I'd suggest you join Weight Watchers. I've known people who have gotten
a lot of help and support through them. They also have meals and meal
plans you can use. I think WW is your best bet. You've got built-in
meetings to attend with them and accountability with weigh-ins and the
like.

Beyond that, I'd suggest you start making some small changes in your
life. Cut out all drinks other than water for awhile. Don't drink
coffee, tea, or sodas. Load up on water. That one change will help you
feel better as your body needs a lot of water to function.

Second, take your doctor's advice and get walking. Pencil in walking
time every day at the same time and let nothing interrupt that. It's
slow going at first, but the more you do it, the better you'll get.

Best of luck, you can do this!

 - SQN
190/140.5/130

Today's food is full of toxic, inadequate nutrients.  8 months ago I
weighed 312 lbs.  I am 6'0 tall and 37 years old.  As I have aged I
have added 15-20 lbs a year until I reached my all time high of 338.  I
tried several diets and lost and gained weight.  I became depressed.
My blood pressure skyrocketed.  My health turned poor.  I had a friend
who was concerned, just as I am concerned for your health.  She put
together a series of news programs on her tivo that all were related to
the poor condition of American people.  Our children are obese we are
obese etc. etc.  There are even shows now on the tube like "Honey, we
are killing our kids"  (I think that's what it is called)
Well to get to the point I watched these programs and decided that I
needed to help by body by putting the right fuel in it.  Just like you
put the right fuel in your car and change its oil every 3000 miles, you
have to do the same for your body.  I started to buy only natural foods
and organic foods.  Well after three or four months my food bill was
huge.  Organic food is extremely expensive.   I then stumbled across a
nutritional supplement that has changed my life and that of my family.
I am no longer killing my kids with food.

http://home.bellsouth.net/p/PWP-123chickensoup

After using this particular supplement ( and there are several good
ones)  I found that I no longer had to have two cheeseburgers, fries
and dessert to feel full only to eat a snack two hours later.  What
happened I had the right nutrients in my body and I stopped craving
food.  My body slowing started to change.  In the first weeks I lost a
few pounds but felt great.  Then a few more, soon I was 20 lbs lighter.
I started with one shake(I use Low fat Milk and the supplement)  Then
I added the carb blocker ( Make sure you drink lots of cold water)the
weight slipped away.  My wife saw this and started using the products.
We replaced our expensive fast food diet with a nutritious healthy diet
that SATISFIED us.  That is the important part being satisfied.  I do
not have cravings.  I am happy again.  I am able to play with my
children and that makes me so happy.  I know its hard to believe but it
did work.  Please check out the link above and see for yourself.    If
you need to talk don't hesitate to call me and ask me any questions you
may have.  I have seen it work.  I will add that your Doctor is correct
you do need to be active, start by walking.  I started by using the
surgical tubing exercise tools you can get at Wal-Mart or K-mart or
where ever.

Please don't wait.  I lost my mother at age 52 to obesity and heart
failure, its never to late.  By the way My blood pressure in under
control(with Medication) and my cholesterol is normal again with no
meds.

Good luck to you, and please call or write with and questions.

There is a 30 day money back offer if you don't find the supplements
helpful so you have nothing to lose but your health....

123.chickensoupsupplements.com

Hi Toxic,

Welcome to the group! You will find a lot of support and good advice on this
group. Many of the regulars know my story (sorry if it gets old, guys):

At one point in my life I weighed in at 481lbs, which is 50lbs more than
Jared from Subway when he started and 70lbs more than the fat man walking
that was in the news recently. My doctor pretty much told me that I had to
lose weight or die. Suggested the surgery was my only option as conventional
diets and medications failed (I was a part of the Redux lawsuit a few years
ago). So I went to an informational seminar on the surgery. It was an
eye-opener. A few things that stuck out there was the lunch buffet (yes, a
lunch BUFFET at a weightloss surgery seminar) with people mounding over
plates of meat and salads waddling back to their seats (one woman, bigger
than I was, carefully balancing a tray of food and drinks on her walker is
one image I will never forget). The team came out and spoke on each facet of
the surgery from psychological to surgical to nutrition and exercise. What
they kept hitting home was that the surgery IS NOT and end-all-be-all magic
bullet for weightloss. It is only a tool, you will still have to exercise
and watch what you eat. It didn't hit me right away, but later it FINALLY
clicked. After research I decided that if I had to exercise and eat right
anyway, why go through the pain and expense of surgery? I found this group
and got a little ticked off at first at some of the in-your-face comments. I
was ticked because everything that was said rang true.

