Hi! I'm Kate

kwallah

New member
Hey guys. I'm Kate. I'm 22 and I've been pudgy to obese for most of my life. I wasn't really aware of my weight problems until a couple of years ago, when I got a little wake-up call via my brother's wedding photos (!!!!!). Because I'm also athletic, I never really thought about it much. I cant delude myself into thinking that I was in-shape when I was really obese, but I didn't really associate "obese" with "out-of-shape" until I saw pictures of me at my brother's wedding.

Anyways, I lost about 75 pounds over the course of a year after that. That was two years ago. Since then, I've gained 45 pounds back over the course of writing my undergraduate thesis and graduating undergrad. I read a ton, which involves me sitting around and frequently eating simultaneously. I've read about huge weight fluctuation being a problem for PhD students, so I'm both trying to lose the weight (and maybe more!) again and trying to maintain that. Hopefully, having real support (instead of my family's not-so-subtle implications that I'm a cow) will help me with that. I also know that this will be a struggle because the first time I lost weight, I stopped being physically active at all and ate 1000 calories or less every day. I can't do that again for two reasons. The first is that I love sports too much for that, and the other is that I clearly cannot maintain that diet and my health at the same time.

My biggest problems are my interest in sports (it's hard to eat enough for sporting events one day and switch to less the next day) and my love for beer. I love trying new beer, and I'm not talking MGD 64. The stuff I like has serious serious calories! Anyways, I'd love to chat with you guys and both get and give support--I really want and need to make this happen! I don't know if this is how the intros usually go, but that's what's pertinent for me. Looking forward to talking with you guys.
 
From one Kate to another, welcome!! Good for you for realizing that the less than 1000 cal a day impacts your health in a bad way and it's great that you're starting on this journey again!

I love beer too...is it a Kate thing? It's definitely my drink of choice haha.

Good luck to ya girl, you can do it!
 
Hi Kate!

I'm glad you're not willing to go back down to 1000 calories and no exercise. I do think that reducing your calories is good, but it needs to be adjusted to fit your size and activity level.

I'm totally a muncher, so I understand sitting around and eating. I've just switched what I'm munching on. Instead of chips and candy, I'm eating baby carrots and apple slices! I'm actually munching MORE now that I've changed my food choices. Just try to stock your home with only healthy items so that when you need to eat, you don't have the choice of eating something that's bad for you.

I love beer too, and I definitely enjoy the good stuff, not the beer-flavored waters that most people drink. I allow myself 2 cheat meals a week and enjoy my beers during that.
 
Thanks

Thanks for your responses, guys. I'm already at a bit of a loss with figuring out the best way to do this, so I think I'm just going to stumble my way into something. First step: running to the store to replenish my dwindling fruit supple so that I can snack on something healthy. Last night I was so hungry from cutting out snacks that I ate another meal... Clearly that's not going to work.

Anyways, I'm also going to poke around the site some more--see you guys around!
 
Hey :) . Welcome to the forum Kate. I'm new here, myself, I hope you stick around.

And I hope you can find someone to help you figure some stuff out. I'm not much of a professional, sadly :(:auto:
 
Hey Kate, welcome to the forum!

Just take things one step at a time, try not to expect that you'll change your diet all at one time. It sounds like you've already figured out 2 really important ways that you can significantly improve your overall diet - beer and snacking. As someone already suggested, changing what you snack on can be a very good start. Just don't buy the chips, cookies, or whatever it is that you snack on that's considered 'junk.' Only buy the good stuff :) fruit, veggies, seeds, and maybe nuts. I say 'maybe' with the nuts because it's really easy to eat far more than then intended serving. Nuts are really nutrient dense and a serving size is typically 10 nuts... not very many, so I don't recommend to have a pack of them sitting open while you study. Chances are, you'll eat 3-4 times the recommended serving without even realizing it. I would consider almonds and other nuts as those pre-planned snacks that one should take somewhere with them (in a pre-portioned baggy) when they know they will be limited for snack options.

As for the beer, can you think of a way to be able to try new beers, but limit how many you have in a week? How many would you say you currently drink in a week, or in one night?
 
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