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What can I do? What is my deal?
22/F
Okay, I weigh approx 280 lbs. and I am 5'7 so my BMI is high or whatever. I do have a genetic predisposition to diabetes because it runs greatly in my family. Yes, I am obese. (But I don't in my eyes appear to be obese, I have very large muscular thighs, and they have very little cellulite. But I do have a large stomach and chest, 44 ddd.)
I am currently taking Metformin 500mg 2 tablets everyday... (but I do forget often). My periods have been abnormal for the past 4 years. Like I get only 3 periods a year. I have had ovarian cysts but have not been diagnosed with PCOS.
Yes, I have been to the doctor and she's told me all the stuff about how I need to loose weight, YEAH I KNOW. Plus I just got done taking both a nutrition and health class and has been ridiculed a great deal in both classes about being obese.
But has this changed my mind? No. I know that I am already pre-diabetic... especially for type 2 diabetes. I know what diabetes is and I know that it can kill me if I don't loose the weight.
My question is why with all this information and knowledge I have, I CONTINUE TO EAT.
I can honestly say that life happened to me in the past 3 years, I had a really bad break up, suffered the death of a best friend, lost my apartment because of people who used me, lost a lot of friends, and was used for sex which was a major blow to my self-esteem. I mean it was a lot... so my comfort was and still is food.
Why is it that I won't give it up? What can I do...
My ultimate fear is that if I loose weight, that I will put it back on... and weigh more than I am now...
I really want lap band surgery to ensure the weight will stay off but its costly and my insurance won't cover it.... I don't know what to do, but something needs to be done. Lap band surgery however is still an option for me.
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I can toatally understand where you are comming from. Its hard to lose wight and its hard to change your life. We are so much alike I was 280 pounds as well. i was diagnosed with PCOS also. my BMI was high and my mother has diabetes so it runs in the family which is not good. But i was sick and tierd of being sick and tierd and i made a choice to change. I joined a gym i worked out out on the elliptcal machine for an hour each day i lifted some light weights too. I ate alot of fruits and veggies lean meats and fish i cut out soda any thing with high amounts of sugar any thing with high fructose corn syrup and i cut out all white foods white bread pasta and rice. i'm not going to tell you it was easy. alot of times i wanted to quit. alot of times i did not get the results i wanted but i kept going and I was 280 on march, 1 2010 and now today i'm 245 i lost 35 pounds it was not easy but i did it and i feel so much better. please don't take the easy way out. the lap band surgery will not help you. Its all about your mind. Find out the reason why you over eat. Why you are fat and then you will be successful in you weight loss journey. the surgery is not a real fix it fixes the out side not the inside. oh yes one more bit of advice if you really want to start losing weight try kick boxing that worked wonders for me. Taebo was a life saver. no more excuses don't say you can't do it or you don't have time MAKE the time. your life depends on it. i wish you the best of luck. I know you can do this. I know everyone says this and its getting old but if i did it you sure can cause i was so lazy never excersied loved mcdonalds fried chiken and chilly hot dogs. i never liked to sweat and i loved soda and snacking at night. I've also tried every fad diet known to man. but i did it on my own and so can you. Good luck and if you ever need advice feel fre to ask me anything cause i've been exactly where you are and my journey is not over yet we can do it together. I know i talk alot but i just identified with you so mcuh. GOOD LUCK
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Ok...so you and I are actually in the same boat here. I'm 29 and weight right at 280 myself. I'm actually shorter than you too. I've always been overweight, but was never really unhappy with who I am until I realized that the weight was keeping me from living the life I want to live.
So here's what I'm doing. I joined a local gym for women. It's REALLY GREAT!! I was worried at first about being intimidated, but you get over that really fast when you realize that there are alot of other women there just like you and no one is judging you. My gym also offers a weight loss program that is designed around me. They take the things that I like to eat and then give me menus that paint it out for me. What I should eat, when, etc. Like someone previously said, eating frequent small portions is GREAT! I eat breakfast, then an AM snack, lunch, then a PM snack, and then dinner. The menus are very specific, but the more comfortable you get with them the easier it is to mix and match and make it your own. I've been doing this for a little over a month and so far I've lost 22 pounds. The best part is that I'm not hungry and I'm not changing everything about myself. I still get to eat the things I like, just a modified version of them. And when I get a hankering for that cheeseburger from that local fast food place I love, I have one. I don't have them everyday, but I do occasionally. It's all about balance and moderation. I've learned alot about myself, my body, and what I like. I don't feel at all deprived.
