Never had to lose weight before; Dont know where to start! HELP!

[notprobable]

So I'm 18 and 5"3, and I'v been 9 stone since I was about 13 years old. I'v stayed at 9 stone (give or take a pound) for 5 years. But I'v been on the contraceptive injection for about 8 months, and I'v put on a stone. I'm now 10 stone 3 pounds (about 142 pounds in american currency!). And I really really hate it. People have even made comments about my sudden weight gain, and is making me so depressed. I can't stand to look at photos of me from a year ago, It's just so painful and I can't believe I'v got myself into this horrible state. I know that to some people, 10 stone 3 is a reasonable weight, but when it's all piled on in less that 3 months, It's really noticeable and I just can't handle it. I'm going on holiday in june, and I NEED to lose a stone, but I'v never had to lose weight before, in my early teenage years I could eat what the hell I liked and didn't put on an ounce.

I don't know where to start or what to do. I'v stopped eating as much crisps and chocolate and fries, etc, cut out junk food and started doing more exercise, but there's been absolutely no effect. I want to know the basics:
-If I eat a chocolate bar, how long until it turns into fat?
-If, say, I don't eat for a day (not that I would) Would this have any effect at all?
-I don't know the time scale of weight loss/ gain, I don't understand why this has suddenly happened to me? I used to be skinny and attractive, and now I feel fat, pale, flabby and disgusting.
-If I run for 20 minutes on a treadmill, how much effect will this have? or do I have to run for like, an hour every day for a month to lose a pound??!!

-HELP!
Thanks x

 

[Emerald1]

I'm now 10 stone 3 pounds (about 142 pounds in american currency!).

cute

-If, say, I don't eat for a day (not that I would) Would this have any effect at all?
-I don't know the time scale of weight loss/ gain, I don't understand why this has suddenly happened to me? I used to be skinny and attractive, and now I feel fat, pale, flabby and disgusting.
-If I run for 20 minutes on a treadmill, how much effect will this have? or do I have to run for like, an hour every day for a month to lose a pound??!!

-HELP!
Thanks x

This is probably not what you want to here... but you're not as bad off as you think. If you lost even just 5lbs you'd be back in the normal range of BMI

• Do not starve yourself in order to lose weight... you'll lose health too... Since you aren't going to do it I don't have to explain further right?
• It didn't "suddenly" happen to you. It takes 3500 calories to equal a pound. You've gained 16lbs slowly and it crept up on you over time until you just realized it now.
• Have you exercised like that before? I wouldn't suggest jumping straight into running on the treadmill for an hour every single day without breaks.

My last thoughts:
I think you're making it worst than it is. I'm sure you're beautiful. Gaining weight can be daunting for a lot of people and make them feel ugly or depressed and I think in your case it's being blown out of proportion. You only need to lose 5lbs to technically be at in the normal weight range.

 

[notprobable]

My last thoughts:
I think you're making it worst than it is. I'm sure you're beautiful. Gaining weight can be daunting for a lot of people and make them feel ugly or depressed and I think in your case it's being blown out of proportion. You only need to lose 5lbs to technically be at in the normal weight range.

Yes, sorry. I suppose I was feeling perhaps a little down and emotional when I posted. And reading back, it seems very immature. All I'm saying is that Iv never had to do this before, and this change from being my 'normal' weight is just scaring me a bit. I'm desperate to get back down to how I was, and I'v tried various 'extreme' diets, (cabbage soup diet, fruit juice diet) But of course, they were never going to work.
I suppose I'm just asking for advise, because I just can't wrap my head around how weight loss /gain works, and how to start.

(3,500 calories is a pound? so If I cut down on a certain amount of calories a day, I could calculate the time scale of how much weight I'd be losing? Whats the normal amount of weight I should realistically lose? like, a pound a week? 2/3 pounds a week? What's safe and healthy?)

And sorry again, yes, my post was a little immature and emotionally charged :/

 

[Emerald1]

(It's safe to lose 1% of body fat a week. In your case that's 1.4lbs a week)

Look at this picture when ever your feel bad about the number on the scale.

 

[fortyfour]

I don't know where to start or what to do. I'v stopped eating as much crisps and chocolate and fries, etc, cut out junk food and started doing more exercise, but there's been absolutely no effect. I want to know the basics:
-If I eat a chocolate bar, how long until it turns into fat?
-If, say, I don't eat for a day (not that I would) Would this have any effect at all?
-I don't know the time scale of weight loss/ gain, I don't understand why this has suddenly happened to me? I used to be skinny and attractive, and now I feel fat, pale, flabby and disgusting.
-If I run for 20 minutes on a treadmill, how much effect will this have? or do I have to run for like, an hour every day for a month to lose a pound??!!

-HELP!
Thanks x

If you think this type of contraception is the reason for your weight gain, go back to your doctor and ask for something different. Also consider other forms of contraception. IUD is good if you don't want to bother with daily with it. Just get it removed when you are told its due out. could be two years. I had one years ago and didnt' have it removed for four years so my periods got much longer. I didn't realise this. But i was travelling at the time so all a bit undertandable but i could have done without that.

I can't really answer your questions as they are so detailed. But it is generally considered a good rate to lose about 1 kg per week. There is nothing wrong with going more slowly but apparently most people find less causes impatience. So aim for 1kg per week.

