Just starting off (pictures)!

A

ahl24

New member
I've always been somewhat reluctant to join online weight loss forums like this (tried this site once and quit a couple weeks later) but realized that I really do need the support of people that are struggling with the same issues as me. I've been overweight for as long as I can remember. Having a mother that rocks at cooking definitely doesn't help either. I'm a huge lover of food...I have a hard time saying no to it. But I'm sick of feeling uncomfortable in my own skin and I really need to make a change. Starting off...I'm 5'8 and around 230 lbs. Not ok in my book...I'll post a few pictures below, too. Also, if you could share with me what works for you (exercise & food) ...that'd be great. I can ALWAYS use tips!

Thanks! --Amy

(on the right in every picture...my better side :))
 
Hi Amy!

I avoided forums like this in the past too. I thought it was for losers! Happily I m now nearly 35lbs lighter and proud 'loser'!!! I took it easy for the first 3 months because I didn't want to quit before I even got started so I went easy on myself. I am now on day 5 of the Body for life 12 week challenge and feeling great. A few things I have learnt since starting my journey. I hope it helps.
You can lose weight by cutting calories alone but if you don't do the weight training then you will only end up with a smaller version of your current shape, not a lovely toned brand new figure.
Cardio is great for your heart but if you only do cardio and don't change your diet as soon as you stop the cardio you will put the weight on.
You need to find out how many calories you should be eating per day and try to stick to it. If our body feels like its starving you will store what you eat as fat the next time you eat properly.
Read the stories of people who have had great success here. They are all inspiring and all did it the hard way. I really look up to these people as start my own war against the fat.

You are a very pretty girl. You will kick some serious butt and break some hearts along the way I am sure. Stick to it and you will be a knock out. I am sure people tell you often what a pretty face you have, now give it a body to match!!!!

Best of luck on your journey.
 
Hi there,

I just started working out and eating very healthy on sept. 11 2010. I just had 2 kids in a year and a half and I really gained weight.

I have lost 8 pounds in the last 10 days. I've been walking alot. I've been making sure I get in 10,000 steps a day if not more. I've also been doing a bit of yoga and strength training on my wii fit. It actually makes it kinda fun.

I've started and stopped so many times before but I've come to the realization that if I don't do it this time I never will. I'll just keep giving up and that means spending the rest of my life unhappy and uncomfortable. That kinda scares me. I used to be 112 pounds ( i'm only 5 feet tall) and I remember waking up in the morning excited to get up and get dressed because my weight wasn't something I was worried about. I want that back.

So my plan is just to keep moving no matter what and eat as healthy as humanly possible.

Good luck, I hope that helps.
 
Dont let yourself make excuses. This morning I hurt from exercise and DID NOT want to get out of bed a 5:30 am to hit the gym. I laid their for about 30 seconds and told my self Im worth more then what I have turned my self into and got up. Tomorrow will more then likely be just as hard. But im past the point of looking at pictures of my self and feeling sick no more excuses.
 
I started off not too far from where you're at, 5'8 and 220. A guy I work with said he consistently lost weight when he did Weight Watchers by using a food journal so I gave it a try. I wrote down everything I ate (keeping my calories to between 1500-1700) and I worked out on an elliptical for 30 minutes every day. Within the first week I lost four pounds. It took eight months but I finally reached my goal of 160. Now it's just a matter of keeping it off...
 
Well so far I have lost 2 lbs since I posted this thread. I'm trying to get into a daily routine of staying under 1800 calories and working out on my elliptical for 45 minutes at night. Unfortunately, nursing school is a huge stressor and it makes it very difficult to stick to a routine. I'm just sick of feeling uncomfortable in my own skin. And to deviant--you're right...I have been letting myself make excuses and it needs to stop or else I will be unhappy for the rest of my life.

For me, it's a huge problem of motivation. It takes so much for me to get off my butt and work out for an hour. I HATE exercise...even when I was in better shape I hated exercise. I'm trying to change that though. It'll probably be one of the hardest things I've ever had to do but I want to come back from my yearly physical not wanting to cry from the doctor telling me how unhealthy my lifestyle is. So again, if anyone has any more tips on what motivates you and gets you going everyday, I'd love to hear them :). Because I'm hoping to never look like my above pictures again!
 
Hi amy. Good for you on Making the start. Im also 5'8 and i began on sept 14th at 206 lbs. At this date im 196.8 lbs. I feel im losing too quickly, dont know if its a bad thing, it is nice to lose quickly and every day the scale is lower. You just have to lower your calories down and do some exercise and its so simple, which you're already doing. So good job! It cam be hard to make yourself go to the gym. Usually i go 3-5 times a week. Sometimes i have 3 days off in a row, tue and thu have no time at all for the gym and if i take a wednesday off... Well its tough to get back into the routime. But you just have to say to yourself 'just do it' get up put your gym clothes on and go out the door. Its a simple decision you choose to do or not do. And we need to do it!! Its not the most enjoyable thing in the world though hey. But we just have to stick with it. And you dont have to deprive yourself of nice treats, every other day i have a biscuit or two!! I just keep within my calories and it really works for me. So choose to make tje right decosions amd you'll e on the right track :) hope it goes well for you

Becky
 
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Oh I definitely won't completely deprive myself of treats every once in a while ;)....there's no WAY I'm eliminating pizza from my life!
 
