I am Super Morbidly Obese according to my DR.

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  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
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  • ShannonMpls
    ShannonMpls Posts: 1,936 Member
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    Welcome. I weighed more than 300 pounds in June of 2011. I hit a healthy BMI in September of 2012 and have been maintaining ever since. You can do this, and MFP is a great tool to get you there.
  • jkestens63
    jkestens63 Posts: 1,164 Member
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    A label is just a label. I had the same one put on me and it didn't matter because I always felt I was sexy and cute despite my weight, was healthy, and had plenty of friends/boyfriends. It wasn't until my weight affected my health and my lifestyle that I made the commitment to change. I'm still trying to reach my goal weight and I don't care if it takes another 2 years. As long as I don't give up, I won't fail. You will have ups and downs, its going to be hard but if you stick with it, you will love the new you. Feel free to add me as a friend!
  • bethira
    bethira Posts: 132 Member
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    I was 300+ lbs when I started this. I don't actually know my top weight because my scale wouldn't go over 300. I count my loss from 300 because that was the first weight I could verify on a scale (I wouldn't go to the doctor, I was too embarrassed). This has not been an easy road, and I'm still on it, will be for life, but MFP has been a great forum for me. It has kept me accountable, and the occasional infusion of bro-science aside has taught me how to be truly healthy in what I eat and now I move.

    Please feel free to friend me. I log daily (even the ones I don't want to admit to). I'd be happy to help with your journey and I'm always looking for a new friend to help me on mine!
  • Flyers1010
    Flyers1010 Posts: 71 Member
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    Welcome! You've taken several really important first steps already, including joining this community of people who want to live a healthy and fulfilling life.

    The support here is amazing. Be sure to come to the Community as often as you need to, to stay motivated and on track to making your life healthier and happier! Best of luck!

    Feel free to add me as a friend. We are all cheering for you!!! :-)
  • jkestens63
    jkestens63 Posts: 1,164 Member
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    I have three suggestions:

    1. The best advice I can think of is to add healthy habits to and delete unhealthy habits from your life, bit by bit. You don't have to do it all at once. That can get overwhelming and lead someone to just throw in the towel. Also, small accomplishments feel good and reinforce how well you are doing. Small accomplishments add up to big successes over time.

    So, try doing a little bit at a time. Identify your biggest downfalls and tackle one at a time. Such as: Drink soda? Give that up. (I have a friend who gave up caloric drinks for Lent and lost 15 lbs in 40 days - this could be you). Don't exercise? Start taking 15-30 minute walks as tolerated. Love eating junk for dinner? Start off your new, healthy lifestyle by having salmon and steamed broccoli for dinner one night per week. Once you've mastered something new, and made it a permanent part of your life, move on to the next thing. You did not get "super morbidly obese" in one day, and you won't get to a normal weight in one day, either. Pacing yourself is the key to success. Being healthy takes time and training - you can't start at a sprint. Considering that you weigh more than 300 lbs, small changes that you make are going to result in a pretty quick weight loss. Speaking of training...

    2. It is important to train your brain to be positive and healthy. This is the corniest thing ever, but my MD's APRN, who is working with me on my weight loss, taught me this technique, and it works 100% for me. This is how you train your brain:

    When you eat healthy food, think to yourself "this tastes amazing, and is so good for me, I am awesome, look at me getting healthier", etc. When you eat something that you shouldn't, think to yourself, "this does not taste as good as I remember it, this is not making me healthier, I really do not want to eat this again." It sounds silly, but if you try to eat good food instead of junk food, and you reinforce your choices with this sort of brain training, you will feel better about yourself, and find that it is easier to make better choices in the future. You can do the same thing with exercise, such as by thinking when you exercise: "it feels so good to be out in the fresh air, I feel healthier day by day, I can feel my body getting stronger and slimmer with exercise, I really enjoy exercising, I am good at this".

    And finally,

    3. Question whether you really know what it will take reach your goals. I don't mean for this to be offensive. In fact, I will openly admit that when I started my weight loss journey, I was morbidly obese and I had little understanding of what it would take to become the healthy person I wanted to be. I could not do it on my own. I went to a nutritionist to learn how I needed to eat to be a healthy person, and started reading books to learn about how I could use exercise to meet my weight and fitness goals.

    Considering meeting with a nutritionist, going to Weight Watchers, or taking other steps that make sense to you, in order to learn how to go about getting healthy in a sustainable and safe fashion. Also consider health issues that you may have, and how they might impact your plans. I started my journey as a T2 diabetic and worked with an endocrinologist to get that under control with diet and medicine. For me, it was either stick to a low carb diet or learn to get really comfortable with insulin and needles.

    THIS IS SOME GREAT ADVICE!!
  • laurajo521
    laurajo521 Posts: 91 Member
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    Welcome. Signing up here and asking for support is a great first step. You can find a lot of support here and a lot of helpful folks.

    I have a lot of weight to lose to and I want to throw a few ideas out there for you.
    1. Think in terms of little goals, because when you are morbidly obese the number of pounds you need to lose can get scary. I only focus on 5% or 10% at a time. When I lose 10%, I will set my new goal. I'll know when I feel good and want to stop.

    2. Definitely see a dietitian. They can offer a lot of great advice and help you look at food differently, plus they can set a calorie goal with you.

    3. If any little part of the reason you are overweight has to do with psychological issues, you should set up an appointment with a therapist and work through that with him or her as well. So many people never get to the psychological issues surrounding why they are overweight, and they don't have success because of it. This was the best thing that I've ever done in my life. I had to learn to love myself and develop a healthy relationship with food before I could focus on the rest.

    Don't act like you're on a diet and don't eat like you're dieting. You have to come up with a plan that will work for you the rest of your life if you want to keep the weight off.

    We're here for you! I know you've got this!
  • Flyers1010
    Flyers1010 Posts: 71 Member
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    Oh - and try not to forget that it's a marathon, not a sprint. Every healthy change you make today will have a ripple effect a year from now and beyond. Try to look at the big picture when the changes feel like they are coming too slowly.
  • NessaReh85
    NessaReh85 Posts: 140 Member
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    Hi,

    You are most definitely not alone. I am currently obese as well. I need to lose about 60lbs to get where I want to be. 80 lbs to get the where "WebMD" says I should be based on my height. Which I think is a load because they base that on weight, not on body structure as well. Anyway, I hear ya. Logging everything does help. Feel free to add me. I'll help support you on your journey to a smaller you.