Hi! I'm new!

AproMunro

So I gained a lot of weight over the last 5 or so years, due to a bad money and living situation as well as the depression that came along with it. I won't go into all the nitty gritty details because that part of my life is now over and I am now very happy and super focused on changing myself for the better.

I topped out at 315 pounds. That was the highest weight I saw anyway, but I know that around 10 pounds of that was water weight, because I saw that only once after a bingeful trip to New York where I knew I was going to eat everything I wanted and feel like crap afterwards. I had been ready to begin to lose weight a couple months before this trip but something in me did not want to let me start until afterwards, and I took the opportunity to be a total glutton, not only so that I could enjoy all the splendor, but so that I could also feel the bloated after affects, so that I could remember that feeling. I tell you, I never wanted to be hungry so badly in my life and it took me two days after the 7 day trip to start actually feeling hungry again. I weighed myself directly when I got home and I was 15 pounds heavier than when I left (300). So I may have gained a couple actual pounds, but most of it was definitely water weight. Therefor, I cannot in honesty count this as my true highest weight. I am just going with an even 300, because I was steady at that weight for a good 6 months or more.

So after the trip I started making strategic changes to my diet. I did not have to change much to be perfectly honest. I cook a lot and usually eat very healthy anyway. The main problem at this point (not for the previous 5 years, that was mainly no access to healthy food, and eating charity foods, like mac and cheese from the food bank and half rotting vegetables), was that since I had been in a better financial position than the previous 5ish years, I had less self control than I needed to have. I missed so much about great food and allowed larger portions than I knew I should eat, and allowed any and all treats any time they struck my fancy. Pizza whenever I wanted, ice cream whenever I wanted, whatever. I had been doing this for about a year and gained my last 15 or so pounds this way. Finally when I saw 300 on the scale, I began to realize it was time to take action. It took me around 6 months to get my head totally ready to begin, but I did at around June of this year.

I am losing weight very slowly and very easily. My philosophy is this:

I eat mostly home cooked meals with very reasonable portions that are typically made primarily of meat or other protein (fish, eggs, etc, and portions of around 4 to 6 ounces) with vegetables and/or low Glycemic load fruits (Peppers, eggplant, etc). Veggies can be raw or cooked, doesn't matter to me as long as I enjoy both styles frequently (so today I may have a raw salad with dinner and tomorrow I may have sauteed broccoli with garlic). Grains are kept to a bare minimum and are considered treats. So If I want rice with my meal I can have it, but only a small amount (unless I am really in the mood for a whatever moment) and only very occasionally, like less than once a week. Bread is not outlawed, but that is something I try to avoid as much as possible, still again, nothing is 100% illegal.

I eat three meals a day and don't force myself to snack, but if I do desire a snack it can be fruits, or veggies in some form, or a small smoothie, or cheese, or something else that is not super processed and tastes yummy and makes my belly happy. Some days I'll have no snack at all and some says I'll have up to three. Just depends on what my tummy asks for.

I deprive myself of nothing and have no problem indulging in holiday feasts, but typically not pigging out or anything. I really hate that super full feeling. I allow myself to go out to restaurants on occasion and have cheesecake after the, already too high calorie meal if I really want it. I may bake cookies once in a while, whatever. But the trick is, I make it a conscious effort, and an easy one at that, to only do these truly off "diet" things less than about 5% of the time. I may even have one week where I do naughty things 3 times in a week. I do not punish myself in any way for it. I just enjoy it and simply remind myself that next week I should probably take it easy, but still, no pressure.

I find with this relaxed approach I can be totally honest with myself and the whole process of losing weight feels completely effortless. Even my perfectly spot on healthy meals are wonderful because, well, healthy food is GREAT anyway! I never feel like I would rather be eating something else.

