Great idea of thread !

I'm happy to say that I should leave the 300 lbs club soon ( hopefully in 1 month or so ), but happy to stick in this group because being overweight and being 300+ is NOT the same thing.

I'm thinking about the struggles to take the plane ( I used to ask for a belt extension all the time, so humiliating ) , avoid sitting in a bus ( because nobody could have enough space next to me ) , getting clothes ONLY in specialized store, struggling to take the stares, feeling tired all the time, having bigger boobs ( when you're a man ) than your partner, so on so forth...

So happy to be part of this discussion bros ans sistas


Anyway my number 1 advise would be Walking. Walking has really saved me. I use to hate walking, I could not stand it. But i started to walk, step by step, and now I love it and it allowed me to to get in better shape and prepare me for the next step, the gym.

So few advice for walking :
1. Get comfortable shoes, very important !
2. Find a nice spot where you like the vistas around you ( seaside, nice park, forest, etc )
3. Have some music or podcast to listen
4. Take rest when you need to
5. Walk at your own pace and then when you have the rhythm increase the pace regularly
6. If you can, find a someone to walk with, it helps

Enjoy

Welcome Unapologetic Lover! I think we all agree that being 300+ is definitely a whole different game. I see you have lost a nice chunk of weight. How long ago did you start to change your ways?

Hi Kathy! Nice to have you pop in.

Sweetcakes one day at a time and you will get out of debt. Just like weight loss, keep at it and it will happen. You and hubby will be fine with Jr. away. You will be surprised how soon you will get used to and enjoy your new way of life.

I need a good nights sleep. My busy little mind is always worrying. Being tired makes this so much harder.

How is everyone doing?

I've been off track for a few days. Mini-vacation took its toll on me and I gained half a pound, and then the few days after that were difficult too, due to pizza for dinner and leftover pizza the next day. I'm mostly back on track now, except that it was our once-a-month sushi day, and that can really add up in terms of calories and carbs! I'm having a protein smoothie for dinner tonight, so I'm not too far over my calories for the day. Tomorrow I'll cook my meals for the week so I won't have to eat heavy dinners. My problem is that on days when I eat heavily at breakfast or lunch, I still have to eat something in the evenings even though I am not hungry because I have medications that I have to take with food. I don't usually eat too heavily, but it's still frustrating.
Also, I just can't seem to get back into my walking habit. I'm trying to do it in the mornings, because if I don't do it then, I talk myself out of it. At least I got some exercise in today when I did the grocery shopping (and carrying-in).

Sencha is it necessary to eat a lot of food with your medications? Could you get by with a piece of fruit or a serving of veggies?

Ubee, I have to eat at least 350 calories for the one med, and if I don't eat around 500 calories for the other med, I get a horrible upset stomach. As long as I'm not eating too heavily for breakfast and lunch, it's not hard to fit 500 calories into my dinner plans so I can take both meds together, I've just had a couple bad days. But I've got my meals planned for today, so I shouldn't have that problem.
On a side note, I've noticed that the shirt I put on today seems to feel looser than usual. Is that possible with a weight loss of 5 pounds? Maybe I've lost some inches?

Sencha how many calories are you eating daily. Those meds don't give you too much leeway.
Yes, it is very possible for your shirt to be loser. I notice it before I lose weight and then as the scale goes down I don't notice anything. It is a great feeling isn't it?!

I think I am going to be behaving for quite a while on the weekends. Taking all week to get back to where I was last week is getting old. Of course I have less social occasions where feasting is included in my future so that makes it easier.

How is everyone doing?

Ubee, my calorie limit for the time being is 1800, but typically I eat around 1600-1700.

omg work today is so BOOOOOOORRRRRRRIIIIINNNNNGGGGG!
I can't wait to get home...went for a walk yesterday finally and it felt so good!!
We move the boy next Friday so I'm hoping that maybe after than I can get some calm back to my life.
Everything feels so crazy...

My next goal is 275 and I'd love to get there by the end of October....what a nice Halloween gift that will be but it won't happen if I'm not working on it.

I just need to breathe and take it all in...I'm looking forward to an awesome fall...What great moments are coming from now till the end of the year.

Ubee I agree... most frustrating....you side track one day and its all kaboom....why can't it work the other way....don't exercise for a week and then exercise for one day and lose 5 pounds...oh that would be amazing. won't ever happen but....it's fun to dream.

ALRIGHT LOVELIES....OUR EXCERCISE THREAD IS A LITTLE THIN AND NOT IN THE GOOD SENSE....DON'T QUIT ON YOURSELF!!! KEEP MOVING!!

I've started the 26th of December 2016, best decision i took in my life ( 2nd best was to enter the gym on the 1st of February 2017 ). My plan is to reach my goal by May 2018 or 18 months after I started my diet.

But no way I will be fat again after this. The amount of efforts you need to put in to lose weight when you're older (I'm 40 now ) has nothing to do with how it was years ago.

I did a diet nearly 20 years ago after having the same weight issues as I did in the past decade, and I lost so easily. So I never had a sense of urgency losing weight because I thought it was going to be easy as it was back then. And boy, how wrong I was !!! NEVER AGAIN ! It's too painful to lose weight, I'm won't go into that ordeal again, I'm sure of it. Contrary to what i did back in the day, I'm taking new habits that will stick with me for life.

