150 or more pounds to lose.

Hey Dona, I've never had to lose that amount of weight but I have been in the competitive side of swimming my whole life. After I gave it up I put on a lot of weight pretty quickly with my appetite staying the same but my calorie intake far exceeding my needs. After getting back into the pool I started to lose weight almost immediately. I highly highly recommend you jump into a pool and try swim some laps every single day. It will be hard and tiring at 1st but I guarantee 100% if you do at least 30 minutes of swimming every single day you will see HUGE results on honestly a weekly basis. Keep in mind that I was in the top 50 in the world at 1 stage in my career but I went from 208-192 in the matter of 1 month training 20 hours a week.... I know that's the far end of the spectrum but It's harder to lose pounds at lighter weights! I know you can lose all that 150 WITHOUT surgery if you're consistently swimming! Just my opinion.

Hi! My biggest problem area is sugar, sweets of any kind really. For me, the best way to combat it was to go cold turkey off of it. I still have fruit but no other sugars (processed kinds). We also went off all of those white carbs...it's hard the first couple of days but then not so hard. I find that not having bread, pasta, rice in my diet makes my calories stretch way further and I feel like I can eat more quantity. We started 1/1...if I have a craving I will have a small amount...have had a few dove chocolates here and there but that's it.

My daughter is doing this with me...she has over 100 lbs to lose and has so far lost 55 since last summer. It is not easy for sure, but it is doable!

I think living instead of existing is exactly the right "why"...the ability to actively participate in life instead of watching it go by is the best!

Good luck on your journey!

Also if you want to lose as much as you can by doing less, it is miniscual but it's still a little, drink either hot or cold beverages. Your body will have to either heat the liquid or cool it to 96.2F to make any use of it.

"So in the case of a 16-ounce glass of ice water, your body must raise the temperature of 473.18 grams of water from zero to 37 degrees C. In doing so, your body burns 17,508 calories. But that's calories with a little "c." Your body only burns 17.5 Calories, and in the grand scheme of a 2,000-Calorie diet, that 17.5 isn't very significant."

http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/diet-fitness/weight-loss/question447.htm

1200 calories? A big emphatic NO! Use the recommended calories that MFP gave when you fill out your profile (probably 1800'ish for a 2 lb per week loss). What you're currently doing is not sustainable. Remember, you didn't gain the weight overnight, and you can't lose the weight overnight, no matter how hard we wish it.

Will you be able to eat like that for a year or so, because that's how long it will take to lose the weight in a SAFE and HEALTHY manner!

Is low carb going to be a lifestyle change though? If you have medical reasons for moderating your carbs....that's extra incentive for eating lower carb for a life time. Some people need lower carb.

I've done both elimination diets (low carb) and replacement diets (Slim Fast) in the past....and lost weight. BUT these plans are lousy for maintenance unless you can commit to them for the rest of your life.

Losing weight should help you figure out what habits make you overweight now, and help you develop better habits for the future. Losing weight is just the FIRST step.

These are great posts for newbies....

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1235566/so-youre-new-here/p1

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

Don't look at what your friend is doing... she's not you. Only watch yourself.

As to getting carbs under control, okay... it can't hurt. But that doesn't mean eliminate ALL carbs... control them. The way you do that is by getting a digital food scale, then weighing and logging everything you eat. I'm also a bread junkie. I still eat bread (occasionally), pasta (weekly) and pizza (once a month), but in moderation -- and I log it.

So can you.

aflane wrote: »

Don't look at what your friend is doing... she's not you. Only watch yourself.

As to getting carbs under control, okay... it can't hurt. But that doesn't mean eliminate ALL carbs... control them. The way you do that is by getting a digital food scale, then weighing and logging everything you eat. I'm also a bread junkie. I still eat bread (occasionally), pasta (weekly) and pizza (once a month), but in moderation -- and I log it.

So can you.

This^

Control the things you need to control right now. If you can't have chips in the house....then don't. But that shouldn't mean you can't have a slice of pizza or a sandwich once in awhile.

Dona6569 wrote: »

Hi TeaBea, I don't grave chips, candy, cake, ice cream, non of that. Don't like it. I have to control the pizza, pasta, bread, stuff like that.

Chips was a big one for me. I'd eat a family sized bag in a couple of sittings, or one if the football game was engrossing. But I know that if I didn't have any I'd just drive to the store to get some so I bought a box of single sized (~30g) one and I know I can eat one if I like without doing my diet damage. That is working for me. On the other hand, I've cut pop (soda) out completely and only drink diet if I'm mixing it with something (don't really like the taste). I drink a lot more soda water now (have a soda stream).

So, yeah. You need to figure out for yourself if you need to cut something out or just cut down. Just please do it based on how you feel and not on what some website says is the "key" to weight loss. And remember that what works for you is different than what works for others.

