I need a miracle

Hi I'm Jacqui and have also been battling my weight for, well, forever. I'm 50 and am having some success, along with the good and bad days that we all suffer. I'll send a separate friend request which I hope you'll accept as you sound like you are of a similar person to me. Good Luck for the journey you are about to start.

While I can't say I have lost a 100 pounds (yet!) that is pretty close to my goal. I have lost 52 pounds since October. This is after getting bad news in about September of last year that I was considered "borderline" for diabetes. My wife has it...and I didn't want it and knew I had to make changes.

Here's how I've done it so far:
1) To get a good START on losing weight, I focused on only ONE of my macros. I chose to make it fat as we learened in a diabetes prevention class at my local YMCA that for the same weight, fat requires the most energy expenditure to burn. (If you are also pre-diabetic, you might consider checking with your local YMCA to see if they offer the class..I know it was free through my employer's healthcare provider but I'm not sure if the class is free...or if the health insurance was paying for it in hopes of keeping me from being "more expensive" to the company later. You'll be with others, set goals, weigh-in and have at least short-term free access to the Y's equipment.)
2) Once you hit your first "magic number" goal (say around 10-15 pounds) STOP obsessing about that macro. Some people are really good at getting all the numbers to line up without feeling deprived but most of us aren't. If you are burning more calories than you are eating...overall...it really won't matter too much in the end if you overdo on sodium or carbs or fat or sugar or yadda yadda yadda unless you have a specific medical reason to watch more than just calories. Make your focus now keeping your numbers "in the green" for most of the week. Since MFP is setup to give you a calorie deficit everyday based on your activity level and weight loss goals, if you're in the green, even if it's "just barely" you will see weight loss.
2) Get used to logging what you eat...everything you eat. I have not been able to be one of those people who use food scales..but I do try and come up with a good estimate of what I'm eating and use the trackers here in MFP to help me hit my goals.
3) Become more active. I am not a gym rat...but I do make sure now that I have no days where I have zero activity. If you have a gym at the office, use it during breaks...treadmill for 10 minutes three times a day = 30 minutes activity....just like recommended. If you can do that 5 days a week, you will see pounds start to drop.
4) Change up your activities so you don't get bored. Walk/jog outside...instead of the treadmill..if weather's nice. Do stepper instead of elliptical.. go swimming..lift weights..play tennis/basketball..etc etc etc. Mixing up the ways you get active will help you not get tired of any one thing.
5) Don't look at one day in the red as the "end" of your efforts. Many weeks I have a day that's in the red and still lose weight. MFP builds in a deficit..unless I have a huge calorie bomb one of the days, I still have a deficit and I still lose weight. In other words, I come in at around 600 calories under if I'm in the green. Let's assume that I'm OVER 3 days of the four by 200 calories. I would still have the equivalent of 600*4 or 2400 calories UNDER for the week...my loss might be less than it would with the full 4200 calories under but I'm still losing. Don't sabotage your overall goals with a binge or by giving up because you think you "blew it" one day.
6) It's OK to have "junk" food if you look at it in terms of budgeting for it in your day.. Extra exercise = more I get to eat. WHAT I choose to eat in those calories is up to me..yeah I can eat a whole lot more spinach than ice cream for 200 calories but when I want ice cream, that's what I want.

Good luck...and go get 'em

HI and welcome to MFP. I love this place (I may break into a country song here :laugh:)

These are a few things I learned along the way.

1. No one at the gym, park, neighborhood or track, are looking at you. They are thinking “Man, I ought to get out there too!!”

2. Modify. Any exercise can be done at any stage of strength, you just have to modify. Don’t say “I can’t” say MODIFY…….cannot do a full out squat? Go ½ down. Don’t worry about finishing the whole video, or doing the steps right……..YOUR DOING MORE THAN BEFORE!! Woot!!

3. Make friends for support. MFP friends will ALWAYS want to hear how you walked 2 steps further than yesterday. Encouraging others was KEY in my life change, and sticking to it.

4. Eat to live, don’t live to eat.

5. Measure all your food.

6. Eat at least ½ your exercise calories each day.

7. WHEN you plateau keep going. That pound you are waiting to lose may be just around the corner, but that binge stopped it! Give your body time to adjust.

8. Strength training is awesome!!

9. Send me money……..Oh wait…….that isn’t part of the plan, but it sure would be nice!! LOL

10. You never know when a medical emergency is going to occur. IF you are eating right, exercising more, you will have a greater chance at full recovery. (I had heart surgery and it went well, and recovery was quick!)

11. When you screw up (and you will) go back to step one!!!

12. You are not the sum of someone else's words.

13. You CAN do it!

with seven months under my belt, and 100 lbs gone, this is my advice (please note, I am not a dietician or a doctor. Just a guy who lost weight)

1) Get a food scale and measuring cup - this will help keep all of your portions under control and let you accurately log your food.

2) Always log your food - Log EVERYTHING you put into your body. EVERYTHING

3) Get some exercise - even if it is just 10 minutes of walking for the day, try to do something

4) Find your Calorie nitch - Even though MFP will tell you what you should be, make adjustments where you can and want. According to most people, I take in much less than I should for my height and weight (about 1200-1300 a day). However, I feel fine and I will adjust accordingly if I feel tired.

5) Stay hydrated - I ended up in the hospital within the 2nd month of weight loss. This was because I had not taken in the right amount of water for the amount of exercising.

6) Listen to your body. - Dont push too hard. Dont ignore symptoms. Always listen to what your body is telling you on pain and hunger.

7) Eat often - try to eat 5-6 meals a day. It keeps your system burning and metabolizing foods.

First of all, I'm adding you to my prayer list. God can do amazing things and prayer is powerful. Lean into Him.

Secondly, congratulations on starting. Sometimes that is the hardest part. There are hundreds of people on this board that have started from similar and more perilous situations. They all did it the same way, hard work, diet, and exercise. There are no short cuts but it works. Keep after it and good luck.