Hi Everyone!! My title says it all - I'm lost. I feel so overwhelmed with the amount of weight I need to lose. I know I'm not supposed to look at the number overall and just take babysteps, but I don't even know where to start for that. I do have a gym membership, that I will start using..

Anyone else in this position? Feeling extremely overwhelmed and defeated by the amount of weight you have to lose? To think that I need to lose this much scares me!

Hey Megan- I know it seems like a lot, but you have to take it one day at a time. At the end of he day, ask yourself these questions...
1. Did I workout today?
2. Did I make at least 3 healthy decisions today?
3. Did I do something today that will make me healthier in the long run?

You can't beat yourself about where you want to be. Your weight loss journey will be your journey. What plan are you going to be on? Whenever you feel like quitting make sure you are on here. There are plenty of times that I wanted to give up but my friends on here encouraged me and told me the reasons that I want to lose weight.

Good luck to you!

I definately know the feeling. I started off close to the weight you are starting off at, and it's not fun to be so close to 300. But trust me, when you actually do start a successful diet, it's not what you'd expect.

Start by making smaller mini-goals, and know that you're going to feel great with every pound you lose. That number of 130 should never come into your mind. Think instead of wanting to lose 8 pound this month, 10 pounds this month and know that the time, although it will seem to be dragging sometimes, is really going to fly. Those pounds dropped are going to add up with no help from your worrying- so there's no need to think so much about it.

Also, I would recommend that if you want to start exercising, you are careful with yourself about it. It's easy to become overwhelmed and overworked if you're trying to work out too much and too often, which many new dieters feel like they have to do. I still don't work out for the most part, and I lose about 8-10 pounds a month. For me, getting to the gym and trying to push myself too much was just too much stress. But if you want to stick to a work out plan, good for you. But if it overwhelms you, just remember that you can take it slow (15-20 minutes of light exercise a couple of times a week) or try the dieting without the exercise at first.

What diet plan have you decided to go on? I use calorie counting, and it's been very successful for me. It helped to ease me into it, by mixing high-volume low calorie foods with lower-cal choices of my favorites. One of the reasons my old diets had always failed is because I felt the need to jump right in to perfectly healthy eating (all veggies, fish, etc), and that just wasn't realistic for me.

Don't worry so much about the number you want to get down to in the long run, or about trying to get a perfect exercise and diet plan. Those things are just figments of your imagination right now, they don't really exist in your current life. Just think about what you can do every day to make yourself a little smaller and a little healthier, and then that 160 weight will become a reality for you when it's the right time.

Its simple really, eat less and better and exercise more. I started out with baby steps. But, it WILL take some time to do it so I think that perseverance is the most important thing in big weight loss. Also, maybe you have a big goal in mind for when you lose/why you are losing all of your extra weight-- keep your eye on that prize.
The rest of my story is in Goal forum along with many other inspiring and informative stories. I recommend you check that forum out!

Megan,

I have almost that much to lose too! I am just trying to take one meal/choice at a time! Keep your head up and do NOT beat yourself up every day!!!

4#down 96 to go!!!

Sounds like you got a lot of good advice.... small changes in diet and exercise habits will make big changes for you.

I agree with all the advice above. I lost 130 pounds in a year and while not everyone does it that quickly know that it can be done. Like everyone else said baby steps.

I have about that much to lose, too. I started by cooking healthy at home with my sister (was my roommate at the time), and after a few months, progressed to getting in some healthy physical activity with a friend from work, four mornings a week. Now, I'm quitting smoking and cutting out restaurant foods (general term for take out, delivery, etc) except for lunch out with friends on the weekends. Baby steps!

Don't be overwhelmed. Take it in small steps and small, attainable goals, like five lbs by this date, or that. Maybe even start as small as, "this week, I will eat one piece of fresh fruit with lunch and breakfast every day," and so on.

If you want to add me to your buddy list, we can email back and forth and encourage each other! Want to?

Looking forward to hearing from you,
Rosie

The best approach is to look at the long term. Suppose you want to lose 1-2 lbs per week, we'll say 1.5 lbs. Much more than that could be unhealthy. To lose 130 lbs, you'll need 87 weeks, so 22 months at 6 lbs per month.

To accomplish that, you have to figure out how many calories you should eat per day such that you will lose 1.5 lbs per week on average. This number depends on your weight, amount of exercise, and metabolic rate. The first two are easy, but since you can't measure the last, you should estimate the right caloric intake and adjust up or down depending on progress. According to the Calorie Counters board FAQ, you should start at 2000 calories per day and adjust by 100 calories if you don't observe any changes.

If you eat the proper number of calories per day and exercise, you will steadily lose weight. To figure out the proper amount, weigh yourself once per week at the same time (I recommend just after you wake up).

Exercising is often important for a couple of reasons. First, if you exercise, the amount of calories you should eat will be higher, which makes the diet easier. If you do weight training as well as cardio, you will also lose less muscle (exrx.net/FatLoss/WT%26End.html sorry, forum won't let me hyperlink). Second, it is a lifestyle change that reduces recidivism.

30 minutes of exercise 4-5 times per week should be sufficient for most. That study mentions 15 minutes of weight training and 15 of cardio, which sounds fine to me.

Well, I don't know if you're "lost" (I think being on 3FC means you've been "found", but that's just MHO )

You do, however, sound a little overwhelmed. I didn't lose 130 pounds, but I did lose an amount of weight that I *never* thought I could lose.

So you know what I did? I didn't think of it in terms of 80 pounds or even 50 pounds. I took it in increments. I didn't have a scale, so the scale I "weighed in" on was only available to me every couple of weeks. That made it really easy to take it in 5 and 10 pounds chunks. And you know what? That all adds up pretty quick

I really think people get too hung up on the big number when they just need to sort out the hows of getting there. You've taken the right step in getting a gym membership. How about creating a workout plan that's not overwhelming that works for you? You can also start planning out your meals. I've found the Daily Plate to be very helpful in just getting ageneral idea of what I was consuming everyday and that was a good place to start.

I'm a bit overwhelmed as well, but I'm just taking it one pound/day at a time.

I've been on hiatus from 3FC and have gained about 35 lbs.

Take it one day at a time

I know exactly how you feel. But rest assured this is the greatest site you'll ever visit, and these forums, and FULL of some of the best people you'll ever get to know. You'll have the biggest support system ever here.

I have about that much to lose too! Almost exactly that much!
I'm just starting out (for the 100th time).

If you want, we could be diet buddy's?
Sometimes having a buddy can help make things easier.

Also, instead of looking at it like "130 pounds"
Set some "mini goals"

My first mini goal is in my signature. Although losing 133 pounds is my ultimate goal, right now I'm just concentrating on losing 28 pounds.

And like Jahjah above me said, take it one day at a time. Sometimes its every hour & every minute at a time...