Im having a hardtime
Options
Replies
-
To the OP: Before making any dramatic dietary changes, take a week to weigh and log everything you eat. This will give you time to get used to the idea of logging and finding accurate entries (or creating your own) for what you normally consume.
After a week, it should become fairly obvious which foods you are eating are calorically 'expensive.' Those are the ones you should focus on first by either reducing the amount of them that you consume and/or finding ways to make them less 'spendy.'
A week tracking will also give you a good database from which to make changes from.
Start small. Don't make dramatic, sweeping changes. For most people, that's not sustainable, and usually leads to bingeing once the resolve falters.
Weight loss is a matter of eating less and moving more. It's that simple. Anything else is just 'noise.' Think of this as a marathon and not a sprint. Slow and steady wins every time.
16 -
Most overweight people hate exercise. Mostly because they just feel it takes too much effort. It is that lack of effort that caused the person to gain all that weight.
Wow, judgemental much? You have no idea of any one individual's story and this smacks of the stereotype that overweight and obese people get all the time - that they are lazy.
Firstly I see lots of overweight people out exercising all the time.
Secondly I suspect you have never been heavily overweight otherwise you would know that exercising with an extra 100-300 pounds on your body brings its own particular issues with pain from extra load on joints and feet, chafing and getting severely out of breath easily along with injuring yourself easily from seemingly innocuous activity.
If you are trying to be encouraging, you need to change your approach. No need to sugar coat things but a little bit of empathy goes a long way.
OP - I would suggest that you focus on one thing at a time and that for now the most important thing is to follow the advice from lillymoo01, kimny72 and apullum. Get your calorie intake sorted and then when you feel ready slowly introduce some gentle exercise. There are videos on you tube of exercises you can do at home, in a chair even that will help you make a start and not put you at risk of injury eg this one
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0UP8rbPCM4
I am overweight and no I was not being judgmental. It's a plain fact. People who are obese or overweight don't exercise or don't exercise enough. Obesity is scientifically proven rarely genetic so my comment supports the fact that we get that way by eating more and moving less.
My approach was simple...move more, eat less...I even offered advice on some exercise that makes it easier on people who are overweight (water walking) because yes I am empathetic to the issues surrounding exercise and being overweight can be very uncomfortable. Personally I suffer a disorder that sends searing pain to my legs 24 hours a day. There is no treatment and no cure. Even with this pain always present, I manage to get my overweight 270 lbs to the pool 6 days a week...now who's being judgmental?
The truth is, exercise is not an essential element for weight loss. A person can definitely lose all the weight they want through dietary changes alone. So people who are unable to exercise for whatever reason shouldn't feel hopeless or doomed.
Of course, exercise is a good thing, and can help speed up the process by burning off calories. But from a strictly weight loss perspective, it isn't a requirement.15 -
Lillymoo01 wrote: »There’s a surprising amount of bad advice here. For weight loss, you have to eat fewer calories than your body burns. That’s all. You do not have to cut out any foods that you want to eat. You do not need to cut out carbs or sugar. If you eat fewer calories than your body burns, you will lose weight regardless of what foods those calories came from.
The only reason you might *have* to restrict carbs or sugar is if your doctor has told you that you must do this in order to treat a diagnosed medical condition.
Having said that, if you eat a lot of high carb foods, you might find that you don’t feel full for very long. Most people feel full when they eat protein, fiber, and/or fat. This varies by individual, but most people would feel fuller by eating, say, 100 calories of yogurt than 100 calories of candy. This does not mean you can’t eat the candy if it fits into your calorie goal. It just means that you probably want to budget your calories so that you feel satisfied and are getting adequate protein and micronutrients, while also fitting in treats if you want them.
Bad advice? Removing sugar from your diet couldn't be better advice. Study after study shows simple sugars wreak havoc on our bodies. Haven't you ever heard of "carbs beget carbs"? The more carbs (simple sugars) you consume the more the body craves them. That's just one of many problems simple sugars have. Sugars also force our bodies to create more insulin. At 428 lbs. if she is not already diabetic she is well on her way. Insulin shunts sugar to fat. Insulin makes fat. More insulin, more fat. Period. https://healthline.com/nutrition/fix-the-hormones-that-make-you-fat#section4
Really? Are these peer-reviewed studies or cherry-picked blogs full of pseudoscience? Too much sugar is not ideal for your overall health but there is nothing wrong with some sugar in moderation.
