I'm a Fat Lard..for now.

I am 40 lbs overweight at least. I can't even catch my 5 year old. LOL

My goal is to lose 40 lbs by or hopefully before Nov 1. 

My problem is that my family is working against me. My 12 year old daughter made fudge brownies and taunted me mercilessly. My wife refuses to buy healthy food and buys tons of candy. She is also overweight too but couldn't care less. None of them are convinced that I can stick to a diet plan.

In spite of their lack of support I am sticking to a 1200 cal a day diet and have done so for 2 weeks now.

I have been eating 2 eggs for breakfast, a 6" roast beef sub on whole wheat bread for lunch, no mayo or cheese.

Salad & grilled chicken or fish for dinner.  Some days I have less than 1000 cal.

You should probably up your calories a bit.

You need to eat more calories or you will go into starvation mode. I would suggest upping the calories and getting some exercise.

Today I've had 889 calories, but strangely enough Iam not even hungry. I guess increasing my exercise will increase my metabolism and my hunger.

I sit in an office for 9 hours a day, but I walk 1 hour every night. I also spent 1 hour cutting wood. According to the analysis chart I burned a lot more calories than I took in. 

Thanks for the advice. Sounds like starvation mode is something to avoid.

I've been in a similar situation and while maybe you're different, it was hard. The trick that I found to make it work? I CAN NOT feel deprived in a house full of junk. I eat at the 700 calorie deficit (with my workout, this gives me about 2000 calories a day), and I have chocolate milk (low fat milk, sugarfree nesquik) and a few squares of dark chocolate every day. In this situation its important to indulge a little to keep from indulging a lot. Again, this is me. I know some people can't eat just 2 squares of chocolate, but it keeps me from wanting to gobble up half a cake.

I am not sure of your weight or height but I too work in an office but get at least 45 minutes of exercise a day and more on weekends. I have lost 15 pounds in about 2 months and have ate around 2500 calories a day. I eat lots of lean meats (Chicken, Fish) and Vegetables and fruits. I have left behind the sweets although occasionally I will have a little bit of a treat and every night I have my 60 calories sugar free low fat pudding cups for desert.

I used to eat up sugar free pudding like crazy. Actually, this looks gross but tastes fantastic, I would mash a banana, stir it in sugar free pudding, cover the top with cherry granola and soy nuts, and eat it as a meal replacement. Great for something light, with protein and potassium, before a workout.

I assume that you are a guy because you have a wife. Of course my cousin has a wife and she is no dude, but I digress.

1200 is too low for most women and far too low for most men. You should use the cc tools to figure out how many calories you really need. I bet it is a whole lot more than you think. Which is good because you feel better eating more in the long run.

As far as your unsupportive family goes. I am sorry that they are not being helpful. Your wife and child are NOT a lost cause though. Keep doing the best for you and setting a good example. How old is your daughter? Teach her how to read food labels if she is old enough. I started this with my son and he is now reading labels and making choices based on what he reads. It is also good for the math skills to have to figure out how many calories an entire container of something has.

Trust me - when you kid asks you about those carrot sticks and wants to try some they learn to like it pretty quickly. Just present everything as better than they can imagine. Never offer it to them - they will feel left out and demand some of the good stuff if they think mom or dad is keeping something good from them.

Never use your children against your spouse - but kids can be very good motivators. It never hurts to hear your kid say "oh no, that is not a good choice mommy"

Of course - even if you up your calories you will need some treats now an again. My favorite this week is sugar-free jello and cool whip free. 1 serving has just 25 cals (with the cool whip free). If you hit a bad spot and just have to binge on something sweet a whole small box and 1/2 cup of cool whip is only 100 calories total. I never eat a whole box - but I delight in knowing that if I ever did it would not kill my diet!

Minda actually that sounds pretty good even if it may look gross.

Maybe your family is being 'unsupportive' because they are actually worried that you are starving yourself, considering how little you eat.

Please take the advice and up your calories. With 2h of activity a day, 1 of which is vigorous, I wouldn`t be surprised if you`d need twice what you`re currently eating.

I'm 5'-11 and 240 lbs. I was 165 when I got married 25 years ago.

Back then I was lean and mean. All these years of sitting in an office and not getting any exercise has taken its toll. I never worried about my weight until now.

The Doc told me I was Pre-diabetic so I want to get a handle on this now and avoid having to take any medication.  I had never heard about "starvation mode" before and can now understand why I never lost any weight before.

I thanks all of you for your advice. I have only been doing this for a couple of weeks and I do not want to fail.

I agree with previous posters - in this situation you need to be creative to come up with some "treats" that you can indulge yourself with so you don't feel deprived.

And men should not have fewer than 1400-1500 calories.  See this Ask Mary article: http://caloriecount.about.com/minimum-number- calories-man-q13  If you walk every day, set your activity level to light and see what the calorie calculator says for your stats.  You want to aim for a deficit of about 500 calories, but no more than 1000.  I'd say that you are probably close to a 1000 calorie deficit, if not more.

