I have no idea what to do! It sounds so simple...eat less, eat healthy, and exercise. Why do I have such a mental block about this? I am 28 years old. I have never been thin, but as a teenager I could at least get disgusted enough to start dieting/exercising for short periods. Now, I am convinced that I am unable to change. I eat horrible, mostly junk food, and tons of it. As disgusted as I am, I don't do anything to change. I am so embarrassed at how I look and how quickly I am gaining...40 pounds in 5 months. I wake up in the middle of the night and immediately inhale a package of pop tarts. When it's pizza for dinner...it's a whole pizza for me. And pints have replaced scoops of ice cream. I am completely out of control and I have some sort of mental block about changing. What is happening to me?

Have you thought about seeing your docotor? They can recommend a safe diet for you and if need be a diet pill or in some cases, surgery is an option if nothing else works. Another thing to try is maybe counseling. Maybe you are eating to fill an emotional void.

The only thing that is keeping me on my workout plan is seeing pics of myself from my vacation this past month. That was a real eye-opener for me. Everyone is different though.

Good luck!

I think letting yourself be convinced that you can't change is probably the #1 thing holding you back! This can be done and *you* _can_ do it.

I had 100 pounds to lose myself, and for years I wouldn't even confront the problem or think about it because it was too hard to handle emotionally. I was numbing myself/ self-medicating with food and avoiding addressing some of the other real issues in my life. And on the rare occasions when I did let myself think about my weight, I saw the amount I needed to lose as so overwhelming that I got totally discouraged and that only fuelled the cycle- I figured I was screwed and could never be "normal" anyway, so why bother- and I just ate more. (The pints of ice cream at a sitting you mentioned rang serious bells!) I usually didn't even think about why I was eating, whether I was even hungry or not, or if I did it for comfort or out of boredom or for energy or what. I just went into almost a trance-like state and indulged.

I'm reading a book right now called "When Food is Love: Exploring the Relationship Between Eating and Intimacy" by Geneen Roth. It is really helpful to me in understanding in retrospect why I behaved as I did throughout my childhood and adolescence and into my early twenties. If you have a minute, I'd recommend swinging by the library and checking it out.

I know where you're at because I've been there. I ultimately lost the weight by going vegan and reducing the amount of fat in my diet. I slowly added a little exercise, but nothing really strenuous- just walking around campus, the occasional 1 or 2 mile walk before school... I was actually surprised how easy it was compared to how impossible I thought it would be! I totally recommend going vegan. I am SO much healthier now, have a ton more energy, and just feel wonderful. My cholesterol is down from around 280 to 106, I can do things I thought I never would, and I am at a "normal" weight for my height and age for the first time since... well maybe ever! I still love food - in fact I enjoy it now more than ever and am starting a vegan catering company - but it isn't a weapon I use against myself anymore, but a source of nourishment. It isn't something I use to blur realities I don't want to see anymore, but something I experience consciously.

I'm mentioning my success to show you that it is completely within your power to do this for yourself. You just have to want it enough and you have to be patient. That last one's killer, but it is really important. It took me a few years to lose it all. I lost most of it in the first year and some change. Instead of concentrating on the numbers and obsessing about how much more I had to go, I set short term goals so I didn't get impatient. For example, at 235 pounds, I was working to get to 225 -NOT worrying about getting to my ideal weight of around 155. When I got to 225, I felt great about myself. I gave myself a pat on the back and set a new goal 10 pounds down. Focus on your accomplishments, remember no one is perfect and some times will be harder than others, but if you hit a rough patch, that is no reason to quit!

Good luck! You can do this!!
Keep us posted.

Thanks. I don't know about going vegan...as much food as I consume, I am actually a very picky eater. I hate most healthy food! I won't eat any seafood, and the only vegetables I like are the ones that are least healthy, like canned green beans and corn. I am definitely a carb junkie, I can't imagine doing the Atkins thing as protein is a very small percentage of what I eat. I find it difficult to focus on small achievments, I think the way my husband is has something to do with that. He is a creature of extremes. When he is not dieting, he eats whatever he wants and gets lazy. But when he has had enough, he goes on almost a starvation diet and exercises constantly and just gets the weight off. I have never been able to do that. And honestly, I just LOVE my favorite foods SO much...a very unhealthy obsession with it. The only thing I seem to get any enjoyment from is eating these days. I've tried every pill, the only ones that work are the "speed" types like adipex, but they don't work for very long and so I start taking more and more to get the same effect...it becomes a drug abuse issue for me. I've had physicals and there is nothing wrong with me, just weak willed. I know I use to have SOME will power, I just don't understand where it went. My self loathing voice tells me to stop whining and JUST DO IT. It can't be as bad as I am telling myself that it would be to change my diet and get a little exercise, right? I must WANT to be fat, because it is solely by my choice that I am. And then the "Oh, pity me" voice comes up with all the excuses and whining, and that voice is louder I guess. I guess I am hoping that just getting all this crap out of my head and onto this screen will help me figure things out. Anyway, thanks for listening!

I had a 100 pounds to lose too but now I have 80 pounds, just lost 20. did it very slowly, the body controlled way, in other words I let my appetite and cravings be my guide, I started to eat a substantial breakfast and I stop fearing food and I let my body decide when fat became maladaptive, by eating enough consistently, trying to keep junky foods to a minimum, filling up on real foods etc.

I ate when I got a food thought, I ate when food appealed and I ate when I was just plain hungry. I ate until I lost interest in the food. I ate and ate and ate until diet boredom set in, until I became a picky eater because very little appealed to me.

I ate junk foods until it came out of my ears and I developed an aversion, the experts are wrong you don't lose your desire for something by avoiding it, but rather by saturating your self with it. until your body says ENOUGH!!! (usually when the setpoint is reached and fat production stops)

and my cravings eventually changed to metabolism boosting foods like whole grains leaner dairy meats, vegies, fruits etc. you get the picture, fattier foods lost their appeal. all because I trust my body to tell me when how much and what to eat.

you see it turns out our bodies know better than the "experts" what it needs and how much fat it needs, and once you eat to keep from forcing the body to use it's fat stores, fat becomes maladaptive or harmful to survival and it turns out the body makes the needed adjustments on getting rid of it, poof you lose weight and keep your muscles.

all without food worries and worrying about gaining it back and having to fight food cravings or force yourself to stay within a caloiric maximum, your body can do that for you via appetite and cravings so you can have a life.

we are not meant to regulate our weights and food intake, that is the body's job, if we would just let it and stop following advice of experts touting you have to eat less to lose weight and maintain a low caloire diet (such as 1600 a day) to maintain.

we would cure obesity. and don't worry if you eat due to emotions, thin people eat from emotions too since they have emotions to, and besides technically emotional overeating doesn't exist. the normal response to stress whether depression, fatigue, fear is appetite suppression not it's increase, only hungry bodies find stress relief from eating during stress as hunger is one stress the body can do something about and it a perfect oppertunity to get you to eat when your willpower is low.

don't want to say being very fatty is healthy, like fat acceptance groups do but what I do say there is a better more permenent way then the traditional you have to control your caloires to lose and maintain way.
RR

Thanks RR...that sounds wonderful, to be able to trust my body to tell me what I need. But how do I get to that point? Like right now, my body is telling me that I need a giant cheeseburger and a bucket-full of french fries, and later I'll bet that it will tell me to eat an entire pan of brownies. I am pretty certain that my body does NOT need any of that...how do I make myself WANT to eat healthy foods that I have no taste for?

I'm sorry, but I disagree.

If I let my body dive into everything it wanted any TIME it wanted, I'd weight 300 pounds.

YOU have to take control.

Period.

An added note: you don't have to eat nothing but healthy foods in order to lose weight. Healthy foods help, yes. But the deal is calories. I don't care what anyone says, you have to watch your calories and know how many you're eating.

You could eat 1000 calories worth of fried chicken or 1000 calories worth of broccoli. It's still 1000 calories.

I agree with LV40.

Christin, My advice to you is simple. You need to find some motivation that will propel you to change your lifestyle. Without the motivation you will not be successful. If you continue the love affair with your junk food, depriving your body of protein, and eating canned vegetables, etc etc etc, then you must not need to lose 100 lbs. What made you post this thread here on this board? Something led you here. Who told you you had to lose 100 lbs? Something tells me you did not conclude this on your own. Please do not misunderstand my questions. I don't claim to know everything, but I can assure of one thing... if you don't have the motivation to make a change, you will not make a change.

You already indicated that you are struggling to understand your thoughts surrounding your weight and your next steps. It MUST start with motivation. I recommend that you start by documenting the reasons you want to lose weight. It may seem silly, but write them down. Your list should be divided into two distinct categories - 1. Things you want for yourself that cannot have now because of your weight. This may include feeling healthy, vanity, clothes, friends, good sex, whatever... 2. Things you want to avoid that are inevitable if you do not make a change. Often this list will include specific diseases or health warnings you have been made aware of, but can include other things too.

Once you tackle the motivation factor, there is plenty of advice and systematic approaches to losing weight in a sensible healthy manner. I would be more than willing to help you with this, but it makes absolutely no sense to even look at approaches to diet until you are at the committment stage of the process.

i noticed that you would eat junk food but in large numbers, "lots of fried chicken, whole box of pop tarts, pints of ice cream", i use to do this too but instead i do this....

i eat those same foods but only a small portion of it! lol, i taste every bit of it to savor it and i take my time eating it, but i take a very small portions of it, not a big plate full of it, and i also try to not eat those things at night!! :D i know how hard it is to not eat at nighttime but i try to control myself and say NO. I say this to myself..

