Hi. : )

Worldablaze

New member
Hi , guys/gals. So I'm pretty much here because I looked at myself in the mirror the other day and I said enough is enough. I'm 22 years old, turning 23 in a month and a half, and I weigh 300 pounds. Did I mention I'm only 5'8"? So I was pretty much always athletic growing up and I was always fit, all the way through high school I could run a sub 7 minute mile, even if I wasn't exactly skinny. I was always a bit on the chubby side but it was a fit chubby, if that makes any sense. I played football and did track in high school. The problem came once I graduated high school.

I graduated class of 05 and at that time I weighed 225. While that was still overweight for my height, I was in pretty good shape. I could go on long hikes, play basketball, football, and be active and keep up with anyone. The problem is that since the end of high school I haven't really been active, I've been working and going to school and really never had time to be active. Slowly but surely I ballooned to being over 300 pounds. The heaviest that I got was 320lbs. The problem is that I love fast food and I eat late all the time. Finally a couple of weeks ago I just kind of looked in the mirror and got really depressed at what I have become and now I've decided it's time to shed some weight and get healthy again. No more being out of breath just walking up the stairs at school.

The first step I took is that I got a gym membership. I'm trying to make it a habit to go 5 days a week but sometimes life just gets in the way of that. I'm trying my hardest though. I've also stopped drinking soda, which has been ridiculously easy. I was never that big of a soda fan anyways. The hardest thing right now is giving up fast food. I know how bad it is, and honestly I really don't even enjoy it that much, but it's a convenience issue. I go from school to work and vice versa so sometimes that is the easiest method of eating. The will power is beginning to kick in though. Another problem that I am trying to correct is that I am trying to maintain a better eating schedule. Before I never ate breakfast, and sometimes i would only eat once maybe twice a day. Now I am making it a routine to eat breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, and then eat dinner no later than 7. When i go to the gym I pretty much lift light weights to get the heart beat going and then I do about 30 minutes on the elliptical. I would love to count calories but I don't have any experience doing this, and I think it might be hard to do seeing as my schedule is so hectic, and not to mention I don't buy the food in my house hold, I simply give my mother my share of the money(yes I live at home, it's very convenient while I go to school).

So pretty much I have already started my journey. Like I said I was up at 320lb and my goal is to eventually get down into the 225 range. I know that this is a lot of weight to lose but I know I can do it. I don't know what kind of time table to give myself and that is why I am here. I'm pretty much here for some support, advice, and for the great sticky threads that I have looked over. I'm glad I found this website because this whole losing weight thing can be quite depressing sometimes. My girlfriend and mother support what I'm trying to do but I don't feel that they understand. Also, it's sometimes demoralizing going to the gym and working out when guys just look at me funny as I'm trying to do what I'm trying to do. I want to thank all of you in advance for any great advice I may receive in the future. : )

Sorry this is such a long post. I have been told that I am quite verbose.
 
I am really glad that you decided to join this forum. There are a lot of people here that are like you and even more that really want to help.

I totally understand loving fast food. I love hot dogs and fries and still have them, when I must really have them. It is just not as often. Do not think that you need to give them up. What you do need to do:

1. is to keep track of all of the food and drink you have had each day
2. Figure out the calories in each food item.

I would be glad to teach you how to count calories. It is this simple:

1-1/2 cups of bran flakes - 200 calories
1/2 cup of 2% milk - 250 calories
2 tbspn wheat germ - 50 calories
2 cups of coffee - 6 calories
2 % milk in coffee - 10 calories
Total Breakfast 516 calories

You just do this all day long. First just right down everything you eat and find out the calories. You MUST do this. Even right down the fast food and get a copy of the nutritional information or get it from signs in the restaurant.

Find out how many calories you eat today and report back. OK?
 
So I gave the counting calories thing a shot today and I ended up with 2200 calories. This number seems high to me seeing as I have seen a lot of posts about people sticking to 1700 calories a day and so on. Should I perhaps try to lower this number into that range? Thanks for the help by the way. I've never even given counting calories a shot until today.
 
Now go to the and figure out how many calories in general a person of your age, weight, height and gender needs. Let me know what you find out.
 
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