Welcome to the group While not quite as heavy, I share your fear of being a ticking time bomb as we have things like diabetes running in the family.

I think it's amazing that you work in a job that has that kind of support and a program you can participate in and MFP can be a great way of building up your support network.

Focus on small changes and mini goals. While your goal may be to loose 200+ lbs, focus on loosing that first 20 or x number, or some of us are even focusing on loosing 5% increments of our initial starting weight. It gives you smaller milestones to mark on your journey.

Please feel free to add me as a friend. I'm away on holidays until the 15th, but will be doing my best to check in when I can

Started at 391, that was apparently my magic number making me realize I need to change my lifestyle or be dead by 50. Like you I've been around those that have lost and gained it back, or never needed to lose this much, thankfully there are others here at MFP in the same boat starting a new life with us! I hope to see a lot of you here, for many many successful months/years as we all go forward together !

And congrats for making that first step and for your weight loss to date!

I have been on MFP for years and keep gaining and losing the same 20 lbs which wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have 170 to lose. I've never participated in the forums before and am actually quite the loner but I've come to realize that may be part of my problem. So I've decided to quit being passive and try to be more active or really proactive in my own life...especially my health.

Thanks for your post. It made me feel like I'm not the only one going through this for a change

the day after my divorce in january, i went to a seminar on weight loss surgery. i weighed 398 lbs. i was 42 years old. i couldn't walk to my mailbox and back. i had trouble turning over in bed. i was miserable.

well, i started right then and there with changes neccessary to get healthy again. i decided to have a sleeve gastrectomy. first i quit drinking all pop (i was a pepsi max addict). i stopped drinking milk by the gallon. those two things let me lose 24 lbs before surgery.

on june 11, i had the surgery and it was the best decision i have ever made (well that and divorcing my cheating, lying, abusive husband). in the two and a half months since surgery, i have lost 50 more lbs. i now weigh 324 lbs.

now surgery is not a magic answer, but it sure did jump start me in the right direction. all i eat now is protein, veggies and fruit and very, very few carbs. i drink water only. and i exercise at the gym 3x a week.

the things i can do now are just amazing compared to what i could do 8 months ago. the other day i walked up a flight of stairs, down 2 flights of stairs and back up a flight of stairs at the local medical center. 3x a week i walk 1/2 mile on a treadmill, swim laps for 20 minutes and then do an hour long aquacise class. i can paint my own toenails now, i can pick things up off the floor, i can get up off the floor by myself, i am wearing size 26/28 clothes again and they are getting too big (i sold all of my 34w and 4x clothes at a rummage sale earlier this month). not going to need those again!

so basically i just wanted to give encouragement to everyone out there who might think they are facing insurmountable odds. you can DO THIS. if you want to bad enough and you are willing to make a lot of changes in your habits and your life-you can be successful at becoming the healthier person you want to be.

jackie

Welcome aboard!! I need to lose about 200lbs.. I started out at 375 and when I saw that number I cried.. I’m only 29 years old but I never go out and do anything because of my weight! I have tried every diet out there and have ALWAYS given up. I have been using MFP for a while and have lost 31 lbs. since June 25th! I can't fail this time... I don't want to die early!

Feel free to add me I Log every day and try to give support when I can!!

Good Luck! We can do this!!!!

I started out having 200+ to lose, it seems impossible somedays but I'll echo what everyone else said,
it's one day at a time
It does come off, and as it does everything gets easier

I too face a large amount of weight to lose and I am so inspired by all of the comments here. I hope to add some of you as friends so we can encourage each other on the journey. I started out (this time) at a few pounds under 400 pounds and I've lost 47 pounds so far. I sometimes am hard on myself for not doing more, trying harder, working out more, eating less and losing more in the past year but I have to keep reminding myself that the most sustainable weight loss is that which is done slowly. I need this to be a lifestyle change, not another diet. I can't do it on my own, the support of others and weighing in here and tracking everything helps encourage me and keep me accountable. I have two little girls that mean everything to me and I need to be around to watch them grow up and become mothers someday.

So awesome. SO AWESOME!!!

Congratulations Frank. Your accomplishments are awesome and inspiring. Never let up.