am i wasting my time here? i am 150 pounds overweight

click on the person's avatar . It will take you to their profile and there is an add button

Not wasting your time at all. I know people on here that have lost double of what you need to lose. Stick with MFP, weigh and log ALL your food and drink. Set a resonable calorie goal. Best of luck. You can add me if you like although I didn't have much to lose.

I was diagnosed with type2 diabetes and weighed in at 342 Last Nov 21st. Now with low carb diet and a little excersise I am already 312. It's a long journey but very cool to know others are on here looking for support and community!

you are certainly not wasting your time. This is the place to be. Everyone here is in a similar situation. Yes, the weight loss goals are different, but generally, everyone here wants to be healthy. I've done a couple other of these sites, but this one is by far the most community focused and accepting and supportive. Feel free to add me as a friend if you like. I have to lose almost 130 lbs, so I know how you feel, and I too am a great cheerleader and will be as helpful as I can with anyone who needs support...

Adding friends to your profile means that you and they will see one another's status updates on each other's home page. Any posts you put on your page will show on theirs, similar to how it does on any other social media.

I don't like that approach, for myself, and do not add friends even though I have a support group on MFP. I do it by being a regular poster to the threads on the community page that resonate with me. I bookmark the thread (click the star next to the thread name) and it will show up in your bookmarks (the star at the top of the community pages) and new posts will show up under the bell at the top of the community page. That makes it very easy to go back to that same thread every time.

The reason I do it this way is that I keep my home page as a diary for myself. Much easier to find the things that are meaningful to me as I go along this journey. It took a bit of changing my profile settings to get it the way I want it ... and I've slowly learned a lot about myself, my eating habits ... and made changes that have allowed me to lose about 40 pounds. I still have about 60 pounds to lose to get to my goal ... which will not be the perfect weight for me, but will be the place I want to be for now.

Good luck.

Start slowly. Making drastic changes can be very overwhelming to the mind and body. For example, if you're drinking 8 glasses of soda a day, cut it down by half for a week. Then cut that by half again the week after. Go on until you cut it out completely. Soda is very bad for you anyway, so I won't even advise is as portion control item, but I leave that to you. Do the same thing for processed foods which you're currently consuming. Gradually make changes.

After a month or two, once you have your diet preferences in check, start to include exercising. Walk 3-5x a week for minimum 30 minutes, then gradually increase duration. Continue with other forms of exercises i.e. cycling or running. I have very bad
knees so I use stationery bikes and elliptical (which comes with a seat). Or I walk.

One thing I also learnt in my journey is that not to be overwhelmed by how much you have to loose. Set up mini goals. For example, every 3 months to loose 20lbs. If you keep at it, you will eventually loose what you want in less than 2 years! Sorry my friend, you're not going to loose it over night. After all there is the saying "you did not go to sleep thin and wake up fat, so don't expect to go to bed fat and wake up thin"

FInally make some friends here on MFP. Trust me, they are going to motivate you and keep you in check. I've had friends who would enquire about me when they don't see me logging in. Now that's the support you will need.

I am not perfect, i've been using this tool for the past 4 years. I've dropped off the wagon 3 times but this 4th round, I'm actually seeing some progress.

Don't give up even before you give it a chance.

Sorry for the very long message, but I've been in your shoes, and I am sharing that it is not impossible!!

All the best,
Cinthy

totally not wasting time! you are worth it to work hard and lose the weight you want to lose to be happy and healthy. remember: you ARE worth it!!!! Please don't let anyone ever tell you any different!

Stealing what bainsworth1a says above, you get out of this what you put into it. So yes, if you are just cruising the forums for fun, looking for magic fixes, wanting friends who can spell out your every move for you, and logging what you eat but not learning from it, then it IS a waste of time. BUT, if you log every day, pay attention to what you eat, learn to modify your diet to stay within your macros, learn the benefits of exercise and how it can fit into your daily logging, read through the forums and try things that may work for you, learn from other's experiences, and if wanted, accumulate a group of motivated, supportive friends with the same goals in mind, then NO, it is certainly worth it and NOT a waste of time. See first sentence again!

SbetaK wrote: »

Stealing what bainsworth1a says above, you get out of this what you put into it. So yes, if you are just cruising the forums for fun, looking for magic fixes, wanting friends who can spell out your every move for you, and logging what you eat but not learning from it, then it IS a waste of time. BUT, if you log every day, pay attention to what you eat, learn to modify your diet to stay within your macros, learn the benefits of exercise and how it can fit into your daily logging, read through the forums and try things that may work for you, learn from other's experiences, and if wanted, accumulate a group of motivated, supportive friends with the same goals in mind, then NO, it is certainly worth it and NOT a waste of time. See first sentence again!

^ This, well said @SbetaK‌. I could not have said it any better.

the social benefits of having people like us to talk to is amazing, the world is cruel and unfair. sometimes it is nice to have some real support threw this with outher people that feels and struggles like you do. if you want a friend add me , im new here too