I have hit rock bottom

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

Both literally and figuratively. Last night I broke our bed, not from some acrobatic act that would be an award winning post in the future The Bedroom forum, rather the wood gave out from the strain of dealing with my enormous girth.

This morning I got on the scale for the first time in a long time and checked in at 311.8, the heaviest I have ever been in my life. I am very depressed. I have tried diets with success, and then regain all the weight plus more. Over the last 5 years I have lost 30+ pounds 4 times, I just keep getting bigger. I need a lifestyle change, and I don’t really know how to do it. I can’t just do something like Nutrisystem or Dr. Ian Smith’s Fat Smash Diet, they are fantastic until I attempt to re-enter the world.

I need help and I don’t know what to do. There are many here that lead as or more hectic lives than myself, so I don’t want to make up any excuses. I want to change, I need to change. I feel like a giant (literal) loser today.

[DU Ute]

I'm in the same boat (I think I weigh about the same, once you account for beard weight) don't feel bad. It's harder to get active with winter coming on, we should start something motivational on here to help the girth impaired members of CUF have a good winter

[Goatnapper'96]

I still think you both got nice asses! I just wanna wack em with a car antenna.........

[landpoke]

Both literally and figuratively. Last night I broke our bed, not from some acrobatic act that would be an award winning post in the future The Bedroom forum, rather the wood gave out from the strain of dealing with my enormous girth.

This morning I got on the scale for the first time in a long time and checked in at 311.8, the heaviest I have ever been in my life. I am very depressed. I have tried diets with success, and then regain all the weight plus more. Over the last 5 years I have lost 30+ pounds 4 times, I just keep getting bigger. I need a lifestyle change, and I don’t really know how to do it. I can’t just do something like Nutrisystem or Dr. Ian Smith’s Fat Smash Diet, they are fantastic until I attempt to re-enter the world.

I need help and I don’t know what to do. There are many here that lead as or more hectic lives than myself, so I don’t want to make up any excuses. I want to change, I need to change. I feel like a giant (literal) loser today.

I'd tell you to lay off the beer and drink more whiskey (less carbs) but I suspect that's not the issue.

[falafel]

This thread needs more promotion. There are definitely plenty of people on this board that can help you guys. I wish I were the one. Lots of good examples here though. This thread just needs more looks!

[Donuthole]

Should we work out before (or after) our upcoming round(s) of golf? I've got some guest passes to 24 hour.

[RC Vikings]

HFN I think the key is to eliminate those foods that are empty calories, soda, candy, donuts, late night ice cream and then get out and sweat every day. Break up what you do for a work out routine so you don't get bored with it but make sure you do something every day. I always feel like eating more healthy when I'm active. Good luck.

[happyone]

About 4 years ago I was in the same boat as you gentlemen. My entire adult life, I've been "heavy". It took me stepping on the scale one morning and it reading 300lbs (I'm 5'7") to get me to start doing something. The first thing I did was start walking and doing "Push away" exercises. Push away exercise are grasping the edge of the table firmly and extending the arms after one helping. When I first started walking I walked after dark because I was embarrassed to be seen at exercising at that size. I also could barely walk a mile in 20 minutes. I started walking every other night and as I reached certain goals I would increase either the distance or the number of days. I was fortunate that I have no small children at home, so I did not have any child tending responsibilities and could walk basically when I wanted to. I lost about 40 lbs in 8/9 months this way. About this time my wife made me go get a physical and it turned out I was diabetic. That caused me to change my diet. Basically I count carb servings. I limit my self to no more that 15 servings of carbs per day and normally between 10-12. For the rest of my diet I basically follow the food pyramid for servings.

Fear is a powerful motivator. I don't want to die in pieces like my grandfather. This has caused to be religious on my walking (See the RATT challenge if you are wondering) and fairly religious on my diet. At my lowest I had lost a total of 137lbs, but a very stressful year last year caused me to put some weight back on. ( I tend to be a stress eater ) Currently I am down 115 lbs and am trying to lose 10 -15 more.

By the way my DR isn't really pushing me to lose the 10-15, but is something I want to do for my mental health.

I guess I am writing this is to let you know it can be done. I just wish I had started 10-15 yrs ago and I probably wouldn't be diabetic now

Good Luck to you both

[WashingtonCoug]

A good support system has really helped me. I've been doing the P90X system that last couple weeks and it is so hard, but my wife and friends consistently keep on me to work out every day. Unfortunately for some of us we are going to have to consistently work out to keep our weight down and I find that friends and family really help.

