Hello and

It's hard to know what to say in response to your post, except first thing is you need to change your thinking and attitude to be more positive. Easy to say, I know... not so easy to DO when you are discouraged and frustrated.

You don't say what kind of foods you are eating.... but that you have tried dieting, diet supplements and "ephedrine ordered from Istanbul, Turkey." And that you want/expect to lose 17 pounds a month. Unhealthy, unhealthy, unhealthy!!

My suggestion would be to get on a HEALTHFUL eating and exercise plan, focus on the positive, and stick with it even when you become discouraged. This forum is a GREAT place to find support and encouragement... and often even with a lot of humor thrown in, which really does help.

Are you writing down what you eat? Why not post here what you ate yesterday, for example.

Also, I highly recommend a good medical checkup and get input from a supportive doctor. And yes, I've done that myself. I even asked her if I could see her every three months just for a check-in, to help me stay on plan, and she said YES! I want her to be proud of me (and she is) when I go in, so it makes it easier to stay on plan.

Make mini goals... don't think about losing 80 pounds or 150 pounds or whatever... it's overwhelming. Think about losing TEN pound or even FIVE... make yourself a mini ticker (after you have been here 20 days and have 20 posts, when it is allowed) and give yourself a little reward when you make it (NOT food). You don't NEED all that junk and unhealthful supplements -- ephedrine from Turkey, YIKES!!! You need to either find a realistic diet plan (which I personally don't believe in but I know a lot of people here do and are using them successfully... there are support groups here for most of them) or just start eating a lot of fruits and veggies, cut out the processed foods and junk supplements, and get a realistic exercise plan going. It does not have to be overwhelming at first... start slowly and build up if you need to. (I'm the type who goes "full force" but not everyone does well that way.)

Hang in there. You can do it!! But only if you change your thinking and stop being so negative and saying "nothing works" and expecting unrealistic results such as losing 17 pounds a month. Very unlikely that will happen and you are just setting yourself up for failure. We would ALL like to have a "magic wand" and wave away all this excess weight we have gained... but no, we are plugging along faithfully beating it off pound at a time, most of us with frustrating plateaus along the way!

If we want it badly enough to do what it takes to get it, we can get there!!!

Thanks for posting, and I hope you find a way to make it to "skinny-ness."

I'm going to be real here. You'll always be overweight with that kind of attitude. Fast weight loss doesn't work. Even if you are successful, you'll gain it all back within a month or so. You're looking for a quick results magic pill solution. How well has that been working for you so far?

What you'll have to do is have a life style change. Be prepared to fail a lot, but stay the course. First things first. STOP WEIGHTING YOURSELF SO MUCH. Only weight yourself every 3 months or so. The scale is often a poor measurement of progress.

Now exercise. Stick with 1 program for 12 weeks. It sounds like you're switching from program to program and hoping to lose a ton of weight. You'll want to do a combination of weight lifting and cardio. You should fortunate to have all that equipment readily available to you. Perhaps you can ask your husband to write up a workout program for you. The most important thing is to stick to that program! If you do 3 days a week then be sure to go each and every time. Sure, life gets in the way. But you do what you can. Can't hit the gym? Jump up and down and side to side till you break a sweat.

However, exercise doesn't matter as much as what you eat and how you eat.

Right now you're on autopilot eating mode. You walk by a fast food place or the kitchen and you get a craving. You feel emotionally upset and you reach for that comfort food. This can be a very difficult process to break out of.

First, get ready to fail a lot. You're trying to break life long habits. Second, become aware of your triggers. If you're serious then carry around pen and paper or use your phone and log all the times you get craving. Where are you? What are you feeling? What sights, words, smells cause you to want to eat? Do this for a week. You'll soon see patterns and discover the triggers that make you want to indulge.

What to do with this information? One thing is to avoid the triggers. You drive by a McDonalds and wanna go in? Start taking a different road. Know you'll be walking past a mine field of triggers? Eat a healthy bowl of oatmeal before leaving.

You can slowly get past your addiction to fat, sugar, salty foods. This is a process that will take years. Start slow. Learn to cook foods that are good tasting yet healthy for you. Start cutting out the bad foods.

Also, pay attention to what you eat. Eat slowly. Try to feel the taste and how the food makes you feel. You'll discover tastes and textures you never knew before. Try to make each meal last for about 20 minutes.

I wish you the best of luck. You'll need a lifestyle change and stop going on the path of least resistance. I think with your current attitude you'll fail. Realize that this is a thing that will take a long amount of time and start planning accordingly.

For starters, if you've put on 160 pounds in three years and you honestly haven't changed your diet or activity level, a visit to the doctor might be in order. If you're working out hard and you're running a calorie deficit and you're still not losing weight, again, I'd see a doctor.

It's also possible that you're underestimating how hard you're eating and that you're overestimating how hard you're working. Are you keeping a food log? I know that I felt like I wasn't eating that much when I was consuming more than 3000 calories a day - little extras add up quickly.

Is it possible to lose 80 pounds in 5 months? Probably, if you're on a medically supervised diet and you have huge amounts of free time to work out - since you're a full time student and you have three kids, I'm guessing that's not the case. I passionately recommend that you work on the mental/emotional side of things starting now - if you lost 50 pounds, or even 30 pounds in 5 months, that's a GREAT loss! Those five months are going to pass no matter what, so you can either look back and be proud that you made healthy changes or look back and be bummed out that you didn't bother to start because you didn't think you could achieve a (let's face it!) pretty unrealistic goal. I know that it's frustrating that weight doesn't come off as fast as we would like it to, but this has to be a change for life - and I seriously doubt any of the people you've seen losing twenty pounds in twenty days did it by making lifestyle changes that they can maintain forever.

