Don't know where to start...

SunnyStef

Hi everyone! I really need to lose weight. A few years ago I lost a lot of weight and gained it all back and then some. Now I am fat, tired, miserable, achey. I need to lose about 80 lbs.
The thing is, I don't know where to begin. My problems:
1. I'm a TOTAL sugar addict. I can't go a few hours without something sugary.
2. My family isn't in this with me. My husband will not eat healthy. Period. We eat out a lot because we don't agree on meals. He won't eat veggies, turkey, beans, rarely eats chicken.
3. I'm an emotional eater. And I suffer from depression. I typically eat the sugary stuff when I'm sad, tired, lonely, etc...
4. I am a horrible cook. I enjoy cooking sometimes, but its discouraging when the family won't eat what I cook.

Even though I lost a lot of weight in the past, I'm completely clueless where to start. I eat oatmeal every morning. I drink lots of water. I feel like I will never be able to do this; that I'm just a failure. Any advice to get started and give up some old habits? Thanks!

Saree1902

Here's one for each of your points...to get started.

1) try fruit/diet yogurts/low cal cereal bars to get a small 'hit' without going overboard
2) when eating out, see if the restaurant is on MFP or has calories listed so you can pick something healthy
3) Me too...exercise and cleaning sometimes distract me!
4) Maybe cook yourself a few things to have in the freezer?

And start just by logging what you have and seeing where you might be able to trim a few calories here and there. If you feel self-conscious, you don't need to share your diary with the world!

Good luck!

Silly_Sara

Hi! First off, you can do this. It will be hard, but it will be completely worth it. It's hard when your family, the people you live with, don't support you, but it can be done. SO here's my advice to get started:
1. Does the rest of your family eat a lot of sugary stuff? If yes, try buying less and put it in a place where you won't see it and be tempted by it all the time. If no, then stop buying it. If you don't buy it, you can't eat it.
2. When you do eat out, go for a healthier choice. This may even be just getting a meal and immediately setting aside half of it in a take-home container so you don't eat the entire thing right then.
3. Try to find a different response than eating to dealing with your emotions. I used to be a class A emotional eater. Now, when I'm sad or upset, I turn to exercise. Eating food when distressed will just make you feel worse in the long run. However, exercise releases endorphins, which will help boost your energy and overall happiness. So when you feel the need to eat because of emotions, grab a bottle of water and go for a walk. Completely remove yourself away from the site of temptation.
4. Cooking, oh, cooking. There are two things that you can do that might help in this area. One, you can just try portion control (actually weighing your food) so that you can eat the same food as your family, just less. Two, you can prep your own, healthier meals at the beginning of each week so that your family can eat their food and you can have your food without having to spend hours cooking each night.

I hope this helps you out. You can do this; and the healthier you get, the happier you'll be with yourself.

cmriverside

You can do this.

If you can cut back the sugar, and start to eat more protein (meat, beans, nuts) and do 30 minutes of walking daily, you can probably get out of the depression rut. It really is that simple. The sugar is a tough battle, I know that was my biggest hurdle, too. But the longer you put this off, the more of your life you will waste feeling bad.

The excessive sugar absolutely affects your mood and brain chemicals. Once you start eating more vegetables and meat, and less fruit and sugar, you will start to feel better within days. What do you have to lose? Try it for one week. If you keep eating the sugary stuff, you keep craving it. Some people really have to go cold turkey for a while (not forever). You may feel bad for a couple days when you cut back on sugar, but try to stick with it...limit your sugar to one treat a day. Eat the same thing for meals every day if you want to. Just make it about meat or fish, vegetables, and dairy and nuts. I promise it works. Drink lots of water, and get 7-8 hours of sleep every day. Keep your caffeine intake down to two cups a day or two soda pops.

Lots of people do this when their family and husband are not on board. You may have to make two different meals, or you can just eat less of the same stuff your family eats. If you cut back your bread, crackers, chips and cereals to two servings a day, you can cut a lot of calories that way. You really don't "need" grains in your diet, so the fewer the better.

Siege_Tank

Sara is spot on, you can do this. It seems like a task that can't be completed like climbing a mountain, or eating an elephant. A lot of people are having to go on this weight loss journey alone, myself included, but once you make a hard decision, once you commit, it's not as hard as you think. The problems come in when you allow yourself an out.

