Hello guys

I've had a few minutes to look over the forum and I'm not sure it's for me. I'm not here looking for support... I'm here to find out what works for people and what doesn't so I can better equip myself for success. The only way anyone will win at weight loss is to make up their mind that they will do it... and stick to it and realize it's a lifestyle change. I'm 100% tired of what I've done to my body and what I've missed out on being overweight. That's my support system. I've experienced a life changing injury in 2012 that has led to a 50 to 60 pound weight gain for me. Prior to that I was already overweight but not to the point of being held back on most things. I don't eat what I have decided is bad for me. I'm not tempted... I'm mad. It took me turning 40 years old and missing out of life with my kids to get there. I started in the 325 to 330 range on Jan 1st. Today as of Jan 23rd I am 296. I'm not sure where I'm going since healthy and happy have no number that I know of. The 220 I entered was a number since it's required. I'm 6'4" so who knows. I think the guberment says 195?

Low carb works. Research the various plans (see Plans in the green bar at the top of the page) and pick ONE. If this is new to you, this is not the time to be creating your own system. Whichever plan you choose, you will have others here who can tell you how to optimize it. Good luck!

I am low carb... but not by a plan. My daily intake is well less than 20 grams. My meals consists of meat, vegetables, cheese, eggs, nuts. I cook with butter or olive oil. I drink water or coffee. I am not following any specific plan/diet. I'm a firm believer that diets do not work. I eat no processed foods. If something has ingredients I can't pronounce, I do not eat it.

Hi fox

I wasn't sure the forum was for me either, but quite honestly.. without a place to be held accountable, and without a play to say what you feel, when you're mad, that's "safe".... well.... you wanted to know what would help you make a permanent change. Those two things are definitely part of it.

Mike

No offense to anyone here but from what I saw there are people here who have thousands of post but their weight loss shows little to none. Why stay here if you're not serious about weight loss. It's makes you wonder just how well it works when you see members who have been here years and haven't yet reached their goals. How can you take what someone says as the truth if they are not living proof? An old man once told me, "poop or get off the pot"! I'm not here for the small talk... I'm here to learn and share my personal experiences of what lchf has and is doing to me.

I read what I wrote again... and it sounds harsh. I'm sorry if I offend anyone. 20 years of working EMS and dealing with overweight and obese people, I've seen what it does to people with their health and to those around them. Yes, I mad because I was going down that same path. For the past 2 1/2 years my wife has put my socks and shoes on me in the morning. That's not going to happen again. With just the weight loss I have experienced in the last 3 weeks along with cutting all carbs out, I now do it myself. My pain is all but gone. No drugs, nothing to buy but food... so there you have it. I know it works.

Welcome and best wishes on your WOE.

Welcome Silverfox and Happy New Year.

Spend some time reading here and reading the references, ie.. suggested reading. It's not so much a DIET, but a WOE and then if you're lucky and actually learn something, you can transform it into a WOL.

If you're an infantry soldier, carrying 125lbs, up and down hilly terrain 15 hours a day, you can and need to eat like crazy (5k+ cals a day). You won't gain a pound, and depending on the situation, may even lose some.

However, if you're sitting on your butt, or driving a vehicle all day, guess what? You don't need all those calories!! If you continue to eat like a soldier, you'll end up FAT AS HECK! You can blame weight gain on anything, but fundamentally, its you who are eating too much for the situation.

Its simple mathematics. It can get much worse if you have some type of underlying illness that causes metabolic resistance.

There are numerous success stories here, and you'll see the same refrain, time and time again. Maori has done a job beyond fantastic. And many others here have maintained for 10+ years. I have nothing but the utmost respect and admiration for their demonstrated desire to understand why and how to address their eating problem. And to continue to share their experiences and give advice is simply incredible!!

This forum is not about a race to meet weight. Its about sharing and understanding from people who are facing the same problem and who have accepted responsibility. In doing so, they want to learn!! As in many endeavors, knowledge is the key to success.

I wish you the best, but luck has nothing to do with it. An open mind will be your friend.

