How'd you do it?
 

I've been going through threads, looking at your tickers! :dizzy:

I see a lot of you who were around the same weight as me (360) have lost tons of weight!!! :hug:

So, I'm wondering how you started losing? My biggest thing is my knees hurt a lot from all this weight being put on them. How long did you start working out for? I think all I can manage right now is 10 minutes. lol. Pathetic I know. When I was smaller, I could JOG for 45minutes!!

I need some inspiration... I'm kinda feeling overwhelmed today.

I still haven't started working out. I take 10 minute walks in the morning with my doggies and that's about the extent of it. For me, it has been 100% controlling what I will and won't put in my mouth. You can see how I have been going about my loss, here.

The big thing is, have faith in yourself, set goals, and stick to your plan. If you want it, and you put it in the work, it WILL happen for you!

I just started exercising. It is VERY difficult for me. I bought some light weights and a couple biggest loser videos. I started doing the Cardo Max biggest loser. It has 3 levels, the first is only 20 minutes and then as you get stronger you add on level 2 and 3. I do what I can. When I get tired, I just march in place. I am only doing level 1 ,but I figure some movement is better than no movement. I also worry A LOT about having saggy skin at the end of this journey and I keep reading that exercising and some weight training can help. I don't know if it will, but I will try anything right now. Good luck!!!

Pacifica - I'm interested to know if you have had any skin issues since you have lost so much weight! 89 pounds is AMAZING! Congrats and good luck on the rest of your journey.

After posting this thread, I was feeling overwhelmed with my body. So I went outside and just walked around for 20 minutes in my backyard. That sounds funny, but I am overcoming a heel injury so it's more comfy on my feet to walk on grass than concrete. I broke a sweat doing it, so it has to count for something, right? And yesterday I went out and played kickball with my daughter for about 15-20 minutes.

It's hard to eat as healthy as I would like to. My fiance is a piggy boy and really picky about what he eats. And we don't really have the money to be buying two different meal plans. He like pizza, hot dogs, tacos... JUNK!!! I try the best I can to limit my portions, control my snacking, and eliminate things like sour cream and tortillas with my tacos. If we have hamburgers, I don't eat the bun. If we do pizza I get a cheap cheese one and top it with lettuce, tomatoes, lemon juice, and sometimes avocado.

He knows I have very deep issues with my body and how important it is to me to lose weight. But he's not very willing to try healthier things like grilled chicken and baked asparagus. Or something like that... ugh

It's so frustrating.

Pacifica - I just checked out your blog from when you first started. It's so inspiring that you lost over 30lbs in just 6 weeks!!!

Thanks for sharing!

Texas - I just wanted to respond, since I read this :) I hope you don't mind!

My DH is also much more into junk than I am, and I know how hard that can be when you're trying to eat healthy. In a perfect world, he would eat healthier meals 100% of the time (though he is doing a ton better!!) and never bring home garbage, because it's super hard for me to have in the house, I swear it calls out to me :)

I have drastically changed what I eat for breakfast, lunch and snack since deciding to get healthy at the beginning of this year. However, we pretty much eat what we were eating before for dinner. I have been able to throw in some chicken, but my DH is a solid beef eater (came from a ranching family....sooo....). But anyway, I eat really healthy for breakfast, lunch and snack, and then I treat dinner as another snack - so I have a bit of whatever we are having that night, but I really control my portion size, and if it's very fatty, I have just a little bit. I have required veggies (fresh, cooked, frozen, whatever) in larger servings with dinner than we used to have - so that if we are having something like a huge steak, I can have a small portion of that and a ton of veggies to fill my plate.

I know it's so hard when your SO isn't on board, but I just wanted to encourage you that it can be done! :)

For me, it's been all about the movement. Moving everyday, exercising, walking, wii, swimming, badminton, yoga, toning. What I've learned is you can't convert fat to muscle if you're not moving the fat around.

