Anonymous wrote:Wow that is amazing!

I have some suggestions for weekends.

1. Weather permitting go do something that requires walking all day like going through all the museums downtown and choose a farther away metro stop or parking area so you have to keep walking. Drink lots of water. You'll avoid eating because the food around the mall is crappy and the lines are long. You won't feel like you are exercising but you'll get a lot of exercise in.

2. Yard work if you have a hard. You would be surprised how much exercise and time you can kill doing yard work.

3. Closet cleaning - embrace the weight loss to declutter. I tend to hold onto clothes that are too big but I put them all in sealed plastic containers in the attic or basement.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's great OP! Hope your post inspire more people to take action. I saw several posts a while back which eventually gave me the drive to lose weight.

I'm curious, what made you decide to finally do something?

Op here- Thank you so much and I’m sorry everyone for all the typos! I was crying as I was typing because a year ago I never thought this would be possible.

I wish I could say a type 2 diabetes diagnosis (6 years ago) or my 205/148 blood pressure, stage 3 hypertension (3 years ago) inspired me to change. But even after those health issues, I kept on eating the food. What finally made me change was not fitting into an airplane seat. The seat belt still fit (thankfully) but I didn’t want to be in anyone’s space so I tried to make myself so much the entire flight. For 17 hours. I love to travel and finally I was too big to do what I loved the most. It took me a couple more trips with uncomfortable flights to make the changes I needed. I always say that travel saved me

I’m now off the blood pressure and diabetes medication. That happened last week at my annual physical- another huge milestone.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is terrific! Your hard work is showing! Keep adding those gorillas to your wall. I love that.

You just made me tear up again, thank you so much everyone.

I really hope someone will read my message and feel like they can do it, too. When I was 275 it just felt hopeless, I didn’t know how I’d ever lose all that weight. So I started with small goals. My first goal was 261 (5% of my body weight) because 247 (10%) just felt overwhelming.

Then there were other goals, like being able to go up stairs without feeling like I was going to pass out or need to stop halfway. Weight watchers taught me about non-scale victories which really kept me going because some weeks I didn’t lose weight and other weeks my weight went up. Little things like eating one piece of pie instead of 2 for thanksgiving- like the old days. Buying a belt for the first time in 10 years, because while the scale hadn’t moved that week my pants were falling down. Being able to shop in the regular department at Macy’s. Moving up from 1mph to 3pmh on my treadmill. I wrote all my non-scale victories on a big piece of paper and kept it on the fridge to remind me of the better choices I was making, to show me even if the scale didn’t move that week I was making progress. Something to look at when I was sad or lonely and missed my old friend, food. Food was this constant companion and it was so hard to give up that comfort, but I found other ways to comfort myself. I started reading more and I got a dog. I bought really beautiful dishes and tapas plates, so my healthy meal prepped food always looked so pretty and delicious. I stopped eating in front of the TV because it was so nice having a tapas spread of colourful plates on the dining room table for meals. Just little things like that, but over time they all added up to a new way of life and a new relationship with food.

Thanks so much for letting me share!

Anonymous wrote:I’m a woman who has struggled with my weight for years. At my highest I weighted 275 pounds. Today I stepped on the scale and I was 199. I’m 5’8, so yes that is still very big but now I’m in a size 12 jeans and XL top. No more plus sizes. I cried when I saw 199 this morning. I just wanted to tell others there is hope. When you’re morbidly obese, you kind of lose hope and feel like you’ll never change and it’s overwhelming to think you need to lose 125 pounds. Now I only need to lose 50. More than way there. If you’re just starting out where I was, I’m going to share what worked for me.

1) weight watchers. I can’t stress this enough. My doctor wanted me to do weight loss surgery, I said no. With weightwatchers I eat ANYTHING I WANT but track the points. And I eat every last point. Some people think if you eat all the points you won’t lose, but I don’t miss any meals.

2) change. I had to change my routine. I’m an emotional eater so I used to eat nonstop once I got home from work until I went to bed. So at first I literally went to bed at 8pm to stop myself from eating. Once I lost a little weight and felt more mobile I bought a treadmill. I started walking 1mile per hour. Yes, 1 mild. Then 1.5, then 2, and so on. I walk for an hour at a slow pace every night and watch a movie on Netflix. Now I walk 3mph, which is still slow, but I’m moving. When I’m on the treadmill, I’m not eating. I started making jewellery. Weekends are so hard and I’d graze and binge all day. When my hands were busy with bead and wire, I wasn’t eating. I started organising. Doing home projects. Anything to keep move moving and distracted from food.

3) snack plate. I decided I couldn’t give everything up at once. So I allowed myself a snack plate every night. I bought a tapas serving plate and whatever fit on it, I could eat. Some healthy, some not as healthy. But I stuck to my portions. Every month I’d reduce the portions or change to healthier options. Now my tapas plate is fruits and veggies and lean proteins, plus a treat. I allow myself dessert every night.

4) goal. I made a goal to travel somewhere I had to be fit to enjoy the trip. This summer I’m going gorilla trekking in Africa. Every day I work towards that goal. I put pictures of gorillas on the wall in front of my treadmill.

5) be kind to myself. I’m not perfect. I’ll have days where I’ll slip. That’s okay.at first it was one good day, three bad. But I kept going. Then it was once a week. Now it’s once a month and that’s okay. I just kept it moving.

6) slow and steady. It’s taken me a year to lose 75 pounds. That’s okay. I needed to learn new ways to cook and cope with life without food. All the fad diets and pills don’t work. You have to change your life completely.

7) meal prep. In the beginning I prepped whatever I wanted. Healthy or not, as long as it was portion controlled and on my menu for the day, I could have it. I eat 3 meals, 2 snacks. Sometimes 3. As long as it’s prepped, I can eat it. As time went on, my prepping became healthier. I started mixing sour cream with Greek yogurt, then little by little I just used Greek yogurt instead. Little changes. From full fat to lighter mayo. Step by step. It was too overwhelming to change everything at once. I also didn’t know what a healthy menu looked like. Now I have 8 weeks worth of meals I rotate. I meal prep wed & sat.

8) be prepared. I always have frozen soup or food in my freezer so I don’t get into a situation where I’m sick or didn’t prep and end up ordering a pizza. I always leave the house with a granola bar. Before I go to bed, I make sure my food is all ready to go for the next day.

Those are just some little things that have helped me. When you have 100+ pounds to lose, it just feels so impossible, so I hope that somewhere out there who needs to hear this reads this message. I’m still working every day. I still have 51 pounds to go. But it’s possible- you can do it too.