Hi. New and Scared...

Hey, never give up! This is a great first step. It seems silly, but something as simple ad being aware of what we eat vs what we burn is an empowering tool that puts the control in our hands. ... Or, at least, I hope so lol. I am brand new here too and still figuring it out. God doesn't give us more than our souls can conquer. You undoubtedly have a strong spirit that WILL overcome this huddle. God Bless you.

Add me if you like, I feel we all need support and encouraging words most days.

Hi there! I know all too well about what you're going through. My story is very similar and I also need to lose at least 150 to get to a healthy weight. You can friend me if you like. You can do this!

My glad you decided to reach out and share your story. I know it's hard being so open. Feel free to add me. Support is the key to success

I feel ya in the struggle. You can do this add me and we can get to our goals supporting each other.

I just got here today, too. For what it's worth, I've been up and down and up and down, and the easiest loss I've ever had was following a doctor's order to stop eating white carbs. Brown rice instead of white, whole-grain bread instead of white (that's a bit harder, because so many "whole wheat" breads are mostly white flour - you have to read the ingredients carefully) and no potato chips or candies (I used to regularly stop on the way home for a candy bar or ice-cream bar ...).

Of course, if your doctor had other directions, you follow those! But you can do it.

Eshgheee wrote: »

Hi all,
So my story (cut short) goes something like:
Age 8: 160 lbs
Age 10: 180 lbs
Age 14: 210 lbs and Jenny Craig began as the first of many diet plans...
I'm sure you're getting the drift...I'm 5'5 and as a female who has struggled with losing and gaining weight SO many times I'm tired and sick ...sick and tired of this shadow casted over me due to the weight. I need to lose over 150+ lbs.
I'm asking for anyone out there who can relate and/or willing to support me through this endeavor.
I'm nervous, yet excited. I'm emotional, yet numb. I've begun something that I must finish if I want to live, literally.
I look forward to any replies.
Thank you and God bless.

-me

BTW, From my highest weight, I am down 64 pounds overall with another 55 to go to get to my goal weight. I lost the first 58 and then regained 16 of those. I am 5'4" tall and will be 49 years old. I have some quirky neuro deficits due to a brain aneurysm in 2001 after which I had 2 strokes. So, I can empathize.

I have only been on MFP for 101 days. I am a newbie too. My last bloodwork showed improvements in my cholesterol and A1C after only 9 weeks on MFP. So, even when the weight loss is small the payoffs can be big.

My feeling is that if I can hang with it on MFP then anyone can! Believe it or not, it starts to be fun.

Smiles again,
Em

My advice is to think of this as a lifestyle change rather than something temporary. And lifestyle changes don't happen all at once.

In my opinion, people have the greatest success in changing their lifestyle when they take it one step at a time. Do each step until it feels so "normal" that you don't really think about it, then add another step. This is true for many things in life.

For you, the first step I would do is just eat as you normally do but log everything you eat. Do this for a couple of weeks or more to get a feel for where your problem areas are. For example, I've learned that I'm a night snacker and I eat most of my calories from dinner onwards. Recognizing this allowed me to tailor my eating so that I reserve extra calories for evening and can 'get my fix'. Making the switch to smaller breakfasts was hard at for me at first, but now I'm so used to it that I don't really notice it. Logging will also help you see if there are any easy fixes, such as skipping that latte or afternoon chocolate bar (my weakness in the past!). Also, I was shocked to learn just how crazy high in calories some foods were (tip: don't eat anything at Starbucks!!). You really can't get a good idea of where to go without knowing where you are, and too many people have no idea how much they are eating or their patterns of eating.

Next, I would start to slowly ramp down your calories. Yes, this will add some time to your weight loss journey, but you are already looking at a year or more so what's a couple more months if it helps keep you on the straight and narrow? For us North Americans, our eating patterns are largely habit and habits can be changed, bit by bit. Try too much at once, and we long to go back to "normal". It's tempting to jump right in, but going from 3000 calories a day to 1200 in one step is setting yourself up for failure, IMO. Even if your first calorie goal is above your maintenance needs (thus, technically you would still be gaining weight, but not as fast), the point here is to get used to eating less and eating differently. Play around with the "calorie economy" and become familiar with it. By slowly ramping down your goal, you won't notice the missing food as much.

Best of luck to you!

It is never too late. I am 58 years old and I have been overweight most of my life. Like you I have gone through various diets, such as Weight Watchers. I finally found that the best for me is having a fitness tracker connected to My Fitness Pal. I started with a Fitbit, using their website, then got a Misfit which I now use and connect to this site. I use the Misfit because it is waterproof. A couple of weeks ago I had a cardiac stent placed in my LAD artery due to a 90% blockage, with all other arteries being 50 - 60% blocked. It made me realize that I really need to take care of myself. I always was a meat and potatoes person, so now I changed over to a vegetarian diet. I needed a drastic change so I can go on living a good life, but for others a much smaller change will give great results. You just need to find what works best for you. I have lost 36 pounds, with 34 to go.

Just keep up the logging of food, increase your exercise and use the moral support on this website.