Need to Lose 100 LBS -Robins Thread !

Hi everyone! I'm new to this forum and seeking some ongoing motivation/support - here's why...

I am an obese 22 year old. I've struggled with my weight for as long as I can remember and am a serial yoyo-er. I was always the 'big kid' through grade school and graduated high school with about 180 lbs on my 5'6" frame. By the winter of my second year of university I had cracked the 200 lb mark. Seeing that on the scales shocked me and I made some changes that year - started eating better and set some goals to start running, lose the weight, and feel more confident. By the fall of 2013 I had completed two 10K running races and I was down 25 lbs to 175 lb (woohoo!). But alas, it didn't last...

The stress of completing a engineering degree coupled with turmoil in relationships, both friends and romantic, hormonal weight gain (thanks birth control!) and shear lack of motivation meant that all the weight piled back on - significantly easier than it came off! Just over two years later (December 2015) and I had creeped back up to a staggering 220 lbs. The yoyo had caught back up with me and I am now in the same position I was 3 years ago, desperately needing to make a change in order to lose the excess weight, gain back my self-confidence and reduce the likelihood of developing severe health issues.

So here is my main goal - 60 lbs lost in 2017.

Seems almost impossible when I consider how difficult the 25 lbs was three short years ago. But I've made good progress thus far - I'm already back down 8 lbs. My hope is that with a restricted calorie, macro based nutrition plan coupled with 3 strength training workouts and at least 2 high intensity cardio workouts a week I can drop 20-25 lbs by the end of March with a goal of being down 50 lbs by the start of fall.

My ambitious goal are the reason I need a better support system than the last time around. I want the yoyo to stop and am looking for some friends to help keep me accountable and motivated. Based on the look of some of the posts here, I seem to have found that group I can't wait to be an involved member of this community!

Time is becoming my enemy. Free tome that is. I am up 15 pounds! I haven't been exercising instead I've been snacking. My intake has been 1600-2000 calories normal and acceptable for most men, not me. That and no walking. Free idle couch time.
I think ive gone a little crazy too with my impending surgery. The prospect of never eating a huge meal with copious amounts of wine is weighing on me. Honestly, its been years since I have and i haven't missed it. I see junk food that i could have if i wanted and think in a week eating that will probably make me sick. Its freaking me out.

hi everyone, i'm 44 and need to lose 115ish pounds. I'm a serial dieter and have been overweight since probably 8 years old. I've been as small as a size 12 and now at a size 20-22. I have never reached my goal weight in my life, due to issues self sabotage and emotional eating.
I REALLY have a problem with self sabotage and emotional eating so would love to make friends with others that are going through this.
Anyone in the same boat want work together to support each other?

@Misnomer971 - congrats on that A1C drop. That's truly a significant change in just a few months! Keep up the good work.

@finzup - Welcome! You are in the right place. Everyone here has been so supportive and encouraging, and full of useful advice/tips. You are not on this journey alone! Feels great, huh?

@MermaidPrincessRach and @Misnomer971 this feeling seems to be quite common for other bariatric patients. I have a support group meeting next Thursday so don't worry about me. I'm feeling like everything is so much bigger than I can control so I'm treating it like the ocean. When I was young and foolhardy before kids and houses I would sometimes get myself out too far on a day I shouldn't have gone out and would surrender to the greater power of the ocean. I would have to wait until it let me chart my own path again. It always did. Sometimes I went places I didn't really want to go but I always made it home. I'm drier and warmer this time around. I can see the shore too.

A quick check in on this dreary Saturday in South Florida.

I've lost another 1.6 pounds but won't record my weight until Wednesday. Though I am not restricting when I weigh, I am only recoding weekly.

@skinnyjeanzbound - I am the heaviest I've ever been in my life and it's wrecking havoc on my back problems which are not new. It was comforting to see some familiar faces when I popped back in!

@finzup - with a screen name like that, would it be correct to assume you are also from south Florida? Feel free to send a friend request!

Until next time; wishing everyone peace, love and weight loss!!

@bapcarrier --Wow, it's like a little robin's thread reunion! So nice to see some long lost faces. Can't wait to see who else pops in. Chicago isn't quite as warm, but we're looking forward to 50s next week which is downright balmy for us in January.

You guys make me want to get a dog ... But I can't right now. Can't afford the vet bills. I have thought about getting a pet stroller so I can take my cat for a walk. But he'd probably howl the whole time like when we go for a car ride.

