I'm Em.
I'm a 20 year old English/History student living in Sydney.
I dig art, music and books.
I'll take questions on relationships, friendships, high school, uni, or whatever else.
I try to give the best advice I can, usually drawing on my own personal experience. But I'm not perfect, and sometimes when I look back on some of my advice it's far from it (especially when I was 15 and writing LiKe THiS). It's just advice, though. It's not an answer or a solution, it's simply a potentially helpful perspective. And that's all I can offer you.
Photo:
Yayoi Kusama
"Infinity Mirror Room"
Performance art.
Mirrors, soft sculptures.
Castellane Gallery, New York.
1965.
Gender: Female
Location: Sydney, Australia.
Member Since: January 11, 2007
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hi! female, 18. soo i need serious help. i have had a serious issue with food for about the last 5 months. it started when i became very self conscious about my body and i went on a very calorie restricted diet and lost about 30 pounds then i gained it all back. i am very embarrassed to talk to anyone about it. i binge eat a lot and when im done i feel awful and guilty and ashamed. i have been able to maintain my weight by working out and starving myself after a binge. i know this is very unhealthy but i have no idea what to do. food is seriously controlling my life and im scared its going to get worse when i got to college and it will affect my sports. pleasee help :( (link)
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How quickly did you lose the weight?
When you lose weight quickly, you tend to gain it back pretty quickly as well. I lost about 6 kilos when I had the flu, and then gained half of it back in 2 weeks! The best way to lose weight in my opinion, and from my experience, is by eating a good, healthy balanced diet and by exercising regularly. You'll lose the weight slowly, but I think that's the best way to lose weight. Losing it quick just hurts your body and can result in weight gain.
I've had weight problems as far back as I can remember, and now at the age of 19 I've only just started to really understand healthy eating, exercise and what works for me.
The best advice on eating was actually something I overheard. Two women were eating lunch, and one said "I've already eaten all of my lunch, but I'm gonna eat this extra sandwich anyway" and the other woman said "no! you know what that is? habit."
Eating is a habit, and the great thing about this is that you can change your eating habit!
Firstly, you need to understand that by eating properly and exercising regularly you WILL lose weight, even if it does take a lot of time. This is about eating breakfast, lunch, dinner AND snacks. I'm 19 and 5'4 with an average body type. I should be eating about 1500-1600 calories per day, and absolutely no less than 1200. I downloaded this great app on my iPhone called fitness pal and it estimated how many calories I should eat per day to lose weight. This app also helps me count my calories in every meal.
This comes to my second point, calorie counting. Do not lower your daily calorie intake to 1200 or less. I would actually say minimum 1300. Calorie counting works out really well for me, especially with the Fitness Pal app. Even without the app, you can buy books or just google types of food to get an estimate of their calorie value. When you get into the habit of this, it becomes really easy for you to estimate how many calories are in a meal without having to look it up. Food is meant to be enjoyed, not feared. Watching your calories will help you figure out a balance in how many calories per meal and per snack. You should usually start off with a big breakfast and reduce your meal sizes after that.
Thirdly, habit. It's really hard for the first couple of months to get into the habit of choosing the healthier meal and by deciding when to not eat or stop eating. Try to have a vague idea or organise your meal plan for the day so you don't stray and snack too much. When I make meals, I count the calories and if something is unnecessary (like say, a piece of chocolate) then I put it back. You will feel really hungry for a while, but your body will get used to your lower food intake.
NEVERR starve yourself or crash diet. The reason why you shouldn't go below 1200-1300 calories per day is because with that minimal amount of calorie intake, your body will go into starvation mode. This means it will store any food you eat as fat, and you'll lose no weight. Not only that, but it puts a lot of strain on your body that's trying to deal with too much food, and then not enough food.
Don't be scared though! It's okay! You CAN and WILL control your eating habits with some strong willpower and tenacity. If I can control my eating habits and lose weight, you certainly can!
I said earlier about healthy eating, regular exercising and finding what works for me. Healthy eating is about eating all different kinds of food (meats, fish, eggs, dairy, nuts, grains, fruits, vegies...etc). You don't need to think too much about it, it's really just making sure that you eat healthy food every day and avoid fatty, fried, greasy, oily foods. Regular exercise means exercise 5-7 days a week for at least 30 minutes.
What will help you control your eating habits is by finding what works for you. For me, it was about removing bad foods from my house completely (so no chocolates or junk food). It also meant replacing foods I eat with healthier versions. For example, white bread with brown bread, full cream milk with skim milk, lean chicken and beef mince and things like that. By removing those from my grasp, it was a lot easier for me to control what I ate. Also, I had to use a lot of willpower when it came to fast food. If I was out somewhere and had to buy lunch, I stopped and thought about what to eat. I thought to myself, "is that quarter pounder really worth it? A nice salad from that place would make you feel a lot better and would be a lot healthier".
This is another great tip for controlling your eating habits, just stopping and thinking about what you're doing and what you're about to eat.
I didn't like exercise much at all, but I decided to try jogging and found that I loved it! I love jogging around the parks near my house. They're not the most picturesque, but they're quiet and I like that time to calm down and just be by myself for a little while every day.
There are some other things you can do to help with your eating habits:
- Talk to people. It's hard, but talking to family members about how you eat and asking them to help you out is a great way for you to be able to find some moral and real support. If you can't talk to them, try your friends. Me and my friends joined a local gym and try to eat healthier meals together. We talk to each other about how healthy we're eating, if we're going off track which helps us motivate and support each other.
- Another tip is if it's really difficult for you, to go to professionals. Find a dietrician, or if you can't just go to your local doctor and ask to be referred to someone. Fitness trainers are excellent too if you have the money, as they can give you fantastic advice and keep you on track.
- Finally, there are tonnes of healthy eating and weight loss forums or even groups possibly near you. A lot of what I know about losing weight has come from just google searching questions about food, eating habits, exercising and things like that. Don't always accept what someone says, look at different websites and see if what they say matches what other people have said, then take their advice.
By the way, you're absolutely gorgeous no matter what size you are. Never forget that. Look at yourself every day and tell yourself you're beautiful, because you are, and you deserve to know it.
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Rating: 5
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Thanks a lot! this is very good information!
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