ORSewmama - thanks for commenting! Last month I called my S/O a fatass because I found a McDonald's bag and like 5 diff candy wrappers in the car! I was seriously so pissed off. It's hard enough the temptation is in everyday life but he had to bring it home. And stuff his face like a fatty. I need him to be more supportive. I need him to be more willing... and put forth more effort. I feel like we always eat the same crap every week. I want to expand my taste buds but slim down my gut. I'd really like to only have red meat once a week. If there are any tasteful and healthy chicken recipes any of you know about... send them my way please.

Baby steps! Just like you, I started out at 360. :) My first main focus was not to lose weight by dieting, but to make overall healthier food choices. Not just to feed my appetite, but to nourish my mind and body with essential nutrients instead of empty calories. That helped me immensely when it came to overcoming most of my cravings for processed junk. I ask myself how the food in front of me will make me feel in the next hour, the next day, the next year. Is it going to make me strong and healthy? Or is it going to make me tired and even more hungry if it makes my blood sugar spike?

Although I've admittedly haven't done as well with it lately, I slowly started to incorporate exercise into my routine with the knowledge that it increases strength, stamina, and energy over time. It's perfectly ok to start out small, and walking is good for you at any fitness level!

You can do this. Stay inspired and concentrate on how great the process is going to make you feel. :hug:

Sirenity - you look amazing! Congratulations on losing over 100 pounds!!! :carrot:



Ablentlinger - I think I'm going to stick with walking for now. I tried the 30 Day Shred once, and it really messed up my knees. When she started doing jumping jacks, I yelled at the TV, telling them they were out of their minds if they think a 360 pound person can do that. I tried and couldn't get my fatass up off the ground. It hurt my knees, my gut, and my boobs. LOL

Thanks to everyone for your support. It's really amazing and motivational. I'm glad I came across 3FC! :hug:

You know what? The only person you have any real control over is YOU. My DH is a very fit person who is into exercise and running, etc. He also can eat ALOT!! Me? Not so much... :D

So, rather than beat my head against a wall...I am controlling what *I* eat (I have been low carbing-Atkins with good success), but have long since come to terms that I cannot control what he wants to eat. He mainly eats what I eat, but he adds a pasta or a rice...and has bread, cereal etc. Since I eat great meals...its not terribly difficult. You need to find a plan that you can stick to that he can eat well on too. I told my DH that I would buy his cereal bars, chips, etc., but I drew the line on things like ice cream or cakes/cookies as those are trigger foods. He knows that if he wants that...its out of his pocket and not at home.

Compromise on both parties seems to work fine. I wish you luck. You will be amazed at how much better you feel in a very short amount of time.

I agree with Torister, if you're partner wants to eat foods that right now would be triggers for you, that's fine. As long as it's out of his pocket and not at home. If you share a car, he can at least throw his wrappers and such away when he's done.
When we do this, we can't expect everyone around us to modify their life because we modified ours. If they want to get on board, that's great but if they don't, that's ok too. It's about us as individuals and finding out that we have to power to make things different is life changing but first we have to accept the responsibility.

Well, I'm still 242 and only 5'4" so there is plenty of fat still filling out my skin. I've noticed a couple of things, like, everything is more jiggly instead of being tightly packed in. I had softball sized fat overhang on my inner thighs which is down to a jiggly golf ball. And the skin on my upper boob region is wrinkly when I lift them up.

Do I see these as skin "issues"? No freakin' way. I feel fantastic. I can move in all sorts of awesome ways that I didn't even realize I couldn't do before - which is totally weird when you discover those moments and the funnest part of this journey for me (although, feeling my hip bones and having a mini panic attack 'cos I thought I had a tumor in my side has been making for laughs at my expense since I panicked in front of people... at work.)

My rate of loss the first 4 months was incredible and more than I could have wished for. I think my body was just like - "OK I'm done being like this. Thanks for finally trying to take care of me", ya know? I have no explanation other than its been 5 months and 20 days and I have stuck to my plan 100%; no cheating whatsoever. My rate of loss has slowed down a lot now. You can check out what my weekly loss has been on the "weights and measures" tab of my blog.