'''''I want to lose this weight and if i have to suffer by not eating what i want and not eating alot of it then so be it, i want this weight to come off, i want to be a new person, i want to be healthy and active, i want energy and power to do what i can do 100 pounds thinner then what i cannot do now! i want to lose weight!!''''''

:D i was going on and off on my diet since Jan of this year and about a week ago i have become to be serious on my diet, i am also taking some weight loss pills and excersing more and also just trying to be more positive and happier about my life, ive lost 10 pouds and have 95 more to go but im very happy with the progress and you will be too! just be positive and you can make it, also drink lots and lots of water, water is so filling and so refreshing, you wont go wrong! :D

I agree with LV40.

Christin, My advice to you is simple. You need to find some motivation that will propel you to change your lifestyle. Without the motivation you will not be successful. If you continue the love affair with your junk food, depriving your body of protein, and eating canned vegetables, etc etc etc, then you must not need to lose 100 lbs. What made you post this thread here on this board? Something led you here. Who told you you had to lose 100 lbs? Something tells me you did not conclude this on your own. Please do not misunderstand my questions. I don't claim to know everything, but I can assure of one thing... if you don't have the motivation to make a change, you will not make a change.

You already indicated that you are struggling to understand your thoughts surrounding your weight and your next steps. It MUST start with motivation. I recommend that you start by documenting the reasons you want to lose weight. It may seem silly, but write them down. Your list should be divided into two distinct categories - 1. Things you want for yourself that cannot have now because of your weight. This may include feeling healthy, vanity, clothes, friends, good sex, whatever... 2. Things you want to avoid that are inevitable if you do not make a change. Often this list will include specific diseases or health warnings you have been made aware of, but can include other things too.

Once you tackle the motivation factor, there is plenty of advice and systematic approaches to losing weight in a sensible healthy manner. I would be more than willing to help you with this, but it makes absolutely no sense to even look at approaches to diet until you are at the committment stage of the process.

I know you are right. I guess I am frustrated because my list of reasons to lose weight used to be enough to at LEAST make SOME attempt at changing my diet and increasing my activity...and even though the reasons are still the same, I am not feeling motivated to the point of action. I really don't want to end up with heart trouble or in a diabetic coma in order to shake myself back to sanity, but short of that, I feel like I am in an unshakable pity party. I am starting to think about making small changes, things I know I can accomplish, and maybe that will lead to the lifestyle change I need. For instance, I could start right now by making a committment to stop eating chocolate. If I tell myself I can have anything else I want, I think I can give up chocolate. Once I have gotten over the loss of the chocolate, then I could make another small change, and on and on. What do you think?

i was just like you guys i have no will power!! but for some reason it has changed!! i went to a friends house where there was skinny girls and hot guys and i was told that a was pretty by a hottie and stuff and i hadnt ate in 24 hours and wasnt hungary and i came back and i was able to control when i ate and how much i ate and when i wanted to eat.. i can go for a long time now without eating.... i dont know what happend but i am motivated!! i do pilates and i dont eat any more that 1200- 1300 calories... i am only 35 pounds over weight and i carry my weight very well because i am so tall... all i have to do is get rid of this fat on my tummy and slim down the insides of my thighs and i am there!!

if i can get motivated so can you!!

good luck!!

Christin-I can honestly tell you I'm in the same position you are right now and the same age. I have spent years eating whatever I want whenever I want. I know about eating a whole pizza at one sitting. I also am seriously addicted to colas, which adds pounds quickly. I am currently at 195 lbs. I have ranged between 192 to 208 over the last year. I keep losing a few pounds, then I get frustrated and hungry (usually on PMS) and cave in to my cravings and gain it back. I am looking for the answer too. I HATE healthy foods. A lot of late night eating has also contributed to my weight gain.

I dont have any answers for you since I'm struggling so hard myself I just wanted to let you know you're not alone in this struggle.

Start with small steps...that's what I'm doing. I cut from regular colas to C2 and Pepsi Edge(they really do taste as good as the regular). I subsitute lite Ranch for regular, lite mayonnaise for regular. I eat more grilled foods and less fried. I am trying to eat smaller portion sizes (gradually). Sometimes these techniques work and sometimes (like last week on PMS) they dont work at all.

I highly recommend a website called Fitday.com. You can enter everything you eat and all of your activities and it will tell you how many calories you are consuming and how many you are burning in a day and gives you the percentages of carbs, fat, protein. You can track your weight loss. Having that has helped keep me on track because when you have to enter every morsel you put in your mouth in a day, it really makes you think about how you can change your diet in little ways.

Staci

Cool...I checked out that website. Thanks for all your support...I had some chocolate cake left over from yesterday, couldn't let that go to waste :) But now, no more chocolate. I'm hoping that after a week or so I will be over the loss and my next goal is to start drinking water. That has always been a tough one for me, I am addicted to Diet Sunkist and I really hate water. But I am going to try!

Making an effort is the important first step :)

My hardest thing to give up is peanuts. I love in-shell peanuts and while they're not the WORST thing in the world I could eat, they still pack on some calories and once I start cracking those things, I can't stop. Before I know it, my shell bowl is completely full, lol.

LOL! I love those things too...my husband laughs at me, doesn't understand why I have to go through all the work and mess of shelling peanuts when you can buy them already shelled. I've never had an explanation other than "just because!". I am really loving that FitDay thing...I think getting my head out of the sand and forcing myself to see exactly what I have been putting in my body (or am considering putting in my body now!) is really going to help. I am feeling more motivated than I have in a long long time...just facing the problem and admitting to you guys where I am has helped more than I would have predicted! Of course, I have had my fill of chocolate this morning...once that "wears off" who knows how I will feel...but I think I am moving in the right direction for the first time in forever :)

I have to agree with the person that said 'take small steps'. In my experience if I decide to go on a diet I dread and dread the day it begins. I basically set myself up to be disappointed that I can't have a dang chocolate chip cookie until the 20 pounds come off! I have found it so much easier to focus on small victories. After I had my daughter I tried weight watchers. If I took nothing else from it I thought their idea of the 10% difference was cool. Only focus on losing 10% of your goal at a time. Then you have these small goals that will end up getting you to your BIG goal. I have tried all sorts of eating plans, I am a carb lover and I love junk food too. I just had to start trying new things, new ways to eat vegetables to get them into the way I eat. If you tell yourself you have to give something up for good it makes you want it all the more. FINALLY I found something that got me active which in turn made me evaluate how I eat. I joined a women only workout facility. (Not sure I can say the name on here but I'm sure you've heard of it. 30 minutes a day, 3 days a week, who can pass that up?) I can't tell you how wonderful it is to go in there and have people in there with the same struggles as me, all shapes, all sizes, all walks of life. The exercise is not boring, you don't feel like you're going to die when you're done and actually you get addicted after a while. You get weighed and measured once a month and you get to see that anything is possible. If you gain some it's not a road block, it's just a speed bump. Everyone has those. Tell yourself that you CAN do it and don't let anyone let you feel otherwise. I know how it feels to think it's hopeless but the only way to fail is not to try.
Sorry, I'm rambling here, I just felt so compelled to jump in here with all of these nice people and give you a boost! Good luck!
Tee :wave:

I just can't express how excited I am all of a sudden...I really think just "talking" about this is exactly what I needed to do. It has been sort of like a secret, and I have heard it said that "we are as sick as our secrets". My husband, bless his heart, is so wonderful about my weight...he truly does not care what I look like and is so good about telling me that I am beautiful no matter what, he says he does not see my body size, he just sees Christin. The down side to having a wonderful husband like that is that I have had no one telling me to change...I haven't spoken with a doctor, I don't have any friends, and so it has been easier to ignore the problem. I guess what finally got me to start "talking" about this here is that I am just so depressed about how ill I feel, how tired, too embarrassed to go out in public or to see anyone that knew me 50 pounds lighter. I am worried about this excitement fading and failure being imminent, but I am really going to try.

I am trying to figure out what kind of physical activity to start doing. My main mental block is going outside...it is 100 degrees outside this time of year and I have always HATED hot weather. I REALLY hate it, I am extra sensitive to it even when I weighed much less. I sweat profusely and my face turns bright red. Anyway, I figured out on one of those calculators that and hour's worth of moderate house cleaning burns the same calories as an hours slow-paced walk, and lord knows I have plenty of hours' worth of house cleaning I need to do! I live with a 7 year old boy and a 38 year old boy (LOL), so this place is always filthy!

Christin, I have mixed feelings about the "small steps" approach. While I agree that you need to focus on short term goals, I do not agree that giving up only one thing at a time will help you. If you think that giving up chocolate is going to get you where you need to be you are fooling yourself. I really don't mean to sound harsh, but the fact of the matter is that you need to make a significant lifestyle change and you will either make it or you won't. Giving up chocolate will simply lead you to eat something else bad, if you have not made a commitment to yourself to fix the problem.

People with significant weight problems do not know how to eat properly. You need to learn how to eat properly - its the ONLY way you will make a permanent change. How many calories are you planning on eating per day? Do you know how many calories your body needs to function? How many carbs will you allow yourself to eat each day and what types of carbs? How much fat? How much protein? How much water will you drink? What type of excercise will you do? What else are you willing to give up in order to accomplish your goal (assuming your goal is to lose 100 lbs)? If you don't know the answers to these questions, you need to.

Tracking websites are a wonderful tool that will clearly help you accomplish your goal. But it is only a small part of what you actually need to address. I have already commented on the motivation factor and I think you will probably work that out. You are here for a reason, and its clear that you know you need to make a change. But you still need a method - and I don't care what ANYONE says, if you don't have a plan, you won't succeed. You can't just wing it and hope that you will lose weight. Its just too complex a task. Sure there are some loose strategies that you can apply, but you really need to tie all the pieces together.

If you can accomplish a short-term goal and have a clear understanding of what you did to get there, then you are empowered to continue to the next level. If you are guessing, forget it, you may have temporary successes here and there, but you will not experience long-term success.

As I mentioned before, it is likely that there are physiological reasons that crave the foods you crave and feel the way you do about food. This is EASY to overcome, but you need to know how. You also need to think about your health - not just your heart, but other health factors too - like diabetes, kidney diseae, liver disease, and more - you are in a high risk category for all of these diseases.

I believe I can help you devise a plan that will lead to success, but you might benefitgreatly by working with a dietitian or nutritional counselor in real life. It IS possible to lose a significant amount of weight and still eat lots of food and never feel hungry. Does it require sacrifice? Only temporarily. Because once you relearn how to eat and heal your metabolsim you will not want the junk anymore.

It is hard for me to not pout when I am confronted with things that I don't want to hear, but I know you are right jd. I am really overwhelmed with how to change my entire diet overnight though. I don't want to do any of the fad diets, like next to zero carbs or whatever. And being such a picky eater it is difficult for me to come up with a food plan that takes into account all the nutritional goals I should have. I am 5'7 and weigh 250 pounds. I am only guessing using the little information I have read, but I am thinking to begin with that I should make a goal of 2000 calories a day (considering I probably currently eat 5 times that much). Am thinking no more than 15% coming from fat, but beyond that, I don't know what to do except try to fit foods that I like into that mold. I would really appreciate any suggestions! And thanks everyone for all your encouragement...I can't tell you how different I feel today!

i was just like you guys i have no will power!! but for some reason it has changed!! i went to a friends house where there was skinny girls and hot guys and i was told that a was pretty by a hottie and stuff and i hadnt ate in 24 hours and wasnt hungary and i came back and i was able to control when i ate and how much i ate and when i wanted to eat.. i can go for a long time now without eating.... i dont know what happend but i am motivated!! i do pilates and i dont eat any more that 1200- 1300 calories... i am only 35 pounds over weight and i carry my weight very well because i am so tall... all i have to do is get rid of this fat on my tummy and slim down the insides of my thighs and i am there!!

if i can get motivated so can you!!

good luck!!Not eating for 24 hours is not the answer! In fact it is EXTREMELY unhealthy and does not assist with weight loss. Anyone struggling with weight loss will benefit greatly by increasing how often they eat.

Its also important to know that not all people have the same calorie requirements. The larger the person, the more calories they need. A person who weighs 300 lbs can eat 2000-2500 calories per day and still lose weight at a safe, healthy pace. I urge everyone here to not make calorie intake recommendations unless you have based it on the individual's age, height, weight, gender, and activity level.

JD--you seem like you are very knowledgeable about nutrition and weight loss...have you lost a lot of weight, do you work in the health field? I really appreciate your offer of being able to help me with some planning and goals...I am financially unable to afford doctors right now and no insurance, and I have no friends whatsoever. I don't even talk to my family! I am married and we have a 7 year old son, and I don't work outside the home either. I feel pretty cut off from the world, and I'll say again how nice it is to be able to communicate here. Thanks!

It is hard for me to not pout when I am confronted with things that I don't want to hear, but I know you are right jd. I am really overwhelmed with how to change my entire diet overnight though. I don't want to do any of the fad diets, like next to zero carbs or whatever. And being such a picky eater it is difficult for me to come up with a food plan that takes into account all the nutritional goals I should have. I am 5'7 and weigh 250 pounds. I am only guessing using the little information I have read, but I am thinking to begin with that I should make a goal of 2000 calories a day (considering I probably currently eat 5 times that much). Am thinking no more than 15% coming from fat, but beyond that, I don't know what to do except try to fit foods that I like into that mold. I would really appreciate any suggestions! And thanks everyone for all your encouragement...I can't tell you how different I feel today!Christin, I am NOT trying to make you pout or upset you in any way! But you need face the reality of the situation. You need to take control. I can offer you encouragement by assuring you that your goal is attainable if you put forth the effort. I can offer you a strategic plan that WILL work but you have to be in right frame of mind. Following a plan like this does not work well if you plan to eat less of the same types of foods you have been eating or if you plan to cheat once per week. This is a plan for a lifestyle change. It is most effective if you teach yourself to enjoy the foods that fit into the plan and don't allow yourself to get sidetracked or distracted.

Okay here it goes... This is offered as a starting point - you may need to tweak some of these numbers as you go.

I don't know how old you are, but assuming you are between 25-35 years old, you currently need 1900 calories per day to maintain your weight if you do not excercise. This is your sedentary basal metabolic rate. If you add 30 minutes of moderate activity (joining Curves for women or walking 1.5 miles per day) you can add about 100 calories and still maintain your weight. note - these numbers are calculated based on YOUR info - they do not work for anyone else.

To lose weight you need to reduce your calorie intake by 10-20% but not more than that. In your case, I would start at 10% because other changes you make will have a huge impact on your success. So, for calorie intake I recommend that you consume 1800 calories per day WITH 30 minutes of moderate excercise.

The next step is knowing what to do with these 1800 calories. The more often you eat the better - as I mentioned earlier, your metabolism is in an extremely weakened state - it needs to heal. You will feel your best if you eat every 3 hours. I don't care if you are not hungry... eat anyway. Your goal is to eat to avoid hunger, not because you are hungry. Don't let yourself get hungry ever! It may take a few weeks to reach this point, but you will - I PROMISE.

Here is the type of plan I recommend - this is a guide to help you make decisions about your meals.

1. 3 main meals of 450 calories each and 2 snacks of 225 calories each. You will not have to count calories after you read #3.

2. These 5 meals should be eaten 3 hours apart. Don't let it go longer than that. (and BTW - its okay to eat at night!). For example, you might decide on a schedule like this: 9am Breakfast, 12 noon lunch, 3pm snack, 6pm dinner, 9 pm snack. You may need to modify this because I don't know your work schedule or when you wake up or go to sleep.

3. Within each meal you should consume 50% carbs, 25% protein, and 25% fat. I will break that out for you to keep it as simple as possible:
MEALS: Each main meal should contain 56 carb grams, 28 protein grams, and 12 fat grams
SNACKS: Each snack should contain 28 carb grams, 14 protein grams, and 6 fat gramsThese are targets. Your goal is to come as close to these numbers at each meal and snack. You can't reduce carbs in one meal and then add them to another - unfortunately it does not work like that! Also - if you monitor your grams of carbs, protein, and fat, you DO NOT need to count calories. This is the most precise way of controlling portions and proper balance in your meals.

4. You need to improve the quality of the food you eat. I challenge you to do this for 2 FULL WEEKS without cheating, and then come back and tell me how you feel. I guarantee that most of your cravings will go away. So, for the next 2 weeks here are the food rules:ELIMINATE/AVOID:
- white flour products (white bread, pasta, cake, cookies, white flour crackers, etc). If you eat bread make sure the word "whole" is listed in the first ingredient.
- All fried and breaded foods
- Processed or refined sugar (dextrose, sucrose, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, honey, molasses, brown sugar, white sugar, etc)
- chemical additives and preservatives whereever possible. If you cannot pronounce it, don't eat it. This means that for the most part you will eliminate sauces, boxed processed foods, and deli meats.
- alcohol, caffeine, OTC medications, and recreational drugs.

OKAY TO EAT:
- All fresh produce - fruits and vegetables (including potatoes)
- Frozen vegetables (with no added sodium)
- Beans and legumes
- Whole grains including brown rice, oats, whole wheat, etc
- lean fresh meats, poultry, fish, shellfish
- eggs
- cheese (not the processed slices - just regular block cheese)
- Milk and other dairy products (in moderation)
- Mayo and butter are okay if measured and in modration (whipped butter is much lower in calories than regular butter because of the air)

5. Drink lots of water. For your body you need 125 ounces of pure water per day. I recommend you eliminate all other beverages (including diet soda pop). You won't have room for them. Measure your water out at the beginning of each day so you can get through it all.

6. Take a multivitamin - preferrably a natural (not a synthetic).

7. Excercise - at least 30 minutes of moderate activity per day

The next thing you need to do is sit down and plan out some meals that will fit into this plan. You should have 3 or 4 breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and snacks to choose from so you never have to worry about what you are going to eat next. You need to be sure to include those snacks, too. If you want, you can use fitday to plan out some menus ahead of time, but don't use their food values - they are way off the mark. Instead use the package labels and the USDA nutrition website. (do a google search on "USDA food data") If you want help planning out some meals, just say the word. You will be surpised how much food you can actually eat on a plan like this.

I have aother suggestion that I strongly recommend. Go to your doctor and request some labwork. I recommend a full blood chemistry workup, lipid panel, and metabolic panel. The only reason I suggest this is so you can compare your health now to the improvements you will realize after you change your eating habits. There is nothing more compelling than seeing your health improve right before your eyes.

WOW...thank you so much JD...I am going to start right now coming up with a menu based on everything you just said. I have to keep reminding myself that no matter how upset or weak I think I feel from changing my diet, it can't be any worse than how sick I feel eating the way I have been. Oh, and yes, the age group you assumed was correct...I am 28 :)

Question about "lean" meats...I am sure hamburger meat isn't the greatest, but I have a bunch of frozen hamburger patties in the freezer that I wonder if they would be OK...they are labeled "20% fat".

Thank you thank you thank you... :)

Here are the stats on ground beef:

80/20 ground beef
1/4 lb patty measured before cooking
calories: 206
protein: 20 grams
fat: 14 grams

90/10 ground beef
1/4 lb patty measured before cooking
calories: 178
protein: 22 grams
fat: 10 grams

95/5 ground beef
1/4 lb patty measured before cooking
calories: 138
protein: 22 grams
fat: 5.5 grams

Go ahead and use what you have, but next time you buy it, you are better off getting the 90/10 or the 95/5. If the 80/20 is more affordable for you, just work it into your plan accordingly. The fat and protein grams will still work within your meal targets, but it might mean you have to pass on a little butter or dressing. I personally do not like the 95/5 - it tastes a bit like cardboard, so I compromise with the 90/10.

WOW...thank you so much JD...I am going to start right now coming up with a menu based on everything you just said. I have to keep reminding myself that no matter how upset or weak I think I feel from changing my diet, it can't be any worse than how sick I feel eating the way I have been. Oh, and yes, the age group you assumed was correct...I am 28 :)

Question about "lean" meats...I am sure hamburger meat isn't the greatest, but I have a bunch of frozen hamburger patties in the freezer that I wonder if they would be OK...they are labeled "20% fat".

Thank you thank you thank you... :)I forgot to mention - you will benefit greatly if you buy a kitchen scale. It doesn't matter what kind - as long as you can weigh your food. And also make sure you have some good measuring cups. You can eat a full cup of brown rice (which is a lot on your plate) but you want to measure it to be sure you don't go over. BTW - Uncle Ben's now makes an instant brown rice which cooks effortlessly in less than 10 minutes.

Another tip - weigh your potatoes in the grocery store before you bring them home. You want to aim for a 6 or 7 ounce potato, which is on the small side. Most baking potatoes these days exceed 12 ounces, which is 2X larger than a normal portion should be! Baked potatoes make a wonderful side with lunch or dinner because they are filling and have lots of fiber.

Remember, this is all going to be quite a learning experience for you. As you go through all these steps you will learn what normal portions look like and you will eventually be able to eyeball how much food should be on your plate. But it will take 4-5 months before you reach that point. Even now, I always measure my rice and weigh my potatoes, its just become a habit for me! I have been known to ask them to weigh my potato when I am in a restaurant - they think I am nutty, but they usually do it for me :D

Christin, you sound a lot like me. I have a lot of weight to lose too. My weakness is ice cream. I can sit there and eat a whole pint. Anyway, it has been three weeks since I have started eating sensibly. I am 5'6 and weigh 240. while i have not lost any weight on the scale, there is definitely a change in my body. My legs look a lot more shapely, and I am gaining muscle. I try to exercise five days a week, for at least 50 minutes. I am actually pretty fit, this is because I used to be in good shape a few years ago, so it didn't take me too long to get back on the saddle. I do step aerobics and I have a treadmill. I stay indoors to exercise. No way in hell am I going outside in the heat. The key to weight loss is motivation. You have to find it somewhere. That is one of my biggest problems, staying motivated. Right now, my motivation is to fit into some of my old clothes. Being this size depresses me, like it does eveyone here. anyway, here is a tip. On the weekdays, try to eat healthy. Then on weekends, have your favorite treats. While you are slaving away on the weekday, you can imagine the reward you will get on saturday and sunday. i am a carb junkie also. I do not eat meat, chicken or pork. People wonder how i don't eat those things, but yet I am still so fat. if they only knew. It is hard when you live with other people not to keep food in the house. I rather go out every day and buy something simple to cook that to keep stuff in the house, because I know that if it is there it will tempt me.

anyway, here is a tip. On the weekdays, try to eat healthy. Then on weekends, have your favorite treats. While you are slaving away on the weekday, you can imagine the reward you will get on saturday and sunday. I absolutely do not agree with this. I think this is such a bad idea. It only takes 1 bad day to undo the good of 5 days - WHY ON EARTH would you put yourself through this? Not to mention the metabolic effects of eating bad foods. I have already explained some of the effects eating junk carbs has on your metabolism - it effects your glucose levels which causes cravings, increases hunger, causes fatigue, and leads to depression and anxiety. In a successful weight loss plan you need to accomplish several things - 1. You need to heal and retrain the metabolism. 2. You need to learn how to eat properly 3. You need to detoxify the liver. One day of cheating can reverse any steps in the right direction to the point that you will never fully acheive these goals.

I will admit that the further you progress in your plan, and the closer you are to your goal, the better chance you have of fighting off the effects of a bad food day. But early on in a plan - NO NO NO NO NO!!! You CAN'T do it! The best analogy I can make would be if you quit smoking for 5 days and then believed that lighting up 1 cigarette would be okay.

Eating and enjoying junk food is not a "reward" just like smoking a cigarette is not a reward. When you learn how to eat properly, you learn how to enjoy and find satisfaction in healthy foods. You learn to eat to avoid hunger, not because you are hungry. If you turn to food for reward, then you have not come close to solving your weight problem.

I would recommend seeing your doctor, I have to lose about 120 pounds so I completely understand where you are coming from...I saw my doctor and she tested my thyroid and it turned it out my thyroid was underactive which gave me a slow metabolism, also she recommended a greatr diet to me...so I totally would go to your doctor...good luck!

I really appreciate everyone's input...thank you from the bottom of my heart!

As I started writing down all the nutritional content of the foods I will eat that fit into the plan you gave me jd, I started feeling really overwhelmed, nervous, and depressed! It is just so uncomfortable to face what I have done to myself and the tremendous change that I have to make to start undoing it, I am really afraid of failing. I don't think this is something I can start today or even tomorrow...it is going to take a lot of planning and shopping and discussions with my family about the change in food around here. I guess I just really wanted to start this new plan today and realizing that I couldn't felt like a failure. But I am still committed to doing this and I am so glad I have this place to come to for advice and support!

You can't be afraid of failing. if you think about it, you really CAN'T fail! In a worse case scenario, you will simply be back where you started. The only real failure is to not start.

Do what you can in the first week. Write it all down and make the adjustments where you can. It makes perfect sense to speak with your family, but you don't need to eat what they eat. It also makes sense to do some planning as you have started to do.

I started preparing separate meals for myself a long time ago - due to allergies more than anything else. I am deathly allergic to poultry, but my family loves it. I cook it for them and make fish for myself - every other component of the meal is the same. I also make a wonderful home-made goulash recipe... but I don't eat pasta and my family does. So the pasta is left out... they pour their goulash over spearate pasta, and I have mine over brown rice or a baked potato. Most of the time I find them eyeballing MY plate with jealousy, even though they insisted they wanted it their way :)

I am more than happy to help you plan some meals - that might make it easier for you in the beginning. But PLEASE don't let the fear of change prevent you from doing this. The longer you wait, the further away you are from your goal. Start now and you could lose 40-50 lbs by the holidays. Imagine how that would feel!

So brown rice is really that much better for you than white rice huh? I think the hardest thing for me is giving up white bread, white flour, white rice...my faves! Another thing is the diet sunkist...I live on those and never drink water. Besides losing the taste I love, I am not looking forward to the loss of caffeine! I don't drink coffee thank goodness, but those diet sodas have a lot! I really like broiled chicken breasts and also I don't like egg yolks, but love egg whites, so those are things I can focus on. I am out of chocolate and will not have my husband get any when he stops at the store this evening...I am already feeling very deprived just from that!

So brown rice is really that much better for you than white rice huh? I think the hardest thing for me is giving up white bread, white flour, white rice...my faves! Another thing is the diet sunkist...I live on those and never drink water. Besides losing the taste I love, I am not looking forward to the loss of caffeine! I don't drink coffee thank goodness, but those diet sodas have a lot! I really like broiled chicken breasts and also I don't like egg yolks, but love egg whites, so those are things I can focus on. I am out of chocolate and will not have my husband get any when he stops at the store this evening...I am already feeling very deprived just from that! Okay, lets make this easier on you. For now, do everything I recommended BUT, allow yourself white rice (instead of brown) and 1 or 2 cans of diet sunkist per day. I am assuming that the diet sunkist is orange flavor - are you sure it has caffeine? If it does, I recommend you try diet rite tangerine - I know that does not have caffeine and it is sweetened with Splenda - it is a better choice than sodapops sweetened with aspartame.

You really must give up the white flour products. I guarantee you that this is contributing to your cravings... once you get them out of your system, you won't care one way or another if you have them. It IS an addiction. You could succeed on a diet plan including these foods, but you will be miserable, cranky, hungry, and feel deprived the ENTIRE time. If you omit these foods from your diet, you will feel great, you won't feel hungry, and you will have more energy than you ever imagined. I know its hard to believe, but its true!

As for the water, it can be hard at first. You may need to work yourself up to the high quantity you should be drinking. Start off the first week making sure you have at least 64 ounces water per day. The following week make it 90 ounces, then 106 ounces, etc etc etc. I actually pour my water into liter bottles instead of glasses because it appears to be less and seems less overshelming. I also drink filtered water at room temerature (tap is no good at room temp!) because it goes down easier. I never drink anything BUT water - and now it tastes sweet to me! Regarding the soda-pop - it is NOT an alternative to water... it is in addition to water. You are not counting liquids, just water!

Yep, I just confirmed that Sunkist has lots of caffeine and sodium too. Diet Rite has none of either. Diet Rite is definately the better choice and they have some fabulous flavors. My husband drinks Diet Rite all the time.

Alright...that helps with meal planning! I was just going to stop eating rice if it had to brown. That is typically how I eat...if I can't have what I want, I go hungry til I can and then I gorge. What you said about my metabolism being all screwed up makes sense to me. In the past 8 years, the only times I have changed my diet at all are when I have taken phentermine, and even then it's not like I had a good diet, I was just able to go days without food! I think those pills can really help some people in the right way, but I just abused them. Oh I just remembered that I LOVE fresh melons, apples, oranges. It has been so long so I have eaten any, I had forgot! Those would be OK when I want something sweet. So you think that after 2 weeks of no cheating I will feel better?

I KNOW that you will feel better... it should only take about 2 weeks, but it may take a little longer. And after that you will just keep feeling better and better and better. It can only improve from where you are now.

Fruit is a wonderful thing to have when you are craving sweets. Just be sure you don't go over your meal or snack quota. And always have protein with fruit - cottage cheese, cheese, meat, soy, or something similar.

My favorite snack is an apple with 2 ounces of cheese. Of course you can do this with ANY fruit!

You can't be afraid of failing. if you think about it, you really CAN'T fail! In a worse case scenario, you will simply be back where you started. The only real failure is to not start.


that was good jdimassimo, that gave me a little boost! :)

that was good jdimassimo, that gave me a little boost! :)

that was good jdimassimo, that gave me a little boost! :)

I know, right? I started posting the other day basically just whining and wanting sympathy, convinced I could never change, and the feedback I am getting here has helped me start planning an entire life change! On breaks from chores around the house, I have spent all day looking up nutrient values for foods that I am trying to work into a new menu!

One question...exactly how often can I have triple chocolate fudge brownies? Just kidding, just kidding!!!

It works well for me. having a treat on the weekends does not make me gain weight back. if anything, it keeps me from going crazy and from feeling like i am depriving myself.

BTW, I was tested about 5 months ago for thyroid and diabetes and stuff and everything came back normal. My cholesterol was way high...I don't remember all the numbers how they broke down except that the total cholesterol was 280. The Dr. told me that if I didn't get it down in 6 months, he wanted to put me on medication for it...but I really don't want to do that until I give diet and exercise and shot since I am sure that will make the difference. I've heard that the longer you can avoid taking cholesterol lowering medication, the better, as it is hard on your liver and stuff. Surprisingly, my bp is usually way low until very recently, and even now it is not too bad I don't think (125/92). Anyway, I'm thinking these issues resolve themselves once I change my diet.

My cholesterol numbers have decreased 50% following a plan like this. And I eat real butter, whole cheese and red meat. I do make sure that my total cholesterol intake is less than 300 mg per day, but I am SURE that the greatest impact on my cholesterol has been through liver detoxification.

The longer you can stay off cholesterol medication the better. These meds not only stress your liver, but are known to contribute to diabetes and nerve damage. This is yet another motivation to focus on your diet and excercise.

Christin, all the research you are no doing is quite a learning experience, isn't it? It will take a while to get used to it, but after a while you will be able to do it with your eyes closed. You really are relearning how to eat properly. The research phase is only part of it - the most important part is applying it to your meals and snacks and sticking the plan. Its NOT hard, just different from what you are used to.

Please don't cheat on the weekends... trust me on this one, its NOT worth it. You asked when you can have triple fudge brownies again... I bet you that in 6 months you won't want one, but if you do, have one.... ONE. Wait 6 months. Be good to yourself. The reward is NOT the brownie, the reward is RESISTING the brownie.

I just love reading your posts jd! I just gave my husband a list of stuff to get at the grocery store on his way home. Money is tight...can't do major shopping til next payday (Friday)...but he is going to get me some wheat bread, whole cheese, and fruit...and most importantly he is NOT going to get me any chocolate! I can start getting used to these small changes over the next few days...our dinners are already bought, in the freezer and stuff, so gonna have to use up that stuff even though it is mostly bad...but I am going to reduce the portions. And then this weekend I should have all my research done and a grocery list made and a plan for a new me come Monday (why does Monday always seem like the day to start something new?)

I think I am going to quote you and make a sign to put on the fridge and on my mirror: "The reward is NOT the brownie, the reward is RESISTING the brownie." I just love that!

Hey Girl,
It sounds like you are pumped up and ready to go. Woohoo! :)

if you find yourself in chocolate crisis, feeling like you have to have something sweet, you might want to try grainassance's chocolate brownie mochi. mochi is a bake and serve rice square treat traditional in asian cultures. I really like these and find that having one can really satisfy the chocolate craving for me in a healthy way! low sugar, low fat, chewy and delicious! there are savory and sweet types of mochi. Here's the breakdown for this kind:

"Chocolate Brownie Mochi Bake and Serve Rice Squares are full of chocolate and fresh walnuts, with only 2 grams of fat and 4 grams of sugar per serving. 130 calories. 3 g protein. 24 g carbs. NO cholesterol.

Mochi is moist and chewy on the inside and delightfully crunchy on the outside.

Wheat-Free, Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, and made with Organic Brown Rice!


INGREDIENTS
Organic Sweet Brown Rice*, Filtered Water, Organic Evaporated Cane Crystals*, Walnuts, Unsweetened Cocoa, Unsweetened Cocoa Processed with Alkali,Natural Vanilla Flavor, and Sea Salt."

I thought by eating and eating the body controlled way when I started I thought for sure I would probably weigh 300 pounds too before my appetite normalized and the body stopped asking for more than it needed.

I did not. reached around 270+, but you have to remember at first it was all fat, but as I kept eating (mostly real foods, if you are craving cheesebergers it is because you have not eaten enough real foods if you drop the fat out of your diet through restriction such as not eating peanut butter or whatnot your caloires drop rather dramatically, and the body picks this up and there is this feeling something is missing.) the desire for fat producers like ice cream subsided, provided I ate enough caloiries of real foods and listen to my body carefully and ate what it demanded,

in time an aversion to chocolate (my favorite of all pleasure foods) and ice cream, which is less a favorite, set in once I reached my highest weight, in time the leaner fare is what I craved most and I maintained the weight (tho I had other progress points I noticed that showed my I was on the right track) for about 13 or 14 months before the weight started coming off without forcing my body through restriction or caloires counting or weighing foods or even keeping junk out of the house

I still kept one of my favorites in the house like doritios and would eat it with cottage cheese when I had a taste for it. I kept ice cream here too and seldom ate it, except at pms time. there were times I did not have a taste for doritos and it stayed in my cuboard until I had a craving for it. as for the ice cream I did not have to use willpower to avoid it when I would think or see it and did not have a taste for it(craving) it would not appeal at all.

our bodies have a caloires computer in itself, a sort of receptor that counts exactly how many caloires you have eaten and also how many nutrients are there too, for some people, not all, but for famine sensitive individuals, a high junkie diet like eating brownies and cheesebergers and fries everyday is a triggor for the famine feast cycle, as the caloires are high but quality is low and the body of a famine sensitive individual picks up this low quality and interprets that as a famine, even tho caloires may be high.

you have to fill your cuboards with real foods (soups sandwich fillers like meats and vegies whole grains breads cereals etc, unsweetend juices and fill that fridge up with all the real foods that appeal to you, eggs, jelly, fruits salads or vegies you like, dairy products especially leaner dairy, leaner meats, brown rice or even white rice too if you don't like brown rice, you can eat that and still get off the cycle.

YOu have to present such foods to yourself daily every hour or so and if a particular food looks good to you that is enough of a quiet hunger signal go ahead and eat it until you find something else appeals or you lose interest in eating, don't eat until just comfortable, that keeps the cycle going. eat until satiated and food no longer appeals.

another cycle triggor (famine feast cycle) is pms time where you get a surge in appetite, if a woman is in the habit of fighting that extra hunger she has already triggored the famine feast cycle, tho only mildly.

another cycle starter is pregenancy for some, when they get that surge in appetite once the morning sickness stops and the appetite surges and many women fight it and don't give into it that triggors the cycle.

medications can make one cycle, such as appetite suppressants, some antibiotics like the one I took that really suppressed my appetite, I did not realize the damage until I was done taking it and my appetite surged for about 5 days afterward, where I ate twice what I normally eat before taking the medicine. meaning I am recovering from a famine, and it is pms time too which is a double whammy.

now my weight hovers (even tho some days I eat all day long on everything) around 258 sometimes more (period time) and sometimes less (after my period). 258 is average right now.

How I knew to keep eating and resist the urge (and proddings from others who don't know any better) to diet or restrict caloires and try to burn it off, and to trust my body I got some progress in other areas that told me my body was getting the message I was trying to send it.

