Guidance... support... IDEAS!

This is what I did to start...

I have lost 41 lbs. I still have 33 lbs to go.

Here is what I've been doing...

*The first and most important thing is you have to accept yourself at the weight you are at now. If you cannot accept it, I truly believe you cannot change it.

*The second most important thing you have to do, is decide to do it. I had a light switch turn on in Ireland or right when I got back. Eating nothing but super healthy food over there was nice, my body adjusted quickly and I had some difficulty when I came back because of all the preservatives and unnecessary crap Americans put in food.

*The next step is to join myfitnesspal.com. They also have a free phone app that allows you to scan the barcode of what you are about to eat and it'll log it for you. Once you get an idea of how much you are taking in, it'll give you a huge perspective. You'll see what you actually need vs what you are actually taking in. If you join that my username is graceisjinxed. The support I get from this site I cannot put a value on it. Some people I know, some I do not know, but everyone is incredibly supportive. That's a huge thing, having support and knowing that others are going thru the same thing you are, others are struggling but you all want to make the necessary and right changes.

*I've been working out every day in my house. I have a WII that I bought ONLY for fitness use, yes I want all the Lego games but, that's not fitness. I start off with a warm up of Just Dance 3. They have a sweat mode that has 3 levels. I started in the middle, it says it's equivalent to 30 mins of walking a day. My sister has Just Dance 2, she liked Just Dance 3 much better. Then I followed that up with The Biggest Loser Challenge (BLC) for WII for 30 mins. The thing I like best about the BLC is that you pick a program and it goes from there. Every day my routine is different. This morning I did Box-Fit. Tomorrow is my rest day - but I'll be at the gym that I just joined. Thursday it'll be BLC yoga. With each day/week that passes, the exercises change up a little, get harder, and you get new ones. I thought I was going to die the other day when it introduced burpees (google that if you don't know what it is...).

*From day one I gave up booze, soda, fast food and crap. Not 100% but like 95%.

*I drink nothing but water, and anywhere from 8-12 cups a day. I had a 64 oz jug by my desk, pour it into smaller cups, you'll have that down in no time, and before you know it, it's gone. I use fresh lemons to flavor it (which helps your liver). You can also use cucumbers and I'm sure whatever fruit you love will work. Or those bottles of lemon and lime juice will work. I do still drink some fruit juices, just try to limit, these are like wasted calories in a sense. You want to make every calorie you take in valuable. This am I had 4 oz of Apple Juice mixed with 4 oz of water.

*MOST importantly, you HAVE to eat breakfast every day within the first 90 mins of waking up. I don't have a problem doing this because I will get nauseous, sick, lightheaded and dizzy if I don't. If you don't eat breakfast now you're going to have to start if you want to boost up your metabolism and lose some weight.

I just joined 9 Round a kick boxing place and LOVE it.

Link to the Biggest Loser Challenge for WII - You may want to look on ebay or half.com Amazon's price has gone up...
http://www.amazon.com/The-Biggest-Loser-Challenge-Nintendo-Wii/dp/B003S2OO7W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1341926247&sr=8-1&keywords=the+biggest+loser+challenge+wii

Since I originally wrote this I've changed things up a bit. I restarted the BLC again, but only 2-3 days a week, Kickboxing is 3 days a week. That leaves 1 day of rest or workout. Depending on what I'm feeling that day depends on what I do. Rest is important though. I had been working out almost every day, then it seemed I wasn't losing any weight, I stopped for a week before the personal training started, and now I've lost 2 lbs in a week. So I'm back on track. I also upped my calorie intake to 1300 a day.

BLC lets you track your diet and extra exercise outside of the game. If you get this, and I do LOVE it, you will need to take your measurements - neck, chest, waist, hips. It'll make you do a fitness test and then it'll recommend a level. Now I have asthma and was very out of shape when I started this. It told me I should choose hard. I chose moderate. Whatever it recommends I would try the one below it first, unless you're up for it. You can always change the program - though each time you will need to redo the fitness test. But at the end of each week there's a challenge event, weigh in, then program recommendations for you. You can also wait until then and change them. I don't think you'd have to do the fitness test again.

Let me know what other questions you might have! I'll do my best.

I know a lot of dieters and diets say don’t eat this or don’t eat that. I have never stopped myself from eating anything. If I want a cookie, I’ll have a cookie, if I want a garlic stick, I’ll have a garlic stick. I do not believe in forbidding foods from your diet. It’s also okay to go over your daily calorie intake goal, just go under the next day or work out harder and longer. Whatever you choose.

I started by controlling my calories. I ate alot of veggies as snacks when I got hungry in between meals and I ate (still do) a lot of chicken for dinner. After a week or two of that I started adding cardio. Small at first like walking then moving on to the bigger stuff like the elliptical. As for how to stop eating, I just made myself log everything. No matter what. Even if it was going to put me over on calories. If I was going to eat it I had to log it. It made me think more though it didn't completely cure it at least I could see what I was doing wrong if the scale didn't budge. Feel free to add me if you like.

