I have 150 lbs to lose.

NorCalAustin wrote: »

I've lost exactly this amount, it takes a ton of will power and focus. It always feels impossible but the reality of it is, it's not. If you want it, you can do it. It just takes time, my advice would be to jump right in, the best time to start is anytime. You can do it!

Kyraoko123 wrote: »

Hello, I am 280lb with 130lbs to lose. I had 2 kids in my early 40s and I would like to still be around for a while but my test results for all the things that go wrong when you are overweight aren't great. Not terrible but certainly not great.

My doctor wants me to do gastric surgery and I am terrified of the concept. This is my last chance to avoid it. I always start out strong but fall apart as time passes. I hope to stick it out this time.

I would be happy to try to do this with you.

calderoakmikel1 wrote: »

Hello Everyone, I am at 229, I need to get down to 175. I can totally identify with you Sian, I tried to love the body that I have and it only did more harm than good. I gain more weight instead of losing it. I think is normal to be afraid. I am afraid that I am going to start this again, like I had so many times before and I am going to give up. The thing is that there is no right way to get this right, we all have our struggles and we all will get to our goal as long as we keep trying. Is not failure as long as you keep trying.

firef1y72 wrote: »

600 days ago I weighed in at 289.5lb and had 140lb+ to lose, today I weigh 161lb and have just 11lb until I reach my first target. How did I get here? One day at a time. Yes it does take work and patience but it's not impossible.

The first thing to do is take your mindset away from the 150lb and on to something smaller and more easily accomplished. Sure keep that 150lb as your ultimate goal but set yourself smaller short, long and mid term goals. So your short term goal could be to lose 10lb, mid term could be 10% of your bodyweight and long term 50lb. As you pass the short and mid term goals then you can reset them and then you should be hitting goals on a regular basis which is great incentive to keep going.

Next I would simply start by logging everything you eat for around a week, this gives you a good idea of where you're starting from and it helped me be a little more mindful of whether foods were worth eating (and I lost the first 4lb without even trying).

The next step is to plug your details in and decide what rate of loss you're going to go for, it's tempting to go aggressive, but I set mine to 1lb/week. I have to admit I lost much more than that, but with that rate of loss I had a good cushion if I did have a binge day. You don't have to starve yourself to lose weight, especially if you're in the morbidly obese category, I have very rarely gone below 1800 Calories and probably average out at around 2000. I also haven't banned any foods, as you go on you'll learn which foods are worth the Calories (peanut butter magnum) and which aren't (KFC snack box). I also find if I totally ban a food that just makes me want it more, so if it fits in my Calories I'll eat it, if it doesn't fit in my Calories and I really want it I'll do something active so it does fit (I am known for walking/running around the village)

As you start to lose the weight you're going to be able to be far more active, some people don't like them but I loved my Fitbit, it allowed me to see how active I wasn't and then slowly increase my steps and activity level. As with food I started by just wearing it for a week and then once I had a baseline I started increasing my targets steps by 100 a day until I was above 10000 steps *(started <3000), and now I take anything from 20-50000 steps a day and ran/walked my first half marathon a month ago.

I'd also suggest incorporating some kind of resistance training, preferably heavier, compound lifting. That's one thing I really do wish I'd started much earlier. I was doing some resistance training but no where nearly as heavy as I could have.

bmeadows380 wrote: »

Brace yourself - this is a very long post!

I've been at it 6 months now and have lost 66 lbs so far, but I have at least another 130 to go, so I'm not a newbie anymore, but I'm certainly still climbing that mountain myself.

I think you are on the right track - the basic premise of losing weight is fewer calories in than calories burned, and there are a ton of ways to do that; the trick is finding the way that works for you. The problem comes in that it really does boil down to willpower and determination, and losing weight is NOT easy at all. You are fighting your body and your mind, and the mental battle is harder than the physical one. Much of our over-eating is a mental problem; we are addicted to sugar and food. We are taught unhealthy eating habits from childhood, we are stressed and want comfort and find it in food, we are frazzled and exhausted, living in a high pace society, and are much more sedentary in life style, all which are factors that play a part in us getting to where we are; there is so much more to the obesity problem than us just being lazy and gluttonous. Losing weight is definitely not easy, especially winning the mental war - just ask any addict how easy it is to get clean!

The tricks I've found so far that works are these:

1) find a method that works for you. Some people do well with the keto diet; others with a low carb diet like the paleo diet. Some do intermittent fasting (IF), others are whole food subscribers, some folks do a program like weight watchers, while others eat whatever they want, but keep track of their portion sizes, and still others just up the exercise they are doing. You've got to find a method that is sustainable for you. If you try one thing for a few weeks and it isn't working, then don't give up! Try something else! Keep trying until you find the method that fits you.

