Hey everyone! I am a new member to these forums. I use other Messege boards but it may take time for me to get used to these. I've been searching the internet for weight loss help, it seems as if no one understands. I've been overweight for a while, but had gotten used to it, I was about 240 for a while, and being plus sized hadnt bothered me. I got in a wreck a year and a half ago and broke my back, and I was unable to participate in sports at school or even go shopping for exercise. I am now currently 320 pounds, and I've been on a diet for 4 months along with exercise. I have lost no weight, and its oh so discouraging. Has anyone else had this problem? Can anyone recommend a diet or exercise for someone who is 300+. Im not looking for an overnight miracle, I know better, but just to know I'm on the right track and loose a pound or two would mean so much to me.

tehluckster

Hi and welcome. You can come and join us in the main "300 +" thread, it has a number on it and the highest number is the current one. It changes every day or so.

I've always had what I considered to be a "hard time losing weight". Over my many years of trying, I tried different things. Some worked better than others. Some did not work at all.

I think that what I've learned is.. for each person, what works is not what might work for YOU. You are an individual body and mind with differences from your mother, sister, friend, etc. I'm not sure if you are male or female so I won't make any assumption. Anyway, I think a lot of people on this board would agree with what I say there.

My advice to you is.. first, go to see a family doctor (if you can afford that, depending on your situation). If you have a family doctor that you do not like, you do have the right to change to another. Make an appointment with this doctor, and tell them you want to lose weight but need help.

If you think this might take some time, I'd suggest that starting right away, keep a daily log of every single morsel you eat. Mark down as much info as you can, like what time you get up, what your life circumstances are (stress, kids, husband, wife, family problems, etc). The more information you can keep, the better they can try to get to the bottom of things. Perhaps you have a medical reason. Perhaps you don't. But with the record of what your pattern is daily for many days, they can at least see what you are eating, and what your life is like. Plus, if the doc is one of those who does not favor people with weight issues (lord knows most of them I personally have met are like that) it will show you are truly looking for help.

the other reason of course that you should visit the doc is that first, it will ensure you are safe to change your caloric intake, in a healthy way. (meaning, there is no medical reason you couldn't change your eating habits) AND it will give you a formal record to look back on in the months to come.

When I started my 'plan' back in late June, I started just this way. I went to see the doc first, and i got blood tests, blood pressure check, height/weight, etc It really helped to get my brain in the right spot.

You can do this. It is really tough at this weight to think of the big picture, especially if you're having trouble seeing any results. But stick it out, you can overcome it, when you find out why you're not losing.

hugs
Angie

I am so sorry to hear about your accident – that must have been devastating. It is never easy to lose weight and is only more difficult when you are dealing with physical injuries.

Weight loss comes down to the simple formula of eating less calories then you are expending. You can tip the balance by either using exercise or nutrition. From what I have read and from my own experience, eating is about 80% of the equation and exercise 20%. They are both vitally important, but eating will have a much more significant impact on your total daily calories then exercise can.

For someone at around 300 pounds, eating 2000 calories is a good place to start. This can be done with a number of diets. We all have different histories and have different trouble spots. The important thing is to choose something you feel comfortable doing for a very long time – probably in essence for the rest of your life. Like Angie and Jill said, start by tracking what you are eating now (a great tool is fitday.com) and then see where you can improve. Don’t think that you have to start eating at 1200 calories a day to lose weight, because you don’t. Your body still needs a certain amount of nutrition and you don’t want to go too low and not give yourself the nutrients you need. If you have been exercising already then you are ahead of many people. Find things you like to do that you can do often and keep increasing the intensity. If you walk on a treadmill and start off at 2.5 mph then next time try 2.6 mph or add a 1.0 incline. If you keep doing the same exercise your body will become accustomed to it and it will start being less effective.

Definitely feel free to jump right into the main numbered thread. You can definitely do this!