In a normal or close to normal weight moderation is sound and effective advice. When someones health is suffering and they are asking for help I don't think moderation is going to be a game changer. It can't hurt but I think moderation is to slow and may be better suited for maintaining weight loss rather than causing it. That said I would eliminate any sugars I could immediately. Doing it before or after counting calories does not seem very relevant to me. (opinion only, no research sited)17 -
snickerscharlie wrote: »To the OP: Before making any dramatic dietary changes, take a week to weigh and log everything you eat. This will give you time to get used to the idea of logging and finding accurate entries (or creating your own) for what you normally consume.
After a week, it should become fairly obvious which foods you are eating are calorically 'expensive.' Those are the ones you should focus on first by either reducing the amount of them that you consume and/or finding ways to make them less 'spendy.'
A week tracking will also give you a good database from which to make changes from.
Start small. Don't make dramatic, sweeping changes. For most people, that's not sustainable, and usually leads to bingeing once the resolve falters.
Weight loss is a matter of eating less and moving more. It's that simple. Anything else is just 'noise.' Think of this as a marathon and not a sprint. Slow and steady wins every time.
^^^This. Too many people jump in thinking they have to make these huge changes to their diet and exercise routines. They jump in with both feet. After a week or two, the motivation and resolve starts to falter and they have a weak moment. This leads to them consuming something they have decided is "bad" and on the forbidden list. This "failure" then leads to feelings of guilt and shame and anger and being overwhelmed (which many people who are obese already feel). These feelings lead to just giving up in hopelessness.
OP, start slow, be gentle on yourself. Recognize that it is going to be a long game. Even when you get to your goal weight, it is still a long game, because maintenance requires ongoing focus. It's why so many people regain, fast loss (not always) and the assumption that they can go back to old habits (again not always, sometimes life events catch knock your legs out from under you). Log for a week (log everything, the good, the bad, and the ugly) and just get used to that as your new habit. At the end of the week, look over your logs. You might be surprised with what you find. Then consider what you can cut back on or substitute.11 -
...Most overweight people hate exercise. Mostly because they just feel it takes too much effort. It is that lack of effort that caused the person to gain all that weight...
Pfft, I love exercise and gained weight while walking, swimming, and practicing yoga. I just ate more than I burned.10 -
Sorry, you don't need to cut out all sugar in order to lose weight. You need to hit your calorie goal. And the great thing about logging (and prelogging ) is you can see which foods fill you up at the right calorie level. I can easily fit in a sweet treat, or a meal with a sweet food, every day. Limiting your calories will naturally limit the amount of sugar you eat, if you are paying attention to your food log.
And nuts can be a great snack, but a serving has to be weighed out as they are very calorie dense. I have to be very careful with nuts as I don't find them filling. And I'd skip the dried fruit, as it's a lot of calories (from sugar fyi) in a tiny little package.
There's no reason to make it more complicated than it needs to be, especially for someone who's having a hard time. Just start with getting your calories in line and moving more.
Removing sugar and all it's forms teaches the body to use/burn the fat stores more effectively. lacarlabrown2914 stated that her weight was at 428 lbs. and that she did not know where to begin. Cutting out sugar is a first step that eventually leads to calorie counting.
Counting calories can be hard and unless you have started to train yourself to move away from bad habits, counting calories is not a good starting point.
My point was start to change habits first before you start counting. Removing sugar (in all it's forms) and subsequently reducing sodium intake will automatically reduce caloric consumption.
Perhaps the OP does indeed to reduce sodium due to her medical conditions, but this is not universally true. There are several of us here with low blood pressure who do better with increased sodium. And my ex lost 40 pounds without even trying while living in Thailand and eating a super high sodium diet.8 -
lacarlabrown2914 wrote: »Hey everyone im recently starting my weight loss journey and im hard time im at my highest weight 428 and i want to be at my goal weight of 260-275 i am currently on blood thinners Coumadin and don't which lifestyle change is right for me i really need the help before its to late and suggestions are welcome to help me along this way
The most important thing for weight loss is calories. Just start logging and hitting your calorie goal. Make small incremental changes and learn as you go. Move more, however you can. I'm not a doctor or RD so I can't speak to any dietary changes you might need to make for any medical conditions you might have. Check out the Most Helpful Posts threads pinned to the top of each board, lots of good info there. Be patient. Lots of folks have lost lots of weight here Good luck!
@lacarlabrown2914 another vote for small incremental changes. People can burn out easily if they try to change everything too fast.3 -
Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.
Start by tracking your food. Weighing good is more accurate but if you don’t have s food scale, measuring cups is much better than eyeballing portions. Don’t stress too much if you go over your calorie goal one day. Just log it in. At the end of the week look back at your food log and see if you can identify one thing you can do better to reach your goals. For example, if you currently aren’t eating any vegetables, you might decide that your goal the following week is to have one vegetable per day. You get to decide your nutritional goals based on shard important to you.
Since you are in blood thinners, I recommend you talk to your doctor before making big dietary changes. Certain vegetables high in vitamin K need to be monitored. With all the Kale craze, I’d hate to see you make dramatic changes and end up with problems. These foods don’t have to be avoided completely but need to be limited. Your doctor or a dietitian can help guide you.10 -
snowflake954 wrote: »OP I'll give you a tip. Listen to the posters that have high numbers--it means they've been around a few years on here and generally know what they're talking about. Just start, and try to hit your daily calorie goal. Use a digital food scale to weigh and measure everything and move more. Walking is great to start. Best of luck and keep it simple to start.
Also, "woo" as used in these forums means a comment is not supported by science, so lots of "woos" generally indicate poor advice.
Another vote for keeping it simple. Meet your calorie goal and make adjustments over time as you learn which foods help you meet your goal and which foods do not. One of the most important aspects of weight loss is sustainability, in other words, you are content to eat that much, that way, for a long time (basically forever, with a small increase in calories for maintenance). Wish you the best 9 -
Having said that, if you eat a lot of high carb foods, you might find that you don’t feel full for very long. Most people feel full when they eat protein, fiber, and/or fat. This varies by individual, but most people would feel fuller by eating, say, 100 calories of yogurt than 100 calories of candy. This does not mean you can’t eat the candy if it fits into your calorie goal. It just means that you probably want to budget your calories so that you feel satisfied and are getting adequate protein and micronutrients, while also fitting in treats if you want them.
I really like this example. 100 calories of Greek yogurt would satisfy me for 2 hours. 100 calories of candy would satisfy me for 2 minutes. It doesn't mean a person should never have candy, but that it's best when a person has extra calories for a treat and doesn't actually need more fuel for the day.8 -
need some more info about what you are having a hardtime with? Diet, exercise, speed of change, sticking to your plan....
I would not be surprised if you have been eating in excess of 3000-4000/cal/d. Subtle, slow changes that allow you to gradually move to a healthy lifestyle will be easier to do. The sooner you come to the conclusion this will take quite a while (1-2yr), the better. We all have a tendency to want immediate results once we finally decide to take action. Unfortunately it comes off about as slowly as it went on.
You have made the most important step. That is deciding to make a meaningful change. The next step will take devising a plan you can stick to and then doing it day in day out until you achieve results you want. Wash, rinse, repeat. Your plan will need to change slowly as you make progress. Keep it simple, and do what you can. Carb, keto, or whatever others are doing is unimportant to you now. Do what you can, and be reasonable so it is a sustainable change. That's not to say take it easy, but at the same token you need to come up with a plan that works without being too drastic that you end up failing.2 -
lacarlabrown2914 wrote: »Hey everyone im recently starting my weight loss journey and im hard time im at my highest weight 428 and i want to be at my goal weight of 260-275 i am currently on blood thinners Coumadin and don't which lifestyle change is right for me i really need the help before its to late and suggestions are welcome to help me along this way
Hi! Good luck ❤️
I just wanted to reach out because I saw you were on blood thinners. I had a pulmonary embolism last year (at 23! 😐 ) and I’ve been thinking a lot about these things lately. It’s scary to think of mortality. *hug*
The main thing with blood clots is to not be sedentary. While lots of people will say diet is the most important thing, I think for those of us with blood clot issues we need to work on moving more too. That’s an important lifestyle change for us, just to gently move a little more every day. (I still suck at it...but it’s a process)
I think the best thing to note at the beginning is: you don’t have to eat any one way to lose weight, just less. All the diets and eating patterns are tools to help with eating less.
