Folks with 100lbs or more to lose

Good morning all,

When I started my weight loss journey I weighed 559 pounds. I am on track to have bariatric surgery and have to get to 500 pounds before I can have it done. I am in a situation where I am doing well now losing the weight to get to my 500 pound goal but I know from my history, losing 350 pounds on without some assistance is not feasible, as som,e have said, it is the surgery or young death.

I started using My fitness Pal when I was at 552 lbs. Using the tracker, limiting my callorie intake and moving more, I lost 34 pounds in 6 weeks. Doing this before surgery is helping me prepare for the way I will have to eat after surgery to make it successful.

I am always looking for more friends who truely understand the struggles to lose and maintain weight loss (and know what it feels like to be passed by that superfit person running up the hill I can barely walk up). Reading your stories and struggles really motivates and inspires me to keep going. Sometimes in the journey it really feels like I am alone and having a forum like this is a huge help.

I live by the motto: "I have not failed because I have not quit trying."

I'm printing that out and putting it up EVERYWHERE!

Hello everyone,

I am in my early 20's and I too have well over 100 lbs to lose, and being 5'2 doesn't help me much. I have always been overweight since I can remember. I think the last time I wore a pair of jeans that was not in the size 20 range I was in middle school. I was doing a low calorie diet and exercise in 2012 where I had went from 290 to 235 but then I got comfortable in a relationship and got pregnant and had a baby this past year, needless to say through hormones and emotions I ate my way to a little over 300 lbs. Now that my son is 6 months old I think I am more than ready to get this weight off of me so I can become healthy and more active for not only myself but my son. I don't want to be the mom that has a hard time playing with her little one because of her weight. I am starting all over, on day 3. Eating low calorie and trying to be more active in the house (cleaning and DVD's). I wish the best for everyone. I am always open to new motivating supportive friends!

Hello,

This is my second attempt at using this service. The first time I tried to use the tools but didn't really engage with the community, and I think that was a big mistake, this time I want to really go all in. I started again a couple of weeks ago, and I am really motivated right now, but I know that when that motivation starts to wane I'm gonna need a community to help me along.

I am 35 years old right now and was weighing 360 pounds. I have now gotten down to 340, but still have about 140 pounds to lose... I know this is going to be a long road, but I really have to do this.

I've always been very shy and speaking in public forums like this one is not really something I am used to. But I'm hoping to make some friends here that share similar goals, and hopefully we can all help each other reach our goals.

I'm currently working with a low-carb diet that reduces my carb intake to under 50 per day and maintains a good balance of lean fat and protein with lots of veggies for the rest of my food. I was worried that there would be hunger related to it but thankfully, I have been feeling full most of the time. The majority of the food I'm eating is home-made, with some exceptions on days when there is absolutely no time or when I have to eat out with clients. I'm also exercising at least three times a week, most weeks trying to workout 4-5 times. The exercise at this weight can be tricky for me, as the weight really puts a good amount of stress on my joints but I've found routines that allow me to get a decent workout in without risking any injury.

Recently I reached a small goal I had which was to be able to jog for two minutes straight in the middle of my walk. I know it sounds really tiny but when I first started I couldn't even finish my 3 mile walk without slowing down to almost a crawl at some point in it. So I am happy about this goal, and will continue to slowly build towards being able to jog more.

I have plenty more weight to lose and right now I am in a major stall. Trying to keep focused to obtain my goal weight. It's very hard to exercise and not see the scales going down. Please feel free to add me I could use a little motivation as well.

Anyone can add me! I have well over 100 lbs to lose!

I started my weight loss journey July 17th. I weighed 389lbs at the time. I was border line diabetic and on hypertension meds. Every time I went to the doctor I was getting my medicine increased. Being obese was killing me. We went on a family camping trip and when i saw how I looked in the photos I couldnt stand it anymore and had to make a change. I had two choices.. I could get bariatric surgery or I could do it the old fashioned way. I was very tempted by the surgery because our insurance would pay for it in full and I certainly qualified. But I wanted to really try to do it on my own first. I did research and found many folks that had done it without surgery. There are lots of awesome transformation videos on youtube. I wanted to find that kind of success! I currently do carb cycling, intermittent fasting, and strength training as my primary tools. I also do some cardio but mainly focus on the weights. Im down to 295 now and have 70 to go to reach my goal weight of 225. I would love to hear from more folks with similar situations. I also would love to hear from folks that have had the various surgeries done as well. My wife is getting the sleeve done this summer.

