How to Lose Weight if You Weigh 200 lbs or More

If you weigh over 200 lbs, this is probably a journey that you have attempted multiple times with no success.

But I’m here to tell you that the past does not matter. Only the present.

We’ve know that this amount of weight gain — the dreaded 200 lb mark — comes with a lot of emotional pain and baggage. 

We’ve heard every story in the book from our clients:

• Not being able to keep up with your kids or grandkids in the yard
• Having to ask for an extender for an airplane seat
• And just the general weakness and fatigue that comes with that amount of weight

But there’s no need to blame yourself or anything else for this.

Let’s move forward and work on letting go of the dead weight — without the skepticism, misconceptions, and emotional blocks that we have carried with us from the past.

Let’s focus on the present and what you want from your future, including…

• Where you are going in your life?
• Where do you WANT to go? Who do you WANT to be?
• Think of all the things you have yet to experience in life…

The present is the only thing that you have power over anyway.

This process will take some time, but you WILL get there.

With the right mindset and the right tools.

I can promise you that and so can our clients, some of which have lost over 100 pounds with the steps I’m about to share with you.

Let’s take the journey to ONEderland together!

The 7 steps below are all some of the basic principles from our popular fast weight loss program — the 21-Day Fat Loss Challenge.

This post may contain affiliate links, which helps keep this content free. Please read our disclosure for more info.

1. Don’t Worry About Exercise (For Now)

Ummm what??? Is that a typo???

Nope.

Exercise actually plays a pretty minor role in weight loss compared to diet.

In fact, a study done by Current Biology took 322 adults from 5 different countries through a calorie reduction weight loss program.  They split the groups between those that did exercise and those that did not.

Shockingly enough, adding in exercise did not play ANY major role in calories burned or weight lost.  And for those that saw changes, they were minor at best.

Instead of burning out your motivation trying to get that dreaded exercise in, save it for what really matters: what you are EATING.

Focus 100% of your efforts on what you are putting INTO your body.

Exercising will unnecessarily stress the joints, cause cravings, and is too much of a risk at 200+ lbs.  And it’s often just not worth the willpower at the beginning of long weight loss journey.

We do, however, encourage going on daily walks and spending time outdoors, which is good for your health for a variety of reasons.

Only once you have established some healthy eating habits have reached some consistency with your diet should you worry about adding in more intensive exercise.

P.S. We’re not in any way saying exercise doesn’t help or doesn’t matter. Because it absolutely is.

We’re just being realistic about where your results are really coming from and what you should focus on in the beginning.

2. Do NOT Obsess Over Calories

This is another crucial mistake most people make when they weigh over 200 lbs.

You’ve likely tried a LOT of different diets and tried counting calories on more than one occasion.

It sucks, right? And it’s just no way to live, really.

It’s really helpful to be knowledgeable about where your calories come from and what’s inside the food that you’re eating.

But here’s the thing…

When you focus on eating the right foods, you don’t ever have to count a single calorie again.

But here’s the other thing with that and the reason why you may not have lost weight even when you were eating the right foods and counting your calories…

At 200 lbs,  your body’s hormones are likely pretty severely damaged due to the weight gain.

You’re likely suffering from high cortisol, excess estrogen, critically low testosterone, and insulin resistance, among others.

This actually causes our bodies to not be able to process ANYTHING efficiently — even the healthy foods.

We’ll discuss more about why this is and how to fix it in a moment.

3. Do NOT Make Small Changes and Expect Big Results

“Everything in moderation.”

Some fitness gurus will lure you in with this so that they can entice you with being able to still eat your desserts while dieting.

Minor changes will lead to minor results.

No, we’re not going to tell you that you have to give up sweets and all the things that you love forever.

But if you want to be serious about losing weight because you’ve gained a serious amount of weight — you need to make some serious adjustments.

According to the latest science, militant diets win out vs. standard diets. Those who lose the most weight in the first 2-4 weeks of dieting have the greatest weight loss results in the following year (1).

Therefore, losing weight fast will better impact you in both the short-term and the long-term.  The most effective thing you can do is actually a cold turkey approach.

Would you rather lose 7-10 pounds in a week or lose 7-10 pounds over the next 2 months?

Losing weight FAST and seeing those results immediately is what will keep you moving forward.

Trust us on this one.

4. Heal Your Digestive Tract

Echoing what we addressed earlier about your body  not being able to process even healthy foods properly anymore…

When your gut health is compromised, it loses the ability to absorb nutrients. 

Your gut becomes “leaky,” and no, this isn’t just something that happens to people with digestion problems.

This happens to the vast majority of people who weigh 200 pounds and could stand to lose at least 100 of that.

