Losing 23lbs before I turn 23!

xostarchickaxo

So, I've never tried dieting before - ha, yeah right! I'm not totally new to MFP, I was here with a little success a few years back, but I've gained back twice as much. I'm now engaged and thinking about the whole wedding/starting a family thing, so it's more important than every to turn my life around permanently. I don't have any close friends here helping me, so here's a little about me - add me if you'd like!

I was born with club feet and grew up with one corrective surgery after another. I had a pretty normal childhood aside from the fact that I was almost always in casts. When I was 8, I had one of the top ortho doctors in the world screw up during my surgery, and long story short, I was told I would never walk normally again. Fast forward a decade or so - all the surgeries, down time, and low activity lifestyles I was accustomed to have taken their toll on my body. Don't get me wrong - I won't blame it all on an injury. I had plenty of active time in there where I took dance lessons, was in my school show choir and rode bikes around the neighborhood with friends, but just like any other kid, I was all about fast food and unhealthy snacks. Unfortunately, after my last major surgery in high school, I was in a cast for over 9 months and kept up those eating habits even though I couldn't hardly get out of bed. I went from a healthy 140 lbs before surgery to about 230 pounds a year later.

I graduated high school 5 years ago at that same 230 lbs. While I'm still waiting on my new scale to arrive from Amazon, I would estimate that I'm now in the 315-320 range. It makes me cringe that, as disgusted as I was with my 90 lb weight gain after my surgery, I managed to let myself gain ANOTHER 90 lbs. I just hurt all the time, every small little activity gets my heart racing, and I feel like total crap every day. I've come to literally hate myself. I distanced myself from all my friends and family, and I became a total homebody. None of this fits my true inner character. It's like the weight changed me just as much on the inside as it did on the outside. But I don't think I need to get into all the sobby feelings stuff, because we're all in the same boat.

To cut to the chase, I truly think I've hit my rock bottom. I have an incredible fiance of 6+ years who is going through a lot of the same struggles that I am here, and more than anything, I want to ensure that I get to live a long, happy and HEALTHY life with him. Don't get me wrong - I know I'm in this for me, first and foremost, but our future provides me so many wonderful and motivating visions. I want to be able to shop for a wedding dress and not worry about if it comes in plus sizes. I want to be able to go on our honeymoon without worrying if I'll fit in the plane seats, or if I'll run into any weight limits. I want to be at my healthiest when we try to start a family - and I want to STAY at my healthiest so I can be the mother I've always wanted to be.

BUT, as I know from experience, change never comes easy. Last time around, I told myself I was going to lose 100 lbs and two months in, when I had only lost 15 (as good as that may be), I lost motivation and fell off the wagon. This time around, I'm taking a different approach. I'm setting one small, short-term goal for myself at a time - with a reward for myself when/if I reach it. This is a common approach to losing weight, and I think it's one that will work for me. I'm known to be impatient, so short-term will keep my mind focused, and it's always nice to get the things we want, so rewards are high motivators.

My first goal is the infamous birthday blastoff. I turn 23 on July 1, and I'd like to lose 23 pounds by then. I think this is achievable considering that I'm cutting my usual daily calories down to nearly a third of what they were, I'm starting to drink my daily water for the first time in years, and I'm devoting at least four hours a week to moderate exercise. When/if I achieve this goal, my reward will be, of course, a birthday night out! While I don't want to center a reward around eating unhealthy, it'll be nice to go to one of my favorite restaurants for a little indulgence, maybe see a movie, and spend some much-needed fun time with my fiance after working so hard for two months! After that, it's likely that I'll decrease for a bi-weekly or monthly goal in order to keep motivated when the weekly losses aren't as high.

I'm still learning about nutrition and what exactly I need to be doing for my body, and it'll be interesting to find creative ways to burn calories without having extensive use of my right ankle, but I'll get there. Lucky for me, I run a stationery design business from home, so I have all the flexibility in the world. No excuses allowed. This is it.

If you're in a similar situation to me, or you just want to help cheer each other on as we tackle this crazy journey together, please feel free to add me and introduce yourself! My name is Kelli, by the way!

Yagisama

Hi there! Looks like you were able to overcome a lot of challenges during your childhood. Kudos for that!

Everyone here, no matter how much weight they have to lose, has pretty much the same goal, to become and stay healthy. Many of us have gained a lot of weight in the past, and it's kind of baffling how we ended up gaining so much weight when we look back, but there's no point in dwelling on it, and it's much more productive to worry about what we can do going forward.

