Supersize it- Amazing fact about America's Obesity Crisis

[moriah]

38. No, it's not. Far from it. It CAN be done, though.

A few tips that helped me:

1) Before starting a diet, log your calories that you're currently consuming normally and your regular amount of exercise, and if you gained or maintained during that time. A two week window was a good idea for me to figure out where my metabolism was. If you believe part of the problem for you is compulsive overeating, log your mood and level of hunger when you ate as well -- were you happy? Sad? Bored? (That came from my therapist.) Yo-yo dieting and low calorie diets really screw up your metabolism, so the standard guidelines for calories for your height may not be right for you... they weren't for me.

2) I then went over that food log and tried to see places where I could cut calories without feeling like I was stinting myself. Honestly, just writing down everything I put in my mouth helped me to start cutting them subconsciously -- I noticed the calories I consumed during the 2nd week were lower than the first, but as I said, I have an issue with compulsive overeating, and the act of keeping the log helped me see when I was eating for emotional reasons or eating because my body needed food. The very first thing I did was cut out sodas and replace them with Crystal Light Energy, but you'll see patterns in your own eating.

3) Don't make all the changes all at once. It's harder to stick with a dramatic change. I found other little things I could do, but implemented them one new change a month, giving each enough time to become a habit.

4) Don't go too low-calorie. If you're only eating 1600 calories and maintaining, a 500 calorie a day cut is going to be too much (that's a pound a week by the math). I lost faster at 1350 calories a day than I did at 1200 or 1000, even though the math would say otherwise. (The 1350 came from adding an extra Greek yogurt in when I hit a plateau when I was eating 1200). Our bodies aren't meant to starve, and actively fight against it.

5) Look for small ways to increase your daily activity level, but start slow and be mindful of your body. If you hurt yourself -- it's HARD on the body to exercise when you're carrying around an extra 100 lbs like I was when I started -- you'll just set yourself back. Look for things you can make into habits. When I'd finally lost enough to handle walking a distance on concrete without giving my bum knee too much pain, I found a buddy and walked the path around my office on my breaks. It helped a lot, even if it was just 10 minutes three times a day.

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I could go on, but I don't want this to be a novel or seem like I'm preaching. But I qualified for gastric bypass surgery three years ago, and I'm 110 lbs lighter today. If it's to the point you've researched surgery... I don't want anyone to have it that doesn't absolutely have to. My mom had it, and while she doesn't regret it, complications from it nearly killed her twice.

If you want, PM me.