I cannot exercise a whole lot yet. During my poverty I injured BOTH of my knees very badly and had no access to medical care. This resulted in them never healing properly and now I am in physical therapy trying to mend them. I can walk just enough to get my main errands done but not much more than that, however they have been improving more and more lately and I hope to be more active soon. Soon I will move to a building with a pool and that will really help! I cannot wait for that!! So, so far my weight loss has been mainly free of exercise, but I have done enough walking, and floor movements that I know I have at least maintained my muscles, if not gained some muscle mass. Despite still having a long way to go with my mobility, I am FAR more mobile that I was back in June. Still, I must remain classified as sedentary for the time being. Humf.

So until about 2 months ago I was loosing weight at approximately 4 pounds a month. A slow rate that I am quite happy with. However, right as I hit 280, something happened to me. I started feeling SUPER HUNGRY all the time, and had CRAZY food cravings, for stuff like pancakes! of all things. I don't even like pancakes all that much. About 4 weeks ago I realized that I was back up to 286, and started wondering why my brain was turning against me. There was nothing hard about what I was doing! So why wasn't I doing it anymore? So I took a pregnancy test. It was positive. WOAH! Suddenly it all made sense and I did not feel bad about the weight gain then, but resolved to keep my eating more in check, since that I knew that hormones were trying to negate my efforts. My whole plan changed from weight loss to simply eating as much nutrient rich food as I could to grow my baby. I and my sweet husband were just overjoyed! Sadly, shortly after we found out the happy news I had a miscarriage.

Now it has been a few weeks, I am emotionally ok, and I am now back in weight loss mode. Today I hit a new milestone. 279!!! Every time I see a new tens place I get really happy, and this one was a long time coming, with the pregnancy throwing me all off.

I plan to continue with my weight loss philosophy and hope that I can be at least a little healthier by the time I conceive again. I do not really stress about calorie counting because the way I do things, I just know that I eat the right amount. I go by what my body tells me, and it really works. Still, I am kind of an OCD list and chart maker, so I enjoy charting things. Therefor I am going to play with the calorie counting tools on this site for a while and just see what kind of fun numbers poop out of it.

I'd like to get to know a bunch of people here and read your stories. If you read this whole thing THANK YOU! And I'll see you around!

johnnyr24

Well hello. I would like to start by saying welcome as I am new here too and just made my account today. I am sorry to hear about your miscarriage. I know someone who had to go through 2 of those and it is never a good feeling. I hope you are doing much better since that news came to you and I hope that your future is filled with a more positive outlook and when the time is right perhaps another child can come upon you.

As for your weight loss I have been there. I am a college student. What do you expect? College students are broke people lol. With classes and tuition and bills to pay we have so much to do and not enough money or hours in the day to get them done. I have been surviving on romaine noodles and canned foods for as long as I can remember just because it is cheaper and saves me money. But you can make due with what you have. I am glad to hear you are eating healthier and when money becomes tight and you have to make cutbacks you can always go for the healthier alternatives at the store. Like instead of canned spaghetti I try to go for the canned veggies for me. Seems to help.

I am glad to hear your diet plans are falling into place. If you are saying that you are not able to fully workout could you ask your physical therapist what can be done? I have a bad back where for a long time I was not able to do heavy lifting due to my condition and my Dr. sent me to physical therapy and I explained to my therapist I wanted to be more active and work out and she ended up giving me exercises to help me be more active all while helping improve my back at the same time. So maybe if you talk to your therapist she or he can recommend a set or exercises that are safe for you to do in your situation and that might help you in the long run.

As for the losing of the weight it should not matter how much weight your losing and when so long as you are losing the weight which is good. Little by little is better then not losing any at all. Times are tough out there for a lot of us but hang in there it will get better and you have proven that by posting your story here and by telling us about the weight you have lost so far. If you have been able to climb your weight loss mountain thus far and lose the weight you have so far I have no doubt in my mind you can go all the way. I believe in you.

