I am so scared of failing

You cant change the food - you can only change your behaviour toward it. Honestly, decide what you love, and keep it in your life, and build a plan that you can live with around that. It may mean less of other things, but if thats how you want to priorize things, its up to you.

Dont give up on yourself. You will hopefully live a long time, and you dont want to be miserable all those years. Get yourself a scale, and read the stickies at the top of the discussions, and make a commitment to try it out for 6-8 weeks. If you are honest with yourself (sometimes your toughest audience), and really want to make changes, you will see a difference.

There is lots of support here, dont be afraid to reach for it and ask questions - someone is bound to answer!!

Good luck!!

All foods are fattening if you eat too much of them. The only failure is quitting. If you have a bad day, a day where you go off plan, just shake it off and get back on plan. It happens to most everyone. That's a setback not a failure.

It is going to be hard if you start off with such a negative attitude. Losing weight doesn't have to be miserable. Eat foods you enjoy. Just don't overeat. Find other ways to occupy your time and manage your stress besides eating.

You're lucky enough to realize you have a problem and want to fix it...That's the first step. Like others, I agree you don't have to completely get rid of everything you love but setting small daily or weekly goals to limit your intake of those items and add other healthy habits might be helpful.

Patience is really important! Also, if you feel like you've fallen off your bandwagon...Get back on. I've lost 40lbs (so far) but you bet there has been plenty of times I have binged on alcohol and recovered the next day with ALL of the carbs! Or nights that I am craving sweets and give it. The best feeling is not letting those times take over the progress you have made.

Also - I don't struggle with the same health problems as you.. But I imagine that being dedicated to your diet will make you feel better after a while.

I lost from 340 to 179, now back up to 227. Am I going to give up? Heck no. A goal weight is not a finish line, it's just the first part of the race. The goal is to keep your weight stable. Don't worry if you gain a little, or a lot, you've done it before and you can do it again. The race is never ending, you don't have to run anymore, but keep walking slowly.

Fear of failure paralyzes many people to not attempting anything. Get right with you first and work on changing your eating behaviors and success will happen.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Hi, My Names is Re, and I am a Carboholic.

I feel your pain... but, I want to point out that at 25, you still have a chance to correct or reverse a lot of your health issues - and believe me, you WANT to do that. Your knees and ankles will only hurt more as you get older. And if you don't change your habits - and I don't mean go on a diet - CHANGE the way you eat forever - then you will end up as I did... 40 years old, 367 lbs, in pain every day.

Take it slow - don't try and change your whole life in one day. Baby steps - remember - everybody has to learn to crawl, then walk, then run.

Same goes for exercise - and that is what is going to save you. Start slow. Work up to it. If you injure yourself, you will not be able to continue. And sucky though it may be, you cannot lose weight without embracing exercise.

Find something that you can tolerate. Swimming is fantastic. Walking is excellent - you can start by just walking around the block where you live... or if you have gym access, you can do what I did.

I started on the elliptical machine. The first day - after about 3 minutes, my heart rate got high and I had to stop. Then I moved to the stationary bike and did another few minutes. Then the treadmill.

I went back. The next time, I could do five minutes on the elliptical, a few minutes more on the bike and longer on the treadmill. It was a banner day when I could do 15 minutes on the elliptical without an excessively high heart rate.

Do not worry about whether anyone is watching you, or what they will think. Forget about them... This is for you.

Two secrets to exercise.

1) The first few times I got into the whole exercise thing, I had to stop because my back was KILLING me. You have to do some abdominal work. Even if you are just walking, you will be sorry if you don't balance your cardio with some abdominal crunches. I used a machine at the gym - but you can do them on the floor or on your bed, too. 15 or 20 of them every day will stave of any back pain.

2) Cardio can be BORING. If you are walking - take your iPod with your very favorite songs on it - the ones that make you want to get up and dance. If you are concentrating on the music - you won't be thinking about how much your body is complaining. I use a tablet loaded with books. I read trashy romances while I chug along on the elliptical - now for 30-45 minutes a workout. Heck, I look forward to exercise - it's the only time I have left to read.