First off, eating healthy is not a requirement for weight loss, eating healthy is a requirement for being healthy. My sister is a drinker, and she eats trash, but she eats so little trash through calorie counting that she maintains a tiny figure. Which is not to say that she's healthy.

Here's where to start: It doesn't matter what you eat, so long as you eat less calories than your body needs per day. Base Metabolic Rate calculators are all over the internet, and they will give you a starting weight. so long as you eat less than that number, you will lose. I would caution you though, eating healthier makes losing weight easier, green foods, things that are already packed with water will be easier for you to process. Heavy, dense, calorie packed foods will make you feel like you have eaten a rock. But don't allow yourself to use "I can't eat healthy" to be an excuse, just count your calories.

This IS an immense task, and you didn't get here in one day. It feels like you did because of the sudden realization that you are overweight and must do something, but in fact you gained this one bite at a time, and in the same way, you will lose the weight in the same way, one bite at a time; Just like how you would eat an entire elephant.

cmriverside

Here's where to start: It doesn't matter what you eat, so long as you eat less calories than your body needs per day. Base Metabolic Rate calculators are all over the internet, and they will give you a starting weight. so long as you eat less than that number, you will lose. I would caution you though, eating healthier makes losing weight easier, green foods, things that are already packed with water will be easier for you to process. Heavy, dense, calorie packed foods will make you feel like you have eaten a rock. But don't allow yourself to use "I can't eat healthy" to be an excuse, just count your calories.

No, no no. You don't deduct calories from your BMR. You deduct calories from your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure.)

Here:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/186814-some-mfp-basics

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficits

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

This explains all this BMR, TDEE stuff in detail..........
In Place of a Road Map
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

needamulligan

There are people who feel that you can eat whatever you like and lose weight if you stay within your calorie and macro limits. Have you tried logging exactly what you eat but stay withing your range? The more you do it the more you might want to tweak your diet with foods that will keep you satisfied and keep you from feeling hungry.

Captain_Tightpants

Baby steps. Set a very do-able goal of a 10lbs loss by xmas.

When you drop a clothing size, throw out your bigger clothes - this forces you to try harder if you put on weight again.

Don't deny yourself anything. Restriction leads to big fall offs in emotional eater (I know because I am one). If you like sugary things, then eat sugary things now and then - just try to keep them in your calorie goal for the day.

Find a mantra. One that works well for me is 'don't turn slip ups into give ups'.

Don't ever think of it as a diet. It's a long term habit change.

Get a bunch of good mfp friends. Not nice ones - good ones - the type that will call you out on your bull and hound you to get back on track. Don't rely on the forums for inspiration.

ctgirlscout

Hi everyone! I really need to lose weight. A few years ago I lost a lot of weight and gained it all back and then some. Now I am fat, tired, miserable, achey. I need to lose about 80 lbs.
The thing is, I don't know where to begin. My problems:
1. I'm a TOTAL sugar addict. I can't go a few hours without something sugary.
2. My family isn't in this with me. My husband will not eat healthy. Period. We eat out a lot because we don't agree on meals. He won't eat veggies, turkey, beans, rarely eats chicken.
3. I'm an emotional eater. And I suffer from depression. I typically eat the sugary stuff when I'm sad, tired, lonely, etc...
4. I am a horrible cook. I enjoy cooking sometimes, but its discouraging when the family won't eat what I cook.

Even though I lost a lot of weight in the past, I'm completely clueless where to start. I eat oatmeal every morning. I drink lots of water. I feel like I will never be able to do this; that I'm just a failure. Any advice to get started and give up some old habits? Thanks!

Wow...this post could have been written by me! My husband is not a healthy eater, either...he only eats meat and potatoes...no vegetables at all. And lots of junk. My kids, although older now, are somewhat better. I have solved this dilemma by just buying and cooking my own food. I also do a lot of frozen meals. And he can eat whatever he wants. And I have never been a good cook, either. As far as the depression and emotional eating...it is a struggle to lose weight, but once you start on this road, it should help with the depression. I find that when I want to start eating more than I should, I just think about how far I've come and how much better I feel. That helps motivate me to keep going.