That said, you will weight will go up and down and up and down as you do this if you are weighing yourself daily. You must not panic about that. Its mostly changes in water levels. I always weigh when i get up before breakfast and with no clothes on. The other day my went up 1kg overnight because i had had salty food the day before. Salty food retains more water.

EAt home cooking as much as you can and avoid buying bought food as it is usually more salty and you don't know what's in it.

Join the diary section and start a daily food log. Have a look at what i do in mine. Its easy for me to check back if things aren't going well and make adjustments because i know exactly what i've eaten.

Mine is called "i'm aiming for 59kg"

Amy 1985' diary is another one that you could look at . She takes a very different approach to me but her food is still healthy.

But its a good idea to learn to understand about calories. I have some really good links about that on my last page. here is the website to make it easier. Have a good look around at the pages on weight loss diet and nutrition. There's a lot of useful information on what you should eat and how to understand the business of how many calories in different types of food.



look at some of the links at the bottom of this page too. It is mainly talking about kilojoules which is the metric version of the calorie but there is enough calorie information there for you to be able to grasp the basics of how many in fat, carbohydrate and protein. Notice how much more in fats.

It all gets more technical when you want to understand BMR, RMR and BMI.

These refer to metabolic rates (how many calories you will burn in a day based on your height and weight) and your body mass index which is a number that reduces your height and weight to one figure. Being healthy is 24.9 and over 18.9. But looking good for most people will be around the middle of that field.

For what to eat, if you want to adjust your food, certainly the easiest way is to keep away high fat and high sugar refined foods such as takeaways icecream, chocolate, soft drinks, hiot chips, deep fried foods and bought desserts. HOme made desserts can often be a much better option but i find they are also much yummier so harder to resist.

Maximise fruit and vegetables. Eat some dairy, some breads and cerals, pastas and rice, eat some meat if you are meat eater, but it should be lean meat, eat eggs. Keep cheese to a minimum. Perhaps not more than 1tbsp per day. There are low fat versions of many foods. Do that if you feel its necessary. I myself don't like them so i don't do it. Low fat icecream just tastes like sweet air to me and i will need to eat twice as much to feel i've had my fill of it.

Sorry i am going on a bit and i haven't even got to exercise.

 

[notprobable]

(It's safe to lose 1% of body fat a week. In your case that's 1.4lbs a week)

Look at this picture when ever your feel bad about the number on the scale.

Haha, thanks for the scale thing, yeah, I understand that. 1.4 lbs a week sounds pretty do-able. (My scales at home tell me that I'm 5 pounds lighter than I actually am, for months I believed it!! imagine my cry of anguish when the nurse weighed me with a reliable set of scales!!!)

And fourtyfour, thankyou so much for your advise. The contraceptive injection, for me, is pretty much the only option. I'm too worried I'd forget to take the pill, my boyfriend really really doesn't want to use condoms (don;t ask. point of much argument :/ ) And I'm very squeamish when it comes to the idea of the implant. I can barely stand the needle option. But thankyou for the ideas, I'm exploring different options but for now it looks like i'll stick with the jab and just watch what I eat :/

I think that a food diary probably is in order; as I realize that it's the foods I snack on (or rather, foods I 'graze' on- I don't notice im eating so much) is where my problem lies. If I at least keep track of what im consuming, I can see how that would help. It seemed to have helped a lot of people on this site

 

[amy1985]

Hi, and welcome

I second most of what fortyfour has said, and I definitely recommend the food diary as a way of keeping track (as well as just writing it down here, you can get more exact figures for the purposes of calorie counting, if you choose to do that, by using programs such as cron-o-meter, which is the one I use, or fitday, which is recommended a lot around here. Both are available online and both are free)

My strategy- and it's working well for me- is calorie counting, and eating food which fulfils my nutritional requirements but is also satisfying (tastes good and is filling). For me that very much includes snacking or grazing (as I'm one of those people who needs to eat every couple of hours or else I begin to feel sick).

The safe amount to lose as a general rule (more or less, there will be fluctuations in any weight loss journey) is 1-2 pounds a week (or up to a kilo, which is 2.2 pounds), or, as Emerald has already pointed out, 1%. In order to calculate how to do that in terms of calorie intake, go to this website and calculate your BMR and maintenance daily calorie allowance: Then reduce that by either 500 or 1000 for a loss of 1 or 2 pounds a week, or by 30% (but never under 1200)- as 500x7=3500, which, as has been pointed out above, is a pound of fat. These numbers are estimates so if you find yourself losing weight too slowly or quickly, reduce or raise the numbers (again, never under 1200).

At the very minimum, I'd advocate having an awareness of how many calories are in things. Say, for example, you need to eat 1500 calories a day to lose a pound a week. You're out, and need lunch. Looking at the sandwich options, one is 300 calories, and one is 800 calories (sadly, that's not unrealistic)- unless you can manage on 700 calories for the rest of the day (including what you've already eaten- that's probably not realistic), you should go for the 300 calorie one. Same applies for other choices- start looking at the nutrition information on the sides of food and think about how many calories you get as compared to how satisfying you find the food.

Finally, if you cook yourself, this website is very useful for giving you an idea what's in the things you're making: (feel free to check out my diary- I post links and alterations to a lot of my recipes, and I swear I'm eating better now than before I started the diet)