I was getting more mental energy at first. (I was for years kinda mildly depressed most of the time and found little interest in hobbies), I found an increased gradually over several months to exercise, I did not have to force it, I got to the point I was so antzy I couldn't stand it and would have to go for a walk. carrying alot of weight and being mostly fat at the time, I could only walk 20 minutes at first, before fatigue set in and getting out of breath.

after doing that for 3 days a week I started to gain stamina (tho still weighing at the time 270+)I was starting to go longer distances, and the funny thing after about a month of walking (never progressed this fast when I jogged was lighter and on weight watchers) I started to go longer distances in the same amount of time, in other words I got up to 30 minutes and each time I went out I was covering a greater distance in that same amount of time, I would make a mental note each time I went out of where I turned around and went home.

I was walking because I felt good, I wasn't walking and then feeling good, the goodness and increased energy came first. I also noticed that my back stopped hurting (it hurt for years when I was lighter than even now, I was lighter in weight tho still overweight it was all fat no muscles) and hasn't bothered me, I can lay flat on my back on my bed, which is something I could never do in years and years past because it caused my back to hurt.

note I have always been a hiker and walker, for years and never quit, (except for a while when recovering from the famine feast cycle) so you can't say increased exercise helped my back, it didn't. also my muscles don't have the aches and pains like before, I guess my body wasn't releasing human growth hormones in response to exercise which helps speed healings of micro tears of muscles which naturally happen during exercise and exertions.

I found it easy to go for hours without thinking about food, (dieting never gives you that luxury) and I noticed a increase in my memory abilities (not that they were that great or super or anything just better than years past)

I don't get colds as often or sinu infections like I used to (I was getting them several times a year for quite a few years) also I have more energy to get up and do things and I don't have to push myself like I used to, I find myself increasing exercise time and averages without even realizing it.

there is more but this should suffice for now. You will not gain forever it will stop, once off the cycle, (once you decide that famines (dieting) is not for you) you will eat alot probably gain, maybe not, but you won't forever, and it will stop and then eventually go down, since you are at a very high weight you probably wont' gain very much if at all, I have a bad history of being on the famine feast cycle for years and years even when not dieting because I didn't know any better.

as for my weight I have increased muscles (despite some weight loss) and my ratio of fat to muscle is way better than when I was at my lower weight which was still very overweight, but less than now, and better than when I recoverd from the cycle and was at my highest weight and fat/muscle ratio.

this body controlled eating and getting off the cycle is the only way to permenantly lose the weight (keeping muscles intact) and keep it off without have to fight it's leanings to eat more to gain fat, it normalizes the relationship with food, and stops the constant vigilance that artificial thins have to endure,to keep from gaining back lost weight and avoids all the side effects of food restriction for weight control namely an early death.

restricting food to lose and maintain weight has so many side effects that I would need to write another thread for it.

RR

Dreamer, I do understand some of what you are saying, but I find your post rather confusing. The feast/famine cycle is an important consideration, especially for yo-yo dieters, and people who have weakened their metabolsim through extreme dieting (1200 calories and less). I agree that in order to strengthen the metabolism you must eat to avoid hunger (when you do this you avoid the feast/famine cycle). I do not agree, though, with the concept of giving your body everything it wants and eating until you no longer have a desire for food. I think this recommendation is silly - if I ate everything I wanted I would probably be dead. I would weigh 500 pounds living on cheesecake, ice cream, and pizza. My bed would be in the kitchen right in front of the fridge. Please tell me how this makes any sense at all.

The most critical factors in a safe reasonable weight loss plan work to strengthen and heal the metabolism. When this is acheived, hunger and cravings do not exist. Providing your body with proper levels of fuel/nutrients, stabilizing the blood glucose levels, optimizing liver function, and excercise are the key factors in optimizing metabolism and losing weight at a safe, reasonable pace.

Stocking your cupboards with high sodium, high fat, sugary foods (soup, jelly, doritos, etc) completely defeats these efforts. I would much rather live without the hunger and cravings than fool myself into believing that gorging myself with food to achieve satsifaction would somehow help me lose weight and regain my health.

When you are on a weight loss plan like the one I suggested to Christin, you do not enter into a feast/famine cycle. You eat to avoid hunger, but you choose your foods carefully to acheive the other goals. You consume a reasonable/safe amount of calories and you nourish your body with a balanced ratio of carbs protein and fat every 3 hours you are awake. You lose 1.5 - 2lbs per week. Your cholesterol returns to normal levels. You can avoid/prevent the onset of heart disease, diabetes, and a variety of other health problems. But the greatest benefit of all is that you LEARN to eat PROPERLY so that you can live a long healthy life without having to "diet" once you reach your goal.

I ate grapes for the first time in forever and and am feeling really stupid now for convincing myself that I could never eat healthy food. They tasted so good! I am definitely going through chocolate withdrawals, but I look at jd's quote about brownies (which is now on my fridge :) ) and I feel better after the initial "I'd rather be dead than go without chocolate" feeling subsides. And it DOES subside...who knew?

Question...my husband bought some "Classic Wheat" hamburger buns last night...I know you said Whole needed to be in the name, but on the back it says they are made from whole wheat. They are made by Sara Lee...what do you think?

There is no quick fix and no miracle drug or diet that will make you loose weight. It is a lifestyle change that will take the weight off and keep it off. The hardest part you are going to have is MAKING the change. The weight will come off, it's making the life-change that will be tough.
Because you need to loose 100 lbs, you should be under a doctor's care. You should also have someone that you trust be there to help keep you motivated and on track. Start out taking baby steps. If you try and do too much in the begining, you will become discouraged and quit.
First, LOOSE THE JUNK FOOD!!! You cannot continue to eat that crap and loose weight. CANNOT! Don't eat late at night and cut down on your portions. Don't eat after 6:00 PM. Try and eat 5 to 6 small meals a day instead of three larger meals.
If you want to eat carbs, eat them early in the day and not at night. Make sure you know about the food you are putting in your mouth.
And by all means exercise - It doesn't mean you have to be an Olympic Athlete. Try out small and just walk a mile or two a day and gradually build up your routine.
You CAN do this! You can loose that weight and be healthy! :bouncing:

I know, right? I started posting the other day basically just whining and wanting sympathy, convinced I could never change, and the feedback I am getting here has helped me start planning an entire life change! On breaks from chores around the house, I have spent all day looking up nutrient values for foods that I am trying to work into a new menu!

One question...exactly how often can I have triple chocolate fudge brownies? Just kidding, just kidding!!!


:nono: lol i love chocolate fudge brownies!! :D but i only take one! and excerise afterwards, and i savor every bite of it!! :D

Yeah, I think that eventually, I will be able to indulge on occassion. But my instincts are telling me that there is something to this idea of my metabolism being so screwed up right now, that I need to get a lot healthier before I can do that. Besides, I know me, and right now, there is no way that I could have just one! It is easier for me when I make a rule of "zero tolerance"...otherwise I start scheming and dreaming of when I can cheat. This way, the craving hits, and I "just say no". Of course, it helps that I am stuck at home with no car during the day...only way I get chocolate is if I have my husband stop on his way home, or if I go out after he gets home!

There is no quick fix and no miracle drug or diet that will make you loose weight. It is a lifestyle change that will take the weight off and keep it off. The hardest part you are going to have is MAKING the change. The weight will come off, it's making the life-change that will be tough.
Because you need to loose 100 lbs, you should be under a doctor's care. You should also have someone that you trust be there to help keep you motivated and on track. Start out taking baby steps. If you try and do too much in the begining, you will become discouraged and quit.
First, LOOSE THE JUNK FOOD!!! You cannot continue to eat that crap and loose weight. CANNOT! Don't eat late at night and cut down on your portions. Don't eat after 6:00 PM. Try and eat 5 to 6 small meals a day instead of three larger meals.
If you want to eat carbs, eat them early in the day and not at night. Make sure you know about the food you are putting in your mouth.
And by all means exercise - It doesn't mean you have to be an Olympic Athlete. Try out small and just walk a mile or two a day and gradually build up your routine.
You CAN do this! You can loose that weight and be healthy! :bouncing:I agree with almost everything in your post :) but for 2 things:
1. Eating at night - this is GOOD and should be encouraged. Keep in mind that I am not saying to sit in front of the TV and jam your face with junk food (which many people equate with eating at night). But eating every 3 hours that the body is awake is vital in stabilizing the metabolism. I won't get into the technical reasons here, but if the meal or snack is planned, and part of the daily allowance, then there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

2. When to eat carbs - While it's true that some theories promote that eating carbs early in the day provides you with fuel that you will burn throughout the day - there are more compelling reasons to eat rations of carbs, protein, and fat at steady intervals throughout the day, especially on a weight loss plan. This stabilizes glucose levels (which prevents hunger and cravings), avoids excessive protein comsumption (which is harmful to the kidney's and liver), and helps your body utilize protein for its intended purpose (tissue/muscle repair and growth) rather than for fuel. And BTW - muscle repair and growth is critical in weight loss, because increasing lean muscle mass improves your burn rate (speeds the metabolism). The bottom line is that spreading your carbs out throughout the day is a much more effective approach in successful weight loss.

