Weightloss challenge for BIG people!!

I have no idea if there is already one of these posts out there, but if not, I had an idea...those who read my posts know that I struggle with my weight. I am 5'9" and weigh 330 lbs as of last Tuesday. I have physical ailments, as well as suffer from depression. Superdave has a thread for people who are in NC with their ex's, where they post everyday - what day you are on, how you feel, if you break NC, etc. So I thought - what about a thread for folks who are trying/needing to lose weight who are like me - really overweight. Or morbidly obese as my doctor likes to tell me. I'm not talking about you skinny folks who want to lose 10 lbs to get into your size 4 dress. I'm talking about those of us who want to break the 300 mark, or want to fit into a size 20 again, or who need a new lease on life before they die of hypertension or diabetes!

So how about this - is anyone game to post on here everyday something about your weight journey - if you want to post your weight, or how much you lost or gained this week, or did you walk or exercise today, or did you fall off the wagon and eat a whole cake today, or what. What made you eat that whole cake, if you did. How do you feel about your self today.

That kind of thing.

The one thing I have learned from ENA is this place is all about support!! I always find listening ears and supportive convo on here, and I like the anonymity of it all quite frankly.

So I'm starting the first post....as already stated, I weighed 330 lbs last Tuesday. I watched a video today that someone had posted for me about a gal that had lost 250+ lbs by portion control and walking. So I got really inspired, and I went for a walk this afternoon. Yep. I made it 3 blocks one way and 3 blocks back, and I was pooped, that was all my little 330 lb body could handle today. But I'm making a pledge to do my best to walk AT LEAST those 6 blocks (3 up/down) every day, and I will gradually add more.

My trouble zones are pop and snacks. I drink 3 or 4 cans of pop a day, and I like to snack on chips mostly. I can't go cold turkey - I know that much about myself, but today starts a new journey for me, and I will journal every day through my weight loss journey.

So join me in my new resolution! Let's support each other!!

you can do it! i know you can.

i did it.

i'm about 5'11" (6" on a good day.) i dropped from a weight of around 272 to 164.5.

went from obese to very thin.

don't give up. change the way you eat, count calories. walking is great as well. i walk a lot.

lean cuisines and weight watchers food is great, since it tastes good and is portion controlled.

once you get into the flow of the diet, you have momentum, and that momentum carries you through the diet. plus the results you see are a real incentive.

it's totally worth it.

best of luck to you all.

There are some good shows on slice.ca (streamed and free) that you can watch that might inspire you. X-Weighted notably. I guess you wouldn't be too interested in "Those last 10lbs" but maybe someday

Hey just some tips with the soda and chips. Find healthy alternatives! For example drink diet instead of regular soda. Or to help yourself to start drinking water, get those crystal light packets to make it taste better. Remember it's not about giving up everything that you like, it's about moderation and making healthy choices.

Try baked chips instead of regular ones to start. Maybe buy some fresh veggies and hummus and try snacking on that instead. I know that for me, whenever I'm tempted to grab a bag of chips I go for the pretzels instead.

Congrats on your new start!

thanks for the info! I'll keep that in mind!

I was hoping other people would join the bandwagon but if not, I'm going to be a one man support thread!! heehee!!

I don't quite fit your category (but I am definitely not trying to get down to a size four). 5 months ago I was 225. Last weigh in (three weeks ago) I was down to 193. My target weight (as defined by my trainer) is 165 - so 28 pounds to go. My biggest triumph to date was actually joining a gym and getting someone to help me with this.

Today's activities - drinking my 4 litres of water and heading to the gym. (I hate going to the gym.... but I get to ride a two-tiered bus to get there and that is still fun to me, so that is my motivation!)

OH yeah, I totally second the crystal light suggestion. That got me to totally curb my bad beverage habits both at home and work. That has helped a lot.

I don't quite fit your category (but I am definitely not trying to get down to a size four). 5 months ago I was 225. Last weigh in (three weeks ago) I was down to 193. My target weight (as defined by my trainer) is 165 - so 28 pounds to go. My biggest triumph to date was actually joining a gym and getting someone to help me with this.

 

Today's activities - drinking my 4 litres of water and heading to the gym. (I hate going to the gym.... but I get to ride a two-tiered bus to get there and that is still fun to me, so that is my motivation!)

That is totally awesome Rikka!! Rock on! And I didn't mean to imply everyone had to be 300 lbs to post, you know what I mean...I thought maybe I should have entitled it Weightloss challenge and left off the "for BIG people"...LOL...sounds like I'm discrimating against skinnyuns!!

also, I do LOVE Crystal Light!!!

We can be partners in crime KaylaJoy! And everyone can come to this thread and marvel at us! You are going to do it! And we are both going to become healthy, big beautiful women! Yay Queen Latifa inspiring a world of women to find their healthy size (or whatever the slogan is)

I find that keep healthy snacks readily available and not having junk food in the house helps me stay on a diet.

