150 or more pounds to lose.

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!