For me, I find it very hard to eat less when highly palatable foods are involved (eg dessert, fried & salty foods, take out. etc). But I also need to enjoy my food or I give up. It’s a balancing act and yes, it’s hard. But it’s doable. ❤️
6 -
There is lots of sound advice already given here. There is also some appalling advice, particularly when it comes to issues of metabolism and sugar. It seems like there are also all sorts of assumptions about you and your eating/activity level. There are only three things I can reasonably infer from what you've told us:
1. You are significantly overweight. Which means that until now, you have consumed more calories than your body requires. It is possible you are really really tall but I'm skeptical.
2. You have a desire to weigh less.
3. You have a medical condition that requires use of blood thinners. In your case the blood thinner of choice is Coumadin.
I would implore you to work with a registered dietitian. It is essential that you understand how your dietary choices impact the medication. Specifically the Coumadin. Some dietitians will tell you there are foods you cannot eat at all if you are taking Coumadin; I'd seek to work with one who is able to educate you more effectively so that you understand how you are safely able to include these foods (such as leafy greens) in your eating plan even while taking the Coumadin. This can be accomplished but your dietitian will need to work with you on it and you'll need to understand the strategies then use them.
I wish you good luck in your endeavors to get your weight to a healthier level.9 -
Most overweight people hate exercise. Mostly because they just feel it takes too much effort. It is that lack of effort that caused the person to gain all that weight.
Wow, judgemental much? You have no idea of any one individual's story and this smacks of the stereotype that overweight and obese people get all the time - that they are lazy.
Firstly I see lots of overweight people out exercising all the time.
Secondly I suspect you have never been heavily overweight otherwise you would know that exercising with an extra 100-300 pounds on your body brings its own particular issues with pain from extra load on joints and feet, chafing and getting severely out of breath easily along with injuring yourself easily from seemingly innocuous activity.
If you are trying to be encouraging, you need to change your approach. No need to sugar coat things but a little bit of empathy goes a long way.
OP - I would suggest that you focus on one thing at a time and that for now the most important thing is to follow the advice from lillymoo01, kimny72 and apullum. Get your calorie intake sorted and then when you feel ready slowly introduce some gentle exercise. There are videos on you tube of exercises you can do at home, in a chair even that will help you make a start and not put you at risk of injury eg this onehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0UP8rbPCM4
I am overweight and no I was not being judgmental. It's a plain fact. People who are obese or overweight don't exercise or don't exercise enough.
This isn’t wholly accurate — it implies you can “out exercise” too many calories. And while exercise can help create the calorie deficit needed to lose weight, most people cannot create enough of a deficit through exercise alone. How many posts have we seen on the forums where someone is frustrated because they can’t lose weight even though they’re “eating healthy” and exercising every day? Changing eating habits permanently is the most important part of losing weight as there are people who cannot really add exercise for whatever reason and they lose weight while being pretty much sedentary.9 -
+1 for small changes. Don't try to do too much too fast, it's much better to make one easy change you can stick to, and then add things one at a time as you get better at it.
My personal input, which a lot of people will disagree with but works for me, is actually to NOT weigh every single thing you eat. For someone starting out, it seems like a very daunting task, and even now as an experienced MFPer, I just can't be bothered to weigh out prepackaged things. When I was obese I found just weighing the majority of things was enough for me to lose weight at a very healthy rate. I'm now just over normal weight, I've never weighed packaged goods.
So, if the prospect of weighing everything is scaring you, don't worry! You can lose a lot of weight by being reasonably accurate. It's only when you get down to a small deficit with little weight to lose that accuracy is key. Of course if you're happy weighing everything then it's a good habit to get into!
Best of luck, you can easily do this!
1
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 391.4K Introduce Yourself
- 43.5K Getting Started
- 259.7K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.6K Food and Nutrition
- 47.3K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 391 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.7K Motivation and Support
- 7.8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.2K MyFitnessPal Information
- 22 News and Announcements
- 922 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.3K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions