Hi there! I have been prescribed several different weight loss medicines and none of them have worked. The worst was adipex. It made my blood pressure sky rocket and gave me massive headaches. Mostly, what I noticed concerning the medicines and the programs I've tried, is that they worked while I was on them, but as soon as I came off of them the weight just piled back on. 

Of course, everyone reacts differently to different things, but the medicines just weren't for me.

I hope things work out well for you!!!

Edited for typos.

Hi Nadine, sounds as if you are off to a good start to have begun losing!!  Tracking your food is definitely a good thing; I started using My Fitness Pal over a year ago to track food and exercise.  Then my son and daughter-in-law gave me a FitBit which syncs with MFP so that simplifies it some.  You can add recipes to MFP and so forth to make it more user-friendly, but mainly remember to really be careful to use exact measurement / dry and liquid / in order for it to be accurate...and you can add friends on the site as well as peruse their forums. 

My niece had RNY surgery last January and was able to do so thru Medicaid or Medicare, not sure which.  She was unemployed at the time, so that may be an option for you if you decide to pursue WLS.

Best of luck to you, and in the words of Winston Churchill, never surrender, never give up! 

Greetings, 

Am new here so thought I would make a post and put myself out there. Am really rather the type that hides inside all the time. Don't have any friends where I live and only two or three really good friends online. Am hoping if maybe I make friends that live around in my area, St Louis, Mo, that maybe I can get lured out for some kind of social gathering. Not so sure I can handle large gatherings. I have bad anxiety when around people but if I just force myself to do it and keep doing it maybe it wont be so scary for me anymore and help me to lose weight by getting more movement. There is not tons of movement I can do. A flight of stairs is super hard on me but have to do them every day to get from my bedroom to the living room. As well I don't get very far walking with my walker. My back gets really stressed out, I have all kinds of weight related issues with it even my spine being compressed. 

The steps I have done is trying to pick healthier foods and writing down everything I eat. Really need to learn how to count calories better. If am able to get on disability and some medical insurance I hope to maybe start CMWL a really cool program I found online after tons of searching. Weight loss surgery I was turned down for due to my emotional eating behavior but that's ok. I think this other program could be better for me. After all it would suck if I did the surgery and only ended up gaining all the weight back because I slipped into old ways. With this program it will help me learn to live better. I hope I don't have to wait too much longer to try and get into it.  Trying to get on disability and some kind of health insurance is so hard. 

Any-whoo-ha, any ideas on stuff I could do now to help? I was at 561lbs but when I went to my medical testing for disability I weighed 547lbs so what am doing is helping a little bit it seems. Also would love to make more friends even if your not in the St Louis area, online friends are always nice to have. 

Hi all,

I made great progress about six years ago with WW but hit a plateau and have been struggling to find my footing ever since. I started seriously looking into bariatric surgery, only to find out my insurance won't pay for it for another two years. In the meantime I'm back in the saddle and trying to find a balance of diet and exercise that I can live with and hopefully, finally, see some progress with!

I had done low-carb once in the past and had great results but it wasn't at sustainable for me, this time I'm trying to focus on protein and whole foods while allowing for moderate carb intake (100grams a day, or so) and tracking everything on MFP. Really, really hoping I can stick with this and see some results!

Would love to make some new friends and get some advice from those of you who have had weight loss success!

Hi -

I lost 125 lbs. over the course of 14 months.  It is very possible.  I did it all through diet and exercise.  I hit my 2 year anniversary of a lifestyle change on July 2.  That is what I discovered.  It can not be a diet or a temporary thing.  It must be a lifestyle change.  I agree with SuperGirl...maintaining is the hardest part.  However, if you choose a lifestyle that works for you and stick to it, it becomes the habit and not a short term solution.

Several times I have wanted to just ditch the "diet".  I would become frustrated or think that I was happier when I was overweight.  So, I would indulge.  But when I got up the next day, I went right back to what had become my normal lifestyle.  I had changed it up for so long that a moment of frustration didn't matter as much.  

I am a high protein / low carb girl.  It worked wonders.  With exercise, I lost 100 lbs. in 8 months.  The last 25 took forever!  I exercise regularly.  I go to the gym 5 - 6 days a week.  I found that if you lift weights regularly you build muscle and that will help keep you thin.  

It is very possible.  Find a route that you think will work for you.  Once you get the hang of it, it becomes habit.  I know people say practice makes perfect.  Actually, practice makes things permanent.  If you practice a new lifestyle long enough, it becomes permanent.  

I wish you the best of luck.  Losing weight is hard.  I get that it can be a real challenge, but it is definitely possible.