100+ to lose - help!

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  • cheryldumais
    cheryldumais Posts: 1,907 Member
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    My heart goes out to you. I was where you are so many years ago. I've lost 105 pounds and I'm 61 years old and it took me 2 years to get to my goal. Why oh why did I wait so long? I couldn't tell you but what worked for me this time was finding things I could live with. Not just do to get skinny quick but to actually do for the rest of my life! Start slow. Find things you like to eat that fit in your calorie goals. Nevermind trying to lose 2 pounds a week. If that is not sustainable for you try 1 pound. You won't get skinny quick but you will get skinny and you will be able to keep it off which is the main thing anyway. Meanwhile you won't feel like chewing on the table legs, lol. Trust me my friend I tried everything. I even had a lapband for a while (what a nightmare that was). This time I decided to eat things I like and over time I got more and more healthy foods into my rotation as I learned there were things I liked that were unexpected. I approached exercise the same way using walking as my exercise method. Read the boards at MFP and let those who have been successful guide you. I have so much gratitude for the ones here who shared their wisdom and put up with my questions and occasional whining. Good luck.
  • dholt8461
    dholt8461 Posts: 16 Member
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    Something that I did that really helped me was meet with a nutritionist who helped me make a meal plan. I’m the kind of person who really likes routine so I don’t mind eating the same foods (for the most part) every day because I am seeing results. I too have about 100 more pounds to lose and I’ve lost 26 so far. I’ve got a 5 year old and a 2 year old who I keep looking at and I want them to know a fit mommy. Try to plan out a menu that would stay within your calorie goal. Also, the 1300 seems low. Try setting your goal to 1 pound a week until you get in the habits and then you can make it a little lower over time. When I went from 1300 to 1600 I have seen a lot more improvement
  • jdog022
    jdog022 Posts: 693 Member
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    ask yourself every morning if you want to see your daughter grow up or not. that should be all the motivation you need and if not I don't know what else would do it. that's what did it for me as I already grew up without one parent as a result of bad health habits
  • Pepsab
    Pepsab Posts: 168 Member
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    I also tried WW before committing to MFP. I just couldnt do WW at all. I am very similar to you. So far i have lost 10kg in 3 months so slow but steady. I would say on average i eat 80% good 20% treats. What i like most about MFP is you learn so much about food. If im having a really crap day and i just want some chocolate then i try eat lower calorie foods at other meals. Every 2 weeks or so ill have one meal that just pushes my calories far over and so be it. That keeps me on track the rest of the time.
  • me0231
    me0231 Posts: 218 Member
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    I've been where you are too and like many have said already, at the end of the day you just have to want it bad enough. Weight loss in theory is not hard, eat less than you burn is all that it comes down to. But weight loss in real life is not easy at all. You have to restrict yourself and you have to say no to stuff that you really want. And it sucks, there's no doubt about it.