If you need anything on here feel free to add and or message me. I am just getting back into working out myself. Good luck and regards, Johnny

AproMunro

Aww, hey thanks so much! I am quite confident in my ability to get fit again. I used to be quite fit. Used to do martial arts, yoga, and cardio and lift weights! I LOVED IT! Life just got really REALLY hard for a long time and I became hopeless. I was in college for a while, and wanted to continue, but... oi long story short, fell in love with a man from another country, decided to get married and was going to immigrate him to the USA, but my father got in the way... long story.. lol... but he made it impossible, and I had to end up moving to HIS country, leave school, leave my job, and he was jobless, so we were penniless, and on top of just trying to survive we had to come up with immigration money which is thousands and thousands of dollars.... ok not gonna get any more into that old mess hahah! That is all behind me now and I really am very happy and I know that I can overcome what has happened to me.

My physio therapist has me doing mostly stretches and certain kinds of legs lifts and stuff. As far as more aerobic exercise is concerned he says that I just need to start swimming, which is one of the reasons we chose the new apartment building that we will be moving into in a few months. I just need to wait for that. I! AM! ANXIOUS! To start! CAN! NOT! WAIT!!! I HATE not being able to work out! I LOVE the feeling after working out, and I miss it so much.

I do hope that I can have kids in the near future. Until that pregnancy happened it was in the back of our minds, but the moment we thought we were going to be parents we both realized that we were ready and really wanted it. It was quite devastating to lose it, but I know that it just happens and it doesn't mean we can start trying for it now, which we will in a couple of months, maybe after I lose another 15 pounds or so.

I felt like I was 80 years old at my heaviest, and every 10 pounds I lose I feel 10 years younger! So I am thrilled each day when I see the numbers on the scale getting smaller and smaller!

Sorry I am really quite ranty tonight. I'm not usually this talky. hahaha. Ty for the encouragement and right back atcha! Stay strong! and get stronger!

somo50

AproMunro wrote: »

So I gained a lot of weight over the last 5 or so years, due to a bad money and living situation as well as the depression that came along with it. I won't go into all the nitty gritty details because that part of my life is now over and I am now very happy and super focused on changing myself for the better.

I topped out at 315 pounds. That was the highest weight I saw anyway, but I know that around 10 pounds of that was water weight, because I saw that only once after a bingeful trip to New York where I knew I was going to eat everything I wanted and feel like crap afterwards. I had been ready to begin to lose weight a couple months before this trip but something in me did not want to let me start until afterwards, and I took the opportunity to be a total glutton, not only so that I could enjoy all the splendor, but so that I could also feel the bloated after affects, so that I could remember that feeling. I tell you, I never wanted to be hungry so badly in my life and it took me two days after the 7 day trip to start actually feeling hungry again. I weighed myself directly when I got home and I was 15 pounds heavier than when I left (300). So I may have gained a couple actual pounds, but most of it was definitely water weight. Therefor, I cannot in honesty count this as my true highest weight. I am just going with an even 300, because I was steady at that weight for a good 6 months or more.

So after the trip I started making strategic changes to my diet. I did not have to change much to be perfectly honest. I cook a lot and usually eat very healthy anyway. The main problem at this point (not for the previous 5 years, that was mainly no access to healthy food, and eating charity foods, like mac and cheese from the food bank and half rotting vegetables), was that since I had been in a better financial position than the previous 5ish years, I had less self control than I needed to have. I missed so much about great food and allowed larger portions than I knew I should eat, and allowed any and all treats any time they struck my fancy. Pizza whenever I wanted, ice cream whenever I wanted, whatever. I had been doing this for about a year and gained my last 15 or so pounds this way. Finally when I saw 300 on the scale, I began to realize it was time to take action. It took me around 6 months to get my head totally ready to begin, but I did at around June of this year.

