Need some weight loss advise (for people who are obese)

I am wanting to loose 100lbs. I gained it all because I was put on a medication that made me gain that much... anyway... I need some adivce on how to maintain a loss of 2-5 lbs a week or more. I am counting my calories, and light exercise (I tend to be in a lot of pain). I am hoping to find someone who is in my situation that has some good advice!!! Thanks!!

I wanted to wish you well and hope you're successful.   A good tip is  to aim for no more than 1% of your body-weight departing each week.  Hoping you meant 2.5lbs a week rather than 2 - 5lbs....

Realistically, when you've got 100lbs lose its going to take some time.  So my other tip would be to make sure that the food you're calorie-counting is also enjoyable and interesting.   We can put up with a lot to lose weight but when you're in it for the long-haul it pays to make it pleasurable.   Then you look forward to each day rather than dreading it.   Same with the exercise... do as much as you feel capable of, try new things to keep it interesting and make it something you like doing.  Then you'll keep going quite happily.

Very best of luck

I completely agree with you! I have been getting recipes from different sites including this site... they all have been really good, and I treat myslef to lean wings every other Friday. Thanks for the help!

First of all, congrats on your decision to lose the weight!  That's an important first step!  Second, you have definitely come to the right place!  You'll find all the help you need to make your journey a successful one if you buckle down and do the work!  I have some suggestions for you if you are interested.

1.  I cannot overemphasize the importance of drinking lots and lots of water!  Not only is it really good for you but it also helps to keep you full when you're tempted to overeat.  It's not that hard to do either.  Before I started on this journey I didn't drink hardly any water and would have told you I didn't like it.  What I did was to force myself to drink it at first and now six months later I'm drinking it all the time.  Of course the exercise helps because it gives you the kind of thirst only water can quench.

2.  Make sure you get exercise!  Start out slowly if you have to!  I started out by walking for a half hour and gradually started a little jogging.  No I can run on the treadmill, although for some reason I'm finding it difficult to run on ground.  I highly recommend the Couch to 5k program.  It is designed to have you able to run 5k in 9 weeks but you can go at your own pace and redo weeks if you need to.  I plan to redo the program outside when the weather warms up as I would like to do a 5K for Crohn's Disease next year.  My MIL had it for years so it's a cause that's near and dear to my heart.

3.  I also recommend that you find a variety of foods that you like so that you don't get bored, and remember there are no "forbidden foods."  If you really really want that hot fudge sundae, go ahead and have it, just plan for it.  Make sure you plan in cheat days and maintenance days too.  Those will keep you sane!  Don't beat yourself up if you overeat for a day.  You will get back on track!  This has kept me going for 7 months now when every other program I have tried never lasted more then a month or two.

That's all I've got for now, but I'll let you know if I remember something else!  There's always someone around to answer questions so feel free to ask!  Oh and one other thing.  Make sure you utilize all of the free tools on the site!  I have found all of them to be extremely valuable!  Take care!

Pam

:) My advice comes from personal experience. Only do what you are comfortable doing. I've lost 175 pounds and have been maintaining that loss for just over a year (yay me!) and it really comes down to portion control. I know some people won't agree with me, but losing weight is 90% diet and 10% exercise.

Lots of water really does help. Lots of sleep also helps! Don't stress so much, and don't be surprised if you are eating flawlessly and the scale jumps up. We are human, and our weights fluctuate all day long.

It's a LOT to learn. I mean, 3 years later here and I'm still learning so much. It really starts out with reading the back of boxes, and eating what you enjoy eating. Try eating most of your food from the produce section of the grocery store. If you can't have it in the house without eating the entire box, then don't buy it. It's not worth buying it :) Mine OFF LIMIT foods are sugary cereal and ice cream.

From the looks of it, you seem to be doing things right. Counting calories and light exercise. Stick with it, but if you ever have a struggle, or need someone to talk to, you can PM me any time. I know what it's like to be overwhelmed and frusterated. 100 pounds IS a lot, but you have to focus on 10lbs at a time. Slow and steady. This is a lifestyle change.

 Actually, it's all in the diet - exercise can help the process along, but absolutely nothing worth noticing happens without dietary intervention. Your results are entirely and utterly controlled by your food intake, so the trick to making your journey enjoyable is to only do the exercise that involves tolerable levels of pain and let the diet take care of the weight loss.

 (There is no difference between burning off 500 calories through exercise and not eating them in the first place. But eating 1900 calories is a lot more miserable than eating 2400, so even if the deficit and the weight loss is technically the same the process itself is more enjoyable with some exercise involved. Well, if you add strength training to the mix you preserve lean mass and make moving around easier, and the quality of weight loss shifts from 50/50 muscle/fat to 99/1 fat/muscle, but you'll lose the same weight with the same calorie deficit. Personally I think losing lean mass is bad, but your mileage may vary. )

 And I would caution against running - more than 50-75lbs overweight plus running equals permanent joint injuries and potentially exercise-induced arthritis and bone spurs for most people. (It's not automatic, but statistically speaking the rate of injury is several orders of magnitude higher than what I consider acceptable.) If you can, find a water aerobics class - the water will support you and cushion your joints against impact, so you can safely perform exercises that would be an open invitation to permanent disability on land. Or take up spinning or the elliptical, anything that does not involve repeated foot strikes against a hard surface will do.