Went to log in and realized I hadn't done my bike riding yet today. Since I just started back counting, logging and exercising yesterday you can see I'm not yet in the habit of doing what I need to. So I went out and rode my bike! I don't ride far or for very long right now but bike riding is one of the only exercises I really enjoy so I figure it's better than nothing. Hard to change habits when you're going on70 years old and are used to reading, playing on the computer and working part time doing medical billing (sitting at a computer again!) I do walk my little dog, Jazz, but she will be 16 in 6 weeks and has been having some problems lately so I have to be careful how far I let her walk. Anyway, I'm proud to say I kept to my calories and did some exercise today.

@skinnyjeanzbound I was wondering if I would recognize anyone after almost two years, glad to see familiar faces and the new ones too! I remember that you were always so good at messaging and keeping everyone's spirts up, glad to see you still are!

@finzup I too tend to sabotage myself. Maybe with the support of people here we can both conquer it this time around!

@Misnomer971 congrats on all the good things happening and I'm so sorry to hear about the pearl. I hope you can find a replacement so you'll have your Mom's ring back on your finger soon!

Wishing you all a great evening, a wonderful day tomorrow and successful week ahead!

I joined a week ago. I just want to say y'all are inspiring to me. I feel like I have so much to lose and it comes off so slowly. It is so difficult to remain positive, but I need a hip replacement, and I have to lose weight first because of other complications. I can't walk, can't stand more than about 3 minutes a time, so exercise is non-existent. I keep saying I'm going to begin to do some chair yoga to at least start stretching, but I haven't even started that. I don't know why I don't do what I know I should, and I want. Am I lazy? Am I hardheaded? Scared? I don't know, probably some of all. Anyway, it's nice to lay out my frustrations (hopefully) without judgement to folks who may know how I feel.

Hi all, I joined just over a week ago and am already so inspired to start living in the next chapter of my journey!
Through trial and error and basically "trying everything", I finally found peace through clean eating. I've always had a moderately active lifestyle as a stage performer, but it was never enough exercise to combat the junk food I was cramming in my face. I shutter when I remember the Ramen days in college... I'm amazed I didn't turn into some sea creature from the sheer volume of sodium in my body.
When I got to weights over 230lbs-260lbs, I really didn't exercise much at all because my knees hurt and everything was so difficult to accomplish. Even stairs.

It took me 10 years to reach my goal of 160lbs. I failed and started again, failed and started again until I found a method I could say "yeah, I can do this until I'm dead", instead of yet another 30-Day get-thin-quick scam. Clean eating makes sense to me. I didn't even think about calories. Just don't eat anything processed or things that have added sugars or sweeteners. Don't get me wrong, it was hard as hell to resist things I was addicted to, but once I got over the hump, I stopped craving junk. At this point I've been clean eating for almost 2 years and the smell of fast food doesn't even register in my brain as being edible. Smells like a food-scented candle.

These days I'm resting around 148lbs now and really hoping to find that kind of relationship with exercise. I've been doing (nearly) daily yoga for about a year and that has helped for sure, but I want more. I want to find activities that are fun and possibly something repetitive in nature, like running. I've been hesitant to run because of the damage I've done to my knees, but maybe I just need to work up to it, do a C25K or something.
I love trampoline parks, climbing walls and walking - any other suggestions are welcome - but mainly it just feels good to say it all 'out loud'.

Keep on keeping on!

Whenever I talk about exercise people always mention walking my dog, but I never walk her anymore: she's a little high strung and startles easily, and all kinds of things scare her (children playing, the sound of a car door closing, leaves being blown by the wind, etc.). Sometimes she'll get scared and I won't even know why! A year ago I discovered that she can get out of her harness if she's scared enough: she ran off down a busy main street, crossing rush hour traffic a few times, and I was sure she was either going to get hit by a car or would just keep running and I'd never get her back. Luckily someone caught her after just 30 minutes, but ever since I've been too nervous to take her on walks. Honestly I think she's less stressed without them. She still gets plenty of exercise, though: my back yard is big and she runs around out there, plus she goes to daycare about once a week to play with other dogs. She gets more exercise than I do!

