89kg [200lb] and only 17. Questions..

SandraMay1982

Believe me. If I could magically snap my fingers and be 80kgs or less I would do it Mary Poppins style. ha. RIght NOW.
I am so impatient. It'll give me good character at the end. haha.

jnknzxD

Being a teenager, being impatient is my masters degree.

@MM;
I guess I'll have to keep my eyes on my smaller goals than the overall goal.
I took a look at one, and they are very inspirational.

@Tashasbaby;
I have a wii, I might look into that. Sounds interesting.

@Sandra; I think a lot of people would do that. :P

jetlag

Loads of great advice in this thread.

I'll second the "baby steps" point. It's important to make small changes and stick with them before making more changes. These changes have GOT to be permanent otherwise you'll just end up back where you started.

Many years ago, I swore off soft drinks and I'm convinced it's why I stopped gaining weight at the rate I was. Now, I only drink water, green tea, black tea and the occasional coffee (oh, and alcohol LOL). The only time I drink cola is when I have a JD and coke at Christmas. Even then, I only really like Pepsi Raw because it has no funny business in it (no FrankenFoods).

The next step was to drop fast food, except as a very rare treat. Now I don't actually like it that much. My friend is pregnant and called me to bring her an emergency MacD Fillet of Fish, last week, so I got a burger as well. I figured I hadn't had a MacD's in something like a year, so why not? Anyway, I only ate half of if as it was just awful, not at all how I remembered them to be and I can't think I'll ever have one again.

After that, I swore off white bread and "american long grain" rice. I now love brown basmati and eat rice 3 or 4 times a week. I love Japanese rice as well, though I eat much less of it as it's a faff to cook.

I've never had much of a sweet tooth, thank the gods, but I crave chocolate something awful at my TOTM. So, I just have 2 or 3 small pieces of really good quality chocolate and it has the same satisfaction factor as a whole mars bar or similar.

The next thing I dropped (except as a treat) is deep fried food, only because heating vegetable oil to that temperature makes it toxic.

Then I started reading everything I could get my hands on about nutrition and I don't mean the rubbish the government touts about saturated fat and cholesterol (all unproven theory, by the way) but the real stuff, backed by real studies and real evidence.



The important thing is to not panic. Take it one day at a time, one step at a time, one choice at a time. Find some weight loss blogs that inspire you (I like www.priorfatgirl.com). Educate yourself. There is no magic here. Get out, get moving, get fit and the weight loss will come.

Good luck, lady

jnknzxD

Firstly, I agree.

I'm going to do the baby steps starting from now although I wish there was a miracle like everyone else here. I do hope the changes do stick though. I do envy those people who can eat whatever they like and stay skinny.

I can't swear off soft drinks due to the fact that I love the fizzy feeling in my mouth, which I've been replacing with Soda water, but I still like a good coke. I still go for the Ice tea though, I'm not sure if that's considered a soft drink. I have coffee in the morning since mum makes it for me and it keeps me awake for a while at school, but I don't really drink alcohol. What do you mean by Pepsi raw though? X:

Dropping fast food wouldn't be much of a problem. Although I would miss the sauce in those big macs, I usually like making my own burgers at home with Kangeroo meat. And those Fillet o' fish are practically just a giant fish finger in between 2 buns.

I don't think I could swear off white bread though since sometimes I get that feeling of not wanting to bother with grains getting pushed into my teeth, touching the nerves etc. It hurts and drives me nuts, but I have been eating full grain bread. [I forgot what they're called.. Multi-grain is it?] 2 weeks out of 4 a month. [If that makes sense]

I love my deep fried food, I don't know what gets me attached to it but I just love it. I can't help it, I can live without it but if it's there on the table, I'm always sure to dive at it, I can't resist it. I don't know how I'll fix this though.

I'll be sure to do research on nutrition whilst I'm doing Culinary arts and Health at school though which will be useful for me and .... Well me in general.

Pebble321

@Rubybelle;
When I said the goals to myself, it sounded logical. But then my godbrother said it wasn't logical and that I should go for 10kg per month, does that sound logical...?
I don't even know what's reasonable >_<;

I think that even 10kg a month is a really big goal. That's 2.5 kg (about 5lb) a week. Sounds too much to me.
I think it might work better to set a goal like 5kg and just see how long that takes - if you are steadily losing .5 - 1 kg a week you'll get rid of some of the weight pretty soon and then it's easier to stay motivated.