Thanks to everyone for there suggestions, I am female lol, I just never figured out the different tools for the board yet. I have been on a 1200 calorie a day diet. I'm also a vegitarian, and my mom suggested I go on Atkins because she lost 50 pounds on it, but like others have said, I want to learn to eat healthier instead of just staying on a diet. I was, and still am not completely cured of being a junkfood junkie. I'm in college and work so its hard to plan meals out. I have been laying off the junkfood, and I excersize by doing Tae Kwon Do and Tai Chi (for my back pains) along with weight training at the gym. I'm convinced that my lack of weight loss is probably the foods I eat even though I keep what I eat under 1200 calories. I haven't went to a doctor for a diet yet, and alot of my friends go to get diet pills from the doctor, but I'm not sure that I want to take diet pills, and I can't really afford to go to the doctor just yet. But this forum looks as if it really could help me loose the weight, so I'll hang in there and keep posting, and maybe I can help others as much as I've been helped on here already!

Hi!

I see your pic now!

I think you are going in the right direction. Everyone's comments are correct. Just try to cut out the bad foods and replace them with better foods, to start. Doing tai chi is really good too!! You're on your way!!

~ Angie

That is great that you added your pic!

So many of us start dieting under the impression that the less calories we can consume the better - but it just isn't true! Our bodies need enough to keep our metabolism going at full speed and at 300 pounds you can't do that eating 1200 per day. It may be a scary thought but I highly recommend upping your intake to around 2000 and see how that works for you. If it is too high then you could try and drop down to 1900. If you are working out and eating so few calories your body is probably trying to hold onto everything it can. It is like water - when you drink more you are actually less likely to retain water because your body isn't worried that there won't be more coming soon. Think of it like what would happen if you lost your job and didn't have much income coming in. Wouldn't you do everything you could to conserve the money you have? Our bodies are the same way with calories and water.

Being a vegetarian can both help and make things more difficult. You need to do a bit of extra work to make sure you get in your protein without adding a lot of calories. You might find some good tips in the Veggie Chicks section (under Alternachicks): http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=121.

I guess it does make sense to eat more calories if your bigger, it almost seems like a paradox in a way though. Im going to try the 2000 calorie approach. I have recently started drinking alot of water, im trying to cut out all the soda's, I'm not sure about milk though. I've heard that you need to eat 5 to 6 small meals a day instead of 3 meals when your active. I cant really grasp the concept, so I'm working on a meal plan, and journal, as suggested.

Yeah, it was kinda hard getting the picture the right width and length but I managed to fix it so it doesnt look too bad.

I agree with Nancy... try upping your calories. A 300 pound body needs probably at least that many calories to maintain itself in a coma! Plus, how are you going to get in enough nutrients at less than 1200/day, esp if you're eating some junk!

The idea of writing down everything you eat is a great one. there are lots of online tools to help. Lots of people use fitday (dot com). I use nutridiary (dot com). Though I have to say, when my doctor recommended writing down everything, I was NOT excited about the idea. It has turned out well for me, though!

Please keep posting here!

When I cut soda out, I lost 10 pounds the first week. I was watching my food also but I know that soda makes me retain water. My feet and lower legs are way less swollen and my birkenstocks are on a different buckle hole.

Hi tehluckster! It can be hard to find your way around when you are new here but we are happy to help you. I'm so glad you found THIS section as it is the greatest support group ever!

I started the 2000 calorie a day diet yesterday, and I can already tell its helping me today! I was running circles around the fella's (there ALL men) in Tae Kwon Do this morning.
Thanks for welcoming me everyone! I hadn't heard of the online fitness journals yet so im going to check that out now, thanks for the tips!

Welcome. I know how hard it is to lsoe weight and such. I was having trouble dropping weight as well. I suggest trying South Beach it's not hard and it helps with your cravings for junk food I don't have it too much now even at pms time where it use to be bad. I've lose the most weight ever on this plan. The first two weeks are the hardest they say.

Please don't restrict yourself to 1200 calories, I do that because I have to, after years of playing the yo yo game. If you stay at such a low level your body will respond by trying to hold onto as much of the weight as it can, the body thinks it is starving to death and will become very efficient at using less calories just to survive. You are young, please be patient and realize this is a lifetime committment, not just a diet from one date to another. You will succeed!!