Family Overweight

Z

Zenrenn

New member
I'm 20 years old, 6 foot and 300 lbs. living with my family of 5 (including myself) while I go to college. I would love to lose weight, and my family talk about doing it all the time but never do. Our problem of course is what we get when we go grocery shopping, our lack of exercise and the biggest problem, how much we eat.

Mostly every meal consists of things that are easy to make (hot dogs, pizza rolls) and meals that are made for the family are made in huge quantities. Not to mention we go through about 2 gallons of milk per every 1-2 days.

I really want to break this habit of bulk eating but I'm not sure where to start. Everyone is very picky about what they eat and aren't always willing to eat foods that will benefit them in weight loss. And I know that if I don't change something, I won't be losing weight either. I'm sure others have experienced it, but it's a crap load easier to reach into a cupboard stocked full of junk food and eat something than it is to spend some time making something healthier.

My father and mother, both in their 40's are around 300 pounds. My 14 year old sister is probably around 200 pounds, and my 28 year old brother is easily over 400 pounds.

I can provide any other information if needed, and any help would be greatly appreciated. Unless I move out, I figure I can't lose much weight until they decide to.
 
Just because the food is in the house, does not mean you have to eat it. I am in somewhat the same situation, in that my family members are not on a diet and they bring a lot of snack food into the house.

You can easily fix your own breakfast, even if it's just a bowl of cereal with skim milk, and a piece of fruit, or a poached egg on toast and a cup of orange juice. Lunch is also under your control. Make yourself a sandwich, and maybe a salad and a piece of fruit.

That leaves dinner. At least you could take more reasonable portions of whatever is for dinner. You could also offer to cook dinner, and make a healthy meal for everybody. If your family talk about losing weight, I'm sure they would be willing to get some good food for you to cook.

Exercise is also completely in your control. Set an example. Start by taking a walk every evening.

I think a good place to start is to just begin writing down all the food you eat in a day, to become more aware of what you are eating. I would suggest signing up for a free account on an online diet journal, like Fitday.com or or download calorie counting software such as to help with meal planning.
 
Alright, I'll look into these things right now.

Looking at it now, it's very true that I have control over pretty much every meal and I agree I don't have to eat what they bring into the house, it's just much easier to stay away from it if it's never bought in the first place.

Thanks a bunch.
 
Agreed with what Harold said.

If weight loss was easy everyone would be thin. No one says its easy, living on your own wouldn't be any different, you would have to shop for yourself and resist temptation in the grocery store every time. Going out with friends you have to resist it as well.

My significant other likes crisps and milkshakes, I love them as well, but everything in moderation. I probably eat 1 bag of crisps a month. Just because it's there doesn't mean you need to eat it.

Would your family let you be in control of meals and shopping? I know my family was very supportive and glad when I took control, it is a weight off their shoulders. Try putting it to them in a way they can understand, saying you're fat we need to lost weight wont do it. suggest they give you what they would normally spend on food and let you control the meals. It is a lot of work but in the long run it could help.

If you have a job you could purchase your own food and make separate meals, making meals in bulk works as well, make 4 chicken breasts with a bit of rice and veg and put 3 in the freezer so you can just microwave them quick and easy.

In the end, it's up to you. You want to do it, do whatever it takes to do it.
 
For me it's much easier to resist temptation when I'm shopping. I have no problem choosing the right foods. Problem is, my work schedule conflicts with everyone else because I work 3rd shift.

Although, I was planning out buying food for myself and making it separate from their meals. I've been trying to compile a list of foods but I'm stupid picky and have the taste buds of a 10 year old. I hate it haha, but I guess all I'll need to do is make a list every week or so. Thanks for the advice both of you. =P
 
I agree with everyone else. My housemate is not terribly overweight and he's one of those people who can eat large amounts of junk and not really gain all that much. So he often brings in bread, cookies, chips, etc. for his snacks.

Me? I can't eat all that stuff - although, I agree that it's hard to resist temptation when it's right there. But ... bottom line is that you can only control YOU. You have to make the decision that what anyone else in your house eats is up to them and you're going to be responsible for your choices.

It is hard. It's not fair. It sucks. But it's an unfortunate fact of life. :) We all deal with it at one time or another.
 
Might I suggest a few simple things for you.

Losing weight doesn't have to start as an enormous uphill battle. Don't get me wrong, it requires effort, but often people shoot themselves in the foot when they're trying to get rolling. They take on too many things right out of the gate and then struggle under the pressure of forming what will become a lot of new habits. I have to learn to eat better, I have to learn to eat less, I have to learn to eat more often, I have to learn to work out.

That's a lot.

Really, what you want is to show progress while continually adding new habits. This has worked for me in the past when trying to go from no workouts per week to 15. Rather than taking on 3 a day I just start with one a week. Then I added one, then I added one, and within a few months I'm at my goal.

About 8 years ago I added one small step that had enormous repercussions on my health, and my weight, and my motivation to continue going in the right direction. It helped me lose about 55 pounds and it was dead simple. All I did was drop soda and juice from my diet. That was it. The excess calories from those two things for the average overweight person will immediately help them drop pounds.

Try that just to start. No more juice, no more soda, no more sugar in your coffee. Just watch your beverage intake and you'll likely see results both in weight and energy... you won't go into carb coma. And once you feel you have mastered the will to say no to carb-heavy drinks you'll know you'll have the ability to do the next thing.

Walk even 1,000 steps a day.
Learn to cook (this is a personal favorite - all my healthy friends are good cooks).
Eat breakfast.

You don't have to motivate yourself to run, you just need to motivate yourself to put on your runners and tie the laces. Then it's easier to go forward than back. Make sense?
 
@Kara - Yeah it does suck haha. I'm sorry to hear you are in the same boat as I am but glad you are overcoming it.

@Groundwar - I've heard people say just to slowly add things instead of bringing it all on myself at once, and seeing you have success with it really motivates me to try it myself. I never realized it until recently that at my work (McDonalds) I get a small 9 oz. cup of soda twice an hour or so which adds up to a lot. Not to mention fast food soda has much more sugar in it.

Overall, some damn good advice though. Thank you everyone, all that's left is to compile some ingredients to make some meals for myself.
 
Dude, people often forget that it's as tough to train your mind as it is your body. I can't run a marathon today. But I can if I train to do it I can in 6 months. It took me a long time to train myself to stop drinking beer for breakfast. . . But it did it. ha ha. It's as much about confidence as it is about strength. And when you just start small man, you'll see you're more than capable. Dude, you can do it. No doubt. You know what they say, every journey starts with one step away from the beer you want to have for breakfast. : )
 
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