The best way to "not fail" is to eat a reasonable amount and to allow yourself things you enjoy.  All things in moderation.  You should not ever feel deprived, because that will eventually break your will and you will binge, or "fall off the wagon".

You might consider adding some weight training to your exercise 2-3 times a week.  Muscle burns more calories than fat at rest, and looks leaner too.

Congratulations on your resolve to change your lifestyle.  Be sure to use Calorie Count's tools - I've found a great amount of help here.

"I assume that you are a guy because you have a wife. Of course my cousin has a wife and she is no dude, but I digress."  Just about shot my coffee out of my nose on that one madamq!

OP-I agree with the others.  You are not eating enough!  Use the tools, then get back her with a follow-up on your posts.  Great luck wishes to you!

Ok, I took everyone's advice and boosted my calories today to 1310 by adding a protein smoothie and eating a little more for dinner.   I still have room for about 200 more calories but I'm not hungry.

I usually only drink coffee all day, but I today I started drinking water too. Maybe this will help.

eDIT:  1391 total for today....Man it feels like I ate too much.  Howmany fat grams should I have? According to my analysis I have had 59.

Don't worry!   As your body will catch up soon and you will be wondering how you can make it on 1400 cals.  You WILL get hungrier.  Thats good - that is your metabolism stoking up. 

Do you exercise at all?  Walking is excellent for increasing your calorie burn and stoking the metabolic fires.  And of course excellent for over all health.  Even a half hour a day will make you feel so great if you are not exercising at all.

I work about 10 hours a day. When I get home I walk for 1/2 hr. I have been able to do this for the past two weeks. Some nights I cut wood for about 1 hr .

I home to get my walks up to 1 hr soon.

I swore of Mcdonald's and gave up my usual Sausage & egg biscuit and Hash browns for breakfast, and my usual 2 double cheeseburgers for lunch. I can honestly say that I feel better already and have a lot more energy.

Here are my stats for today

1391cal

3158cal

It really sounds like you are on the right track - good job!  I had a hard time keeping to a 1550 calorie diet, and I'm an average sized female.

The only thing that concerns me is the huge difference between what you are eating and what you are burning, a "deficit" in diet lingo.  You should be aiming for about a 500 difference, with a maximum of 1000 calories difference.  It looks like you are going to have over 1600 calories difference.  If it doesn't happen all the time, it is not a big deal, but you don't want to keep it up - that would be "crash" dieting, and you will end up losing muscle and possibly stop losing as your body begins to think it needs to "hold on" to its fat.

The other possibility is that you are overestimating your activities, which happens sometimes.

Oh, and the American Dietary Guidelines recommends 20-35% of your daily calories be from fat.  You can see your percentage if you click on the Analysis in the My Account tab.

Keep up your quest for health!

I was also thinking that I was oversetimating my calories.

I sit in an office for 10 hrs a day. According to the activity log

Calories burned with Sitting - Light = 163 calories per hour.  That come out to 1630 cal.

Calories burned with Walking 4.0 Mph, Level, Firm Surface, Very Brisk Pace = 544 calories per hour.    so for my 1/2 walk = 272

That totals out to 1902 per activities that I logged. The rest is what the program estimates, I assume. I am not sure how the BURN METER comes up with 3150 cal. I guess it adds the cal burned just existing, sleeping, showering...ect.  I don't have this figured out yet.

Your deficit (what you eat vs what you burn) is HUGE! You burn 3000+ cals but are only eating 1400 or so? Am I reading that right?

You're deficit should be a max 1000 (even that I think is too high and you'll probably burnout). Take it easy your weight will come off eventually.

What's with the Nov 1st deadline? Annivarsary? I hope your wife wants to lose weight with you...I would talk to her seriously about this and try to get her to support you. Not to offend anyone, what happens when you have this new found lifestyle and energy and your wife can't keep up? As her partner, are you going to be there for her after this weight comes off and she doesn't want to lose? Do you think she's protesting bc she doesn't want to seem insecure about her weight? Just curious.

OK, Harleyxx.  Let's see if we can figure this out. 

What activity level are you set at?  If you are set to sedentary, then you can add in your walk every day, but you would not need to add sitting (if you looked, it probably didn't really change your burn meter anyway).  If you are set to light activity level, you wouldn't add either, since it is taking into account a little bit of activity already.  You would add anything extra that you do, like the wood chopping you were talking about.  I would probably set you at sedentary for now, and add in any exercise you do, including the walking.

OK, I entered you into the burn meter, and at sedentary (basically sitting all day) it says you burn about 2370 calories a day without your walking.  At light activity (remember that INCLUDES your walking every day) it says you burn 2710.  So 3150 sounds a little high - not sure where that number came from. 

I still would up your calories to at least 1600.  Like I said previously, I'm an averaged sized, sedentary female except for workouts 3X a week, and I am eating between 1700-2000 calories a day and losing weight.