Need to lose 100+ lbs any tips or advice?

My struggle is less about food than my 'tude. The other day I was driving to work thinking, Wow, I've lost 43 pounds and when I get to a point when I've lost 100 pounds, I'll still be significantly overweight. Yay me." That's stinkin' thinkin'.

So, you have to get your head right and, at least for me, it is a daily fight to keep my head right. Also, I've had to accept certain facts that involve math and physiology, meaning it's going to that a seriously long time for me to lose the weight I need to lose. I mean a reallllllly long time. So, I have to look past small bumps in the road-- a bad choice here, a gain on the scale there, and focus on the positive changes I've made.

Also, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of planning. Planning meals. Planning ahead, way ahead. At first I resented it. Now, it's just part of my reality.

Finally, get a digital scale. They sell them at Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, just consider it an investment in a tool for your success. It's a fact that people routinely underestimate how much they eat (and overestimate how much they exercise). I also resented weighing and measuring everything, now, I just do it. It's part of my reality.

I started out with literally 137 lbs to lose just to get to the high end of the recommended weight for my height. I'm now down 72 lbs so I'm past the half way point, but it's taken me 1.5 years to get this far. I didn't want to be hungry all the time, nor did I want to give up my favorite foods. I only exercise 3-4 days a week, 1 hour only because in my past I let it consume me, exercising 2 hours at a time every day of the week. I lost weight quickly, but it wasn't sustainable nor liveable.

I share all that because slow and steady wins the race. It is a life time of change you're trying to do so it's OK if it takes a while. I eat heavily on protein and eat a lot of vegetables normally. I do work to get my water in daily as well. I cut out all soda and only drink water or unsweetened tea (with stevia). I still have a cupcake at least once a week :bigsmile: So enjoy the ride... you need to build habits for a lifetime!

Stop getting on the scales. I have been stuck at/around the same point for three weeks now, but I started measuring my arms, thighs, calves, hips, and waist from the beginning, and I've collectively lost 10.8 inches, so SOMETHING is happening even if the scale says it isn't.

I'd say log in everything you eat. It's easier when you eat the same foods since it saves it. Stay under calorie goal. If youre not losing you may have to increase your calories. I started with 1200, stopped losing, increased it to 1300 & lost 5 lbs. Stick to mainly water.. keeps you full longer. I use crystal light. I eat mainly home prepared meals. Some of my meals are: Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, turkey deli meat, fruits, yogurt, nuts, chicken, tuna, (or any kinda meat in a small portion), special k, 1% milk or lower, veggies, wraps, eggs, cheese, salads, sweet potatoes, brown or parboiled rice & anything else on days I feel like just having pizza/pasta/hot dogs/pancakes.. I just log it in & work it into my calories. I use a measuring cup to measure stuff or count by tablespoons. I'm looking to buy some big measuring spoons to make this easier. A full fist about a cup and the palm of your hand is 3 ounces of meat. Measuring is very important.

Definitely get a food scale, its one of the best tools you can have! You can get a digital one from Walmart probably for less than 20 bucks. If your muscles are sore, they could be retaining water, which can show a gain, plus certain times of the month we woman just usually retain water. Hang in there! :-)

Watch your sodium levels, eat as much fruit and vegetables as you want, be careful with oils because they are very high in calories for very little food (120 calories per tablespoon). Research calorie density and eat as much food as you want with a low calorie density! Good luck!!

Definitely buy the food scale. I was shocked to realize that even using measuring cups there's still quite a bit of room for error, especially with foods that can squish a bit or if everything isn't perfectly level every time. Also, a food scale means less washing of measuring cups, which is always a pain.

