Hi! I am really screwed. I allowed myself to steadily gain weight. I am a stress eater and have just allowed all the stress to get to me, til i cant even recognize myself. Right now I am way overweight. (roughly i have to lose 80lbs) My job knows this and while they have been super supportive of me trying to lose weight, i havent lost any and tomorrow i have to take a pt test, that i am going to fail. My office knows that I am going to fail, but that now puts me on notice and i have 3 months to lose weight. For the last several years, i have tried everything to the point where weight loss is just so confusing and i cant figure out what i should be doing or how to do it. I was wondering if anyone could tell me if there was a survey done that shows what plans people are on, how much they have lost, that kind of stuff. I am terrified that because i havent lost weight that i am not going to be able to in the next three months and that i will lose my job. I really dont know what to do or where to turn and i am so confused about what i should do to get to my goal weight. If anyone has any kind of suggestions, advice, what worked for them, please tell me. I really dont have another chance and i cant believe i allowed myself to gain so much weight.

thanks!

Take a deep breath.... Let it out.

Okay, this is TOTALLY doable. It is completely understandable that you are overwhelmed with the amount of information out there about weight loss. But if you boil all the information down, the basic idea is eat less calories than you burn. I don't follow a specific plan, I just keep my calories between 1200 and 1500 a day, eating the least amount of processed food that I can: Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, chicken/fish, nuts, etc. Along with that I walk at least 30 minutes every day. And it works for me. You'll find that the trick to this is finding something that works for you, that you enjoy, and that you can see yourself doing forever.

One thing I would suggest if you are confused about food is read the book You On a Diet. It's not so much a diet plan as it is a very simple explanation of how your body uses food, why you crave things, what basic things to stay away from (enriched flour, high fructose corn syrup, partially hydrogenated oils, saturated fat, and sugar). It was so eye opening for me!!!

You can change SOOO much in three months if you set your mind to it. It was AMAZING how quickly I started to feel better just by cutting out junk food and walking every day. Come here and post - it's a great source of support!!!

You absolutely can do this. Don't be scared, just start now.

Hi:

I usually post on the Age 50+/ Golden Girls site but saw your post and thought I'd respond. What kind of a job do you have where you have to lose weight in order to keep it? Just wondering.

I had 80 pounds to lose and so far I have lost 10 pounds. There are all kinds of diets out there, as you well know. They all promise a loss if you stick to the program. The key is sticking to the program and not cheating.

Also, exercise plays an important role in your success. The more muscle you have the more calories you burn. The success of these diets depend on many things. First of all, don't go on a fad diet because you will end up gaining all the weight back. I've done that in the past and it's not a fun journey. I know on the Golden Girls site there are ladies that are on Sugar Busters, Weight Watchers, calorie counting, and just plain healthy eating. Everyone has a different body type and everyone will lose differently. So, to judge how much you will lose because someone else lost on a certain program is not reasonable.

It is considered healthy if you lose 2 pounds per week. If you exercise and stay on a healthy eating program it is reasonable to expect to lose approximately 24-30 pounds in 3 months, in my opinion. But again, it depends on your body and how much exercise you do. The slower you lose it, the longer it stays off, and the healthier you become.

If I were you, I would find a support group here and choose a program immediately. Get the Sugar Busters Book at the library, go to a local WW meeting, or begin counting calories tomorrow. There are all kinds of sites here that you can read and see where you would feel comfortable and begin posting. Let the people here help you with your program and questions. They are very supportive.

You should begin an exercise program where you walk, do some aerobic exercise, and use hand weights or bands 5-6 days a week. Start small and build up the time you spend exercising. Your local libary should have some information for you. There are all kinds of videos you can pick up for your aerobic exercise.

So, schedule a time for you to exercise each day. Make it a priority. Again, start small and build up so you are doing at least 30 minutes of walking and 30 minutes of aerobic and weights. Drink 64 ounces of water every day. Eat 3 meals a day, plenty of vegetables, lean meats (chicken/turkey), and fruit. Stay away from junk, sweets, etc.

Besides 3 Fat Chicks, there are websites like dottisweightlosszone.com or weightwatchers.com where you can get receipes and motivation.

If you follow a healthy program you can lose the weight and keep it off. I hope this helps you in some way. I know you can do it!

Good Luck.

Is a doctors office giving you the pt test? If your insurance (or budget) allows, ask the doctor for a referral to a nutritionist. A good one will listen to you; your likes, dislikes, habits and lifestyle. Then you should get advice, guidelines to help make the changes necessary. (But you have to be willing to make the changes.)
If thats not possible, do some online research. Many people like to count calories, some do well with set diets like South Beach, Weight Watchers, Atkins, etc. Look over the ones that sound interesting to you. See what changes you can make, that you can stick with.
I started with Weight Watchers and found it easier to count calories. So thats what I have been doing since late April. I have lost, since March, 40 pounds.
And C.C.'s right....you can do it...start now!