Hello, Amy. I'm in the same boat. I started off at 240..I loved my pizza, pringles, ice cream, and all the yummy stuff out there. Got me into a lot of trouble. I didn't like how I turn out and there is still days I don't feel comfertable with my looks. I did not want to accept that I was fat. I wanted to have a flat stomach and be skinny like everyone else (that's part why I wanna lose weight..to look good) I also wanna be healthy, and not have ovwhelming dietary numbers the doctor gives you. I want to live. I'm walking every day now almost..it's a good starter. Try any other activity that you enjoy. Best of luck!! I'm not totally depriving myself either..if i want pizza bad enough, ill make it at home instead of ordering out.
 
You can do it! I love food too and I'd rather eat nothing at all than never eat ice cream or white rice.

I'm no shining example of discipline when it comes to eating right and exercising, but I find that my M-F 9-5 work schedule comes in handy. I try to eat well (cook at home most days and eat fruit and vegetables as much as possible) during the work week, and I relax on weekends. My progress has been slow but I figure if it's coming off slowly, then it's really coming off.

Since "dieting" is BS and making a positive lifestyle change is the ultimate goal of weight loss, every situation is different for every person. It's got to be a change you can live with forever.
 
deviant said:
Dont let yourself make excuses. This morning I hurt from exercise and DID NOT want to get out of bed a 5:30 am to hit the gym. I laid their for about 30 seconds and told my self Im worth more then what I have turned my self into and got up. Tomorrow will more then likely be just as hard. But im past the point of looking at pictures of my self and feeling sick no more excuses.
Click to expand...

Well said deviant! Very motivating and honest. I believe thats half the problem when it comes to sticking at weight loss, not to mention the loss of self respect when you slip back into old ways. Well done for putting it out there :)

I'm 5'8 and around 220 too. I've lost about 5 kgs in the past couple months and what I did was just walk for about an hour each day, I live in a hilly area so that works in my favour. I have three kids and I'm a stay at home Mum, so getting to the gym is hard. I put on 45kgs with my last child!

I had to start myself off easy and each week I started walking faster and faster and now I'm jogging my route each morning and going for a 10-15 min jog in the evening. I've learnt from earlier weight loss attempts where I tried to run too soon in the game and quit because I felt so disheartened lol! I always had it in my head that once I bought some good Nike running shoes and started my journey, I would just start running with the wind like Forrest Gump!

EPIC FAAAIIL!!! LMAO!!!

I guess one really must learn to crawl before they learn to fly, well in my case anyway. I also work with free weights every second day to tone up, thank God for Youtube tutorials. I weigh myself every fortnight, as I've found (for me) if I weigh in every week and I havn't lost much weight, I'd get disheartened and feel like quitting, so fortnightly is working for me. I'm doing all I can in order to not allow myself to quit! And only YOU know the quit triggers for you, so do tailor your journey to stop that from happening :)

In terms of eating, I've cut out all junk and soda, but I allow myself a break one day a week (my "cheat" day is Sunday...my Mum is a fantastic cook too and I can't pass up her Sunday roast hehe) and I might have a slice of cake on that day, but it will only be one slice whereas before, I would eat the whole thing! As time has gone on, I've found that I'm put off junk and fatty food, and I never thought that could happen lol but it is true that NOTHING tastes as good as slim feels.

I'm not saying that this is how you should do it, but this is how I'm doing it on my journey and its working for me. I also carry around a shocking tear inducing "fat and miserable" photo of me (you all know the type) and everytime I think of quitting or when I'm tempted to go to Burger King or something, I whip it out and its enough to stop that dead in its tracks lol

I wish ALL of you the very best...it IS soooo worth it. I'm looking forward to seeing all our "after" pics :)
 
Amy,
You ever think about recruiting your mother into this? Since she rocks as a cook, I am sure she is willing to learn new ways of cooking in a healthier, while still keeping the food entertaining. She can be an asset. Also, some mom and daughter bonding time.

I have found that in previous weight loss journeys that going to an on line forum is just as effective as meeting with people, especially if none of your friends are taking this journey with you. Most of my friends are either way healthy and always have been or are super big and not interested in dropping lbs right now. So I come here to get that encouragement here to keep it up, to pick myself after I have fallen.
 
Ahl24,

I am on a diet and exercise program similar to yours. I limit myself to around 1800 calories a day with no white foods (white bread, white rice, ice cream etc.) and work out 5 nights a week. I do the elliptical for 30 minutes, weight train for 30 minutes then do the bike for 20 minutes. I have stuck to this plan since January 5th of 2010 weighing 315 lbs and as of today weigh 210 lbs a loss of 105 lbs. I still have 6 more to go to get to my healthy weight according to the BMI (I am 6'4" tall). But the plan you are on sounds great. If you can get some weight training into your plan. I do legs 2 days a week and upper body 2 days a week. I don't lift for bulk I lift for toning and definition. Lifting will also build muscle which in turn speeds up your metabolism because it takes a lot more energy to keep muscle going then it does fat. If you have any questions feel free to private message me. I would love to help you out and motivate you along the way.
 
I would love to recruit my mother too...but the problem is my dad and brother. They have absolutely no desire to eat healthier and she has to cook something for everyone. I think I'll need to start learning some new recipes!
 
ahl24 said:
For me, it's a huge problem of motivation. It takes so much for me to get off my butt and work out for an hour. I HATE exercise...even when I was in better shape I hated exercise. I'm trying to change that though.
Click to expand...

It will change for you! I started out hating exercise and not wanting to move at all. Now I am addicted to it, I love it, I have to stop myself from exercising more to do other things.

I do brisk walking for exercise, and it's one of my favorite things to do. I don't feel right in the day if I don't do it. I think it's the endorphins that get released that cause this effect.
 
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