As you can see from my signature I am well over 300 lbs. Over 400 in fact though hopefully not for long.

I started South Beach Diet on January 1 of 2006. I had lost almost 50 lbs by mid july when family issues and stress started me binging and I gained back half of what I lost. I've been trying again for the last month or so and the starting weight on my ticker is the starting from january of this year because I still want to be able to hold onto the progress I've made so far.

I've been looking around this forum tonight and I found it so disheartening when it seemed like everyone was so much smaller than me, some smaller than my goal weight even is and trying to lose, until I found this area.

I'm still feeling very discouraged. I've been trying to add exercise into my weight loss plan but it's incredibly difficult. I managed to walk for 25 minutes yesterday which is a huge deal for me. The most I had been able to manage before was 15 minutes and that seemed so pathetic that I just gave up for a long time.

When you have so far to go, when it might take years and years to get there, how do you manage not to just crawl into bed with ice cream and forget about it again? Obviously I'm not having a great night... I'm considering trying to walk again when I'm done with work in 3 1/2 hours but the rain falling and the strain of doing it nearly has me giving up before I even start.

hey dun u wrry....u have lost 50 lbs...tht in itself is a gr8 feat...no easy task...u shld have faith in urself ...i m sure u cn do it...i have to loose 120 pounds....i m sure i will..and so will u...u cn atleast manage 25 mins oc walkkin...thats awsum...bravo!!!! fr me even 15 mins is hard work.....juz have faith in urself and god..dun let negative thuts enter ur mind......imagine urself to b ur goal weight already..make small changes....and trust me the end result will b well worth it....best of luck.....and if u need a friend do write....may god b with u....

Don't be discouraged! Have you read any posts by Charles78? There's an entire forum for over 300 lbs, there's another for folks with 100 lbs or more to lose. Everybody here needs to lose 'some' weight. You need to lose 'some' weight. Looking too quickly at the BIG picture has sidelined too many people. Don't let it happen to you.
It's all the same mechanism. Eat less and move more. You already know and are doing that. Just keep doing that. You can do that for the rest of your life, right?

I was in my late 30's when a doctor told me to start walking 15 minutes per day. Don't over do it, he said, you're in pretty bad shape So I'm pretty impressed with your 25 minutes! Really, I am!

Hey there Katie .. and a BIG welcome to the site ..

This place has been a godsend for me ... and I really hope you can get as much inspiration and motivation as you could ever need. Dont put yourself down for doing 15-25 minutes of walking hun .. ANY movement is GOOD movement .. its when you dont even try that the trouble starts .. we have an exercise thread on this area ... where you can challenge yourself .. maybe 5 minutes a day is something you are comfortable with .. then maybe 10 mins .. and work your way up from there .. I started at 10 minutes a day .. so 300 minutes for the month .. I managed to do that ... and now Im doing 900!! This from a person who didnt even do 90 before she started the journey

The only REALLY bad thing you can do .. is give up .. No one is having a perfect weight loss journey ... although I will try to constantly post only positive posts .. there are a lot of things that challenge me .. and a lot of self discipline I have to get my head (and heart) round .. the main one is the exercise .. but after almost 4 months I am finally enjoying it when I do it .. so I dont know WHY I still have to force myself to do the exercise that I know I will enjoy when I do it lol ..

I really hope you come in and post often .. we have another lovely newbie that called this place her no-cal chocolate fix ... at least I think that was the right phrase .. and she is right ... when you feel the urge to binge .. come in here and keep typin until the urge passes ...

BIG HUGS hunny .. and be proud of yourself for getting back on the path ... and another thing .. PLEASE dont compare yourself to others .. regardless of the goal weight or how much there is to lose .. chances are the majority of us have the same fears and concerns as you ... and just like you we have to fight to keep going ... this isnt just a weight loss system .. its a life saving one ... its one that will give us not a thin body (thats just a bonus lol) .. but the freedom to be who we really are that is sooo deeply hidden under all of our fears and self-destructive behaviours.

Look forward to seeing you on the boards (check out the post in my siggie below .. its one of the most inspirational things I could ever hope to read )

First, big and . It took alot of guts to come here and post. That is the first step. Everyone needs support & encourgagement, half the battle is asking for it. This place is awesome & a very big help. There are some amazing women and men on here.

Like Susan said, don't think of how much you need to lose total. For now concentrate on a smaller amount. Let's say you make your goal to hit 399. Work towards that. Then when you reach it, move it down some more. The big picture will depress & overwhelm you. If I think everyday that I need to lose 150 lbs, I would say screw it & give up. But 30 lbs, well that I can work towards & do.

