I can't ever seem to lose weight

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I need help, I can't ever seem to lose weight , and it's starting to tear me down. I can't live like this anymore
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  • AlabamaMama224
    AlabamaMama224 Posts: 137 Member
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    Have you started weighing your food and staying within the calorie goal MFP gave you?
  • EricaKemp44
    EricaKemp44 Posts: 9 Member
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    I'm eating so much junk food, it's hard to get away from it. I'm 289lbs , and rising. I have hit my breaking point , I can't do this anymore
  • dragon_girl26
    dragon_girl26 Posts: 2,187 Member
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    I'm eating so much junk food, it's hard to get away from it. I'm 289lbs , and rising. I have hit my breaking point , I can't do this anymore


    Well, you found MFP. It's a great tool to help you gain control of what you eat. It's entirely up to you. You will get out of it what you put into it.

    ^^this

    I remember that feeling, too. I was almost 250 lbs when I realized it, and it was scary. It's okay, thiugh, because it's also reversible. Start using MFP if you haven't already. Just try tracking what you eat so you know what you're dealing with. Get used to doing that so that when you start, it becomes second nature.
  • seska422
    seska422 Posts: 3,217 Member
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    This chart has some good advice:

    maboso9zbdq7.jpg
  • vespiquenn
    vespiquenn Posts: 1,455 Member
    edited September 2016
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    I'm eating so much junk food, it's hard to get away from it. I'm 289lbs , and rising. I have hit my breaking point , I can't do this anymore

    You still didn't answer if you're tracking. Junk food isn't the problem. It's the portions. Hell, I'm eating a snack bag of potato chips right now. And I have been plenty successful on my journey.

    Start tracking, get a cheap food scale, weigh all of your food, and go from there. Weight loss is all about calories in, calories out.
  • denarah
    denarah Posts: 3 Member
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    Likely hormonal (thyroid, adrenal, cortisol, leptin, adoponectin) imbalances. Know any good Integrative Docs? They can test your saliva/blood work and help you to the right path. But let your frustrations work for you to add things, rather than taking them out. For example, add a healthier snack to your routine every week, and eventually you will crave less. Coconut oil helps with processed carb cravings. Doing things like parking farther away to be more active, and walking daily starting where you can and increasing 10min a week until you get to 60. Treating yourself to non-food self-care things daily, like baths, books, massage, mani-pedi, meditation, journaling about fun stuff, anything that fills your heart, and makes you less likely to grab a bag of something. Conscious eating, conscious eating, conscious eating! Before you eat something, take a breath, grab a glass of water, and give yourself 2 min, reflecting, "do I really want to eat that?" You may say yes, you may say no. Either answer is fine, as long as it is a conscious decision. That can really help. Best of luck! Friend me!
  • EricaKemp44
    EricaKemp44 Posts: 9 Member
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    How much weight in food should I eat in a day?
  • AlabamaMama224
    AlabamaMama224 Posts: 137 Member
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  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited September 2016
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    AnvilHead wrote: »
    denarah wrote: »
    Likely hormonal (thyroid, adrenal, cortisol, leptin, adoponectin) imbalances. Know any good Integrative Docs? They can test your saliva/blood work and help you to the right path...

    At this point I'd say it's much more likely that the OP is simply in a caloric surplus and needs to establish a proper intake, then track and log properly to maintain it. At least that's what I would try before going and spending a bunch of time and money on exams and blood tests. Better to start with the simplest possible solutions and work up to the more complicated ones.

    Its never a bad idea to know where you are health wise and get a simple checkup. A blood test at her local doc would not cost much at all and its 15 minutes of her time.

    Whilst deciding on a doc checkup, OP make sure your mindset is in the game of losing and truly ready. The only thing you need to purchase is a food scale. Use that with the MFP app and you are on your way. Eat the things you love already, just eat them within the calorie allotment MFP gave you to adhere to a calorie deficit to lose weight.

