Obese Parents, Bad Habits.. I'm too young for this!

kaylad8528

Hello forum!

I joined MFP over a year ago, but I got so easily discouraged, I quit as soon as I started. Then, I was 160lbs with a goal of 130lbs... Now I'm 200lbs with the same goal. : ( This time it has to be for real.

I went over by 1000 calories on my first day of dieting, but only 119 on my second day! That's good, right...?

I could really use some wise friends and encouragement! I'm the 20 year old daughter of obese parents - I've been helping my mother tie her shoes for years - who never really taught me about portion control. I was blown away when I learned that one serving of meat is one ounce, not one chicken breast.

I'm too young to be this unhealthy.

Advice? Friends? Help?

kenazfehu

I thought one serving of meat was 4 ounces or maybe 3. That's what comes up on the food search more often than not.

But I hear you! I thought one serving of ice cream was 1/4 of the half gallon (because there were 4 of us).

missionPossibleIcan

First.. Just because you have Obese parents does not mean you will be that way. You have complete control of what you do with your live. Use your childhood as an educational tool and learn from it. Sounds like you have the motivation to do it but you have to be strict.
Secondly...do not call this a diet. Call it a Healthy lifestyle. When you get rid of that word Diet you will be much happier. There are a million and one healthy recipes out there. You should eat clean healthy food and stay away from the process stuff as much as possible. Stay away from fast food...for a quick dinner go to subway! Always have healthy snacks in car and in your purse... such as almonds, protein bars..etc.
Thirdly.. start moving. The more your move the more likely you will eat healthy. I tell this to my students all the time...an active person is less likely to run to burger king because they don't want to waste a hard workout.
Four... you need to have a good support system. Find a friend that will tell you how it is...or someone on here. You need a go to person because it sounds like you might not get that at home with your parents... Tell everyone you are changing your life for the better...I can't promise you that your parents will join the bandwagon but if they see you making healthy awesome changes they might try!
Good luck sweetie you can do this! If you need support add me as a friend I can help out.. I lost 50 pounds in the last 10 years. It is hard but it is so worth it!!

kit8806

You can do this!! If you need motivation, feel free to add me! Set small goals for yourself to start, not big ones. My goal is to lose 5lbs a month, if I do more then great, but 5 lbs is very very doable for me so I stick with that!! Set up some kind of reward system for yourself as well! Like, lose 10lbs, get a new hair cut... lose 20lbs get new shoes.. etc.!! Giving yourself something to look forward to may keep you going all the way!!

You have this!!

kaylad8528

I don't eat fast food. I don't drink sodas. I over eat on good things. I can keep Progresso in the cabinet... and instead of just having one can, I eat three. If there are yogurts, I'll eat 4 containers of them. I know the right things to eat, I just eat too much of them. Way too much. If I kept almonds and protein bars in my purse, I'd eat them all up :'). That's why I call it a diet. Not that I want to go back to over eating - I understand it's a change of habit that has to be permanent, not just a temporary solution to lose weight, but I have a very hard time eating less. : (

I don't have any people, and I certainly can't get a personal trainer or a nutritionist. There isn't money for that.

These are the kinds of places I really need support. I don't feel very able to handle this! But I have to.