I'm honestly just looking for general advice as far as things I can eat where I won't feel like I'm starving to death. (even much smaller, I've ALWAYS had a huge appetite) Exercise tips. Anything to help me.

Because honestly, If I KNEW how to live a healthy lifestyle I wouldn't be where I am now.

What keeps me full is to drink a glass of water before and after a meal. ANd of course during. But my before glass has to be totally consumed before food.

As far as food itself, I like to go for the boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Preferably without the "broth added". I bread them myself with any sort of breading. You can find premade ones with low cals and low salt. I have 2, 4oz breasts (which is quite a bit!) and some greens on the side. My favourite is zuchinni, broccoli and aspauragus. Cook the veggies by either steaming, or with a spray or two of cooking spray, i use extra virgin olive oil spray.

What i have recently found and fell in love with is spaghetti squash. I usually have 2 cups with whichever sauce I please (today I had an alfredo and mixed in a bit of water to give me more sauce with less calories and fat). I've also used a basic tomato sauce, or a homemade concoction of ingreidents laying around the house. The best thing about this squash is not only does it look like spaghetti, but it actually kinda tastes like it. It's super filling and sometimes I can't even finish the 2 cups.

I also love tuna, canned in water either on rye toast, or in a salad with celery and peppers to give a crunch.

Play around with what you have in the house. I suggest a calorie counting app that has a barcode scanner, and you can track every single thing that goes passed your lips. Its such a fantastic tool and it really opens your eyes to what you consume, and what you could trade a certain "junk" item, to get "more bang for your buck", type of thing.

Just make sure to get a good amount of protein. Having one of these calorie apps will help guide you as to what your amount should be. Don't know if I mentioned but the app I use is called "LoseIt!".

As far as excerise, if you're not wanting to get into intense training right away, I suggest walking at a brisk pace and some small hand weight for weight training. i have another app called "runtastic" that tracks the distance and speed of your exercise by using the gps in your phone. (obviously need a smartphone for this).

I'd also suggest investing in a heart rate monitor. They can tell you SO much about your workout that has been calibrated to YOUR body weight and YOUR heart rate, not just what a "generalization" of an exercise machine would tell you.

Plenty and plenty of water. Set a mini goal and reward yourself with a non-food item.

You'll be surprised how easy and good it feels once you're in the swing of things.

Hope I helped at least a little!
Good luck.

EDIT: Didn't realise this sounds repetitive as I responded to your other post. Sorry!

Honestly, it depends on what fills you up.

Some people prefer larger quantities of low calorie foods (veggies!) and some people prefer smaller quantities of high fat foods (bacon, ground beef, avocado, olive oil, mackerel, etc). I'm sure there's plenty of other individual preferences, too!

Personally, I eat a lot of veggies because I love it and it's good for me, but an enormous serving of veggies doesn't satiate me the way high quality fats do.

I'm definitely going to check out the LoseIt app and thank you especially for the Spaghetti Squash recommendation. I have a total weakness for pasta.

I love veggies but I have a hard time feeling satisfied. Hopefully, I can work it out.

make sure you're eating 3 meals a day and feel free to include some healthy snacks.

What does make you feel satisfied? Do you usually go for meat and potatoes, or pasta, or sweets..? Sometimes it's easier for me to figure out what my craving is and then find a substitute that way.

For example, veggies fill me up because they have lots of fiber/bulk but if what my body is really craving is protein, I still won't feel fully satisfied after I eat them. If I eat a bunch of veggies to fill up and then a smaller portion of something with protein/fat, I'll feel better.

You'll be able to work it out, I'm sure. You've already gotten the first step down just by being mindful of what you're eating and deciding you want to make improvements.

For me, it's really important to avoid sugar as much as possible, as well as white foods (white bread, white potatoes, white rice) which are quickly converted into sugar in the body. Sweets stimulate the appetite and for some people, so do artificial sweeteners found in diet sodas/products.

