I have 70lbs to lose!! It feels hopeless!!

Nothing is hopeless, if you want it and surround yourself with people who will be supportive and also help motivate you to break your habit you can make it happen. (i.e. pretty much anyone here on MFP ). I used to be the exact same way and hated myself for it. Never believed I could ever actually get on the right path and stay there, always started something and quit after 2-3 months, but I also didn't have people around me who offered much support to motivate me. This site has been a great help for me, and not only just to log food and realize what I was putting in my body, but also because the people I have met on here are amazing for motivation and support, especially when you feel like quitting again. Good luck to you! You can do this!

Best advice I can likely give is that you should set small goes for yourself. Don't aim at that 70lbs right now. Aim at 10, and when you get there, aim at 10 more and keep going; Before you know it you will be past your 70 lb goal! Feel free to add me if you'd like.

Me too.. But I am well on my way to losing the 70 plus a few more. How? I just finally decided I wanted to be healthier, look better and happier more than I wanted that hamburger, ice cream or candy. I went on a 1200 calorie diet on 01-01-11 and 65 lbs later I am still fighting to get to my goal weight, but I feel good, I am looking better, and I am happy with my success of the hard work I have put out. I see the pay off.. Closet eaters, binge eaters, stress eaters, your talking about me.. I really just decided to find something else to release my stress on, I bought a punching bag, I get uptight I put my gloves on and go to punching. Boredom I started doing hand crafts -crocheting, binge eating, I got everything out of my cabinets and fridge that would be a threat to me. I had so much fruit, veggie's and such that my binge eating came ot a hault rather quickly. I had even got to point of sticking my finger down my throat after I ate something. I no longer worry about that. I eat healthy, and I go off of it every once in awhile and eat something outside my normal realm of food. And then I start back to following my normal regimen.

I've been heavy all my life, when I started this I was hitting 267.5.. I am 5"10' so I can carry some weight. But I am knocking on onederlands door now and I am so excited.. You can do this, it has to start in the mind first that you want to be healthier, thinner, and hot, MORE than you want that bread or candy or whatever. And you keep telling yourself that. I went thru Thanksgiving and stuck to my protocol and lost and added 2.5 lbs the day after.. It can be done and I am proof to it.. Just make that mind up and go for it...

Good luck to you all in your life changing goals...

Thanks everyone. I feel like i've got some sort of addiction with food recently and it makes me feel so low and degraded for admitting it. Most of my waking hours are spent thinking about my next meal or snack. How do I break this?

This was me in 2007 when I was at my life heaviest (172 pounds!). I have never been a big girl, always the skinny girl. Stress and Life somehow made me eat more than I ever have- and I would eat when I was stuffed. Eating excessively and over obsessing about food is an emotional and psychological behavior. You have to take a look at your life and what's going on. Seriously evaluating your life and what you want, what's going on in your life that you want/don't want anymore, and try to figure out what steps you need to take in order to change things around. There must be something you're avoiding or ignoring, and instead your focus is on food, or meal planning.

For me, It's been putting myself last in my life. I went through a period where I was living for "me" and then suddenly I had to begin living for someone else- my dad. I went from being in the 120s to the 170s because I had no time for me- and when i did, i didnt want to focus too much on me because i knew soon after i had to think about them. esp my dad who was sick with cancer. It was very hard to be in my early-mid 20s and be in that situation. Once I was able to refocus on myself and think about myself solely, I was able to go back down to 130. I have since rgained 25-30 pounds and i'm trying to get rid of that here on MFP. My issue now is having to refocus on "me" - i keep getting bored w/myself lol.. A part of me saw life as being perfect the minute i'd lose weight, and it wasnt. I'm still alone, my friends are still out of state, and I've made it worse by gaining weight again.

But, you know what? Life goes on.. and unless we sit around and mope all day we won't make any changes in our life. We have to think of the positive and hope we reach our goals successfully! We're in this together!

