Hello everyone,

My name is Terry and I am from Kansas. My weight problems began when I was in 5th grade and I had fought it until I was about 18 and I finally decided that I didn't want to live that way anymore. I started running and just cut out fried foods. I was way out of shape and thought I was gonna have a heart attack running a quarter of a mile. I did what everyone had been telling me... try it for 2 weeks and go from there. Well, it worked out and I became obsessed with finding more ways to lose it and lose it faster. I went from less than a mile to three miles a day, seven days a week. Also, I cut my calorie intake to the bone, consuming no more than 1300 calories a day. After I lost about 100 lbs, friends and family became concerned that I was losing too much. After I was finally convinced that I had lost enough and even needed to gain a little back, I gained about 20 pounds and stayed at that weight for about 5 years. I maintained the running three miles a day for that amount of time until I got appendicitus and a month later burned my leg pretty badly in a motorcycle accident. I stopped running of course, and the weight started coming back on. It seems that weight gain is never gradual as it really is and before I knew it, I was back to my pre weight loss weight. Sadly enough, I never came to terms that I had gained so much till about 6 months ago. It took me a year to lose it (unhealthily) and 5 years to maintain it, and about two years to destroy all that work. Its sad, but I know it can be done again. I just get these nagging doubts though. When I look back it seems that the original accomplishment of losing that much weight the first time is daunting as ever and I fear I don't have the willpower to do it again. I have been going to the gym for almost 6 months to no avail. Several days ago I realized that my eating habits are to blame. When I was running so much, it seemed like I could eat almost anything I wanted to and not gain weight. I know that isn't right but at the time it is what I thought. Now I realize that until my eating habits are kept in check, more than likely I am not going to be able to lose weight again. For the last week I have been trying to eat less per meal and have small meals throughout the day, but it seems like I don't have the discipline to not overeat. I am trying to figure out ways that might make it easier to keep focused on these goals. I came across this forum and I am going to try and keep up with my goals and hope to help support others keep their goals as well. Thanks, and I hope to talk to you all soon!

First off, you should say it out loud; " I can do it again. No problem"
And you should believe it!

If you did it before, you CAN do it again.
However, try losing it a little slower this time. The slower you lose, the longer it stays.

Although amount of food is important, what you're eating is too. I can't really give you too much advice on it, since its my problem area, but a lot of people know about it.
Cutting out soda, and eating more fruits has done wonders for me so far.

Welcome to the team!
Believe in yourself, I know you can do it!

Wow! Great story! Welcome.

You're absolutely right, you did it before, you can do it again. Of course this time you want to do it in a way that you don't have to do it again and again and again, right?

So you have the exercise part down it seems to me, now you must focus on your diet. You need to know how much food is appropriate for somebody of your size and activity level and how much you can reasonably cut back on intake to lose weight at a slow steady rate.

So you need to become an expert in calories. I'm convinced that is the only effective method. Counting calories. You need to do it until you know the caloric level of the foods you eat and can judge how much food to eat to maintain your weight loss (and eventually your goal weight) with reasonable accuracy.

The best way to do this is to begin a food diary. You can do it here or on paper or get an account with FitDay.com (no affiliation and there are others). Write down all the food you eat and eat within a target range.

It's not really hard, you just have to do it. It seems like a pain in the a$$, but so is being 100 lbs overweight! The investment in time for this education will pay off with a lifetime of health and fitness.

You can do it, we're here to help!

David C