Turning 25, 340lbs, and trying to change my life... I need tips!

Awesome! You can definitely do this. Best decision I ever made was buying a food scale and weighing all my solids and measuring all my liquids in a measuring cup. I literally weigh everything, even packaged fruit bars that are 45 calories. I found things are rarely the weight they are supposed to be. My bread is always 20 calories more than if I'd just gone by two slices is 120 on the package. Weighing seemed cumbersome at first but now it's pretty quick and kinda fun. I bring my scale to the office even. I eat all the things I love as long as it fits into my calories for the day. I find getting enough fiber, protein, and far keep me full the longest. Slow and steady wins the race and you'll get there!

You take it one day at a time. Slow and steady wins the race. I've lost 60 pounds over the last 10 months I still have a ways to go. I'm 40 and have been over weight for the last 18 years. I tried every diet out there, but would give up when I didn't see results quick enough. I've made up my mind now that it's time to take my life back and for me to be happy again, and it's happening right now.
Start by making small changes, like before I started this weight loss I stopped drinking sweet tea everyday and put Splenda in my coffee instead of sugar. I only drink water these days and lots of it. You should try to drink half of your body weight in ounces of water a day to flush yourself out but no more then a gallon and a half a day. I try to stay at 1200 calories a day and I allow myself one cheat day a week to have what ever I want. This is for me how I have manged to stay going strong. It gives me something to look forward to. Try to start by walking 10mins a day until you can go to 30. At first I had a very hard time with working out, now i'm stronger then I have ever been. You can do this I know you can. You made up your mind and yes it will take time, but every good food choice you make will help you get there quicker. Remember we all fail so days but we get u and start over just don't give up! What Iv'e learned that helped me the most is that protein will be your best friend and carbs will keep you from losing weight. Fat does not make you fat sugar does and once you take that out of your diet the weight will start falling off I promise you.
Good luck,
Jenny

I think good ideas are:
1. eat distinct meals, don't snack - you will eat more by snacking
2. eat nutritious foods - will help control cravings and crowd out room for bad foods
3. limit refined carbs - the resulting insulin high and then blood sugar low will make you really hungry and you will eat more
4. Eat at a deficit - I think intermittent fasting is the easiest way since fasting acts like an appetite suppressant and helps reduce insulin resistance and high insulin levels which promote fat storage and inhibit fat loss.
5. Be careful with artificial sweeteners. Although your blood sugar won't go up, some can elicit an insulin response from what I've read.
6. Drink lots of water
7. Get good sleep - will give you more will power and you will be able to exercise better. Reduces cortisol. High cortisol can increase insulin levels.
8. Exercise - don't injure yourself!
9. Be patient it will take awhile but will be worth it. Don't do extreme things that are not sustainable.

Good luck!

lc355 wrote: »

Recognise that you will have days where everything goes wrong, they happen so don't be nasty to yourself about it. The best thing is that every day is a brand new day and you get to try all over again. Leave yesterday behind and focus on getting today right. Making long lasting lifestyle changes is not like flicking a switch, they take practice and you get better at it over time.

Great advice. I read a lot about people loosing control for a day and it devastates them and they get depressed and quit altogether. I've had a few of those days and when I do I think, o well must have needed it (mentally or physically)! And then I just try again the next day. A little bit of compliance is way better than none at all. If I couldn't ever muster up the will to try, then that would be a problem. I also notice that if you eat a lot for one day, you can gain a few lbs of food and water weight. Very little of it is fat weight. The body can't gain fat that fast. If I have a bad day and get back with it, I'm back weight-wise where I was in a couple of days. I don't gain anything (I probably gained a very little but lost it also in the couple of days back on the diet) so the biggest hit was I wasted a couple of days where I didn't progress but at least I didn't regress either.

Hi Maria! I am also 25, and started a year ago around the same weight as you. I'm down 80lbs! Feel free to add me if you like. Best of luck to you!