So I have about the same amount as you to lose. I am at 1800 calories/day and lose. So far 30 pounds. It's been slow but I haven't been perfect. I am making changes that I can live with. I am not overly active. I hope to be but right now - not so much. I just think you are restricting yourself too much and in the end will give up. (speaking from previous experience!) If you set your profile up correctly - use the calorie goal mfp gave you. Anyway - good luck to you. If you want to add me as a friend - I would love to cheer you on!

Dona6569 wrote: »

Thank You so much everyone for your input. I drink at least a gallon of water a day. I gave up soda in 1980 for Lent and never went back. I don't drink anything but that. I never had to lose this much weight. I'm 5'6 and back in the day I was 155. I gained weight over the last 14 years. Thank God I have a wonderful husband who loves me for me. I know I really should give up all Carbs. Right now I'm doing slim fast in the morning, Quest bar for lunch and dinner a veggie burger and vegetables. I want to stay at 1,200 calories. I can't walk that much right now. So I do what I can. Again Thank You all so Much! I wish everyone success in there weight loss journey. Feel free to add me.

I've lost 95 pounds (I have 34 to go to get to goal) and I could NEVER have done it living on that kind of diet! My advice would be to follow what MFP suggests, that is what I did. I started out getting something like 1630 calories a day. When I first started believe you me, I needed every single calorie MFP allowed me. I've been on this diet a little over a year and it was only just recently that I got down to eating just 1200 a day, and I have several days in the week where I eat a little over because for me 1200 is just not enough sometimes. But my weight loss has still remained consistent. I don't do "diet foods" (drinks/meals/supplements) and I don't restrict any foods, especially the foods that I love! Just be reasonable about your approach. You have to decide you are going to do it, and just do it. Ditch any and all excuses. You have to believe you are going to just keep putting one foot in front of the other (metaphorically) on this journey. Losing a large amount of weight is not a sprint. Good Luck!

P.S. Don't worry to much about exercise first starting out. Pick one thing to be your focus and focus on that till you've got it under control then move to the next thing and then the next.

I started July 19th 2016 with 150 pounds to lose. I have lost 80 pounds so far. Don't cut your calories to low it can make you sick. Don't cut everything you love out of your diet because then you won't be happy and stick to your plan.
Find a great group of friends to positively encourage you on your journey. You are welcome to add me as a friend. Best of luck to you.

I don't want to beat a dead horse, but I agree with those that say you have to learn to incorporate all foods so that you don't want to binge on them when you get them. Having said that for about my first 80lbs, I was pretty restrictive about what I ate, but I still ate a variety of foods. You will have to see what works for you and what you can sustain. Once you get a plan, commit to it and you will be successful.

I'm in a similar boat - got about 158 to go before I reach my ultimate goal weight. It took a long time, pretty much my whole life, to get to the point where I decided enough was enough. I want to live a healthy lifestyle. So, hang in there - it will get easier the longer you are at it. I'm wrapping up month two and it's just habit now.

I'm a firm believer that most people (not being a medical professional, I can't say "all people") do not need surgery to lose weight. It certainly helps and can speed along the process, but it's just a tool. If you don't change how you eat, your lifestyle, it's a useless tool. A lot of people have mentioned calorie counting and everything in moderation and I think those are both great lifestyle changes that everyone should adopt when losing weight. There are additional "tools" that you can draw from, though. You mentioned a high dependency on carbs and I can completely relate to that. Two months ago, my diet pretty much exclusively consisted of carbs - pizza, pasta, subs, fries, bagels, croissants, you name it. I was addicted to carbs. Before I go on, I want to emphasize what a few others here have - not one thing works for everyone and you have to find what works for you and, most importantly, what will be sustainable in the long run. Slim Fast/meal replacements and extreme calorie restriction is not sustainable and you will gain back any weight lost after you stop drinking the shakes and eating the bars. With that said, I want to share with you what is working for me.

I am following a ketogenic "keto" way of eating. It is a low carb, moderate protein, high fat diet wherein your macronutrients look something like this: 5% carbs, 65% fat, and 30% protein. It doesn't eliminate carbs, but it restricts them considerably. I know a lot of people advise against restricting specific macros and say it isn't sustainable, but I firmly disagree. As a carb addict, eating this way has helped me gain control over what I eat and be more conscious of what I'm putting into my body. I no longer want pizza, pasta, or even all of the breads that I would eat. Those cravings are gone. Have I had a couple of cheat days? Sure. But most of them were situational (meaning I didn't cave to cravings, just happened to be in a situation where there wasn't much option) and after every one, I learned exactly why I didn't eat that particular thing anymore. I felt ill and moved on from those things for good.

I'm telling you about this because I think it could help. I'm new to the keto community here, but I did months of research and lurking on reddit.com/r/keto. It is an incredible resource for people looking into trying keto. It even has a link to a calculator which will lay out the calories and macros you should try based on your height, age, gender, and weight, as well as your chosen caloric deficit.

Again, no matter how you choose to go forward, make sure it is something you can carry through the rest of your life. Best of luck on your journey and feel free to add me!