623lbs, Trying to Get Going Again

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Replies

  • Doogiezz
    Doogiezz Posts: 5 Member
    You can do it! Remember -- it's whatever works --FOR YOU! For some people, it's a support group like OA. Others might find help from the doctor. Some might pay lots of money for a trainer, surgery or a fancy spa. And some might find online tools like MFP, Sparkspeople or the Three Fat Chicks On A Diet blog most helpful. Starting is no fun, but once results start showing it can be very motivating to stick with WHAT WORKS FOR YOU. And it's one pound at a time! Keep posting. I'd love to know how you are doing.
  • hannahjames295
    hannahjames295 Posts: 74 Member
    Hi,
    I'm quite new here too, first of all, congratulations for posting, took me ages to put myself out there, but it really does help!
    A few tips I've picked up:
    Start by changing things you normally eat just by cutting calories, brilliant places to look for alternative low cal recipes are skinnytastes blog, slimming world and here!
    Then look at portion size, this can be difficult because we get used to seeing things piled high on plates, but cutting down in baby steps make it easier
    While doing this gently increase your activity, even if this is only an extra 30seconds on your walk or an extra trip upstairs/down the path in the yard.
    From my point of view as a physio I would always recommend low impact exercise for example walking in a swimming pool, closed chain exercises like squats or working on getting up from a chair without using your arms (obviously if you have problems this may not be the right thing for you) please message/add me if I can help with anything else from an exercise point of view.
    keep looking forwards, looking back does not always help, if you had a "bad" day, think about why it was bad or what triggered less than ideal eating, then move on and plan the next day.

    Good luck to you, please get in touch if I can help
    Xxx
  • toojuicy057
    toojuicy057 Posts: 5 Member
    mine over matter i have made in mind thats i have to get this weight off me. if i have a bad day i just try again the next.
  • Skinnymunkii
    Skinnymunkii Posts: 191 Member
    You are worth it, my friend. Every drop of sweat, every minute in the gym, every good decision you make when you plan your meals...you are WORTH all the hard work. You are WORTH the hard choices. You are. Never forget that.
  • prliz
    prliz Posts: 1
    Dani, Don't get too caught up with numbers & don't be hard on yourself. Habits are tough to break & just need to be replaced by new habits. Maybe you could think of substitutes for some habits. I am a night time snacker and so I started knitting. I can only knit a straight line and couldn't follow a pattern if my life depended on it. So if my hands are busy knitting, I can't snack. The upside is that everyone will be getting a scarf this year for Christmas. Tell me your favourite colour & I will send you one this year too!!
    Hang in there kiddo.
    Liz from Canada (that's why there is a "u" in colour!!)
  • Deloresbolt
    Deloresbolt Posts: 36 Member
    There are so many people that will support you Dani, I read about 1/4 of the replies and totally agree with all of them. One of the best, is take baby steps. Cut one item at a time. And drink more water. I have learned, that even though I slip, my friends keep me up. Add me as a friend if you want.
  • sarab99
    sarab99 Posts: 134 Member
    You should be proud. :) You hit your first goal of being under 4000 calories. Woo Hoo! Everytime you think that it's too hard, remember that you've already hit your first goal. Try to just stick with that for one week, then pick a new one, it doesn't have to be a huge one. Maybe replace one food you can live without that day with something healthier. (You never have to give it up forever, just remember moderation), or go outside and walk around the yard or up the street for a bit. Even in business, big projects get broken down into smaller steps because thats the only way we get things done. Use the same thoery and pick goals that are acheivable, one at a time.
  • bunnymum150
    bunnymum150 Posts: 311
    WOW - so very proud of you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    Cutting out regular pop alone will show weight loss results on the scale. We all could do with a bit more water.
    Agree with others that the scale is not the end all - focusing on overall health and healthy foods is super. Any little changes that you make all add up.
    If I may suggest - if you are at all interested - there is a program on PBS - not sure what channel that would be in your neck of the woods - "sit and be fit" gal does the majority of activities sitting down and each individual can modify any movement to fit their needs. I would love for you to at least check it out. Some people have the ability to DVr/tape programs for use at times that are convenient to do.

