal with the emotions.

I also realize I became overweight not just because of hypothyroid, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue, PCOS (hormones store carbs as fat instead of using for energy). I had many miscarriages because of PCOS but it was just called hormone imbalance at the time. I have other severe health issues. It will be 365 days since I joined MFP and I daily log in and record what I eat. I realize now it is not just my health issues but combined with I ate the wrong foods and ate what I now call feel good foods so I would emotionally feel good. I never binged but it still did the weight gain damage. The truth is Dani I read your Diary and I would love to eat all the high calorie foods also but if I did I would be weighing far more than I do now and probably in my grave by now.

We all have lost weights on a diet and when the diet is over with return back to eating the way we did before the diet, we gain the weight back and many times adding more pounds. I know this cannot be a diet this new way of eating must be for a life time. Is it fun to count every calorie NO is it worth the results when we do YES! Congratulations in making a decision that will change your life for the better if you do not give up and quit eventually you will see the lbs drop off. In closing there are many recipes to take your high calorie favorite foods like Pizza and make it more calorie/carb friendly just do a search on the Internet.

hi Dani:

Keep up the good fight girl.. I also over the past 4 years have lost and kept off 75 pounds trying to loose it was not as esy as putting it on... so remember one day at a time because what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.... pat yourself on the back girl

I agree with everyone else that baby steps are imperative. Every time I try to bump MFP up to lose 1.5 lbs per week, I end up having to move it right back down to lose 1 lb per week right after. Your body's going to resist this the ENTIRE way there, you just have to give it the least possible amount of resistance while still moving forward. If you ate 3,999 calories today, shoot for 3,900 next week, and 3,800 the next.

Also, plug in BEFORE you eat ANYTHING for the day--maybe even the day before--your fruits, veggies, juices, etc. That way those calories are already accounted for before you start eating any carbs/junk. and you can just work around them.

I know this might sound weird. But enjoy it while it lasts. There are a lot of people that would love to be able to eat 3,900 calories and still lose weight. Soon you'll be restricted to 1,200 before you know it.

Good for you. Being mentally prepared and wanting to lose weight is a major step. As you'll have seen from the many pages of comments, originally, you've got plenty of support out here if you need it.

Welcome back! I wish you the best of luck and you do have us for support! I hope you also have home support and good doctor to help you on your journey.

Welcome back! I'm rooting for you!

Welcome Dani! You have a great community here -- we have your back. My advice is simple, plug your stats into MFP and use the tool as designed. Set it to lose 1 pound a month and roll with it. Have some fun and learn along the way.

You can do it!!! I'd love to follow you in your journey.
Keep your head up!

You can do this!
One day at a time. You are worth it!
A lot of people will be cheering for each success!

Good luck. You can do it. Folks have given you great advice. Just start small with one goal and accomplish that. Drink 8 glasses of water. Park extra spots away from store. Do that for 2-3 weeks. Add another goal.