i just had a couple of questions..
i read somewhere that if you have gained a tremendous amount of weight after having kids *ive had 7* that it would be next to impossible to lose it, even more so if you have never been thin.
also...sometimes, i feel really faint, and just awful..as if i am wasting away, which i am clearly not but sometimes i just feel so lightheaded, as if i havent eaten, even though i have.
thanks everyone!

ok first, being light headed could be a dangerous sign of low or high blood sugar, or other things that aren't good. please get that checked out asap.

we all have the ability to lose weight or gain weight. what you heard was absolutely false. every person on this board is proof that all, no matter their current or previous size, can get healthy and fit. this is a great place to learn and get support.

sounds good!
no, my blood sugar is fine..can caffeine withdrawal cause some side effects like that? ive really cut back big time in the past 2 weeks.

Nope, I've had a child and had no trouble losing. It was almost easier to lose after my son because I found calorie counting.

Light headedness could be from the caffeine. Do you know how many cals you're eating?

not really...i would say 1200-1500
i am not much of a daytime eater so i have been drinking a weight loss shake in the morning and for lunch and then just eating a smaller amount of whatever i cook for dinner, with fruit and vegetables for snacks. i think im having snack cake withdrawals too!!!

well, i wasn't suggesting actually have diabetes nessaraily. anyone can have low blood sugar. just from not eating the right types of food for energy, or not eating for too long.

those types of shakes or any shake for that matter aren't satisfying for me. at. all. each person is different, so maybe it can work for you. as time passes the sugar cravings will decrease, possibly go away. instead you can teach your body to crave healthy food.

i suggest you try out different types of fruits, veggies, preparing them in different ways. continually trying new healthy foods. i'm sure you'll find lots of things taste way better than snack cakes or other foods you used to love.

mangoes, kiwi, roasted pears/apples/winter squash, frozen cherries/berries- like little popsicles in your mouth. all worth a try if you haven't had them in awhile, along with many others. try to get as much fiber in your food as you can. if you aren't used to it, work it in gradually. and always drink lots of water, or work up to water. try reading the thread: what do you drink besides water? lots of ideas on there.

Are you counting your calories? Really adding them up? It sounds like you are eating less than 1200 calories based on what you wrote. Shakes have about 200 calories in them. Breakfast and lunch would be 400 calories. Unless your snacks and smaller portioned dinner is 800 calories, you are not eating very much. I started out the way you are. I enjoyed a shake for breakfast and lean cuisine for lunch and protein bars for snacks. That worked just fine, but eventually I noticed I was sluggish and constipated. Someone suggested it was the shakes doing that to me. From there I started cutting those things out to a more whole foods approach. Since then I have not had those problems.

As to the other question, I gained 100 pounds with marriage and children. LOL! Weight loss is slow for me, but quite manageable! Don't let naysayers like that keep you from getting healthy!

Just to clear up what you may have read in the past. I have no kids. I have read though that the weight you gain during a pregnancy should be lost within a certain time period after the pregnancy or else it will be difficult to lose that weight. ie, there is a belief that it would be 'easier' to lose weight immediately after a pregnancy versus a few years later. That doesn't mean its impossible.

I would really recommend you start counting all your calories, at least at first, and that you aim for 2000-2200 a day. At 275, you will lose weight in that range. For me, going too low made staying on plan long term impossible. Hunger erodes will power. Once you get a new routine and know what you are eating, you can cut down calories if you want to speed up your rate of loss.

i will definitely have to start counting calories..i never broke it down like that and i bet you guys are right, im simply not eating enough!
these shakes really fill me up, but a lot of that is because i never have liked eating during the day..just never really feel that hungry. now, at night..when i am playing video games or hanging out with the husband, thats a different story.

that's so interesting. i'm the exact opposite. my trigger times were those times when it's during the day. or anytime i'm alone. having the kids there doesn't help they don't realize how much i just ate, or it was something i shouldn't be eating. unless it's really obvious like cookies.
dh works nightshift alot. when he's here, he's up late. i'd rather starve than overeat in front of him. now i hardly eat at all late at night. i'm dealing with my triggers, but they will always be there.

thats for sure! its hard to adjust also because i LOVE cooking and baking, and im trying to alter my usual recipes to be a bit lower in fat..no more frying in lard, homemade noodles and cream gravies..but it will be worth it in the end

I've been morbidly obese nearly all of my life, and obese since age 5. I only had one brush with an almost-normal weight for a few months in high school (courtesy of amphetemine diet pills).

I still don't know if I'll ever get to my ideal BMI, but I only worry about one more pound. I do have to be diligent, but I'm so burned out on traditional dieting (I did that for more than 35 years), that I'm not willing to make big changes. I've only made small and easy changes, and I've still lose 85 lbs (it's taken my several years to do it, but it's felt relatively easy because I only made small changes that I knew wouldn't be a hardship to do forever).

You don't have to be as slow about it as I have, but it doesn't have to be misery either. I don't really focus on weight loss, I focus on maintaining the loss I've managed so far, and trying to lose just one more pound (and when I achieve that, I look for the next just one more").

I've lost 65 lbs just one pound at a time (the first 20 came off without my effort or knowledge after being treated for sleep apnea with a cpap machine).

You do have to be willing to incorporate changes as a permanent part of your life, because the "diet until I lose the weigh" mentality just doesn't work. If you're planning for a day you won't have to diet, you're planning for regain. Some people make a lot more changes than they will need to maintain - eating far fewer calories than what they'll need at maintenance. This means that at their goal weight, they'll have to start increasing their calories. There's nothing wrong with this way of dieting, except that if you overshoot and start regaining, it can be extremely frustrating. It's why I decided to diet "backwards" (only taking on small changes that I knew I could incorporate forever - or at least for the foreseeable future).

I don't look at my food as a diet anymore, it's just part of my normal life. Watching what I eat and moving more has become like brushing my teeth - just part of every ordinary life, and something I'll be doing forever. As I lose weight, I have to make more changes to keep losing weight, but I'm starting to believe that I can actually get to a healthy weight eventually. I've never really experienced a healthy weight before, so I can't really imagine it yet, but I don't have to - I just have to look at that next pound.