    Read all the stickies at the beginning of the forums, educate your self and do searches on the things you deem important to you to help you lose weight. The community is here to help you..

    Forget today and yesterday,, start here.

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10300319/most-helpful-posts-general-diet-and-weight-loss-help-must-reads#latest

  • N1keS0cc8rRunne7
    N1keS0cc8rRunne7 Posts: 43 Member
    edited September 2016
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    denarah wrote: »
    Likely hormonal (thyroid, adrenal, cortisol, leptin, adoponectin) imbalances. Know any good Integrative Docs? They can test your saliva/blood work and help you to the right path. But let your frustrations work for you to add things, rather than taking them out. For example, add a healthier snack to your routine every week, and eventually you will crave less. Coconut oil helps with processed carb cravings. Doing things like parking farther away to be more active, and walking daily starting where you can and increasing 10min a week until you get to 60. Treating yourself to non-food self-care things daily, like baths, books, massage, mani-pedi, meditation, journaling about fun stuff, anything that fills your heart, and makes you less likely to grab a bag of something. Conscious eating, conscious eating, conscious eating! Before you eat something, take a breath, grab a glass of water, and give yourself 2 min, reflecting, "do I really want to eat that?" You may say yes, you may say no. Either answer is fine, as long as it is a conscious decision. That can really help. Best of luck! Friend me!

    Aside from the possibility of hormonal imbalances; I think FOOD (especially the palatable kind) is FLAT OUT ADDICTING AF (and some of us--whether through genetics or how we were raised/environmentally/psychological factors--are more likely to fall prone). It comforts you and can feel extremely pleasurable in the moment--especially when you're at a very high weight and you're alone and lack confidence (who would honestly date me looking like this?) and feel stuck and hopeless. It's almost self-medicating in a way. It develops into a habit over a span of time and tricks your brain into thinking you're still hungry (but it's really FALSE hunger). And old habits die hard. Ur intense desire to eat floods your mind in the moment and clouds rational thought--until you're finished and start feeling like utter worthless crap, promising (even crying) to yourself that you're never gonna eat pizza or brownies or mcdonald's again! Then it hits you again a couple nights later (sometimes suddenly, unexpectedly, almost like a force to be reckoned with)...and it doesn't matter that you've gained weight on top of your already obese bmi or meditated or worked out or had a healthy, high-protein snack or ate 3 filling, balanced meals or wrote in your journal listening to your favorite music or even NOT that hungry--you're gripping for control and fighting with your thoughts until you eventually CAVE and that cheeseburger and fries with loads of ketchup in the privacy of your car at the drive-thru feel like the BEST thing in the world. It's like that saying: "I'm depressed because I eat too much. I eat too much because I'm depressed." Horrible, horrible cycle that damages you mentally and crushes your spirit along with opening you up to diseases that can threaten your life.

    Honestly, sometimes STRONG pharmaceuticals from a psychiatrist along with talking to a highly-regarded psychologist (CBT is key) REALLY help. If finances are an issue, talking to a good counselor regularly who can somehow connect with your primary care physician can help too.

    But if it wasn't for the help of a potent prescription drug like the amphetamine Vyvanse at a high dose (which is a Schedule 2, controlled substance that has ACTUAL FDA-approval to help those who struggle with over-eating/bingeing; especially from an emotional standpoint) taken every single day; I probably would still be in the 200's today; fluctuating up and down constantly, miserable and hating life as I write this. Was it a potentially addictive drug? yes. Did I get addicted? no. Will others? maybe. But sometimes, u have take risks in life with the hope of the benefit outweighing the danger in the long-run.

    Once you get yourself out of that damn, self-destructive cycle and reach a point where you've really made progress; you're a lot more motivated to keep moving forward until you can finally sit back and maintain all your efforts (medicated or not)!

