Do you wish you had started earlier/younger?

DressedInDreams

I wish someone had taught me a child about nutrition and fitness. I've always been at least a little overweight. I've spent my twenties yo-yoing mostly between 140 and 190, and I wish I had realized a long time ago that CICO simply works. But I will be much more fit and healthy going into my thirties so that's a positive.

TiffanyR71

I did start younger- again, and again, and again- since I was 15 with a few extra pounds, until this time at 44 and pretty much as many extra pounds as years. Each time gets harder and with more to lose. Time for me to learn how to maintain when I get to my goal this time. I think I'm finally ready...

SuperMelanie

DEFINITELY!!!
Looking back I can remember how bloody miserable my twenties were. Examples that spring to mind..

[/list]if we went out at the weekend all my friends had their choice of gorgeous men whilst I stood in the corner, trying to be invisible.
[/list]Being huge caused a lack of confidence, meaning I avoided taking risks and never reached my true potential or achieved the career I feel I could have had.
[*] /list] I have no photographs of me from the last 15 years
[*] Lack of confidence led to feelings of worthlessness and feelings of hopelessness when I thought about the future. Yo-yo dieting just added to these. Life passed me by.

Writing all this has made me feel so sad

BUT...I know I will never be that big again. One day something just clicked. I knew I couldn't be this unhappy forever. I found this site almost by accident and haven't looked back.
I've lost 10kg and am on track to a better body and feel amazing
If I keep up with the MFP plan, in about 5 months I want to be have the biggest birthday party ever.
And this time I'll hire a professional photographer and will have to be dragged OFF the dance floor.

My advice- don't waste your life being miserable. Do something about it sooner rather than later. Life is not a rehearsal
Good luck everyone!!

icck

I was 25 when I became serious about fitness. I've always been an avid walker, although overweight from childhood onwards, but I do wish that I had discovered strength training earlier. A good basis about nutrition would have been nice, that's something I have had to learn about myself.

I am, however, very aware that pregnancy left me unable to walk long distances and with life long health problems. 5 years later I am strong and fit, and can do most things that I wish to, but would that have been any different if I were as strong pre-pregnancy as I am now? Or would I just have found myself in the same, dark place after having my daughter? Who knows.

SteveMFP123

Every day, I wasted my youth being obese and miserable, plus my skin has no bounce left in it so I'm stuck with that as punishment for my greed.

Unknown

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californiagirl2012

I do wish I would have learned earlier. But at the same time not learning it until my 50's and having tried but struggled for so long seems to be better for helping others have hope. It would have been nice to avoid all of the health issues being obese and overweight caused - that was needless suffering but I didn't know better. I'm just happy to know what to do now for the rest of my life.

earlnabby

If wishes were horses then beggars would ride.

Your choices are what they are and it does no good to wish things were different.

purplishblue

Actually I wish I hadn't felt bad about my body for so many years. I started feeling that I was fat at 14... now 35 and still feeling fat The unfortunate thing is that I've been many different weights, including underweight, and there's never really been a point where I felt thin enough. Ah well.

SkinnyWannabeGal

[quote="Tubbs216;32344195"
I'm sorry you went through that abusive situation. Glad that you moved on and sound happy and healthy now.
[/quote]

You are so very nice. Thank you Tubbs216

almondbutterbay

purplishblue wrote: »

The unfortunate thing is that I've been many different weights, including underweight, and there's never really been a point where I felt thin enough. Ah well.

I understand this too well. I just have no idea how to change it

rod195

Yes mainly wish I had looked after myself more when I was younger fitter healthier etc

gothchiq

I completely should have gotten on the ball back when I was 30 and the weight started creeping on. I was dealing with a lot of health problems and had sort of thrown in the towel on fitness. In retrospect, as soon as I got my medications figured out, I should have started some sort of light daily exercise and then slowly ramped up. Spending ten years sedentary except for dancing at night clubs was a mistake. Now I am prediabetic and have some loose skin from losing the weight back off after ten years of being too fat.

angelexperiment

I do wish I knew then what I know now. But I think I wasn't ready til now.

auntyp147

It would have been good to know, but I doubt I would've wanted to do it - let alone stick with it when I was younger. Had too many 'other' goals and things going on then and I wasn't too fussed about being overweight as I had always been overweight since I was a baby. As I'm more settled now, I have the time and energy to focus on what I'm eating as well as becoming alot more active. I'm at a healthy weight now. The past is just that - the past.

kickassbarbie

I was an overweight/obese kid and a morbidly obese teen so I wish I'd learnt about eating properly growing up, but that's neither here nor there as there's nothing I can do to change that now (and I probably wouldn't have listened!)