Sorry for that long answer lol

Hi everyone!

It's been a busy week. I had a stomach bug of some kind on Monday and spent the day in bed, but the rest of the week was a whirlwind! I'm so glad tomorrow is Friday. I'm looking forward to relaxing over the weekend... my husband just suggested a trip to the shore. Sounds wonderful!

I'm down to 307... quite happy! My goal to be 300 or less by the time of my trip to see my parents might just be met! I need to make sure I stick to my calorie plan and not get sucked into the whole, "oh, but I burned all of these calories working out so I can eat just a little more." I've been eating more salad, too, and sticking to a nice light vinaigrette instead of ranch!

sweetcakes - I think you can totally hit your next goal by Halloween! I'm also looking forward to the fall, although I'm still enjoying my summer. I miss having a real fall, though. I used to live in the northeast and was treated to beautiful fall leaves with chilly nights perfect for hot cocoa with friends. Here in western Oregon, the majority of the trees are evergreen and sometime around the end of October, it's like somebody turns a faucet on and the rainy season begins. I'm hoping that since the last two winters were so unusually wet (or so I'm told), that maybe this one will be a little drier. Then again, it's so hot and dry right now that the fire risk is terrible. The valley here is actually filled with forest fire smoke from Canada, plus a little from more local forest fires. It's like smog. We could use a good soaking.

Sencha - I had a very odd bit of weight loss in June when I got my fitbit and got way more active. The scale was headed down, but I suddenly gained and I discovered that my scale was wonky anyway and gave me different readings depending on where on the floor it was. I ended up hanging out around the same weight for a while, but I lost two inches off my hips, plus inches elsewhere. So you could be muscling up a little, which would result in less of a change in the scale but a definite change in inches. I'm pretty excited to be approaching 300 because once I get below that, most of my 2X t-shirts should fit good again. One shirt in particular my dad bought for me at the aquarium about a year and a half ago when my parents came to visit me. I got home and tried it and it was like skin on sausage. I recently wore it and it's still a bit snug in the belly, but definitely an improvement!

Ubee - I feel your pain. I've had numerous slip ups over the summer that have cost me time... it's so terrible to hop on the scale and realize that you've gone backwards. I'm of course thrilled that I've lost about 13 pounds since June, but I know if I had been more diligent, I could have lost twice that.

Unapologetic Lover - Welcome! I'm also a big fan of walking. I have a terrible habit of not sticking with other forms of exercise (biking, paddling, etc.), but walking is easy to do and there's lots of places to do it! I hope our weather cools down soon so that I can go hiking again. I love hiking in our mountains, but temperatures have been close to 100 F (or higher... last week was insane) and heat and bright hot sunlight really wear me down. I mentioned that I'm looking forward to fall... also looking forward to mushroom hunting! Lots of walking opportunities there, with a marvelous reward!

OrionNebula, it is so hard sometimes to keep from eating back exercise calories. Are you more hungry on days when you exercise?
Ubee, vacations and feast days really take a toll on weight loss, but don't give up. I think that as long as you have more good days than bad, you will make progress.
I measured myself yesterday and I don't seem to have lost any inches off my "waist" (really more of a belly), or anywhere else, but I have lost 8.4 pounds over the past month. I don't know where from, though. I'm very happy about this since I pretty much spent two weeks off plan due to vacations, etc. I know my weight loss will slow down the more I lose, but I'm glad to see a big loss to start with since it's such a motivator. Hopefully I can lose more this next 30 days, since I'll have no real reason to go off plan.
One thing that really bothered me when I was visiting my sister- and mother-in-law was how much they talked about weight loss. I have an eight year old daughter, and I don't think that she needs to be influenced by that "diet" mentality. What we at 3FC are doing is changing our lifestyle, which is something different, in my opinion. But talking about it so much in front of her may be bad for her self-image, causing her to worry that she might be overweight (which she isn't). She's already adamant that everyone at home eat healthily, and I worry that unless she's taught to approach that in a reasonable fashion, she will be at risk of developing an eating disorder when she is older.

Sweetcakes thanks for the reminder to get moving. I love Richard...

Unapologetic Lover this is a chat thread, long answers are encouraged. As sweetcakes was saying it would be so wonderful if we could take it off as fast and easily as we can pack it on. Thanks for sharing more of your journey.

Orion I know you can get to under 300 by then. What a great feeling that will be. That 3 is such a bugger.

Sencha there is only so much we can control with our kids. I think what we teach at home stays with them the most. Unfortunately their peers and the media also have too big of an influence. I am sure you pump her full of self confidence and that will go a long ways.

I think I am getting crabby with myself which is OK. Time to put my big girl pants on and start behaving.
On a happy note my latest big girl pants are baggy!

Have a good weekend everyone!

Ubee, congratulations on the baggy pants!

Thanks Sencha, it feels so good.

Sencha - I honestly don't feel hungrier when I exercise, I just get cravings and give in to them sometimes because I've burned the extra calories and think it's ok.

Yesterday we went to the coast for the day. I wanted to walk in the waves, so I decided to see if my capris fit... and they did! The particular pair I wore haven't fit in over two years. In fact, they were even a little snug when I bought them (hoping I would lose a few pounds). Yesterday, they fit perfectly Progress!