Ohhhh, Honey,

I feel so for you. I agree with the suggestion of getting your hands on and your head into You On a Diet........it is a 12 week program, and it explains so much.....it lays out an easy understand and follow exercise routine, and demands 10,000 steps a day.....no excuses......it is simple, but it does explain a lot......that may help you forgive yourself and just do a "You turn"...it is simple, everything in one book.....please keep posting and let us know how you are doing.

I, too, question how your job can come down to a "lose weight, or lose your job" situation; that seems so wrong; just the stress you don't need. Hang in there; you can do it!

Mary

Thank you all for your support and your suggestions. I will have to look at that you on a diet book, i havent read that one yet..... and here i thought i had tried everything! I guess i should have given a bit more detail out... i am in the military..... and i just retrained into a new job. The military as a whole is very fit and encourages healthy eating, and we have fitness tests every year. The last year was very hard for me and i gained 40 pounds, on top of my already overweight body. But at least before i didnt look as heavy and i passed my tests. Now though, I am in a very visual job, and because of what we do, our image is even more important and they have been talking to me about it. I started my new job in June and I have lost harldy anything, though i started doing cardio 5 days a week. I had figured when i started working out, oh i am working out more, no need to change my eating habits (pure laziness on my part) and I just figured an increase in calorie expediture would help. It didnt. I have lost 5 pounds. I have tried every diet that i can think of, and for whatever reason, i just cant seem to do it. I hate it- Im starving, I have to make seperate meals for my family, I end up eating more processed foods, i stop really looking at my portions, whatever. Id like to encourage my family to eat healthy to, though they have really high metabolisms, and dont need to lose weight, i dont want my kids to gain weight later cause they just dont think about healthy food choices. I am leaning towards maybe just counting calories and adding weight training. My only fear with counting calories is that i always feel like i am under counting. (does anyone else have that issue) so then i end up buying more processed foods cause it has the calorie count on it, and then i am eating way too much sodium!

Well thanks for listening and offering suggestions... much appreciated.

What helped me to stop "undercounting" was:
1. measure everything - and be honest about it
2. use Fitday to log everything that I ate. They have an excellent database, and you can add custom foods so that you can't "cheat" with calories. I finally am keeping a food journal and it is keeping me honest with myself - and I am losing the weight.
Keep it up - my brother went through the same issues while in the Coast Guard - it can be frustrating, but garner support from all fronts - whatever the military will provide, 3FC, friends, family - every avenue you can find. This is a tough battle, but - it is one that you can win! I will keep you in my prayers

Processed food - yup. Easy to go for when everything is written down on the label! Have you ever looked at websites like thedailyplate.com or fitday.com? They both are calorie trackers and you can sign up for free. I find it helpful because they have even the obscure things I eat already listed in there. I just have to enter how much I ate. The other thing that is really helpful for me is a digital food scale. I used it a ton when I first started to get my head around how much a serving of things actually were. Cereal was the big eye opener for me. I was eating 5 and 6 servings - who knew a serving was so darn small?! Anyway, it's a great training tool.

Have you tried talking to your husband or family about your need to lose weight? Maybe getting healthy can be a family project. You could fix the same things for meals and if they need more calories, they can eat larger servings of what you're making. Losing is easier when you don't feel like the odd one out in the house.

5 pounds is a good start and the cardio is great too! You have made a good start. Honestly, in my experience, the changes necessary to go from maintaining your weight to losing aren't huge.

Let us know how we can help you! You are welcome to join in at any of the threads, but you may want to look at the 100lb. Club section. It's really active, and we have folks who don't need to lose 100lbs., but share common ground in that losing 80lbs is not that much different than losing 100. Same struggles... Wherever you land here, just know we all will do whatever we can to help you!

I totally agree with the cutting out of processed foods as much as possible. I started WW in April of this year (on my own at home with my BF) and I have since cut out about 90% of the processed foods I used to eat, and believe me, you can just feel the difference in your body when you cut it out. When I started my diet, I felt hungry and like I was starving at first, but that's because I was eating so much less than I used to. I never thought I would get over the feeling of being hungry, but it only lasted the first week and then my body adjusted to the decreased calories, and now I am able to make it through the day feeling satisfied. Now, this has to do mostly with what I do eat during the day to keep me satisfied - I have found that FRUIT is my new best friend. I have always liked fruit, but I have found recently that eating fruit for a morning/afternoon snack is so much better than eating chips or some other crap. I like to mix it up - bananas, strawberries, peaches, apricots, grapes, oranges, whatever looks good in the store that week. It fills me up and gets me through those times between meals if I get hungry. Too much fruit of course isn't that good for you, (everything in moderation) but it's better than eating Doritoes or candy for a snack. If you aren't drinking a lot of water, I also recommend starting that. I try to drink at least 50 oz a day if not more and it definitely fills me up so I feel full throughout the day.

Good luck and I hope we are able to help you! I know you can do it!