Fat Girl Going to China.

thatsmymilkshake

Hi MFP.

I tried a different site with this... but they became very rude and irrelevant, so I thought I'd try here. Be nice, okay?

I'm currently 211 lbs, 5 ft 6 in. I'm going to spend my senior year in China (2013-2014) with a host family starting in September, and the fact that I'll soon be immersed in a country full of beautiful, fashionable, fit people really terrifies me. I've always been extremely self-conscious, to the point where I've limited myself to no more exposure than maybe a 3/4 sleeve shirt every once in a while. I'm also terribly sensitive, which has ultimately been my downfall.

At some point, I weighed 230-235 lbs... I kept up a diet for a few weeks, which is how I lost 20-or-so lbs, but it's like I've lost my drive. I'm so young, but so fat, I'm scared for my future. Especially during my stay in China...

I have really weak ankles, so running isn't so great. Plus, it's snowy and dry out, and I don't live close enough for it to be relatively cheap to visit a gym regularly... I do have dumbbells that I use as much as I can, and I've been working up my situps to 50 every other night. I can do around 25-30 traditional pushups before I get tired, although I do like burpees...

I was wondering, is there any certain diet that someone recommends? Or (inside) exercises? I can't jump around too much, but if it's necessary, I guess I can do it anyway lol. I'm not allergic to anything if that helps... and I'm not picky. I just have a terrible habit of boredom-eating. And being so depressed about my self-image definitely hasn't helped it improve any.

Anyone know any diets/ exercises that'll really help me cut down a little quicker, before I leave for China? I want to get down to at least 150 lbs before then. Once I'm on track, I'm sure it'll get easier to stay on it.

Sorry it's so long! Thank you so much for reading and/or helping! Please be kind!

Here I am: http://imgur.com/a/pWgpI

Cr01502

Eat at a calorie deficit.

Look into COnvict COnditioning or You Are Your Own Gym

Try to include more physical activity throughout the day (i.e. walking)

And since when was China full of fit people??

QuietRain

You can pick up a hobby that keeps your hands and mind busy to stave off the bored eating.

Capt_Apollo

Once I'm on track, I'm sure it'll get easier to stay on it.

you'd think so, but many people will agree that staying on track is as hard as losing weight.

eat at a good calorie deficit. stop boredom eating. i know that that was my downfall too. pre-log all your food for the day the night before. it requires discipline and self-leadership.

start moving. i saw your picture and i think you are being too hard on yourself. i know that self image can be hard to over come.

here are some great work outs you can start with: http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/workouts/ i started with the beginner body weight one.

bananapancakebella

This calculator is great at calculating how many calories you should eat every day. The number MFP gives you is often incorrect, you calculate your needs and manually input your calorie goals into MFP.

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

JJordon

About eating how much? Well, there is a plethora of caloric intake formulas. Like this one.

http://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html

Some of the more hard core MFP people follow the TDEE method, either one works as long as you are eating at a calorie deficiency.

The best thing you can do here, is log in what you consume, be honest, true, and faithful to yourself about it.

When it comes to macro nutrients, while in weight loss mode, some people feel its best to eat more protein, than carbs or fats.

Once you fix your diet to the point where you are losing weight, exercise can help. An exercise program, no matter how advanced or brutal, cannot outdo a bad diet.

Some women like 30 day shred, cause its free on YouTube.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Pc-NizMgg8

There are others out there, like anything in the Beachbody empire, if you are willing to spend some money.

Get plenty of water and rest, too.

swissbrit

Firstly you dont look that bad!!! You have some weight to lose but so do most people on here so stand tall put a smile on your face and start moving more and eating less and you will be fine :-) If you dont feel good going out have you got a Wii or a playstation?????? Wii fit or sports are fun especially Tennis and it burns cals if you move around and dont just flick your wrist :-) and then there are loads of things for the PS3 like fitness coach and Zumba just as an example.
GOod luck and put a smile on your face you are heading to an amazing place on the planet :-)

suthernbelle

Hey Love!

I don't profess to being a diet guru or anything, but what I can tell you is that I've lost a total of 220 lbs over the last 18 months. I've been adjusting my nutritional intake along the way, and what I have found that works best for "my" body is concentrating on keeping my carbs on the lower end. My protein/carbs/fat macros are 40/30/30. I would recommend trying to do lower carbs and evaluate your results after a couple of weeks, if it's not working, then adjust as needed. I hope this helps some.

