Cannot seem to do this! It's a little depressing

Try a 1700 calorie diet. Don't try for 2lbs a week, try for 0.5-1 lb a week. Slow and steady is better than trying for too fast and failing. Try to get in walks 2-3 times a week...

Marcy, the post I quoted is some very good advice. I hope you'll follow it.

Others have given really good advice too.

Like you, I have a lot of weight to lose, and like you, I've gotten discouraged when my latest-and-greatest diet has resulted in either little to no weight loss or weight loss that I've gained right back.

Sustainability is the single most important factor in any diet in my opinion. If you're hungry all the time, you will eat. If you deny yourself that cookie ever single day, you will eventually cave. If you love pizza but you never eat pizza, you will binge on pizza.

I feel like I've finally figured out the weight loss thing for me. I've lost more weight than I've ever lost and I'm past the point where I can say "this is really hard". It's not hard anymore. I do occasionally say "screw it" and have days like I had this Thursday where I logged an impressive 2500 calories and ate pizza AND chicken nuggets AND frozen yogurt. But most of the time, I eat a normal foods and keep my calories at 1500 on the days I don't work out and at 1700, 1800, or even 2000 on the days that I do work out depending on how many calories I've burned.

A couple other things that have helped with my journey:

1) Tell people you love and trust. I've dieted in secret so many times because I didn't want to risk the embarrassment when I failed. That attitude of course sets me up to fail, but more... the people I've told this time around have been a huge help.

2) If you can afford it, find yourself a "coach" for the beginning stages. I did Jenny Craig for a while. I don't actually recommend Jenny Craig because they push a severe calorie restriction and I disagree with that philosophy. They wanted me on 1200 calories a day even though I was wearing a body-bug (measures METs and gives a calorie read out) and I knew I was burning at least 2200 calories a day. HOWEVER, having someone I could talk to every week in the beginning made a world of difference. They also gave other great pointers, which I'll talk about below. So... I'd suggest finding a "coach" that agrees with your philosophies on diet. Stick with them until the diet becomes a habit. Then you can fly solo if you want. If you can't afford to hire someone, then I suggest finding yourself a friend you can confide in and check in with (something MFP seems to encourage).

3) "Volumize". Eat a lot of leafy veggies. Eat a lot of low-starch veggies. Try eating at least half a cup to 2 cups every meal. (I've slacked off on this part, but it was pretty important for me in the beginning).

4) Stop thinking of exercise in terms of: I have to set aside 30 minutes or an hour of my day to go work and sweat. Every little thing counts. If you go to the grocery store, park at the far end of the parking lot and walk. If you work in a tall building, walk up one flight of stairs before taking the elevator the rest of the way. Walk to the water-cooler once every hour. Drink lots of water, which gives you an excuse to walk to the bath room once an hour too. All that walking adds up. Once you've dropped some weight and strengthened your walking muscles, you'll naturally start wanting to walk more. You'll eventually get to the point where I'm at where you're seeking out exercise because you want it, not because you have to do it.

5) Have faith in yourself. Have patience. Be persistent. Weight loss is a long, slow journey. You can do it. But you're not going to do it fast. Part of the game is getting back up when you fall. Weight loss is the same. If you binge? Re-commit and try again. You'll eventually binge less and do better.


And one day, I'll actually write a post that's not a novel. *sigh*

Good luck. You can do this.

That's a great start, good luck!:happy: