That’s great! Keep us updated on how it goes for you. My insurance (Aetna HMO) covers five visits per year with a referral from my primary care physician, so you might be able to go that route too.
Edit: I just realized that at 31.5% bodyfat, I’m technically no longer in the obese range (starts at 32%). Awesome!
Even though it’s just numbers, that’s an accomplishment that really means a lot!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRGH!!! 50 lbs lost in the first 6 months then NOT ONE POUND in July!
I did have one weekend and one week off, but during those times I put on a few pounds, and had them off in no time, then sat at 280 forever.
Seriously I cannot believe how fucking hard it is to MAINTAIN 280 lbs! I am working my ass off and for nothing. Hate it.
I want to scream every time I read “I just stopped drinking Coke” or “I just started walking 10 minutes a day” and that lead to weight in weight-loss-themed threads. You’d think that my super fat ass (280 lbs! On a woman!) could just walk to the mailbox every day and I’d be trim by Christmas! But no! Not even 6 hours of exercise a week plus activity-laden weekends does it. ARGH ARGH ARGH!
I know a lot of you have gone through the same thing. And I’m sure you know I’m not looking for advice on what to do - cuz you know I’ve tried everything! I just want to rant. And maybe die.
Grrr.
Someone say how well they’re doing now!
ZipperJJ, my sympathies.
However, think about those 50 pounds that you don’t have anymore! Think about pounds of butter. Go lift something that weighs 50 pounds and think about all that extra weight on your joints! You are a rock star! Even if you never lose another ounce you are a success!
When you ARE looking for advice on what to do, let us know and we can try to help you out there.
(Aside, I am currently working on my first plateau and I also want to shoot someone in the head.
On the bright side, I got my husband to put himself in my shoes. I made him eat only what I eat in a day and do my exercise routine. He gets it now. He can lose weight by just not having an extra donut everyday. Creep.)
Well, I’m back.
Last year was a really bad year. Blah blah blah medication, blah blah blah depression, blah blah unemployment. Bottom line, I gained about 15 pounds.
I have a new plan that I feel very good about. Two rules.
No Sweets in the House
Walk
Duration of plan: 3-6 months
And here’s the kicker:
NOTHING ELSE.
Not tracking calories, not worrying about what I eat when I go out, not swearing off some evil food once and forever, not running an hour a day, not going to the gym, not weighing myself every day (or ever) - like I can’t tell when I’m gaining weight!:rolleyes:
No Sweets in the House means No Sweets in the House. As in, dump out that half can of Dr. Pepper before you go through the front door. No sugar-laden juices. No sugar laden jam. No cereal past 10am. If I get a gift of sweets, I get rid of it (that will be the hardest part.) The ONE exception is holidays, however, EVERYTHING left over must go the next morning!
Walk means Walk. If I’m twiddling my thumbs, walk. If I’m in a huge parking lot, walk. If I can get there on foot, walk. If I get to work early, walk. No gym clothes, no fancy shoes, no running, no cycling, no anything but walk.
This is my plan. I feel amazing about this plan. The reason why: I am totally willing and able to sustain this for the rest of my life. It doesn’t require any complex calculations, it doesn’t require deprivation (I mean you damn well better believe I’m eating that cheesecake when I’m at a restaurant), it doesn’t involve guilt in any way. There is no ''Should I eat this?" It’s just these two rules.
Will it be enough to lose weight? I don’t know. It doesn’t really matter. Because once these are firmly ingrained habits, I can make even more changes, very slowly, one little step at a time. It might take years, I don’t care, as long as it’s permanent and sustainable.
As for how this is going, I’m on day 4 or 5. This month I learned the hard way not to spend too much grocery money at the beginning of the month, because I have had to be really creative with food this week. I’ve been very hungry the last two days, and not because I’m intentionally restricting calories. Just, I really want us to hit our budget this month.
The sugar cravings are starting to hit today. It doesn’t help that I’m really hungry. Yeah, I’d like to go down to the store and buy a six-pack of cola, but I have this rule, see.