SwimFan1981

I lived in Beijing 2007-08 and was overweight. There are loads of gyms, swimming pools and parks there. Be careful what you eat as a lot of it is deep fried, its better to make your own food with fresh fruit and veg. A lot of fruit and veg in Asia is GMO, try to shop organic.
If you are worried about the clothes, don't! you can get them tailor made for next to nothing!

Enjoy China!

Nutella91

I study in Beijing, China.

thatsmymilkshake

Cr01502 - Well, maybe "fit" wasn't the right word. They're just all so skinny! I know diet and exercise that comes with their culture is a huge part of it, maybe all of it, so I'm hoping while I'm there I can open my eyes a little bit and change my habits.

Thank for the advice! I actually like to walk as it clears my head a bit.

thatsmymilkshake

Nutella91 - That's great! How do you like it there?

Nutella91

i actually find it easier to stay "fit" here, because when i'm with my family they make me eat all these fatty foods. here, i can organize my life and there is a great gym in my uni.

Nutella91

the life is AWESOME here, i met people from all over the world and i'm going out a lot. i also love studying chinese. you will like it here, i know you're scared now. In the airplane i cried for 10 hours. But as soon as i went out i loved it

thatsmymilkshake

SwimFan1981 - How did you like China? Oh wow, thanks! That really helps haha. I'll be sure to exercise as much as possible. Especially swimming - I love swimming! And I didn't know tailoring would be that cheap! Great!

tegantheaverage

I've lived in Taiwan and China and put on loads of weight both times and could never really figure out why until I had a Chinese person teach me to cook and realised that almost every dish has sugar along with boat loads of oil. So, I'd recommend being aware that even food that seems pretty healthy (like stir fry) probably isn't.

Also, I'm pretty average sized (5'5) but always found that the arms and legs were too short if I tried to buy clothes so I wouldn't worry about not fitting them because of your weight.. You'll quite possibly have trouble anyway.

China is amazing, though! Have a great time!

thatsmymilkshake

Nutella91 - Wow! I'm excited, but of course I'm scared and a little bit anxious to be so far from my family and friends for an entire year! Not to mention the culture shock! How long will you/ have you been in China?

I honestly don't know any Chinese... I've studied Japanese a good 7 years, so the written isn't AS hard, but spoken? No way!

thatsmymilkshake

suthernbelle - Thanks! That really helps, thank yous so much! Is there any way you can suggest to do that? Any certain foods to intake, or avoid? I'm terrible with this stuff.

By the way, CONGRATULATIONS! That's amazing~!

maggiet63

Be patient with yourself the weight didn't go on over night/weeks/ months- I also was over 220 ibs 5 years ago and at the fair old age of 45 years of age. I am now at 193 ilbs and would also like to be 150 ilbs - over the last few years I have got under 170 and felt fantastic.
Unfortunately I am struggling again - do masses of exercise and not loosing or keeping of the pounds - I really do think it is because I don't eat enough. I think going through the menopause is not helping my cause either.
Wake up each morning - make the best of yourself - love yourself for who you are and believe in yourself.
Another thing I did (which I forgot about ) is visualise myself in the lovely clothes that I wanted to wear. Visualise yourself in China in the lovely clothes you want to wear. Get the Next catalog and pick out your wardrobe and think about how lovely and great you will feel having that lovely wardrobe with you going to China.
Am gonna start doing that again - for my class reunion this September.
Walk Walk and walk every day - start of with half an hour morning and night and build it up. doing it first thing will trigger the feel good gene and keep you on track.

thatsmymilkshake

swissbrit - Aww thank you. And yeah, I can try those. I have both a Wii and a PS3, so I can try out both! That really could help during these cold winter months, when running outside causes nothing more than burning lungs and an annoying wheeze!

Lupercalia

Yeah, do You Are Your Own Gym or Convict Conditioning. I think there are also good bodyweight programs if you search "bodyrocktv" on youtube.

You don't look bad! You actually look pretty muscular, and if you're able to bust out 30 traditional pushups in one go, that's great, and a lot more than I'm capable of at the moment.