For instance, baby carrots and hummus dip or grilled chicken breast (funny as that sounds, sometimes I just take ready grilled chicken breast or steak tips and just eat them as snacks.) Protien fills you up and helps you stay full versus carbs where you get hungry soon afterwards.

Well, former fattie who is now extra chunky instead here

I am just shy of 6 feet tall. Currently weight 200, have already gotten down from 250 a bit over a year ago but kinda got plateaued here.

I would love to get down to 180. Its still on the heavy side according to BMI, but I have a larger frame that naturally wants to be curvy. When I went down to 160 (my so-called ideal weight) 6 years ago, I was sick and fainting all the time.

I had great success with South Beach diet to lose those 50 pounds. I lost 50 pounds in one month! The biggest change was giving up full-sugar pop. These days I drink flavoured water (just add Nestea or Crystal Lite crystals to my water) or Coke Zero instead. I now consider bread and crackers to be just as bad as cookies - okay for a treat but by no means a healthy alternative!

I have made permanent changes to my eating but I am stuck at this level for now. My big problem is a bad back and touchy stomach. My bad back prevents me from doing a lot of regular exercise. My touchy stomach makes me react badly to many raw fruits and vegetables, so finding snacks that don`t upset my stomach while being "good" is a challenge.

I agree with the poster who said to keep the junk food out of the house. It helps SO much because if you have a craving, there's no way to give in. I keep a lot of fruit around, cause that can help. Also, I keep healthy dessert choices. I buy WeightWatchers or SkinnyCow ice cream and have Smart Balance Popcorn. My weekly treat is the warm mini delights by Betty Crocker. SO good and only 150 calories and 4 grams of fat. Not healthy by any means but I love it.

Oh! I forgot! Today I tried Fiber One bars and they are really really good. I tried the oats and chocolate kind and I loved it. That's a great way to get your fiber in.

And start taking multivitamins!!

OK I'm done, I swear.

Oh yeah those bars are great. They taste awesome, aren't too bad for calories and because they're so full of fibre, they really fill you up.

I love skinny cow ice cream,n 100 calorie cookies/crakcers/popcorn and all those things though they are very unhealthy for you and your wallet!! (See 2x-3x the price of what you'd normally pay)

yes they definitely don't make it easy to diet, do they??!!

Well today was not a terrible day for me. I was super busy all day, so didn't have a lot of time to sit around and snack and binge, although I did snack on some chips, but not too many. I had several pops, again, my weakness. When those are gone though, I am going to stop buying them by the case - too much temptation. Maybe one now and then. Don't do diet soft drinks, but I do drink water, and Crystal Light, so I have other choices.

Didn't get to walk today, again too busy, had company, plus carpenter here working on the bathroom, plus I babysat my neighbor's kids for awhile, plus I worked at home today (my regular job). No time to walk, unless you count the 15 minutes or so I walked around in Home Depot looking for bathroom tiles!

Tomorrow is my weigh-in day, so we'll see if I'm down any from 330. My feet are swollen tonight - could be too much pop, too much salt, too much busy busy busy...who knows...I took my blood pressure pill today, but it's not made much difference. I just took 4 Advil because my back and my feet and my legs ache, and I still have a little more work on the computer (for my job) to do before I can go to bed. Then it's up at 5am to head into the office.

No wonder "fast food" is so much easier!!!

Hi Kayla,

I don't really qualify for this thread, but I wanted to wish you good luck!

I am trying to lose a bit of weight myself (although I am not overweight), and one thing that I have found really helps is the food journal. I know Annie mentioned it in the other thread, but I'm here to give it another thumbs up.

Just today I was thinking - I have been eating so well for the last 3 weeks, why have I not lost any weight? Well I looked through my journal, and realized that in all honesty I had not been eating very well. Lots of slips, lots of "good" day followed by "over-eating" days. So instead of feeling discouraged, I realized that I just needed to stick to my food goals, and THEN I would see results. I also track my sleep and work-outs in it - keeps me honest and can allow me to go back over at the end of the month and get a better picture of how I have been feeling, etc ...

So yeah, even though you're going at it in baby steps, starting to write down what you eat right now can really help. If you do it for a couple weeks, you can look at it and see what you might be able to cut out, or when you get cravings, why you eat (were you in a bad mood, were you tired ? - I write that stuff down in my journal!).

Good luck!!!

I'm curious to see what the rest of my abs look like, I can see the ones at the top, but closer to the bottom they get diluted. I'm farily lazy and not very motivated to do much about it. I'm thinking either more running, or hit the weights to bulk up.