25 mins of a walk is awesome! 10 mins twice a day is awesome. Whatever you can manage as long as you are up and doing something is great. The more you move then the more you will be able to move.

Don't give up! We are here for you!

Hi again hun .. Im in shock rofl .. I was just reading your bio!!

My nickname is Katt .. and people always think thats because my name is Katy or Kath! (my real name is Sarah but I never answer to that ... Katt was my stage name .. and also the name of our gift shop!)

I was born in 1972 ... April 25 tho!! (yours April 14?)

My hunnys name is Richard too .. but everyone calls him Scoot!

We have our 5th anniversary in December ... the 21st!! (yours Nov 21)

Canuk is a name that my dad uses when referring to himself (he is from St George Ontario .. I got to meet my family over there for the first time in 2004) ... so Im a KiwiCanuk!

From your fave movies .. do I take it you like musicals?? I love musicals .. drives my hunny nuts .., he is more the sci fi nut lol ..

And OMG on the song choice!!! I used to sing that one at the end of each of the shows I did!! (I did Greatest Love of All before it and would dedicate both of them to my daughter!)

That is sooo spooky! If you want a Pm/email buddy let me know .. I would love to be there to cheer you on .. kick your butt .. and let you vent as much as you like cos its better than bottling it up Oh just noticed we're the same height too!! Wow ... your goal weight is a lot lower than mine .. humm .. maybe I should lower mine ... nope .. not allowed to compare .. good grief .. I gotta read my own advice rofl... I have decided that thats my goal weight with the option of lowering it as I get to it ..

Someone else on here (Im so sorry I cant remember who .. I should really write the names down for these quotes that stick in my head!) .. said something great for these goals ...
"I cant lose 100 pounds .. but I can lose 10 pounds .. 10 times" Isnt that kewl?

On another post I have challenged everyone to laugh .. at least once a day ... its great exercise .. and not just a little giggle .. I mean a jelly belly crack yourself up laugh .. its great exercise and is soooo good for you

Huggies

Love and Laughter to you (and your hubby!)

Hi Katy, and So glad you are here! I'm sure all of us here have felt as you do at times but this is a fantastic place to come and post your "ups" and "downs." You are doing GREAT to walk for 25 minutes... what a super way to start. You might even want to consider joining our exercise thread where we set monthly goals for ourselves and then post our progress along the way. It's not how MANY minutes you set as a goal... in fact it is better for you to set smaller goals at first... and then post each bit of exercise and add to the total!

I think the "key" to getting in shape is just making a decision... don't wait for some magical "motivation" as a feeling as if it ever DOES come it will be temporary. But on the other hand starting it as a new way of life DOES become a habit. Whatever plan you use (or no specific one and just plan for yourself as I do) the solution is eat right and move your butt. When you are tempted to eat something that is bad for you or do NOT want to get off your butt and exercise, remind yourself that the GOAL is worth the sacrifice.

Hey you already have a great start! Oh and another thing that helps... set yourself smaller weight mini goals and make a ticker for that. The "big one" can take "forever" to move a bit but if you set 10-pounds ones, say, you can watch it move over and reach your mini goals. I "redecorate" my mini ticker at each 10 pounds.

And yes, posting here is a GREAT alternative to pigging out or giving up! This group is great for encouraging and supporting!!! Hope you stick around!

in Seattle

I am just about in tears from your kind posts. My work day is almost over (as I work overnights) and I wasn't sure I should come back and check in here again and I'm so glad I did. You all are wonderful. You are maybe the only people who would understand when I say my little 25 minute walk yesterday has me so tired that I think the only exercise I'll manage today is going to be some housecleaning, but that's something at least right?

Katy believe me that is SUPER! I have always been energetic and athletic. Yet when I gained so much weight... I started at 298... when I started walking it was all I could do, especially since I was soooooooo huge in the chest the pain in my back and shoulders was a nightmare. I couldn't carry these stupid boobs around! I had to lean on all the poles... sit on the rocks... take breaks all the time and just grit my teeth and constantly ask God to help me keep going. And LOL the Seattle area is FULL of BIG hills so everywhere you go that is part of the deal.

I think it is SUPER that you are able to do 25 minutes!! I want to have time to share mor about my experience and how I talked to myself along the way but have to rush off to work... later!!