I credit exercise with any success I have had in losing weight. You can do any kind of eating plan that you can sustain for the rest of your life - and you can eat a pretty decent amount if you are only aiming for 1 lb a week - and I recommend that for a start. I have MFP set for 1 lb a week and three workouts. IF I lose more weight, it's because I try to go to the gym every day. After a while, you will want to.

After about 20 pounds, you will feel significantly less pain in your joints. At 50 lbs you will start to have a lot more energy. You will have days when you don't eat properly. So long as they are not frequent, you will still succeed. Forgive yourself. Start small. Work your way up. Do it for you. Maybe by the time you turn 30 you can be in the best shape of your life.

Good Luck

Thank you Re, Great post. I feel your pain to. I never stop working on it . Always there.

You can't go "Cold Turkey" on food. That's a fact.

My Opinion: At some point, you do have to learn a little control - however, not allowing yourself any of the pleasures of life leads to feelings of deprivation, and the inability to deal with that causes many, many people to fail. I know it did me, for something like 30 years. I find it best to eat MOSTLY low carb - carbs are my downfall - but, I do eat candy - in limited doses, and not every day. Is my weight loss slower because of this? Certainly. Do I really care how long it takes, as long as I can happily maintain my new habits for a lifetime? Nope.

amyn73 wrote: »

This is my personal opinion but I think the whole "eat everything in moderation" philosophy is not appropriate or helpful for a food addict. At some point you have to limit your intake of trigger foods or cravings will drive you crazy and you'll never feel in control. I think starting on a stricter diet at first will at least give you a break from cravings. You have to break whatever cycle you are in before moving foreword.

I consider myself a food addict. Restricting foods (when I did keto for 6 months) made it so much worse. When I finally had a non-keto day of eating after 6 months, I was never able to get back to that way of eating. I kept telling myself "just one more day of eating normally and then I'll start keto again", which led to months of starting keto and then binging on all of the restricted foods I wanted.

Three months ago I started back calorie counting without worrying about keto. It's been three months of bliss, eating absolutely everything I want as long as it fits in my calorie goals. I haven't binged a single time, I've never felt out of control with my eating. If I crave something but don't have the calories, I work it in the next day. Your mileage may vary, but that's just my experience.

amyn73 wrote: »

This is my personal opinion but I think the whole "eat everything in moderation" philosophy is not appropriate or helpful for a food addict. At some point you have to limit your intake of trigger foods or cravings will drive you crazy and you'll never feel in control. I think starting on a stricter diet at first will at least give you a break from cravings. You have to break whatever cycle you are in before moving foreword.

Funny. I was diagnosed with an ED and was told the exact opposite to the bolded. The whole idea is to have a healthy relationship to food. If OP is having a hard time with restricting which can lead to binges, the restricting is not a good idea.

"Eating everything in moderation isn't appropriate"or 'limit your intake'....which one? Restriction can be much worse..

Also 25 here and it's definitely possible! I have lost and gained. I lost 40lbs 4 years ago 170 to 130 and felt amazing! Then I let myself go back to old habits and I gained it all back. Lost 35 again, currently 135. Make a small change every day. Even if it's simply not eating the crust of your pizza, or walking to the mailbox or street sign. Motivation is gone if you don't set the tone. Put on pretty comfy exercise clothes and sneakers. Just that step alone will be a push to get you in the mood to work out and move it. Losing is not as hard as maintaining. That's why many of us have lost and gained. So do yourself the biggest favor and celebrate every weight milestone lost and commit to not regaining. Because if you think losing the weight is impossible and hard, think about how crappy it would be to lose it all, hit your goal and feel great only to regain and have to start the process over again like me and many others.
Small changes and your mindset is huge! If you believe in yourself you will be successful.