455 pounds and need real advice!

I weigh 455 pounds and I have just recently started a 1500 a day calorie diet. Will I lose weight this way? And how long to reach at least 225 ? And can I eat anything as long as I keep the calories under 1500 a day? Need answers!

Desprately dw

Welcome to Calorie-Count.  You will find this community very supportive.

Information to help get you started is located here:

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here:

http://www.calorie-count.com/forums/post/1730 4.html

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Here:

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Please post any questions, and again, welcome to the community.

Sheila

If you can, see a nutritionist. They can offer you personalized advice and keep track of your progress.

I started out eating what I wanted as long as it feel inside of my daily caloric allowance.  After a few weeks I started focusing on more healthful foods, lowering my sodium intake and so forth.  The concept of losing weight is fairly simple: eat less than you burn. 

My advice, just start by counting calories and add things from there.  Changing your lifestyle takes a long time and lots of small actions added together.  The good news is you are starting.  There is tons of information on nutrition and so forth on this website, look through it.

I would also advise that you go talk to your doctor.  You have a significant amount of weight to lose and there are other things you may need to consider/medical complications that could arise.

I started couting calories only a couple weeks ago, but at the same time I completely changed what I was eating each day. I ate the best tasting truly nutritious food I could find, and I was shocked that since I was willing to spend the time preparing my food, it was really easy for me to totally change my lifestyle overnight.

I also started exercising every day a couple months ago, by walking and spending a few minutes at a time on an elliptical. I managed to rupture two disks in my back by doing this, even though it was really low impact and low stress movement. Thus, I really have to echo what has been said - CHECK WITH YOUR DOCTOR PLEASE! - so that you can avoid injuring yourself like me. I am totally confident that I will recover from this, though I don't know how long it will take me; I am also confident that my calorie counting and change in eating habbits is permanent. When I am fully recovered from my current back problems, I will be healthier than I ever have been in my life and that really excites me! :)

Check with your doctor about both the diet and the exercise, and have hope! Also, eat really really good food (both healthy and delicious) so that you aren't depriving yourself; that way you can stick with it for the long haul (i.e. permanently).

jtflood, I agree with pozesara, and strongly suggest that you start out more slowly.  Remember, it's the tortoise that won the race, not the hare.

you need to eat much more calories than that.

first look at why you gained:

was it habits?
was it after you started a new medication?
do you have diabetes?

then naturally observe your way of eating and track it.
then you can start picking out stuff that is things you can do low fat on or things you can go sugar free on or things you can cut back on.

the first thing i did was switch to diet pop when i was obese.
not totally healthy. but it started me losing. and its better than drinking sugary pop.
and then i picked another bad or unhealthy habit to cut out once i got over being moody about giving up my real cola.

an easy diet cal count method to use is take you body weight times 10 and thats you calorie count.
so for you that would be 4500 cals.

i worked my boyfriend down from around 300 on 3000 cals per day when all other diets failed him.

and you are eating all day if you eat that much.
just when you go for junk food or something like that..
make a bowl of veggies first. it will make you eat less junk food and the fiber in the veggies will regulate you blood sugar leaving you feeling more satisfied and your body more likely to drop fat.

then when you get to a lower weight you may have to start the calorie counting.

but for now..take advantage of the ease of a higher calorie diet.
you dont want to drop too low because, it will stall you out, it will make you sick, and its a pain in the butt.
you body adjust to the calorie counts it gets so keep it high to up your metab.

you can lose 2 pounds per week without damaging your liver and kidneys.
and it is normal to stall up to 3 months on a diet. especially after you lost a lot.

jtflood I agree with antoinette you should try her advice if you are moving along then add 2 things a week to cut out or down etc.  Add exercise in right away too.  GOOD LUCK MY FINGERS ARE CROSSED!!  I'll check in with you again.  Stick around. 

Welcome!  You'll find all the tools you need, as sheilacc said, and all the support you want here.

Have you tried using the tools yet?  They will help you to determine your caloric needs.  I'm thinking that 1500 calories isn't going to be enough for you at first.  You may be surprised at how much you can actually eat and still lose weight.

I started out by logging all my food to see just how much I was eating.  The analysis tool enabled me to spot my problem areas (too much fat) and I was able to pick one eating habit I wanted to change.  I changed one thing at a time for a while and when I seriously began counting calories, it was much easier.  I've learned to set outcome based goals rather than numeric goals.  The first outcome I wanted was to be able to lose enough to sleep comfortably, and I achieved that.  Now I want to be more flexible and able to bend without getting short of breath.  I'm on my way to reaching that goal.  My ultimate goal is to be as healthy as possible for one my age.  It's really not all about weight loss.

Good Luck to you, and I hope we'll be seeing a lot of you!

I want to thank all of ya'll for the input. to answer some of the comments: i am not diabetic, my heart is strong i have had an exstensive workup done a couple weeks ago. my doctor has put me on a 2000 a day calorie diet, she also has put me on Fastin a diet pill. i really haven't felt bad since i started the diet, only one bowel movement though lol! I have adjusted pretty good to the 1500 but i want the ample modification so i can shed this dreadful weight. i weighed 158 pounds 12 years ago and all i want is to be 200-225 again. any advice from you is most appreciated. I lost maybe 15 pounds since march 1st and i have more energy and i am sleeping lots better and the major swelling in my feet and legs has dropped considerably. i am also on 2 different diuetics, my sugar stays normal, my cholesterol is normal. i am just a healthy fat guy i guess lol!! just kidding!  thanx again dw

If you cut your calories too much, it will slow or stall your weight loss. If your doctor recommended 2000 calories, you should be eating at least that many IMHO.

