23-year-old at 203lbs looking to reach 185 or below.

villaddm

villaddm

New member
Hi, everyone. I'd like to stay totally anonymous in my weight loss journey, but I feel that I will benefit from the support of an online community. I'm 23 years old, live in the San Francisco area, and have always struggled with weight loss. Currently I weigh 203lbs and am 5'7".

I was never skinny, but looking back I can't believe I complained about my weight all through middle & high school! I was probably somewhere between 165 and 175, and I looked great. I would love to get back down to that number, but figure I should set a realistic goal of 185. I would feel happy with this and if I'm successful might try to lose 5 more.

I enjoy hiking and being outdoors, but any exercise that makes me think about the fact that I am exercising, I can't stand. I always need to have a distraction or be moving for the fun of it.

I also have no self-control when it comes to sweets and carbs and would love some tips on how to get over the hurdle of cutting sugar. I don't eat emotionally; I just eat because I love food and can easily convince myself that life's short & I'll appreciate eating a cupcake more than being skinny. I'm scared of going down a path I can't control and ending up heavy with terrible lifestyle habits. I'd like to cut them off while I'm still young!

So here I am on Wednesday, November 16th, 2016 at 203lbs. Hoping I can succeed on this journey, finally - and keep it off!
 
Hey V - welcome to the forum! I'm around your weight too - i'm wanting to get down to about 170. No tips on cutting the sugar down I'm afraid, I like salty and savoury stuff! But good luck and keep posting!
 
When I go cold turkey cutting out the sugar I have about three uncomfortable days and then all of a sudden the cravings are gone. It is such a freedom. I can't describe it. People think I have such willpower because I can turn down cake, chocolate candies etc. but I honestly don't want it. I keep a chocolate bar (85% cocoa) in the freezer just in case.

If you don't want to go cold turkey you can cut out white sugar and processed food. I found out I had an issue with white sugar when I switched to Agave in my morning coffee. After a week or so I realized that I no longer craved a cookie after lunch or ice cream after dinner. Once my bottle of agave was gone I went back to my white sugar and after a week or so those cravings were back. Back to the Agave, cravings went away again. I can't do the fake stuff. I just can't get over the after taste plus more and more research is pointing to them causing just as many cravings as sugar. I eat lower carb now but not strict low carb - try to stay away from breads and pastas but still have them once in a while. We're all a science experiment and need to see what works for each of us.
 
Hi V, & welcome to the forum. I would suggest having a piece of fruit when you crave something sweet. It works for me. As ShariLee says the cravings go. I could not go a day without eating a couple of pieces of fruit but find most cakes really sickly sweet so I steer clear of them. Your tastes can change. Once again, a big welcome!
 
villaddm said:
Hi, everyone. I'd like to stay totally anonymous in my weight loss journey, but I feel that I will benefit from the support of an online community. I'm 23 years old, live in the San Francisco area, and have always struggled with weight loss. Currently I weigh 203lbs and am 5'7".

I was never skinny, but looking back I can't believe I complained about my weight all through middle & high school! I was probably somewhere between 165 and 175, and I looked great. I would love to get back down to that number, but figure I should set a realistic goal of 185. I would feel happy with this and if I'm successful might try to lose 5 more.

I enjoy hiking and being outdoors, but any exercise that makes me think about the fact that I am exercising, I can't stand. I always need to have a distraction or be moving for the fun of it.

I also have no self-control when it comes to sweets and carbs and would love some tips on how to get over the hurdle of cutting sugar. I don't eat emotionally; I just eat because I love food and can easily convince myself that life's short & I'll appreciate eating a cupcake more than being skinny. I'm scared of going down a path I can't control and ending up heavy with terrible lifestyle habits. I'd like to cut them off while I'm still young!

So here I am on Wednesday, November 16th, 2016 at 203lbs. Hoping I can succeed on this journey, finally - and keep it off!
Click to expand...

I've had a few attempts at the whole low-carb thing so I'm fairly familiar with trying to cut out sugar (and all other carbs). My advice is that you don't just jump right in - dip your toes in first and let yourself get used to it little by little. What I mean is - don't just try and stop eating sugar/carbs altogether. Trust me, you'll hate it. It's too hard. Plus, your body just can't handle it. You'll fight for a week or two, battle with constant cravings, lose a few pounds along the way, but then your body will overtake your mind and you will stuff your face with so many carbs you'll completely undo all the work that you have done. On top of that, you'll get big ass headaches and your body will just feel like crap. It's not worth it, so don't go overboard.

Dip your toes in - if you usually eat, oooooh, let's say 200g of carbs in a day try cutting back to 150-175g per day for a week or two. Then, once you get used to that, try cutting back to 125-150g per day for a few weeks. Then, once you get used to that, cut back to 100-125g per day...and so on.

Like, if you usually drink 6 glasses of pop per day don't just straight up stop drinking pop right away - cut back to 4 or 5 per day and go from there. And, apply that to all sugars and carbs in your life - sweets, candy, desserts, bread, pasta, etc. Just cut back a little at a time.
 
Everyone has self-control but not everyone uses it. Self control isn't about instantly saying "I don't need this" and walking away - it's about addressing your triggers (be it food, drugs, sex etc) and finding ways to avoid them when they're unhealthy.

Start tackling those mindsets - okay, you want a cupcake? Cool - go for a hike burn off the calories a cupcake is going to take, find out the sugar, fat, sodium and calories of that cupcake and THEN decide is it worth it? It could be. OR you could realize that it's not worth it and those 5 minutes you spent looking up the nutritional data for that specific cupcake beat the craving.

You have a really negative mindset about exercise too - look, hiking and walking - that's exercise. You might not enjoy the gym or taking a zumba/pole dancing/water aerobics course...I personally hate workout videos - but it's exercise. You're doing your body good by moving. Heck, I consider heavy cleaning in my house (with 2 little mini-tornadoes running around after me ruining it but that's another story) to be exercise.

The awesome thing about this is you're tackling it NOW and you've addressed some triggers. You don't use your will-power. How can you change that? What can you do, when you're in this situation again, to say "no, I don't need this right now." Can you leave your cash/debit/credit at home when walking past the cupcake shop? Do what you need to do to start using that self-control!

I really agree with Shari on the sugar addiction though. I don't think I have an addiction (although pasta - different story) to sugar but I do find I can overdo it quickly. I like the idea of a sugar-fast and see how it impacts your life directly - for me, it wasn't a big deal but I found I liked my coffee black and didn't like oreos (THAT was a shocker). I now stay away from processed sweets and if I bake, we have a one-day rule in the house where it stays for a day and is then, given away (usually cookies).

Anyways, you're definitely in the right spot - this place is AMAZING! You'll definitely get answers to questions - sometimes differing ideas but not every one way works for everyone! Do what works for you :D

Gnight!
 
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