Hey everyone! My name is James and I'm trying to get some motivation to get this weight loss goal back on track. A little background on my self..... I'm 6'2, 31 yrs old and where a size 44 pant now. and now weigh due to ill call it a depression of motivation, back to 327 pounds..... I really noticed it this morning looking in the mirror and could tell my belly is getting bigger again and shirts are starting to get tight. I did really good when I first started doing this about 4 months ago.... Got down to about 290 pounds and could fit some older 42 and almost 40 pants I had saved in my closet. I think I made the mistake to try and buy some new pants and nothing worked that I tried on..... Needless to say my wardrobe now consist of sweats and some shorts I have and it's getting cold in Florida now. I was doing about 2 miles a day half walk/jogging and using run keeper to try and keep a log. But without seeing good results that has now sent me into a out of control weight gain and need some guy perspective advice to help me try and get out of my head and get this weight off. Girls are aloud to help as well..... Thanks in advance!

It's so easy to get discouraged when you don't see the scale move, isn't it? I made a deal to only weigh myself once a week during weight loss (more during maintenance). I too, am in the middle of a slide, which if I don't stop now, will result in a weight gain. So, although I haven't yet been able to get back on my healthy eating plan, I did start exercise again, to hopefully curb some of the effects of so much bingeing, and just doing half an hour exercise really motivated me to get back into it. You didn't mention what weight loss plan you were following, so I can't really advise you there, but you did lose weight so it did work to some extent. If you're happy with that, then keep going, if not, maybe tweak it or research another alternative and in the mean time, maybe start exercising (just do what you can do if you can't or don't have the energy to get back into jogging). Most of all, good luck!

Don't really have a set plan. Just started eating right and only drinking water all the time. Was doing 2 miles a day till someone told me that wasn't good for weightless and I started to believe them since I wasn't noticing any results anymore.... Could have been all in my head but now I'm really not happy with myself. I have always been a bigger guy and I am definitely tired of being called the big guy! Think I'm gonna go buy protein and veggies tomorrow.... Just have a hard time putting these meals together everyday and not being bored with it.... My goal is 100 pounds.... Totally scared to death I cannot do it. Feel like I have failed already.....

Hi James (Topspeed02) - Kudos for recognizing that you can do something.

My take is that walking is one of the best exercises you can do, particularly when you carry weight you are getting more muscle activity per mile walked.

It's widely believed that your food plan has the greatest impact on weight change - but exercise has a major impact on fitness, which affects attitude and the feeling of well being. I hope you continue that walking - and the use of run keeper so you can set a goal and plot your progress.

Glad you've joined us here at 3FC.

I try not to restrict or deny myself, otherwise I just end up bingeing. I understand what you mean about becoming bored, it's so easy during weight loss to just eat the same thing over and over and then just get sick of it, so try to vary your menu. Do you count calories? I'm thinking that perhaps you might have had a calorie issue stopping your weight loss before, rather than a exercise issue. You might need to look up how many calories you need to be eating for your height and weight to succeed in losing weight. Anyone would be daunted at the thought of losing 100 pounds, so maybe break it into smaller goals, with 100 being your eventual target weight, but your first goal at say, 10 pounds and the next at 20, etc. I hear your fear of not being able to lose, it's echoed by so many people on this forum, but you're taking steps toward a healthier and happier you, so you should be proud of that! I so much look forward to hearing about your progress, so please keep us updated!

Awesome words of encouragement guys...... Stuff I needed to hear! I am gonn get back on track and make this happen! Does anyone have any meal or snack suggestions they can give me? I have basic ideas of what to eat but anyone's help is great. I'm glad I joined this site. You guys have been a big help of motivation!

I'm really excited for you and happy that you're inspired to get started. I'm not sure about meal plans, as mine are based around the WW points, with no food group being out of bounds, so I basically work out what fits into my points for dinner. I don't really snack a lot these days, but in the beginning I did, because my body hadn't adjusted to the reduced food intake. I drank cup of soups (chicken noodle, beef, vegetable, avoid the cream based) these were great with a piece of dry toast spread with vegemite (I'm from Australia so I don't know what your alternative savoury spread would be, lol). Fruit salad (watermelon and rockmelon was especially good in the early days at keeping me satisfied), lite microwave popcorn, tub of fat free Greek yoghurt, rice crackers, vegie sticks with cottage cheese and tomato/vegie based salsa, a cob of corn, crispbread with sliced low fat cheese and tomato. Black tea, green tea, herbal tea (with or without sugar), skim milk cappuccino. A tub fat free yoghurt frozen, mango or banana frozen. keep in mind serving sizes for your snacks and meals, I found it a great help to have kitchen scales and measuring cups/spoons to measure out my serves and keep me from overeating.

Please feel free to private message me if you have any questions, or need support or encouragement, as we all do at times. Look forward to hearing your progress.

Congrats on the commitment to re-focus!

One of the benefits of this time of year is that the web is FILLED with "10 easy recipes for this, that or the other thing". There are some sites which will give you meal ideas just by letting it know what ingredients you have on here.

I would echo an earlier comment about tracking calories... I figured it would help, and it did... tremendously. The biggest thing I learned was that I was eating far too little... sometimes as few as 1200 cals a day.

There are several sites that do an excellent job of tracking calories using huge databases of food items. Not sure if mentioning other sites is kosher or not, but they're easy enough to find with a quick search.

My dietitian got me on board and has me up to 1800 cals a day and my trainer has me on a regimen as well. Both have said that 80% of weightloss is in the kitchen.

Anyway, best of luck - it's a heck of a climb, but doable.

Cheers

Hi,

I get frustrated with lack of motivation sometimes too, but then I look at the big picture, why am I doing this? I want to go skiing, look great and feel awesome, get into smaller sizes, not get as out of breath, etc.

For me, I get the support I need from a group environment and nutritionist. I just started going to her weight loss classes at the local hospital, it helps me to have group support. I get good info and support from the nutritionist, she has a wealth of info.

As far as snacks for me, I like carrots and hummus, microwave popcorn, rice cakes, fruit, yogurt and string cheese. Sometimes I am thirsty but I feel hungry so I'll pour myself some water and that fills me up.

Good luck!

It is hard. This is a life long struggle for me and I am sure many of us. I know there are many things in life that I have absolutely NO CONTROL of. My Weight Loss is something I have 100% control over. It is hard but it is my thing and I need to get my head screwed on straight to work towards and meet my goals. Goal setting has been important when I have been successful. When I don't set goals or get "comfortable" I don't have the same success.