It was this time a year ago I weighed in at 217. I set a goal to lose 50 pounds this year. Yesterday I went to the doctor and weighed 212.

I'm thinking I'm going to have to plan on losing 200 pounds this coming year.

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...setting a goal is the first step...devising a plan to reach that goal is the second step...what is your plan?...myfitnesspal.com ...worked for me...find what works...develop a plan and stick to it...YOU CAN DO THIS!!!!!!!....ps...i don't think you would look real great at a weight of twelve pounds.... ......

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This past year I started with calorie counting and then gave nutrisystem a try. Then toward the latter part of the year I tried a walking routine. All of them work, I've just not been diligent enough with it. I'll lose a few, and gain a few... up and down. My problem appears to be finding something I can stick with.

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...i very much understand...i have battled the fat all my life...i guess for me it just wasn't easy...and that is what i want...take a pill and lose the weight...what has worked for me is a total commitment to working out every day...believe me it is not easy...wifey thinks i am nuts (nothing new there)...i go to the gym six days a week (it is free for me) but don't give up your walking it works...commit yourself...YOU CAN DO THIS!!!!!.... .........

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Don't get discouraged. I have lost the same 10 pounds a 100 times this past year. It's better to have dieted and be 5 pounds lighter than last year than to not have and gain 20 or 30 which speaking from experience can happen

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Don't get discouraged. I have lost the same 10 pounds a 100 times this past year. It's better to have dieted and be 5 pounds lighter than last year than to not have and gain 20 or 30 which speaking from experience can happen

lol... your comment reminds me of a book my mother had on her bookshelf when I was a kid. The title was "How I lost 30,000 pounds." It made no sense to me at the time, now it makes perfect sense. And you're right, when I consider if I didn't diet where I'd be, it is good that I did what I did.

vanative, wish I could figure out how to do what I have to do when I don't want to do it, like you. For me, that's the difference.

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This last summer was the hardest time of my life. I was overweight, unhappy and actually got to the point that I began planning my suicide.
Through two very amazing people in my life, I came to a point when I decided to no quit, and commit to getting better. First up was my health.
I have lost over 60 lbs since September, without any gimmicks, pills, sprays or memberships. I'm not saying that everything works for everyone, but my approach was simple and realistic for me.
I just eat clean. I eat every two hours when I'm awake, drink water, avoid processed foods, and I exercise. I don't eat anything in particular, just keep it clean. I don't count calories, or use a point system. I eat until satisfied, but not full.

If you need any help, I'm more than willing to offer advice or share experiences. The first part is commitment!

More about how I did it can be found here as well as recipes and other stuff. I don't advocate any one particular diet, or approach, but I do advocate living healthy!!

thedolcedietlivinglean.co...

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"I eat every two hours when I'm awake, drink water, avoid processed foods and exercise"

...you avoid exercise but you are looking for running buddies...help me with this........

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Haha! I read it that way too vanative. I think maybe he missed a comma.

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I avoid processed foods.





I exercise.


Should have specified in a better way. Obviously if I have a marathon on March I don't avoid exercise.

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10 days ago the Doc told me I should lose 15 pounds. I'm down 4.6 pounds as of this morning!

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10 days ago the Doc told me I should lose 15 pounds. I'm down 4.6 pounds as of this morning!

...way to go!!!... ........

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I am no expert; I wanted to lose 20 lbs for 15+ years and never did. Always thoguht it was the sugars but then I had to go on a low fat diet in late July. (STRONG motivation: a small heart attack!! ACK!).

I watch the nutrition labels like a hawk and avoid the fats like crazy (especially trans and saturated fats). I work to keep the total fats and cholesterol intake to 1/2 or 2/3 of the recommended daily levels. Some examples:
- More fish and chicken less beef. All lean. (Some fishes are high in cholesterol so read up on them; ditto for shrimp.)
- Use 1% milk and thicken it with Fat Free Half & Half; tastes like the real McCoy.
- Snack more (but not exclusively) on veggies; apples, olives, pickles, celery and carrots gives me enough variety.
- I dont' worry over sugars or starches (though I may need to for the arteries). I don't worry about salts but if you have high blood pressure, you need to.
- Keep with cereals and oatmeal and such for breakfast.
- Avoid cheeses and only have an occasional low fat cheese.
- Avoid oils as much as I can; use olive oil.
- Limit second helping sizes.
- Dip my fork in salad dressing on the side to get a small amount and taste rather than putting it on the lettuce.
- Steamer packs of meal veggies to avoid oils and butters.
- Baked potatoes
- No packaged food systems; more regular exercise is on my list to do. (I physically work about 1/3 of the time with the rest in the office.)
- Very, very few hamburgers out; salad from Wendy's and McDonalds when we travel for work.
- Learned that 98% fat free bologna tastes just fine.
- Try a wide variety of low fat products; some taste awful but some are just fine

With this simple change, I was surprised: 10 lbs went off in a month. Another 4 in the next month. Now it is down to maybe a pound per month, for a loss of 18-20 lbs in 5 months from 170 lbs. I was surprised how easily that weight went away by focusing on fats. Now BMI is in the healthy range.

