New here - hopefully I can stick with it!

DominiqueM

Hi, my name is Dominique, I'm 27 years old and have a 10 month old son. I'm weigh 85.6kgs (188.7lbs) and at a height of 169cm I'm bordering a BMI of obese. That was a shock to the system!! I live in New Zealand and seem to have a lot of skinny friends and as you can imagine this makes me feel even bigger than I actually am.

I started gaining weight when I left high school and started University, I think it was the combination of playing less sports (down to 1 day a week from 6), living away from home and eating unhealthy food. Added to that I now have my pregnancy weight. It's been 10 months and I still look like I'm pregnant and have no hope of getting into any of my pre-pregnancy clothes.

I'm a terrible self motivator and a great procrastinator so I'm hoping that by having this site to actually write down my goals, see my progress and monitor what I eat and when I exercise I can actually acheive something and feel good when I look in the mirror! I'm also hoping that with the support in the forums and with friends I make I can acheive my goals. I think it will be like sports, I was always able to get up and go to practice and games when it was team sports as I didn't want to let the rest of the team down. With solo sports, it was always easier to just let myself down...I got used to that guilt!

Being a procrastinator I've always said, I'll get healthy and start exercising on Monday, then Monday would come and something would come up (or I'd latch onto another excuse) so getting healthy would be pushed to the following Monday. Well, with this site, I started my get healthy plan and so far I have managed 4 days, lets hope for many more!

Lady_C_the_1st

Good luck to you on your journey! I am too not particularly self motivated but seeing what i'm eating and the weight I'm losing is very motivating to carry on! As long as you stick with it and log what you eat you will be fine. Remember to give yourself a few treats here and there, otherwise you will get really fed up. x

pixelblossom

It really helps if you are consistent at logging all your food and exercise. If you keep faithful to logging in it soon becomes clear where/when you're doing well and where/when you are failing. You can then find solutions for the things causing you trouble.

It also helped me a lot to have a good program to follow. I started Lindora in December 2009 and I've lost 15 lbs since. Their diet consists of eating small portions of about 150-200 calories of high protein/low, carb foods about 6 times a day. Eating this way keeps hungry away and the weight just melts off. I feel so much better now. I plan to stay on the diet until I lose another 20 lbs which will put me close to my goal.

I also have another goal that helped me. I started out trying to get back into running and realized I had too much weight to actually run and not ruin my knees, so I decided I'd lose the weight first then start running again. My daughters and I are going to Orlando next week for the Disney Princess Half Marathon. My youngest daughter has been training since November to run the marathon. I'll be there to cheer her on and I'll be in a size 12! Next year I hope to be in the marathon too. Being older than her I'm sure it will take me at least a year to get up to speed.

The point is you need strong motivation to stick to weight loss. My motivation is to finally get back into running shape and enjoy participation in running/walking events. My other motivation is to be more healthy as I grow older. We all will grow old. I just don't want to be 'sick' and old too. LOL.

The truth is, I saw my father struggle with a stroke from age 50 till he died at 86, and my mother die of heart problems. I hope to keep healthy and strong so I don't end up like so many sick old people.

Finally, what's really helped me is prayer. I figured that God wants me healthy too, so I knew if I asked He would be there by my side helping me.

God bless you in your weight loss journey. And, remember that the food you eat today is the foundation of your tomorrows!

Kudzu

You CAN do this!! I've been at it about a month and I have started out just logging my foods and trying to walk everyday. By reducing my calories and walking from 15 minutes to 30 minutes a day I have lost 7.5 pounds and about 2 inches off everything! It's slow but I'm choosing to do it this way...My main goal is to just learn a new way of living! I love reading about everyone's successes and the struggles they go through. Makes me realize I am not alone. I probably stay on this site more than FaceBook!

If you will incorporate your son in your exercise--take him for walks with you etc.-- you might be more motivated to exercise. And just think of the lessons you are teaching him!

I wish you well on your journey and hope you are as successful as you want to be! Please feel free to make me your friend...I would love to be there for your journey! (It makes me feel accountable for my own choices by having friends looking at my results!)

Beth
Barney, GA, USA

kwardklinck

If you'll log your food every day, whether you do well or not, it will really help keep you motivated. It's very eye-opening when you have to write down every thing you eat. It personally keeps me from eating anything I haven't planned for myself during the day. I usually fill out my food log the day before and make small adjustments as needed if I decide to eat something different. I've been doing it for 40 days in a row.
Welcome and good luck to you in your journey to get healthy.

dorfo

Hey Kiwi
Just one day at a time. Give yourself one day were you can eat some junk. If you go cold turkey most of the time you fail.
But remember you also need to "move it to loose it"
Start by walking 30 mins each day at a brisk pace ,get your heart rate up to at least 130.
You can do it.

schulja2

How is it going? I am doing Lindora, as well, and love this website to track calories and carbs! Did you lose your additional 20 lbs? Are you running? Hope you are sticking with it!

Jill

katattak4u

Good luck to you sweets. You can do this & to share the stories along the way will bring us all closer to the prize.