Yeah, I think that eventually, I will be able to indulge on occassion. But my instincts are telling me that there is something to this idea of my metabolism being so screwed up right now, that I need to get a lot healthier before I can do that. Besides, I know me, and right now, there is no way that I could have just one! It is easier for me when I make a rule of "zero tolerance"...otherwise I start scheming and dreaming of when I can cheat. This way, the craving hits, and I "just say no". Of course, it helps that I am stuck at home with no car during the day...only way I get chocolate is if I have my husband stop on his way home, or if I go out after he gets home!Christin, you will do well, I know it! You have the right frame of mind. I agree with the zero tolerance rule. When you "cheat" once, its just too hard not to do it again, it becomes a viscous cycle of excuses. I really believe that people who allow "cheat days" are fooling themselves. When you are 10 lbs from your goal weight, it is certainly more acceptable, but NOT when you have 100 lbs to go.

Thanks jd, and everyone, for taking an interest in my story! I have finished making 7 menus for breakfasts/lunches, and am working on snacks. so now comes the hardest part for me...dinners. My husband and I have our favorite meals that we make, we call them "coma meals"...I figured out the calories for one of them and it was over 3000! Per plate! Thankfully, my husband is on a "health kick"...he has lost 80 pounds over the past year and a half (he is 6'6 and now weighs 220), so he will be happy with the changes. It is strangely emotional, though, to say goodbye to something that I was so attached to (like brownies and pizza!)

I have a lot of emotions right now, varying from excitement about the changes to come to being terrified of failure and hunger. As time consuming and overwhelming it is right now just to make a plan, I know the test will come next Monday. All I have done so far is give up chocolate and "junk" food, but putting this entire plan into action is pretty intense.

My exercise right now will have to be indoor activities, because I just cannot deal with the heat outside. It's 85 degrees out here even before the sun comes up! Lord only knows why I ended up in Texas...I should be in Maine or something

:)

Question...my husband bought some "Classic Wheat" hamburger buns last night...I know you said Whole needed to be in the name, but on the back it says they are made from whole wheat. They are made by Sara Lee...what do you think? Bread is one of the hardest items to buy because there are few choices that don't have at least one thing against them. That's because if you made bread completely healthy nobody would want it. :) The Sarah Lee is probably not the best choice, but use what you bought and calculate it into your menus.

Next time you go to the store plan to spend some time reading labels. It can be very enlightening. Many of the manufacturer websites now offer nutritional info on the their sites including ingredients and nutritional data. I don't know what off-brand breads you have in your stores, but some of them can be good. I also recommend Arnold or Pepperidge Farms "lite" breads because they are much lower in calories and carbs. Yes, they have some bad stuff in them, but there is no avoiding it when it comes to bread.

Another thing you could do (especially if bread is important to you) is get bread machine. Then you can make your own and control the ingredients in it. For me, its too much trouble - I try to only eat bread a few times per week. The only other option would be to eliminate bread altogether, but that's a tough one!

Christin, You have GOT to tell me what is in a "Coma Meal"! 3000 calories? For real? I tried to calculate what I used to eat when I was at my worst and I coud only get as far as about 2000 calories in a meal. Then again, a whole box of mac and cheese plus a pint of Ben and Jerry's ice cream would probably do it. :eek:

It's embarassing...no way I'm admitting this to anyone who actually knows me! It is a *******ized version of steak shish-kabobs (sp?). Marinated in a ton of oil and spaghetti sauce based marinade. Of course there are the bell peppers and onions too, but the main badness is the sauce that it marinates in, and then we serve it ontop of a plate-full (probably 2-3 cups) of "cheese rice", which has at least a cup full of shredded cheddar in it. Then pour some of that sauce and lots of parmesan on top of the whole thing. Probably wouldn't be so bad if we ate "normal" portions, but that is why we call it a "coma meal".

Here's what's worse...I thought it was one of the healthier things I was eating because it was lean meat (sirloin) and veggies! That is how out of touch I have been! :)

there is nothing wrong with sugar, i guess it gets a bad rap because of the obesity thing and lots of overweight people eat it the trouble with that theory is that thin people eat sugar too.

I am not advocating eating junky, I mean filling up on real foods, eating them often and forgetting about quick results but rather an eating the way you would if you had no weight problem at all and never ever worried about it, (and as for the 500 pounds I can guarantee you won't gain that much, if you stick to mostly real foods,) as for soups you can make your own, and there are low salt soups (which I eat) and there are lower salts deli and lower fat dairy like cottage cheeses milk and yogurt, if you don't like presweetend yogurt get plain and fill with fresh fruit, dortitos are a sometime treat,

also as you stay filled up and do not miss hunger signals (desire for food without a growling stomach is true hunger, by recognizing this I and others were then able to get off this cycle when before we were on it tho not dieting just because we missed hunger cues.)this was from our history of dieting and trying to ignore mild hunger to lose weight or to avoid gaining, the desire for those pleasure foods they are called, ice cream brownies and borderline foods like pizza will diminish, these foods are not bad in themselves, just need to be minimized in order to get off teh cycle the fastest with the least amount of weight gain.

it took me quite awhile to figure that out, what message you are trying to send to your body is that not only is food abundant enough for all the fuel it will ever need (provided you eat it, otherwise the body only knows what it gets or don't get) but the quality is very high too,it will see that excess fat is maladaptive to survival and it will make the needed adjustments provided you give it what it needs it will tell you.

I personally increased my real foods frequency and quantity when I realized I was on the cycle, but I also ate pleasures too when they appealed, as time went on I kept listening and finding hunger cues (and sometimes you have to be paying attention) the desire for pleasures subsided, and so did the binges when I did eat pleasures, it used to be eating pleasures were my mini binges, in other words I was not satisfied on just one bowl of ice cream or a handful of doritos it would have to massive amounts, now I eat a little when I have the urge and it takes very little to reach the fed up or lose interest in the food thing.

this took time, you can only achieve weight loss that is quick such as a pound a week by famining, if it is forced is still famine loss, the naturally thin way lets the body control this aspect so the fight with the body never begins and the body actually starts to coorperate with your efforts to eat high quality and exercise.

in other words the only way to permenant weight loss (without losing muscles in the process or the body cannbalising itself) is eating the way you will eat forever, and we know that people cannot (most anyway) maintain a 1800 calorie day diet forever, sooner or later most go off the diet, and binge until the setpoint is reached, this is the point the body (not us) deems the amount of fat needed to survive the famines it endured in the past and expects in the future.

the naturally thin way allows the body to bring the setpoint down on it's terms, when it deems that famines are over forever, even mild ones, then it will reduce appetite or or increase cravings for metabolism boosting nutrients like vegies and fruits whole grain cereals lower fat stuff and a total aversion to junk(I know this is true because not only I but others I am in contact are expereincing the same things)

it idea is not forcing teh body to get by on less (caloires) but rather letting it lead you to foods that it needs to achive it's first goal, keeping you alive, and when fat becomes a threat to that survival (because you eat enough and on time everyday until satiated on mostly real foods) then it will make those adjustments to keep you alive as excess fat on a body that is getting enough to fuel it without having to tap into stores ever, is a threat to that survival, (we all know how bad being over fat is especially obese).

it will make the adjustments, one of the neat things it does is increase your body temps, (espcially if you have averaged 97's or 96's. another thing it does is increase the amount of brown fat (which by the way feeds on white fat the stuff we all hate), the furnance of the body which means your body burns hotter, another neat thing it starts doing when out of conservation mode is release human growth hormone, you know the hormone everyone wanted in times past because of it's fat reducing and energy increasing and muscle building protential, and thyroid stimulating hormone is also released in higher quantities on average and especially in response to exercise.

wonderful hormones if you ask me, I have never in my life experienced their wonderful effects until I got of the cycle and started to really eat, well eat like a naturally thin person would eat, even tho I have a long way to go to get to an healthy lean weight, the journey itself has been eyeopening, educational and to tell you the truth fun!

at first it was horrible, but once I experienced the changes after a while the little subtle ones and then the more major ones I realized I had as well as many others made the right choice. the effects are not all physical they are mental too, you think with greater clarity, it is hard to really describe unless you experience it yourself.

well this is enough for now, good eating!! :bouncing:

RR


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Hi...I totally can relate to how you feel !!!!!!! I am so frustrated with being fat. But it just seems like I want to be fat or something cause at one point I get so motivated and then just let it fastly slip away. I'm 26 and weight 210 and I know if I don't change now I never will cause as I get older I notice like you I have less that motivates me. For about a week or so I was motivated and happy about how I was going to lose weight and then I had to go groccery shopping and blah.......it was down hill from there. I do think the Celexa I take has some effect on me gaining weight so I have an appointment to see my doctor and I'm going to ask her about some diet pills that could be safe for me to take. I tried phentermine but just couldn't take it....made me feel yucky. I am a junk food junkie and pop addict as well but I could stand not having the pop but the chocolate is what I miss so much and crave. I just wanted to tell you never feel alone and maybe we can motivate each other. Would love to see us both be happy with our body image it sure would help me greatly.
Take Care :wave:

West Virginia Girl...thanks for the reply! You know, I am sure that I heard somewhere when I was a teenager that it would be much harder to lose weight when I got older, but I guess, like anything else at that age, I didn't listen. I haven't completely changed my diet yet (waiting to go grocery shopping this weekend), but I have cut out chocolate and snack foods, and I haven't lost any weight. Man, when I was 18, I could make little changes like this and the weight would just fall off. Now it is going to take a complete food overhaul to lose weight...oh how I wish I would have listened when I was younger!

