Overweight and cant get off the ground

[Runner2017]

I highly recommend Dr. John McDougall's book - the Starch Solution.

Let me quote one of the stories in the book:

My whole life has been centered around food. When things with my alcoholic father got bad, Mom would pack up me and my sister and we’d go on an eating binge of candy, hot dogs, and potato chips. By the sixth grade I weighed nearly 200 pounds.
In high school I brought my weight down so I could enlist in the US Marine Corps. After I was discharged at age 24, it didn’t take long for me to reach over 300 pounds. For most of my adult life, my weight fluctuated between 200 and 330, most often over 300, as I consoled myself with my childhood favorites: meat and cheese.
At age 28 I came across one of Dr. McDougall’s books and, after reading that you could eat all you want, I took it home. I bought 10 pounds of potatoes thinking, “I’ll show him!” The next morning my scale showed a 2-pound loss. This was Nirvana! It wasn’t long before I began adding sour cream and butter to those potatoes, and the weight loss came to a standstill.
Fourteen years later, I managed to lose 99 pounds, dropping from 331 to 232. I had the idea that I could capitalize on this by going on the Atkins diet, which I understood was deadly but also quick and effective. Once I got below 200, I figured, I’d use McDougall to regain my health. Five years later I’d bounced back to 300 pounds, where I stayed for several years.
At age 50, in January 2005, I decided to give the McDougall plan another try. By August I weighed 288 pounds and by early December, 229. A combination of holiday treats and cockiness from my success led me to stray and my weight shot right back up to 270. I tried Medifast and lost 34 pounds in 30 days, but also developed kidney stones. I have never known such pain.
When I finally committed myself 100 percent to the McDougall Maximum Weight-Loss Plan [see page 216], I stopped counting calories, ate only when I was hungry, and ate exclusively from the approved list of foods. I set a goal of 175 pounds, though I honestly could not remember ever weighing that little. Today, weighing 159 pounds at age 55, I have exceeded that goal. My blood pressure is 100/70 millimeters of mercury, my BMI is normal at 22.9, my cholesterol is 117 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL), and my glucose is under 100 mg/dL. I wake up in the morning excited about the day ahead and I feel better than I have in years. Food has gone from a way to stuff my feelings to the pleasure of truly tasting it for the first time. The most fun is telling people I eat 85 to 90 percent carbohydrates—some accuse me of lying!

[Runner2017]

The above story of Mike Teehan, Retired from the USPS, Honolu, HI.

Here is his before & after:

[Fredt4]

Hey, my advice is a bit different. Ignore all the advice about what to eat and when to eat. Get a scale and weigh your self. Do it daily and don't ever miss weighing your self. Exercise daily with a minimum amount of walking, perhaps 5 miles a day. You can incorporate it into some other activity, but don't skip it. Now that you have a routine then you start adapting it. Watch your dinner and start adjusting it. Watch your lunch and do the same. Breakfast is the same. You'll notice that you start to lose weight and you keep it up. You notice that you gain some weight and you make a minor adjustment.

I dropped from 260 to my ideal weight and have been there for many years and I still drink coke on an irregular basis. I'm not a vegetarian or on any particular diet and it's easy and enjoyable. This method is a proven method to various people i know.

[capehiker]

For the OP, I'm afraid his ship has sailed. He really needed to start working on this 5 or more years ago. Let this be a wake up call for some of you who still have time. It's still a good idea for him to lose weight and get outside and walk around everyday.

No. It hasn’t sailed. He’s 68 not 98.

[Feral Bill]

Don't give up just yet. I recall a very obese hiker who was on the group a few years ago. Never learned why he stopped, but he made several hundred miles.