 Oh, and look for fun in your workouts - since results are mostly your diet anyway, you may as well have fun along the way.

If you are experiencing pain while exercising, I would definaltely stay away from those types. Burning muscles is one thing, but aching joints shouldn't happen. If you have some extra cash, I would speak to a trainer or nutritionist about exercises appropriate for your situation.

For me, the recumbent bike was my favorite form of exercise. I also bought a medicine ball that I used for sit ups and core exercises.

I know that exercise is not necessary for weight loss, but I also know that it IS necessary for maintaining your weight (if you want to remain sane). After I lost 175 pounds, my new 120 pound body has to maintain its size eating 1600 calories. Pretty little. So with burning an extra 400 at the gym, I can at least eat like a 'normal' person :)

What medication made you gain 100 pounds?

I also recommend finding good healthy food that you really like - don't eliminate everything you enjoy from your diet, just modify it a little to make it more healthy. You want a burger ... make a veggie burger at home on a whole wheat bun with low fat cheese. Feel like fries? Try edamame tossed with a small amount of olive oil and sea salt. I often see on here someone asking if they can eat their 1600 calories all in chocolate cake, and while a calorie is a calorie and it's ok for a special occasion you want to start feeding your body what it wants and needs, that way you won't be craving the chocolate cake every day! Eat good whole foods, and don't starve yourself. I find that if I'm excercising I need a good 1800 calories to stay satisfied, if I cut back to 1500 I'll get too hungry and that's when I'll go eat a big pizza! Don't make it harder than it needs to be, just be patient.

Oh, and one more thing - you mentioned that you're often in pain. Talk to your Dr. about exercise and if you have the go ahead I'd suggest trying to incorporate something, it's well know that if someone is in pain getting their body moving often makes the pain subside. It's a little counter intuitive, but I've lived through some pretty major back injuries and it hurt more if I stayed on the couch than if I got up and started walking.

Good luck!

Hi! I'm 21, 221 pounds and 5'6. This is actually for x17star17x. That is amazing that you lost 175 pounds! Congrats! I'm in the process of trying to lose 80 pounds so that really caught my eye. I exercise everyday for at least 35 minutes and I've just recently started counting calories (I actually really love it)! Any advice you could give me to help me a long the way would be appreciated!

First of all I would like to thank everyone for your advice!!! I am taking it all in!!! They are all very helpful!!! I will be trying to buckle down a little more this week... I am actually trying to move my calorie count from 2000 to 1500. I wont starve myself, just eating a lot of things that are low calorie... I have actually at one point in my life ate only 1000 calories but I ate a lot of watermelon and well that is a lot of water in itself!!!

The medication I was taking that made me gain so much weight was Resperidal. Almost within a month I gained 20-30 pounds. It was so aweful. When I finally got a doctore to put me on something else and take me off the med I was on... I was so happy and knew I could loose the weight... I have done it before and I knew I could do it again. It will just take me being tough on my eating habits.... and I tend to be that way... plus my mother in law is doing the diet with me... so during the day not only am I counting my calories but I also do the same for her... and she is doing very well as well... but needless to say she doesn't need to loose as much as I do, but it helps me stay hopeful!!

Once again thanks so much for all of your help!!! It has made me want to do more!!!

Ok, I wasn't going to say anything, considering all the other advice you've gotten.  But your comment about getting from 2000 to 1500 raised a flag with me.  PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do NOT cut your calories down too drastically right off the bat.  Honestly, it's just begging to fail when your body gets so hungry it can't take it anymore.

I know that you want the weight gone fast, but it simply doesn't work successfully that way.  Use the tools here on the website to find out what you should be eating based on height, weight and activity level.  These will change as you lose weight, but give you a good basis to SAFELY and effectively lose the pounds and keep them off.  I know it will seem slow, but in then end, you will be happier every day not starving yourself.

I am not gonna drop my calorie count just yet. I want to wait until about a month or so... by then I will have been on 2000 calories for 3-4 months. I am not worried about doing it because right now I have 2000 and I actually get to 1500 without even trying... I don't eat the full 2000.  But thanks for the advice.. I know I shouldn't drop it so drastically but I am not going to do until for a little while. I want to see how the 2000 does for now... but I will have "cheat days" like I do now with the 1500.

Original Post by melkor:

 And I would caution against running - more than 50-75lbs overweight plus running equals permanent joint injuries and potentially exercise-induced arthritis and bone spurs for most people. 

HOLY CRAP!!! That's what happened! I was 100 pounds overweight when I started running on the treadmill, and I got bone spurs! ****!!! -angry that melkor wasn't around to tell me this three years ago-

-pout- :(

Not just running... my wife was doing step aerobics when she was around 50-60lbs over and ended up with what is now stage 3 osteoarthritis in her left knee, stage 2 in her right.

She's already had to get her left knee debrided, it was in a constant state of crunch and grind and corresponding pain. Probably something that will stick with her 'til her end of days, sadly. Glucosamine and condroitin seem to help somewhat.

So be warned... high impact activity when you're overweight can be hazardous to your health. If you really want to get into jogging and whatnot, drop some of the extra baggage with low/zero impact aerobic exercise and diet moderation.

Wow!!! So many injuries when exercising and being over weight... I will take in all the information!!! I will walk and wait until I drop a lot to do more....