Awesome, olives 
Plans you can stick to are the best sorts of plans there are!
Drink a litre of water. It will make you feel less hungry.
You should also try to spend only 20% of your food budget a week. That way, if you go a little bit over, you will still have enough to get you through the end of the month.
Hey all. I finally joined Weight Watchers this morning. My daughter is almost 17 months old… time to stop blaming the baby fat and start taking responsibility.
Is there a Straight Dope group or message board thread or whatever on the WW website?
w00t #1: Bananas are now zero points!
w00t#2: the 30 Day Shred gets me 5 activity points!
I started yoga yesterday – I found an instructor who comes to your house and does one-on-one sessions with you. It was as awesome as you’d think. She seems like a great teacher, I felt like we’re on the same wavelength and clicked, she got me started on a basic routine, and it absolutely felt great and felt like this is something I want to keep doing for the rest of my life.
I weighed myself today and I am now the same weight I was in college – I’ve lost 12 pounds since June 6. It’s going more slowly than I’d like, but it’s working. 10 pounds until I’m under a BMI of 25, and 20 pounds until I reach my goal weight. I can do this.
The weird thing is, I’ve lost 40 pounds since my highest weight, but I look exactly the same to myself in the mirror. I know I’ve lost weight by the scale, I tried on an old pair of pants the other day and they fell right off me, I know I must be smaller, but I look the same.
Oh, except I had the sad revelation today when I was looking at myself in my sports bra as I undressed after a workout: I’ve lost weight from my chest. 
That’s the one area I don’t want to lose. Couldn’t it be my ass instead? I could still use it as a bookshelf. Come on, now!
Well, at least I know I’m fit, I ran that 5K race I’ve been training for in about 34/35 mins a fortnight ago, and I’ve signed up for a 10k to give me the incentive to keep running.
Unfortunately, I seem to be eating & drinking more to compensate for it, and I’m within two pounds of where I was when I joined these threads back in January. (two pounds under, thankfully, I’ve not gone up that much yet!)
It’s been years since I’ve posted in one of these threads and you can tell by my waistline. 
I’ve spent alot of time saying that I’d start eating better when I got around to it but I never did. Well, a week ago today my boyfriend, the love my life, passed away suddenly in his sleep. I’ll try not to be too much of a downer, you can read about him in last week’s MMP if you like. He was a wonderful, wonderful man but he was significantly overweight and it was a heart attack that took his life.
I’d have to be blind not to see this as a stinging and rather unfortunate wakeup call.
So, anyways, I’m going to do this. I’m going to be healthy and happy and carry on because I know he would have wanted me to. This week I’ve lost 9.2 pounds because I didn’t feel like eating. I know that my appetite will return, but I’ve already started eating healthier with what little food I’m eating right now.
So I’ll be here for the duration.
Hello, I’ve been on holiday with my hubby and parents for the past three weeks, and despite eating whatever I felt like, I still managed to lose weight! I’m now down to 109.6kg, so time for a new goal… Sixteen stone and I can go ride a heavy horse. I calculate that as 101kg, so 8.6 kg to go!
Was lovely to see the surprise on my parents faces when they saw me. 
Wow Sticks and Scones - sorry to hear about your loss! Glad something positive came out of it but I’m sure you’d rather have your SO than a life lesson.
I seem to have gotten past my plateau. Seem to…we’ll see if I just go down to 278 only to return to 280 again next week.
sandra_nz you’re a star! And so are you Cinnamon Imp - run on with your bad self!
gallows fodder I am totally with you wrt seeing myself the same. Although 50 lbs on a really fat person is not that much. You’re still really fat after (and by you I mean me - I am not accusing you of being really fat!) Maye it’s time for you to do some side-by-side picture comparisons? Except not of your chest
This is so dumb, but every time I have thought to myself, “I need to take a ‘Before’ picture so that in the future I can see how far I’ve come,” I get embarrassed by how large I (think I) am and think, “Let me lose a little weight first and then I’ll do it.” Duhhh.
