Im not sure where to post this.

[Neostarwcc]

I'm not really sure where to post this. Since it's a thread asking for biblical advice about my weight loss journey I decided to post it in Christian advice but since it has to do with weight loss and not Christianity maybe it belongs elsewhere? Can a mod please move it if it belongs somewhere else? Thank you.

Anyway I posted about a year ago that I was getting bariatric surgery in the prayer requests. I'm still regularly going to my bariatric appointments once a month but I've pretty much all but decided that I don't want the surgery anymore or that I want to hold it off for when I'm ready. Besides that point I have lost 20 pounds since September. I weighed 440 pounds in September and I weigh about 417-420 ish now.

The reason I'm making this thread is for not only for continued prayers from the CF community as i make my way to my 280 pound goal but also for advice on how to achieve that goal with God's help and with the help of the CF community. I'm also asking for biblical advice on how to proceed from this moment forth, am I doing the right thing not getting the surgery? How should I proceed from, this moment on? How can God continue to help make my weight loss journey a success? After all, he helped me lose 20 pounds in 4 months that's great progress! That means that it should take me like 3 years to get down to 280 pounds at the rate I've been going!

Also. Another thing I've been wondering that I wish I had a physical therapist to ask but sadly my insurance won't pay for physical therapy. How should I get started on exercise? I can't stand for longer than a minute or two so it's difficult for me to exercise. It's also winter which doesn't help. But, what exercises can I do? How do I remember to do my exercises? I have all the time in the world to exercise because I don't work or do anything I just don't remember, is there something I can do to help me remember to exercise?

The food part of the equation I'm seeing a nutritionist for at the bariatric clinic so I don't need to worry about that. She's been focusing on my diet after my surgery but she's also been giving me food tips in general so thats great. I mean... I don't know. This is going to be hard and I've only scratched the surface but I do look a lot thinner now.

 

[trophy33]

Well, you are not the first obese person trying to lose weight. You can find plenty of inspiration on youtube or consult anything you wish with a free public AI.

The critical thing is motivation to change and keeping the discipline and that is something you must find in yourself.

 

[linux.poet]

AMBASSADOR HAT​

I'm not really sure where to post this. Since it's a thread asking for biblical advice about my weight loss journey I decided to post it in Christian advice but since it has to do with weight loss and not Christianity maybe it belongs elsewhere? Can a mod please move it if it belongs somewhere else? Thank you.

I moved it to Fitness, Health, and Nutrition. It’s similar to threads found there and that subforum is active enough to give good advice.

AMBASSADOR HAT OFF​

 

[Joseph G]

I'm not really sure where to post this. Since it's a thread asking for biblical advice about my weight loss journey I decided to post it in Christian advice but since it has to do with weight loss and not Christianity maybe it belongs elsewhere? Can a mod please move it if it belongs somewhere else? Thank you.

Anyway I posted about a year ago that I was getting bariatric surgery in the prayer requests. I'm still regularly going to my bariatric appointments once a month but I've pretty much all but decided that I don't want the surgery anymore or that I want to hold it off for when I'm ready. Besides that point I have lost 20 pounds since September. I weighed 440 pounds in September and I weigh about 417-420 ish now.

The reason I'm making this thread is for not only for continued prayers from the CF community as i make my way to my 280 pound goal but also for advice on how to achieve that goal with God's help and with the help of the CF community. I'm also asking for biblical advice on how to proceed from this moment forth, am I doing the right thing not getting the surgery? How should I proceed from, this moment on? How can God continue to help make my weight loss journey a success? After all, he helped me lose 20 pounds in 4 months that's great progress! That means that it should take me like 3 years to get down to 280 pounds at the rate I've been going!

Also. Another thing I've been wondering that I wish I had a physical therapist to ask but sadly my insurance won't pay for physical therapy. How should I get started on exercise? I can't stand for longer than a minute or two so it's difficult for me to exercise. It's also winter which doesn't help. But, what exercises can I do? How do I remember to do my exercises? I have all the time in the world to exercise because I don't work or do anything I just don't remember, is there something I can do to help me remember to exercise?

The food part of the equation I'm seeing a nutritionist for at the bariatric clinic so I don't need to worry about that. She's been focusing on my diet after my surgery but she's also been giving me food tips in general so thats great. I mean... I don't know. This is going to be hard and I've only scratched the surface but I do look a lot thinner now.

Praying for you!

I lost a ton of weight when I was put on Metformin for Type 2 Diabetes. I researched the drug months later and discovered that unknownst to me (and not told to me by my doc) that it is also used as a psychotropic drug. Immediately chunked it in the trash. God healed me of that nonsense years ago and I won't ingest anything that chemically affects my brain.

