Excited Newbie!
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Minoesh
Posts: 105 Member
Hi All,
I discovered this sitepurely by accident when I was looking for an app for my phone that would give me the calorie values of certain foods. I downloaded the app and was pleasantly surprised to discover a great little tool it is - then I went on to the website! I am so very glad I found this and whoever set up this sight is a star, it is such a great tool not just for checking calories but for keeping one motivated step by step and day by day. Before this, I had been writing down my daily food intake in a little book but now I have no need for that.
Let me tell you how this all sorted, and I will try to keep it short :laugh:
I have had a weight problem since my early teens which I think was due to my dear Mum (whom I love dearly) putting me on a very strict diet at the age of 13 - I was not fat, weighing in at only about 99lbs but I think my mum mistook puppy fat for real fat and did not want me to go though everything she had been through with her weight. By the time I was 16 I was taking really strong appetite suppressants and crash dieting every couple of months (more like starving myself on an apple a day and a couple of crispbreads!).
At 19 I had my first child followed by my 2nd just 21 months later - and my third at 26. During this time my weight would yoyo constantly as I crash dieted and basically messed up my system. At 27 I was hooked on prescription appetite suppressants (Minobese-Forte, Phentermine), water tablets and injecting myself twice a week with hormones to speed up my metabolism - all prescribed by a doctor mind you! I continued like this for 2 years, losing 33lbs at a time but never reaching my ideal weight. of 120lbs.
Just before my thirtieth birthday I'd has enough and threw away the tablets, suffered cold turkey for 3 days and swore I would never touch them again - and I never did! However, my weight continued to rise and after moving to the UK and giving up smoking things got even worse, but I was terrified of going back to my old ways of obsessing with food and weight.
By the time I was 43 I weighed in at around 231lbs (I still can't believe it myself) and had developed ostei arthritis in my knees, hips and shoulders. I dabbled with the Atkins diet for a while but knew it was unhealthy so I started to seriously look at my eating habits, not for weight loss this time but because of my health. I started by changing one thing at a time, one week at a time until by late 2007 I had completely changed my eating habits, eating only fresh produce, fruit, veg & fish, nuts, herbal teas etc and in January 2009 I joined a gym near work and got into the habit of going regularly 3 or 4 times a week.
By June 2010 I had lost a total of 39lbs over a period of 3 years and I was beginning to feel that my goal may just be in sight. It was at this point that I decided to step things up a gear and started to cut back, count my calories and keep a food diary. I didn't need to change what I was eating, just the quantities and since the beginning of July I have lost a further 22lbs. I am really excited about what this means for me - I am so much healthier and confident and I am no longer taking my strong painkillers as my arthritis pain is easing. I still have about 37lbs to lose but I know I can do it.
I know this is a bit long winded for an introduction but I just want to encourage anyone that is struggling to lose weight that if I can do it then anyone can! I thought I would NEVER be able to do it, I thought I had messed up my metabolism for good but our bodies are very resilient when we start putting good practices in place and make long term lifestyle changes.
So on that note; go for it, take one day at a time and get excited about what the future holds in store for you.
Best of luck
Rindy
I discovered this sitepurely by accident when I was looking for an app for my phone that would give me the calorie values of certain foods. I downloaded the app and was pleasantly surprised to discover a great little tool it is - then I went on to the website! I am so very glad I found this and whoever set up this sight is a star, it is such a great tool not just for checking calories but for keeping one motivated step by step and day by day. Before this, I had been writing down my daily food intake in a little book but now I have no need for that.
Let me tell you how this all sorted, and I will try to keep it short :laugh:
I have had a weight problem since my early teens which I think was due to my dear Mum (whom I love dearly) putting me on a very strict diet at the age of 13 - I was not fat, weighing in at only about 99lbs but I think my mum mistook puppy fat for real fat and did not want me to go though everything she had been through with her weight. By the time I was 16 I was taking really strong appetite suppressants and crash dieting every couple of months (more like starving myself on an apple a day and a couple of crispbreads!).
At 19 I had my first child followed by my 2nd just 21 months later - and my third at 26. During this time my weight would yoyo constantly as I crash dieted and basically messed up my system. At 27 I was hooked on prescription appetite suppressants (Minobese-Forte, Phentermine), water tablets and injecting myself twice a week with hormones to speed up my metabolism - all prescribed by a doctor mind you! I continued like this for 2 years, losing 33lbs at a time but never reaching my ideal weight. of 120lbs.
Just before my thirtieth birthday I'd has enough and threw away the tablets, suffered cold turkey for 3 days and swore I would never touch them again - and I never did! However, my weight continued to rise and after moving to the UK and giving up smoking things got even worse, but I was terrified of going back to my old ways of obsessing with food and weight.
By the time I was 43 I weighed in at around 231lbs (I still can't believe it myself) and had developed ostei arthritis in my knees, hips and shoulders. I dabbled with the Atkins diet for a while but knew it was unhealthy so I started to seriously look at my eating habits, not for weight loss this time but because of my health. I started by changing one thing at a time, one week at a time until by late 2007 I had completely changed my eating habits, eating only fresh produce, fruit, veg & fish, nuts, herbal teas etc and in January 2009 I joined a gym near work and got into the habit of going regularly 3 or 4 times a week.
By June 2010 I had lost a total of 39lbs over a period of 3 years and I was beginning to feel that my goal may just be in sight. It was at this point that I decided to step things up a gear and started to cut back, count my calories and keep a food diary. I didn't need to change what I was eating, just the quantities and since the beginning of July I have lost a further 22lbs. I am really excited about what this means for me - I am so much healthier and confident and I am no longer taking my strong painkillers as my arthritis pain is easing. I still have about 37lbs to lose but I know I can do it.
I know this is a bit long winded for an introduction but I just want to encourage anyone that is struggling to lose weight that if I can do it then anyone can! I thought I would NEVER be able to do it, I thought I had messed up my metabolism for good but our bodies are very resilient when we start putting good practices in place and make long term lifestyle changes.
So on that note; go for it, take one day at a time and get excited about what the future holds in store for you.
Best of luck
Rindy
0
Replies
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Excellent post - it just shows it does work. Welcome to MFP:flowerforyou:0
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Glad to hear you are already doing well. I'm new too. Just finished my 1st week of honestly counting what I put in my body. Love reading the sucess stories.
Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Calorie Counter0 -
Good luck!0
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Glad to hear you are already doing well. I'm new too. Just finished my 1st week of honestly counting what I put in my body. Love reading the sucess stories.
I love reading the success stories as well - it makes me realise that one day I will be writing my own! 0 -
This is a wonderful post...Thanks for sharing!!0
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Hi All, thank you for your comments - just saw these now, hadn't realised people had commented on my post - I'm still a bit of a newbie when it comes to the internet and blogging sites :blushing:0
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Welcome to MFP and thank you for sharing your story.0
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