Hello everyone!

[SHYJESTA]

Hello everyone, my name is Tom. I haven't been on the board in years. I have had many ups and downs... Here's the short story. I think...

A few years back, I was committed to losing weight. I was over 300 pounds and I felt so horrible from inside and out! I told myself I would change and would stay committed. I went out and bought a scale, and calculated my BMR, but didn't exercise much... The weight started coming off fairly fast! I lost over 10 pounds my first week! And easily 3-5 each week after. I had went from 323 to 265, in a few months. 265 was the lowest I had been since high school, ( i'm 31 now). So all was well, and I was on my way to a healthy me! Yet, somewhere down the line, I gave up AGAIN, and when I say again... Im talking in the thousands lol.... ok maybe not that many times, but you get my point!

I didn't gain it all back, I did go up to the 280's, and thats when I applied for the biggest loser, I got as far as a being a finalist, but never made the cut to actually make the show... So I got pretty down and out about it. A few months later, I had found out my local FOX TV station was having a contest for weight loss! I was totally up for the challenge, ( I don't know why, but I like the challenge of someone following my weight loss) and of course I was able to make it, since well I have over 100 pounds to lose. I'm not afraid of being in front of the camera... It started well, I was assigned a personal trainer, and would be filmed every week! woohoo!

I learned a lot about exercising! I started working out atleast 2 hours a day, and of course I was counting calories... Things were going good, AGAIN... The pounds were not coming off fast, but I felt so much better from within ( I even did a few 5k's)
maybe 4 months into it, I found out the gym could not afford to pay the 750 a month it was costing them to pay the TV station to train me and 3 others... They met with us, and told us they were dropping the program, but would gladly still devote their time to train us, just with no TV.
We all agreed, that was fine...

Things didn't go as planned, and I quickly noticed the trainers not really wanting to train me much anymore... I kinda just did my own thing, 1 hr of cardio and 1 hr of strength training. Around the 8th month, I quit... I had not lost ANY weight, and I was working out 2 hrs a day 6 days a week! I was eating good. staying within my calorie range! BUT THE WEIGHT WAS NOT COMING OFF! My breaking point is when two lady friends said " you always work out, but you look the same" and they laughed... It tore me inside, I wanted to just run and hide forever!

So here I am in 2013, and now I weight 315 pounds! I have ZERO motivation, I don't even know where to start! The only reason I even came on the website is because the rain knocked out my directv! lol... I started reading to the 300+ club. and I saw this qoute "NOTHING TASTE AS GOOD AS THIN FEELS" and it touched me! Almost to tears, because I know I feel horrible, and im only 31... I want to feel "thin" or at least healthy...

Oh, I did just now make a weekly chart to keep track of my progress... tomorrow morning im going to do measurements. Wish me luck, or whatever... Surely, this has to be the time?

 

[Omega]

Welcome back!

We all have tons of failed weight loss attempts behind us. You need to really believe that you can do it this time... Determine that you are going to stick with things and take your weight right down to a level where you feel comfortable and healthy.

I am not actually a fan of these biggest loser shows as I think that they encourage people to shoot for weight loss that is too fast to be healthy... They do not teach sustainable levels of eating - since I cannot see how any machine of a person could keep up long term with some of the extreme levels that I see on television... Don't get me wrong - I exercise a lot - but I do not combine it with some of the low calorie levels that I see people shooting for... I think that people are better off with something that they can slot permanently into their lives...

People can get the challenge to stay on track and the accountability from our own forum challenges - be it the standard monthly weight loss challenge or the party games ones that we run from time to time...

Bless the rain that knocked out your tv... You say that you feel horrible... You are the only person that can do something about that... We individually are the only people that put the food in our own mouths... We choose how many calories to consume... We opt to watch tv instead of exercise... We can make better choices and make our weight loss dreams come true. We can ultimately choose to do positive things and celebrate our positive actions.

If you do not know where to start - log every item of food and drink that you put into your mouth... evaluate it to see why you ate it... were you hungry or bored? was it healthy? are your portion sizes too large?

While you are at it - get a cheap pedometer... you probably have one in a drawer from previous weight loss attempts... put a battery in it and wear it every minute of the day... see how active you are and determine to walk further - at least until you are walking 10,000 steps a day... you know that is what the experts recommend...

Count how much water you are drinking... the chances are you are not drinking enough... Most of us shoot for 1 ounce for every 2 pounds that we weigh...

 

[Nostalgic]

I agree with all above.

Sounds like you need support though as you were doing well when you had the trainer, so you have come to the right place.
Create a diary here and log your food and exercise daily. There are many members here who offer great advice and motivation in people's diaries.

If you can hire a personal trainer or dietitian, I know they can be costly but we managed to budget in a dietitian after my first son was born and it really did help me with motivation to eat better. They seem to be cheaper than physical trainers. I would love to have a personal trainer also but it's just to costly.
Here in France it cost me 45 Euros a month for each dietitian visit.

 

[Majed]

Welcome Tom

 

[joshd_1973]

We all at some point have food or drink demons we need to conquer and people on here can only give you advice on what has worked for them and only you know what will work for you.

If you like routine and accountability set up a diary on here and add do it daily - write anything you like, how you feel, what your goals are, successes.

 

[San2]

Hey Tom!

Can't say much more than all the others have done already, but definitely don't give up. I've been there, done that - lost around 175 lbs about 4 years back, everything was just great, and then, within a short period of time, I gained it all back, and then some. For a while, I didn't even care, but at the beginning of this year I decided that I was sick of it, and started working out and eating properly again. It's not going as well and quickly as it did last time, but I am about 65 lbs down since January.

In short, never give up. Forget about the last time, and just start fresh. It's worth it!