Hi,

I was 363 pounds and have now reached 197. Took over 10 months on one-meal-a-day. I, too, had bad hypertension and kept upping the meds, which barely worked before finally not working much at all. My knees hurt, ankles hurt, and I despised how I towered over everyone in the photos (being 6'4 made me quite intimidating) not to mention the snide comments I kept getting. And like you, I finally got sick to death of the whole mess and decided I had to make changes...

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1241325-how-to-do-one-meal-a-day-the-basics

You are doing great, my friend. You may find your goal weight changing in time, but every little step is a step forward. I've switched from 245, to 215, to 205, to now 190. But really, I'm happy here and don't care as I'm more in maintenance than anything else. Still, lifestyle changes change you forever. I'll never go back to the old sloth I was.

If I can offer any advice or support, just add me.

Hi,
I also considered weight loss surgery, but like someone else said, didn't feel i had tried the old fashioned way. My starting weight was 275lbs at 5'4. (125lbs from the top end of my healthy weight range) Since then, i've lost about 77lbs. I set myself a goal of 100lbs in one year. (July is the one year mark) I'm not sure i'll reach that goal at my current rate of 6lbs a month loss, but i'll sure be close! I'm looking to add friends, so feel free to send requests

Hi all, I'm seeking friends to help with motivation.
I had got myself down to 245 back when I was 20, which was really great for me considering it was 120 lbs lower than my highest weight, and I had the body of a weightlifter (which was what I was doing).
Fast forward nearly 10 years with most of them behind a desk and computer, and I've put it all back on.

So I'm trying to get back on track and lose all this weight! I want to be able to run around with my youngest when he's old enough to (3 months now) and to provide a good example for my older two (10 and 8).

Hi, I'm Katherine and I have about 187 more pounds to lose before I hit my goal weight of 140 pounds, though I'd be happy being 180-200 right now which is still a hefty 127 pounds. I just hated not being able to run around and be as hyper as my mind is! I wanted to be able to walk a mile with my boyfriend without complaining. When I have kids one day I want to be able to keep up. I wanted to love my body when I saw a picture of myself and didn't have to take it at an angle before I was happy with it.

I have had PCOS since I was around 11 years old and it has caused so many problems for me, I've been 200+ since about 5th grade and I've found the best way to combat my PCOS is with weight loss. Everyone kept telling me to try to get some kind of surgery done but I really wanted to do it myself. And with baby steps I'm losing weight already, even 1-3 pounds is something for me to cheer for now!

I started at 340, am at 327 now and still losing WITHOUT exercise! I'm starting to walk 1/2 a mile about 4-5 times a day!

My total goal is somewhere between 170 and 190 pounds to lose. I've lost 59 lbs so far but have added some muscle, too. I go to the gym 3 - 5 times per week and do cardio and strength training. I've been very frustrated over the last few months because my weight loss has slowed way down. But then I looked back where I came from . . .

I'm 44 and have mild arthritis in my knees and plantar fasciitis in both feet (much worse in the left than in the right). A year ago, I could hardly walk because of the pain in my knees and feet. I would sit as much as possible because I didn't want to feel the pain of walking. I had to walk down the stairs backwards because it hurt too much to walk down facing forward.

Today (almost a year later . . . April 21 will be a year), I generally do between 6500 and 10,000 steps a day. I can do 45 minutes on an elliptical (treadmill still hurts my feet too much). I can run up and down the stairs.

Right now, I'm fighting the urges to go back to my old habits. But, every day, I get up and do it again. I'm eating much better but I don't even try to eat clean. I eat the foods that I like but in moderation. But, I do try to eat more protein, I have switched to a kefir smoothie and a hard boiled egg for breakfast (instead of a bagel with butter and peanut butter). I eat salads for lunch most days. And, I try to have fruit on hand.

