Feeling hopeless

[Jaimez54]

Hi I'm James and I am 54 years old weighing 380 lbs. I'm only 5'8 and I'm morbidly obese. When I was younger it was so easy to shed the pounds but not anymore as I've gotten older it's very hard to lose weight. I know I lack discipline and sometimes I just feel hopeless like I know I can't lose the weight or something but at the same time I know this is not true. When I was younger I lost a lot of weight and became quite thin well lean and having my girlfriend motivated me to do that I wasn't really doing it for myself and I know that's one of the biggest problems I've had is not doing it for myself. I'm sorry to go on and on just looking for maybe some good advice from people out there who may be over 50 and know how I can get this weight off any input would be greatly appreciated.

[Tommy W.]

Hi I'm James and I am 54 years old weighing 380 lbs. I'm only 5'8 and I'm morbidly obese. When I was younger it was so easy to shed the pounds but not anymore as I've gotten older it's very hard to lose weight. I know I lack discipline and sometimes I just feel hopeless like I know I can't lose the weight or something but at the same time I know this is not true. When I was younger I lost a lot of weight and became quite thin well lean and having my girlfriend motivated me to do that I wasn't really doing it for myself and I know that's one of the biggest problems I've had is not doing it for myself. I'm sorry to go on and on just looking for maybe some good advice from people out there who may be over 50 and know how I can get this weight off any input would be greatly appreciated.

Age doesn't matter, it's the same for any age. You need to eat less and especially less of the wrong things.

[CanadianFarmer]

Hi I'm James and I am 54 years old weighing 380 lbs. I'm only 5'8 and I'm morbidly obese. When I was younger it was so easy to shed the pounds but not anymore as I've gotten older it's very hard to lose weight. I know I lack discipline and sometimes I just feel hopeless like I know I can't lose the weight or something but at the same time I know this is not true. When I was younger I lost a lot of weight and became quite thin well lean and having my girlfriend motivated me to do that I wasn't really doing it for myself and I know that's one of the biggest problems I've had is not doing it for myself. I'm sorry to go on and on just looking for maybe some good advice from people out there who may be over 50 and know how I can get this weight off any input would be greatly appreciated.

I've been there. Some things that worked for me (I am 50 and have lost 150+ pounds):
1) To start, write down everything you eat every day for a week. Then review it. Make a change (eg. stop eating fast food, cut out sugar, eat more fruit/vegetables), track it and see how it goes, then make another, and so on...
2) Don't starve yourself, fad diet, etc... That will just eventually make you quit and regain everything you've lost (and usually more). Once you have an idea of what you are eating, figure out your daily energy requirements (lots of online sources can give you this) and try to start modifying what you eat to hit these targets. Learning how to eat healthy and develop good habits takes a long time. The cravings for junk do eventually go away.
3) Do meal prepping/planning. Having the right foods on hand makes it easy to stick with a healthy eating plan. Planning ahead when you know have a trip, party, etc... coming up will help you from going overboard.
4) If you have a bad day/week, don't let it deter you. Forget it and get back on track. Yesterday is over, just focus on doing better today and tomorrow.
5) If you aren't already, exercise. Every day. It doesn't have to be strenuous (especially at first), but do *something* every day. Even just a 10 minute walk in the morning, noon and night is a starting point. I find this to be really important to my mental health as well as my physical health.
6) Maybe the most important thing. Find support - a group, coach, dietition, whatever. Someone who can help you navigate your specific requirements, provide guidance and give you suggestions for developing good habits, and also keep you accountable. Also, for me, having to pay for coaching is a great motivator for me to stick with things.
7) If something isn't working for you, don't quit. Try something else. Something will work. Just keep going.
8) Focus more on how you feel than the scale. As the weight comes off (and it will if you make changes), you will start to feel better. When you get to a point where you are happy, stop worrying so much about the number on the scale. You might be happy and feel good at 180 or 260 and that's fine.

Best of luck to you.

[Jaimez54]

I've been there. Some things that worked for me (I am 50 and have lost 150+ pounds):
1) To start, write down everything you eat every day for a week. Then review it. Make a change (eg. stop eating fast food, cut out sugar, eat more fruit/vegetables), track it and see how it goes, then make another, and so on...
2) Don't starve yourself, fad diet, etc... That will just eventually make you quit and regain everything you've lost (and usually more). Once you have an idea of what you are eating, figure out your daily energy requirements (lots of online sources can give you this) and try to start modifying what you eat to hit these targets. Learning how to eat healthy and develop good habits takes a long time. The cravings for junk do eventually go away.
3) Do meal prepping/planning. Having the right foods on hand makes it easy to stick with a healthy eating plan. Planning ahead when you know have a trip, party, etc... coming up will help you from going overboard.
4) If you have a bad day/week, don't let it deter you. Forget it and get back on track. Yesterday is over, just focus on doing better today and tomorrow.
5) If you aren't already, exercise. Every day. It doesn't have to be strenuous (especially at first), but do *something* every day. Even just a 10 minute walk in the morning, noon and night is a starting point. I find this to be really important to my mental health as well as my physical health.
6) Maybe the most important thing. Find support - a group, coach, dietition, whatever. Someone who can help you navigate your specific requirements, provide guidance and give you suggestions for developing good habits, and also keep you accountable. Also, for me, having to pay for coaching is a great motivator for me to stick with things.
7) If something isn't working for you, don't quit. Try something else. Something will work. Just keep going.
8) Focus more on how you feel than the scale. As the weight comes off (and it will if you make changes), you will start to feel better. When you get to a point where you are happy, stop worrying so much about the number on the scale. You might be happy and feel good at 180 or 260 and that's fine.

