A personal question on losing about 100 lbs

sahalcomb

Young people...LISTEN to this old woman....MOVE your beautiful body!!!! Eat sensibly. Cheat occasionally and the next meal, go back on program. Do it now....do not wait until you have any health issues. ENJOY your life!
LOVE yourself. First step in change is to love yourself enough to want it. Just do it!

LOVE this!

kateopotato

And I know that if I take it seriously now, that I'm going to drop weight pretty quickly, but it scares me that I might gain it all back double time (lose 15, gain 30, lose 20, gain 40...seems to be my pattern). What kills me though, is half of me wants to change, and then other half doesn't care anymore (self sabotage).

I think a big part of that for most people is when they diet versus when you implement healthier choices and lifestyle changes (I know that term is kinda lame, but it is what it is). When you diet and deprive yourself of one thing or another once you re-introduce that thing your body can go haywire and just hold on to it.

I am a pretty big self sabbotager also. I think this site has really helped me because you can track the little things, see the ticker move and KNOW that you aren't to goal yet, but you are making good progress. There is a lot of good information out there on what to do and what not to do and some of it is conflicting, so unfortunatly you have to read through it and see what works for you and what makes sense. Some things seem counter-intuitive for weight loss based on diet misconceptions that we have had put in our heads, but the big thing was for me: eat enough that you dont feel like you are starving yourself. That means eating back the calories you burn with working out, or at least most of them. Dont set your weekly weight loss goal too high (the good thing is that even though I had it set to a pound to start off with, I actually lost more than that per week when I started). Make little changes that are sustainable.

Although I didn't do this, a lot of people set mini goals (ex: I will get a manicure when I lose 15 lbs, I will buy a new work out video when I lose 25, etc. Little things that are treats that, even if they are something you would do for yourself normally you can hold off on until you reach that goal as a little incentive) Sounds like that might be the way to go with you. You can even make it every 5 or 10 lbs and it doesnt have to be something big. Just something you like or you want. (my suggestion is to not make them food related though so you dont think of food as a reward...)

Good luck. You are here and that's a good starting point!

wildcata77

This site is fantastic. The very first thing to do is to start tracking. You don't even need to diet first. Just track so you can see how many calories you actually are consuming and in what form. After you get a handle on things, start making small changes in your diet and lifestyle. It could be to add some more fruits and veggies, add some walking, or taking away some of your high calorie foods.

Read some literature on exercise and nutrition.

This is not a race to see how fast you can lose weight. It needs to be a lifestyle change.

And you can't expect to be the perfect healthy person right from the get go. It really does take time and effort to figure out how to do things right.

Good luck.

I love all of this, esp. the "THIS IS NOT A RACE" part! I am focused on making a committed lifestyle change, not giving up every single food that makes me happy, or trying to lose all the weight in 6 months (b/c I know as soon as I put a bite of mac'n'cheese in my mouth it will come flooding back). So, I'm just taking it day by day, choice by choice, and I'm very motivated when I have a good consistent week and feel rewarded when I see a lower number on the scale than the week before.

GL...we can ALL do this!