im scared because i just turned 16 and i'm 5'8" tall, but i weigh probably over 300lbs...?

The perfect way to loose weight and monitor your progress is to use a calorie counter on a daily basis while you diet.

Energy In/Energy Out

Food Intake: 1,200 Per Day

One Pound equals 3,500 Calories

To loose one pound per day, You need to burn your food intake plus your one pound of fat

1,200 (intake) + 3,500 (Outtake) = 4,700 Calories Burn

You must burn at least 4,700 Calories everyday to loose one pound at least. It is very easy to go up and beyond 4,700 calories each day.

Best way to do this is to track your progress on a calorie counter monitor watch. If you do it by the numbers you can loose the weight. It is just a matter of changing the way you think about weight loss.

Once you start wearing your calorie counter you can see the numbers increase and you fill find yourself doing extra things in your day, like tapping your foot while waiting at the light in your car, chewing gum, singing out loud and so on onto of your workout routines. You begin to see that everything you do in your day contributes to the overall numbers needed to loose that pound.

Water Intake/Less Storage

Most people do not get enough water in their system. Water is your body's principal chemical component, comprising, on average, 60 to 80 percent of your weight. Every system in your body depends on water. For example, water flushes toxins out of vital organs, carries nutrients to your cells and provides a moist environment for ear, nose and throat tissues.

Lack of water can lead to dehydration, a condition that occurs when you don't have enough water in your body to carry out normal functions. To determine if you are getting enough water use this simple formula.. Take your weight, for example 150 pounds and divide by 2. Take your answer which is 75 lbs and change it to ounces, in this case 75 ounces. That is how many ounces of water you need a day. Your body performs mostly on water. If you make sure you get enough water everyday your body will perform at top notch and your body will no longer have the cravings of junk food. You will have a better performing body system to help you work out and feel better thru out your day.

Good Food

My favorite things to eat:

Avocado Wraps

Simple: Low Carb Tortilla, Half Avocado sliced, alpha sprouts, lettuce, soy bacon...Just wrap it up and eat. You can vary the things you put inside so long as you keep it to approx 4 or 5 items. You want to make sure they are fresh, low calorie and filling. Avocado and mushrooms can replace meats in your meal and still have great taste.

Special K Cereals are fantastic. They have that sweetness that one craves and is so good for you. Calories are low. Great for even just dinner.

First thing in the morning...A Glass of Chocolate Milk. Yup!! Chocolate Milk. We all crave that "got to have" item in the morning. Milk is the best thing you can have for yourself while working out. The chocolate (and you can use Carnation Instant Milk for this but I simply use Nestle dry mix) will give you that sweet "snack" that you need. If you give your body a little bit of it and its in a control way, you will not crave sweets and junk the rest of the day.

Lean Cuisines

Fantastic food! Each meal is approx 180 t0 380 calories per box. So think about your calories. 1,200...You can still have several of these meals a day and still be under your intake requirements.

It’s all about the numbers and watching what you take in and what you burn out. And you know what..If you go over your 1,200 mark for food intake...that’s okay...you simple up your total calories burned for the day by what you took it. So long as you burn off the over all calories to be more than your food intake. Just make sure you stick too it so you can reach your weight loss goals.

Fruits and Veggies

All you want on the schedule listed below.

Bananas are my favorite. They are very filling and can make a meal all on their own.

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Vitamins

My favorite is ONE A DAY WITH ENERGY...I am in love with this vitamin because I am just like everyone else who loves those quick fix energy drinks. But what people do not realize is that energy drinks can contain 120 to 440 calories in just ONE Can. If you think about it..That is HALF of your allowed calories for food intake. The best alternative I have found is One a day with energy vitamin. Easy to spot, it is packaged in a green label bottle. Just One vitamin a day will give you as much energy as approx. 1 1/2 cans of red bull...WITHOUT the calorie intake.

WoW..now your making progress already because you have made more room in your intake calories for actual healthy food.

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Soda/Carbonation

Carbonation is terrible for your system because it bloats your stomach. And when your stomach bloats, your jeans just don't fit. You can drop one pant size simply by NOT drinking any carbonated drinks all together..Take away the bloat and you have instantly just made it one pant size lower. Besides, Sodas dehydrate you and with that One a Day Vitamin, you won't need the Caffeine in the soda and it will also cut out those extra calories that you don't need.

So remove that soda and the energy drinks and just think how much calories you just instantly removed from your daily intake. I normally consume what...four sodas and two energy drinks in one day...that is a total of .... 900 calories. Of what??? Nothing...Those are horrible calories and calories that can be replaced by food which will fuel your body for your day and your workouts.

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Your Body

Your body is like a computer. You must program your body to do what it is suppose to do so it won't crash and leave you with a virus. Your stomach is only the size of your fist. So think about it right now, Look at your hand and close your fist. Not very big is it. That is how much food you actually ONLY need to eat, each time you eat for every meal. If you eat anything more than that, you will stretch out your stomach which causes overeating and overweight.

What you need to do is eat every three hours, approx 5 to 7 times everyday around the same time. If you are always giving your body healthy and better food choices (the size of your fist) every three hours, your body will know you are giving it food. It will use that food properly. It will not go into starvation mode or store food away for later because it knows...it will get more in three hours. So what does your body do...it flushes everything out of your system because it doesn't need it.. Now it knows...you wont' forget about it and that food is on its way.

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Walking Buddy

This is the best thing especially for woman. Get a walking buddy. One hour everyday. Just think about how much talking, venting and laughing two woman can do together while walking and yup, you guessed it...it just burns more calories and reduces your stress. You now are more relaxed because you can talk and free yourself of whatever is frustrating you while getting into shape.

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By: My own experience/rivasj27

Even though you are overweight for your age, it is not best to just completly cut out food groups. You can still eat what you want just in moderation. For instance try eating foods high in proteins such as chicken and fish and cutting out the fattier meats like red meat. Also make sure you get in fruits and vegetables in the recommended incriments. By cutting out food groups complelty your doing much more harm. If you dont eat your carbs you wont have the energy to walk or do any exercise. I also understand that you dont like to exercise, but that is probably how you got so large in the first place, lots of food and no exercise. Try and find a friend that will exercise with you, it makes it more bearable. You also cant blame it on your gene pool. I, for instance, have a family were each person weighs at least 200 pounds, but i am 5'3 and weigh 110 pounds. I am a very healthy person because i want to be. I eat right and i exercise every day, i also take place in group sports which is also a great way to make new friends.

Baby, I'd give a lot of $$ for a 36" waist! Mine is at least 50". You don't weigh as much as you think, because even with my 50" waist, I'm still only 250lbs.

There was a story about a man who was so fat he was suicidal. So he thought the best way to kill himself was to induce a heart attack. So he got out and ran as far as he could, until he passed out. He wasn't happy he hadn't succeeded, so he vowed to do it again. After doing this for several weeks, trying to kill himself, he realized he no longer cared to kill himself, because he felt better than he ever had before.

I'm so glad that you love to walk because that is the key to your new kingdom. Just keep walking until you feel you can run a little at the middle of your walk, and walk a little faster, etc. Keep it up!!

The only problem I have with this diet of yours is that soup is really high in salt. So in drinking nothing but soup and slimfast, you'll be retaining water and not feeling like you're really losing weight. A cup of tea here and there wouldn't hurt, and it'll help with the salt problem.

Don't ever STOP eating. Just scale it back into something nutritious, with some fiber, and get plenty of fluids.

TX Mom

First of all, don't try that diet of yours. It may seem like a good idea. Liquids fill you up and generally contain less calories. And less calories means you will lose weight. That diet is just going to slow down your metabolism, possibly send your body into starvation mode, and ultimately lead to more weight-gain in the future. Your body needs at least 1200 calories a day before it goes into starvation mode, so make sure you are at least getting that many. Keep in mind that a drastic change in your diet can lead to a slower metabolism. Ideally, you want to cut 500 calories out of your diet each day.

If you do insist on doing that diet, stop after two weeks. Then start eating a wider variety of healthy foods.

Healthy weight loss is 1-2 pounds per week. That means it will take a long time to lose the weight, but losing weight is not easy. So just stick to a heathy diet and keep up the walking.

See how many calories you take in each day right now. Then subtract 500 and that's how many you need to start taking. Make sure you consume at least 1200 calories.

