NEED TO LOSE 120LB NEED HELP!

I started off at 294 in September. I am now at 214. I record my food here on MFP and I go to Overeater's Anonymous. I have lost weight before but I know that cannot keep it off without a 12 step program. My doctor gave me a plan of eating and I work out every day. I am sure that many folks here will give you advice. Since you are male, I will not share the specifics of what I am doing as I think that men's and women have different nutritional needs.

Even when you're sitting at your desk, you can move your legs under the desk. Actually, to prevent blood clots, you should be getting up every so often to move around and get the circulation going. Most jobs give you a 15 minute break every 4 hours, so you can use that time to take a short walk, stretch, and get your body used to motion.

HELLO I AM 28YRS OLD 300LB AND I AM 5'6 I NEED TO LOSE WEIGHT I NEED ADVICE / HELP...
I DONT KNOW HOW TO MANAGE MY WORK SCHEDULE SO THAT I CAN DIET AND WORKOUT.

I HAVE A DESK JOB AND AM SITTING MOST OF THE TIME

SUN- 6PM-6AM
MON- 6PM-6AM
TUE- 10PM-6AM
WED- 2PM-10PM
THU- OFF
FRI- OFF
SAT- OFF

IM NOT SURE HOW TO WORK OUT A DIET ON MY WORK SCHEDUEL IF ANY ONE CAN HELP ME COME UP WITH A ROUTINE I WOULD BE SO THANKFUL. WHEN SHOULD I SLEEP WHEN SHOULD I EAT AND WHEN SHOULD I WORK OUT?

I WILL CONSUME ANYTHING YOU TELL ME TO AND I WILL MAKE SURE TO KEEP TRACK OF CALORIES!

This is not a bad schedule really. Night workers do sometimes have issues to deal with eating at night and such.

Exercise routine could be something like:

Monday - REst
Tuesday - try to get in some exercise before you go to work. Nothing long or heavy
Wednesday- REst
Thursday, Friday and Saturday are wide open.

Excercise at first does not have to be strenuous. Try to find something you enjoy doing. Just move.

Weight loss does NOT require exercise, but it does help... Just lower your intake. Eliminate empty calories and eat things that are nutritious. Most obese people (I started out at 344 and 6'3" - morbidly obese)... are also malnourished.. This is because they are missing elements of wholesome food. They eat snack cakes, chips and ice cream in lieu of real foods... Therefore, the body is HUNGRY because it still lacks the protein and vitamins it needs to thrive. Eat smart and move when you can. Best wishes on your every success.

Congratulations on starting your journey! As so many people have talked about exercise, I thought I would talk more about diet.
It is my experience that I only lose weight by diet. Exercise is good for toning but does nothing for my weight if I don't eat well.

My diet is simple to do but restrictive. I read both the labels and the nutritional chart on all food. I do not eat anything with added suger in the ingredients. I am losing anywhere from 4 to 6 pounds per week for the last 3 weeks and my body is not slowing down. My health is improving, my moods are calmer, and my skin is clearer.

I also do not take any sweetner. No honey, no agave syrup, no splenda or steveia! The idea is that trying to keep your food sweet will make you crave sweets and sugar. So I have removed all products with added sugar. Now that being said I eat a lot of fruit and veggies, nut, and meat. However, a lot of processed meat like smokies, sausages, and bacon have added sugar. All sauces have added sugar.

I find myself making my own food from scratch to avoid sugar but it is paying off big time for me. I think it will for you too. I look forward to hearing more about your progress!

Here's my suggestion for how you can get started: Make a list of changes, and tackle them one at a time.

I suggest your first change be to build a habit of weighing, measuring and logging everything you eat. If you've never done it before, this can seem very burdensome, so give yourself a chance to get used to it. This will also require that you prepare all your own food until you get good at estimating (that could take months). Do this for 2-4 weeks - or until it feels like it's just part of your routine - before adding another change.

Your next change should be to tackle your bad eating habits. I suggest you break this into pieces too. Do you have a soda, candy, fast-food, or other high-calorie habits? Break these habits, one at a time, by not doing them for 2-4 weeks each (in addition to weighing, measuring and logging your food while you go).

