I am at my heaviest right now [235] And im very displeased with myself, i know that i brought it upon myself, and its my responsibility to lose it. I decided to loose 3-4 pounds a week, seeing that before i would try to loose 10 pounds a week and do those quick weight loss fad diets [yoyodiets] that would just end up in vein! I would loose a good 20-40 pounds at the most, and then crave fat food, and a pizza craving would turn into "since i broke my diet today, im just gonna eat tomorrow."And so on, and then i would just end up eating with my old nasty habbits. But now im fed up with myself to the point were its hard to even look at the mirror and not feel completely disgusted and disapointed in myself. I see all these success storys of how people lost 100-200 pounds and i tell myself that it must have been their body type, or the fact they were older or something. But i have come to realize it is me, and my comitment issues. I would usually start a fad diet with a whole lot of motivation, and then get hungry and find myself on an afternoon or midnight munch! This time i know that i have to change, i know that it is dangerous for me to stay at this weight, [ heart problems, diabetes] my dad has diabetes and i know that means if i keep up like this im going to have it too, and that is the most scariest thing ever to me. I also want to look fabulous in a bikini [ despite my stretch marks] and i want to be able to look good in anything i wear, be it a plastic bag. I need some tips, pointers, and motivation to help me get through this diet...or shall i say new style of living. I actually started yesterday but i binged, and it didnt do much, because when i weighed myself this morning i was 230, and i went to my friend's party and ate 7 slices of pizza, 3 chicken wings, and 2 bowls of spaghetti. UGHHHHH!!~ i really hate myself for doing that. I need some serious help. Please :[

Just start, and dont stop.

I know that sounds simplistic but that is the key for me. Ofcourse there are things like - planning your food, prepping for the next day, looking out for obstacles, working out etc etc etc etc but at the end of the day, giving up even for one day when it gets too hard rather than just getting right back on track after any blip was my downfall.

I also never set "lose xlbs by x date" goals . . . my main goal was to lose SOME weight every week . . . or month. If that happened then I was truly a success rather than beating myself up for losing "only" xlbs. ANY weight lost is good in my mind

So i would start by picking a plan you can stick to, planning what you will eat and being more conscious of what you are eating and why. Many of us eat past our nutritional needs or else we would not be here

Good luck with it sweety!

thanks!~ i also recently started planning my meals, but i seem never to stick to them >.<"

Hi there!

I didn't lose 143 lbs all at once, lol. I've lost it over the course of several years

You really need to not think of this as a diet, but as a lifestyle:

1. what eating plan can you live with for the rest of your life?
2. what exercise program can you live with for the rest of your life?

Try or think of doing anything in terms of food/exercise in the short term for extreme, fast results will most likely lead to failure in the long term It has to be realistic or it most likely will not work in the long term. (which is why the diet industry is a multi-billion dollar industry since people keep coming back after they try one fad diet after another ).

Once you answer those 2 questions, then you're on a better path to losing the amount of weight that you want to lose

~ tea

Are you allowing yourself enough food for the day and planning meals based on food that you like?

yeah i think im eating somewhere around 2000 calories a day,
but i eat like things that are calorie packed, i think i need to eat more of things with little calories, instead of less amounts of calorie packed food so i can keep from being hungry

i think i could live w/o beef and eat just chicken & turkey & fish b/c i dont eat pork anyway & eat lots of fruits [ i perfer fruits over sweets anyday but i have vegies]
and i can do 1 hour on the treadmill every day in the morning

Yup! Sounds like a good plan. Lean meats like chicken boobs, fish (if you like it) and fresh veggies pack a lot of bang for their calorie buck

Hey congrats! You're already on a roll!

After you figure it out, all you gotta do is figure out a calorie amount that you feel satisfied with (but not starving) that can help you lose weight-- along with exercise. Doing both will do the trick!

If you ever want to PM me for advice/questions, etc etc, pls feel free to do so!! It takes a village of support for many to reach their goals, goodness knows I do it a lot myself on this forum!

~ tea

Just two things to add:

Yes, to the just start and don't stop. My avatar tag says 'Happy Plodder' and weightloss really is a case of just getting on with it. No fancy or fad diets (well spotted, they don't work long term), just working out your calorie budget and sticking to it.

'Thinking' you eat around 2,000 is not good enough. Sorry, can't think of a nice way of saying it. You really need to weigh and record what you eat. Try some of the easy, free sites like sparkpeople or dailyplate and others. You might have a magic eye and be spot on but you could also be eating far too many calories or even far too few. Believe it or not, too few can be just as unhelpful to sustained weight loss as too many.

