Goal: healthy not "skinny"

fce_woman

Hey there! This is my first post and I'm not sure what to say. I'm 27 years old and working on a new outlook to what it means to be healthy and not skinny. I've been one diet after another since I was in middle school. I've been logging my info for the past week or so and have already gotten discouraged...because I'm not 'losing" like I would like. I'm really trying to do things differently than I would in the past and not run to diet pills when the scale doesn't move fast enough. Along with diet pills I've been struggling with an eating disorder for the past 3 years. Now I am working on learning how to eat healthy and exercise...I am ready to be happy when I look in the mirror. I'm hoping that this site will help me learn how to manage my weight in a healthy way.

For me this is as much of an emotional journey as it is a physical one. I want to feel beautiful. I want to be strong. I want to succeed!

Nicole

OliveBranch

Welcome!
This is a great place for you to find support and inspiration, but mostly to know you are not alone!
Work hard and be good to your self, and everything else will fall into place!
All the best!

jennbarrette

That is an awesome outlook! Good luck on your weigh loss journey!

Renea_Kay

Eh...i've been trying since 5th grade to lose weight. But just this year i have gotten serious. This is a great site. so far 10 pounds lost wahoo!! Number one advice: burn more calories than you eat. Seriously my health teacher says its as simple as that!! Just get motivated. Get serious. And good luck!

linzismith

fcewoman, i too have been trying to lose weight my whole life, but was always more interested in a quick fix than a lifestyle change. so far this site has worked great for me. i've lost 20 pounds and most importantly, i don't find myself counting down the days until i'm skinny enough to go back to "normal" eating where i don't have to count and worry so much about my weight. in fact, once i hit my goal weight, i still plan on using the site to help me maintain. we're talking true lifestyle change.

the biggest difference this time around was that i went into it with the mindset that i was doing this to be healthy and if i follow the site, the weight WILL come off, whether or not i monitor it. so i didn't weigh myself for the first six weeks of my program (i don't even own a scale). of course i wanted to feel like it was making a difference, so many times a day i would study my body in the mirror and look for small changes, like looser pants. while this wasn't my initial intention, these mirror sessions quickly became quick sessions of pep talks, because what i was essentially doing is looking at my body and telling myself i looked better in x, x and x spots. very motivating. when i finally weighed myself, i was 6.5 pounds down after 6 weeks--just like the site promised.

whenever i've dieted before, i weighed myself nuerotically every day. I believed that if i didn't step on the scale every day to show myself how much "damage" i'd done the day before, then i would just keep letting my eating get out of control. now i only weigh myself every 2-3 weeks and i find that i really dread it. mostly because i feel great and i feel like i'm losing weight and i don't want the scale to tell me otherwise. so far it hasn't, i've lost 1 pound a week since i started. plus, last month i joined a gym and started lifting weights, which upped it to 2 pounds lost per week.

if you really want to go for healthy, not "skinny," i suggest you do the same and hide the scale from yourself for a while. YOU CAN DO THIS.

queensara2478

Awesome attitude to have that's the most important step! It's not easy losing weight and there are so many commercials promising easy fixes. 2 years ago I started walking and watching how much I was eating at each meal, I didn't know where to start and I really didn't have any idea what the proper way to lose wieght was. I started slowly and before I knew it I was enjoying my walks, that turned into enjoying and looking forward to more intense workouts. I've lost almost 60 pounds over the last 2 years and now I have a hard time skipping a workout or taking a day off. Hide your scale, relax, eat more fruits and vegetables and take advantage of this site. Before you know it your energy will increase you'll feel great about yourself and you'll notice a change in the shape of your body. The number on the scale means NOTHING. It will go down, maybe not as fast as you want but anything worth having is worth working hard for! Since you've been on all these "diets" through much of your life your body is probably trying to adjust to your healthy lifestyle. It's normal to not lose weight and then it suddenly drops off. Give your body the time it needs and just concentrate on enjoying the journey. Good luck and best wishes. Feel free to message me anytime, we're all here to support each other.

fce_woman

Thanks for all of the encouragement. I joined the gym this week and have set a goal for myself of going 3-4 days a week for 30-45 minutes. Some people would say that frequency is not enough, but for me I'm one who can and has "over done" the gym, so I am setting a realistic and healthy goal. I plan on picking up the intensity in a few months when I get in to my marathon training schedule. I am planning on running my third full marathon this year...and hopefully will cut some time off from last year. I don't know for sure if the scale is going down, I haven't weighed myself this week yet...but I feel better. I'm making better food choices (even still having a scoop of low fat ice cream at night) but I'm keeping within my calorie goal and not feeling deprived. Maybe this is the beginning of something wonderful. :happy:


Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Calorie Counter