And... gained all the weight back. Not the least bit sorry.

I know how to lose it. Diet and exercise. God has made progress on my diet, for sure. But exercise is a huge challenge as I have a host of health problems and just walking the 1 1/2 block to church and back is very difficult.

So I don't know that I really have much helpful advice, other than to offer this encouragement - the physical limitations in no way prevent profound fellowship with the Lord and experiencing the joy of being Christ's ambassador and fellow co-worker with my brothers and sisters. I am praying you are experiencing the same!

God bless, Neo.

 

[timewerx]

Cutting down on calories (calorie deficit) is quite an effective way to lose weight in my experience. That is how I lost a lot of weight in combination with exercise.

It can difficult but an effective way to make calorie deficit easier is don't stuff your fridge and kitchen with food nor snacks. Leave your money and cards at home when going out or bring just enough money to buy what what is absolutely necessary.

Also get rid of the ads from your browser using adblockers because ads are usually about food. If you watch TV shows, maybe cutting down on them as well due to the food ads or even shows about food.

The strategy is basically getting rid of all the temptation to eat and with help of cardio and strength exercises. And if you wish to take a little bit further, make your foods less palatable. Noting that exercise doesn't need to be intense and painful. It can be light and easy but should be long enough. I'm currently maintaining weight of 114 lbs and have been progressively losing weight since 2020 never using any drugs so I have pretty good idea on what works.

 

[Freth]

I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2018. At the time I was 240 and had a huge gut. I made changes in my diet and got my numbers under control, and was off Metformin in a year. My numbers normalized by my first 6 month test, but my doctor kept me on it for another 6 months for whatever reason. I am now 190 and slowly losing weight.

Here is what worked for me.

• Eat as little sugary foods as possible.
• Adjust meal portions to normal sizes.
• Be conscious of the calories you're consuming. Do not exceed the daily caloric needs of the body, try to stay under it so that your body will use stored fat. You can find books that tell you what calories foods have.
• Reorient grocery shopping habits to skip the middle aisles which mostly contain high-calorie processed foods. This requires learning new meals that are tasty and good for you.
  • Fresh fruits/veggies of all kinds.
  • Frozen fruits/veggies.
  • Beans (canned and dry).
  • Whole grain breads (I eat Ezekiel).
  • Unsalted nuts
  • Oats and other grains, like barley.
• Develop tasty meals around healthy ingredients. This is what brings success; if you enjoy what you're eating, you will eat better. You don't have to skimp on comfort foods.
  • Versatile ideas for ingredients:
    • Soups
    • Tortilla wraps/tacos/burritos
    • Casseroles
    • Crock pot meals
    • Fritters can be made from eggs, chopped veggies, oats, spices, mashed beans, etc.
    • Sloppy joes of various types (I make mine with vegetarian meat crumbles)
    • Hamburger Helper style meals (I make mine with vegetarian meat crumbles)
      • You don't need Hamburger Helper, there are meal packets that work as a base for this type of meal, or you can make it from scratch.
    • Baked beans
    • Potato salad, et al
    • Salads of fresh veggies and your favorite dressing
    • Pizza, flatbread (tortillas can also be made into thin crust pizzas)
  • Notes:
    • I keep meat and dairy to a minimum.
    • I try to keep pasta and rice to a minimum.
    • I do eat eggs.
• Get regular exercise. This coupled with the caloric intake management will bring success. Start walking. Work your way up to longer distances. Walk at a pace that is comfortable for you. Exercise daily, even if it is only a few hundred feet at first. Make it a habit to step outside and walk some. Go to a local park and enjoy nature. Eventually you'll step up to doing a mile. Regular exercise, along with the above, is key to slowly losing weight. Also, fresh air and sunlight are beneficial.
• Be patient. Losing weight takes time, and you don't want to lose it quicker than your body can adjust.
• Diet change is life, not temporary.

God bless!

 

[Neostarwcc]

AMBASSADOR HAT​

I moved it to Fitness, Health, and Nutrition. It’s similar to threads found there and that subforum is active enough to give good advice.

AMBASSADOR HAT OFF​

Thank you very much! I didn't know that section existed so thanks for moving it for me!

 

[Neostarwcc]

I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2018. At the time I was 240 and had a huge gut. I made changes in my diet and got my numbers under control, and was off Metformin in a year. My numbers normalized by my first 6 month test, but my doctor kept me on it for another 6 months for whatever reason. I am now 190 and slowly losing weight.

Here is what worked for me.

