Depressed, overweight and don't know what to do...

My name is Micki. I have been overweight all my life and I don't know what to do about it. I have hit the "40-year-old-mark" and I am just miserable. My mom had me on Weight Watchers when I was 12, I've tried just about every product out there, I did Atkins and gained double the weight back I lost every time.

I'm very confused now since nothing I do seems to work and I can't ever stick to anything for more than a few weeks. I get headaches if I don't eat and when I do eat, I feel like I'm adding on pounds with each bite.

I'm married, but I eat alone 6 out of 7 days a week because of our schedules, so I have no support. When I crave something, I just go out and get it. I don't exercise at all and when I try to do even the smallest amount, my body hurts so bad that I don't do it again for months.

Honestly, I'm at the end of my rope. No one's advice seems to be any good. No diet seems to work. To me "diet" is a nasty four-letter-word.
I have no will power to stop eating and I have no where else to turn to.

Can someone please help me? I seem to have forgotten what I should be eating and when. I hardly never cook because I get home from work late, so I normally grab some fast-food items for dinner. Is there something or some book that may have quick meal ideas or suggestions for someone like me? Like I said, I don't cook and the idea of preparing meals seems to me like I wouldn't be eating my last meal till after 8pm at night. Isn't that too late?

See? I really am confused.

Well, thanks for letting me vent a little. Wish I could vent more than words!

Oh my god. That night I was trying the fruit - I ate half a tangerine, an orange, and two apples, along with drinking 2 glasses of water. I had to go to the bathroom 3 times during the night!

Last night, I had an orange after my exercise routine, 16 oz of water during, and some more after. I only had to get up once, thankfully.

Meghan & the Zoo Crew
Equine and Pet Photography http://www.zoocrewphoto.com

Here are a few things that are working for me. I work from 5 p.m. to
1:30 a.m., so I get home at 2 a.m. The only food preparation I do is opening cans of cat food for my three furry friends.

The first thing I did in October when I started my new WOE was to stop eating at fast-food restaurants.

Many supermarket deli counters have prepared foods. I get nearly all my meals this way. The variety is great: There are always at least two grilled/poached/baked seafood; steamed veggies; grilled and baked chicken; wonderful salads in the spring and summer; homemade soups and casseroles in the fall and winter.

One has to be careful about portion control, though. I never get more than a four-ounce serving of anything.

Good luck!

Nope. It really doesn't. Adversity is part of life. We are guaranteed to face it. Any lifestyle change has got to take it into account.

The only thing I'll grant you is that it took some arguments between myself about making these lifestyle changes BEFORE I FULLY COMMITTED TO
IT. Willpower is when you're pulled in two directions and trying to bully yourself.

Igor, are you seriously still using willpower in maintenance? Are you
MAKING yourself exercise? Are you ARGUING with yourself about whether you ought to eat that cheesecake? Are you fighting yourself to keep from becoming fat again?

I have chosen to be a different person. I WANT to exercise. I occasionally eat the cheesecake but I truly don't want as big a piece as
I used to and I know that the calories are a treat rather than a staple. I KNOW this. There's no argument. Either I choose it (knowing the effect) or I pass it by. It's part of the landscape of my life. It's not willpower KEEPING me from getting fat, it's my preference!

I guess it's pertinant to point out that it has taken me 20 months to lose about 60 pounds so far. This is no crash diet involving deprivation. But I firmly believe that I'm going to be a long-term success because of the comprehensive changes I've made to my lifestyle.

So, I agree with Dr. Phil in this: use willpower if you want a crash diet to temporarily get down to a specific weight for a photo shoot or something. But change your mind about how you want to live and treat your body if you want to stop being fat gradually, eventually, for the rest of your life.

Consider yourself lucky!

Up here in a small town in North Dakota, most of the restaurants are fast food or not much better than fast food.

You might also look into ethnic restaurants... there could be some healthy and delicious choices there too. And many are happy to make stuff to go. You might even be able to call in an order, pick it up after work.

Yep. I have trouble with eating for entertainment some times too. The busier I keep, the less of a problem it is.

It also helps to keep good foods in the house and bad foods out.