    I've tried to lose weight countless times. Tried fad diets, crash diets only to yoyo back up and then some every time. I've wasted 20 years doing that. I was miserable and yet I couldn't get my act together. I wish I could tell you what's different now but I decided last April that I'm just going to do it. No dramatic revelation or anything, I just decided and I'm doing it, no matter what. I've lost 40 lbs so far, slow and fairly steadily. I've had hiccups, felt like it's not working, posted in despair, etc but I stuck with it and I'll get the last 15 lbs off too. I'm eating foods I like and yes I do weigh every morsel, it's a pain but it works. I have no doubt about reach my goal. And when I reach it, I will continue to log and I will eat like I do now, just slightly larger portions. I think a large portion of why this works for me is that I don't deprive myself. I eat what I want, but I do plan ahead and fit it in my calorie allowance.
  • theowlbox
    theowlbox Posts: 912 Member
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    Typically to begin losing weight you need to know how much you are eating and using (via exercise or basic body function) and you also need to reduce that amount. Absolute basics. So in your initial post you said you quit WW because you didn't want to track. That might be an issue. You somehow have to know what you're doing. If, as it seems from some of your other posts, you're just having overwhelm about the tracking, then it's a skill you can get better at when you're not trying to change a million things at a time. But if you hate tracking, you'll have to find a way to know how much you're eating.
    So if you hate tracking: maybe choose a number for your snacks and meals (3 meals at 400 and 2 snacks at 150 eg.) then make sure what you're eating is 400/150 or less and move on. This works if you're sure you're not going to under eat or if you eat similar things most days. You only will need to know the calorie content of the meal or snack.
    If you don't hate tracking but you're overwhelmed by the million tips and tricks on this website: relax and remember that some guy lost weight eating twinkies (unhealthfully). Start accumulating the skills and habits that are associated with weight loss: adequate sleep (!), stress reduction, logging the food you eat, weighing yourself regularly, etc. Then stack them up as you learn to do them. It is easy to see the number of suggestions as insurmountable and choose to not act. But it's actually possible to put that crap on mute and succeed by honing just a few skills (if they are the right ones). I think you'll find a way and succeed if you'd like to. Take care and best of luck!
  • qpastrano
    qpastrano Posts: 7 Member
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    theowlbox wrote: »
    Typically to begin losing weight you need to know how much you are eating and using (via exercise or basic body function) and you also need to reduce that amount. Absolute basics. So in your initial post you said you quit WW because you didn't want to track. That might be an issue. You somehow have to know what you're doing. If, as it seems from some of your other posts, you're just having overwhelm about the tracking, then it's a skill you can get better at when you're not trying to change a million things at a time. But if you hate tracking, you'll have to find a way to know how much you're eating.
    So if you hate tracking: maybe choose a number for your snacks and meals (3 meals at 400 and 2 snacks at 150 eg.) then make sure what you're eating is 400/150 or less and move on. This works if you're sure you're not going to under eat or if you eat similar things most days. You only will need to know the calorie content of the meal or snack.
    If you don't hate tracking but you're overwhelmed by the million tips and tricks on this website: relax and remember that some guy lost weight eating twinkies (unhealthfully). Start accumulating the skills and habits that are associated with weight loss: adequate sleep (!), stress reduction, logging the food you eat, weighing yourself regularly, etc. Then stack them up as you learn to do them. It is easy to see the number of suggestions as insurmountable and choose to not act. But it's actually possible to put that crap on mute and succeed by honing just a few skills (if they are the right ones). I think you'll find a way and succeed if you'd like to. Take care and best of luck!

    I think you hit the nail on the head...I get so overloaded with information that it becomes easier to not act. I also get in the mindset of "I need to do ALL of this right ALL of the time" and then, again, choose not to act. Thank you for the tips!
  • me0231
    me0231 Posts: 218 Member
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    Yeah, absolutely go slow. Habit changes take time. When I started I only tried to hit my calorie goal, nothing else. I didn't exercise at all because I wanted to focus on eating. I ate everything but kept it within my goals. You'll probably find over time that you'll automatically eat more veggies and less fries because it just fills you up more. I never made a conscious decision to eat x many servings of veggies and fruit for example.

    After about 3 months, I started a beginner lifting program. I hate cardio and skipped all that too when I started going to the gym. I was in and out in 30min and it seemed very manageable. After few months I started paying attention to my macros, added a step counter and goal and now I even do a cardio class. In the future I want to fix my bedtime routine/screens off/enough sleep/etc. I've read that you shouldn't add more than one new habit per month and if you follow through on half of them, then that's six new healthy habits a year which is amazing. I went slower and have kept them all up.

    Just go slow and don't get overwhelmed with thinking you need to go biggest loser style eat only chicken breasts with lettuce without dressing while joining a gym and spending 2h there every day from now on and if you have one fry you might as well give up. You're in it for the long haul. The extra padding didn't show up overnight and it's not going to disappear overnight either.
  • vnb_208
    vnb_208 Posts: 1,359 Member
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    sw: 295 cw:198.5 started aug 16th 2016, just counting my calories on mfp using a food scale to log my food.

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