Just exercise and eat at a caloric deficit, and most important of all, be patient. Don't look for quick weight loss tricks as they aren't much more than temporary water weight solutions, and some can be downright dangerous. You want to hang on to your muscle--just losing the fat, and losing slowly is the way to do that, whilst doing some sort of strength training, with perhaps a couple of interval training sessions as well.

thatsmymilkshake

maggiet63 - Thank you. I'll definitely do that. The idea of visualizing sounds helpful, definitely, especially in those cute Chinese clothes!

You keep it up, too! You're doing great!

Nutella91

for another 3 years. I go to Beijing Language and Culture Uni, where are you gonna be at??

ashlinmarie

I can relate. I have lost and regained the same 20 lbs for 2 years now. Last September I found out I was moving to Okinawa Japan. Everyone is sooo thin here that most of the stores with cute stores don't even carry sizes I can wear at my final goal weight. Even though I'm on a military base with a lot of overweight wives...most of them have 3 or 4 kids hanging off of them...what is my excuse? From September-December I gained back 10 of the 20 lbs I had lost over the summer due to stress and telling myself that I wouldn't be able to enjoy my favorite bad foods while I was here. Of course, they still have everything so I ate a lot of crap my first few weeks here as well. I Have now been on track most of the time since January. I've had a few bad weeks and I couldn't exercise at all in February due to injury, but managed to lose just under 4 lbs anyway. I want to lose 20ish lbs by June for the summer and my last 20 before the new year. It is hard seeing the tiny girls everywhere in their cute clothes and knowing my body cannot get that small...it makes me want to binge, but I know I have to do this for me and my health and even at 140-145, I know a lot of them might look at me and envy my curves.

Just keep focused and do what you can for exercise. I just walk as often as possible because I hate workout dvds and even though the gym is free, I can't afford a trainer to help me with the weights. Feel free to add me for mutual support and keep your chin up.

tegantheaverage

Nutella91 - Wow! I'm excited, but of course I'm scared and a little bit anxious to be so far from my family and friends for an entire year! Not to mention the culture shock! How long will you/ have you been in China?

I honestly don't know any Chinese... I've studied Japanese a good 7 years, so the written isn't AS hard, but spoken? No way!

It'll be okay. If you're in Beijing or Shanghai you can probably survive without it but it's also not too difficult (as far as languages go) to pick up.. The grammar is very simple and there's a set number of pronunciations. I found too that the tones come naturally as you learn words. In my experience, if you're surrounded by it you'll pick it up pretty easily; 4 months living with a Taiwanese family did more for my Chinese than 4 years of university did. Good luck!

sam308lbs

on another note,get your hands on this book "Foreign babes in Beijing".It might help you prepare better for your stay

thatsmymilkshake

Lupercalia - Haha, muscular? Thanks! I just want to get rid of the terrible fat rolls, my wide arms, and my legs.

I hope to be able to work out a lot more and eat a lot less.

Good luck to you!

thatsmymilkshake

Capt_Apollo - Thank you for the nice comment. Haha, I like how it's "nerd fitness". Fits me perfectly.

Thank you so much! And good luck!

thatsmymilkshake

Nutella91 - I'm not sure yet. I just got accepted, so they haven't decided yet. Beijing, Shanghai, or Guangzhou. No matter where it is, I'm excited! ...and scared.

Wow! Haha. You're lucky! How have you adjusted?

thatsmymilkshake

ashlinmarie - Wow. That's really inspirational! Not to mention you're living in the country I've dreamed about my entire life! Haha. How is it there? Also, I know, Asian clothes are so cute! But even their XXXL is 2 sizes too small.

We can get through this together! I know you'll be able to wear those adorable clothes someday, just keep it up! I'll do it too!

hailzp

http://www.xojane.com/it-happened-to-me/the-joys-and-sorrows-of-being-a-fat-foreign-girl-in-china


'Well, sort of. I’m sure everyone is well aware that I’m a human, but I’m an oddity, and I’ve made the choice to be here and I need to put up with that. Now instead of getting angry or internalizing every negative thing I hear, I talk to people more. Engaging people in conversation means I’m more than just some blubberous anomaly walking down the street, and they’re friends rather than obstacles on my path to self-acceptance.'



Read this a few weeks a go. No dieting advice except eat at a deficit and go for a walk. Oh and don't be too hard on yourself. x