Morbidly Obese and Need to Lose Weight

[AnnieOnAMapleLeaf]

I am finally coming to the realization that if I do not do something about my weight now, it's quite likely that I will not live long enough to see my children graduate college/university.

I am currently 245lbs (17st 7lbs) and am 5ft3in. I have tried the GI diet, Atkins, low-carb, paleo, and MFP a million times. I am tired of feeling like a failure when I pack the weight back on so I do not want a gimmick diet. I need to just re-train the way I think about food.

I am moving on Aug 27th so I am thinking of starting on September 1st. Does anyone want to buddy up? Also, does anyone have any suggestions for apps to use or programs to follow?

Thanks.

Oh my go. My BMI is 43.39.

Try the Cambridge diet/Exante/Slim and Save (all versions of very low calorie diets).
I'm 5ft1 and stated on Exante weighing 13 stone three. Eight weeks later I've lost 2 and a half stone.

The first few days are hard going but once you're in ketosis you'll feel 'euphoric' and not hungry at all. It takes food out of the equation so you'll not have to constantly think about what you can/can't eat and plan meals.
The best bit is that weight loss is fast and it gives you that boost you need to keep going. I do manage the occasional meal out, e.g. at an Italian restaurant U had mozzarella and prosciutto with a green salad - as long as you stick to lean protein and salad you should still be able to stay in ketosis.

Thank you Signora, but I don't want a gimmick diet. I've looked at the options you listed and they all sound very gimmicky to me. I want to learn to eat better and make healthy choices - I don't think shakes etc can help me achieve that.

I use it along with MFP because I've been having one proper meal a day on it. Once the 12 weeks are over I'll start having two meals a day and gradually start to include healthy snacks whilst increasing my calorie intake. Using the app to plan meals (and poring over my SW recipe books) is actually educating me in healthy eating and have realised that this is it now - I'll have to continue this level of self control forever. So no, I don't consider it gimmicky, more a way of kick starting things.

I'm not morbidly obese but I do know that GPs often prescribe Very Low Calorie Diets (VLCDs) to very big people to start. I really strongly recommend that you enlist your doctor's help on this one, VLCD may well be the way to kick start your weight loss.

Wishing you all the luck in the world

Several of my friends have had success with slimming world - maybe worth a try.

I got a Fitbit as a present and have found it very helpful to keep monitoring where I'm up to, in conjunction with MFP. That and realising that small portions all the time is vital. Also, mindfulness - not eating in a daze but planning and thinking about it in advance.

Ok, that makes more sense to me Signora. Using it more as a kickstart and then transitioning into a more balanced diet.

Thank you confused. Unfortunately, my doctor's office is abysmal and they are currently booking appointments for early November. I would like to get started before then.

I would love to do Slimming World, but I am in Canada and I can't find any groups over here. I was considering doing Weight Watchers but have read some pretty bad reviews lately.

You can do slimming world online, don't know if that would be of help?

There's a British in Canada who runs a fab SW site - Slimming Eats. She does both UK and US versions of Sun counts

actually, I would disagree with those recommending the vlc diets. while they do work with some people, dropping down to circa 400 calories a day is so hard. in my albeit limited experience, people very successfully lose the weight but then don't follow the programme through to the end, and so don't learn better ways of eating and then it eventually piles back on and more.

Call me shallow but I would also worry about having skin left over having lost weight that quickly.

I am currently doing something called janeplan, there are other similar plans out there and effectively they send you all your meals and your plan each month and you add veggies, fruit and salad. so far it's going very well and the food has been pretty good and well balanced. Carbs are reduced but not eliminated and they average a loss of 12lb a month, with roughly 1200 calories a day. what I am finding so helpful is learning what a portion should look like and I haven't been hungry or lacking energy at all.

I would say it's not the cheapest option, but I think my relationship with food needs proper repair and therefore the cost is worth it.

While this will help me lots while I lose the weight, I am focusing on what I will do afterwards, as I am so aware that maintenance is a big issue. What I realised yesterday was that even as a teen, when I thought I was an okay weight/ size, I was always at the top end of my BMI. I don't think I've been in the middle of it since I was around 16, so over 20 years. This has made me adjust my target and does mean I may need to stay on the plan for longer.

I have 25 - 30 kilos to lose and would be happy to buddy up and support.

Sorry, just to add, I did seek advice from my gp first, as am bf a nearly 1 year old. This is why I have an extra meal (150 ish calories) a day, which still keeps me in ketosis, which I believe is up to 800 cals a day as long as your carbohydrate level is kept low.
She was quite positive about me doing it and said that it is useful for control freaks people who need to see the results in order to keep going. I'm also unable to go the gym/swim at the moment, which is very frustrating, so the only exercise I get is school and pre-school runs.
It was stressed that I need to think hard and examine my eating patterns during this process though. Am observing my stick thin French sil for ways of strategically avoiding food whilst talking about it constantly.

Annie I have recently started slimming world. My weight is almost as high as yours, but I am a bit taller so my BMI is a little lower.

I attend a group, but slimming world is available online. This is a sensible way of eating, and it has been emphasised it isn't a diet. You can eat unlimited lean meat, provided it is cooked in a low fat way, most (but not all) fruit and veg is free, but not cooked or processed fruit or juice.

I don't currently have an health issues, but I am setting myself up on so many fronts if I don't address this.

At the moment my husband is not getting involved, but making some adjustments when he cooks for me.

Annie - have you looked at the No S Diet? If you are looking for a non - gimmicky way to lose weight, then this may be it. It's not for fast weightloss, but it is doable long-term (unlike pretty much any other diet I've heard of ).

The rules:

No snacks
No sweets (i.e. any sugary stuff )
No seconds
Except on days beginning with S ( i.e weekends )

That's it. There's a website www.nosdiet.com with more details, a chat forum, success stories etc.

Start by keeping a food diary for a week. Then you can see where the problems are. Is it very large portions, poor choices of food, lots of snacking, alcohol, fizzy drinks? Just by keeping a diary of food intake can make you a bit more mindful of your eating habits, which is a good start.

I've never had any success with diets so I kept a food diary, bought some books on nutrition and started to 'fix' one meal a day. I started with my work lunches as that did not affect the reat of the family. When my healthy lunches became comfortable and normal I moved on to breakfast. That was a bit tricky to begin with because I got confused by the whole low-carb thing but I eventually worked out at good nutty museli or eggs are best for me.

Then I looked at the evening meals that me and my husband eat without the children. This was tricky too because he is over 6ft and very active but I worked out that it is all down to portion size. It took time but by increasing my veg I have managed to reduce my portion size without being hungry - I couldn't bear to be hungry before bed!

Meals with the kids are still not entirely sorted because they are still little (2 yrs and 4 yrs) so I am quite often rushed and more concerned about them than me. I still need to do more work in this area.

I have cut out all snacks (gradually as I found it hard to be hungry to begin with) and only drink water, tea or coffee during the day. I have cut down on alcohol and now buy some non - alcoholic beer for if I feel like a little drink on a week night. Still drink wine on a friday and if people come round for a meal!

I have gone from a size 16 to a size 10 and hopefully this time I can keep it off because I have changed my whole eating habits!

It did take me a while to work out whether carbs were good or bad, likewise fat and how much protein was good but I have decided that I like the approach that half the plate/daily meals should be veg with 1/4 carbs and 1/4 protein. Lean protein is good and keep high fat diary to a minimum.

Don't know whether that has helped....