The good news is that you can heal your leaky gut fairly easily.

Add some apple cider vinegar to your diet, a good probiotics supplement daily, and start eating the right foods.

The supplement will help kill bad bacteria and promote the growth of healthy bacteria alongside your healthy diet. 

And on that note about what you should be eating…

5. Eat High-Quality Protein at Every Meal

One thing we know for sure is that most people that are trying to lose weight when they weigh over 200 pounds  is that they almost never are getting in enough protein in their diet.

If they were, overeating would be nearly impossible.  You would be too full from the protein and satisfied to eat more of the bad things.

Try eating 100 grams of protein for day, with plenty of healthy, fiber-rich vegetables to help you digest it, and see how hungry you are throughout the day.

Protein is the absolute best food for aiding in weight loss and helping you build muscle (which in turn burns fat faster).

Here are some recommendations:

• Lean chicken breast
• Grass-fed beef
• Salmon
• Whole eggs
• Low-carb protein powder

Eat 25g of protein at every meal, up to 100g per day, and see how hungry you are.

6. Do a Month-Long Carbohydrate Detox

Ahhh, we have finally arrived at my favorite point in this article.

The chances that your body is insulin-resistant when you weigh over 200 lbs and most of it needs to go is over 90%.

It’s just what happens to our bodies when they are overloaded with that much processed food and weight gain.

And THIS is the reason why you can’t get the pounds off. Why you often hit plateaus.

And why your gut health is in poor condition and you can’t process any foods properly anymore.

A complete detox from carbohydrates is one of the BEST ways to reset your hormones, combat insulin resistance, and bust through any weight loss plateau.

This is also EXACTLY why our 21-Day Fat Loss Challenge starts out with a carbohydrate detox.

The body needs a break from the excessive consumption to truly reset before you start trying to lose serious weight.

Try cutting out carbohydrates for month. All carbs. ALL THE CARBS.

(Expect some crankiness here.)

7. Drink Warm Lemon Water Every Morning

This one isn’t absolutely necessary, but we think it’s an important ritual to get yourself in the habit of doing during this journey.

Lemon juice is super detoxifying because of all of the natural enzymes present and it will help tremendously during this detox process.

Try squeezing 1/2 of a lemon into a warm up of water first thing in the morning before any coffee or anything else. 

Make sure the water isn’t too hot or it will kill off some of the natural enzymes, and consider drinking it through a straw because the acidity can wear on your tooth enamel if you aren’t careful.

Also, only real lemon juice from an actual fresh lemon works here. No store-bought stuff!

8. Get a Serious Plan in Place

As we said before, serious results takes serious committment.

If you need some help, we want to help you get on board with a serious plan. It’s not hard and it’s not complicated.

Quite the opposite as it’s pretty simple and easy to follow, but without all the fluff that a lot of other weight loss plans have.

Beacuse this plan isn’t for the masses.

It’s for women — and specifically designed with women who weigh over 200 pounds in mind.

If this article hit home for you, please consider checking out our 21-Day Fat Loss Challenge for a full plan on how to take action on what you’ve learned today.

This plan was designed to help our clients lose 10-21 pounds in just 21 days.

And it can be repeated in multiple “rounds”, at no additional cost, if you have more weight to lose.

And even better than this weight loss is the feedback we get from our clients about how the program has taught them how to change their eating habits and find a diet that truly works for them in the long-term.

We have over 4,000 clients in our private support group going through the Challenge together, and every day they are sharing experiences, results, motivation, and lots of recipes!

Don’t do this alone.

Do it with women who get you. Women who need your help too.

LouLou, one of our clients who has lost over 50.8 lbs said this about her experience with the program in our private community group:

If you are weigh over 200 lbs and are ready to get to ONEderland as quickly (and safely) as possible and make a big and permanent change in your life, this program is the ONLY place you should start.

The concepts that we teach will help you make the necessary changes in your diet and your lifestyle and how to keep them “beyond the diet.”

Click here to get started with YOUR 21-Day Fat Loss Challenge today!

And please leave a comment below if you enjoyed this article on how to lose weight if you weigh 200 lbs or more or if you have any questions for us!

21-Day Challenge Success Stories

• How Julai Finally Lost the Baby Weight and Changed Her Life for the Better
• How Chrystal Regained Her Confidence and Lost Over 46 Pounds in Just 6 Months!
• How Carrie Changed Her Life and Lost 98 Pounds in just 13 Months!
• How Jennifer Lost 78.4 Lbs with a Healthy Diet and Support System
• How Lexie Went From Depressed and Unmotivated to 100 Pounds Lighter and Healthier