200+ Pounds to Lose

My comment got cut off so here's a summary:

Shop for groceries at a produce stand. They often have meat, fruits, veggies, berries, nuts, and seeds etc. There's usually very little processed foods. And/or find a farm for the very freshest of unprocessed meats and produce (source: am farmer). Best wishes, and be nice to yourself

Reading the success stories helped a lot at the start. I started at 376, and I'm down to 320....getting to the 50lb mark was super motivating, and when I sat down to look at it, instead of thinking geeze its only a drop in the bucket, it was wow I am 1/4 of the way there! I have already accomplished so much, and now that I am close to leaving 300s, I am super motivated. I feel like each step has a different motivation as you go though. But really not focusing on how much I need to lose, and celebrating what I have done has been more positive for me.

I don't follow anything other than calories, and I like to work out...but I really just each what I want in those limits, and try to make good choices. I have small kids and I notice the better I eat the better they eat because they are still small enough to want to eat like me. And that's motivation in itself. I don't want my kids to deal with this.

GlassAngyl wrote: »

Low carb has helped me tremendously. I feel compelled to say that it ISNT the only method out there (so the skitzos on here don't freak out).. But where just regular cico for me didn't work at all..(carbs made me eat more and was hard to control my appetite on), low carb has made it almost a breeze. I lost nothing for 7 months on fighting with cico. Cico combined with low carb? 22 lbs in two months.

My point is, don't give up if something don't work, just try something different until you find that magic little formula that gives you an edge.

Hi, I am new to the boards, but your post caught my attention. I wouldn’t spam, because of the extensive research I have done that made me understand the difference in carbs we consume. Human made carbs do not get processed by our bodies the same way. Starting college and learning more about my health issues made me research foods and what I could and cannot eat to maintain a healthy weight. I have struggled and failed, but each failure brought a new lesson. I have begun again and live on a clean food, no processed foods except my Herbalife shakes. Although it has only been two weeks I feel a difference that I don’t feel when I eat whatever I want. I love bread, I just don’t process it, therefore, I do not eat it.

Keep sharing your positive experience with low carb, others will learn that we have been programmed to eat foods that we do not need at all.

Take it 1 day at a time .... maybe use the blogging function on here (i did for first couple months) to write down how you feel ...

I am taking it simple, just focus on today, don't think of the long-term numbers cos they're big and scary and feel daunting .... just get 'today' done with and making the right choices...

I'm on day 326 of this and am 76lb down .... get used to the fact that sometimes you'll go 2 or 3 weeks and you won't lose ... it'll catch up sooner or later... but i've averaged 1.7lb a week which i think is spot on for sustainable weight loss..

I'm now at the point where i'm going to need a whole new set of trousers at least and they're falling off me ... so it's working

I have my days where i stop caring and just have a blow out but i accept that for what it is and don't worry about 'falling off the wagon' .... its just life ... life doesn't allow you to be perfect day in day out ...

A big change that's finally starting to take is that my desire for snacks and feelings of hunger are slowly diminishing ... i can actually feel the cravings and draw of food slowly ebbing away which is a MASSIVE milestone given i was the kinda person who'd sit down and demolish packs of cookies at a time without blinking...

Best of luck .... you can do it .... if i can - anyone can

I recommend taking progress photos regularly. On days when I am not feeling motivated I can look back on how far I’ve come. I take face shots daily and full body shots every week or so.

I have lost well over 200 lbs. MFP and this community had a lot to do with it: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/15651-lets-lose-100

To answer your questions, I really focused on my "why," which is my little girl. I have to not only BE there for her, I have to lead her by example. She's only 2 and won't remember her Mommy being super morbidly obese (I hope) although she does recognize me in very old pics. Figuring out your "why" is essential. My love for my daughter drives me, every single day. (Yes, I love my husband and Big Girl too, but Little Bit is at a life stage where she copies everything I do, and I want the things she emulates to be good habits).

Along the way of course I set smaller goals. I found numbers that have importance to me, and I wrote them all out on a sticky note I keep at my computer, checking them off as I went. .3, 10, 7.4, 2.6, 6.9, 1, 2.1, 7.4, 2.6, 10, 10, 2.7, 7.3, 4.9, 5, 4....etc. I made sure to celebrate milestones, both big and small. I personally tried to never think of the amount I had to lose in large numbers, because that would have been way too intimidating. Every little percent of weight lost, every 10 lbs, every time I hit a new set of numbers were smaller, obtainable goals, and then the 100 club came...and Onederland, and the 200 club. What now feels like "suddenly," several years later, is the healthier me! I found things other than the scale to focus on, too. Getting new clothes was a motivator but particular fitness-related events were even better. Riding horses? Check. Getting on an amusement park ride with my nephews? Check. Triathlon? Check. 5Ks every month---checkarooney, and improved times or greater distances, etc. were also a big deal to me.

You really CAN do it. It's all under your control. Believe and achieve and whatnot. My trainer and I have a few mantras: (1) A goal without a plan is just a dream, (2) You can't out-exercise a bad diet, and (3) Yeah, I just did that! Good luck!