Gotto lose 143+ lbs...

You can do it! Feel free to add me... I'm also on a journey to lose half my buddy weight! I started at 317 and currently at 217. It's totally possible!

Know this. Calorie counting works. It has to work. It’s how our bodies are designed.

Significant weight loss has 2 parts- eating in a calorie deficit and living with it. Folks tend to go all in on the deficit and try to beat themselves into living with it. Doesn’t work.

Plus there’s a very long calorie counting learning curve. Get a food scale, use the MFP calculator to find a calorie target to lose 2 lbs per week and try to hit your number. Most important- start a food diary and never stop. Log everything. The good, the bad and the ugly. Everything gets recorded with a number. Don’t know how many calories in that meal or dish? Make a good faith estimate and move on. Over your number? Log it. Wildly over? Log that too. Forget? Go back and fill it in as best you can. You will have lapses and make mistakes but never let the voice in your head talk you out of keeping your food diary. It is the center of you program.

You will soon find that you have a better chance to hit your number if you have a plan. If your plan doesn’t work for you at some point, work to make it better. Weight loss is mostly about problem solving and persistence. Never quit. You can do this.

Last- Don’t wreck yourself over the time issue. Read this board much and you’ll see how many people wreck themselves over time. Don’t be one of them. The calendar is not a weight loss tool. I’ve lost over 100 lbs and it’s been gone for years. But I lost very slowly and just refused to quit. Remember that you have to live with your plan long term. A plan we won’t actually follow isn’t a good plan. The good news is that every plan can be made better. Good luck.