Motivation and accountability!

fastfoodaddict

Hello everyone. I'm fairly new to the site and the community. I'd love to make some good friends. I have a real problem with staying motivated to hit my goals. I think that if I had some friends to help comment, they would keep me feeling accountable for what I put in my body. Likewise, I am more than happy to comment on your updates. :flowerforyou:

I'll tell you a little more about myself.

I'm 26 years old and live next to the beach in Florida. I am a Senior at my college with a major in History and a minor in Anthropology. Over the next few weeks, I will begin applying to graduate schools. I will be majoring in Egyptology (with an archaeology focus). My ultimate dream is to work out in the field on digs in Egypt.

I live with my partner of three years, an astrophysics major. We love animals of all kinds! Right now we have two senior cats (7-8 years old), a senior dog (13 years old), a parakeet, and a chinchilla (6 years).

I travel a LOT! I blame my parents -- they took me all over Europe when I was about 10 and got the bug started. Last summer I was able to study in Greece and Turkey. This summer I spent a month studying in Germany and two months traveling throughout Germany, Austria, France, Belgium, Italy, and Iceland. Combined with being a student and a traveler, my diet and sleep schedules are usually pretty terrible! This summer consisted of beer, bread, wine, coffee, pastries, and fried meats! :ohwell:

I've never been an overweight person before. Most of my life I sat somewhere between 130 and 140. When I turned 24, I put on some weight and sat somewhere around 150-155. I wanted to lose the weight, but it wasn't too bothersome. However, over the last 2 years, my weight has gotten completely out of control. Suddenly, 155 became 160. Then 165. Then (somehow?) down to 135. Then all the way up to 170 before I left for Germany. While in Germany, I ballooned up to 190. I still remember the day standing on the scale -- I almost broke down in tears! Now, I'm back on U.S. soil, I managed to start watching what I eat and was able to get back at 181... But I seem to be stuck here now.

I really want to change. I can't fit into any of my old clothes and my face has started to change due to the weight gain. I have difficulty going out in public sometimes because I worry about how people see me. It's been difficult dealing with the social changes (a distant friend asked me when my due date was and my father asked me how my partner was handling my weight gain). This adjustment has been so hard on my self-esteem.

As my name suggests, my weakness is Taco Bell! I was typically eating there for dinner 3-4 times a week. I'll go out for chocolates or sweets maybe 2 times a week. I usually don't drink sodas unless I eat fast food, but I usually don't drink much at all. I'm lucky to get 2 glasses of water a day. I don't drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes, or do drugs. I haven't ever been on any "crash" diets (or any diets, really) and I don't really exercise beyond normal daily activity. Strangely, my life and eating/exercise habits have always been like this, even at 130 lbs.. But I guess the combination of age/hormones/stress/lack of sleep eventually took its toll on my body.

So, I need to learn new habits. I've been trying to cut out fast food, sweets, and snacking. Also have been working on my water intake (not up to 8 glasses yet, but sitting at 4-5... still a major improvement) and trying to take the stairs or walk to campus (4-5 blocks from the parking garage).

If any of you feel like you can relate to my experiences, please feel free to message me! I'd love to know I'm not alone here. Also, please add me if you think we could be friends. I need all the motivation I can get!

dvelocity

That is a lot of information to provide.

I think just changing up a few things with how you eat and being mindful of it wil lmake a huge difference in weight loss. Welcome to the group.

quiltingducky

I am fairly new here too, but when you say you eat at Taco Bell 3-4 times a week, I would have to say cut that out definitely. I am avoiding any fast food restaurant right now. I used to get a McDouble sandwich from the 1$ menu and I thought maybe it would be 250 calories, but when I looked at the nutrition guide, it was a whopping 390 calories for just that little sandwich. Making my own meals I can stretch the calories much farther.

I am a sweets person too but I've been substituting fruits instead.

You can do this. Just takes a little longer to plan meals and record them, but it gets quicker as you go along.

Mahi33

Start with incorporating more fruits and veggies in your diet, and reduce fast food places to once a week.

You should start slow, don't do it all at once. Good luck, you may add me if you wish

fastfoodaddict

That is a lot of information to provide.

I think just changing up a few things with how you eat and being mindful of it wil lmake a huge difference in weight loss. Welcome to the group.

Is it? I'm new to the forums, so I'm not really aware of average posting information. Like I said, I'm looking for friends with similar interests and/or weight experiences, so I wanted to share mine.

The main reason I joined this site instead of a different calorie counter site is because of the community aspect. Thanks for the welcome.

fastfoodaddict

I am fairly new here too, but when you say you eat at Taco Bell 3-4 times a week, I would have to say cut that out definitely. I am avoiding any fast food restaurant right now. I used to get a McDouble sandwich from the 1$ menu and I thought maybe it would be 250 calories, but when I looked at the nutrition guide, it was a whopping 390 calories for just that little sandwich. Making my own meals I can stretch the calories much farther.

I am a sweets person too but I've been substituting fruits instead.

You can do this. Just takes a little longer to plan meals and record them, but it gets quicker as you go along.

I agree, I'm finding that even smaller things like a sweet tea have so many more calories than I ever would have imagined. Besides that, fast food is overall pretty bad for you on its own. I think it's mostly the convenience that brought me to it. I'm trying to eliminate that. My partner and I are making dinners more frequently.

I hadn't really thought about substituting fruit but that's a good idea. I've already tried to switch my sugar to a low glycemic sweetener.

Thanks for the motivation, I appreciate it. It's a slow start, for sure! Good luck with all of your weight loss goals.

fastfoodaddict

Start with incorporating more fruits and veggies in your diet, and reduce fast food places to once a week.

You should start slow, don't do it all at once. Good luck, you may add me if you wish

Definitely trying to reduce. I like your suggestion though -- moderation is probably more important than complete elimination (at least at first). I figure my likelihood of sticking to it would be better if I didn't try to change everything about myself all at once!

I'm trying to experiment with new veggies in my diet, like kale and squash. I'm pretty limited with vegetables (corn, beans, and lettuce/spinach) but I'd like to branch out more. I think I would like to find new and interesting ways to prepare them, to help with incorporating new ones into my diet. I recently looked up an article about how to make kale "chips."

dreamchaser12

Welcome to MFP and to our challenge!! My daugther (she's 15) would be super jealous of all your travel! She has dreams of travelling Europe among many other places.

I agree with the others, definitely start off changing one or two things at a time. Don't overwhelm yourself with too many changes at once. Definitely cut back on the fast food. Though I get how convenient it is. Maybe you could take some time on a Sunday afternoon and premake a few meals and put them in portions you can freeze for a quick healthy meal at night. I like to wash and cut all my veggies when I bring them home and put them in snack ziploc baggies in the fridge so my family can just grab and go. I love my water plain. But my daughter prefers to put Crystal Light in hers. Maybe you can try that to give your water some flavour.

Healthy habits don't come over night any more than the bad habits we developed getting us here in the first place. The one thing I've learned so far along this journey (my profile says I've been here since 2005 but in all honesty I don't even remember signing up back then, I certainly never used it. just 'came back' in late February) is to have patience and be kind to yourself. *Hugs*

Feel free to add me as a friend! I know we all can use as much support as we can get!

Dory_42

One way to reduce the Fast Food is to set a goal of something you really want to buy, but can't quite afford. Cooking at home is cheaper than take out, especially if you cook in bulk and freeze ready made meals. Every time you eat at home instead of Taco Bell, work out how much money you saved and put it into your SAVED fund (either actually put the money somewhere or keep a record of how much you have saved) and then you have something to look forward to which will help motivate you to avoid the fast food.

cs821

Welcome
I know where you're coming from, fast food is just too addictive and it's always hard trying to give it up but the great thing is that you've already started. Also a good thing about calorie counting is that you don't have to completely stop eating something but you do become more aware of what you're putting into your body and know that if you want to stay within your daily allowance then you'll have to sacrifice throughout the day. It also makes you more aware of eating in moderation.
The great thing about MFP is that we all are doing this together and the fact that you can see what others are eating will give you plenty of meal ideas without turning to junk food.
I found that planning my meals for the week, especially when at work, helps loads as it means that I'm not eating excessively throughout the day. Cooking in bulk and freezing it has become my savior as I worked long hours on a rolling rota meaning my days off are all over the place, so once a week I try to cook around 3 meat dishes that I freeze so I'm not eating the same thing everyday as that can get very boring and will automatically make you crave junk food.
I know there are times when impromptu meals and outings arise but this is all part of living and part of my journey is learning to go for the lowest calorie option as often as possible, and man is it a struggle lol.
It's great that you've started walking places, when you really get in to it you can try increasing the distance or speed to enhance the workout and push yourself to new goals.
Once again Welcome to MFP and anytime you need motivation I'm here:flowerforyou:
Good Luck