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EDGraybeal85

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Hello everyone,

My name is Ericka, and I am a 22 year old female. I am 5ft6in, and I weigh about 265 lbs, and I am looking for a community to share ideas with and look for some advice. In the past few years, I have made a lot of dieting changes in my lifestyle. I used to not want to even hear the word "vegetable". Now I enjoy leafy salads with lean chicken, and heart healthy cereals and pita bread for example. Unfortunately, I am what you would call a comfort eater. I get stressed, I eat. I get upset, I eat. When I'm happy or want to celebrate... I eat! Food, especially sweets (CHOCOLATE!!!) give me a calming euphoria, like a drug, which makes me go back for more, even when I am not hungry anymore.... Are there any ways of trying to contain myself so I don't go for that extra portion? My weight has been yo-yoing for a couple years now, and I need to find the motivation to change my lifestyle for good. It's really hard to want to get up and exercise... It's humiliating to show up at a gym or YMCA, I am fairly self-conscious about my body, and feel like people are judging me all the time. I walk at least 3-5 days a week for some light exercise. I recently graduated school and start my job in a couple weeks as a Massage Therapist/Polarity Practitioner. I know that in order to get some longevity out of my career, I am going to need to change my lifestyle and lose at LEAST 50 pounds (ideally around 80 pounds). I've never actually turned to a weight loss community while I am dieting, but I heard very good things about being able to fight the battle of weight alongside some people who are doing it with you. This is Ericka in a nutshell, I look forward to chatting with some of you!
 
Hello and welcome.

You have come to the right place to find tips, support, and motivation. The people here are nothing less than amazing and are more than willing to help when you feel stuck!

I myself am not an emotional eater, but you might try turning to something besides food.. and be totally aware of when you are eating for comfort. Usually when I am down or even up I like to exercise it makes everything better for lack of a better phrase. But first try to ID when you are having an emotional food moment, which will be the hard part and then tell yourself NO.. which will be even harder... It might even be helpful to let some of your family and friends know about your goals so they can support you along the way as well...

Set your mind to it and you can do it!! Okay lady!!

I hope this was helpful and I look forward to seeing some progress! Again welcome to the forum!

Cheers,
MissD
 
Hi MissD!

It's great to hear from you! I really appreciate your input. I know it's going to be very hard to try and say "no" to myself. I am what you would call a "yes" person. I almost never say no to anyone, even at the expense of myself sometimes. I will try and be more conscious of how my stomach is feeling.

Do people find a food diary effective in changing their eating habits? I was told by a few people that they are useful, but I was wondering if anyone on this forum has had a personal experience. Also, anyone have any good healthy yet flavorful cookbooks that they think were useful in their weight loss? I am pretty much starting from scratch here, and would like some good advice on how to get started off on the right foot, and not another train wreck.

Thank you again for your response!

Ericka
 
EDGraybeal85 said:
Do people find a food diary effective in changing their eating habits? I was told by a few people that they are useful, but I was wondering if anyone on this forum has had a personal experience. Also, anyone have any good healthy yet flavorful cookbooks that they think were useful in their weight loss? I am pretty much starting from scratch here, and would like some good advice on how to get started off on the right foot, and not another train wreck.
Click to expand...

I am using the fitday food diary and I love it. Just google fitday and they have software to buy for your computer or a free online log. It has a giant database with meals and will add up the nutrition for you or you can enter your own if you know it or its not in the database. Using your goal weight it will calculate how many calories that you need to eat to reach the goal. It has been very useful for me so far, but I have only used it a couple days. Hopefully after reaching my goals I will still love it.

As far as recipes, I don't anything off the top of my head. I generally use Allrecipes for recipes because it will calculate the basic calories, fat, protein, and carbs for each recipe and serving size. It helps me out a lot. I wish you all the best in reaching your goals!
 
Welcome Ericka!
You've come to the right place. I've found making a daily diary on the site has helped a ton, as it forced me to think about what I was eating. I'm in the same boat as you about going to the gym and having the feeling that I'm being judged all the time, but I came to the realization that no matter what people are going to be judgemental all the time, and not just at the gym, so why should I give a crap about what they think. I'm doing this for me and not for them. And in the end as long as your happy, thats all that matters :)
Good luck!

Oh, and I'm with you as well on the chocolate, Ive been know to just dive into a full bag of Kisses when Im depressed too.
 
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Hi Ericka!

I believe in the food diaries. It's a real pain sometimes, of course, because you have to either write it down as soon as you eat it (sometimes not possible, especially if you're out with people), or you have to rack your brain to remember what you ate. But it really helps cut down on the mindless eating because you remember that you have to write it all down. I found it helpful, and I should get back into the habit. I agree with Bebegirl, as FitDay is a really great software. It's super easy to use.

Anyway, just figured I'd give you some props. I definitely know it's not easy to go around and start weight loss (look at me, it took me so long to hop up on wagon). I hope it's all going well for you.
 
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