Hey everyone, I'm a 19 yearold College student in chicago. I go to school full time and i work part time (but it feels like full time...) So I am a very busy person and when I am done from studying I just want to sleep or eat a nice meal. The thing is..I've been a big girl my whole life. I was at normal weight when I was 4 but when I turned 6 the doctors told me I had asthma and put me on medication. Since then, I blew up FAST. My weight has gone up and down and up and down. ANd here I am, almost 20 and I weigh about 270 where just last year... iwas 240. College put a lot of stress. I dont know where to start or how to work out an exercise scheduale because I am always busy and tired. Basically, I am hoping someone can give me tips on what they did. I want to lose 50 pounds. I do not have a date. Should I have a date for it? I really need help and doctors don't do well for me. They never seem to understand...thank you for your time and I hope to hear from you =)

Please read around the forum and read some of the stickied threads to get an idea as to what you can do to get started.
The most important thing is your nutrition and that you can control on your schedule. What is our eating like? Is there a lot of fast food in the equation?

After that look into exercise. I am not sure where you are at in Chicago but can you go for walks? Any movement at all helps. I know you are busy- honestly, who isn't?- but you need to find an hour a day 3-5 days a week for yourself. If this is important to you then you will find the time that you need, it is hard but so worth it in the end.

I would set a goal but the goal is entirely up to you. Be sure to make the goal reasonable- don't set out to lose 50lbs in 2 months- or you will get discouraged fast. Celebrate little victories.
Above all- stay positive.

Welcome to the site.

I live in the outskirts of Chicago...I'm closer to Cicero, IL and am 15 minutes from downtown. I go to school and work in downtown. I try to go to my school gym everyday for an hour, but finals came in the past two weeks (my major is film, so I had two films to get done in three weeks) so I was off my rocker..and then i started eating a lot cause of stress. Ive been doing that a lot the past month.

I dont eat alot of fast food. I usually eat a lot of chicken. I work at dunkin donuts so I get ham and egg on a multigrain. sometimes i get a donut. but not a lot. im trying to get myself back on the SOuth beach diet. it was good. i liked it a lot.

I know I need a lot of cardio to lose weight. I did buy the biggest loser's cardio work out. is that a good work out? ive done it three times and it kicked my ass.

it just seems no matter how much exercise i do, i never los weight. when i was 15 i went to the gym everyday for an hour. I never lost a pound. its frustrating with all that work.

thanks a lot for your feedback! =)

Did you ever try writing down your caloric intake? You never truly know what you are eating until you do. I think you might be very surprised with how high you actually are if you write it down.
Losing weight is a very 'simple' process of burning more calories then you take in. Have you gone anywhere to figure out your BMR? Without that number you do will not know the range of calories you need to be at to lose anything.
You do not need to do 'a lot of cardio' to lose weight. A little, sure, but you do not need to be running 2 hours a day to lose weight- that is almost counter productive.

I have family right near Midway so I know the area you are at.
Cold as heck these last 2 days isn't it?

oooh my JEEBUS! its cold in my apartment. i live in a 100 yearold apartment building which has a huge box thing for a heater. and it doesnt heat the whole place. just one side..which is my mothers room. i freeeeeeeeeeeeze.

I am really, really confused about this calorie thing. i want to understand it but no one really wants to explain. ive been reading all sorts of things but its not computing. i found out that im suppose to have 2,800 cals a day but i dono. its making my head hurt =(

2800 calories sounds like a lot considering you are trying to lose weight. I am a 200 pound male and I try to eat around 2200 to 2400 cals daily(while losing weight at a moderate rate).
2800 calories a day is more likely what you need to "maintain" your current weight but you want to be on a caloric deficit of -300 to -500 calories or so to get down to your target weight. A loss of two pounds a week is a about all you can safely expect and still have a normal lifestyle.
With your hectic schedule you dont want to go too low on calories and get fatigue or eat into your muscle mass. I would think that 2300 to 2500 calories a day would probably work for you.
Do you do any strength or weight training? Increasing your lean body(muscle) mass is very important to increasing your metabolism and burning extra calories. With every extra bit of muscle you build you burn more fat and calories even at rest!
Cardio exercise is important but a good strength and toning regimin at least a couple times a week is just as important. You can lose alot of weight with long cardio sessions but if there's not muscle shape underneath what good is it? Don't worry about getting "bulky" it won't happen unless your a steroid freak who spends hours in the gym. What will happen is after a couple of months wou will notice much better shape and tone.
I would shoot for around three sessions of 30 to 40 minutes of higher intensity cardio a week(one of them being a good interval session) and introduce two moderate strength training(weight training) workouts into your schedule. There will be a week every once in a while where you might plateau in your progress but that is normal. Just keep to your schedule and you will soon be on your way again.
Try to find someone who is knowledgeable about strength training to help show you how to get started.
I have gone from 226# to 200# in three months following these guidelines. My body shape, strength, and muscle tone is much better too.
Oh and just say "NO" to those doughnuts.
Hope this is helpful to you