Just joined!

Ed98043

Hey all! I'm Elizabeth, 47 years old, in the Seattle area. I think I'm overall a pretty healthy eater but I have serious problems with portion control. And a bit of a sweet tooth.

Most of my life I've been between 120 and 140 lbs...not without quite a bit of effort because I tend toward weight gain but I managed to keep it under control for about 25 years after getting a bit chubby at 15. Then I hit 40 and...well I was going to blame my metabolism and there's probably some truth to that, but mostly I think I just reached a point where I was less willing to suffer through chronic hunger and hated workouts to stay slim, especially since my main motivator was to look good for men. I guess it was around 40 that I realized that men aren't worth the trouble. lol

So I've been gaining about 15 lbs a year. And now at 47 I'm tipping the scales at 224 (I'm 5'7"). I caught a full-length reflection of myself at a department store recently and was pretty startled at seeing that fat chick in the mirror. It's funny how my mirrors at home are so much more flattering (Denial - party of one!). I need to lose weight to feel better, both physically and emotionally.

Unfortunately it seems that I've lost my former ability to ignore or embrace hunger - I've been "on a diet" for a couple of days now and I'm absolutely ready to gnaw my own arm off. I know everyone says "Drink water, fill up with raw veggies, blah blah" but does that really work for anyone, or is it just something we repeat and assume works for someone else? Because what I have found is that if I'm running a calorie deficit, it doesn't matter if I'm stuffed to the gills with lettuce - I'm hungry. My body senses that fat stores are being threatened and it sends out the hunger pangs and cravings. I'm hoping they'll go away after a while. Does anyone else have this issue, or are you all perfectly satisfied with a boiled egg and tall glass of water?

Anyway, I'm looking forward to reading about your experiences and benefiting from all of your valuable advice. I'd like to eventually lose about 80 lbs but I have several mini-goals in mind:

-Getting below 200 lbs. Just having a weight that starts with a 1 will be a thrill.
-Getting to 190. Then I'm not officially "obese" per the BMI charts.
-Getting below 180. It's been 5 years since I was there.

If you're still reading (sorry I'm so wordy) thanks! See you on the boards.

GR8TAWK

WELCOME ! Good luck on your weight loss journey.

fightininggirl

welcome aboard! good luck on your journey

sullivan859

I'm only 4'11" and was tipping the scale at 178 lbs about a 1.5 years ago. I finally decided I couldn't keep eating like I was 15 any more. So I focused on eating healthy and controlling my portions and counting calories every day.

I found a few things that are close to calorie free that I like to snack on - grape tomatoes, raw mushrooms. I ate a lot of spinach salads with a few dried cranberries & Ken's Walnut Pecan fat free dressing. I drink all of the diet soft drinks I want because they fill me up. I also drink tons of water and crystal light peach tea because it satisfies the craving for sweets. the scale didn't move for a while, but now, I'm down to 108 and I don't feel like I am dieting because I just focus on eating healthy foods most of the time. this saves me room for splurges.

hope this helps.

whimsy38

Good Luck! Consider reading You on a Diet by Dr. Oz. Lots of good advice about how/what to eat to avoid hunger pains.