newbie looking for new friends/support for motivation

Candi_land

Hi all my name is Candice and I joined this site thanks to my best friend Jessica, whom is also a member. I have over 300lbs to lose, and at 5'2 I'm sure you all can imagine how difficult this much weight is on my body. I can't walk more than a few feet without extreme lower back pain, and my ankles and feet are usually tightly and painfully swollen. I started the herbal life diet about 3 months ago and have managed to lose 40.4lbs so far, however I can't imagine following this diet for the rest of my life to be honest. The 40lb weight loss so far has made walking/moving around a little easier, but I still don't think I am getting enough exercise. I would appreciate any ideas you have for exercises that someone of my size can do. Also, I've been thinking of eventually switching over from following herbal life to just cutting down on my eating and counting calories. Any suggestions on what works for you? I could use all the support I can get. I wasn't always this heavy, I've been overweight all my life but I was once confident, and felt attractive, mobile, working, and I "wore it well". I was in a relationship for 5 years with someone I loved and trusted dearly, he cheated on me with a mutual friend of ours and needless to say I was devastated and completely overwhelmed by the betrayal. I'm an emotional eater and turned to food for comfort..and completely sank into a downward spiral piling on over 100lbs in less than a year. I left everything behind, feeling as if the person I was died and moved in with family 1300 miles away because I could no longer work due to my weight and sudden onset of extreme social anxiety. I had no idea who I was anymore, and finding the will to live every morning took lots of effort. I still struggle, but I want my life back. I'm hoping to make new friends along this weight loss journey. Thanks for reading and good luck to you all!

findingfit23

Hi Candice, welcome to the group!
I would start with just walking for exercise for now. Just try to walk to the end of your block and back. Each day push it a little further. Before you know it you you will be going blocks! I also used the Walk Away the Pounds dvd's when I first started exercising.

Do you have to pay for this Herbal life stuff? Personally, I would just count calories. Stay below was MFP recommends and you will lose.

Kalynx

Hi Candi,

I can completely relate with what you are experiencing. At my heaviest I was at 419 about 3 years ago and have been at 330-390 for past few yrs. I started on MFP in Feb at 378. I had the swelling in feet, legs, arms, belly, all over. Painful, you could press and leave indentions in places. Or set the remote on my leg and it would leave marks where the buttons had rested on me lol. At my sickest/worst I had a chair in the kitchen so I could sit and wash dishes, or cook, work out of the fridge, etc because I could not stand very long without getting winded. My house was a constant pigsty because I never had the energy to clean, I had just given up on life. I could never have friends over out of embarrassment. Believe me, I've been pretty low because of my weight.

I hope you are seeing a doctor for your heart health. You might need some prescribed water tablets to help flush out a lot of that extra fluid you are carrying. If you can please see a doctor about this, you will feel so much better. I saw a heart dr 2 or 3 yrs ago for the first time and he put me on a high dose of water pills for a week and I swear to god peed 35 lbs off of me in ONE WEEK. You get immediate relief from the swelling and you can breath & walk better and the swelling is more manageable.

I would also suggest adding sodium to your diet goals, and try to keep it under 2000 mg per day. That will help you greatly get rid of the extra fluid, and help you make better food choices. Mayo Clinic web site suggests 2300 for a healthy adult under 55 and for people restricting sodium for health reasons and people over 55+ under 1500 mg per day. It will help you get even more of the extra swelling down, and help you manage water weight more effectively. I've gotten to where I can tell after one meal of heavy sodium I retain a pound or 2 of fluid that day. It eventually goes away, over time, but I don't want it dragging me down!!

When you just try to keep the sodium low you'll find yourself picking healthier, fresher foods, fruits, veggies, healthy fats, etc all which go great with weight loss. It will come off!! You've done a great thing by joining MFP - it is so helpful tracking what goes in your body, and the people you find can understand where you are and how you feel. Please add me as a friend and I'll stick with you!