First of all, you should go to the MD and get yor thyroid checked. If yo are looking to lose weight the best way is to reduce your caloric intake by 500 calories a day. That would equal 3500 calories a week and will garauntee weight loss. Do it the right way though. Look up the south beach diet. It promotes getting rid of unhealthy carbs and intake of healthy carbs. Your body requires carbs so your brain will function properly. Do not attempt to cut out all carbs (Atkins Diet), it would be extremely unhealthy for you and your body. You should also take some time to find an exercise routine that coincides with your schedule and lifestyle. Walking and jogging is very good but can damage the cartilage in your knees because of your weight, so maybe swimming or aerobics is the best way to go. It is also a sure fire way to lose weight. As a nursing student, I woldadvise you to do two things. One, talk to your physician first about what is best for you. Two, try to lose more than 40-50 lbs. Try to lose about 100 or more. I am not being cruel, but am only concerned about your well being. Because you are overweight, you are putting yourself at risk for arteriosclerosis, which comes from hyperlipidemia, high cholesterol, and diabetes mellitus. Because you are overweight you are at a predisposition for diabetes mellitis. All of these lead to heart disease, heart failure, and even kidney and liver failure. This is why you should check out the south beach diet. It was designed for patients with heart conditions. It is tasty and healthy but does require a devotion and determination to change your lie. I hope I was of some help and good luck to you in losing the extra pounds. Just because you are 16 does not mean you are too young to change you ating habits, just as long as you are still feeding your brain.

You are unhealthy in your mind more than your body. 36 inches around your bellybutton does not a 300 pounder make. You need help with your self-image. As a first step, I would say that you need to see a qualified, licensed couselor.

Also, go to your doctor and get a physical. S/he can tell you how you are doing weight wise.

Liquid diets wil help you to gain weight in the long run more than they will help you to lose weight. They are also great for constipation.

A healthy rate of weight lose is 2-1/2 pounds per week which is 10 pounds per month. If you start today, by the end of May you can lose 50 pounds.

Get a scale. Ignorance is not bliss. Go to the websites below.

I recently weighed more than 300 lbs. and I stopped drinking pop a few months ago and have lost 40 lbs. I have done nothing but no pop. I was drinking about a 2 L a day, and can't believe how much it has helped me. I'm STILL loosing after 4 months. I finally feel good enough to go walking, which will hopefully keep the weight loss coming off.

The most important thing to remember is this, quick fixes are great, but they usually don't stick. You need to do something you can stick with!!! Give it a month with no pop, then see what happens.

Good luck! I feel your pain girlie, and I'm still working on loosing more!

I know liquid diets are tempting, but I really don't think they do much good. From what I understand, they slow down your metabolism and deprive you of important nutriants that your body needs.

You would do much better if you ate oatmeal (using portion control) for breakfast and some soymilk.

For snacks eat the 100 calorie snack packs, fruit or vegi's.

For lunchs and dinners have salads or lean meat with vegi's

Also joining a gym would be really smart. If all you can do for now is walk around the block then thats an awesome place to start. Though joining a gym gives you access to many different machines, classes and the availability of trainers. Doing weight training would be benificial as well as it builds muscle aiding in a faster metabolism as well as toning you up which helps prevent saggy/excess skin that occurs during weight loss.

You want to focus more on inches lost than pounds on the scale. Muscle weighs more than fat, so on a scale its easy to become discouraged even though you feel different in your jeans.

Drink lots of water. This is really important. It aids in digestion which helps you lose weight.

If you decide to go on a liquid diet, then thats your choice. But honestly it might do more damage than good. If you have great self control then cut your portions down and eat healthier. 1200 - 1500 calories a day is the minimum.

I lived with my 2 best friends for a year. We thought skipping meals, drinking only smoothies, going 2 days without eating because of a brownie we ate... we thought it was all going to help us lose weight. Then we would exercise for hours each day for week, only for the next week to be lazy bums sleeping in and then lounging around in our pj's for a day. Honestly none of it works. You have to be conistant. You cant skip meals and take it from someone who's done it... liquid diets are completely tempting but rarely work all that well.

Best of luck to you! :)

Ok I will be very honest with you, when you hit 300 lbs there is no medical mean of weight loss that is gonna work. you should seriously getting a laparsoscopic gastric bypass.

Right now a lot of insurance comapnies prefer to pay for the surgery, rather than paying for life long diabetes treatment. and ofcourse such weight will give you a long a list of diseases, so go see a bariatric surgeon and see what he can do.

Perhaps a vegetarian diet might help as very few vegetarians are overweight.

In your case perhaps your obesity is due to a medical problem and you might need medical treatment, if any medical treatment can help.

It seems that you have inherited the genes that make you fat so it is a bit uncertain whether dieting and exercising can actually help.

Wish I could be more helpful.

There is a great diet website that I used to loose weight. It helps you determine how many calories to eat, how many calories to burn and helps you keep track of both. It also has message boards for support and articles from experts. Everything is absolutly FREE (no gimmics) :

http://www.sparkteens.com/

If you really have the self control you claim then go for it full force and don't look back!