Hi Katy! First of all, welcome. I hope you enjoy it here as much as I do. I didn't find this site until I was nearing my goal weight, and I WISH I had found it earlier. I think it would have made things just that little bit easier.

Basically, it took me two years and two months to reach my current weight and I reached it in the middle of March this year. During my journey, I actually never really looked back, or relapsed, because I simply told myself it "Wasn't an option!" I had reached a weight where I thought that my life may have been at risk in the near future and that just wasn't good enough for me. I wanted MANY more years with my new husband and nothing was going to stop me. Whenever I wanted to buy/eat junk food... "It's not an option Zelma". I am one of those people who can't have 'treat' days, or meals. I am much better off not having those types of foods around me at all. Well, things are easier now, but for the first 12 months it was just easier to remove temptation from the house.

My best advice is to take things one step at a time. You haven't said if you are trying South Beach again, but if it didn't work permanently for you before, then maybe you need to look at something else. I made changes to my lifestyle that were exactly that... LIFEstyle changes. Every little thing I did I had to make sure was something I could live with for the rest of my life, as this is definitely NOT a 'diet'. I don't NEED chocolate, cakes, candy etc. I am not saying that I never have them, but they are certainly a rarity. I haven't had a piece of chocolate for probably 3 years now. I still have treats, but they are things like licorice and marshmallows. I LOVE those, and don't pig out on them, but at least I know I can still have something to satisfy my sweet tooth.

Also, just try to add a LITTLE more movement each day. It will gradually build up without you even realising it, but you need to make it a part of your everyday life. Once again, you will probably have to live with increased exercise of SOME kind for the rest of your life if you want to maintain any kind of weight loss. You may as well start getting used to it now. I can't say that I really enjoy exercise, but basically it... once again... "Isn't an option" so I just get up and go most of the time. You know, 25 mins is great, but 15 mins at a time isn't too bad either. I have heard plenty of times that if you can only do 10 min stints, then that is still fine. I end up getting TOO carried away and have to back off now and then. I am currently going to try to do two 20 min sessions a day. On work days it is more likely going to be 20 mins first thing, then two walks to and from school, 10 mins each. I may do 30 mins first thing, but I am only going to COMMIT to 20 mins, which is certainly easy to do. So, don't look down upon yourself for only getting in 15 mins of walking, as that is 15 mins more than you would have done before.

I'm not sure whether I have helped at all or just blabbed to listen to my own voice, so to speak.

I have information about my journey on my webpage, which is underneath my ticker. If you have any questions please just ask away. Nothing is too embarrassing or silly to ask. Believe me, it has probably all been asked before.

I wish you the very best for your own journey and I hope to see you around here soon.

Zelma

Whew okay work is done and I'm ready to take a shower and relax for my "evening" and so I can answer everyone's posts a little more sanely now Instead of answering crazy customers questions in between hehe.

SusanB - I haven't read any of his posts yet but I'll have to do a search for them. I've been kind of haphazardly wandering around the forum areas tonight without much rhyme or reason LOL. Thank you for the encouragement When I first started trying to walk last spring 15 minutes was an incredible struggle for me, my knees just hurt so bad I almost couldn't make it up the steps back into the house when I was done. The 25 minutes yesterday was a real revelation. I've been trying to do 5 minutes on the elliptical here and there since then and I guess it's made a difference if suddenly I can manage that much walking!! But I think I may have overdone a little and will scale back til I'm ready for that again.

Nonamesleft - I think that is a really great idea and getting under 400lbs has been a big goal of mine all year. I think I'll make a smaller ticker for that and add it to my sig - thank you!

Nightkatt - Thank you so much for your posts! You're right we do sound like we're twins from across the world from one another!!

I used to sing as well - jazz actually - in a little club in Chicago when I was in college to help pay for my living expenses!!

And I do love musicals For years I wanted to be an actress in the musical theatre but because I was always big growing up and in college I never could do so. As it was I took dance (jazz, tap, ballet) for years hoping that I'd get rid of those extra pounds and be able to make it onto the stage... but it just never happened. Soooo I live vicariously through movies - and theatre when we can get down to Edmonton or such. We're going to be moving to a more metropolitan area in another year and a half or so and one of the biggest reasons I want to move is musical theatre! I'll be so happy if when that happens I'm not too embarrassed to go. I hate even going to the movies right now because the seats are so uncomfortable. I won't go to crowded shows because I can't stand to have anyone next to me with my body spilling over the armrest and I wouldn't have that option at the theatre, so another reason for me to stick to this and keep losing weight!!

