New chickie with questions
 

Hey there! I've finally decided to lose 100 pounds. I saw this site about a year ago and used many of its tips to lose 20 pounds.
I gained all that weight back during the summer, since I really wasn't worrying about eating healthy.

But, since I've read so many success stories here... I think I'm gonna give it a serious try. :)

Anyhoo, I actually don't know how much I weigh. Tomorrow I'm going to purchase a scale to make my progress, eh, easier to track.
I'm thinking I'm somewhere between 280-260 pounds. (Isn't that awful not to know!? ) I'll know tomorrow night at least.

I've looked through the forums, but I couldn't find the answers to a couple of questions.

What do you guys think is an average, healthy amount of time in which to lose 100 pounds?
I'm also wondering if there are a few member here with medical conditions and/or taking medications that result in weight gain.. AND are trying to lose 100 pounds. I'm in the former boat, so I'd love to hear some perspectives on it! :D

Thanks for reading my post. I'll be able to post my starting weight tomorrow night. I'm kinda excited about it too, lol.

-Kimberly

Hello Kimberly,
I'm really glad you are here!
I'm not sure how long it would take - I guess it depends. When I asked my doctor she said to aim for a 1-2lbs weekly loss, which makes it a year or more. I am losing about a pound a week, but It adds up. (YOU SEE EVERYONE, I LISTEN TO YOU!!! LOL)
About health issues - I have PCOS which can make you gain weight/find it hard to lose weight amongst other things. My perspective is, its rubbish having it but I have and there are worst things. Even if it takes me 5times as long to get to a healthy weight I will because what's the alternative? Getting Fatter, becoming more unfit and limiting/shortening my lovely life! No thanks!
There is a forum here for 'dieting with health problems' you might want to check that out too!
Keep in touch. We are all here for you and the 100 club is excellent. (Best support in the world.)

Hi Kimberly, It's nice to meet you. Also good to see another night owl. Or are you and earley riser? Anyway good luck with your new life and always know we are here to support you. I don't deal with any medications so I will leave that to someone who does. Just keep at and you will be successful.

:coffee2: Welcome. I think of myself as the "grandma" of our bunch. I'm 50. I started out in Aug at 280 and as of yesterday weighed 232. I'm trying to get to 150.I lose around 3lb a week.I do 1000 cals or less a day and walk 3 sq.blocks,{or 25 to 30 min.daily depends on how many spots my little Bon Bon has to sniff and piddle on.}I have Muscular Distrophy and resently got my 1st leg braces. They have been a miracle for me. With them and the weight loss I'm doing things I haven't been able to do in years. One tool that has also helped me is keeping a diet diary. Good luck. :cp:

Welcome to the forum Kimberly or should I say welcome back :wave: . You are among good company. The support here is great! From what I've read, the slower you lose the weight the more likely you are to keep it off. It makes sense because over the amount of time it takes a person to lose the weight, you learn good eating habits and get used to getting some exercise. Myself, I'm going the one pound a week route at least at the beginning. My main goal is to cut sugar out of my diet.

If you need anything just ask. You've already overcome the hardest part which is starting. All you need to do now is keep going. :goodluck: We're rooting for ya!

Even expecting to lose 1 to 2 pounds per week can be overly optimistic, especially as you get closer to goal. It's taken me more than 3 years to lose 155 so far. I also have PCOS, but I've also done some self-imposed plateaus along the way. I've only lost 25-30 pounds in the last year, but what's important is that, over time, the scale keeps going down.