  • denarah
    denarah Posts: 3 Member
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    I hear ya. There's no magic bullet, one solution answer. Food intake is important, even foundational, but emotional eating and internal chemistry won't allow you to have any will power if you don't start there. Also will power is proven to be a finite resource, so if you are using will power alone, you will eventually cave. Thus research shows that the best way is not to limit intake as a starting place, but letting it naturally occur as you start to eat real foods with more nutrients and micronutrients and enzymes that help you rebalance your biochemistry.
    Erica, I would suggest to find a yummy green drink like Pineapple lemongrass Amazing Grass Green Superfood, or whatever is palatable for you to start and try it for one week. When you're ready for a next step, there are a billion to choose from.
    The reason I say add, and not to limit yourself, is because loosing weight is not a punishment, and we are trained (socially) to think it is, and that we are "less than" when we don't fit the media's image of healthy. Reframing your thinking to make this an act of self-love is the only motivator that is productive for longterm results. (Not "I wanna loose weight, not cuz my doc said I have to, not cuz I want to be accepted,, cuz I hate how I look/feel etc.) This concept is fully researched and presented very well in a book called "No Sweat." Even if you can only look at this first week as an experiment in loving yourself, try that. It takes practice, and just being open to the possibility of belief at first.
  • Trish1c
    Trish1c Posts: 549 Member
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    I'm eating so much junk food, it's hard to get away from it. I'm 289lbs , and rising. I have hit my breaking point , I can't do this anymore

    You can. Start by throwing out all the junk food. If you can't bring yourself to throw it out, give it to a local food back. Do not buy more.

    Do you cook? Do you meal plan? Learn to do both.

    If you haven't already start tracking your food here on MFP. Read labels. Learn what one portion is; you will be shocked.

    Once you have better understanding of what you are eating you will have a base from which you can cut down. Losing weight really is all about expending more calories then you take in. It's not about austerity. You don't have to completely give up anything. You simply need to eat less of it.

    Take baby steps. With help of this site you can lose weight if you do what the app says.

  • Alluminati
    Alluminati Posts: 6,208 Member
    edited September 2016
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    AnvilHead wrote: »
    denarah wrote: »
    Likely hormonal (thyroid, adrenal, cortisol, leptin, adoponectin) imbalances. Know any good Integrative Docs? They can test your saliva/blood work and help you to the right path...

    At this point I'd say it's much more likely that the OP is simply in a caloric surplus and needs to establish a proper intake, then track and log properly to maintain it. At least that's what I would try before going and spending a bunch of time and money on exams and blood tests. Better to start with the simplest possible solutions and work up to the more complicated ones.

    This ^^aaaand this

  • BobbyBooSh4y
    BobbyBooSh4y Posts: 15 Member
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    if you are looking for help please give everyone here more info...

    Your stats?
    how many days do you workout?
    whats your diet look like?
    how many calories are you eating?
    whats your workout program look like?
    have you been cheating on your diet?

    Makes it alittle easier to see where you are going wrong.

  • maidengirl_
    maidengirl_ Posts: 284 Member
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    You dont know if you can't lose weight if you haven't ever tired to lose weight before. You found MFP. That's the first step. Set up your account and eat the calories it tells you to eat. Invest in a food scale and start exercising.
  • perkymommy
    perkymommy Posts: 1,642 Member
    edited September 2016
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    I'm eating so much junk food, it's hard to get away from it. I'm 289lbs , and rising. I have hit my breaking point , I can't do this anymore

    You have to want to make the change in your diet/exercise in order for it to work. In the past when I wasn't ready to make a change then I would keep gaining and never change anything. Once you get to the point of "wanting" to be thin and healthy more than you want to overeat then you will be able to do it. My favorite quote is "nothing tastes as good as being thin feels."

    Also, if you could share more about your days as far as your exercise, walking, eating habits, how many calories per day, list of items you eat daily, etc that would help others to be able to give you better advice. I will say that weighing and measuring anything that goes in your mouth is the first place to start.