The thing is this, you've got to decide that you want your life to be different. I started thinking about the things I want in my life. And when I started this program, one of the things that they told me to think about is how my life will be different/better when I reach my goals. I've got the momentum on my side and alot of really supportive people pushing me along. If you'd like, I'd be more than glad to send you the menus that I've been working from. It's a place to start. If you ever need a friend or someone to be your cheerleader, just let me know! :-)
Good Luck!!
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Well, frankly, you answered your own question. Your comfort was and still is food. But you know what's cool? You don't have to give that up. The key to losing weight is not removing food - just to be smarter about it.
You're young, so I know you can still adjust your metabolism. At your height and weight, actually, you'll have a lot of luck if you just tweak your lifestyle a little. You didn't give us a lot of information about your current eating and exercising habits, so I'll just give you the basics here. This is what I did, and I lost weight quickly, hit my goal, and it's stayed off.
* Eat a small meal every three hours, or a healthy snack. Something to keep your metabolism moving. You've gotta teach your body to use what you put into it quickly and effectively.
*Try to keep your calorie intake at around 2,000 a day. It's a lot more than you might think.
*Do not - I repeat, DO NOT - cut anything out of your diet. Keep all of it, but in real serving sizes, or small portions.
*The poster below me is correct in the sense that protein is important, but protein can also store as fat if you're not exercising. Lean protein like fish, eggs, chicken, turkey, lean beef, etc. helps to build lean muscle, which is what you eventually want.
*Along the lines of exercising, if you're not doing any of it, it's summer right now in most places. Grab your iPod and go for a walk. No speedwalking necessary, you don't need to jog (at least not yet). Just something to get your body moving.
*Grab a friend, if you can, and try something new that'll get you moving. My boyfriend got me into rock climbing (well, wall-climbing), and it's way fun and empowering. Not only that, but it's something for us to do and enjoy together.
*Last general tip - after you eat your small meal or healthy snack, listen to your body. If it's telling you it needs more food, wait 20 minutes and see if you're still hungry. If you are, grab something very small, like an apple. After that, wait your three hours, and then eat again.
Now, on a personal note, I am so, so sorry for what happened to you. The stress of all that could easily cause you to retain more weight than you normally would. But if you change your lifestyle, you'll feel better.
As long as your solution isn't a crash diet that you can't keep up for a significant amount of time, there's no way you'll gain more weight back. But, if you take my advice, don't consider this a diet. Consider it a change, and a step in a healthy direction.
But, as I'm sure you know, your mental health is just as important, if not more so, than your physical health. Have you considered counseling at all? Most insurances cover that quite well, and you've gone through a LOT. I've seen people go into inpatient settings for less than what you've dealt with. Please consider your mind in all of this - not just your body. It's an incredibly powerful tool.
Now.
You've admitted you have a problem. You're asking us for advice, so you've started to seek help. You even acknowledge the fear getting in your way. Ultimately, what needs to happen is a conscious decision to confront your problems head-on, and fix them.
I can imagine it's overwhelming to think about tackling this, but it's clear to me that you want to. So, my best advice to you is to take it one step at a time. There's no need for a drastic change right this second. Take it slow. Next time you have a craving for chips, grab some carrot sticks and dip instead, or a few pretzels. That's all that needs to be done that day. Then, next day, when you want something sweet, instead of chocolate or ice cream, have apple slices with caramel dip. Then at some point, if you like, get rid of the dip and just eat the apple. Make sense?
Anyway, I realize this is getting long and I've given you a lot of babble to go through, so I'll end it here.
If anything I said needs further explanation, feel free to drop a question in my inbox, or message me on AIM (SirenCytherea). Just make sure you IM me more than once so I know you're not spam, and let me know you found me here.
If I don't hear from you again, I wish you the best of luck. Be strong. You CAN do this.
Siren
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Hey, I'm 5'2 and about 120 pounds and trying to lose a teensy bit of my belly fat.