Welcome and best wishes.
You mentioned that you didn't really need help or support, just input on what actually works. My best answer would be patience with yourself and others. Understanding that no one including yourself got to their top weight in a couple of months and odds are it will take time to get it off.

There are many here with a tremendous amount of knowledge from reading and studying low carb plans, so if and when you have any questions just ask. This is a very friendly group.

As you know, if weight loss were easy none of us would be fat and there would be no need for this forum. The fact that there are a lot of us here shows that we are determined to lose weight even if it takes us years to do so. Also, there are many here who have reached their goal weight and have sustained it for a long time but are here to provide support for those who are still struggling.

It took me 15 years to quit smoking but I did it and am now smoke free for over 10 years. Disparaging people because they have not been able to reach goal weight the first time is what the conventional (non)wisdom has been shaming us with for decades.

I wish you the best of luck in your journey to weight loss and good health.

As you said, not to sound harsh, but I'm personally not sure why you are here or what you are looking for.

This is a fabulous place to find support on your low carb journey but you say you don't need support.

It a wonderful place to research low carb plans and get advice when you chose one, but you say you don't need one because you have 'your plan'.

It's a great place to find friendship, get ideas on meals, vent when you suck and celebrate when you find success, but honestly, you don't seem to want any of that.

You seem to be looking for a magic equation of sorts and there isn't one.
If you wanna know what works, here you go...

It's picking a plan, following the plan, and changing the plan when it stops working.
It's highs and lows, good months and bad months.
It's stringing together a series of successes that one day result in, if you are one of the lucky ones, finding a reasonable, maintainable weight that results in a healthy body.
It's falling down 100 times (because you will) and getting up 101.
It's saying no when you friends are eating cake, or explaining to your spouse 50 times why you eat so much fat, or telling your co-workers for the 100th time that you DON'T eat bread/candy/mashed potatoes.
It's hard work...it's not for the faint of heart.
It's courage and patience.
It's restarting over and over and over again, until it sticks.

A lot of people embark on the journey. Some straight-up quit. Some drift away and come back. Some actually succeed and then hang around to help those of us still engaged in the battle.

This is the place where you can come and say, I can't even put my own shoes and socks on my feet and we will embrace you and support you while you find your way to a better quality of life.

But, please don't come around here, saying that your new, you don't know if you like it and that we suck at losing weight and expect people not to be offended. That's just crazy.

I can see everyone doesn't look at things the way I do. I've accomplished a lot harder things in life than losing weight. Nothing you put your mind to is impossible. I blame myself for my weight gain, not someone else. I will fix it myself. Getting this way wasn't a joint effort. You fail only because you want to. Having a rupture at L1-L2 and bulging at L3, L4, and L5 was my crutch. I threw that crutch away.

Why don't you stick around. I probably won't be able to help you, but there is a chance you can help me. Don't get caught up in all the sidebar conversations. Just log in once a week, let me know how you are doing, what works etc. You are off to a great start.

I don't think people like you or me gained weight because of how much we eat but it is more of what we (were) eating...
In fact many of the people on here are loosing weight without ever lifting one weight. Atkins said that upping a lot of exercise could stall weight loss for reasons that only that book can tell you.
It's the bread, chips, macaroni, rice, potatoes, softdrinks, cup-o-soup, crackers, cereal, granola, noodles, hamburger helper, milk and anything else that might come in a box..

But this isn't a diet to starve the fat off either.

On this way of eating WOE you will eat well and eat things like eggs and bacon or 0carb sausage for breakfast, coffee with real cream; steak, salad and green beans for lunch; baked chicken, broccoli for dinner.

Find yourself a deli meat with no sugar like corned beef and pick-up some sliced cheese you like.

Boil up some eggs, they are very mobile.

Cook up a batch of what many people call Crack Slaw.
http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/hambur...ge_stirfry.html

When you buy cheese make sure to get Real Cheese/not Velveeta or American cheese.

If you need to snack pick-up beef jerky, pork rinds, etc...

I see that you are EMS, my daughter is a firefighter...
Are you at a firehouse? If so how is the food there?
Hope some of this helps.
PS after several days your appetite will fall off and you will see what this WOE is all about...