Kalynx

Oops I never answered your exercise question - I too have a hard time getting around. I started finally this Sunday by walking. I walked to the end of my sidewalk and back. Four times (throughout the day). Each trip down and back was only a minute total. I repeated that Monday. The next day I went four more times but within the same 20 minutes, resting between each trip to catch my breath and taking a few more steps. Yesterday I got up to five times, within 17 minutes, and walked a lot further total than ever!!! I had to rest today because I woke up really achy!! I also ordered some walking shoes recommended on here on Zappos tonight LOL.

I also bought a fitbit. You keep it in your pocket all day or clip it to your clothing and its like a pedometer, tells you calories burned, number of steps and miles walked, can even tell you when you wake up at night to see how effective your sleep is. It makes this whole thing more fun for me to set small goals (ok kalyn, 200 more steps!!) and keeps it kind of geeky so I can go online and see charts and graphs with my progress, that makes it more fun for me in my geeky twisted way.

GOOD LUCK you can do ANYTHING!!!

Cobehale

Hi Candice, I am also new and working on getting into the swing of things. Walking would be your best best - little bits at first, every little bit helps. Just walking around the house would be a benefit, get your body used to be up and about and it will gradually become easier.

As for the emotional eating - it is something I struggle with constantly, it is a real battle, but finding a really supportive group you can talk with and who understand makes a world of difference. Come on and talk it out before you reach for the food.

Since I am new to food tracking, I find that I am hungrier than ever - it seems like I am thinking about food all the time! Hopefully that will fade away! As much as I hate the idea of tracking everything I eat, I have finally come to the realization that it is necessary.

My suggestion would be once you feel that Herbal Life has gotten you headed in the right direction(able to move around easier, feeling a bit more confident), switch to something you can maintain forever. It has to be a lifestyle change or it will never last.

I see your profile pic - you are beautiful! Give yourself a break and try and remember that. Once you start to feel better about yourself and regain your self confidence, life will feel easier.

I would love to become MFP buddies with you, I think we could be great supporters of each other.

Kalynx

Colehale,

I was the same way always thinking about food at first. Then I realized thats OK and turned it around in my brain. So what if I like thinking about food? lol I used it to help motivate me to start cooking almost everything I eat. I was already told to restrict the sodium in my diet, which is hard to do if you eat out a lot or eat a lot of processed foods, so it was almost necessary to think and plan a TON.

I enjoy now exploring different food ideas, doing some research, reading recipes, researching the best brands (I try to find everything lower sodium if I can), etc. I like to watch cooking shows and still do. I watch diners drive ins and dives on the weekends sometimes and instead of getting hungry I go "oh i like those!! i wonder how I can make it, but healthy!!"

I might start out hungry but I get so busy preparing and researching I forget about it and the time flys by, and in the end I have a pretty heatlhy meal that I can stretch over several days.

Thats how I deal with it. The more I try the better I get. I figure if I'm going to eat something I want to enjoy it, not just eat it because I have to and its good for me. That gets old really fast and is not realistic long term for me.

For people shorter on time (I dont have much of a social life lol) just the boards here are great to find recipes & ideas and I swear you can google and find just about anything you want. Or some version of it and modify to your liking.

Alice_in_Wndrlnd

Hiya,

Welcome to the group

I am new too and I am starting on a diet for the first time ever. Good luck with your journey.

Dallanika.

Tn2009

If you have a pool accessible to you that would be a good idea too. The water would take the pressure off of your joints so that you could move your body more easily. I have about 150 lbs to lose and I know the struggles that weight can have. Who would have thought I was state champion tennis player in high school by looking at me now. Some days I hate myself for letting myself slip into this rut, but others I just focus on how determined I am to be here for my 4 little girls. I never put myself first and for once I have to...I don't care what people say at the gym about me, because I am trying to make myself better. I just have the proper mindset now and I will get to my goal weight, you will too. We are all here for each other and it makes it so much easier having people who support you. I love this site. Good luck to you and add me if you'd like.
~Nicole