morbidly obese student 2 months into new lifestyle

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thelastseneschal
thelastseneschal Posts: 9
in Introduce Yourself
Hello everybody,

my name is mike, im a microbiology student from Missouri. I weighed 525 when I began, atleast that was the last time I weighed myself. I am sad, lonely and socially anxious. I began atkins diet 2 months ago and began going to the gym. I bodybuild mostly there now and walk 3.6 miles daily. I weighed myself 3 days ago and am down to 430. Hopefully it maintains, The only reason I maintain my diet and exercise are through looking up to a batman villain. please dont think im crqzy, although I might be I couldnt do it without this. I am trying to get down to 250 lbs, it will happen unless I die trying (depression is so bad sometimes I woild rather be dead). Not looking for pity, perhaps a conversation that involves more than just my inner m onologue would be great.thanks yall have a good night

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  • MaraPN
    MaraPN Posts: 66 Member
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    Hai,
    Great loss already so congrats on that.
    Are you under the care of a physician?
    Im no expert but i dont really think dieting is the way to go, they work at first but as soon
    as you slip once all the weight comes back with a vengeance.
    I feel the best way is to change your lifestyle if you want to loose weight and stay that way.
    Exercising , eating healthier and smaller portions instead of dieting, but everyone has their own opinion about that.

    But while im reading your post several thoughts entered my head; Atkins really? How does your doctor feel about that?
    Not saying its bad but i just really feel that you should be able to eat what you want. Even while dieting you can enjoy food, just not like before. And when you reach your goal weight its better and easier to maintain the weight if your already eating right.
    Depression hmm thats a hard one but maybe now that youve started losing weight and exercising youll gain confidence and start to feel better about yourself. If not ,talk to someone, friends family a professional. Dont feel ashamed to ask for help.
    Nothing wrong with looking up to someone, even villains rock. And they'll make you look like less of a geek ;-)

    Well thats my 2 cents :-)
    good luck and feel free to add me.
  • kbeech06
    kbeech06 Posts: 328 Member
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    Hi Mike! Congrats on deciding to make some changes! That's a great loss already. I have no advice on the Atkins diet...I did it ages ago and lost 30 pounds but I ended up going right back to eating carbs and gained it all back. I hope it works for you. Keep moving! Keep coming here for encouragement and check out the success stories when it feels like its too much. Some days, I just want to give up because its taking so long...but I look at some of the people on here and see how they've accomplished their goals and some of them took a couple of years, but they did itl

    If you're feeling so down that hurting yourself seems like an option, please speak to someone. Depression is a serious illness, but there is help! :flowerforyou:
  • albertine58
    albertine58 Posts: 267 Member
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    Hi Mike! Good for you on your progress so far! It takes a lot to change your lifestyle, and depression just makes it a thousand times harder. It's great that you're reaching out for support! You should definitely make sure that you're seeing a doctor and checking with him or her about the safest way for you to lose the weight.

    I was a Bio major in undergrad and I loved microbio! Now I'm in med school and I get to take a medical-profession-focused microbio course in the fall. I'm excited! So we have that in common :) I'll add you as a friend!
  • jezzykuh
    jezzykuh Posts: 1
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    Hi Mike. I just wanted to reply to tell you congratulations for sticking with it for two months. Yesterday was my first day - not that I'm following the same diet but it's nice to see other people my size out there working hard for change. And hey, I'm from Missouri too!
  • hbunting86
    hbunting86 Posts: 952 Member
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    Hi there

    Welcome to MFP :)

    Great to hear that you've been doing so well - change is hard, but once it becomes a habit you're on to a winner!

    I'm also a student - doing my PhD in human health and nutrition psychology - feel free to add me! I know all too well the challenges of being a student and trying to co-ordinate studying, life in general and if you're like me, a limited budget. The last one is the one that always grinds me down, particularly in terms of buying food and the time-consuming element of cooking. Still, I enjoy it I just wish I had more money to play with!

    How is the Atkins going for you? Is this something a doctor or nutritionist recommended? I'm always a bit hesitant with low carb diets (and Atkins is pretty high in fat) as the initial results are quite dramatic but many people feel the eating plan isn't all that sustainable in the long term. I'd be useless, I love fruit and veg!

    I hope you find MFP a useful tool, I couldn't be without it!

    Heather :)
  • thelastseneschal
    thelastseneschal Posts: 9
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    my labs even at my worst activity level/food choices have always been good. as far as the atkins diet goes you have to eat carbs. induction is low carb but when you get to OWL you slowly add carbs until your at your best level. I now hate sugar carbs and cannot eat them. I get no cravings and even get my brother ice cream twice a day at dairy queen without even giving it a thought. Even if the cravings where there I have drawn a line in the sand. it ends here. no matter how depressed I will push my goals. last night i walked 3.6 miles at the Y. slow walk but got my heart rate going and sweat. I tend to lift alot of weights and do nit like weighing myself. its just a number in my head and all that matters is my body and mind. i work hard on my mind the body will come.another thing about low carbing is people think its no carbing, this is not maintainable due to your brain needing levels of carbohydrates. I have actually had to tweak my diet due to only having 900 calories and 7g of carbs a day. I have pushed it up to 1200 calories roughly and 12g of carba but im forcing myself to do this. I dont get hunger cravings and my nutrition is at maintainable levels for someone in lipolysis. this will have change as i go but its always work in progress
  • ddombrow
    ddombrow Posts: 1 Member
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    I have gone on that same journey man. Stick to your guns and you can make it!
  • JonnaM0916
    JonnaM0916 Posts: 113
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    Hi there, I am not an expert either but I want to say that Weight Watchers to me is one of the best diets out there IMO. You are able to eat anything but it is based on how many points you get in a day. If you ever just need to talk we're all here to listen. You've done a great job so far. Keep up the GREAT work! :drinker:
  • thelastseneschal
    thelastseneschal Posts: 9
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    Another thing about the fats. when in atkins your body needs those fats. in american society we eat a heavy portion of carbs and processed foods. why? Because its cheaper to make. this causes us to be mainly glycolisis beings, destroying carbohydrate chains for nutrition. this is fine and we are perfectly fine doing so. the issue is carbohydrates are addictive. in low carb diets such as atknis, south beach and ckd you lower the carb intake to make your body go into lipolysis the destruction of fat for energy this is also a perfectly normal human process. so the high fats are needed the whole take out the fat and add sugar hype was created to make you think your doing good in reality you are still making adipose tissue with excess carbohydrate.while saving food manufacturers good money. atkins does not say no fruits or veggies infact it demands veggies. vegetables act different on blood sugar than finely ground flour and regular sugar. most people think its bad because the first week you feel groggy and tired. this is normal and goes away within 5 days it is simply your body changing its way of gaining energy. is atkins ideal? Not for everyone, does it work? That is in the dieters hands. If you are not ready to make the changes you wont regardless of the diet. this is why weight loss surgery is so big now.there are many, many doctors that recomend this diet.

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