Best of luck to you.

Thank you for the great advice. I'm ready to feel alive again!

[Jaimez54]

Age doesn't matter, it's the same for any age. You need to eat less and especially less of the wrong things.

Thanks Tommy! I'm truly going to get this weight off and live a healthy life.

[tadpole25]

For you to be at your current weight, you must be eating 5000+ calories per day.

Track your calories. Everyday. And track every single thing you eat.

At your current weight, you don't need a perfect plan. You just need something you can consistently stick to.

Eat foods you enjoy. If a diet is extremely restrictive, avoid it. If you don't enjoy a food, don't eat it. (Part of why people regain weight is because they go on diets they dislike and don't intend to do it long-term).

Instead of going on a 1700 calorie deprivation diet and feeling miserable, you could eat 2500 (or even 3000 calories) a day and still lose a lot of weight.

[QuantumDesign]

Age doesn't matter, it's the same for any age. You need to eat less and especially less of the wrong things.

Not only that, reminder to try to stay away from soda drinks.

[Soundork]

Hi I'm James and I am 54 years old weighing 380 lbs. I'm only 5'8 and I'm morbidly obese. When I was younger it was so easy to shed the pounds but not anymore as I've gotten older it's very hard to lose weight. I know I lack discipline and sometimes I just feel hopeless like I know I can't lose the weight or something but at the same time I know this is not true. When I was younger I lost a lot of weight and became quite thin well lean and having my girlfriend motivated me to do that I wasn't really doing it for myself and I know that's one of the biggest problems I've had is not doing it for myself. I'm sorry to go on and on just looking for maybe some good advice from people out there who may be over 50 and know how I can get this weight off any input would be greatly appreciated.

You got very good advice from the peeps above.

The only thing that I could add is that in order to keep yourself from falling off the wagon you should understand that these are long-term goals, not to expect anything overnight and not to give up when you have a temporary setback.

Also, my personal advice is to gradually introduce all the changes that are necessary. Do not throw everything from the book at once at this. Start small and keep improving in very small increments. I would start with alcohol intake. Alcohol could be your best friend, but it also increases your appetite. Cut your consumption in half for at least few weeks, I promise you, you will see improvements. Then introduce another change. Remember not to go cold turkey, eliminate the bad stuff slowly, but consistently while at the same time slowly and consistently introducing ingredients that your body would be thankful for. Same for the portion size.

At times, you will have a day of indulging (in moderation). Dont beat yourself over it. It is ok, as long as it is random, your body can handle such things if it happens once in a great while. As long as these are random events and you are consistent with your plan to slowly and gradually introduce changes to your diet, you will be fine. Having said that, you should try to not give in for as long as possible....


Good luck.

Soundork

P.S. I would focus on cardio exercise at first. Walking is your best friend. You feel less hunger too so dieting will be easier.

[RosalynNewton]

There are 100 ways to motivate ,,only see bright side, use music while working out

[RayBcomplex]

Hi I'm James and I am 54 years old weighing 380 lbs. I'm only 5'8 and I'm morbidly obese. When I was younger it was so easy to shed the pounds but not anymore as I've gotten older it's very hard to lose weight. I know I lack discipline and sometimes I just feel hopeless like I know I can't lose the weight or something but at the same time I know this is not true. When I was younger I lost a lot of weight and became quite thin well lean and having my girlfriend motivated me to do that I wasn't really doing it for myself and I know that's one of the biggest problems I've had is not doing it for myself. I'm sorry to go on and on just looking for maybe some good advice from people out there who may be over 50 and know how I can get this weight off any input would be greatly appreciated.

If you're looking for a lifestyle change, start small and slowly change your habits.
Get enough sleep. Drink enough water, aim for 3 liters a day. Take a basic multivitamin daily. Get movement in daily, even if it's a 15 minute walk you can slowly increase the steps and duration; gotta start somewhere. Get enough protein and challenge your muscles. You'll find that with more activity your energy levels increase and you can do more which helps your energy levels increase which means you can do more which helps your energy.... etc etc etc