I found the following keys have helped me lose weight and changed my life:

1) commitment/faith - you have to hit 'rock bottom' if you can ever expect
to succeed at changing your life. half-hearted attempts will not last. Also,
my faith has helped me deal with the triggers of over-eating and helped me
cope with them in different ways that food.

2) portion control - counting calories and weighing portions. I use FitDay
(www.fitday.com) to diary my calories and exercise, they have a free online
version, try that before you buy the download to make sure you like it. I
also have a digital food scale for weighing my portions, it portable so I
can take it anywhere. I started with 3000cal/day and am now down to
2100cal/during the week per day and 2500cal/during the weekends per day.

3) exercise - you gotta move. I started walking 10min/day, around the block
at lunch. Slowly I increased the time, and now my routine is:
Morning -
45min walk/jog (more jog than walk), 30min exercise (I use Yourself!Fitness
for the Xbox - www.respondesign.com), 5min stretching, 20min biking
Noon - 45-60min walk
Whatever you can do to exercise, if your knees are bothering you - maybe
google 'office chair exercises' or try going to a local pool for water
aerobics. Start slow, no one is able to run a marathon without training...

4) accountability - This is the one key that has really made a difference. I
was blessed to have my mother-in-law step up and be my accountability
partner, she emails me every day to get my calorie intake and exercise
totals for the previous day. She rides me when I go over and rejoices with
me when I make progress. Find someone willing to do that for you, preferably
not a spouse. Someone you'd have to think about when you are deciding on
binging - this has stopped me many time from binging because I knew I'd have
to tell my mother-in-law the next day. Some people on this group post their
totals as an accountability, this would be a great idea to start until you
find that someone willing to take on a pretty important role.

If you want some motivation, check out my journal photos:

http://photos.yahoo.com/mvanderplow

My Yahoo! IM is mvanderplow(at)yahoo.com, I'll do what I can to encourage or
motivate when needed.

Good luck and again welcome to the group!

Matty (I weighed more than Jared from Subway)
481/262/225
(starting weight/current weight/goal weight)

First mini goal achieved - 104lbs lost 10/26/04
Second mini goal achieved - 137lbs lost 01/28/05
Third mini goal achieved - 183lbs lost 09/30/05
Fourth mini goal achieved - 204lbs total lost 01/30/06
Fifth mini goal - 231lbs total lost by 05/31/06

If you make it about motivation you're toast.  You need a different
mental approach.  It has to be what your life is now and from
here on in.  Motivation fails, just plain life doesn't.  It may sound
trivial that I'm discussing how to set your attitude at the start,
but attitude matters greatly.

Nice that he gave a time not a distance.  If it takes an hour to
walk down the driveway to check the mailbox, then that's your
hour.  Allow your distance improve as your condition does.
Also note that he didn't specify an hour all at once.  If it takes
two 30 minute walks then they are an hour.

Pills tend to make folks think that they don't need to change
habits.  So pills lead down the wrong road.  It's entirely about
habits.

Everyone has a favorite plan.  My favorite is Atkins.  Any plan
that you can stick to will be fine so pick one and in 3-6 months
evaluate how hard or easy it is to stay on and consider
switching to another one.  Experimentation.

I repeat that it can't be about motivation.  If brushing your
teeth was about motivation, would you have any teeth left?
And who enjoys brushing their teeth, yet we all do it daily.

If you need a plan get one from one of the popular diet books.
They all have reasonable plans, even the ones that are someone
else's favorites not my favorite.

Don't make it an all-or-nothing thing, make it the best you can
do.  What does the all-or-nothing approach give 90% of the
time?  Nothing.  What does the best-you-can-do plan give
90% of the time?  Good progress.

Welcome to ASD!  I'm sure that you've already gotten some great advice.
Walking is a great plan.  Start where you are now and add a little every
week.  Dogs are a great motivator for walking, aren't they!

Regarding your way of eating, that's a personal thing.  I do more of a
calorie counting with a bit of a low fat/high fiber bent to it, Chris
does a calorie counting with a higher protein emphasis, VB Chick does
Weight Watcher, Beverly does calorie counting with a weight watchers
influence (correct me if I'm wrong) -- in other words, what works for
ASD participants varies.

I'd start with throwing out or donating anything that you feel should
not be included in your way of eating (chips and other junk food, highly
processed canned or frozen foods, etc.)

One thing to keep in mind is that this is going to be your new lifestyle
so make it something that you'll be comfortable with over a long period
of time.  Another thing to remember is that you can always modify your
way of eating or exercise plan along the way.