What I've been doing for the past three days
is :
eating a chocolate muffin for breakfast! it's delicious and healthy. It has things like cottage cheese, soy milk, and oats and couldn't be tastier! I made it myself tehee
For lunch I have a whey protein shake (cookies and cream flavored, mixed with some soy milk)yum!
For dinner, I can eat a normal portion size of anything as long as it's high in protein.
I've already seen progress!!! The key is to up your protein intake, so that you're losing fat and not muscle. Plus, protein keeps you full longer. I wouldn't say go on a low-carb diet, but try to eat only one bread product at most per meal. Good luck!
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You sound almost exactly like me except that I'm a few inches taller than you.
Sure, the lapband will help you stop overeating.
The truth is, it is not going to solve the real problem.
The real problem is your intake of food. You have to learn to control it. There are meetings for this even. Overeaters anonymous.
You should seek mental therapy for it. You need to learn how to deal with your problems without resorting to stuffing yourself full of various comfort foods. You must or you will just end up like this years down the road.
Exercise.
I know, I know that doesn't sound fun. Exercise is like hard work...right? Wrong.
I joined Curves on a whim, really. I knew I needed to lose weight. The woman at the front desk was a twig and I was embarrassed. I paid the fees though (extremely low for a good gym membership though) and did exactly what they said. I read through the dieting book but never did change my eating habits yet. I just exercised.
1 pound of muscle can burn up to 50 calories.
50 calories is: a rice cake, vitamuffin, 1/2 banana, 1 1/2 cups popcorn, 5 dill pickles, Babybel cheese wedge, small root beer float, 10 pieces of gum, an oreo cookie, 2 Hershey's Kisses, two large marshmallows
Even if that doesn't sound like much, take into consideration 10lbs of pure muscle.
10 pounds of muscles can burn up to 500 calories.
Amazing.
The "burning" calories doesn't mean activity either. It means those calories are going to be burned just to fuel the muscle, naturally. That's when you're asleep, sitting at your desk, or doing your normal activities.
Now, I've read that this would equal out to losing about a ~1lb a week if you had gained 10lbs of muscle. Your metabolism is also boosted by about 15%. We all know that your metabolism is how fast you body can burn off calories.
The "problem" is that muscle does weigh more than fat so you can see a huge drop in your clothing sizes but not a lot of "weight" dropped at first. You have to build muscle to be able to burn that fat.
Chances are, you were just like me. Barely any muscle, despite what you may want to believe. I didn't want to believe I was fairly weak. It was the truth though.
So, in 3 months I lost about 20 inches all over my body. I dropped sizes dramatically. I felt better. My weight didn't drop as much but I could see my inches shrinking. I could see my stomach having some sort of muscle below the fatty tissue. I could physically see the changes.
Getting a surgery is NOT a long-term solution.
Learning that exercise can be downright fun, enjoyable, and really pays off is something you absolutely need to look into, especially if you choose to not change your current eating plans yet.
Remember, I lost all of that weight--that FAT, pure FAT--by exercising. Not dieting. Not starving myself. Hell, I ate ICE CREAM every single night. I indulged in my cravings. I'm not saying you should definitely do that BUT it proves that exercise really does work if you can stick to.
Curves? 3 times a week. 30 minute sessions each time. 1 time a month you're weighed and measured. I think I paid $22/month. Worth it? Every single moment. Every single penny. Every ounce of it.
Start with exercise.
See a therapist and talk about these problems.
Join a group and get some support to stop.
Nix the idea of surgery right now. You're too young to be feeling this hopeless. You have the power to change all on your own.
And, God, it feels so good to see your inches going away because of things you're actually doing. Seeing your hard work really pay off. Watching your body get stronger because of the choices you're making 3 times a week.
P.S. If you think Curves might be too hard--I worked out beside a 92 year old woman. ;)
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i know this sounds weird, and it's probably not good for your self-esteem but when i feel like i need to lose weight or i'm feeling bad about something (all of your 'life' problems, especially the being used for sex, bad break up, are relevant here) i get into this mindset that i'm not good enough. and i'm not trying to get you down on yourself, this is just what works for me. then i get really motivated to exercise or eat healthy because i know how i want to change and i just go for it. hope this is helpful to you :)
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