2) start with little things, because you are entering a war with yourself, and you do have a limited supply of willpower that is going to drain quickly if you are trying to do a bunch of things at once. Don't worry about exercise right now if you hate to exercise or are too out of shape for it. Focus on changing your eating habits. Get a food scale and watch your portion sizes to start with - it is so easy to over-eat and not realize it! Portion sizes in western societies are out of control, and you'll be amazed at the calorie load of certain items when you start measuring out the actual serving size.

3) pay attention to food labels and the contents of food - especially sugar. Sugar is sneaked into everything these days. It's even more appalling when you start to realize the huge portion sizes and just how much sugar you are consuming! Pay attention to how much sugar you are eating in a day and start cutting back. If you are like I was, you are eating WAY too much sugar a day and not even realizing it.

4) while its certainly true that you can eat whatever you want as long as you stay under your calorie limit and still lose weight, eating healthier foods and focusing on whole, natural foods, lean proteins, vegetables and fruit and limiting processed foods or snacks is much healthier for you, and you will find that they will hold you better and sustain you better - you'll last longer between meals, you'll feel fuller, and you won't have so many sugar crashes that lead to cravings if you focus on healthier, whole food options. Weight loss is based on calories in versus calories out period, but the QUALITY of those calories greatly varies for health - and the focus here is to be healthier. Focus on setting a plan ahead of time so you can cook for yourself as much as possible and not eat out so much or eat frozen dinners or boxed meals. It takes time, but cooking for yourself lets you control the ingredients. Some suggest when grocery shopping, to stay on the perimeter and out of the center aisles as the more whole foods tend to be on the perimeter while the processed, chemical stuff is in the center aisles, and I've found that to be true.

5) in relation with #4 is to realize this isn't just a diet - diet implies something temporary that you are going to do for a few weeks or months, and then stop. If you go into this with the mindset that it's temporary you are going to fail. You need to develop a mindset that this is a lifestyle change, a change for a healthier way of eating. It isn't easy, that's for sure, but making it a permanent change in your way of eating is the only hope we have of sustaining it. You also need to change your thinking and your relationship with food (and this part is hardest of all!) When you meet a goal, treat yourself - but don't do it with food! Try to retrain yourself to associate reward with other things than food.

6) Moderation and compromise are the key - don't just start out cutting out a ton of calories or entire food groups all at once. Start slow, build healthy habits over time. Making drastic calorie cuts or severely limiting yourself is a quick way to mental exhaustion, and for most folks, the battle with themselves is quickly lost. Know yourself, your strength and weaknesses, and build a meal plan around what you can sustain. If there's certain food items that you can't resist and can't limit yourself on, then you have to avoid those things. In other situations, though, if you are craving something and can limit yourself to a small portion of it then compromise with yourself. Constantly telling yourself no, constantly depriving yourself is only going to wear you down in the long run, but you can't just let yourself have whatever you want. It's a balancing act on a high wire sometimes, but being forgiving of yourself and working with yourself is a much better path to success than being a drill sergeant all the time!

7) be realistic in your exceptions. You didn't pack this weight on over night; you aren't going to lose it over night. Set reasonable goals - 1 to 2 lbs loss per week, and understand that some weeks are going to be better than others. You're going to have set backs, you're going to slip up, you're going to make mistakes; we all do that. The key is to keep going. When you mess up, note where you went wrong, accept it, and keep going. Don't let a one day binge wreck the entire week; don't let a bad week wreck the entire month, and don't let a slow period or plateau slide you back into the bad habits you had before.

8) find a support system, whether it be your doctor, an accountability partner, or an encouraging group of friends. You won't believe how much help having someone in your corner can be for you, especially when you are having bad weeks, are down, or it seems hopeless! There's a group called Let's Lose it: 100+ lbs that I always recommend to folks who are needing to lose a significant amount because I've found the people in that group to be incredibly supportive and understanding; after all, we're all in the same boat. They understand the challenges of being extremely heavy and having a ton to lose, and are sympathetic and very encouraging, which can be in short supply in other forum threads here. I've found it much easier to keep going with their support and understanding.


There's a lot more than can be said, but this is long enough as it is I know from personal experience that losing weight, especially a significant amount, isn't easy, and the statistics of success are abysmally low. It can be done, but it takes work and a ton of determination. It may be hard, but it isn't impossible! We can do this!