I have four kids at home - 15, 13, 10 and 4. I want to be around for them and I want to be a good example for them. The oldest and youngest are overweight. Now that spring has sprung, I'm trying to make sure I get outside with them at night and on the weekends. I want to encourage them but I need to be a good example first.

Thank you for that. I deal almost daily with someone telling me I took the easy route. I just laugh and go on. I know how I feel and what circumstances I take. I have never been a huge eater and I have always enjoyed walking yet I put the weight on. I weighed 120 when I found out I was pregnant with my first child and with every pregnancy the weight blossomed on. I couldnt lose it. After my stroke it was crazy out of control. I workout 4/5x a week now and am currently down 111lbs since November. I feel great for the first time in over 20 yrs.

My biggest concern with surgery for me was that if I couldn't learn to control my eating before, what would keep the weight from coming back on after the surgery. It wasn't offered to me and I didn't ask. I'm glad that it is working for you and do not judge you at all. Those are some scary health concerns that you had . . . I have been fortunate in that my health was fairly good (my joints weren't . . . but cholesterol was ok, no diabetes, no heart problems and no blood pressure issues).

Hi Everyone: I have a just under 100 lbs I would like to lose. This is going to feel like a plug, but it isn't. I went to a talk to other night by Dr. Arya Sharma who is an obesity expert in Canada (if you have chance to see him go, it was fantastic) and part of what he talked about wasn't weight loss itself but why we gain weight, why salt affects blood pressure, etc. The biggest thing I got from his talk wasn't about losing weight but about stopping the gain. So anyone who is not seeing the scale move downwards, you are still successful. Think about if you had not been doing anything at all. Chances are you would have continued to gain. But you haven't. You are successful by just trying. This isn't a lifestyle, it is your life. Style is something you wear. Good luck everyone.

My initial goal is to lose 100, then probably another 30 or so beyond that. I've never been a healthy weight since about third grade, so I have no idea what it will look or feel like. Closest was around my wedding, I was still considerably overweight (I'm only barely 5'2" on a good day) but it was my lowest adult weight since I graduated high school and I felt great. It was about 30 pounds away from my ultimate goal, but I then stopped trying for a variety of reasons and gained it all back plus interest. :sad:

Last summer I hit within three pounds of the weight I was when I gave birth. And that was scary enough when I was pregnant. I whittled a few pounds off, but the real wake-up call happened around Christmas. I was sick and tired of being sick and tired and decided to go in for a physical and get all the bad news (better to track progress and success, right?), and surprise, surprise- Diabetes. I had been flirting with that line for years (and over it when pregnant) so it was only a matter of time. But talk about a wakeup call. That is when I got more serious and started using MFP (again).

So this initial goal of 100 will get me a bit below the wedding weight, since it's my best point of reference at the moment. I might need as much as 30-40 pounds beyond that, depending on how things are, but as you guys know, 100 lbs. gone would be an amazing thing in and of itself no matter how far beyond that you still need to go. If you are in it for the long (long, looong) haul like me, feel free to add.

One more thing... we get enough judgment from people out there in real life. I'm on here to get and (hopefully) give support. If someone asks my opinion or help I try to be as straight and honest as possible but in the end you are you and I am me and we are all taking our own routes down the same journey, My point is... I don't care if you have had surgery or not, or if you are eating paleo, low carb, South Beach, WW, Atkins, Cabbage Soup Diet, Grapefruit Diet, Donut Diet, Avocado-and-Banana Diet, whatever. I don't care if you run marathons or can't get to the corner of your block without a rest. If you are eating 2,000, 1500, 1200 cals a day, it's all good. Even if you are trying to do it on 500 (good luck with that one, I've been there and it wasn't fun nor the smartest move I've ever made), I WILL NOT JUDGE YOU. (I WILL ride your *kitten* about it, but I won't judge you. Just saying.)

DucklingtoSwan (Margaret)