Hello. I am new to this website. I am really struggling. I am 280, largest i have EVER been, i am 29 years old, been married for almost 2 years, and am starting to have pain due to my weight ( mainly in knees).

I feel overwhelmed. I had brief sucess with Atkins, but i was 217 this time last year, and needlesstoday,I didn't maintain.

In fact, atkins, kills me with migraines, and i'm determined not to get back on the carb thing.

ANY HELP????????????


Honestly, i'm struggling.

I have done Atkins, Slim Fast, the Beverly Hills diet, counted calories, counted fat, deprived and starved myself until I got so fat I couldn't walk up a flight of stairs without being completely out of breath. Then it hit me. I needed to listen to my body, become in touch with it, learn to respect and value it as much as I respect and value the little bodies of my kids. I make sure they eat well, don't spend too much time in front of the TV, go to the Dr. if they are sick...all these things I do for them because I love them and want the absolute best for them. What was I doing for myself, and my body? Eating an entire can of Pringles several times a week? Eating enough chocolate to float a boat? No fiber? No veggies or fruits? I was treating myself like I hated myself. Wow.

Okay, so now I eat what I want in moderation. That is the key word. I have also learned to love myself and vow to take care of my body that I have abused for all these years. I eat fiber, fruit, veggies, drink skim milk, eat enough protein so I am not eating myself. I exercise...nothing outrageous, but I make sure to MOVE everyday. I am evolving in my exercise, as I lose more (slow and steady wins the race) I can move easier and I desire to get up and go for a walk, because it feels good to move when I can feel muscles there and strength there that I didn't have just weeks ago.

I think you will find around this board that overall, the successful losers have created their own livable lifestyle that they can maintain and nourishes their body as it wishes to be nourished. I have found success with this, I have no doubts about myself now. I can lose it all. You can too. It might sound trite but you need to look at your body and realize just how valuable and precious a gift it is...take care of it.

Don't give up.

You are not alone, we've all felt overwhelmed which is why we each decided to start out on the path to losing weight. You've taken a big step by posting here on this board, I've not been a member that long myself and have found everyone to be very supportive.

Set yourself realistic goals. Losing a lot of weight takes time and is not going to happen overnight. Think about what you are eating, try to switch to vegetables, fruit, fish, chicken, red meat is ok but remove all visible fat, fat free milk, low fat yoghurt. Aim for 1 - 2lb per week weight loss per week. Drink lots of water. I drink around 8 pints of water a day. Stay away from fizzy soda drinks, candy, processed foods.

If you are not sure what to eat, post here and ask! Buy low fat cookbooks. I recently picked up an awesome book, the "Low Fat, Low Cholesterol Cookbook" by the American Heart Association. It rocks. This site also has a great recipe section.

Don't weigh yourself every day. Your weight will fluctuate daily so not only will you be receiving an inaccurate record of your weight, it could lead to an obsession with the scales. Set yourself a weigh day of once a week, I weigh myself on Tuesday, and record on the calendar how much you weigh.

Exercise. I walk every other day for an hour (3.9 miles) and tend to our vegetable garden. Exercising not only burns calories but I usually feel pretty good after a walk.

Good luck with things and I hope we see you posting here again soon .

I think you've already taken the first step in realizing it's time to take care of yourself. Welcome. I know you are feeling overwhelmed and that you can't lose the weight but you can. I agree with setting goals. Take it one day at a time. Remember that you didn't gain the weight in a week or two so don't expect it to come that quickly. You have to be willing to change for the rest of your life.
Start with small changes (switch to low-fat or ff salad dressing, use lean meats, etc) if it starts seeming overwhelming.
That's what's really helped me out is to take one portion of bad habits and change it first and then move on to another one.

There's a lot of us over on the 100+ club that are just like you, wanting/needing to lose over 100 pounds. We have several members who've lost tons and are a great inspiration.

hello. i appreciate it. I am taking steps, though small. I am drinking an ice cold glass of water right now, and it is wonderful!!! It tastes great, and I typically hate water.

So, this is a good thing.

Thinner will feel better than all the junk food i eat tastes.

;>

Heather,

You have already made a huge step towards success and the rest is gravy (pardon the food expression) I found the most important thing I had to learn was I had to work at it and listen to my body. I know some of the things I crave are things my body hates and punishes me for later...hence the extra pounds.

I read the title for your thread and said gee....that's me. Even though I have lost more then half of what I want to and thought that losing was going to be the answer to all my "issues" I now know that there are other parts of my life that need to be worked on but when I am focusing and staying on track, the other stuff seems to get in place as well because I know I can handle it. I wish you all the best and keep at it. The one thing about this site that I love is that it is not just about weight loss....the other individuals here truly have made a difference in my life and not just with food and exercise. Take care and have a safe and smooth move...are you excited?

Dale

Heather,

I've struggled with my weight for practically my whole life. When I went to the Dr. after gratefully not gaining any weight since the previous year's visit, we AGAIN discussed weight loss, and he REALLY encouraged me to try a low carb diet. Well, not being independantly wealthy, I figured I had to figure out a way to 'do' Atkins, without really 'doing' Atkins. So, I went out and bought....a book.....The 30 day low carb diet solution by Michael and Mary Eades, MD's. The thing that hooked me was the byline- 'the book that just tells you what to eat'. It lists just about any food you could want to eat, and even tells you how much of it you can eat, depending upon which plan you are following.
My pal Trixie will tell you that I fell off the wagon for the entire month of April. But,l didn't GAIN a pound. After doing the low carb kick for 5 weeks and dropping 15lbs, I sort of knew what I could and couldn't eat, and most importantly, How and WHEN I could eat it. Being married to an Italian, pasta was a hard drop at first, but once I figured out how to make a killer zucchini lasagna, it wasn't a problem any more.

I still eat Pizza, but I make it with low carb Pita pockets instead ( low carb tortillas are too soft...take it from me), burgers go in the same pockets, and I will on occaison have a 1/2 cup serving of mashed potatoes. I enjoyed my birthday cake, a smaller piece at a time, and have been researching the various low carb Ice creams.

As for fast food- Forget Burger King- nothing there you can eat that won't destroy you, although I see my local one has different salads available..will have to try those as I brought my own Wendy's into the restaurant because the kids wanted take out ( hey, why should they suffer?) As I sat there, I didn't even have a desire to snitch a fry as I happily munched on a chicken BLT salad..no croutons of course. The most important thing to learn here is that you can't eat grains for breakfast, a sub for lunch and pasta for dinner..it just won't work. Balance of how, what and when is the key.

And lots and lots of water! I've never been much of a water drinker, but the first thing I do now in the morning as I put on the coffee pot is drink a 20 oz glass of water. If I am home for the day, I drink at least 1 or 2 more before lunch, have one with lunch, and then yet another along with an afternoon snack..and of course the same with dinner.

Just by being here you have the best support group you could possibly hope for. No one here will judge you, call you fat, but we would relish in calling you a 'loser!'!

hi heather. eat a healthy breakfast,lunch, snack and supper. have treat once a
week( dessert or special meal) have them in moderation. this will help you not to fall off the wagon. good luck glen

Hi Heather! I feel your pain. It's hard. It's soooo hard to lose weight. I've been overweight for the past 18 years. I', 48 and started gaining weight with my first pregnacy and never stopped. Currently I'm 227, and feeling quite miserable myself. I don't want to discourage you by all means. I really feel positive about this site and the positive vibes I get from reading so many of the uplifting stories about people in the very same situations like us. Maybe together we can give each other the motivation and support that we need to get over the bumps in this weight loss battle. Later!