I never ate badly, just did not pay attention too much to fat & cholesterol intake. BMI was never way out of the healthy range but I'm impressed how much a low fat diet can help weight. I sure do miss french fries (I'll nibble on a few) and cheeses, but I just gotta do it. And I can sure taste the fats easily now.

Maybe if you pretend the personal stakes are high, it'll help the motivation. (And indeed the personal stakes may be high for you, but you just don't know it yet!)

Now, if I can swear off more of the sugars and starches.....

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Thanks for the suggestions Beachmark, but quite frankly, the more complicated it gets - the less likely I'm going to to rise to the challenge. I've been able to count and log calories - but that's about the extent of it.

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Aaaah... sorry, I did not think I was making it complicated, I thoguht I was making it easier by lisitng little things that my wife and I've figured out! Figuring out what to do as routine things that work seems like the challenge to me.

The big point was that it's surprising how readily attacking fat consumption alone made such a difference, 'specially since I was somewhat concious before about it..... which probably means that the approach of 'Somewhat Concious' doesn't do much to help lose weight. That seems to go along with your idea of 'planning to lose 200 lbs this year'....half measures don't work well. YMMV

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IMHO, what works for one person may not work for another. You need to find your motivation or success will be difficult. I did WW before in my 20's and easily lost my 10% and then gave it up because I didn't have a good enough reason to stay cause being thin/healthy just wasn't important. I have my motivation now and I've lost almost 70lbs in 10.5 months (2 months on my own watching portions & reducing fast food intake and 8.5 months on WW).

Congrats on the weight loss so far!

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IMHO, what works for one person may not work for another. You need to find your motivation or success will be difficult. I did WW before in my 20's and easily lost my 10% and then gave it up because I didn't have a good enough reason to stay cause being thin/healthy just wasn't important. I have my motivation now and I've lost almost 70lbs in 10.5 months (2 months on my own watching portions & reducing fast food intake and 8.5 months on WW).

Congrats on the weight loss so far!

I am so proud of your success 70 pounds is amazing! Keep up the good work.

I agree finding what works for you personally and finding your motivation is key.. If you are not fully into making a change, it won't happen. I too have gained and lost all year long, and I am so disappointed in myself.

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My biggest problem is that I really enjoy food and wine... I regained about 10 of the 30 I lost last year, but as long as I stay around 190 I'm pretty happy.

Set realistic goals - that's one of the keys.

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My biggest problem is that I really enjoy food and wine... I regained about 10 of the 30 I lost last year, but as long as I stay around 190 I'm pretty happy.

Set realistic goals - that's one of the keys.

I'm with you. Wine is full of empty calories. I've basically sworn it off for that reason. Only have one once in awhile. Now my scotch is a different story. Fortunately there are not as many calories in scotch!

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May not be any calories, but there's plenty of sugar in it.

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I can totally relate to the aiming for...my number is tooo big, so I've started setting smaller more manageable numbers for myself. First was 20 by Christmas...started it the end of October...made the goal (actually 22) javascript:emoticon('') before Christmas. Next is 10 more (for total of 30) by Valentines. I think if I have my goal and a reasonable deadline it will help. I think if I can keep the motivation and enjoy the benefit of eating different this is going to work.

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Driven...re your comment: "I avoid processed foods". Reminds me of a statement in a book I'm reading: "All the real food in a typical American grocery store can be found on the outer ring: fruits, vegetables, meats, fish, poultry and dairy"...."the interior aisles ...consist of food-shaped chemicals". I had never thought of it that way..this unappetizing statement makes the "center aisles" less appealing for me!

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That is exactly how I shop now...perimeter only if I can manage it. We try to spend the majority of our time and $$ in the produce department. I finally convinced my mother to start eating clean, and her fibromyalgia symptoms are lessening. It is incredible how much we don't realize our bodies are affected by what we eat!

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I heard a statement the other day that really hit home for me: if there's a commercial for it, don't eat it! I did Weight Watchers last year and lost 35 pounds on the program. I also started running for the first time in my life and realized I love it; it's my "me" time. My family is not at all picky and will eat whatever I prepare, so we now eat mainly "whole" foods; no processed junk. I try to stay as close to whole food as possible; I loosely follow the WW plan now but I do love my wine. I just exercise to make up those calories now! The biggest thing for me was to realize that I didn't gain those pounds overnight, and I wouldn't lose them overnight. It's a process!

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I've been sliding a little over the last few months, but getting back on track! I try to stick to non processed food, whole grains, veggies, fish and lean meats......basically a Mediterranean style diet. I also am an advocate of calorie tracking.

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