Hello All,
I am coming here today in total frustration. I am 320lbs, been on every diet known to man, with no weight off, and desperate to lose this weight. I also don't want to spend any more money on a program. Do any of you think it is possible to lose weight on your own? If so, how would you go about doing that? Counting calories tends to make me a little obsessive. Is there another way?
Thank you so much for your help!!

I'm doing it on my own. If you don't like counting calories, you could practice "portion control". For me, that meant counting calories initially to learn what a portion was. After a few months of that I transitioned into a more relaxed way of watching my portion sizes. Also, I slowly transitioned into a more "whole foods" way of eating. For me that means eating very little white processed foods and instead eating whole fruits, vegetables and meats for the majority of my diet. I watch carbs as well but more in the sense that when I do eat carbs they are usually complex carbs. (Ice cream being the exception. )

I do belong to a gym, but I didn't at first and I got great workouts at home! Walking is a terrific start! For strength training, I found all I needed for a great workout was an exercise ball and 5 lb, 7/8 lb and 10 lb weights. I also used my stairs a lot for running up and down.

It can certainly be down with gimmicks and better!

Calorie counting freaked me out at first too. When I first started my journey at 250 lbs, the only thing I changed was I cut EVERYTHING i ate in half. Instead of a whole burger, I'd eat half, instead of 6 slices of pizza, I'd eat 3, etc. I ate a lot of bad food. But I've learned since then. I think what really helped me most was that I was consuming over 3,000 calories a day, and but cutting my portions in half, it brought it down to like 2,000. Best of luck!

Calories is not the only thing to do. Let's face it we all no the major things we shouldn't eat but I learned a lot from Dr. Oz's book. I highly recommend it and I am sure your library has it. It is a good diet plan. My girlfriend has been on the plan for 9.5 months now with a 90 lb loss!! I recently started and I love it. Good luck. If you want the abbreviated (email) version let me know.

you can do it by yourself and certainly with helf from 3FC. I think there are a few keys to making this work

the first is don't lie
that means being honest about everything, food exercise etc.

write it down
It is a huge eye opener to see what you are actually doing

get help
this may seem mean but one does not get to be the sizes we are or were without having some internal reason to eat feelings. again writting down your feelings about how and why you eat may help you be able to lose the weight for good.

Good luck.

I would like a copy. My email addy is decwedding at aol dot com

I agree with all of these. I think they are very well said.

I have had to "do it on my own" in life in general more than once. At those times I discovered that I had been leaning on others to do the work for me rather than biting the bullet and doing what I needed to do. So perhaps doing it on your own is exactly what you need. Ultimately, even if you do get "help" you are the one who controls what goes in your mouth and how active you are, which means that bottom line, we are all "doing it own our own."

So I say, so go for it!

I'd like a copy also, [email protected]. Thanks!

This board is an invaluable resource!!! I've never spent money on a program . I've calorie counted, done South Beach, and am now doing a bit of a combination of calorie and carb counting (and eating only whole foods). You'll find any information you ever wanted to know in these threads! You can do this. Best of luck!

*Most* reasonable, healthy minded programs will work and produce a weight loss, provided you follow them and stick with them. So at some point, you are going to have to be willing to see something through and stick with it.

I too have never spent money on a program. I'm a calorie counter, choosing mostly whole foods.

Everything in moderation simply does not work for me. So I had to initially ban lots of foods - make them totally off limits. Just like an alcoholic totally bans the alcohol. And THAT'S what finally did it of me. But I was indeed willing to do it, as I too was desperate to lose the weight. It was the best thing I've ever done. After a rough couple of weeks (the detox period), it was *fairly* simple.

Just know that you 100% have the ability to lose the weight. You are absolutely capable of it. Decide to do it, commit to do it and be willing to do what's necessary to make it happen, working past the initial, temporary discomfort of losing the bad habits and incorporating the good ones.

Everyone, thank you so much for all of your help and advice!!! Sorry I didn't get back to you all sooner. I had set up to get instant email updates but for some reason they never arrived. So, I thought that no one had responded to my post.
Anyway, I hear what all of you are saying and I agree with all of you. I am trying to do more and more whole foods as my first step. And, I do think that for a while I may need to write everything down.
marie7-I will private message you to get a copy of that plan. Thank you!!!!

Thanks again everyone!!!

Marie7-for some reason I can't send you a private message. Would you please send me that plan at angeltees at comcast dot net ? Thanks!!!!

It doesn't matter what plan you are following you are always doing it alone. Well you and the fridge. There is no reason you can't pick up one of the programs or aspects of a program that you used before.

I suggest going to kaysheppard dot com