If you really adopt the "lifestyle change" attitude, then time becomes less important. Sure, I would have liked to have lost it all in a year, but after the first couple of months it really sunk in that as long as I lost it EVENTUALLY, that's all that mattered. Because I will be eating this way the rest of my life, the amount of time it takes me to get to goal becomes less important. As I've said before, I changed my lifestyle, I changed my life, and the weight has come off as a byproduct. When I started my goal was to "go on a diet" and "lose weight," hopefully in a predictable time frame. But I realized that it was that kind of thinking that had always sabotaged me before. So, I dropped the idea of deadlines, even of the scale. I only weighed myself about once every 6 weeks during the first 6 - 8 months of my program, because I wanted to concentrate on the BEHAVIORS and lifestyle modifications, not the weight. I can say that that strategy was exactly what's given me what I needed to carry through, and feel confident (not COCKY, but confident) that I'll be able to keep the weight off over the long haul.

Amy Jo, if you are the slowest loser than so am I! It has taken me the same amount of time as you. I'm just glad that I am a loser. :) :) I figure it does not matter how long it takes as long as I continue to eat healthy and lose. *High Five*

Kimberly, I thought I could lose 100 lbs in a year but was sidetracked by quitting smoking. I don't really think you can put a time frame. You can set yourself a goal but don't be discouraged if you see that you are falling behind. I figure as long as I continue to lose it does not matter if it is 3 lbs a week or a 1/2 lb a week. Both are still losses. It's great to meet you!

Kimberly, welcome!

For some people, if you get started down the road of losing by a certain date, then when you don't lose the prescribed amount, you feel like you've failed, and often that leads to quitting. But, if a goal motivates you and not meeting that goal makes you work harder rather than quitting, then make that goal something that is healthy, which is 1-2 lbs. a week. I've had to accept the fact that I'm a very slow turtle, but, as Annie-Rose said, what's the alternative? I'll take a .2 lb. loss over a .2 lb. gain any day!

Thanks for all the great replies! I bought a scale today. Like, the cheapest digital one. (ugh, college kids have to save money, you know). It said I weighed 238, but I'm pretty sure it's a bit more than that. My bf got weighed at the doctor recently, so at least I can check its acurracy when he comes in for Thanksgiving. :p

Night owl, definately. I'm very lucky to have afternoon and evening classes that allow me to stay up so late! :D

Anyhoo, thanks for the enouragement everyone!

Kimberly, I started my weigh loss program the second week of July I've lost 21 lbs. So I'm a slow loser. But I am losing. I've recently went over my diet plan and have made some changes and I'll see how this goes. What you need to keep in mind.It is YOUR weight loss plan. It's a life style change your going for. I know that the changes I've made will be my new lifestyle. I also know I need to make my changes slow. Some ppl can handle change wonderfully and not miss certain things. I'm not one of them but that doesn't mean I'm bad at this it just means everyone takes their own path but we end up at the right place. So find your path. Your going to do great. Keep your eyes on the little goals. (sorry so long) Welcome to the fourm.

I work second shift and love staying up late. I've turned 1st shift down several times. Good news on the scale. That is a big difference from what you thought. Goes to show you we always think worse of ourselves.

Howie I love that coffee quote. Everytime I see it, it makes me laugh because I work in a coffee shop part time. I swear some of my customers live by that motto :lol:

I know I do. That is the one thing in my plan that I refuse to give up. I might have to give up cheeseburgers but your not getting my coffee.

Hi and welcome. Looks like you weren't as high as you expected. :)
I too am a slow loser on here. 31 pounds in about 8 months for me. (My average on www.fitday.com for the last six months is at .589 pounds per week.)
I can tell you that when I started this back in March I had high hopes and I just knew I would be below 200 by the end of 2004. Now I will be lucky to be below 250 but like everyone else has said, it's not so much how quickly it comes off but that it comes off.

I don't know if mine is medicine induced or not but I have a mirena IUD and the searches I've done on the internet, a lot of women had theirs removed in the first year because of heavy weight gain. I do know that the weight hasn't come off as quickly this time as it did in the past times I've lost but a) I'm older, b) I've had 2 children in 2 years and c) I want this to be a lifestyle change and I don't want to totally restrict myself so I still perfect my plan to find something that will work for me.

Good luck and I can't wait to hear how you are doing.