I am losing weight very slowly and very easily. My philosophy is this:

I eat mostly home cooked meals with very reasonable portions that are typically made primarily of meat or other protein (fish, eggs, etc, and portions of around 4 to 6 ounces) with vegetables and/or low Glycemic load fruits (Peppers, eggplant, etc). Veggies can be raw or cooked, doesn't matter to me as long as I enjoy both styles frequently (so today I may have a raw salad with dinner and tomorrow I may have sauteed broccoli with garlic). Grains are kept to a bare minimum and are considered treats. So If I want rice with my meal I can have it, but only a small amount (unless I am really in the mood for a whatever moment) and only very occasionally, like less than once a week. Bread is not outlawed, but that is something I try to avoid as much as possible, still again, nothing is 100% illegal.

I eat three meals a day and don't force myself to snack, but if I do desire a snack it can be fruits, or veggies in some form, or a small smoothie, or cheese, or something else that is not super processed and tastes yummy and makes my belly happy. Some days I'll have no snack at all and some says I'll have up to three. Just depends on what my tummy asks for.

I deprive myself of nothing and have no problem indulging in holiday feasts, but typically not pigging out or anything. I really hate that super full feeling. I allow myself to go out to restaurants on occasion and have cheesecake after the, already too high calorie meal if I really want it. I may bake cookies once in a while, whatever. But the trick is, I make it a conscious effort, and an easy one at that, to only do these truly off "diet" things less than about 5% of the time. I may even have one week where I do naughty things 3 times in a week. I do not punish myself in any way for it. I just enjoy it and simply remind myself that next week I should probably take it easy, but still, no pressure.

I find with this relaxed approach I can be totally honest with myself and the whole process of losing weight feels completely effortless. Even my perfectly spot on healthy meals are wonderful because, well, healthy food is GREAT anyway! I never feel like I would rather be eating something else.

I cannot exercise a whole lot yet. During my poverty I injured BOTH of my knees very badly and had no access to medical care. This resulted in them never healing properly and now I am in physical therapy trying to mend them. I can walk just enough to get my main errands done but not much more than that, however they have been improving more and more lately and I hope to be more active soon. Soon I will move to a building with a pool and that will really help! I cannot wait for that!! So, so far my weight loss has been mainly free of exercise, but I have done enough walking, and floor movements that I know I have at least maintained my muscles, if not gained some muscle mass. Despite still having a long way to go with my mobility, I am FAR more mobile that I was back in June. Still, I must remain classified as sedentary for the time being. Humf.

So until about 2 months ago I was loosing weight at approximately 4 pounds a month. A slow rate that I am quite happy with. However, right as I hit 280, something happened to me. I started feeling SUPER HUNGRY all the time, and had CRAZY food cravings, for stuff like pancakes! of all things. I don't even like pancakes all that much. About 4 weeks ago I realized that I was back up to 286, and started wondering why my brain was turning against me. There was nothing hard about what I was doing! So why wasn't I doing it anymore? So I took a pregnancy test. It was positive. WOAH! Suddenly it all made sense and I did not feel bad about the weight gain then, but resolved to keep my eating more in check, since that I knew that hormones were trying to negate my efforts. My whole plan changed from weight loss to simply eating as much nutrient rich food as I could to grow my baby. I and my sweet husband were just overjoyed! Sadly, shortly after we found out the happy news I had a miscarriage.

Now it has been a few weeks, I am emotionally ok, and I am now back in weight loss mode. Today I hit a new milestone. 279!!! Every time I see a new tens place I get really happy, and this one was a long time coming, with the pregnancy throwing me all off.

I plan to continue with my weight loss philosophy and hope that I can be at least a little healthier by the time I conceive again. I do not really stress about calorie counting because the way I do things, I just know that I eat the right amount. I go by what my body tells me, and it really works. Still, I am kind of an OCD list and chart maker, so I enjoy charting things. Therefor I am going to play with the calorie counting tools on this site for a while and just see what kind of fun numbers poop out of it.

I'd like to get to know a bunch of people here and read your stories. If you read this whole thing THANK YOU! And I'll see you around!

somo50

Hiya, I am 137kg at the min I have been struggling to loose weight and failing terribly.i need to loose 4kg in two weeks . Omg or by the 17th march ny way. Hope to hear from ya real soon.
Mo