Everyone comes to a crunch point in their life when they reach a point when they realise that things have to change. I am now 52 and have been a veteran of the journey since my late teens. Today is my 600th consecutive day on MFP and although I've been at goal for a year now, I'm still learning.

What I suggest below is not the only way - and I'm sure that you will be inundated with people who all have their own 'take' on how to be successful and may well contradict what I say. In the end, you have to find out what works bets for you. But here are my key guiding philosophies, which I share with you for a place to start:

1 Don't diet. Dieting makes you fat. It is an artificial way of eating to achieve an arbitrary goal. If you 'go on a diet' you can 'come off a diet' and the tighter your regime has been the more likely you are to pile the weight on when you reach your 'goal'. It's what led to 14 years of yo-yo dieting in my twenties. I lost 30lb eating an average of 2000 calories a day. I just upped my exercise to put myself in a slight deficit. The weight came off slowly, but has stayed off.

2. 80/20 rule Linked to that is that it is also unsustainable for most people, certainly me, never to have some indulgent food. But it's also a mistake to eat rubbish food even if you do stay under the calorie total. So I aim for an intake of healthy nutritious wholesome food for at least 80% of my diet and allow up to 20% for the foods we shouldn't eat so much of.

3. Do it slowly. The faster you lose, the faster you can put it back on. It's linked to the 'don't diet' thing. If you lose fast then you are probably restricting your food intake significantly and therefore it's not sustainable in the long term. If you lose weight slowly you are more likely to retrain and reinforce good eating habits that will last a lifetime - and less likely that the metabolism will slow down to cope with a reduced level of food.

4. Sustainable exercise regime. Get moving and increase your exercise , but, like the food, having too severe an exercise regime is difficult to keep up year after year. It is far better to build it into your week in a sustainable way. So pick stuff you enjoy doing and keep on doing it and setting yourself new challenges.

5. Setting hard targets can be a mistake. If you set yourself a particular weight target then your focus becomes on reaching that goal. Once you reach that goal you relax and you 'stop dieting' - see stage 1! Also your body might find its balance above or below that weight. If you aim for a particular dress size rather than a target weight then you can have several pounds leeway up or down and you can fluctuate around that area.

Good luck on your journey - it will undoubtedly be full of ups and downs - but as long as you make more healthy choices than not, you'll keep heading in the right direction.

I sat there looking at the pictures wondering to myself 'WHEN--DID--THIS--HAPPEN?'

You didn't notice your changing body because you were the same person inside. You were the same wonderful person you were when you were younger, so you didn't wake up feeling bad about yourself, because inside you were the same and happy. You only started feeling bad when you saw the physical changes. You have more value than just your looks - so please don't rip yourself down for your physical changes.

You value your health, you want to make changes, and you came to MFP -- all good because there are plenty of supportive people here who've walked in your shoes, or are walking in your shoes.

Before you make any changes -start by logging in your food in MFP - do this for a week and do it honestly. Get a good idea of where you stand and what your 'normal' is. Take measurements, take pictures - because you'll want to track your progress. Then make small changes and see what you like, and what is sustainable (important as you will be changing your lifestyle, so it should be in ways you can maintain and not make your life a misery). Maybe begin taking walks after dinner, or start a program like the 24-minute 30 Day Shred, or if you have a favorite activity/sport start that back up (swimming, volleyball, running, soccer). Start figuring out what you can omit from your diet or substitute in things that are better for you (water for soft drinks; skim for whole milk; lite mayonaise, etc) . If you need it - become accountable, join an MFP group or a walking club or get a workout partner.

Good luck!

These are all very very good pieces of advice.

For me, this is what worked once (3 years ago - before I lost my mother and relapsed. I have now decided to get back on track again.)

I am not on a diet. I am changing the way I eat and I choose to exercise and do fitness.

I strive to eat balanced meals not to be thin but to be in good health. Being thin is the second reward.
I follow the nutritional recommendations from the Cancer Society. I follow the "basic" recommendations of the food pyramid.
I do eat things that I love such as cheese or pork chops. When I do, I make the choice to "give up" something else that has lots of calories. This is how I will be eating for the rest of my life. This is who I am becoming.

2 clutch I can activate : sports ! For better health, for my heart. I find that fitness and exercise, after a while of practise, eases me in the way binging used to. And it's guilt free !

Believe me, I was the worst "sport person" you could ever meet. I have no strength, no coordination, i am as flexible as a stick. And yet, when I was "at the top of my game" three years ago, and I was in step class, it literally felt like I was flying.

Rewards will come, trust me. No more guilt, a sense of positive control over yourself, better sleep, better self esteem. I can't wait to have it all back, and I don't know how I let myself pile up the 40 pounds I had lost. But what is done is done, this is who i am today, and I can change for the better. So can you !

Good luck !

Add me : shesaid_destroy@hotmail.com