My very best advice though is this - 95% of people who lose weight gain it back. I'm not saying this to discourage you, but you have to face reality. Why do all these people who manage to successfully lose weight gain it back? Because they can't maintain what they started. So the MOST IMPORTANT THING is not to start anything you can't maintain. For me, this meant keeping my calorie goals high enough that I didn't feel hungry or deprived, even though that meant slow weight loss. It also meant starting just with logging, then gradually adding exercise. It means no crash diets, no fasts, no insane exercise programs, no rushing things. I know that if I'm going to be able to maintain my weight I have to be able to maintain all of this indefinitely.

It's frustrating going slow like that. Sometimes REALLY frustrating. I'm about a year in (with 10 months on here) and halfway to a hundred now, and it feels like I have SO FAR to go still, but I'm also looking back thinking hey I got this far I can get the rest of the way. You just have to keep plugging along even when you don't feel like it. In the beginning I rewarded myself for "days logged" instead of pounds, and I counted those victories to keep myself going. Now I'm starting to see some success I'm feeling more motivated about it and less often frustrated (because I look back on all those times before I felt like it wasn't working and I know now it was). You just gotta get there. Good luck!

Lots of good advice here!

I use a kitchen scale that was under $15 shipped from Amazon. It's a bit like this one-

http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Kitchen-Capacity-Electronic-Cosmos/dp/B007HTHPZ0/ref=sr_1_87?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1340573778&sr=1-87&keywords=kitchen+scale

I love having a kitchen scale. But if you have 100 lbs to lose your greatest tools are going to be patience and knowledge. Don't believe everything you read here. Read at least one respected weight loss book, just for the basics. And make small goals. And realize you can do this.

I've been dieting for about 2 months now. I've lost a total of 30 lbs. I used to get on the scale every day and the numbers weren't always encouraging. I say put that scale away. If you are going to always use the scale then make sure that you keep an accurate log of your weight from day to day (include weight gained). You'd be surprised how many times I've gained 2 lbs over night just to lose 3 lbs over the next couple of days. Find food that you like. That's probably been the most important thing for me to consider in my weight loss. It's easy to go out and find cook books that have 300 and 400 calorie meals. If your one of those people with enough time and money to prepare these meals they are amazing. The problem for me with these cook books is that the cost for preparation of these meals + the time invested in making the meals doesn't work for me. So I have really searched hard to find meals that can be prepared quickly, low priced, and low in calories. I have now found the sweet spot that includes enough variety for me and I think that has really helped my dieting. Another thing that is just important as dieting is exercising. Find something you enjoy doing and stick with it. Cardio is great for burning fat and we all know that. The thing that people don't emphasize enough though is where you do that cardio. I started running around my neighborhood when I first started dieting and I absolutely dreaded it. I always had dogs barking at me and felt like everyone was peeping out their windows to catch a look at the fat guy. I have now started running at a nice secluded park about 10 minutes from my house that has some really relaxing trails. I can run out there without having to worry about who is watching or anything of that nature.

I noticed that you asked about what people eat.. I'll give you a run down of what I eat. I would like to note that sodium content on my diet is particularly a bit high. I do however drink lots of water, am under the supervision of a family doctor, and get blood work done once a month. I try to make sure I eat 5 meals a day to keep my metabolism going (breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner).

BREAKFAST- I have found that my breakfast has the least amount of variation of all the meals I eat. That is because I love omelets. I eat a small egg white omelet/scramble with 1/4 cup of low fat cheese, fat free ham & fat free turkey OR
If I am in a hurry I will eat 2 packages of instant oatmeal (typically Apples & Cinnamon Quaker)

SNACKS REGULAR- An Apple OR
Kellogg's FiberPLUS Antioxidants Chewy Bars (They are lower in Calories than the FiberOne Chewy Bars) OR
A FiberOne 90 Calorie Brownie (I prefer the Chocolate Fudge vs the Peanut Butter one) OR
a Weight Watchers Smart One Smart Delights Desert (My favorite is Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Sunday Icecream.. it has 140 Calories, 3g fat, and 2g of protein). There are other snacks that I eat but I try to make sure they are under 150 calories.