Most of us here love food! Learn to love some of the healthier choices if you can! They are plenty loveable, believe me! Just had an after gym snack consisting of whole wheat couscous, grilled pineapple and onion and grilled chicken with salsa on top of it all.

God it was good!

The weight doesn't help. I get odd tingly feelings in one of my legs, rather uncomfortable. But I've noticed if I lose weight, it diminishes. Likewise, losing weight helps my ankles and feet out.

For now though, I live with a certain amount of pain if I exercise.
It's just the way it is. You aren't alone.

My realization that I HAD to lose weight was when I got up to 262 at
5'7"... I figured if I didn't, my ankles would have me in a wheelchair eventually. And I really don't want that.


Salads can be great for dinner! Make sure they have some protein in them.

I also like quick meals with my contact grill, grilled chicken or other meats can be yours in about 12-15 minutes, including warm up time for the grill.

Grill something in advance... and you've got your salad protein.

Books will be confusing, because each and every author is pressing some different diet.

As for eating right, it's simpler than you think. Go for the least processed foods and you'll be making a big start towards eating better. Shop the perimeter of the store (veggies, meats, fish, dairy, eggs...) instead of the interior (breads, candy, boxed dinners, chips, cookies, etc).

Eat bread, grains, potatoes, starches, etc... in moderation.

Don't short yourself until you are horribly hungry, if possible, eat a snack or meal before you shop.

Drink plenty of water! You may be getting the headaches you mentioned partly from dehydration. I get headaches if I don't drink enough. It helps keep you full and your body working good.

truthfully it all depends on who is answering the question. i would say it was a little of both! it was a good decision to give the piece away. noone can argue that. But it took willpower to actually give that piece that you thought enough about to actually wrap it up and take it with you. you most likely had every intention of eating it later.

so i would say both. it was a good decision to give the piece away. The good decision was made easier by strong willpower.

For me the stronger your willpower the easier it is to make good decisions. So if you have strong willpower you may not recognize that you are using it for easy decision.

LOL did you get all that? I think i just confused myself. LOL

IT WAS BOTH.

I'm 10 years younger than my husband. I refer to myself as his "trophy wife". (Yes, I'm his "first wife".)

You have to really want make a change and that means coming to grips with changing the way you programmed yourself to eat and the foods you eat. I recommend Dr. Phil's Ultimate Weight Solution book. It really helped me and others. You'll find some people against it but most haven't read it or don't care for the doctor for one reason or another.

I'm 39 and five months ago I weighed 300 pounds, today I'm 230. The weight is steadily coming off because I've made a drastic way in the way I'm eating. You need to eat vegetables, fruits, fish, turkey, things baked vs.
fried. Stop visiting the fast food joints and if you just must then get the healthy things like salad with low fat or fat free dressings. I stopped eating burgers, french fries, junk food in general. Every few weeks I treat myself to pizza from pizza hut with vegetables on it, but instead of eating the whole thing I eat maybe 3 or 4 pieces now.

I walk almost daily three to four miles and use a stairclimber that I have at home. I am feeling wonderful nowadays and I know you can to. You have to get real about wanting to change. You'll feel better, look better, and your family will appreciate it more. I'm hoping to get to 175 by my 40th birthday next June 30. Today when I weighed I realized I have lost 70 pounds since August 27. That's less than 5 months. The people here are great and you can tell them when your feeling down and they try to pick you up.

I'm not one to believe really in diets. I think there are good foods and bad foods. You eat the good foods in proper quantities and exercise and you'll get to a healthy you. SET A GOAL and GO FOR IT! Start out with a small one like maybe 10 pounds and when you reach it set another. BE
REALISTIC.

Good luck and post often. Let us know your start weight/current weight/goal weight and you height so we get a picture of where you stand.

Evening here... I think I did pretty good today, even though I had one major goof-up.

I had a plain bagel and cream cheese for breakfast, a can of soup for lunch, (and here's the goof...) a fish sandwhich right after that which when I ate it I was saying that I'm not going to have this again. LOL, ya right... NEVER again. The soup just wasn't enough to keep me away from the fish. I was in the Walmart and they have a Mc'Ds right there and... oh heck I'm making excuses for something I am trying so hard to avoid!

I'm arguing with myself over that one. Then, I didn't snack all afternoon and I walked for over an hour. (wearing the right shoes this time!)

For dinner, I baked a pork tenderloin on a rack, I also put a squash in the oven at the same time and I steamed some broccoli in the micro. I only had a small portion of the meat and mostly the veggies. (I put a tablespoon of margarine on the broccoli - I made over a pound of it!)
Then desert I had a sugar-free little cup of jello that only had 10 calories.

I feel fine now. Not hungry at all and I have so much food left over that I'll be having the same meal for dinner for at least 3 more days! (I also bought some frozen mixed veggies for when the other veggies run out.)

I really hate cooking such large amounts. They tend to go bad before I can get through it all. I don't have a freezer and I only have one of those little tiny effeciency apartment fridges (I think it's like only a
2 cubic footer) Nothing stays fresh in it for very long.

Do you think a small Foreman grill would be worthwile? Then I could buy less food at one time. But then again, I'd be in the grocery store more often which for me is not good. Too much bad food in there to look at.

I am serious here. I need this so badly. I really am not in this to get into regular clothes, even though that's a plus. I really want to climb the stairs of the lighthouse without taking an hour to do it. I want to feel good All the time. Right now, I'm always tired. I want to be able to go on the charity walks with my friends. I want to feel good about myself and not even think about fast food being a quick fix.

For the lunch part of my week next week, I bought fat-free cottage cheese, pears, apples and peanut butter. Probably mid-week, I'll go shopping again and buy salad fixings for the remainder of the lunches and I still have to decide what I'm going to make for dinner when the pork runs out.

I'm winging it right now till I find a book I can relate to, to help me get what I'm supposed to be eating as opposed to what I am craving. I'm going to the bookstore tomorrow! I hope I find something understandable to me.

At least it's better than KFC for dinner and McD's for lunch! I just need to keep this up more than one week. I'm going to have to plan my meals ahead, I think in order for this to work for me. If I don't know what I want to eat or what is available to have at home, that's when I resort to comfort fast food.

So, I guess I'll donate the ramen noodles and mac and cheese boxes to a food bank. Even though I've only made this effort for one day, I already don't think I'll be wanting to eat those.

I've read all of your conversation about willpower. I can have all the willpower in the world right now and come a few days later, I'm talking myself into something bad again. I really need to stress good foods and keep on that.

Something else I have a question about. Someone mentioned (I'm sorry I forget who I don't have all the posts open) that you need to balance carbs and protien. I though I should be eating more veggies than anything, a few fruits then small amounts of meat and least of all bread and grains. So, I should be eating carbs and bread and stuff like that?
Jeeze... Whole wheat bread? What about brown rice? I can't wait to get to that bookstore. There's just too much new information to learn about.

I think the most significant tip I got in learning to eat better was to balance protein with high fiber carbs in every meal. That means you put some tuna or grilled salmon or grilled chicken or maybe ham & boiled egg chunks on that salad. Another important point is to add some healthy fats to the salad, like some Toasted Sesame Oil or some nice vinegrette with good ingredients.

A healthy diet has a balance of good carbs, good fats and protein. The part I didn't understand (and consequently made me fat) was that the macronutrients really need to be fairly balanced in proportion of calories in order for me to feel sated, i.e., have enough energy to make it to my next planned meal without getting hungry.

In practice this means I have to really watch the carb calories to keep them below 45% of my calories each day. Carbs magically appear whenever you need an energy boost: proteins and healthy fats need a bit more planning.

A typical dinner at our house is some brown basmati rice cooked for 30 minutes on the stove-top, some grilled chicken cooked on the George
Foreman grill with some spices rubbed on, and some steamed veggies, possibly with a glass of wine.

Another frequent dinner (for warmer weather) is a big mixed green salad with cut up chicken or salmon or turkey on it.

A typical healthy breakfast for me is a bowl of oatmeal mixed with some protein powder and either peanut butter and raisins (if I'm using chocolate protein powder) or ground flaxseed and dehydrated blueberries if I'm using plain protein powder.

Another favorite breakfast is 1/2 of a 100% whole wheat bagel (Thomas's makes them) with some fat-free cream cheese on top and some lox.

A snack might be 1/2 cup fat-free cottage cheese (made from skim milk) and 1/2 small container of a diet yogurt.

I also use Myoplex shakes a lot for snacks.

It's really important to me that I plan my snacks. I eat 5x a day: at
7:30, at 11:30, around 3:30, around 7 pm and possibly a snack around 9 pm (more and more I skip that one.) Adding that 3:30 planned snack made a big difference in my ability not to stuff my face all evening craving energy.

You've got a backbone. You just need to change your mind about how you want to treat your body.

I just feel bad for those people saying they have to use willpower to turn down cheesecake all the time. I like cheesecake and I sometimes
HAVE cheesecake. But I know I can't eat it all day long because a.) my wallet can't afford that and b.) my body can't afford that. I don't feel BAD about not being able to afford it (in either sense), it's just a fact of life. If I bought all the cheesecake in the world I'd soon be bankrupt AND fat and I don't choose to live my life like that [anymore].

The point is that if you balance proteins with high-fiber carbs and a dollop of healthy fats then you will feel full and not have the urge to go buy a fish sandwich after eating your unfulfilling soup.

Choose high fiber carbs in small portions, i.e., 1/2 cup of brown rice (try the brown basmati, it's delicious) or 1/2 sweet potato. Try giving up potatoes and bread and pasta when you're trying to cut calories, not because carbs are "evil", but because they have too many calories for the amount they fill you up.

Get rid of margarine entirely unless it's one of those plant stanol ones to treat high cholesterol. Better is to spray some "I Can't Believe
It's Not Butter" spray on where you want the butter taste. Even better than THAT is to sprintz some seed or olive oil on foods. I love Eden
Foods Toasted Sesame Oil shaken onto things. Fats make you feel sated and give you a nice mouthfeel that make you glad to have eaten the veggies. Just be careful on how you use them. Avoid all saturated fats (from animal sources) and all trans-fats (margarines and shortenings) and you'll be fine and long as you are being gluttonous.

Now, about that fish sandwich. Bad. Very, very, very bad. In fact, it's probably the fattiest thing on the menu (and it's all the BAD fat.) Fish is normally very good for you, but when you deep fry it and serve it on a white-bread bun (with saturated-fat-goop they call cheese) then you've turned a perfectly good flounder into a disaster.

Much, much, much better are any of the chef salads they have with grilled (not breaded) chicken. Or just get a grilled chicken sandwich. At Wendy's you can get a plain baked potato and bowl of chili (that you pour on the baked potato) and you've got a not-heinous lunch.

My advice is to cut up some of that pork loin into chunks and mix it with some steamed veggies and a side of squash and reheat it in your microwave for lunch. No bread needed at all.

I don't recall mentioning this, but you ought to be drinking a lot of water. [I pause to down a glass, and so should you since you, at least, aren't typing as you read this!] You should be drinking so much water that you lose weight merely from the exercise you get running to the bathroom!

That's enough for now. Keep coming back (and start a new thread) and we'll all chime in with more tips.

Brilliant! What an excellent quote!

Ya know the book sounds good. And everything people have stated makes for good thought. But there is nothing anyone has stated from his book that hasnt been stated a thousand times at a thousand places that anyone can get for free. If the Book helps one to get on track with thier life, good for them. I am as happy for someone who loses weight from counting calories to using the latest fad diet. In 2 or so years i will bid my congrats to the people who lose weight with the newest trend of diets. Im sure there will be a new guru to lead the masses to thin and trim. Its a way of life. I choose to count calories as a means of losing and maintaining my weight. I used to use portion control until i realized it was nothing more than counting calories without counting them. Nothing gives me more CONTROL over portion control than counting those cals.

Boy, I agree with that. I feel in such control when I write down the calories of each thing that I eat. It has helped me get through many tough times. Even traveling, when I am stretching my calories,and splurging, it helps me to stay accountable to myself with everything that I eat.. Beverly B (300/161/???)

Dr. Phil also says that you have to make some fundamental changes in how you live and even think to lose weight and maintain the loss. Those changes aren't going to be easy and certainly not fun for most people.

Ahh, but that was my point. I can indeed exercise for 30 minutes straight without inducing an asthma attack. All I had to do was stay at my own level, instead of trying to match the lady on the video. By slowing down or doing a lesser version of the activity, I was able to get my heart rate up, keep moving, and do the 30 minutes without hurting myself. I did it last night. 35 minutes of aerobics, and 10 minutes of weights. I was hot, I was sweating, and I was thirsty. But my breathing was undercontrol ( a bit heavy at times), and I have no aches or pains today. I felt more energetic, and I will be doing another video in about an hour. I'm looking forward to it.

I'd agree with that. Back when she used to be on the radio, I couldn't stand her. I did listen a few times, and she does have some good points. You have to keep moving at whatever level you can - modify the exercises to your own level. And you gotta eat - you can't just drop too low and expect your metabolism to work. So, if you can get past her weirdness, she's pretty good. I like her videos because she shows examples of modification, and doesn't have you bouncing all over the place.

Yes, I have found it really works for me, and I was glad when I finally learned this. For years, I just couldn't see how I could exercise because I could never keep up with the videos. Right now, I can barely do any of the arm movements. For one, they make the exercise harder (that's the point), and two, I just get confused trying to do it all when I am not used to it. So, for the most part,I skip it. Sometimes, I just do it slower. As I get better, I will add it in more and more.

I am trying to get my mom to watch the videos. She has always been overweight, and everytime she has tried to exercise, she goes into it way too much, gets injured in the first week, then quits. She also has a medical problem with her feet, some kind of tumor/callous that causes continuos pain. She had them surgically removed a couple years ago, but they grew back. She stills has the painm but also has numbness in some areas now.

I am really worried about her health, and I have encouraged her to just start in a chair and do the arm part. Even that is a start, and if she builds some muscle in her arms, then that will start to increase her metabolism. Everyone has to start somewhere.

Meghan & the Zoo Crew
Equine and Pet Photography http://www.zoocrewphoto.com

I was in complete agrement with you, just supporting what you said. : )

I also prefer

Exactly.

Nope, it's not simple. With that said, quality is much more important than quantity. If you walk for 2 hours at say, 3 mph instead of running for 30 minutes at a high rate, the running is the much better choice. One doesn't have to workout for hours and hours and sometimes that's inadvisable. If one gets a shorter, more quality workout, that is better in the long run, from the majority of things I've read.

Add to that not everyone has 2 hours a day to work out so intensity does help make better use of your time. When you don't have time, studies are showing that you will benefit from shorter workouts that add up through the day (three 10 min sessions) as opposed to doing nothing. Running is not the only intense cardio a person can do.

Today was my long-slow run so I ran 9 3/4 mi in 97 minutes averaging 6 mph.
In that time I burned approximately 1200 cal though probably less because it wasn't that great of an aerobic effort for me, unlike sprinting. My heart rate was up, but only between 60-65% of max. If I had walked for 97 min, my pace would probably be 4 mph and I would have burned approx 630 cal and my heart rate would have barely been raised unless I was on a 12% incline and then that would again add intensity to the workout.

Do you mean just from the standpoint of weight loss? When I do cardio, I'm more interest in its effect on cardiovascular fitness -- i.e., the health and capacity of my heart and lungs. I find that pushing myself -- like when I run -- helps me build cardiovascular fitness, whereas I can walk all day long with no appreciable effect on it. For those for whom walking is a cardiovascular challenge, of course, it can have the same good effect.

Strictly from the weightloss standpoint, I don't think the comparison is a simple one. There's the basic computation of calories burned -- which is almost surely more for 2 hours walking than for 20 minutes running (unless one walks extremely slowly and/or runs extremely fast). But then I think more intense cardio activity also raises the metabolic rate for a longer time afterward, which benefits weight loss.