Didn't know my S/O's lack of willpower with food would trigger someone to question my relationship with him. But that's alright, I know he'll love me even if we're too poor to eat. So I know that isn't the issue and we obviously have more things in common than eating like fat *******s.

Thank you Texas. :)

I hope you don't mind me mentioning something that I feel is very important. Be kind to both yourself and your SO. Using the term "fatass," calling yourself pathetic, or saying you're eating like fat *******s is overly-negative. You need to be able to look at yourselves with compassion and acceptance no matter what your weight may be, as in the long run the negativity can hamper not only your potential success, but with your overall happiness.

Hang in there. :hug:

I agree with Sirenity about being kind to yourself and your SO. You must love yourself deeply to want to do this for yourself, and calling yourself names to try to shame yourself into doing this does not work. Pretend that you are a little girl who you are trying to help lose weight. Would you say, "cmon, fat a**, what is your problem". Of course you wouldn't! So treat yourself with that same respect!

In a perfect world, your man would be on the exact same page with weight loss that you are at all times. But think, say 6 months ago, before you had your mind wrapped around this, would it be so easy for you to decide to change if he all of a sudden came home and said, "Look, this is what we're doing now!". I say try to ease him into it gradually. Start making small substitutions and looking for really tasty but healthy recipes. It's just not fair to tell him, "Okay, I'm ready, so no more McD's or candy for you, even when you're not with me!".

On the other hand, there is no law these days that you have to cook what your man says to cook. In my house, I cook what I cook, and my hubbs and daughter will deal with it. Luckily for them, I've been cooking delicious meals that are extremely healthy, and giving them the little extras like butter on their corn on the cob or pasta or rice as a side dish which I just skip. So it is very possible to serve yourself healthy weight loss foods while still keeping him happy. Might take a little experimenting and research, but for sure possible. And as a bonus, he'll be eating a lot better, too!

Good luck! Sorry so long!

Thanks Pacifica - very inspiring! Good luck on the rest of your journey.

Texas - In the end, you have to do what is right for you. I think walking is PHENOMENAL and you are moving. Who cares how you are moving. My dh is similar to yours. Junk, meat and potatoes, etc. I slowly started changing little things in our dinners...things he wouldn't/still hasn't noticed. (I've even been known to put light sour cream in a regular sour cream container. LOL) I'm sure your relationship is great and no one can make a judgement on that. I wish you the best of luck on your journey! Keep it up girl. The fact that you are here says you are wanting to change your life!

Yikes. Guess I missed that post.

I feel badly that you refer to yourself and your SO with such negativity. Even at my heaviest when I felt the worst I have ever felt physically (and I am in my 40's), I never referred to myself that way. Even joking about it...its still negative...and it does affect you. You and your SO are worth more than that.

JMO for whatever that is worth........

I remember some wise chick telling me at the beginning of this journey -

We take care of the things we love.

(It may have been Torister as she is one of my heroes). That simple statement has stuck with me for the nearly 3 years I've been on this journey. This truly is about you - sure it helps to have support at home but I was never force fed. I also have a fit, active DH - sometimes he needs to add things to his meals - sometimes he needs a snack I don't keep in the house - he is really good about doing this mostly during times when we're not together. He doesn't care what size I am but he does care about my happiness - as the lifestyle changes continue we are both amazed.

As for the how - I started with baby steps - my first "rule" was no more drive thru - if I wanted fast food that was fine - but I had to get out of the car and go in - I knew myself well enough to know I wouldn't do that. Nearly 3 years later I have not had fast food.

I would also encourage you to lose the "diet" mindset. Embrace healthy choices and a healthier you.

I can't wait to hear more - take care of yourself!

In regards to your knees. I too have bad knees from years of being obese. My right knee is especially crunchy. I have been doing Leslie Sansone's WATP since January. It does not hurt my knees. There is no jumping in them or getting up and down off the ground.

I have lost over 50 pounds with these DVD's. The more I lose the less my knees hurt.

Best wishes to you and welcome to the site.

:hug::hug::hug::hug::hug::hug:

You are just too sweet! :o