I do seriously wish I'd learnt the value of health and fitness as well as how to lose weight earlier though, restrictive dieting and never exercising were not the way to go, I do seriously regret that if I'm honest.

Soopatt

I wish I had discovered earlier how easy weight loss could be.

I wish I had not believed the rubbish I was told about how terrible and onerous counting calories was supposed to be, so much so, that I have avoided it like the plague until now. I heard that message everywhere - as if it was a torturous and restrictive way to live that could not possibly be sustainable.

Listen to people who tell you that they are trying to lose weight, many of them start with "I REFUSE to count calories and weigh my food and all that crazy stuff, I just want to eat better", or something along those lines. Then, not allowing themselves proper portion control tools, those same people resort to crazy diets or are baffled when eating the wrong amounts of the right things do not result in weight loss.

Even now I feel as though weighing my food down to the gram is something I have to keep private from most people because of the hostile reactions I get.

The reality is that losing weight has never been so easy and comfortable. I feel as though I have been de-programmed and I wish I could help others to wake up too.

They don't want to hear it though.

scb515

I wish I'd started earlier, purely because of the impact on my skin. That's it. People assume if you're "young", it will magically adjust, but if you've been overweight for any significant period, you've already knackered the elasticity.

Cali_125

Soopatt wrote: »

I wish I had not believed the rubbish I was told about how terrible and onerous counting calories was supposed to be, so much so, that I have avoided it like the plague until now. I heard that message everywhere - as if it was a torturous and restrictive way to live that could not possibly be sustainable.

Listen to people who tell you that they are trying to lose weight, many of them start with "I REFUSE to count calories and weigh my food and all that crazy stuff, I just want to eat better", or something along those lines. Then, not allowing themselves proper portion control tools, those same people resort to crazy diets or are baffled when eating the wrong amounts of the right things do not result in weight loss.

That's my story, exactly, Soopatt. I've tried every crazy diet that exists because of the general opinion out there that counting calories equals an eating disorder. If I could go back in time, I would resist listening to that opinion.

PicoBoulevard

I should have started revising my eating habits 15 years ago when my metabolism slowed (I'm 55). But I kept eating my same higher calories and gained a huge amount of weight. I've lost 50 pounds of it but I still have 40 to go. So if I had been proactive 15 years ago, I'd probably be normal weight now. But as they say, you can't go back.

ladymiseryali

I wish I had been aware of keto in my teens. Probably would have saved me years of battling an eating disorder on and off.

gyal3

I think everyone wishes they would have started earlier... I try to think of it as "at least I finally started caring." As someone already mentioned, hindsight is 20/20.

MKEgal

almondbutterbay wrote:

Do you wish you had started being aware of calories earlier in your life or
are you glad that you had some years that you were unaware about how much you weighed

I've always been aware of how much I weighed, how bad I looked, and to some degree how bad I felt.

I do wish that I'd learned much earlier (like, at least as an early teen, or at latest my first year in undergrad)
how to figure out a healthy calorie level, enjoy exercise, how much food 'costs' in terms of calories, how
to make good/healthy choices... basically how not to get fat in the first place, so I wouldn't have this huge
struggle on my hands now to get back to a healthy weight.

If someone could have explained to me how awful I'd feel being more than 100 lb overweight, I would
not have gotten fat in the first place!
Then again, maybe I just wasn't ready (mentally)? I mean, 100 lb isn't something which happens overnight.
I knew I was fat, just didn't have the motivation / energy to do something about it, nor the belief that I
actually _could_ change my life for the better.

.

PaulaWallaDingDong

I do wish I had been aware of how many calories I should have been eating back when I got my driver's license. That's when fast food became a regular thing instead of every once in a while, and I was already on the heavy side (now, I AM the heavy side). I probably still would have eaten it, but not in an uncotrolled manner like I was.

Francl27

Yes because then I wouldn't have all that loose skin. No because well... I really enjoyed being able to eat what I wanted without worrying about it.

But now I'm older and I guess it's time to do the responsible thing, even if it sucks.

joshuapowell1989

I wish I had learned about CICO (Including TDEE, NEAT etc) but at the end of the day I gained the weight for a reason, and that was becoming content after getting engaged. I now am in a place where I want lose the weight to better myself, be more healthy etc.
I'd rather be starting now, than not at all. and in my younger years I don't think id have the discipline or drive i do now.

Luthien007

Yes. Tools like MFP make it so much easier. I remember writing calories in a notepad when I was pregnant with my eldest over 22 years ago.

39flavours

I've always battled with my weight, ever since about 12 years old. I wish that I'd had a period in my adult life when I'd actually not needed to worry about what I ate and how I looked. If I could go back and change anything, it would be to be more active and get good at a sport.