This is a very good point. I used to try and exercise, and I would get out of breath in 5 minutes and give up. I knew I was in poor condition, and needed to get going. But I also knew that as soon as my breathing would get out control, my asthma would kick in, and then I would be susceptible to asthma attacks for 5-7 days afterward (it always takes me awhile after a bad bout to feel normal again).

Later, I read Susan Powter's book, and she said something very important. Don't try to keep up with the videos. Set your own pace to your own level. If that means you go twice as slow and don't do the arm movements, then so what. Do as much as you can do without getting out of breath. If you are starting to gasp, cut back, but keep moving.

So, I started out again, this time, slowing myself down. I like to do step aerobics, so I when I start getting tired or out of breath, then
I take extre steps away from the stair so I am still moving, but not going up on the stair quite as often. If I am really tired, I will march in place for awhile. I found that I was able to make it through the full 30 minutes, and I felt great. And with each exercise session,
I was marching less and stepping more. I could feel the improvement even after only a few sessions.

The key is to start slow, keep moving and keep breathing. If you overdo yourself, you will quit.

One of the nice things about Susan's video was seeing a variety of people doing the same basic exercise, but at completely different levels of difficulty. Some people using weights, some people not doing arm movements at all. Some people using tall stairs, some medium, some low, some none at all. Somewhere in that room was somebody doing it at about the same level as the viewer. She showed how to make it easier and how to make it harder, according to your own level.

And that, to me, is one of the most important keys to exercising. Too many people start out with enthusiasm and start out too hard. They get injured or tired, so they quit. The important part to exercise is to get the heart rate up for a sustained time. So whatever level of exercise does that for you is enough for the cardivascualar aspect of it. And the more you condition yourself, the more you can do.

Meghan & the Zoo Crew
Equine and Pet Photography http://www.zoocrewphoto.com

im really not sure why but when i read that sentence for some reason i just wanted to get up and run and yell and lift weights and ahhhhhhhhhhh. i felt sooooo much energy just in that little sentence. kinda freaked me out.

thanks for the boost!!

Ditto. I'm going to continue to keep my spreadsheet with my daily calorie count. I did drop the columns for protein, carb and fat grams because I discovered that if I eat healthy that I really don't need to track them.
But I did that back on January 1st when I started a new sheet for the month, and not because of what I read in Dr. Phil's book.

Bake a small potato in the microwave, defrost some frozen veggies in a steam basket in a pot with an inch or so of boiling water and bake a piece of fish (or chicken) or broil a small steak (5 oz or less) or pork chop in the oven.
Start the oven first though. You should be eating in less than 30 minutes.

One fundamental difference in the way Igor and I think is that I don't believe you need willpower to lose weight. In fact, I don't think you can succeed by using willpower. If you need willpower the battle is already lost.

That's because willpower means you are divided internally. Part of you wants to lose fat but the other part of you wants that cheeseburger.
You can't lose weight until you're totally on board with your new decision and you don't want that cheeseburger because you want to lose fat and eating the cheeseburger won't get you what you want.

For me it was important to realize that eating for entertainment wasn't a kind thing to do to myself - I was fat. It was better for me to get my entertainment in other ways than the mouth-feel of food eaten purely for fun rather than to fuel my body.

I really don't know if the OP can hear any of this. That post was so defeatist that I assume she just came here for us to say the following:

"There, there, sweetie, it's okay to be fat. It's just too HARD to change!"

Dally, transformation available at www.BFLtracker.com (look for Dally)

A lot of books are on tape now. You might find it that way.

Or just get some nice videos. I like the Susan Powter tapes. She has some sensible stuff when it comes to changing the lifestyle and exercising.

I was rather disappointed to see her selling supplements now. But her books and videos are still good.

Meghan & the Zoo Crew
Equine and Pet Photography http://www.zoocrewphoto.com

I am 5'9+" and I weighed 324 lbs 5 years ago... which is pretty equivalent to what you weigh at your height. Anyway, I was miserable, wore 30/32, could barely walk. I couldn't sit in many chairs or airplane seats. I got divorced and lost about 100 of those lbs (actually 350 of those lbs if you count my ex!), but got overconfident and gained 60 of them back over 3-4 years.