You've made a great start by deciding to make some positive changes, that really is smart!
The baby steps is definitely the way to go. and don't get sucked in by the ads on TV promising "lose 5 kg in a week" - they are just marketing spin and DON'T WORK. If they did, we would all have used them and be at our goal weight already!

Pick small changes and keep them up - I've read that it takes 21 times to make a habit. Why not pick something like having a healthy breakfast and make that a habit. Once you are doing that it will be easier to take on the next one.
And log what you do. I've only be doing it for a week and it really does make me accountable when I think about whether I want another drink or seconds at dinner.

Stay strong, you can do it!

InstantSunshine

Hiya

I'm so glad so many people have posted such positive things to you - we're all nervous about this and all hoping we can make it. I'll add you after I've typed this and if you want to accept you'll be able to see my diary (for a quick guide on how not to do it haha - I'm so rubbish, but I've only been here a couple of weeks...)

What you were saying about fried food, it's natural, everyone has their big temptation, mine seems to be bread and pasta and all that. I suppose what you have to to is recognise that and just have a little every so oftern rathe than it being a regular part of your diet. Probably once you start eating other, healthier foods, you'll find something else you love as much and that's better for you as well. Personally I find the thought of having to record what I've eaten on here for everyone to see a big deterrent - I don't want everyone to see "Twix, crisps, chips" and think I'm crap, so I don't have them!

But no-one ever judges you badly on here, everyone's supportive because we're all here for the same reason. You'll make progress before you know it - just don't rush it, like the previous poster said, if you rush it, you'll put it back on and plus you'll get skin flaps!

Welcome.

Vicky

jetlag

First of all, don't ever say "can't". You CAN and will when you're ready. It's OK if you're not ready now. Baby steps

Ice tea is not a soft drink if it's made from tea bags LOL If it comes in a can, then check the ingredients. (I bet there are even some chemists who stumble on those words!) It's probably much less sugar laden than coke or whatever, so it's all about making gradually better choices. Pepsi Raw is a version of Pepsi you can get here in the UK that has no artificial ingredients. It's still loaded with sugar, of course, but no frankenfoods. Not an ideal choice, but better than FrankenPepsi!

The sauce in a big mac is just ketchup and mayo with some herbs thrown in. Make your own mayo (egg yolks, olive oil, mustard and vinegar) and add some tomato puree (less sugar than ketchup) to taste. Much healthier than the stuff in a jar.

That goes for bread, too, by the way. Making your own bread is dead easy and you can make half white/half wholemeal for a superb loaf of bread.

As for deep fried food or whatever else, have it! Just not ALL of it, and not every day. You"fix it" by changing your mindset about it.

I LOVE FOOD so would never ever ever not have something I really want, but it comes down to:

1. eating something because I really want it and enjoying every mouthful (intuitive eating, google it)

OR

2. eating because I'm bored/angry/sad/want to get away from my desk, etc or just because it's there!


When you're given a plate of food you love, ask yourself: "Is this the very last time ever I'll be able to eat this food?"

The answer is almost certainly no.

So, you don't have to eat every single thing, do you? Have a little and love it, knowing you can have more another time.



Oh, and get plenty of sleep!

jnknzxD

@Ruby; I see. Well I'm going to try and keep my morning walk up. Although I do find it a problem to wake up early in the morning haha.
And cut off the soft drinks I think that'll be enough for now.

@Sunshine; I'm so glad as well. I never thought I'd find this much support on weight loss anywhere to be honest.
My mother keeps trying to guilt me every time I pick up a food saying 'Look at everyone, looking at you holding those ____[insert food]____. They're scared of you because of you and your fatness'

@Jetlag;
I meant the Ice tea as in the ones where you buy in a bottle from food places not the ones you make at home :P. I don't think we have those Pepsi Raws here.
And I have to mention this; I totally want to hear your accent!

Oooh okay. Mayo and herbs. I'll be sure to remember that next time I make my own burgers. With all these making of ingredients for a bread... It sounds wonderful! I bet my mum would be proud of me with helping around in the kitchen making something that she doesn't know that is.

Well that's okay then, I don't have deep fried food everyday. And I always share it when there is some on the table.

And that's a wonderful thought. I need to think that every time I eat something fried or overall, unhealthy.

I've been attempting but it's hard when I slip between insomnia and hypersomnia.

jetlag

Yep, it's hard, but one day at time, one decision at a time, one bite at a time - I think you're going to do really well


My accent is really weird. I'm an American expat who's lived in the UK for 23 years. No one ever knows where I'm from LOL