So I'm making a new commitment to myself to get this weight off. I think my biggest problems have been not really have a set plan for reaching my goals. As someone coming from a place of NO IDEA what to do really, I'm wondering if anyone can share how they developed their plan. I have been thinking to list out all the things that I know are good for me and try to integrate that into a plan of sorts??
Anyhow, feeling kind of lost now, but determined, so that is good!
Your starting weight was about the same as mine. Until I got to about 220 I felt I was making it up as I went along but now I'm at 201 I realise that works well for me
I'm calories counting too (and worked out how many calories to eat using an on line BMR calculator). I'm also drinking tons of water, doing an exercise dvd 5 or 6 times a week and not eating too many refined carbs. I change how many calories I'm having all the time (anywhere between 1400 and 1700 normally - i'm nto very consistent with how many calories I eat and work out hwo many I should have on a day to day or week to week bases.) I haven't banned any foods though mainly having healthy food and trying to have just a little bit of other things.
I am a calorie counter, too. I plan my meals for the day ahead of time. It takes me about five minutes to plan my menus for the day. I find if I don't plan I will eat much more than I need.
You could try to set small goals one at a time. I gave up soda pop. I have lost 3 pounds in my first week. Think I may give up chips this week. I also plan to start taking my Calotren this week.
So far I have no plan but it seems that everyone who succeeds has a plan so I'm planning on devising a plan quite soon or I might just steal Allen Zadoff's but I'll have to finish his memoir first.
How funny, I wanted to post my plan....I will share it with you here.
I really took an inventory last night. Been 176 since August. Up 5 lbs and down 5 lbs...Tired of it.
So here is my plan. I am shooting for an 1185 cs deficit per day from my BMR. Since it is 1585. I am going to go 1200 cs/day. Then the only activity calories burned will be from my pedometer/watch. I will log 800 cs (any activity) per day. That will cause an 1185 deficit per day=8295 deficit per week. Which is 2 lbs/ week.
I know 1200 is like the maximum lowest. If I do eat over--I will compensate with activity--no plan is foolproof. So that will be my way of adjusting.
I count calories and exercise. If I have an off day with food, then I make sure I am on plan with the exercise and vice versa. Most of the time, I'm on plan with food, I just get lazy about the exercise part. I started out playing tennis and taking 1.5 - 2 mile walks with my husband. I've since graduated to intervals of 3 and 5 mile walks (diff days) for 4-5 days a week and eating 3 times a day with fruits for snacks.
I will say that at first my weight was dropping quite rapidly for me. I lost my first 10 within a month and the next month only dropped 5 and now I've lost 1 lb in the last month. It's very slow goings, but I'm just going to keep chugging. I only say this so you are aware your weight loss will slow down but that doesn't mean you should throw in the towel. Just keep tweaking (more exercise, eat less) and the weight will drop eventually. Hang in there!
I am following the low glycemic index diet. I am pre-diabetic and this is the recommended way of eating. According to my last lab results I have improved greatly so this is my plan for getting me out of prediabetes and keeping me there.
For me, it's a very doable realistic way of living for the rest of my life. Because I am so very out of shape and I have arthritis in my knees I have started off slow with the exercise. In the beginning my goal was to simply move more. After getting shots in my knee to deal with the arthritis I stopped asking my family to carry things upstairs or downstairs for me. Now I feel so good I run up and down the stairs MANY times a day. I park as far away as I can in parking lots to force myself to walk more. I just look for opportunities to get out and move more. Playing with the dogs, gardening, etc.
I see this being a regular normal part of my life now so I have bumped up my routine by using a pilates/resistance band DVD. There is no stress on my arthritic joint and I really feel good afterwards. When that becomes routine for me I'll look into adding more.