I found myself at 284 in August 2003. It finally clicked with me that I have to do something to stop the roller coaster and finally find a healthy way of life (WOL) or else I wouldn't make it to 40. I went on a very low calorie (600 calories a day) liquid/soup/bar program called HMR for 3-4 months and started excising 3x a week at Curves. I lost about 50 lbs during that time. The diet I was on and Curves gave me the jump start I needed.

For the past 2 months or so, I've been eating healthy foods. I keep an excel spreadsheet/journal daily calculating how much I eat. I aim for 10-12 glasses of water, 5 fruits/Veggies a day, 100 grams of protein, 30 grams of fiber, etc. daily. I keep my calories between 1200 - 1400, which many of the people in here will consider too low, but works for me thus far. I also joined a "real" health club and started working out with a trainer, working out with weights and on cardio machines 5x a week. I've also lost an additional 20 lbs this way.

For the first time in my life what I need to do to stay healthy has finally
*clicked*. I don't have to go on a crazy diet. There are no excuses I could really make and forget the fact that I would die if I kept getting heavier. I just had to adjust what I eat, how much I eat and add exercise.

I still eat eggs, light bread, cheese, steak, lean hamburgers grilled here on light bread, a lot of veggies, yogurt, fruit, etc.... there is a ton you can eat!

I go to the store and plan my weekly menu. I will pre-cook large portions and split them up into smaller meals in tuperware. For those busy days, I just reheat in micro and I am eating a healthy meal.

For breakfast, I either eat 2 medium fried eggs on 2 pieces of low calorie bread and 2 pieces of ff cheese and a piece of fruit OR a cup of ff plain yogurt, bran buds and fruit. These breakfasts are quite filling and healthy.

For lunch, I usually get take out at a local restaurant and order grilled chicken with steamed veggies or a salad with oil and vinegar. Sometimes, I go to boston market and get 1/4 chicken (remove skin) and 2 sides of steamed veggies... according to the website, the calories are about 260 for that meal. I throw away the corn bread.

For dinner, I usually eat a small steak, grilled chicken, small hamburger, etc.... and always at least 2 servings of veggies.

I eat 2-3 snacks a day and usually eat a piece of fruit, serving of raw veggies (mini carrots, sliced peppers, sugar snap peas, cukes) or 1-2 cups of healthy choice popcorn.

Wow I wrote a long email... didn't know I had it in me! Anyway, best wishes and post often!

Adela

I know it's hard, but do keep trying. It will, eventually, get easier.
I have trouble walking too. Years of ankle injuries mean that it is painful and very, for me to walk very far. Yet, getting the weight OFF my ankles will help them.

Stick around.

And look into Subway as an occasional fast food fix. It's gonna be better for the most part than McD's and Wendy's. But even McD's has some chicken salads that probably aren't too bad. And I suspect
Wendy's has some choices there as well.

No, that's what people do who haven't decided that losing fat is more important than eating everything. They haven't chosen to do it so they don't.

Huh? Do you use willpower to avoid shoplifting? Do you use willpower to keep from beating your son to death?

Sorry to hear that you need to force yourself. I keep hoping you'll just choose to do it because you choose to do it, not because Evil Igor is standing over you with a whip.

Nope, she's just changed her lifestyle to be in line with her beliefs, goals and values. She chooses to walk the same way you choose not to slap your son; because you don't choose to be the kind of person who would do that.

And every single one of those 98% weren't you. They weren't me, either.

Fact is, I've lost nearly 60 pounds so far since I changed my life. I transformed my life into that of a healthy woman's: I eat like one, I move like one. I'm not yet as fit as I intend to be, but I'm getting there inexorably just because I eat and move like I already am.

This isn't a diet, this is changing some non-functional behavior.

I truly don't believe all those 09% statistics. They didn't ask me, they didn't ask Jenn, they didn't ask Barbara or Carol or Jayjay or Det or any of the many, many others here who have lost a lot of weight and kept it off by changing the behaviors that made them fat.

People can change behavior. Think how many stop smoking. It's possible if you choose to do it.