I also think you need to look at the alternative of not working out each day. Think about the loved ones that would miss you if you aren't around. Think about the pain that you will eventually be going through anyways with surgery, diabetes, etc.

Losing weight has been my biggest nemesis ever since my mission (I came home weighing 140 lbs and quickly ballooned to 240 lbs. at 6'1").

Also one of the thing emphasized in P90X is that you have to shake up your routine every couple weeks. If you do the same exercise every week your body gets use to it and it becomes less effective.

[CardiacCoug]

I gained 40 lbs. the first 6 months of my mission and spent the next 18 months trying to lose it.

I think you have to keep your rules simple to have success. it's about changing your long-term diet rather than going on a Diet. Two rules I try to keep generally:

1. Only fruits, vegetables, and diet soda between meals.

2. No calories after 7 PM, if possible.

[ERCougar]

I'd agree with Cardiac to keep it simple. My rules aren't too different and I'm not crazy about keeping them every meal, but as a general rule, I do this:
-Start every meal with a full glass of water. Start every snack the same way. Often, we mistake hunger for thirst and the glass of water will quench it.
-Two servings of fruits/vegetables with every meal. This is the "heart" of your meal.
-One serving of fruit/vegetable in every snack. If you want to add protein or something else, fine--just make sure to control the portion and follow the water rule. Apple slices with a little (!) peanut/almond butter make a great snack.
-Stop eating when you're not hungry, before you're full. Never a second plate. Don't finish your first plate.

I've seen a lot of people do well with Weight Watchers. It's essentially calorie counting, but simplified. It's relatively cheap. There are lots of good ideas/recipes (and lots of support) at the weekly meetings or you can just do it on-line. It's also easy to transition from your "diet" to your real life, so people tend to keep the weight off better.

I'd also echo the importance of activity, but I'd be careful about doing anything crazy. Vigorous exercise can make you hungrier and really doesn't make you any healthier. If everyone followed happy's plan and walked for an hour a day, we'd be a different population.

Good luck, man. You can do this.

[WashingtonCoug]

I also think food addiction is real and serious. Many insurance programs cover substance abuse, I wonder if food would fall under that? I know the church's 12 step addiction program can apply to food addiction. I don't know anyone that has done it, but I don't see why you couldn't.

[Pheidippides]

I also think food addiction is real and serious. Many insurance programs cover substance abuse, I wonder if food would fall under that? I know the church's 12 step addiction program can apply to food addiction. I don't know anyone that has done it, but I don't see why you couldn't.

I seriously considered using it at one point.

[WashingtonCoug]

I don't know if it's my own mind, but drinking green tea seems to help with weight loss. That could just be me, but I start off with a cup of green tea (no sugar) every morning.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

Both literally and figuratively. Last night I broke our bed, not from some acrobatic act that would be an award winning post in the future The Bedroom forum, rather the wood gave out from the strain of dealing with my enormous girth.

This morning I got on the scale for the first time in a long time and checked in at 311.8, the heaviest I have ever been in my life. I am very depressed. I have tried diets with success, and then regain all the weight plus more. Over the last 5 years I have lost 30+ pounds 4 times, I just keep getting bigger. I need a lifestyle change, and I don’t really know how to do it. I can’t just do something like Nutrisystem or Dr. Ian Smith’s Fat Smash Diet, they are fantastic until I attempt to re-enter the world.

I need help and I don’t know what to do. There are many here that lead as or more hectic lives than myself, so I don’t want to make up any excuses. I want to change, I need to change. I feel like a giant (literal) loser today.

HFN, I think a number of us are in the same boat since a lot of us pick up some weight once we're finished with college, get married and start working full time. I can pound down the food with the best of them but have been blessed with extraordinary metabolism. Nevertheless, I still picked up about 25-30 lbs after I got out of school. The funny thing is that my weight has remained largely unchanged for about three years now. There's still about 10 lbs of variance (220-230), but I never seem to go below or above that. My ideal weight for my frame (6'2 with a fairly decent amount of muscle mass) is about 195 lbs.

My Mom is very blunt and she's noticed that I don't look as fit as my siblings. I get not so subtle barbs from her all the time and I know that there are discussions taking place between my siblings and the spouses about me being about 25-30 lbs overweight. I haven't seen my oldest brother for about 4 and a half years (he's been overseas with his family for most of those years and then lived on the east coast) and needless to say I look like a totally different person than I did the last time he saw me. I'll be seeing him at Thanksgiving and I'd like to not look like a freak.