Side question: How do those female sizes work? I know the smaller the number the smaller the size, but other then that how does it work and is the sizes only dresses or?? I thought shirts and stuff just went S M L XL ... And skirts/pants went waiste/length.

yay kayla! hang in there, you are doing great. i like the 6 block walking plan. that sounds good and as you feel better, you can ramp it up a bit. just keep at it. drink plenty of water too. definitely, keep a food journal. helps keep you honest. speaking of which, i need to go back to doing mine! i've slipped these last few weeks on that. no wonder my weight loss too has slowed down. i started at 180 (size 12/14). now am 150 (size 8 ), would like to get down to 135-140ish. those last 10 pounds are hard. the first 20 came off in a few months, and the rest, it's just been bit by bit.

ps - i love fiber 1 bars too, especially the chocolate ones! just don't eat 4 in a row, or else you won't be feeling so great!

another tip - set small goals for yourself and reward yourself when you get there. for example, when you lose 5 lbs, buy yourself a new lip gloss or maybe a boquet of flowers. at 10 lbs, get yourself a new DVD. 20 lbs, a new outfit (you'll probably need it by then too!) i told myself that i would buy a really pretty necklace when i lost my first 15, so whenever i was tempted to overeat, i would think of the necklace i wanted to buy. and then when i got it, i wear it often, and it reminds me of how far i have come.

keep something around that reminds you of your weight goal. maybe it's your favorite pair of jeans that you used to fit into, but not anymore. keep them on a chair in your bedroom, so you walk by them and remember what you are striving for. i would keep a pair of jeans i loved, but couldn't fit. every week, i would try them on again. when i first started, i couldn't even get them over my thighs. soon, i could put them on, and not zip them up. next, i could zip them up, but with a huge muffin top. now, i wear them, and they are actually really loose, i need to start wearing a smaller pair.

and if you have a bad day, don't get down on yourself. it's tempting to say, 'my diet's blown, i may as well eat crap the rest of the week.' but don't. just say, 'i didn't make some great choices, but it's ok, at the next meal, i'll make better choices.' don't beat yourself up.

do you remember the weight watchers 0 point soup? make a huge batch of it!

You know what Annie?? I never made the "0" point soup!! I don't know that I've actually ever tasted it!!

Yup, I like those Fiber One bars too...

Journaling is a good idea....I saw a video yesterday where this lady who had lost tons of weight said she had to remind herself that there was 21 meals in a day, and even if she overate on 4 of them, she still had 17 meals to be good on and choose wisely...she said just because you had one bad one day doesn't mean you have to throw out the diet for the whole day or the whole week!

I forgot to weigh in this morning, i was in too big of a rush to get to work; I'll have to weigh in in the morning.

Side question: How do those female sizes work? I know the smaller the number the smaller the size, but other then that how does it work and is the sizes only dresses or?? I thought shirts and stuff just went S M L XL ... And skirts/pants went waiste/length.

Well, one can buy clothes in S M L XL, etc. Other than jeans in a few stores, I hardly ever see stuff sold by waist/length size (my bf actually had to tell me what they meant when we went clothes-shopping for him!).

The other sizes (size 12, size 14 etc) don`t seem to have any pattern. All clothes can come in those sizes. I really can`t figure out what they mean, because in one store I am consistantly a size 14, wheras in another I`ll be a size 18!

I have a shirt that's a 1X that I can wear comfortably. I also have a shirt that's a 4X that I wear comfortably (it's loose). I think a lot depends on the brand/manufacturer.

My waist is a size 22, but my belly and hips are a good 26-30, depending on how they are made.

The weird thing is most big girls have big chests, but I am small - about a B cup.

Just got in from my evening walk...took every ounce of strength to do it, because I am soooo tired! And now I'm even more tired! It's 8pm and I could go to sleep right now (and if I didn't have an 8 yr old who is outside playing, I probably would!)

Supper was yummy, but not really healthy. 3 eggs, 4 pieces of toast, and some bacon, and milk to drink. I started out with 2 eggs, 2 pcs toast and bacon, then my son didn't want his other egg and I didn't think about saving it for tomorrow so I said "here! Throw it on my plate!!" Then I got frustrated after reading about my ex John and his new fiancee on MySpace and I went back and got two more pieces of toast!! Tonight I was an emotional eater. I just feel so tired all the time, I can't wait to lose a few pounds and get some energy back! My first goal is 10 lbs, and I will weigh in tomorrow morning to see how much down I am from 330 lb. I've tried very little, but I've been depressed and sad, and haven't ate the past week as much as I normally do. So I'm expecting a small loss. My doctor once told me that I must consume an enormous amount of calories a day to maintain the weight that I do. I never thought of it like that, but I really do, and don't even realize it.

Tomorrow is another day!

Ah emotional eating. That was my pitfall for a long time. I have now swapped it for emotional shopping - my body thanks me, but not my bank account.

Tomorrow is another day, you are right. And you are aware of your trouble spots. You are going to do it. Here's cheering for a good weigh in!

SO just came back from his holidays so we took a walk this morning (and then ate a not so healthy brunch). We are making up for it with a healthy supper. I kind of slacked off in the activity department too, so I made sure to take the stairs today.