• Eat as little sugary foods as possible.
• Adjust meal portions to normal sizes.
• Be conscious of the calories you're consuming. Do not exceed the daily caloric needs of the body, try to stay under it so that your body will use stored fat. You can find books that tell you what calories foods have.
• Reorient grocery shopping habits to skip the middle aisles which mostly contain high-calorie processed foods. This requires learning new meals that are tasty and good for you.
  • Fresh fruits/veggies of all kinds.
  • Frozen fruits/veggies.
  • Beans (canned and dry).
  • Whole grain breads (I eat Ezekiel).
  • Unsalted nuts
  • Oats and other grains, like barley.
• Develop tasty meals around healthy ingredients. This is what brings success; if you enjoy what you're eating, you will eat better. You don't have to skimp on comfort foods.
  • Versatile ideas for ingredients:
    • Soups
    • Tortilla wraps/tacos/burritos
    • Casseroles
    • Crock pot meals
    • Fritters can be made from eggs, chopped veggies, oats, spices, mashed beans, etc.
    • Sloppy joes of various types (I make mine with vegetarian meat crumbles)
    • Hamburger Helper style meals (I make mine with vegetarian meat crumbles)
      • You don't need Hamburger Helper, there are meal packets that work as a base for this type of meal, or you can make it from scratch.
    • Baked beans
    • Potato salad, et al
    • Salads of fresh veggies and your favorite dressing
    • Pizza, flatbread (tortillas can also be made into thin crust pizzas)
  • Notes:
    • I keep meat and dairy to a minimum.
    • I try to keep pasta and rice to a minimum.
    • I do eat eggs.
• Get regular exercise. This coupled with the caloric intake management will bring success. Start walking. Work your way up to longer distances. Walk at a pace that is comfortable for you. Exercise daily, even if it is only a few hundred feet at first. Make it a habit to step outside and walk some. Go to a local park and enjoy nature. Eventually you'll step up to doing a mile. Regular exercise, along with the above, is key to slowly losing weight. Also, fresh air and sunlight are beneficial.
• Be patient. Losing weight takes time, and you don't want to lose it quicker than your body can adjust.
• Diet change is life, not temporary.

God bless!

Actually I found this app that's kind of helpful that I downloaded onto my tablet that scans the barcodes of many common foods and it will tell you the calories and nutrition information of that item and add up your calories for you.


Like it's saying that I should be consuming 3200 calories a day roughly so when I input into the app what I'm eating it will add up the calories for me and tell me how much protein, sodium, vitamin c ...etc I've eaten so far today and how much more I should be eating for the day or how much I should cut back. And it tells me how many more calories I can eat today before I'm over my calorie count. Usually I eat around 2700-3000 calories and that's why I've been losing weight. It hasn't been exercise it's because I've been cutting calories. That will only work for so long eventually I'm going to need to exercise so that's kind of why I posted here.

 

[Neostarwcc]

Praying for you!

I lost a ton of weight when I was put on Metformin for Type 2 Diabetes. I researched the drug months later and discovered that unknownst to me (and not told to me by my doc) that it is also used as a psychotropic drug. Immediately chunked it in the trash. God healed me of that nonsense years ago and I won't ingest anything that chemically affects my brain.

And... gained all the weight back. Not the least bit sorry.

I know how to lose it. Diet and exercise. God has made progress on my diet, for sure. But exercise is a huge challenge as I have a host of health problems and just walking the 1 1/2 block to church and back is very difficult.

So I don't know that I really have much helpful advice, other than to offer this encouragement - the physical limitations in no way prevent profound fellowship with the Lord and experiencing the joy of being Christ's ambassador and fellow co-worker with my brothers and sisters. I am praying you are experiencing the same!

God bless, Neo.

Yeah my doctor put me on a drug called phentermine and I lost 20 pounds on that in a few months. But I put that back on too and I had to constantly be on the drug for it to work and I was only supposed to be on it for a few months. It really was supposed to be a temporary solution for those who needed to lose 20-30 pounds. I need to lose hundreds technically but I only want to lose 150. I don't want to set an unrealistic goal of 250 pounds and then fail. I'd rather lose 150 live to be 50 years old and then maybe consider losing a bit more. You know? I mean I'm almost 40 now.

 

[Neostarwcc]

Well, you are not the first obese person trying to lose weight. You can find plenty of inspiration on youtube or consult anything you wish with a free public AI.

The critical thing is motivation to change and keeping the discipline and that is something you must find in yourself.

Right maybe I'll check YouTube for some exercise videos for those with limited mobility. I'm sure they exist.