I think you have the right idea when it comes to doing things step by step, and making short term goals. However, the key is to make attainable goals. Honestly, your goal of 23 lb by July 1 is a bit on the high side. It's definitely possible since it's about 1%/week weight loss. However, such a rigid goal can lead to frustration down the road, and you don't want to tie up your birthday night out to some weight loss goal.

You should focus your first month on trying to make small changes to eat healthier, keeping track of calories and macro nutrients, small increases in activity level, etc. Don't get too bogged down on the numbers. Just make small changes today and work toward a plan that you are comfortable doing for the long term.

yungibear

I agree with Yagisama! I am also 22 and about to transition in my life soon (graduating university in a year) I've been trying to focus on making lasting changes, rather than the weight on the scale.

If it might help give you an idea of what I've been doing, I set a time goal rather than a weight goal. On MFP, I was prompted to give them my goal weight so the program would have an idea of where I'd like to be, but 105 is not my goal. If I reach the body and lifestyle I want at 115, then so be it! I set up some "endurance" time goals that go like this:

Live a healthy lifestyle and lose for 3 months at a time.

That's really all there is to it. My life is so busy (and I'm sure yours is too!) that it is a bit easier for me to live day-to-day rather than focusing on "losing 5 pounds by the end of the month." That way, if I managed to even lose 1 pound or endure my exercise program for a longer period of time, I can be proud that I had improved myself!

Anyway, if you would like to talk, you can message me anytime! It is great that you have decided to get your life on track! C:

WalrusNips

You got this! Sounds like this experience is much needed for the both of us. To help motivate me to lose my weight, I'm going to be cutting out pictures of my "thinspiration" and posting them randomly throughout my house. Especially on my mirrors. I'm going to hate it for a while, but I think after looking at them long enough I'll start getting it into my head. I'm also going to put together a sort of collage of really tasty looking healthy foods and putting it on my fridge. To condition myself to think sweets are bad, whenever I walk in the grocery store, I'm going to try to tell myself "ew" or "gross" every time I walk by a junk food isle...

It might sound weird, but that's what I did to get myself to stop drinking soda last year. Now I never drink it and it makes me gag whenever I see people drink soda. My methods are a bit weird, but hey, they've worked for me before. I figure if I surround myself with nothing but good, that's what I'll get!

Good luck with your current short-term goal! You can definitely achieve it. It's difficult at first to keep at it, and recording daily is a struggle. It's okay to miss a day or two. It happens, people get too busy, and that's okay. What's important is not to get discouraged when you fall off the wagon. You can always catch up and jump back on, and the sooner you run after it, the easier it will be to get there.

I just recently started MFP again after about a year of neglect. Gained twice as much back as I had lost when I tracked. But I'm determined this time! I've been slowly building up my schedule to get back into the swing of things and so far so good. So let's do this! I've got a month and half to lose roughly 15 pounds before my birthday, let's make our goals, girl!

yungibear

You got this! Sounds like this experience is much needed for the both of us. To help motivate me to lose my weight, I'm going to be cutting out pictures of my "thinspiration" and posting them randomly throughout my house. Especially on my mirrors. I'm going to hate it for a while, but I think after looking at them long enough I'll start getting it into my head. I'm also going to put together a sort of collage of really tasty looking healthy foods and putting it on my fridge. To condition myself to think sweets are bad, whenever I walk in the grocery store, I'm going to try to tell myself "ew" or "gross" every time I walk by a junk food isle...

It might sound weird, but that's what I did to get myself to stop drinking soda last year. Now I never drink it and it makes me gag whenever I see people drink soda. My methods are a bit weird, but hey, they've worked for me before. I figure if I surround myself with nothing but good, that's what I'll get!

Good luck with your current short-term goal! You can definitely achieve it. It's difficult at first to keep at it, and recording daily is a struggle. It's okay to miss a day or two. It happens, people get too busy, and that's okay. What's important is not to get discouraged when you fall off the wagon. You can always catch up and jump back on, and the sooner you run after it, the easier it will be to get there.

I just recently started MFP again after about a year of neglect. Gained twice as much back as I had lost when I tracked. But I'm determined this time! I've been slowly building up my schedule to get back into the swing of things and so far so good. So let's do this! I've got a month and half to lose roughly 15 pounds before my birthday, let's make our goals, girl!

It is possible to lose weight while learning how to moderate your intake of "unhealthy" foods.

I absolutely love my fruits and veggies, but I also really like pastries! So for the most part, I I eat "clean" meals that are homecooked. However, if I crave a cake or something, I'll let myself have a small piece.

It might be good to learn to love "healthy" foods in the beginning, but to really change this into a sustainable lifestyle, I think it'd benefit you, in the future, to learn how to plan your calories around sweets! Of course, it doesn't have to happen overnight, so it is okay to learn learn to love healthy foods first.