That is awesome. Great job on the weight loss. I am trying to lose 100 pounds that way I will be more healthy for my 2 kids and start try for a 3rd.

Mimzy_me wrote: »

52 now, last year diagnosed with b.cancer and had a top wt. of 356 - by July I was 314 and I dropped to 306. I've done my first mile walking on Mar. 30th this year and did another mile a few weeks later. (walked around inside and outside the Mall, but without a way to track it, can't count it.)

I need to lose about 167 more pounds, but getting down 100 would be great. I'd even take dropping 50 - gotta start somewhere. I've been eating healthier. I'm starting to move more and I can tell that I'm increasing stamina, gaining flexibility and feeling better.

But I'm also dealing with some difficulties. I'm nocturnal, so trying to keep the traditional meal schedule is nearly impossible. I'm having breakfast for dinner, lunch in the middle of the night and it's hard to stick with it. Plus there is the apps. they say that I'm supposed to eat over 2000 calories. That's not easy.

I eat when I'm hungry. A sandwich, fruit and drink. Simple. The less ingredients the better. But it doesn't add up to much either. So I try and add a little cottage cheese. Some yogurt or some of my favorite snacks - green peas, chilled, Chex cereal (rice/corn mostly, plain) grapes, cheese (2 sticks or 4 curds) or almond butter on cinnamon raisin bread.

The biggest issue about getting up to the 2000+ I'm supposed to get, is doing so without making myself sick. How do people eat that much food? But I'm told that I need to at least get 1200 daily, that is doable. But I'm told that for my size that it isn't enough and my body will hang onto the wt. since I'm not eating enough.

So I'm a bit frustrated.

That and the fact that it's hard to walk, exercise and such when your in pain. My ankles hurt bad after and even during walking. I want to do more, but then the pain stops me.
If anyone has suggestions, ideas I would really appreciate it.

Hi welcome to the group. I'm also nocturnal in a way. I work graveyard 5X a week and have an erratic eating schedule as well. In all honesty, unless you have some medical needs for your diet, there really is no reason you have to follow a traditional Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner type of a schedule. I typically eat 2x a in day, once at work between the hours of 3-5am and then again around Noon-2pm.

It's easy to eat way too many calories. A lot of foods are high in calories that you wouldn't suspect to do so, especially drinks. Years ago at my heaviest, I would easily consume my days worth of calories just in liquids during my 1st meal. Using MFP over the past few years has opened my eyes to that. If you don't use a food scale to help in tracking your food intake, I strongly suggest you do. I found out with peanut butter, a typical serving size is 2 tablespoons which roughly equals 32 grams, I would easily be consuming more than I thought since my idea of 2 tablespoons was closer to 3 tablespoons when I began weighing my food intake.

Initially when I started years ago, my only form of exercise was walking. Easy on my joints but boy did my feet hurt. I assumed, and to an extent I was correct, that weight was my biggest culprit. I walked a ton and got some bad blisters. I also have bad ankles with my right one being the worst of the 2. I have bit of osteoarthritis in it and it has a slightly weird bend too. A friend told me that old shoes can be a cause of that and at the time the shoes I was using were pretty worn out. I did a bit of research online to find and buy some new shoes and that's when I discovered running shoes. They make different type of shoes with various widths and sizes for many types of feet. Some people have very high arches and others, like me, have flat feet with no arch. I now only buy what the running shoe industry call motion control/stability type shoes. Usually that are wide, and have very thick soles. To me it made a world of difference with my feet and ankle pain. They can be pricey, I on average spend about 120-140$ on a pair, but it's worth it being able to move about in comfort.

Here's a pretty good resource that covers walking in all aspects
http://walking.about.com/