I also have wondered about my medication contributing to my weight (I take effexor)...but who am I kidding? I have started calculating what I eat and OMG, no WONDER! Yesterday was really hard for me...fighting with husband and I was certain I would die if I didn't get some chocolate. I was REALLY angry at the world for most of the day, I hate feeling that way! In the end, I finally cut up a cantaloupe and ate at least half of it. I know I have a long way to go with lowering my quantity of food, but today I at least feel good that I have made some progress as far as QUALITY :)

Another big hurdle that I have been afraid of is exercise. I am now a stay-at-home mom of a 7 year old boy, but up until 6 months ago, I had a job where I was on my feet 50 hours a week. I took for granted the level of activity I got just from that, and now it is very hard for me to get up and do anything. Way too hot outside for outdoor activities, and way too easy to just sit in front of the TV or computer! I have some Tai-Bo DVD's that I really was starting to use, right before son got out of school for the summer. With him home, it is so much harder to try to do things like that. But only one more week before he goes back, so maybe I will try again.

Sorry for the ramble!

christin it makes perfect sense to me why you have to work harder to lose weight then in the past when you did only little changes and the weight fell off, you have trained your body to expect famines, (even mild ones can triggor this for some) and it was prepared via biochemicals to deal with another if it came along (mild famine was the first it was expecting another mild one)

but if you do more drastic measures to lose, (meaning increase the intensity of the famine)or to force the body to tap into stores you are training it to expect more severe famines in the future and it will prepare by getting you to eat more eventually once your body does lose weight, you may find you don't lose as much as the first time famine (as a teenager you say?) because the overeating starts before that amount is lost due to the training you gave your body.

I guess people don't think about training their bodies except maybe exercise to build muscles and stamina, but we can train it in other ways, (is it not training when they vaccinate against a deadly disaese to train teh body to recognize a foreign invader before it has a chance to do it's damage?) by eating late, not eating to satiaty, not eating good quality enough and eating too much junk, that sorta thing, to expect and prepare for famines?

something to think about, you want (so do I and 99 percent of americans)to train your body to expect abundance at all times and that famines do not occure and that unhealthy excess fat is not necessary for survival and that what it has stored is now a threat to it's survival.

the only way to do that is eat, eat on time, eat enough, (please do not count caloires that defeats the message you are trying to send your body) eat higher quality, eat mostly if not all real foods, and by do this you will be sending the message fuel is in enough quantity and quality for it's needs and famines do not and will never happen again, but this takes time for the body to get this message, even if you eat like this, your body will plataue (if it doesn't gain any more weight) for awhile, this plataue is where the body is waiting for the famine to happen, when it doesn't, it makes the needed adjustments and poof you lose fat.

REal foods list :soups with real foods, all dairy especially leaner, all meats especially leaner varieties, fruits whole grains, rice, potatoes, james, peanut butter, nuts and seeds, all vegies, corn, peas, fruit juices especially unsweetened, all breads tho whole grain is a higher quality,

the idea here is to recognize that teh body's nutritional needs are cued by our cravings and food preferences, it is not a conincidence that dieters crave all the "wrong" foods, it is actually what they need to replace fat quickly, and it is not coincidence that a naturally thin (someone who is a body controlled eater and does't worry about weight or food caloires or values but eats according to urges and cravings) craves whole grains, fruits vegies and other real foods over junkie fares.

I know I hear ya, there is no such person, yes there is, you are reading her posts, adn I know alot of people like that, tho I know the numbers are dropping as the media scares everyone to death or the media makes thin people worry about getting fat when they never had a problem before.

and then these naturally thins start to worry about what they are eating and end up restricting and wondering why they end up binging on potatoe chips or ice cream when they never ever had a craving for them before. not until they restricted caloires and trained their bodies to expect famines.

oh by the way I am a natural thin eater, just not thin yet, tho I hopefully getting there, you know you are on the right track when you are buying smaller clothes, or bringing in what you have grown to small to wear. clothes end up being to big, it really is a nice feeling.

RR

Dreamer...I do understand what you are saying, but my problem is that I HAVE eaten EVERYTHING I have wanted for 5 months, and gained 40 pounds. My cholesterol is to the point that I will have to go on medication and risk liver damage and sorts of bad things unless I get my cholesterol down. I don't WANT to go on a starvation diet, as I don't think losing 10 pounds a week (consistantly) is healthy either...been there, done that. But I just can't keep going up, and eating everything I want is only making me want more! The sheer AMOUNT of food that I am capable of ingesting at one sitting is absurd. I do understand the point that you don't want to starve your body, but my goal here is to STOP starving my body of the nutrients it needs and start giving it ONLY what it needs and no more. I am sick and tired of being sick and tired, and I just CAN'T keep gaining weight.

I really do appreciate you taking so much time to reply here...and you have given me a lot of information to think about and incorporate into a healthier new life.

what you could try is read the books how to be naturally thin by eating more and bodyfueling by robyn landis, the other is by jean antenello.

it will calm you down, but first what you can do it eliminate all junk food out of the house, now! second when you go shopping get fruits vegies, whole grain breads, whole grain cereals, lean dairy and meats and soups with leaner meats and lots of vegies or stuff to make alot of salads.

get unsweetend fruit juices, all real foods, even peanut butter is good too as a real food, and every hour or so when you are home present yourself to these foods, by looking in the fridge or cuboard and eating what appeals, and eating until you lose the urge, (eating alot of junky foods everyday can get one and keep one on the famine feast cycle. and cause overeating in itself if you indulge to much.

second as for the other health problems I understand it I had some problem when I first started the naturally thin way got off the cycle and gained 45 pounds on top of my already heavy body, (235 starting weight that was mostly fat and it showed) but gained until 278 all fat at first.

but if you keep eating these wholesome foods and can go without any junk for a while (it won't be permenent you will be able to eat it later)without suffering to much and eat alot of healthier fare, (raw garlic is very good for you) and exercise moderatly, and wait it out your body will probably make the adjustments,

I know the panic you feel, my blood pressure was out of control there for awhile, I was on medicines trying different kinds until I found one that works but the side effects caused me to give them up, even tho I was scared by not doing something about it I might have a heart attack or stroke out, (I WAS SCARED)

so I understand fear, believe me, but I decided to do some research and also tried some hawthrone and ginko biloba, my pressure of last checking was 130/86. I was never that low even when I weighed way less than I do today. despite all the walking and hiking i did on trails regularly.

so now I am calmer, part of the problem with health concerns when you know you are fat and they keep saying it causes these problems we start to truly believe them and maybe the power of suggestion is at work here I don't know, you could try some research into choleserol controling herbs and try some and see if that helps, those drugs used are no good like lipitor, they only disrupt the body's ability to cleanse and repair themselves and I would only use them as a very last resort.

by eating more nutritious foods (don't restrict caloires here because of wanting to lose weight) the urge to eat all teh time will eventually stop and so will the weight gain, I did and I was eating (mostly real foods too)every two hours daily for quite a while, and then it stopped.

first I noticed an aversion to junk food, when I would see it in the stores I would get a sickening feeling in my stomach like yuck! then I noticed longer periods between hunger periods and food urges.

then i noticed my clothes starting to get looser, (tho the weight loss according to scale hadn't happened then yet) and my back stopped hurting and that I had more energy, gradually all this happened it didn't over night, then it happened I stepped on the scale and wow 20 pound loss.

really cool then I noticed I was less peroccupied with food issues fearing this food an that, I noticed I could eat unti satisfied even at a get to gether or at a restuarant and not worry about weight or gaining, or getting fat, (I still get the monthly fluid retention)I am at a plataue right now and I am maintaining regardless of how I eat(I still eat some pleasure foods, it just doesn't take much to satisfy me completly and I dont' feel the urge to binge anymore)

so it will happen you need to read the books however to get the full picture in order to know whether you can and will apply them long term. It took me almost 2 years after starting the naturally thin way to start the downward trend and the normalization of eating and losing my fear of food.

RR some people are not willing to wait that long, and that is okay too if after reading and understanding teh principles of naturally thin way one decides to go the traditional route that is up to them, I hope they are successful without hurting their health, I know how desperate we all are in getting thin and staying there.

I'm currently on a low fat diet

I have a site on this, but I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post it :S (it is a record of EVERYTHING that I have eaten, and done for exercise since I started it last tuesday - including my whopping 101 grams of fat intake last monday - eating what I thought was moderate meals)

I started off at 235 lbs this weekend. With plenty of exercise and sticking to a low fat diet (no cheating!) it is now Thursday and I'm 232!! (awesome :D)

Breakfast: Bowl of fruit

Lunch: 1 peanut butter sandwich (1 tbsp pb) and Grape jam on whole wheat (Sobey's High Fibre/Low fat - tastes GREAT!!) - 1 "Cup-a-Soup": (Lipton, beef noodle) - 18 baked corn chips with salsa - 1/2 cup fat free cottage cheese

Dinner: 1 chicken breast - 2 skewers of shrimp (both grilled on bbq) - 1/2 cup cottage cheese & small salad with 1/2calorie dressing (1 tbsp French Kraft Dressing)

Believe it or not, your body burns between 30 - 40 grams of fat naturally during the day (with moderate exercise - walking...)

My entire daily fat intake was less that 15 grams of fat.

It seems like a LOT of food, it's high in protein and low in fat. If you feel you're hungry in between, munch on some fruit and drink PLENTY of water. (I drink 2000ml a day - 8 cups)


You don't get fat overnight - so don't expect to lose weight overnight: It took a long time to gain that weight - but with moderate exercise and a good low fat diet, you'll lose the weight faster than you think. :D