Anyway, I took all of my great numbers and doctor feedback from Friday morning and sank them into Saturday night's nachos, burger, onion rings, beer, and raspberry torte. It wasn't a reward or an "I've earned it" thing, just a planned night out with an old friend. I'm not ready to give up eating "normally" when I'm out yet: this weekend I realized that I'm ready to give up alcohol -- I'm not much of a drinker anyway, and I've decided that drinks simply aren't worth the calories/carbs -- but the food part of being out still matters to me. Plus I'm definitely still rationalizing all of this (e.g., "I've done this several times in the past few months and I've still lost weight and improved my numbers!"), so I'm not yet at a point where I'm making good choices in restaurants. I'm working on that, and in the meantime I know that these occasional huge meals when I'm out are slowing my weight loss (but I won't let there be enough of them to stop my weight loss).

@bobbi55 - How did you do with the birthday cake?

@bapcarrier - It's awesome that your dog is 16! My Bailey is 8, and another 8 years with her would be wonderful...she's a medium-sized mutt, so hopefully it's not out of the question.

@jazzy727 - Congrats on beating breast cancer! My best friend was diagnosed four years ago and gained weight because the treatment affected her legs and feet and she couldn't walk easily (she still has some balance/mobility issues that her docs now think might be permanent side effects). I used to tell her that any weight gained while fighting for your life totally doesn't count!

@suzannesb139 - Absolutely no judgment here. I definitely know that feeling of "why can't I just do what I know I need to do"!

@amandaoliverio257 - Congrats on the 14 pounds!! I'm with you on the goal of getting to under 200 pounds: my weight hasn't started with a "1" since college/my 20s. And I can definitely relate to the "depressed awful" feeling. That's how I felt for at least a year before I finally made some changes. Sometimes it actually helps to remind myself of just how bad I felt only four months ago.

@PuzzlePea - It's amazing that you were able to lose so much weight, and completely inspiring that you've kept it off for so long! I'm sure it helps your confidence on stage. I'm a singer, and I know that even just the 30 pounds I've already lost makes me feel more confident when performing.

@boelyn - Co-workers can be just the worst!

*waving* @Damensha I remember you! Welcome back, I've just returned myself about 10 days ago.
I, too, was so glad to see this page still alive and kicking!

I had a rough food night last Friday that I thought might be detrimental, but alas, I lost a bit over the weekend. My daughter and I went to a hibachi grill restaurant and although I planned to eat half my meal and pack up the other half for Saturday, I grossly underestimated the calorie count of yum yum sauce!! Luckily my son ate most of my leftovers as a midnight snack when he got home from work. That helped me from over indulging 2 days in a row. I suppose it falls directly in line with what @gullagr was talking about, an occasional cheat day.

@FeraFilia - congrats on your milestone!

Until next time; wishing everyone peace, love and weight loss!!

Day three, I had dinner out, just came home and checked their website, figured out all my calories and came in right where I needed to be for the day!! I'm so excited that I was careful and conscious enough to stick to the plan and still enjoyed a very nice meal.

@suzannesb139 don't worry you'll never find judgement on this site, only helpful hints and a great cheering squad! I was wondering if putting your radio station (or MP3 or whatever you have for music) onto something lively might make you feel more like doing your chair stretches, etc. I know that when I hear an upbeat song I have a hard time sitting still. Just a thought.... Won't work with yoga, but any movement you do is still a great start! Good luck and keep checking in so we know how you are doing.

@Misnomer971 I've heard that too about cheating once in a while to kick your fat burning back up. Hope it works because I'm sure I'll have one of those days every once in awhile and it sure would be nice not to have to feel too guilty! A few years ago I used to take the day immediately after my weigh in off from my diet, but in the end I decided I couldn't do that weekly as it slowed down my loss too much for me. I don't get much exercise so I have to really be careful.

@boelyn you'll see that a lot of us, myself included, are repeating our weight loss. I figure as long as we keep at it, we are going to feel better and be healthier even if it is the second or third or whatever time around! Treats at work are the hardest thing to get around, especially if it's something you really like. Hang in there!

@FeraFilia CONGRATS! THAT'S WONDERFUL!! You are definitely inspiring. Keep up the great work.

@Damensha Welcome back.

@RobinB0812 don't you just hate it when you find out you were way off on something! At least you'll know for next time and can plan for it. I'm having trouble with my sodium, no matter what I do I seem to go over the recommended amount. I try to watch but usually don't realize it until night time when I actually log in my food. I watch calories during the day and I'm pretty much following a 1200 calorie diet that is all laid out for me but I am still usually over in sodium!

@whitebear4513 and any other newbees or returnees WELCOME