Lunch/Dinner- I eat probably 20 different meals lunch and dinner. I will not include them all but I will list a few of my favorite.

Petite Sirloin and Sweet Potato:
My favorite meal is the 4 oz petite sirloin and a small sweet potato. The sirloin can be bought at pretty much any grocery. I like to buy the individually wrapped sweet potato's that come in saran wrap and can be microwaved. I do marinade my steak usually for 2 hours in a low calorie marinade and then just throw it on the grill.

Tuna Salad:
I use one can of Starkist (my favorite brand of tuna) 5 oz chunk light tuna in water.. drain the water (don't over drain though you still want it to be moist), throw in 1 tablespoon of sweet relish, and throw in some diced jalapenos. I do not add mayonnaise because it is full of fat and calories. I found that it tastes almost identical with or without mayonnaise. I make two sandwiches with this and eat them both. The bread that I have found that I like the most is Nature's Own 100% Whole Wheat Bread. It's only 50 calories per slice. I have tried breads that are lower in calories but this bread actually tastes great.

Ham & Turkey Sandwich:

Deli Sliced Fat Free Ham & Fat Free turkey on Nature's Own 100% Whole Wheat Bread.. no cheese. Topped with Lettuce, Jalapenos, Cut Dill Pickles, and Banana Peppers. I will only eat one sandwich and it is very fulfilling.

I still eat a lot of things I used to like meatloafs, burgers, and spaghetti.
For all of these I use 90/10 Angus Ground Beef now. I found that if I use regular ground beef instead of angus that the meal turns out very dry. On my meatloaf I also use little to no ketchup. For my burgers I never use cheese anymore. For spaghetti I use whole grain noodles. Also portion control is very important. Make sure you aren't having too large of a portion or you just shooting yourself in the foot.

I also have a bunch of different frozen dinners that I throw into the mix for variety. My favorite frozen meals are the Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers. They taste great. I also do lean cuisines, and pretty much any other low calorie frozen food that is on sale and I think I might enjoy.

Drinks- I Only Drink Water. Some juices are okay though. I have tried a few different juices and V8s that I enjoy. Also I found that the new Dr Pepper 10 tastes pretty good for only having 10 calories. Make sure that if you are drinking something besides water that you are only drinking 8 Ounces. People will say "oh this juice only has 90 calories"... well yeah that's true for an 8 oz glass but most people drink out of 24 ounce glasses. So that juice that you thought was only 90 calories was in fact 270 calories.

Probably the biggest contributing factor to my weight gain was all the soda and other crap I was drinking throughout the day. I really wouldn't consume that many calories in my food.. but I would drink soda all day long. Those calories add up and in a hurry.

WATER WATER WATER-
Drink It all day long. Learn to love it. It is amazing at curving appetite. I usually drink a bottle of water while I am preparing my food. Then drink another bottle with my meal. Each and every time I do this I end up being full and happy after my meal.

EATING OUT-
Don't Eat fast food.. it's a losing battle. That doesn't mean that you can't go out and eat with your friends though. I have ate out plenty of times since starting my diet. My main rule for myself though is "KNOW BEFORE YOU GO". It's important that you know where you are going and what you are going to eat before you go. Look up nutritional information on the food that particular restaurant serves before you go so that you can make an educated decision on what you are going to eat. Also plan your diet accordingly. If you know you are going to eat somewhere and have a higher calorie meal then try eating light earlier in the day or go exercise to burn some of those additional calories.

I am also on a multivitamin that my doctor prescribed me. Oh and make sure you are having regular bowel movements. I wasn't so I picked up a fiber supplement. Keeping it regular seems to have helped me substantially with my weight loss.

I was going to start measuring everything out with measuring cups. except for meat, im not sure how to do that without a food scale. might have to look into getting one.

thanks for the advice

I have the butcher cut everything into 4oz pieces for me before I leave the store.

You CAN do it! Push yourself, take care of your body, smile!