Eat high protein (keeps you full longer and helps build muscle) and high fiber (takes a long time to move through the digestive track). Lots of veggies (non starchy ones) will nourish your body so you're less likely to have cravings and will have more energy so you'll move more.

Keep a food journal because then you're more mindful of what you do eat. Eating some veggie soup before a meal helps cut back portions by about 20 %. It's best to use a blender to puree the soup (British study found). Make a huge pot of fresh veggie soup (you can find a recipe from Weight Watchers by doing an online search) but you can add all kinds of things to it that might not be in the recipe. I love cauliflower because it's similar in texture to potatoes and adds a lot of substance to the soup....health substance.

It takes about 4 weeks for habits to become ingrained into the brain so hang in there! Soon enough, it will become more natural to you and your lifestyle and you'll be feeling a lot more confident in the process.

Megan-
"Join Date January 2013 -- 319/298/160"
Those statistics are impressive.

You don't mention your age, or what program, if any, you are following.

To me, "healthy eating" is: limit protein and starches/carbs and eat plenty of fruits and veggies and also include dairy.

Breakfast: have and egg on toast and fruit, or have oatmeal/cereal with fruit, or 2 pieces of "light" toast with peanut butter and sugar-free jelly, or an eggbeaters omelette with peppers/onions/mushrooms and toast.

Lunch: A lot of people go with frozen weight watcher or lean cuisine meals, or left-overs, or a salad with protein added, or a "light" bread sandwich with turkey or turkey-ham and lettuce/tomatoe.

Dinner: divide your plate in four sections -- one for protein, one for starch/carbs, and two for veggies. So chicken, baked sweet potato, spinach, mushrooms. Or pasta with loads of veggies and some chicken or cheese on top. I generally cook up a real large pan of peppers and onions, and sometimes add zuchinni or summer squash to keep handy during the week--I use that to "bulk-up" my dinner if I'm extra hungry.

Snacks: two a day -- yogurt, sugar-free pudding, smoothie, fruit, nuts, popcorn.

Limit portions. Eat when you're hungry. Use common sense.

It sounds so easy, and sometimes it is---and sometimes it's not. But we all keep trying - right now I'm going through a tough period, but it will pass and I'll get back on track. There are loads of cliches I couold throw out to you here, but you've heard them all before. The bottom line is don't give up - keep going.

Lots of good advice here, and yes, your stats are impressive!

Do you by chance happen to be a carb addict? Eat lots of bread, pasta, drink soda etc? I ask because that was me to a T, and I was NEVER full. Success for me is high quality fat, protein and getting my starch/carbs from vegetables - I don't have the constant hunger anymore, but of course your mileage may very.

As for exercise - are you just starting and in relatively poor shape (sore joints difficulty moving around etc?) Then I would recommend starting with walking slowly or better yet finding a pool - you don't have to do laps, just even walking in the water is a great start. If you're in better shape and move relatively easily brisk walks are a great idea.

I can't stress weight/resistance training enough, it will help immensely. Even if you start with body weight exercises you're ahead of the game. Google "strength training for the obese" for a start.

Learning a healthy lifestyle takes time and tweaking. You'll get there.

I am 25 years old. I started the Herbalife diet in October. My weight was 319 and in 45 days I was down to 287 but I ultimately gave up in December because I was sooo hungry all of the time. My body was just not getting used to it and with Christmas and my birthday I gained back almost 12lbs. So, I joined here to try to stay on track and not gain it all back. Thank you all so much for the great advice!

My biggest food issue would definitely be carbs. I love bread/pasta/rice. I could go days without eating meat as long as I had noodles.
I'm always on my feet, my job requires a lot of walking. I don't have sore joint or back problems. That's why I feel like I need more than some walks around the block and am like "exercise, whaaat's that?" haha. Again, thank you.

Then you're ahead of the game!

Try Kettlebells. Get someone to teach you proper technique, but wow are they an amazing cardio/strength workout!