Need a new me but cant get there

I am new here Victoria, if I could figure out how to add you as a friend I would. I don't know how to make my diary open. I could use a weight loss buddy too

Laurie

Im with all of you - for me Im very good at ignoring and justifying - I could ignore that my jeans kept going up in sizes and same with shirts - the mfgs were making things smaller. I could ignore the pain in my back, knees etc - that's just the collapsing discs in my back acting up again - I could ignore the image in the mirror - just didnt look. I could even make myself feel better at the class reunion - I may not be tiny but Im not the biggest even in my family Im pretty average size - cant fight genetics right. I could even justify the shortness of breath when I went up the stairs to my apartment - shouldnt try to run up the stairs when it's so hot - I could even justify being tired all the time (getting up at 4am for work and all the extra driving for this new job is tiring) but pictures dont lie - went on a trip in April and of course you have to take pictures on a once in a lifetime holiday - I hated the pictures and of course everyone says they're really nice and I suppose in some ways they are - but I still hate them - I finally admitted that my outside sooooo didnt match the pictures in my mind.

And then the elephant in the room finally shouted loud enough for me to listen

I was carrying an entire extra person in weight OVER my own should be weight - no wonder I was always tired!!! My body was designed to carry one person - not two! If I lose the weight I'll be able to breath better, if I lose the weight my back & knees wont hurt when I walk hell for that matter if I'm not lying down all the time my back wont bother me so much

So how can I lose this extra weight - maybe a gym membership - I know me - if I dont have someone to go with me I wont go and my schedule conflicts too much with anyone I know that goes to the gym that it wont be worth it and I hate being the big girl in a room full of skinny "perfect" girls - and I always said when I found an eating plan that made sense and didnt eliminate half the food groups ( that type of thing never made sense to me ie the body needs carbs so eat carbs - just not so much) that I would get serious about losing the weight

I made a choice - no more justifying - no more procrastinating - and more importanly - no more lying to myself.

The only way Im going to lose weight is to eat less and move more.

So - I went looking for the following
1 - an easy way of tracking what I was eating - every study says tracking what you eat works because we all underestimate how much we're eating
2 - accountability - you have to have others around you to support you in a good way (the people on this site are awesome, wonderful, helpful and JUST LIKE ME!!!!!)
3 - a way of exercising that fits my abilities - physically and medically there are things that I just cant do (for now - hoping with fingers crossed that as the weight comes off that changes) my schedule and my willingness.

Then I found this site - jackpot!!! I hit 3 for 3 - the food diary is SOOOOO easy to use. The people - omg the support is fabulous!!!! The tips, tricks, suggestions, directions to more info that is actually useful and makes sense exactly what I was looking for!!!

When setting your goals I would suggest the following
First - figure out your ultimate dream goal (for me 130lbs with the inches to match) then break that down into smaller goals - I would need to lose 120 lbs to get to my dream goal - thats going to take some time and I dont want to get discouraged - so I've adjusted - goal 1 - get to 225lbs - then re-adjust the numbers for the next step - get to 200lbs - and so on.
Second thing I'd suggest - hide the scale - my goals are set to the inches I'm going to lose - not so much the scale weight - I want to lose 20 inches off my waist, 25 inches off my hips - if the inches come off to that but the scale still says 150lbs not the 130lbs of my goal weight I'll be ok with that - the inches are what fit into the clothes and my ideal picture of myself - not the scale.

Start today - as they say there's no time like the present - be honest with yourself about what you want and how you feel - praise yourself for doing a good job and dont beat yourself up when you slip up a bit - stick with it and you'll get to your goal with the rest of us!!!!

Here is a great link from a fellow MFP friend that will help you set realistic, workable calories / day -

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12.

One of the hardest thing to wrap my mind around was that I needed to eat more than 1200 calories a day (contrary to what every so called expert says) to lose weight but if you follow the info on that link you'll get an amount that lets you lose weight in a healthy way that you truly dont feel hungry on.

As for the exercise - the way I look at it - if I can only march in place during the commercials on tv for 4 minutes today - then tomorrow I'll be able to march for 4 1/2 minutes - and if I can add 30 seconds or more every day - then eventually I'll be running laps at the track pain free and from there - maybe a shopping trip for some saucy little something to show off my new curves when I reach my goals. Dont forget - if you're like me it took 25 years to get to this size - if I lose 2lbs a week - very doable with just diet changes - 5lbs a week with some exercise added!!! it will only take 6 months to a year to reach my goals!!! Im looking forward to next summer and getting a new swim suit for the first time ever!

Sorry for the long ramble and please add me if you want!!!

I have a 20 year old who has a similar story. I can only encourage, but it is really up to her. If you want to add me I can encourage you along with all the wonderful folks on this site.

Feel free to add! We weigh the same!!

I'm right there with you. Having a hard time getting back on track. I'm using food and smoking to deal with some difficult feelings lately and I have to find another way to deal with the emotions that keep cropping up. Add me.....We can do this.

Hi ! I am Victoria I am 22 I am currently 226. 2years ago I weighed 160 and I honestly do not understand sometimes how the weight crept up.

Victoria, I was at my heaviest around age 20 (I'm 5' 10" and then I was 209 and afraid of the scale). Today I'm in my 40s, really happy and at 150. Some people say that's thin (HA!)

I lost weight in my early 20s by doing stuff that was distracting, exercising heavily every weekend, and I guess watching what I ate. I just made up my mind to exercise. You can do it too. Also, you have a lifetime ahead of you...Think of food this way: There's always tomorrow. You don't have to eat like today is the last day on earth or someone will take it away from you.
I was and still am somewhat of a compulsive eater or eat when I'm anxious. I don't know your situation, but I do know it sucks to be so young and vibrant and heavy.

make small goals and stick to them. You will get there.