Does losing weight change "the game" at all?

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I am a 16 year old who is going to be a junior in high school . I play football (which does nothing to help your popularity, contrary to many people's beliefs), so I am active frequently, but I still weigh over 280 lbs. Granted, I am 6'3, but I am still anything but skinny. I have been trying to motivate myself to lose some weight, hoping that it will improve my social life, but have never succeeded. I am wondering if anybody has experienced weight loss, and if it helped them become more popular or successful with the opposite sex. I am hoping it will work, because nothing else seems to.

Let me tell you, having weight issues myself (245 lbs, 5'8" tall) that as long as you are fit, your football performance should be fine (meaning that even if you are that heavy, it it is a good deal muscle, you are fine). Sadly, I'm not one to like sports, working out, or other such physical activity . . . but I do get a 30-50 min walk in each day (trust me, with the weather we're having in NC these days, that is a chore in and of itself). If your weight is mostly muscle, don't worry too much, but if there is some level of fat you want to lose safely, consult a doctor/physician.

Absolutely it helps! It helps you feel better about yourself on every level. You'll look better, you'll feel better, you'll BREATHE better - I can't explain to you in words how great it feels to look in the mirror and like what you see, to bend down to tie your shoes without getting dizzy, and to notice that people are looking at you, smiling at you in a way they never did before.

I will tell you up front, weight loss is hard. Its mostly hard because it taxes your patience to the breaking point. Losing a few pounds, not such a big deal. Takes a few days, a week or two, maybe a month. But dropping serious poundage takes time, not like years or anything, but it can seem like years when you're denying yourself things you really like. I do recommend stepping on the scales every morning, so you can see it happening, but don't get discouraged when you hit a plateau and the weight loss seems to just stop - that's temporary - if you've already been losing, it'll pick up again, just keep doing what's been working.

Don't do anything radical before consulting a doctor, but what worked for me was an extreme protein diet. One ground beef patty or skinless chicken breast and a half a can of green beans twice a day, Sunday through Friday, and a dedicated exercise routine including weight training, power walking and two alternating ab routines. On weekends (Friday and Saturday), I allowed myself to eat whatever I wanted - but just for two days - then I went back to the diet. Don't forget to take a daily vitamin supplement, I'd personally recommend fish oil and vitamin E caplets as well. Took me a bit over 90 days to lose 60 pounds. I've heard stories of people losing faster, but frankly I think those are fairy tales.

Here's the real trick: Once you hit your goal weight (the surgeon general says at 6'1" mine should be 175, but my body seems to naturally hover around 182, any less and my family tells me I look emaciated), you can go back to a fairly normal diet (except for white bread and potatoes, avoid those like the plague, they're like injecting pure fat straight into your body), but keep up the exercise routine for the rest of your life. Seriously, it will keep your metabolism up and burning calories like its designed to do which will become ever more important as you get older, and if you keep a routine, it'll become such a part of your day, you'll feel weird and uncomfortable if you skip it. The reason for keeping it up - well, you'll feel so much better by then the reasons will be obvious - but the biggest reason for keeping up the exercise and being constantly aware of what you're eating - is SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO GO THROUGH ALL THAT HARD WORK ALL OVER AGAIN.