I am 28 years old i am 5 foot 10 inches tall and weigh 230 pounds. I want to lose 80 pounds and reach my goal weight of 150.
Having this much extra weight on me has made me tired and achy all the time and I seem to get sick more often that I did when I was thinner.
I have been looking into diet programs in my area ( I live in Tulsa, OK) like the L.A. Weight Loss Program.
Anyone heard of it?
Anyways I gained all my weight by sitting around eating junk and fast food, my biggest weakness is chocolate. My personal life is not so great right now so I am depressed often and when I get upset I eat, usually sweets and it makes me gain more weight and I feel worse. I hate the way I look, I cringe when I look at myself in the mirror but I can't stick to a diet. I have heart problems, mvp, and I am on a beta blocker daily. I am scared to take diet supplements because I had bad reactions to them like a rash on my legs and stomach on one and palpatations ( which I already experience with my mvp and don't need them to worsen or be damaging to my health), and I don't know if the doctor will prescribe a weight loss drug for me because I have read some of the side effects can be jitters, increased blood pressure and palpatations.
Can anyone give me some good advice to start on for a diet program? What about the Atkins Diet?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

As a firm believer in "everybody is different", I can suggest a high protein, low carb diet, which is wonderful for some, and not so wonderful for others. I suggest you look into metabolic typing, and investigate what makes you feel tired or achy. I'm 51, have yo yo'd all my life, and finally found the one way that worked for me. I lost 120 pounds by eliminating most of the white things...flour, dairy, sugar etc. But I ate well and felt good throughout. High protein was the key for me, and I'll be glad to point you in the right direction if you are interested. And I don't mean Atkins. While his way works for many, I find that I must NOT EAT cheese, mayonnaise, and all those yummy fatty things. I have 3 generous portions of meat a day, four green vegetables, 2 small fruits, and no grains. I supplement with protein shakes and the pounds melt off. I suggested this to a friend, and she crashed.She did better on a more vegetarian approach. I crash on too many vegetables like carrots and corn, because they are higher in sugars and it makes my insulin get out of wack, leading to hypoglycemia. So...everybody is different. But read the book about metabolic typing. There's a test inside that will tell you if you need more proteins or more carbs, or are a mix of the two. http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif

I decided seriously today that Im going to lose weight. I am just going to make good food choices and eat smaller amounts. I will eat whole grains..beans, wheat bread, fiber cereal, low fat tortillas, fruits, veggies, yogurt, low fat cheeses, lean meats, and eggwhites. I mostly eat and dont think anything of it so maybe Ill write everything down....afterall it shoulnt be that much..
Sunday...coffee W/creamer&sweet and low
1cold slice of pizza & granola bar
1chicken taco&1chicken tostadaw/beans&20chips&salsa
(i skipped the rice.every littlebit helps)
later i will have an apple& a banana
i estimate 1300calories
today
anyone else wanna share?

[This message has been edited by friendlyrobyn (edited 01-05-2003).]

First off i hope You guys are drinking LOTS of water! That will help....Also don't eat after 7:30pm! that will help to. Oprah just had it on her show explaining that if you don't eat after 7:30pm when it nears your bedtime and you feel that little hungry twinge making you want to eat DON"T! thats actually your body digging into your stored fats so welcome that feeling! And goodluck i was once 230+lbs at 5'7" and am now down to 157lbs, if i can do it hell anyone can!

HI THERE ATKINS FAN HERE . I was on atkins for 3 mths 20 grams of carbs a day the first two weeks were extremely hard but i made it through that that and all my cravings were gone and i am a junk food lover especially sweets but i didnt want them.Anyways I went from 200lbs to 160lbs in the 3 to 4 mths i was on it. my worst mistake was quitting i thought it would be so easy to start back up but it has just been extremely hard.i am now back at 174 which isnt bad considering ive been off atkins for 6 mths and have gained 14 lbs. if you decide to do it let me know because all i eat now is sweets and junkfood so maybe with two of us doing it we can do it. i need the motivation but like i said the first two weeks are the hardest. a plus though you lose inches i lost 17 inches . good luck whatever you decide.

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