Hey guys, i really appreciate the comments. This is the thing, I only eat 1,640 calories a day. My maintnance calories would be 2,783 calories. So i have already cut my calories by nearly 1,200! And not sure if i stated before but one of my most passionate things in life becides make-up, is cooking. I lOVE cooking, blending spices and herbs, i bake and NEVER fry anything. I also dont eat meat so its not like i sit around and eat hot pockets and hamburgers all day. I plant outside, i run through the house chasing my two babies, i do 5x's laundry every day sweeping mopping (mopping not everyday) vaccuming, dishes, etc. My issue is how am i suppossed to work out when after 10 minutes of vigerous exercise i get so winded that i can't breath and i feel like im going to die from the cramp i get in my side! Trust me i know ALL about dieting and workout routines. My husband worked at Chico Sports Club which is a big college gym, plus he's in college for Kinesology!-(to be a physical fitness trainer) Not to mention i cook most of his meals every day too. All he eats is vegetable and chicken protein drinks and pre workout drinks boiled egg white and water. I eat oatmeal (no sugar) scrambled egg whites (no oil/salt) a mozzarella cheese stick 16 wheat thins, 2 cups fresh baby spinach leaves with balsamic vinaigrette dressing and cibatta crutons. 6 oz grilled chicken, no oil or salt just spices and herbs. Becides that i eat 2 slices of sourdough toast with "i cant believe its not butter" spread (light) and a yoplait yogurt. NOTHING ELSE. did this for 1 week and i GAINED 2 pounds! its so frustrating. I know i need to workout but is there a such thing as a workout routine that bigger people can actually do? Also i dont use my husbands treadmil because the max weight says 300lbs, and a few days ago i weighed 301. When i get on it the belt slows WAY down so i feel like im going to break the motor I feel so determined with the diet but how long do you have to eat the same thing everyday before you see results????

Weight Maintenance Calculator - Women
Weight Maintenance Calculator for Women. Curious as to how many calories you need to maintain your current weight? Try this calculator to find out.


Height in feet: 5 inches: 4
(Note: You must enter a number in the inches box. If you are exactly 5 ft. or 6 ft., enter "0.")
Weight in pounds: 301
Age: 22
Activity level (choose): Lightly Active
Calories per day needed to maintain current weight: 2,783


WHAT IM ACTUALLY CONSUMING EVERY DAY- 1,648

Talk to a doctor regarding exercise. My advice would be to start small (walking briskly outside for 5 minutes). Add time SLOWLY AND GRADUALLY. When you find it easier to do, it's time to do more. Don't push yourself. You don't need fancy equipment--just a good pair of walking shoes you buy at a store that knows about shoes and can recommend the best pair for you. The advice you have gotten from the others I agree with. Best of luck--you CAN do this!

It sounds to me like you are very knowledgeable about food and counting calories, which will be very helpful to you on this journey. I agree that you should see a doctor for a checkup. It's possible you have some metabolic issues that may make weight loss very difficult for you. Regarding exercise, start out slow. Exercise can make you sore, but it shouldn't hurt. Think baby steps and sticking with it. As someone who never lost weight quickly (although I would have loved to), I didn't even really start to lose for about 6 weeks after I started. I just decided that I would never do anything that I wasn't willing to keep up permanently. You can do this, you are young and I'm sure that you have your husband's support too. [hugs]

Hi mmaldonado!!!!

My advice: After you visit your doctor and they give you the ok that everything is actually 'ok' with you. Have patience with yourself. Weight loss is not quick--no matter how much people lose per week on tv. Those shows are not real. They workout 8-10 hours (hours!) a day. You and I just don't have that much time. Aim to lose 2 pounds a week which would be between 8-10 pounds a month.


Be patient and steady and the weight will come off. You can do this.

You seem TOTALLY overwhelmed, I tried to Private message you, but I don't think you have enough posts or haven't been on the site long enough. You need to relax! Trust me, I have started my diet about 50 times only to stick to it for a few days (even now I'm only 2 weeks in). Let's partner up, check in with one another and be accountable. PS, you need to spend your calories wisely. If you eat what you're kids eat, this may be a good opportunity to get them started on a lot of new fruits and veggies. Message me when you can.

When I viewed it as a "diet", I always failed. Over and over again. I had to view it as a lifestyle change. No diet menus, no forbidden food. Just "I'm going to count calories, make way healthier choices and learn to say no sometimes to cravings"... This actually worked for me. The 24 pounds I have lost have been solely just by "I'm changing my lifestyle, I'm eating better and I'm actually going to get off the couch".

With that being said, after you start working out, its normal to gain weight. When I take breaks from working out, my weight is always higher for the next week or so. I also start slow. When I started, I would need to stop every 5-6 minutes (sometimes not even that) and sit down to breath. I would then get up, workout another 5 minutes, then have to sit down. I did this over and over again. Eventually I got better though. It's scary at first but it does get better. If you are afraid to use the equipment at home, go for walks outside or get an easy workout DVD.

Hey M--I saw / posted to you on the other thread first, but if you gained that weight without changing your diet, you might have a thyroid thing going on, so should check with a doctor first. Don't take that as a bad thing--it might mean meds could solve a lot of issues fast.

I saw another thread you started, and they all seem to be focused on similar questions.

But here you mention you've been dieting for 5 days and gained 2 pounds. You really have to give it more time than that! If you've just started exercising, for instance, your muscles might be retaining water that could add a lot of weight to the scale.

BTW, I think if you are only 1 pound over the max limit you will be fine. Usually they design these machines with some added capacity. My treadmill at home has a 275 weight limit, and I got on it in the 280s and it survived.

Relax, and try to think of the long term!