Need help

beindzone

New member
Hello community, (i am new to forum, sorry if i do anything wrong about posting, though i am a fast learner)

I need help, my weight is 216 lbs. I read some of your success stories and I feel that I still got a chance to lose some weight. But i really don't know how to start. First my home has lots of food from chips, cookies, soda to you name it unhealthy food. Second people around me is not supportive, when i try eating small portions of food they laugh at me and says "stop trying". Second i have a bad knee, all i can do is walk slowly. I can't run or jump. I can't exercise or workout hard. There is a steam bath near in my house but i don't know if that can help. If you're me what do you think should you do?

p.s. i have no options about the house. i need to live there in about 3 more years.

-beindzone
 
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A lot of us have to live with people who are not dieting, and who keep junk food around, so don't use that as an excuse. You will always have some sort of temptation to resist. People will bring doughnuts in to work, or you will pass some candy on the shelf in the grocery store. You don't have to eat that stuff.

Do whatever exercise you can. Exercise is helpful, but not essential, for losing weight. You just have to eat less calories than you burn.

I think a good way to get started with your diet is to simply start keeping track of what you are eating, and writing it down. You will probably be surprised at how much you are eating. Just being aware what you are doing could eliminate the unconscious eating and may get you started losing weight.
 
Beindzone,

I would like to hear more about you (age, gender, weight, height). As I can tell, you actually have two questions. The first question is how to lose weight with other unsupportive people in your immediate environment.

I would say that everything about you, is about you. When you decide that you are really sick and tired of making a change, you will make a change despite these other voices. As you are already here in the forum, you obviously are ready to make a decision to lose weight. You do not want to be limited by other people's thoughts because you will need to live with the responsibility of your own decision.

Having food in the house is a BIG challenge. It will take some very strong self-rules to get results. Create rules such as "I will allow myself to eat only 3 cookies per week." I do this with beer. I only allow myself 6 beers all week and only on the weekend.

The other question is about your knee. I also had surgery on my knee last year. I had been jogging for over 30 years and I had to scratch that in favor of walking. Now I walk 5 miles, 5 times per week. My knee seems to be doing fine with it.I walk first thing in the morning and really enjoy the energy I get from this activity every day.


Say more

Frank
 
First my home has lots of food from chips, cookies, soda to you name it unhealthy food.

As has been said, you don't have to eat the stuff. Or, eat less of the stuff. Keeping track of what you eat is good - turns weight loss into a mathematical and logical puzzle that can be solved, rather than an emotional and psychological struggle. You'll know when you can eat an extra cookie, or you can understand why the scale doesn't move in the direction you want if you eat a bit too much.

Second people around me is not supportive, when i try eating small portions of food they laugh at me and says "stop trying".

Yeah, this part is probably the toughest. I never really got around to trying to lose weight until I was out in college on my own, so it was easier. My family wasn't necessarily unsupportive, but they weren't necessarily supportive either. I'm just the type of person who has to do it on his own. For me, support was demotivating when I was starting out, while I was motivated to prove someone wrong if they say it can't be done. Once I started seeing progress, I started liking support more, but somtimes it gets annoying to be the center of attention and tell people how you did it ("what pills did you take?") and listen to them say how good you look (what, I didn't look good before? gee thanks. You're right, I was pretty fat!")

Its hard, but just ignore the comments, do what you have to do. Eventually the comments will stop. Probably once the people around you see progress. The comments may be out of hate or jealosy, but possibly also if it looks like a struggle or like you're starving yourself, they could just be looking out for you too. Hard to say without knowing a little more. Arm yourself with a bunch of knowledge, and the next time someone says something that bothers you, explain what you're doing, and why you're doing it. Explain your plan, explain why it will work, explain you're not torturing or starving yourself to do it. Tell them you would like their support, and if they won't give it to you, you'd rather them not say anything about it at all. If they're worried about your health, offer to go to a doctor to explain your plan and get their opinion. If the people around you truly care about you, they will help you. They might just not understand right now, but you can help them understand.

Second i have a bad knee, all i can do is walk slowly. I can't run or jump. I can't exercise or workout hard. There is a steam bath near in my house but i don't know if that can help. If you're me what do you think should you do?

First, if you haven't already, go see a doctor for your knee. Find out exactly whats wrong, and what you can do to fix it. Some problems can be fixed with physical therapy. Leg extensions strengthen the muscles around your knee which can fix some knee problems, but don't try to do anything until you've seen a doctor.

While you're working on that, there are still exercises you can do. Cycling is low impact on the knee for cardio. If even that is too much, you can do rows. You can do weight lifting for your upper body at least, and maybe some exercises for your lower body that don't put a lot of strain on your knee. You can do body weight exercises like pushups/situps/inverted rows.

However, all that being said, you can lose weight without doing any exercise at all, just by controlling your food. Its a lot tougher, and you don't get any of the other benefits of exercising, but it can be done.
 
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I'm new here too, and congrats for taking the first step! I've had something similar with people wondering why I want to lose weight, or telling me I don't need to. I think the biggest obstacle to overcome here is the motivation- and it sounds like you're getting it.

As for the negative environment, have you tried having a house meeting in which you lay out your diet and exercise plan, and ask for their support and help through this? If you take it seriously, chances are, they might as well.

I don't know if you have access to a swimming pool, but swimming and light aerobics in the pool will help provide resistance training without your knees having to suffer.

Additionally, my best friend has lots of knee problems and found that by doing knee exercises and getting out and walking more, her knee felt better in just a few short months!

Hope this helps, and keep up the struggle- best of luck to you!
 
I would like to hear more about you (age, gender, weight, height). As I can tell, you actually have two questions. The first question is how to lose weight with other unsupportive people in your immediate environment.
I'm 27 years old, Male, 214lbs as of now 7/12/2010 (lose 2lbs), 5'5. There's still a lot of food in the house nothing has change. And the sad part is they weigh normal and eat a lot. I'd rather not eat 1 cookie, because once i ate 1 i can't stop finishing until i saw there is nothing left. Please enlightened me about the 6 beers a week. I think drinking beer can increase my belly size.

The other question is about your knee.
Frank

I have been walking a lot after reading your post. And I don't know how many miles but i definitely sweating a lot, I think this helps because i lose 2lbs in a week. My eating habits still not good. Right now, i'm trying my best to stay away from the house and spend a lot of time walking in the mall and reading a book in the park. And drinking a lot of water. I make sure when i got home the food is in the fridge or in the trash. And make myself a tuna sandwich or potato salad. Sorry i don't count calories maybe i will do that someday, but now i want to concentrate on staying away at my house. Thank you.

@MAR1984 and cnieman
Thanks! Yeah i'm doing swimming also but i cut it down to twice a week, because i get hungry after swimming than walking. The doctor said i can do swimming exercise. :)
 
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