    :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:

    glad to have you on our MFP journey to best health!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • crobert
    crobert Posts: 10 Member
    Hi Dani:
    I've been using MFP for about 2 years or so, but just recently clicked on the community tab and started participating in these message boards due to my needing advise on how to kick start my metabolism again.... Anyway, I'm not sure if anyone else has mentioned this. I did read one response about seeking professional help such as a dietician. I completely agree with that, but I truly feel at this point you should seek professional help from a mental health therapist. I say that from experience. I packed on a ton of weight during and after a pretty horrible marriage. I was depressed, unmotivated and lonely. My perfect evening consisted of take out chinese, ice cream and a few block buster movies to get me through the weekend. I was completely tuned out of the rest of the world. I began to see a therapist in order to get my mind in a better place first and then slowly I began to make life style changes which included my social life as well as my diet.

    This is not something that in my opinion you should go through on your own. Having friends and supporters on MFP is fantastic, but in my case at least, I strongly believe that had I not sought out mental health, I would not be where I am today. I ate mainly because I was bored, lonely and depressed. The moment I sat on my couch to watch TV I wanted to eat. The busier I kept, the less I thought about food.

    I don't know what your financial or health insuarnce situation is... but two things that helped me a ton were getting a therpist to get to the root of my problem and getting a used treadmill. I remember recording a show on TV I liked and telling myself I would walk on the treadmill for the full 30 min the show lasted. At first I would rest during commercials. I also joined on line groups such as meetup.com and signed up for different activities just to keep me busy and keep me moving. I'd go bowling or to the movies or museums, etc... Signing up for those activities forced me out of the house, forced me to interact with people and make friends, got me moving, thus burning calories and kept me busy so I wouldn't think about food.

    It will not be easy and it will take time, but it is so worth it in the end ! My life has turned around completely in the last 8-10 years. I have a crazy fun job where I travel non-stop and meet friends from all over the country and I am extremely happily married. AND... I still go to therapy ! No one has the perfect life and although I am in a much better place now, I bascially think of going to see a therapist as getting a tune up, if you will.... :) I wish you all the luck in the world!
  • dont_give_up
    dont_give_up Posts: 312 Member
    First off, I would like to say how proud I am of you! You should be proud of yourself too! All I can say is take it one day at a time. Don't rush into anything, making changes in your life like this, take a lot of hard work and dedication. Some days will be easier than others, but you can do it, I know you can!!
    Don't ever give up, and know that you have a lot of people supporting you. Feel free to send me a friend request, I'm here everyday!!
  • squirrell79
    squirrell79 Posts: 155 Member

    I don't know what your financial or health insuarnce situation is... but two things that helped me a ton were getting a therpist to get to the root of my problem and getting a used treadmill.

    ^^^ This!

    Getting a therapist may sound expensive and intimidating at first, but there are many sliding scale options out there. Please consider researching this and taking advantage of whatever such opportunities exist where you live.

    BEST of luck in your journey!
  • NatureWildchild
    NatureWildchild Posts: 16 Member
    Dani - God Bless ya girl! Keep the focus! You definitely got a pom-pom shake from me for you. Forgive me if you or someone else has already mentioned it.. but you can have some factors controlling this that need identified and are fighting against you. The thyroid of course, is a little stinker for dragging you through weight hell that leaves you baffled. The most sneakiest though, is meds that the doctor has you on to "help" you with whatever conditions you are battling. I personally gained 20lbs in ONE WEEK that way (and that chub don't come off just by stopping those meds), so you can just guess how THAT next doctor visit went!! Getting your daily calories lowered (as well as the water retention sodium) is definitely important yes.. but I've found if you don't exercise at all - you basically maintain and don't visually lose much. Where mobility is an issue, you've got to adapt to what CAN be done - such as water aerobics, or upper body weight exercises or lower body leg lifts while sitting on the couch. I hope that helps .. thinking outside of the box, because that's where the view is. :wink:
  • SanteMulberry
    SanteMulberry Posts: 3,202 Member
    Dani - God Bless ya girl! Keep the focus! You definitely got a pom-pom shake from me for you. Forgive me if you or someone else has already mentioned it.. but you can have some factors controlling this that need identified and are fighting against you. The thyroid of course, is a little stinker for dragging you through weight hell that leaves you baffled. The most sneakiest though, is meds that the doctor has you on to "help" you with whatever conditions you are battling. I personally gained 20lbs in ONE WEEK that way (and that chub don't come off just by stopping those meds), so you can just guess how THAT next doctor visit went!! Getting your daily calories lowered (as well as the water retention sodium) is definitely important yes.. but I've found if you don't exercise at all - you basically maintain and don't visually lose much. Where mobility is an issue, you've got to adapt to what CAN be done - such as water aerobics, or upper body weight exercises or lower body leg lifts while sitting on the couch.