After you've broken all your major bad habits, you need to pick a diet. This is going to take some research. And you should probably ask your doctor for some guidance. The simplest is calorie deficit. MFP has guidance on how to determine how many calories you need and low your deficit should be start losing weight. You should also read up on low-carb diets (this includes anything from 100 g/day to 20 g/day). Carbs have a big impact on appetite and your body's ability to burn fat, so even if you're not going that route, it's a good idea to understand what's going on there.

Begin your diet and stick with it for several weeks until you're following all your rules (logging your food, avoiding the bad habits, meeting your calorie/protein/fat/carb goals) for about 80%-90% of the time (there's no need to seek perfection on this).

All those steps above are about building a foundation of good habits. I've gone on many diets in the last 15 years, and every one that failed left me with at least one good habit. Over time, those habits helped me build a foundation that I think is making my current diet effort much easier than any of the others. Plan for the possibility that your diet might fail, that you'll fall off the wagon. If you put in the time to make these good habits, then it will get much easier to start again.

After you've reached that 80-90% compliance rate, that's the time to add exercise. The best exercise is the kind you can do regularly. I walk to work, because I only live a mile away and it's easy to work that 25-minute walk into my schedule. I also swim, because I love doing it. Find exercises that you love, that you can stick with. This may mean trying a few different routines. You may find that your schedule is wonderful for exercise, because your workout time will likely be during hours that the gyms are not particularly busy.

any suggestions on when to eat and sleepy?

you need to make some decisions yourself and use some common sense. You've been given some good advice (other than the meal timing and cutting good out) count your calories eat at a reasonable calorie deficit and you'll lose weight. It does not need to be complicated. If you can exercise fine if not as long as your eating at a deficit you'll still lose weight. Be consistent and it'll work you don't have to drastically change your diet to start with though after a while you may wish to as you learn about food

I agree with JRose, don't aim for perfection from day 1. Try a couple of weeks at your current plan, hitting your calorie goal and then later worry about how many calories should come from protein, carbs etc.

Sorry didn't read other comments but we are similar heights and age im 29 5ft 5 and I have a very variable routine as I do school runs and stay at home yet everyday I have something to do, I would focus firstly on eating at deficit so if you put all stats into MFP it will tell you how much you need to eat depending on how much you want to lose per week , I aim for 0.5lbs a week as I don't have a lot to lose , I find preparation is my saviour I make easy to grab snacks that are low cal I eat chocolate and everything else but I try and keep snacks to minimum calories where possible and a good protein breakfast as this keeps me full til lunch feel free to add me if you want

From what I have been reading on the forums... I doesn't matter what time you eat as long as you dont go over your calories for the day... Interesting indeed... Does anyone Disagree?

Not at all. You seem really sharp. I know you can do this

I agree with the previous poster. Continue if it works for you, but I found it odd that you would wake up to eat just four hours after going to sleep. My personal preference would be to sleep like a log or watch tv :laugh: Would you consider packing a "lunch" for work? Like fatdoob said this is really coming down to preference and how you want to shape your nutrition, provided you're staying within your calories you will lose weight no problem

I'm not an expert, however, eating big leafy salads such as the Organic Spring Mix from your local grocer is phenomenal. All of your vitamins and nutrients are there. Eat it without dressing or squeeze a lemon or lime over it. Quick and simple. The citrus helps boost metabolism and aides in digestion...the salad will also help you feel full.

Drink lots of water. Before any meal, drink an entire glass of water.

Do not eat after 7 pm. Fill your plate half full of veggies (cooked at home either without butter or eat simply raw) and fist sized portion of fish or chicken.

Cut out dairy, white junk (white rice, white bread, pasta, sugary cereals, muffins, etc.), soda, alcohol, fast food and all sweets.

My aunt lost 70 pounds rather quickly by simply eating lean cuisine and drinking only water. She is your size and has the same lifestyle. Walk. Wherever you go, park far and walk. Take the stairs. Stand at your desk when you can - it burns more calories.

Do not eat at your desk!

Look for and make the opportunity for movement each day, throughout the day!

Much of this is really bad advice.