Looking to lose 1/2 of me ...

[Addiecakes]

Hello everyone,

My name is Ashley (but online most people call me "Addie") and I am a nearly-25-year-old mother to a beautiful 2-year-old girl. She's the light of my life, and my fiance and I have been trying to conceive her a sibling for almost a year. Unfortunately, because of my weight, I have a hormonal imbalance that has made conception much more difficult this time around. I am looking to lose weight so that I may conceive more easily, as well as look and feel better about myself.

When I was in high school, I was about 245lbs. and I played 3 varsity sports. Although I was still quite overweight, my body was a machine. I suffered a sports injury halfway through my senior year, and had to be inactive for 8 weeks. After that point, I just never got active again, and in the 6 years that I've been out of high school, I've gained nearly 100lbs. I miss my body being able to perform the way it did in high school, and I want to be able to run around with my toddler and be able to keep up with her ... and I want to set a good example for her so that she doesn't fall into the same bad habits that I have.

This is one of the first steps that I am taking on my journey to losing weight and getting healthy. I am very motivated today, and I decided that if I'm going to do this -- I'm going to arm myself with as many tools to help me succeed as possible. I'm hoping that this community will help to keep me motivated and also accountable for the choices that I make in getting healthy.

I figured out my eventual, long-term weight that I want to be at ... and it's 175lbs. Starting off at 330lbs. means that I need to essentially lose half of my body. This was a little bit discouraging for me ... but then I figured out the math, and if I can lose 2lbs. per week, I'll reach my goal in April 2011. That's less than two years ... that's a lot less time then I anticipated, hell it's less time than it'll take for me to fix my poor credit score! haha

Anyway, I look forward to getting to know all of you better. Thanks for listening.

 

[obsolete]

Hi!
I myself need to lose half of myself too, from 19stone (266lbs) to 9stone (126lbs). And i’ve only just started. ?
it is extremely daunting, and for me seems kind of impossible as I’ve gotten so used to being the size i am. Im excited for the challenge, but i know it’s not going to be easy. I may not be in the exact same situation as you baby wise, but i haven’t had a regular monthly cycle for 3 years, and as much as we hate them, they are so important.
Stay strong and you’ll go great!

 

[Omega]

Just calling in to encourage you to believe that it really is possible to lose half your weight - because I did it.

I suspect that if you work hard with both your exercise and nutrition you will do it at a quicker rate than 2 pounds a week too. That is because that is a bit of an average - and 1% of your weight a week is a closer proximity to the healthy rate of weight loss. There are a lot of people that weigh between 100 to 200 pounds which is why you hear people talk about 1 to 2 pounds a week all the time.

I think in stones too. My start weight was 21 stone - and I am currently maintaining a 3 pound range around my 9 stone goal weight. As I said - believe that it can be done. My biggest problem was that I kept getting discouraged in previous attempts and therefore didnt believe.

Good luck to you both.

 

[obsolete]

wow 3lbs a weeks! thats amazing. would be so happy if i lost at the rate! im eating healthly and working out at the gym for 45minutes minimum 6 days a week. hopefully i will stick with it. its so easy to have the 'i'll do it tommorow' attitude.
thanks

 

[KaraCooks]

Hi and welcome!

I agree with everything Omega said - and especially when you first start, you'll probably see bigger losses.

AS far as healthy eating - I'd suggest registering for a free account at fitday.com or thedailyplate.com and logging your food. A lot of people think they're eating healthily until they see the balance of calories and nutrition laid out in black and white. Make sure that you're getting enough calories, enough protein, and a good balance of carbs and healthy fats.

And again - welcome!

 

[Addiecakes]

AS far as healthy eating - I'd suggest registering for a free account at fitday.com or thedailyplate.com and logging your food. A lot of people think they're eating healthily until they see the balance of calories and nutrition laid out in black and white. Make sure that you're getting enough calories, enough protein, and a good balance of carbs and healthy fats.

I registered for fitday.com after reading the "Newcomer stickies" here. I haven't gotten a chance to really look at it yet, but I plan to take a closer look soon. I don't think that my diet is all that terrible, but I know that there is definitely a lot of room for improvement. My biggest challenge at this point is sticking to an exercise routine. Well, it's the first goal on my list, anyway.

I remember really enjoying the way exercise made me feel -- and it still does on the rare occasion that I do it, but I almost feel as if my sedentary lifestyle has become an addiction for me ... so I want to break out of that cycle in a way that I think will be most successful and least likely to "relapse". That's where joining the community comes in. Most addicts need help to stop -- and this is where I hope to find that help.



Thank you to everyone for the warm welcome. I hope to see a lot of success here! <3

 

[Omega]

My first form of exercise as a big person was walking. I went out walking every day - and each day tried to walk a little further. I increased my distance as soon as I could and didnt care about speed.

Pretty soon I was able to do quite long distances. I found that I naturally speeded up too.

Dont believe the people that say that you have to walk briskly for it to be of any benefit. That is true for thin people - but people that have a fair bit of weight to lose get benefit from walking at any speed.

I naturally adopted other forms of exercise along the way - but would encourage you to take a walk today. It made the biggest difference for me.

Working out at a gym is naturally a great move too.