85 Lbs to lose..

Right there with you. I had 110 lbs to lose when I started a couple months ago, and it's definitely not easy. But the biggest thing that surprised me were how many things I thought were healthy that just weren't! Tracking calories was a pain at first, but I bet you'll find some small changes you can make that make a big difference, without having to give up what's meaningful to you. Case in point - I thought I was having a healthy breakfast before. I'd have a big bowl of fruit filled mini-wheats and a cup of coffee. Once I totalled it up, I found that my "healthy" breakfast was costing me 795 calories. I was nearly halfway done for the day before I was even awake an hour! I found Kroger Carbmaster "Cultured Diary Blend" (yogurt, basically), and now have that with my coffee, for a much more reasonable 140 cal.

Anyway - tracking calories is a huge first step, so you're absolutely in the right place. From there, you learn to adjust portion sizes accordingly, make smarter choices, and supplement with exercise. I walk a couple miles a day, and eat some of those calories back in a low-fat ice cream that I couldn't live without. Rather than focusing on the things I have to do without, I know it's up to me to work for something I really want. If I really want some pizza, I have to find some extra time to walk more!

Last thing I'd recommend is to try not to do too much at once. If eating healthy, tracking calories and working out a gym are all difficult, start small and work your way up. If you get overwhelmed, it's easy to make excuses and quit or cheat. If you phase it in, and make these lifestyle changes over time, they won't feel like as big of a deal.

Best of luck to you - you CAN do this, and you WILL! And you'll feel amazing as you do!!

Well , I am by no means a seasoned veteran I am completely the opposite. But I will tell you what has worked for me, I did this for 7 months and lost 40 pounds then fell off the bandwagon after a death in our family. Well here I am again attempting to make this work. I have one child, I am the administrator at a school, I teach Sunday school, and I coach my daughter's basketball team. So, finding the time is very hard for me but what I do make time to do is to at least get 10k steps in during my day, get you at least 250 steps in per hour even if you have to walk around your house . Any steps are better than no steps and it really does add up. Get your steps in and eliminate sodas and sweets , these are two very doable starters . I would suggest doing that for a month while slowly changing your eating habits and then on month two add a new goal, maybe eliminating all fried foods , month three add yet another goal if you burn calories by walking and limit Calorie Intake it will eventually work. We can do this......I have 80 pounds to lose and its a battle that I'm going to do my best to win . It's amazing how much better you feel when you eat right also. I do alot of praying and i have accountability with my friends and husband as well. You can do this.