    Yes^^^THIS^^^ I started doing dumbbell presses and chair aerobics before I started doing pool workouts. Exercise is pretty essential for dropping body fat (and the more you drop, the easier exercise gets).
  • miracle4me
    miracle4me Posts: 522 Member
    I read your Diary and noticed Dani you are lacking in fruits and veggies and this means you appear to be lacking in getting enough fiber a day. I suggest like others you up your fruits, veggies and protein. I did see you have salads on some days and that is one way you are helping yourself to get the fiber.

    I just had home made beef stew for lunch with a piece of baguette bread,lightly buttered and thought of you. Do you like Stews and soups? Do you Cook Chili, Beef Stew, Chicken Stew and you could even have dumplings since you are allowed a higher calorie count than I am on. Dani, You could eat filling food that is healthy for you and home made and never get hungry. I prefer to eat my food in a stew or soup because it is more filling in my opinion. Berries are a great desert and there are many varieties. I see you like Mexican food so you could make your own tacos, beefy bean with cheese Burito with healthy avocado slices and cherry tomatoes as a side dish.

    I love my Salads with Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing on the side only using as much as I need not drowning it in the dressing. I make a huge salad with rainbow colors of veggies the salad is a meal in itself. When I make the Salad I make sure I have plenty of protein. I had a huge salad for dinner last night, and the ingredients were boiled egg, cucumbers, red peppers, cucumbers, romaine lettuce, green onions, radishes, imitation crab meat, pepedew sweet peppers, kidney beans from a can, carrots blueberries, raspberries and sometimes I fry up a piece of bacon and add that as flavoring I also add flax seed for omega boost.

    I have many health issues that forces me to only use diet instead of exercise to lose weight. I log in daily for nearly a year now and my weight loss is slow but it is staying off. My goal is to lose 100 lbs and my calories are between 1400-1650 some days 1200. I calorie cycle so my body does not get accustomed to the same number, I also carb cycle because of health issues I have to keep my carbs under 100 a day or I gain weight. I am back to not eating sugar and eating gluten free.

    I love MFP because although there are mean trolls on MFP the majority of People care for one another and the proof is in the responses you have had. I am not going to send you a Friend invite because you already have over 400 on your list but I just want to encourage you and offer some suggestions. Sugar is an addiction and I did not realize how much I was using it to handle emotional traumas in my life until I stopped eating it. I subbed the sugar for Stevia, not made in a lab but it comes from the leaf of the Stevia plant I use non bitter nu-naturals nuStevia and sprinkle it in my coffee, tea, anything that needs sweetened. I have to admit I miss the emotional sugar high, sugar use to give me. I battle hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and I realize now the sugar highs that hid the depression and anger also came crashing down when the sugar high wears off, this leaves me worse off mood wise than I started out. I realized a truth Dani, and that is it is much easier to eat a chocolate candy bar with high carbs in form of sugar when I was feeling emotional and depressed or angry, than to deal with the emotions.

    I also realize I became overweight not just because of hypothyroid, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue, PCOS (hormones store carbs as fat instead of using for energy). I had many miscarriages because of PCOS but it was just called hormone imbalance at the time. I have other severe health issues. It will be 365 days since I joined MFP and I daily log in and record what I eat. I realize now it is not just my health issues but combined with I ate the wrong foods and ate what I now call feel good foods so I would emotionally feel good. I never binged but it still did the weight gain damage. The truth is Dani I read your Diary and I would love to eat all the high calorie foods also but if I did I would be weighing far more than I do now and probably in my grave by now.