Although…I do have pictures of my face from when I was in the 180s, and I no longer have a double chin, so there’s that.
I am so incredibly sorry to hear of your loss. I hope your wonderful decision to take care of your health will help you gain focus and purpose as you deal with this difficult time.
So far, so good with the No Sweets in the House. I took the recommendation of several dopers to get some dark chocolate to get through sweet cravings. I ate some last night and I think it helped.
I am giving myself some leeway whenever I’m out of the house. Instead of depriving myself of everything, I am kind of thinking, ‘‘I will choose either this or that, not both.’’ Do I want a cookie or a soda more? These are easier questions to answer. Last night our dear friends (also neighbors) made grilled BBQ ribs and bison burgers. I had a little of each and water to drink, followed with fresh pineapple. I’m finding that when the treats are more rare, they are a lot more enjoyable and appreciated.
I’ve also been walking a lot. I had a loose dog scare the bejeezus out of me today when she barreled toward me barking furiously. She refused to stop following me, circling around me, until her owner finally caught her. I’m starting a new job tomorrow that from wakeup to arriving back home will be 15 hour days (I hope - with Wednesday off.) I always get to work early, so I decided to spend that time walking before the start of the day.
However, I’m already violating my "Walking Only’’ rule because my fitness center account has been unfrozen after several months of dormancy (waiting for a closer location to open.) I plan to hit the gym on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. However I am going to make sure the trainer breaks me in gently. I will explain about my injury history.
Between this and the new meds alleviating my chronic depression, I am on top of the world right now. It’s absolutely insane how much easier my life is now that I’m on the right meds.
Last night I fit into my new size smaller jeans. Go team!
Then this morning something really stupid happened. My husband rifled my shorts drawer looking for a pair of his shorts. Anyway, I pulled out my green shorts which are now way too big but comfy (I felt like being a slob today). I put them on and went to tie the drawstring and it wasn’t there.
WTF?
It wasn’t the pair of shorts I thought it was. It was a pair that was TOO SMALL when I started this and are now big enough to be taken off without undoing them! It was the awesomest feeling.
Thank you!
New plan, apparently I’m having a change of diet: no alcohol, no pate, no soft cheeses, no sugary treats (don’t want to risk diabetes), no shellfish, no cookie dough, or home-made mayo, etc.
I also might have to walk some of the 10k, don’t want to risk overdoing it! 
Ugh, has anyone else decided to stop weighing themselves because they can’t deal with the fluctuating scale? I am entirely too wrapped up in that number. A few days ago I was 155, which is my weight loss basement that I can’t seem to crack…under (work with me on this metaphor, here). In all my years of going up and down, I have never been able to go below 155. I was all excited when I saw 155.0 the other day, but for the past few days it’s been higher than that and it’s riling me up. Today I weighed myself fully dressed, then peed and stripped and weighed myself again, and the second number was higher than the first – WTF, scale?! I’ve been consistenly eating ~1350 or less during those days (and indeed, since the beginning of July), so I know it isn’t my fault.
Forget it. I’ll weigh myself again in a month.
Last week I took a week off. I decided not to lose any weight, to get my lbs per week average loss down into the healthier range. I managed to gain 0.2 lbs while eating out at least twice (pork chops and mashed potatoes, with gravy, both times). I also was out camping all weekend so there was a fair amount of hiking involved. And snacks. This week I’m back to losing weight. I should break the 15 lbs total wight loss mark sometime in the next couple of days.
Forgive me, for I have sinned.
I went off the exercise and limited diet about 4 months back, but am now back in full training and a still limited diet. (I refuse to give up cheese).
I am somewhat surprised that my weight has not ballooned after my piggish excesses (I spent a week in a country town where beer at 10 am was standard. When in Rome…)
Anyway, I was 85 kg at Christmas. I am still 82 kg. I want to get back to 75 kg.
Then I can chase Cinnamon Imp.