 

[linux.poet]

In terms of exercise, what has worked for me was the Convict Conditioning series of books. But I’m a book person and it was really important to me to have a series of simple options in the back of my mind. Some of the beginner exercises in the book could work for your situation though, like wall push ups and pulls. Wall push ups are just that: putting your hands on a wall, leaning toward it, and pushing back against it until you get into an upright position. Wall pull ins are just grabbing a fence post or door frame with both hands and pulling yourself toward it. If you are as overweight as you say, both will be difficult, but see how many you can do. If you can get to 50 reps, you’ll need something harder going forward. That would be table/counter push ups and seated rows.

Which is a long way of saying that you should go for baby calisthenics. Extra weight will punish you in terms of body weight exercises, so hopefully your nervous system will start to become your ally instead of your enemy and that will help you more overall.

I have all the time in the world to exercise because I don't work or do anything I just don't remember, is there something I can do to help me remember to exercise?

There are exercise apps out there that have “couch exercises” programmed in that will remind you to exercise - I saw an ad for one the other day. You might try that. If you decide to go the book route, a system of reminders on your phone would work nicely, but you would have to set that up. I would poke around and try some body weight exercise apps to see what works for me.

 

[timewerx]

Right maybe I'll check YouTube for some exercise videos for those with limited mobility. I'm sure they exist.

You probably won't find this in your search but if you're looking for the most fun exercise with limited mobility and doing it indoors, you should look at car racing games, particularly the "rally" genre.

Dial up the resistance and force feedback of the steering wheel and even max it out if you're strong enough and you'll have a workout.

This isn't me (but I'm that thin) but this used to be my daily workout in better times! I maintained weight of around 130 lbs at that time. At room temperatures above 70F, I'd be dripping in sweat racing in front of my computer!

It may look easy in this video because her force feedback settings are not at the maximum setting. If you do, things can look fairly violent, just to let you know this exercise can give you a range of easy to hard intensity depending entirely on the force feedback setting. Great for exercise progression! Noting, the faster you drive, the bigger the resistances/forces you'll have to fight.

Incredibly, if you do this for hours each day, you'll burn a lot of calories!

 

[com7fy8]

I suppose it could cost more to buy the right food. But in case buying only the right food leaves you with some extra money, you could give that money to someone who needs food, maybe in a missionary project in another country or where you are, or just buying things you drop in the local donation box for a food pantry. And that could have you doing something to love someone else, and loving can make it more motivating and satisfying to lose your weight.

Feeding on love can help us to not feed so much on food pleasure.

 

[timewerx]

I suppose it could cost more to buy the right food. But in case buying only the right food leaves you with some extra money, you could give that money to someone who needs food, maybe in a missionary project in another country or where you are, or just buying things you drop in the local donation box for a food pantry. And that could have you doing something to love someone else, and loving can make it more motivating and satisfying to lose your weight.

Feeding on love can help us to not feed so much on food pleasure.

I actually asked him to get rid of extra food/snacks from the kitchen and fridge and then leaving his cards behind and bringing only enough money to buy what absolutely necessary whenever he went outside the house.

Essentially getting rid of the temptation to eat or buy extra food/snacks

I know it worked so well for me. But ironically, it happened to me instead through poverty. The fridge and kitchen is nearly empty as the tight budget allows and when I came out to buy groceries, I brought just enough money to buy what's absolutely necessary and left all my cards behind.

I went from 140 lbs to 114 lbs in a few years. It may not sound much but losing weight from 140 lbs is incredibly difficult for someone with enough money to buy all the food they want.

I guess losing weight isn't just diet and exercise, you need to be very disciplined with spending habits too. What you do with your money.

 

[trophy33]

Right maybe I'll check YouTube for some exercise videos for those with limited mobility. I'm sure they exist.

Here is a man from Alaska who is on a similar journey as you are: Bill Nott

He could not walk out of his house in the beginning and now he lost 300lbs in a year or so.

 

[Pop D.]

Might help to try fasting 16 or 18 hours each day.

 

[Freth]

My food budget is $100 every month. You don't need a lot of money to eat the right foods.

 

[trophy33]

My food budget is $100 every month. You don't need a lot of money to eat the right foods.

If you do not have your own farm and ranch, I am afraid you do need much more money to buy the healthy whole nutrition foods, in the most of the western world.

 

[com7fy8]

When I started being a caregiver, I was helping my lady friend and her dog with his three potentially terminal conditions, as far as I know. I could be so busy with them, that I went down from about 150 to 140 in not long time! But I have been adjusting to make sure I eat and rest and do other things.

But I see how loving someone could help me to not be so concerned about eating.

 

[Freth]

If you do not have your own farm and ranch, I am afraid you do need much more money to buy the healthy whole nutrition foods, in the most of the western world.

I live in Ohio. I don't own my own farm or ranch. Food is expensive, but I shop mostly at Aldi, which has saved me a ton vs Kroger. I am able to buy the items I listed above and stay within budget.