I have a post-it stuck to my monitor at work that says "Impossible is not a declaration, it's a dare." I use it more for meeting really restrictive deadlines than for sticking to my calories, but its true there too! I second the breaking it down into goals- especially when combined with treats!
I'm also a stress / boredom eater. I find that if I make myself a cup of tea, it really helps. Yeah, tea sounds boring, but then you realise how much time you can fill with it. Fill kettle, wait for it to boil, pick tea (having a huge selection is really helpful), pick sweetener.... Especially if you keep all the components in different places. Sure, it makes having a quick cup on a busy day a bit of a pain in the *kitten*, but I think its worth it, lol.

Hi everyone, i've got a similar amount to loose and am in it for the long haul.
I find it helps me if I can view other peoples diaries. I also think It may keep me in check. If anyone wants to add me... Please do

Wow I never realy thouht there were so many ppl on here with the same problems as me I need to loose like 50 lbs or more but the goal is fifty and it feels depressing to think of it as a big number but bein 5 2 makes me look like a fat little unpack lumpa or something I miss bein skinny

I see a lot myself in these questions, its too much, how can I do it? i don't think i can blah blah blah ..

Here's the dope:

If you want something bad enough ... TRULY bad enough .. you WILL achieve it . Like everyone said, its not easy .. if it were, no one would ever be fat. The reason you feel hopeless is because that's all you know, failure in sight of something truly monumental. You have to deal with whatever it was that got you to this point, once you do .. then things don't seem hopeless. most people have a deep dark secret that hangs over them and took them 70 lbs overweight. I am not asking you to discuss it here.. but you will need to think about it if you really want to change your mindset from "It feels hopeless" to "It is inevitable"!

I am not going to wish you luck .. because luck has nothing to do with . It sheer will, determination and consistency. If you can't commit yourself to this 110% then you will fail like every other time. Take some time, think about it .. and get back to me. i would be interested to read your response.

Every day you should look at the community tab and check out the success stories. There are so many people with pictures that have succeeded. They are inspiring! You can do it if you are ready. Everyone on this thread has given such good ideas. I'm stealing a couple of them!

It is attainable!!! I've done it, you can too! I still have 20-30lbs to go, but when I look at where I started (233.3) It just keeps me motivated! Start out by making ONE change..stop drinking sodas--even diet, and replace it with diet green tea. That was MY first step, and I lost water weight right off the bat! Next, be a little bolder...like no white bread, replace it with 40cal wheat bread...etc. You are sooo worth it~

You can do this! Add me- I have great support and that is how this has worked for me.

Late to this party... but!...

You can totally do it. It's just a matter of willpower and how much you want it. If you want it bad enough, nothing can stop you. Little steps - don't make huge changes all at once, because that is overwhelming and it's much easier to say "it's too hard!" and fall back to old habits if you do that.

30 days to make a habit/behavior change - the first 30 days SUCK. Not going to lie, no sense in lying. However, after that initial 30 days, IT DOES GET EASIER to stick with the changes you've made.

Make it a goal to make one small positive change each day or week, depending on your comfort level. Switch one snack for something a little more healthy, or sub water for the sugary drink you were planning. Little triumphs sure help keep you going, because breaking things down into doable, manageable chunks, you'll have a much easier time sticking with your "lifestyle change".

I was 288lbs when I started in mid January of 2011. I'm 174 lbs now. It is TOTALLY doable. It's just a matter of how much you want it.

We are about the same weight and the same height. For me, when I looked at my "big goal" I would get discouraged too. I would think OMG, how am I going to get there? It's going to take forever? I'm very impatient and need stronger will. So I created mini goals to help me out. My first goal was to get out of the 220's... I was 224 starting this. I'm still new and down to 217 BUT I hit my first goal and feel PROUD! My next mini goal is to lose 10 lbs...I'm 3 lbs away from that goal. I have found this helps me stay motived and also the support of friends on here. I sent you a friend request Good Luck!

Same here. Just started. Weighing in at 240 lbs at 5"5. Im cant believe I let myself get sooo heavy. Working on trimming down hopefully 60 lbs.!!!!!!Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.