Questions for anyone who lost alot of weight

Hey Romy, saw you post this on my feed....the below are just my opinion of course.

1. You might be eating too little calories. If you are always feeling super hungry and want to eat everything, you may be depriving yourself too much. You might want to try bumping up your cals slightly to see if that helps those feelings.

2. Fitting into more clothes, being able to be more active, more comfortable in the heat, sleep better, feel better, more confident, see my ticker and finally and most importantly... costs less to get drunk.

3. Yes it felt like a long time, I dropped a couple of shirt sizes before I really noticed any difference.

4. Tattoos I am not sure about!

Hi Romy!

I didn't know anything about how to eat healthy. I had been eating whatever I wanted, as much as I wanted, my whole life - and what I wanted was fatty, greasy food in huge quantities. So I started off with Weight Watchers to help teach me. What I took from this is: learn what a portion is; don't try diets that completely exclude certain things - I am an "everything in moderation" person, if you make something off-limits I will binge eat it; don't drink your calories.

Another thing I liked about Weight Watchers, and would recommend, is that it eases you down so a larger person (like I was) doesn't start a diet eating 1200 calories. I lost quickly at first, then at a good pace, and now very, very slowly. You should eat all the calories MFP is telling you to eat.

Does the hunger get better? Yes. I drink lots of water, I try to make good choices, and I never let myself get ravenous. (Always pack a low-calorie snack like fresh fruit, popcorn, etc was probably my biggest tool to prevent binging.)

I have been morbidly obese as long as I have memories. I have severe asthma, and PCOS. I had a severe back injury 2 summers ago that limited what I could do for a whole year, including on my wedding day, where I danced one dance and was on vicodin at the time. I will never be physically limited when I don't have to be again - not by my own weight, not by my own choice.

I lost 50lbs before I lost a single pant size. I didn't really start noticing myself looking different until then - and really, until about 75lbs down. Take pictures! It will help you to see the difference quite a bit!

My tattoos all still look the same!

ETA: I still refer to myself as a "large person" - but I'm not. I'm 20lbs from a normal weight now, but it's taking me a long time to get used to it!

Hello Romy! Congratulations on doing the HARDEST part...starting!

The best thing about having a ways to go is that you'll get so used to eating better that it'll become second nature, and that's GOOD. You'll also see a lot of results very quickly because you'll be eating at a pretty good (and maintainable) deficit. For me, the first three days have always been the hardest, no matter when I start. By day four? I'm fine. By month two? I feel like I'm not even eating any differently, and am just as satisfied as I used to be on 4000+ calories a day. My cravings probably completely vanish within a month.

The BEST part? Being able to shop for super cute things and seeing pant size numbers drop. I'm ultra girly, so this was probably my biggest ego rush - being able to fit into size 1 pants!!! As you get down there, you just get more motivation. My bright red stretch marks? They turned white and then I tanned and they're gone completely (I mean, unless you pull and examine my skin with a microscope, which, wtf)

I went from 200 to 106 pounds (I'm a shorty), I don't feel like it took very long, but I also tried not to focus on the days, but rather, "If I mess up today, that's two more day I have to make up for before I'm back to where I was." and celebrate each day for the gram, ounce, or pound lost.

I don't have any tattoos, but I did have a belly button piercing when I was around 160. It migrated out with the weight loss (though I've heard this hasn't happened to everyone) and I now have scar tissue. It's not the prettiest thing in the world, but it's also unnoticeable to every man who has ever seen my belly!

does it get easier, is there always that feeling in your stomach were you just want to eat everything!!

In order to make that feeling go away, it really helps to eat foods that are lower in calorie density. If you are trying to restrict your calories and still eating dense food, you will feel hungry all the time, and it just becomes a battle of will. Who wants to feel hungry all the time?

Foods like fresh fruits and vegetables fill your stomach up with fiber and water, while staying low in calories, so you can still meet your daily calorie goals.

I found that at first, it was difficult, but a lot of that "hunger" was just emotional response. I was so used to eating whenever I felt anxious, frustrated or lonely. Now that I am aware of my emotional eating...I do not feel the need to eat all the time. I noticed physical changes after I lost about 30lbs, and other actually noticed around 20lbs. Now that I am about 60lbs down - almost everyone notices if they have not seen me in a while.

My tattoos have not changed at all, though I could see if I had tattoos on my stomach...that might not look so good now with the loose skin.

I've lost 116 lb total. 45 lb before MFP and 71 lb on MFP.

Honestly I have never really felt hungry. But for me that is part of the problem I had before MFP and counting calories and knowing an approximate amount of food I should eat. I just don't really get hunger pangs when I don't eat or eat very little, but it's also hard for me to know when I am full and have eaten enough. Now that I've lost the weight and am used to eating a smaller amount of food, I do get that full feeling...but in the past I could just eat a bunch of pizza and then eat cupcakes and not feel uncomfortably full even then. But I also didn't go looking around for snacks much. I dunno. I gather that I am a bit abnormal in this area.

My original motivation was fear and to a lesser extent, shame. I was used to being 260-270 lb and suddenly was 307 lb and for me that meant shortness of breath on staircases, swelling in my ankles, etc. After 15+ years of being a happy healthy(ish) obese person it freaked me out to be 32 and seeing sudden scary issues like that. The shame was in sometimes finding that even 3X tops were too snug, and having quite a time wedging myself into certain booths or chairs. I would say that my FAVORITE thing about being closer to a normal/healthy weight now is fitting into the world so much better. Those embarrassing moments are no more. I can go into any restaurant, amusement park, or movie theater, and sit comfortable in the booth, ride, or seat. I love that so much!!

It did feel like it took a long time for me to see progress. I started my "journey" (although I HATE that cheesy term for it) in Nov 2008 and I didn't weigh myself until May 2012 at the gyno...but in that time, I worked my freakin' tail off with exercise and I lost just 39 lb during that period. In 4 years or almost. No one commented on the loss or seemed to notice. I had started to wear more 2X shirts and less 3X, but I still wore the same 22 pants and jeans as I did at my heaviest so it was not that noticeable of a loss. However, once I started MFP in March 2013 everything began to change quickly and it was just a few weeks before I noticed a huge difference in the fit of ALL of my clothing and people were commenting right & left. At that time I'd gone from maybe 262 to 255 and already had a noticeable difference.

I don't have large tattoos. The two small ones have not changed, they are on my upper arm and my ankle. I have a larger tattoo on my calf and even though my calves have changed drastically since the beginning and seem much longer and thinner, the tattoo looks the same. If your tats are larger and on your chest, back, or stomach the experience might be different. I think it really varies by person though.

I will add that I do have loose skin. Then again I am 37 and have been over 200 lb (until fairly recently) since I was 15-16 yrs old so that is a VERY long time to carry all of that extra weight and I never expected it to vanish overnight like in weight loss ads. But I will say there are good surprises too. While my upper abdomen and upper arms have a lot of yucky sagging skin/flab still, my lower abdomen is shockingly flat compared to in the past and while my thighs have sag and cellulite - they REALLY aren't as bad as I expected. I had the kind of crazy fat rolls on my back that practically looked like another set of breasts and now my back is flat and "normal". There's no sagging weirdness on my back and it practically happened overnight when I was around 230 lb. To me that is a nice plus. Everyone's gonna have their good and bad areas!

Good luck to you!!!

I have a largish back piece, and it looks the same now. But, the skin on places that used to have more fat, is a completely different story. I have bat-wing arms, and way too much hanging skin on my midsection, for my liking, but it's better than fat

I think I have gotten used to eating less, and so it is my new normal. I strive only to eat one serving of anything at a time, and it works well for me.

I think somewhere around 50 lost is when others started to notice. Everyone compliments me now, and I'm down 81 pounds as of this morning.

We have a private group for people who are 'losing a whole person'. Send me a message, if you'd like to join

Hi Romy! As most have said, the first first months are the hardest as far as being hungry. Many times I felt like I could gnaw my own arm. It does get easier though. I still have some days where I want to eat everything in sight, but most days are easier. The most motivating thing for me the last few months has been clothes lol! I love to shop now, and sometimes I don't even try something on, I just buy it. As far as tattoos, I only have two, but as far as I can tell they look exactly the same.

For me, it began to be easier after about 3 weeks.I think because it was becoming more of a habit to eat less.
One thing that made it easier for me was keeping raw veggies prepped and in the refrigerator for go to snacking. (carrots, celery, radishes, cucumbers and bell peppers, or whatever you like). It made it easier to control hunger without a lot of calories.
I did not tell anyone that I was trying to lose weight. At about 8 weeks, people began to notice and comment. That was a huge motivation and incentive to continue.
It isn't easy. It takes a lot of self control and discipline, but so worth the effort which pays off by feeling and looking better.

Wishing you the very best!

Hi romy. I started at 220lbs. It will be hard. The best advice I can give is don't deprive yourself. If you feel hungry then eat. Junk food is fine in moderation. I always buy junk in single servings. If it isn't there, you cant overdo it. 1500 migh weight be too low. Maybe up it justa bit. Nuts helped me a lot. It will be hard. IIt's a lifestyle change and those are rarely easy. But it gets easier with time. It took a while for me to see progress, but healthy weight loss often does. Good luck. You can do it.