I guess what I'm trying to say is start where you can and build on what you find to be working for you. That sounds so vague but this journey is a trial and error process and it's always evolving. Read the posts of those who have suceeded in keeping their wt off long term. Their posts are a gold mine of valuable information. And their are always chickies here who are willing to give excellent advice. Take what works and run with it! And this is the biggest most important advice I have to give: whatever you decide on doing make sure it is something you do for the rest of your life. That's what will work--a permanent life change. We can't ever go back to our old ways.
Another calories counter here. I've lost a large amount of weight for FREE and can incorporate anything I desire into my plan...problem is, when I try to add sweets, the sugar warps my brain chemicals and does funky things to my ability to stop at one small serving. So, I usually avoid the things I have found I can't handle in moderation. If I do choose to eat things like cookies or cake, it takes me a good long week to feel "normal" again.
I was overwhelmed when I started, so I just picked a couple of habits I thought I could change and started there. I started packing a lunch and snacks for work everyday (so I would stop eating from the fast food counter and the vending machine) and I started paying attention to portions. That lasted a few weeks, and then I started adding in other things. I started calorie counting, and then started adding in exercise, and then I started paying attention to what I was eating, etc!
So, you can start by baby-stepping! Just make a COMMITMENT to whatever you choose, and make it something both realistic to change and something you could do for the long haul!
I stole my mother's old Weight Watchers plan from 2000...I think its the "Winning Points" system. It works better for me than just calorie counting because I can get too concerned with numbers and calories. The points system keeps it a little bit more ambiguous and this works for me.
I also tried to remove all fast food from my diet because its just not healthy. Same for things that are fried. Those were two minor changes I could make without much issue. As for exercise, I started working out and have dwindled down as life got stressful. So, I've just made an attempt to move more when I can...parking farther away, planning activities that keep me moving, etc.
I was overwhelmed when I started, so I just picked a couple of habits I thought I could change and started there. I started packing a lunch and snacks for work everyday (so I would stop eating from the fast food counter and the vending machine) and I started paying attention to portions. That lasted a few weeks, and then I started adding in other things. I started calorie counting, and then started adding in exercise, and then I started paying attention to what I was eating, etc!
So, you can start by baby-stepping! Just make a COMMITMENT to whatever you choose, and make it something both realistic to change and something you could do for the long haul!
This is very good advice.
There is actually an advantage to having a lot of weight to lose - to being more than 100 pounds overweight, say. It doesn't take a lot of work to lose in those circumstances. All you have to do, really, is not be a pig. That sounds flip but when you are just getting started it really can be that easy.
Small changes add up - grab an apple instead of hitting the vending machine when you want a snack. When you are preparing yourself a meal, serve yourself 3/4 as much as you would have before, and drink a glass of water instead of having seconds - or just have seconds of the vegetables. Say "no thanks" to dessert, or eat another apple instead. If you used to put half & half in your coffee, switch to 2% milk.
Move just a little more than you used to. Take a walk every day if you are completely sedentary now.
These aren't really difficult changes to make, they don't require a lot of knowledge or research, and only a little bit of planning, but the best thing is you will start losing weight right away, and will have success to build on as you develop your long-term plans. Eventually these small changes won't be enough, but by that time you'll have lost 25 or 30 pounds and you'll be motivated to step it up.
Remember, all you have to do to lose weight is eat less and exercise more. Everything else - the tips, the plans, the counting, the psychology - are just the games and tricks we play with ourselves to achieve those two objectives.
If you try to change everything at once and put yourself on a serious and restrictive plan, you might be setting yourself up for failure. Instead, take advantage of the one benefit of being very overweight - if you are in the habit of eating like a horse and you don't exercise at all, then eating less and exercising more is relatively easy. So make small changes right away and get yourself on the right track while you research the best ways to get on a long-term track of eating less and exercising more.
Need a Plan!
I started out playing tennis and taking 1.5 - 2 mile walks with my husband. I've since graduated to intervals of 3 and 5 mile walks (diff days) for 4-5 days a week and eating 3 times a day with fruits for snacks. 
