How do you go from 300+ to 200lbs? Ugh!

Hi Folks, I'm a newbie. Mid 40's and somehow scales tipped over 323 lbs. 200 lbs is the mark, need to get there, please help!
:)
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Replies

  • aliciabruch
    aliciabruch Posts: 4 Member
    One very helpful thing for me has been adding recipe apps. FitMenCook is an awesome one.
  • Seffell
    Seffell Posts: 2,244 Member
    Read the stickies in this forum. All is explained there.
  • Kayak_Fisherman
    Kayak_Fisherman Posts: 22 Member
    rdmitch wrote: »
    Just follow along with the rest of us and you will get there. Small goals at a time make the journey achievable.

    This is exactly how I am doing things!
    I am currently at 304lbs and wish to get below 200lbs, however, my next 'Target' is actually to hit 299lbs, I will be very happy that day!
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
    You just start. It may seem like a massive thing to do, but the lbs will drop off and you'll see your goal approaching slowly, it surely....

  • yskaldir
    yskaldir Posts: 202 Member
    Eat less.
  • HighlandPony17
    HighlandPony17 Posts: 55 Member
    I am 266 lbs currently and in one week on my return to MFP I have lost 2lbs mainly through short walks of 20-30 mins twice a day 7 days a week.... It will come off but you have to be very determined...... good luck.
  • HighlandPony17
    HighlandPony17 Posts: 55 Member
    walk more :)
  • Heather4448
    Heather4448 Posts: 908 Member
    jemhh wrote: »
    One pound at a time.

    That sounds flippant but it is the truth. Determine your calorie goal by completing your MFP profile. Set it to lose 2 lbs per week. Eat those calories plus 50% of exercise calories you earn. After four weeks adjust your calories if you are losing too slowly or two quickly.

    Best of luck to you!

    This right here ^^
    Do all of this!
  • nottellingit
    nottellingit Posts: 19 Member
    Pretty simple, really (remember, I said simple, not easy!). You tipped the scales at 323 because you've been eating too much. Eat less calories than your body burns and the weight will come off. Assuming you're 5'9 (you stated no height) and 45 years old, you burn 2,800 calories a day just by existing. I'd recommend lowering your intake to 2,300 calories a day (loss of 1 lb per week) or 1,800 calories a day (loss of 2 lb per week)
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
    jemhh wrote: »
    One pound at a time.

    That sounds flippant but it is the truth. Determine your calorie goal by completing your MFP profile. Set it to lose 2 lbs per week. Eat those calories plus 50% of exercise calories you earn. After four weeks adjust your calories if you are losing too slowly or two quickly.

    Best of luck to you!

    ^This.

    You just start. Start by tracking your food that you eat now.

    Read the stickies at the top of the forum for how to do that.

    Once you see what you're eating now, look for ways to cut back on calories, and take one step at a time.

    All of us started somewhere.

    I'm down 90 pounds, on my way down to 100 total lost same as you're planning, and it's just 1 pound at a time, 1 day at a time, 1 decision at a time.

    Realize that this whole thing is something you'll be in for the long haul and is not something you'll mess up permanently. If you do mess up, just get back to it and keep moving forward.

    Best of luck.
  • bikecheryl
    bikecheryl Posts: 1,432 Member
    How? One minute, one hour, one day at a time. Listen to all the great advice and experiences here, be honest to yourself and never forget the endgame. It's working for me so far! It will for you to. :)
  • Sheisinlove109
    Sheisinlove109 Posts: 516 Member
    Did this exact thing. 90lbs down. Friend me, I'll be glad to share/
  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
    Eat less & move more to create a calorie deficit.
  • Rubysue17
    Rubysue17 Posts: 24 Member
    It's all very daunting, isn't it? Don't let it overwhelm you! My advise is not to think about loosing over 100 pounds. It sounds insurmountable! Set small goals, like 20 or 25 pounds. I started at the beginning of the year, lost 13 pounds in January, but .....0 in February. So I called a local weight loss clinic. (They push bariatric surgery and food replacements, but that's not for me!) I knew it had to be a change in my lifestyle and eating habits. By the time I got in to see the dietician I had lost 30 pounds on my own! That was on May 23 and today I am down about 6 more pounds! They strongly suggested using MFP, which I actually stumbled upon while doing some on-line research waiting to get to the weight loss clinic. I had started logging but quit in March. So I started logging again in May, since now I had a better understanding of what I was doing and up against. You have to log EVERYTHING you eat. Jot it down on paper so you don't forget all you've eaten if you can't log it right away. At first, I was just concerned with calories consumed, now I am taking a look at the carbs, fat and protein grams as well. Little steps at a time. If you drink soda or beer or alcohol, cut it out of you diet and drink only water. At least for now. You can friend me if you want. Hope you do well, don't get discouraged. We've all been there!
  • PaulaWallaDingDong
    PaulaWallaDingDong Posts: 4,641 Member
    edited June 2017
    It'll be a lot like how I got from 250 to <150. Planning, patience, and a good calorie goal. Walking for exercise also helped. You got this. <3

