JessiD123

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JessiD123
JessiD123 Posts: 5
in Introduce Yourself
Um... hello there.

I'm JessiD123, and I'm brand new to myfitnesspal.com. I'm just a 21-year-old college student who ended up gaining the freshman 40 instead of the freshman 15. Part of that is probably due to the depression medication that I have been on for the last year or so. Now that I'm coming off of that medication, I'm trying my hardest to get into a diet/exercise routine that will help me lose the weight I want to lose before I graduate next year.

I've tried to lose weight in previous years, but I came up short in the motivation department because I didn't see the results that I wanted to see when I wanted to see them. I've come to grips with the fact that weight loss is a process that takes time and commitment, and I'm willing to take this journey and stay as motivated as possible with the help I hope to receive from this community here.

I'm pumped to get started here! Good luck to everyone else on their journey to fitness and health! :D

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  • SnuggleSmacks
    SnuggleSmacks Posts: 3,731 Member
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    Welcome! You've come to the right place.


    One thing I would highly recommend is to start lifting, and lift heavy. Find a simple program like Strong Lifts or The New Rules Of Lifting or Strong Curves (that's what I'm doing) and follow it. The immediate and startling differences you'll see in your body are extremely motivating. Even if you don't lose pounds at first, the ability to see definition starting to form in the muscles under your skin has quite a dramatic impact!

    Second thing I recommend: Take photos. Don't rely just on the scale or the tape measure (although both of those things are good for tracking). Take photos at least once a month. Have a friend do it for you if possible, and if not, try to use a timer and tripod. You need good photos from the front, back and side, flexed and not flexed. Those photos will show you WAAAAY more than the scale ever will.

    And last: don't go overboard. It's tempting when you first start out to start cutting things out of your diet and getting extreme. It's completely unnecessary. Consider your first month or so an experiment in what works for you. Meal timing, portion sizes, etc. are all things to experiment with until you find something that is sustainable and easy and will allow you to lose weight.

    I've settled on a 350 calorie deficit instead of 500, and I allow it to fluctuate so that I'm eating over one day, and under for several days, so that I can enjoy the foods I want. I find this extremely easy to keep up indefinitely without feeling deprived at all. I even eat at (or slightly over) maintenance for a few days at a time around that time of the month or when there's a holiday/celebration (such as my birthday coming up). Giving myself permission in advance to do these things means that I don't have to beat myself up at all, and I don't feel the urge to be "bad" and binge on anything. There is no good or bad, there's only how soon I want to reach my goal...and going over today is only going to delay that by a day or two, at most. I'm losing slowly (about a pound every 10 days) but steadily, with zero struggle over food....especially since I still get to eat pizza, burgers and ice cream this way.

    Good luck!

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