You are also right that you need to get as much and as healthy a bang for your buck calorie-wise. If you use one of those online trackers, you'll soon see just what huge amounts of some stuff you can eat - and, with research and planning, it's not just a ton of lettuce, it can be a ton of something you really like.

Congratulations on being so determined, and on coming here for help, the chicks are great!

Expect to lose 3-4lb a week is unrealistic. Maybe some weeks you will lose that but aiming for 1-2lb is much realistic. I have been working almost flat out most the time since Mark to lose weight and have lost 42lb in that time (18 weeks) which averages at between 2 and 2 and a half pounds per week. If you want to lose weight and keep weight off best to aim for 1-2lb a week. Some weeks you won't lose, others you may lose more than 2lb. Last week I went down by 5lb after a few weeks of very little weight loss. This week I may be up a bit due to TOM.

Your dieting attempts sound like my previous attempts - try to lose as quickly as possible then binge eat when I saw what I weighed on the scales. Aim for a lower amount and that's less likely to happen. Think long term instead of thinking of trying to get rid of the weight as quickly as possible. Even a small amount of weight loss makes a big difference to health.

I'm losing weigh by calories counting and exercise. I know i will now have top keep up with exercise for life and calorie count for life. I make healthy eating choices 90% of the time. Haven't deprived myself of anything but have less healthy foods in small amounts. I'm a binge eater so this has been hard for me to learn though these days I'm "lucky" that I feel sick if I eat too much chocolate or fatty foods. I also drink a load of water - I find the weeks I don't I don't lose weight so well.

When I finally decided to lose the weight I looked at it as my job, my mission. I was not going to let ANYthing stand in my way. I was tired of being fat, realized that I didn't HAVE to be if I didn't want to be and that was that. I was very determined and I made SURE that I set myself up for success. So yes, no guessing on something so important. Definitely TRACK those calories. It is incredibly easy to take in more calories then you think. Calorie counting is also built in accountability, a built in turn-off switch and built in portion control. It's keeping to a budget and it keeps you from overspending your calories.

And I'll tell you this right now - eating healthy will not happen on it's own - you must plan it out in ADVANCE.

It's also very important to not let yourself get too hungry. I eat often. Every 2 - 2 1/2 hours or so. But good, wholesome, nutrient rich, satisfying, filling foods - not garbage that leaves me wanting more garbage. Not pretzels, and crackers and cookies and pizza where I have a hard time stopping. MUCH easier to not start at all. Chicken, fish, salads, no fat yogurts, fruits, yes veggies (be creative), egg whites, veggie burger type products, etc...

Consistency is also very important. The weekends count just as much as all the other days of the weeks. One "off" day can wipe out any progress made in the other 6. So plan out those weekends even more so, as they're usually more difficult.

Remember saying no to certain foods in NOT deprivation. Not at all. The real deprivation is staying fat, feeling lousy, depressed and not wearing that bikini that you dream of. Every time you say "no" to one of those foods, you're saying YES to you. And you'll be one step closer to being that slim, fit, healthy person that you long to be. Don't trade what you want the VERY most, for what you think you want at the moment. The "food" last for minutes, maybe seconds... The effects of eating well - much more long lasting and rewarding and gratifying in the end. Think long term satisfaction, not short term gratification.

With the right attitude, good planning, including making some coping strategies for the hard times and an iron clad commitment - anything and EVERYthing is possible. You CAN lose weight. It's yours for the taking!

You list your weight as 235 at the beginning of your post and at 130 at the end. So I'm not really sure where you are in your weight but I'm going to assume it is 235.

Okay, when I started my diet, (yes, I call it a diet...albeit a HEALTHY diet), I decided I had 2 choices. I could either do it, *or* continue to wallow in self pity and misery and watch the world go by without me. Every day I said, "screw it" was another couple days of being a fat, unhealthy, miserable person. Your binge on 7 pieces of pizza, 2 bowls of pasta and 3 chicken wings was enough calories for an entire family of 4. That one binge alone set you back 3-4 days. That is another 3 days of not reaching your goal. Do that again today and you are a week down. Before you know it, your time has run out and your are struggling with diabetes like your Dad wishing you would have just done it. Food is powerful, but not as powerful as you.

I hate to "plug" one diet over another because coming from someone who has tried everything and has struggled with weight issues all my life, you really should check out the metabolic research center thread on this website. There are some really supportive and inspirational people over there. I am doing this right now and am doing well. I truely believe this is something that I can stick to for the long term. It can be a little pricey but when I look at all the money that I have wasted over the years on things that didn't work, it really is quite inexpensive considering.
Just a note. Khunter