    We all have lost weights on a diet and when the diet is over with return back to eating the way we did before the diet, we gain the weight back and many times adding more pounds. I know this cannot be a diet this new way of eating must be for a life time. Is it fun to count every calorie NO is it worth the results when we do YES! Congratulations in making a decision that will change your life for the better if you do not give up and quit eventually you will see the lbs drop off. In closing there are many recipes to take your high calorie favorite foods like Pizza and make it more calorie/carb friendly just do a search on the Internet.
  • cstarr0921
    cstarr0921 Posts: 2 Member
    Hi Dani, I am Charlotte and I am a very large woman as well and can totally feel what you are going through. I am 42 years old and it took until just last month for me to feel like I deserved to be happy in my life. I had a lot of personal issues that I just had not come to terms with from my childhood and past relationships. I guess the main one was my relationship with my dad. I always felt like i wasnt good enough for him and didnt deserve to be loved....it was last month when my dad lost his wife and started questioning his own mortality that he started telling us all how much he loved us. It was definitely a new feeling for me, one i never thought i would have. After that, I had a dr appt and the numbers on the scale brought me to tears right then and there....a very sweet and consoling nurse in the office sat with me for over an hour telling me how much I deserved to be happy and to do that I needed to love myself.....she told me to keep this motto in mind....."nothing tastes as good as skinny feels".....I started out on a 2000 calorie diet and went down each week until I reached below 1500....I stayed between 1100 and 1300 per day. The last visit to the doc he kind of got onto me a little bit saying that he wanted me to at least take in 1800 but no less than 1500....im struggling with that as I want the weight gooooonnnnnnneeeeee......but he said i am losing it too fast.....anyway, I guess what I am trying to say is that you have to figure out if there is any underlying reason for the weight, fix it or at least come to terms with it, and then look in the mirror and tell yourself that you deserve to be loved....and the most important person that you need to love you is yourself.....love ya girl.....im here if you ever want to talk.
  • Capegirl16
    Capegirl16 Posts: 4 Member
    hi Dani:

    Keep up the good fight girl.. I also over the past 4 years have lost and kept off 75 pounds trying to loose it was not as esy as putting it on... so remember one day at a time because what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.... pat yourself on the back girl
  • SimpleDesign
    SimpleDesign Posts: 3 Member
    Hi! I completely understand what you are talking about when you stated that you have gained since starting to diet...almost like a panic attack about not eating what you like so in "preparation" to start the "diet" you (Me too---have done this several times) eat more than before wanting to be sure you can let those foods go for awhile. I never lost any weight until I decided I was going to do it and still eat those foods that I love...after all I am going to eat them eventually and do not want to regain my lost weight. So to get over this tell yourself it is okay to eat the foods you love. In fact, plan for it. Use MFP and calculate your foods into your day, just measure/weigh everything. Sure amounts may be smaller, but they taste the same and can be very satisfying. Especially when you can say "yes, I eat brownies and am still losing weight". Insert your fav food for the brownies, but you get the idea. Maybe just add your favorite fruits/veggies as well so you still get that I am full feeling (super important to me...I need to feel like I have eaten!!) The only benefit to being very heavy (again personal experience here) is that ANY exercise you do is going to burn significant calories and you can eat those back....Yay, more food that day. Once you see the scale going in the direction you want (or inches coming off), motivation will come easier. Then it will be easier to make more significant changes. This is just what worked for me in getting past the "starting a diet" hurdle. I wish you all the success on your personal journey and I am inspired just by reading your post
  • timberowl
    timberowl Posts: 331 Member
    I agree with everyone else that baby steps are imperative. Every time I try to bump MFP up to lose 1.5 lbs per week, I end up having to move it right back down to lose 1 lb per week right after. Your body's going to resist this the ENTIRE way there, you just have to give it the least possible amount of resistance while still moving forward. If you ate 3,999 calories today, shoot for 3,900 next week, and 3,800 the next.

    Also, plug in BEFORE you eat ANYTHING for the day--maybe even the day before--your fruits, veggies, juices, etc. That way those calories are already accounted for before you start eating any carbs/junk. and you can just work around them.

    I know this might sound weird. But enjoy it while it lasts. There are a lot of people that would love to be able to eat 3,900 calories and still lose weight. Soon you'll be restricted to 1,200 before you know it. =)
  • Strudders67
    Strudders67 Posts: 978 Member
    Good for you. Being mentally prepared and wanting to lose weight is a major step. As you'll have seen from the many pages of comments, originally, you've got plenty of support out here if you need it.