    ETA And diet soda (diet dew, coke zero) made my life much easier.
  • MWaggoner3
    MWaggoner3 Posts: 2 Member
    After I had my baby 4 years ago I got on here an lost 40 pounds. I needed to lose about 130. I'm tall so it distributes so I'm not round just big. Yuck! But after regaining 10 last month I decided I better get focused on my health again. My advice is don't stop logging on here. When I got lax about writing down everything that I put in my mouth and how much exercise I was doing I completely stopped doing any of it. Then I became a yo-yo again. Now that I am back on here. I am consistently eating better and exercising. My only issue so far has been that now that it's getting hot I have water retention, so I am really having to watch sodium content/eating out or I will put back on several pounds even though my calorie count is good. WATER, too!
  • DuncanAA
    DuncanAA Posts: 4 Member
    edited June 2017
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  • DuncanAA
    DuncanAA Posts: 4 Member
    Make a solid plan with realistic goals write it down and stick to it.
    Prepare yourself to become very disciplined
    Take weekly a picture of your body, much better than a scale for short term motivation.
    Weigh yourself daily for the long term motivation, don't give any attention to the weight going up and down. That is mostly due to gaining and loosing water and feces.

    Get some things in order:
    - Start drinking water, a lot of it, nice goal is +3 liter a day, spread out over the day, your kidney's can handle a maximum of about 1 liter every hour.
    – Make sure you sleep well, 8 or 9 hours, if not, change what is preventing you from a good night rest.
    Blinds, new mattress, white noise generator, whatever.
    - Try to get rid if as much stress as possible, well can't give you any advice here, don't know anything about your life.
    - Relax now and then, If you have a busy job, make some time for yourself and do nothing.

    Start with kicking the really some habits like:
    – Junk food
    – Sugar in coffee or tea
    - Drinking soft drinks and juice
    - No more candy bars
    - No more alcohol

    Pick up some good habits:
    - Start logging your food intake
    - Sign up at a gym
    - Start eating clean food, gather recipes you like
    - Start eating smaller amounts per meal.
    - Start walking about 10.000 steps a day

    If you go to the gym two or three times a week, start off slowly! I know you will be very motivated in the beginning and want to hit the ground running. You probably will have an injury within a week or two. Do some cardio and weight lifting.

    You will probably gain weight! That is due to the muscles you are gaining, at your weight it is very easy to gain muscles, you want to have a bigger muscle mass:
    1) muscles, even if you don't use them they use energy (burn fat).
    2) They motivate loosing weight, as soon as you can feel these muscles but can't see them you will understand why.
    3) Your skin will look less flabby once you start loosing fat.
    4) As you have a high muscle mass you will sooner reach a healthy fat percentage.

    Start doing this for a about three months, the first month you will probably gain some weight and loose that amount in the next two months.

    After these three months, you are used to smaller size meals, are used to clean food, know what your calorie maintenance is, build up some muscle mass, sleep 8+ hours a night and are stress “free”.
    Now you are ready to create a calorie deficit, keep going to the gym for cardio and maintenance of your muscle mass. (you want to loose your fat, not your muscles).
  • 150poundsofme
    150poundsofme Posts: 523 Member
    It's really tough losing weight and not regaining. Some great advice you were giving. Hugs