I apologize for the length of this in advance!
I just turned 18 this past Saturday and I have deemed it's time for a serious change. I have struggled with my weight all my life almost. I was a thin child but I soon picked up my parents (and other extended family's) eating habits. My mom was one of those moms who were positive I was never full and made me eat every bite, also they thought me how to eat insane portion sizes (i.e, 4 slices of pizza at a time, everytime.) I soon started to gain weight. When I was 13, I was about 180lbs. and about 5'9. My mom had bought these diet pills and had to discontinue use because she had gotten pregnant with my youngest brother, so I talked her into letting me take them. I took these pills and lost TONS. (These pills are actually no longer available in the form I took them because they were deemed to have too much ephidrine [sp?] by the FDA) I dropped down to around 125-130lbs in about 3 months. When I ran out of pills I decided I would go vegetarian to keep my weight at a constant level, I lost about 10 more lbs, so I remained at 115 lbs for a few years. A few years later when I'm 16 (I had also gotten taller because I had grown to 5'11), a doctor recommends that I quit my vegetarian diet because my body isn't getting enough nutrients and is basically withering. (I'm not saying a vegetarian diet is bad, but I definitely didn't do it how I should have. I now know this was a TERRIBLE way to go about it.) So I quit. I also met a serious boyfriend (I've always heard getting comfortable with someone can also encourage you to gain weight.) In our first year together I gained 50lbs back and it's just seemed to progress the opposite way. I am currently 190 lbs. In the past few months I started exercising to keep myself from gaining any more weight. For starters, I already had to walk a mile a day, half a mile to the top of the road in the morning to catch the school bus, then a half in the afternoon to my house. (I now worry I won't make myself do this now that I've graduated.) Then my aunt gave me an old elliptical of hers which I had started using about 30 mins a day for about 3 or 4 days a week. I've been doing this for a few months and haven't made any real progress, but I haven't gained either. I also do crunches, double-ended crunches, and those crunches when you bring your alternate knee to your shoulder. I had started drinking water a lot but that seemed to fade after time after it had no results. I don't tend to eat a whole lot but when I do it does tend to be a tad unhealthy.
So I have decided it's time for me to make a serious lifestyle change. If you have any advice you can spare me about my routine, or diet, I'm all ears!
Something I would like to add: I haven't found a job yet, and my family is pretty much lower middle class, so everything I do or start doing is done from home with what I have. I don't currently have money for a gym membership. This actually brings me to a question I have, sometimes fast food is UNAVOIDABLE, (Please don't yell at me XD) For example, say it's Wednesday, and we're out of groceries and low on money. My dad doesn't get paid until Thursday. We might stop at McDonald's for dinner OR when I'm with my boyfriend, he works at Burger King and he always goes to McDonald's to get us something to eat if we're hungry. I always ask him not to, since, I get more fast food from him than anywhere else but then he always says he's broke and doesn't have money to eat anything else. He basically lives off fast food alone, but he isn't overweight at all. (So jealous. DX)
So my question is at times like that when I kinda have to eat fast food, what is the best thing to order, or rather, the LEAST unhealthy possible?
So yeah, any tips or advice or comments at all are really appreciated! I'm ready to make a serious commitment to getting healthy the RIGHT way and changing my unhealthy lifestyle. Thanks for reading.
I just turned 18 this past Saturday and I have deemed it's time for a serious change. I have struggled with my weight all my life almost. I was a thin child but I soon picked up my parents (and other extended family's) eating habits. My mom was one of those moms who were positive I was never full and made me eat every bite, also they thought me how to eat insane portion sizes (i.e, 4 slices of pizza at a time, everytime.) I soon started to gain weight. When I was 13, I was about 180lbs. and about 5'9. My mom had bought these diet pills and had to discontinue use because she had gotten pregnant with my youngest brother, so I talked her into letting me take them. I took these pills and lost TONS. (These pills are actually no longer available in the form I took them because they were deemed to have too much ephidrine [sp?] by the FDA) I dropped down to around 125-130lbs in about 3 months. When I ran out of pills I decided I would go vegetarian to keep my weight at a constant level, I lost about 10 more lbs, so I remained at 115 lbs for a few years. A few years later when I'm 16 (I had also gotten taller because I had grown to 5'11), a doctor recommends that I quit my vegetarian diet because my body isn't getting enough nutrients and is basically withering. (I'm not saying a vegetarian diet is bad, but I definitely didn't do it how I should have. I now know this was a TERRIBLE way to go about it.) So I quit. I also met a serious boyfriend (I've always heard getting comfortable with someone can also encourage you to gain weight.) In our first year together I gained 50lbs back and it's just seemed to progress the opposite way. I am currently 190 lbs. In the past few months I started exercising to keep myself from gaining any more weight. For starters, I already had to walk a mile a day, half a mile to the top of the road in the morning to catch the school bus, then a half in the afternoon to my house. (I now worry I won't make myself do this now that I've graduated.) Then my aunt gave me an old elliptical of hers which I had started using about 30 mins a day for about 3 or 4 days a week. I've been doing this for a few months and haven't made any real progress, but I haven't gained either. I also do crunches, double-ended crunches, and those crunches when you bring your alternate knee to your shoulder. I had started drinking water a lot but that seemed to fade after time after it had no results. I don't tend to eat a whole lot but when I do it does tend to be a tad unhealthy.
So I have decided it's time for me to make a serious lifestyle change. If you have any advice you can spare me about my routine, or diet, I'm all ears!
Something I would like to add: I haven't found a job yet, and my family is pretty much lower middle class, so everything I do or start doing is done from home with what I have. I don't currently have money for a gym membership. This actually brings me to a question I have, sometimes fast food is UNAVOIDABLE, (Please don't yell at me XD) For example, say it's Wednesday, and we're out of groceries and low on money. My dad doesn't get paid until Thursday. We might stop at McDonald's for dinner OR when I'm with my boyfriend, he works at Burger King and he always goes to McDonald's to get us something to eat if we're hungry. I always ask him not to, since, I get more fast food from him than anywhere else but then he always says he's broke and doesn't have money to eat anything else. He basically lives off fast food alone, but he isn't overweight at all. (So jealous. DX)
So my question is at times like that when I kinda have to eat fast food, what is the best thing to order, or rather, the LEAST unhealthy possible?
So yeah, any tips or advice or comments at all are really appreciated! I'm ready to make a serious commitment to getting healthy the RIGHT way and changing my unhealthy lifestyle. Thanks for reading.