I would absolutely love a pm/email buddy, by all means. I can always use someone to kick my butt, but I'll warn you I may need it often

Misti in Seattle - Thank you so much for your welcome and encouragement! I definitely decided to set a smaller ticker and as soon as I make it I'll have it up in my signature. I used to have a lot of trouble with a huge chest as well but doesn't it just figure that instead of losing my huge gut the first thing I started losing when I lost weight was my chest! Since Jan when I started I've gone from a 48E to a 46D. My little dog is my walking companion and was so happy to be out walking with me that she encourages me! But I also had to take quite a few breaks. I'm not comfortable walking around when people can "see" me so my goal is to do it before it gets light out. Since I'm so far north that's not a problem, I have plenty of time after work in the morning before the sun comes up now! It wasn't so over the summer, hopefully by next summer when our sunrise is at 3:30am or so again I'll be where I don't care if people see me out walking in the light! I'd love to hear more about your experiences some time if you have the time to share them.

Again thank you everyone for your kind words and being so great to me, I appreciate it more than you can ever know!

edited to add:

Zelma - I had started typing my post before yours was on the thread, sorry I missed you the first time round. I am so inspired by your story... I went to your website earlier tonight and was reading through it and am blown away by how amazing your journey was!! Thank you for your advice, I am working toward making my whole lifestyle more active and hopefully this will be a big change for life for me. I am sort of trying to stay with South Beach but adapting it a bit more to reality. That is, I'm not following it exactly but a lot of the principles like only having whole grain carbs and no sugar, etc, I'm sticking with. It's really difficult but my doctor wanted me to try South Beach to start with to help treat my PCOS which includes insulin resistance, and it made such a HUGE difference in how I felt with PCOS symptoms that something about it really must have been working. Hopefully I won't get back on the binge wagon this time though.

Welcome!

I have PCOS as well and it is a challenge losing weight. One thing that helped me was being put on BCP because those helped regulate my hormones. Also, South Beach is a good plan to follow. Getting rid of processed carbs and sugars will be very helpful.

One thing you might consider for your exercise is walking a couple times per day for a few minutes each time. Even walking in place while you are watching tv or doing other things could be an easy way to get in some exercise. Don't worry too much about where you are today and where others are, it really only matters that you improve as you go along.

Katy .. I think we must be related!! I was in musical theatre when I was younger!! I always used to go for those great musical roles .. you know .. the lead ones .. or ones where you get a song of your own to do?? Darned if I NEVER once got one of those parts .. I didnt think my voice was that bad (as I found out later I was right rofl) ... but when I asked one of the directors who I had auditioned for a few times he just said that he liked my voice .. but my face was so expressive he preferred me act instead cos I really got it across .. bah humbug .. still .. got to sing anyway .. and omg .. TAP, I also did highland dance .. never got to do jazz tho .. did gymnastics and swimming for sport .. until I got bad asthma and had to hold back a little more lol ...

I have only been to a theatre ONCE ... LOVED it .. fortunately it wasnt a really popular show so there were seats free around me so I didnt feel closed in lol .. but before that I had only ever been on the stage or behind it! Gawd .. now that I talk about it .. I realise how much I miss performing .. its been about 5 years since I sang in public ... 15 years since I toured properly lol .. but I initially gave it up for my daughter .. I didnt want to miss anything ... and now thinking about it ... its my weight that has kept me away for so long ... maybe I need to find a karaoke bar .. gawd .. do they still have those sorts of things??? rofl ... Maybe that can be my non weight goal ... to sing in public again .. ooh .. now there is a scary thought .. might think on that one for a bit lol ...

I will send you a pm when I get up tomorrow .. Im in New Zealand and our time zones on 3FC just like to mess with my head rofl.

Im so pleased you came back Katy ... I think you will do just fine ... and my foot will be prepared for virtual kickin of butt whenever required

Huggies and night night for now

Hi Katy- Glad you found this wonderful site! It really has been my lifeline. I wanted to comment about your 25 mintues of walking. That is a really great start! I still am trying to work up my stamina. I can do about 20 minutes of walking...but at first I could only do 5 mintues. I was so out of breath with those 5 minutes. But I wanted to say any minute of exercise is great! I hope to see you post more! Glad you found us and hang in there!

Michelle

Katy - Welcome to 3FC! This is a great group of people. I too was thrilled to find a group who knew what it was like to be larger. This site has been key for me in staying on track. Congratulations on already having lost 40 pounds! That is fantastic!