Yep, don't go with too low calories. You end up losing less weight if you're too low. Eat more, lose more. That's how human body works.

ok..get ready for TMI

hee hee

when you cant poop you are too low cal, possibly dehydrated

that always happens to me when i need to up my calories from eating every three hours (eating every three hours is a metab boost)

and with those diuretics im sure you are more likely to be dehydrated. have some gatorade and eat a couple cans of progresso soups to make it up to your 2000 your doc gave you.

it will hydrate you and get you metabolism working again and get you regular again.

The BM problem is possibly a side effect to the medication? Who really needs a "pill" anyway? It seems like you're on the right track. What's that thing supposed to do?

Congratulations on starting a new weight loss program!

As far as calories go, everybody burns a different amount of calories per day.  The larger you are, the more calories you need  for your body to work.  All you need is a calorie deficit to make weight loss work.  I don't know how tall you are, so I took some averages.   If you're a 5' 9" male at 455 pounds with a sedentary lifestyle, you body uses 4300 calories per day just to sustain itself.  So if you want to lose a pound a week, you should be able to consume 3800 calories per day.  To lose 2 pounds per week, you consume 3300 calories per day.  You're doctors 2000 calorie diet seems more than reasonable.

First, you body needs the calories. It works hard to carry around 455 pounds.   You need the energy!  Secondly, making the change to eating only 1500 calories is a huge change and extremely difficult to maintain over months & years.  Plus, while consuming less calories than you use is the key to weight loss, that by itself doesn't teach you good, healthful eating habits.  Without that, its virtually impossible to keep weight loss off.  That's why there is so much yo-yo dieting in our culture.  We know how to take it off, but we refuse to change our habits so it stays off.

If you want to take it off and keep it off, you might also want to try the South Beach Diet.  You'll learn good eating habits instead of just starving yourself.   I do both count calories & the SBD.  I saw more weight loss when I started the SBD than when I was just counting calories and I'm a lot less hungry!

Good luck and keep in touch on these boards!

im not a nutritionist or anything but i'll try to give you some tips because i've recently lost 41 pounds. alot of people may have already said these things - i havn't read their posts. but maybe i'll hit something they missed.

personally i think being at a weight as high as yours - you could start off eatting slightly more than 1500. your metabolism will slow as you loose weight so just as a suggestion you could start at maybe 1800 and work your way down to 1500 as you progress.

also - you technically COULD eat anything as long as you kept to you calorie restrictions. BUT- fat is harder to burn off than carbs or protine. so the less fat you consume the better. (you need a certain amount per day though so dont cut it out completly) also. if you ate 1500 calories at mcdonalds - thats only one meal there. and you would be hungry the rest of the day.

i would say good choices are meat like chicken and fish. lots of whole wheats, and veggies. and when you get hungry between meals snack on fruits :)

just as an example-  what i was eatting when i lost 41 pounds was usally cottage cheese and yogurt for breakfast, a toasted tomatoe sandwich and a salad for lunch. and then chicken and vegetables for supper.

i wish you the best of luck on reaching your goals. and if possible i would suggest seeing a nutritionist who can help you personally in reaching your diet goals :)

i really do appreciate all the feedback from all of you, i think xnicolemarie hit it on the head, i needed to know if i could eat what i wanted as long as i stay at 1500-1800 cals. i will try the friut thing a little more though. i haven't had a bowel movement  but once in 2 weeks and that kinda scares me, any advice or reason this could be?  thanx dw

I would take your dr's advice and stick to the 2000 range.  Your body burns nearly double that just laying around doing nothing.  Your weight is going to shed fast, and more so if you dont send your body into starvation mode.  Stick to what the dr says :)

Fruit can be fun!  Think of it as natures dessert <3 And vegetables are natures vitamins!  So a healthy combo of both is really going to help you out.

Yes, more water.. Yes more fiber :) and you're goin to do so great.  Make a profile so I can add you as a friend! :)

Welcome Jtflood!! Its great to have you.

Your inability to have a bowel movement may be a side effect of the diuretics or of Fastin. Fastin (phentermine) can cause a number of GI side effects. If it is something that is making you uncomfortable, I would talk to your doc about how you can adjust your diet or your dosage to minimize adverse effects.

It could also be dehydration, a low-cal diet, or a lack of fiber as everyone else has said.

Also, I wanted to post a link about Fastin here. Fastin must be prescribed by a physician.

For many calorie-count purists, diet pills are a no-no. Generally, I agree with this when discussing diet supplements. However, I think what we fail to realize is that there are indeed FDA-approved prescription diet aids out there that are accepted as safe, short-term jump starts for people that are significantly overweight.

Often times physicians will have patients try these pills just to get them on a road to a safer weight.

Dr. Oz also talks about this method (i don't know if he discusses this particular drug) in his book You on a Diet.

Just as an FYI (i smelled an anti-diet pill convo possibility)

Good luck!! Feel free to add me as a friend :)