Weight Loss Questionnaire

• Gender: Female
• Age: 27

• Starting weight: 376
• Current weight: 373
• Goal weight: 200

• What are your reasons for wanting to lose/gain weight? I want to feel better about myself for myself.. and other vain reasons.

• Tell me a bit about your past… Always been a big girl. Depending on which parent is telling the story varies on how it got started. Dad would insult me to try to shame me into losing weight but that never worked.

• Would you consider yourself as having an eating disorder? I know I am an emotional eater


• Have you ever had an eating disorder in the past? (If you are now recovered) Not diagnosed


• Do you feel pressure from the media to look a certain way? (If so please elaborate) Not really. I feel more pressure by old photos of myself.


• Who has your ideal body/Who is your body inspiration? I love the boobs and butt on Nicki Minaj but I am 90% sure that it's mostly altered in some way shape or form. And I was blessed with a butt as flat as a ironing board.


• Why do you want to look that way? I think it's sexy


• What are you doing to change your weight? I am going back to eating pre portioned food till I can learn to portion it out myself. I started taking a Zumba class and attempt to jump on the elliptical at least 3x a week. I have yet to get back to the gym but it is a short term goal of mine.


• Do you have ‘problem areas’ (please specify) or are you trying to change all over? I need a whole overhaul.


• How do you feel about your weight loss/gain? Negative. I am greatly the heaviest in my whole life. And I think it sucks bc 5 yrs ago I had lost a good amount of weight and thought I was the cat's meow.


• Have you got people who support you? I have a few good friends that are there with me and my newly gained 'losers' on this website


• Has dieting changed how people see/treat you now? Not yet


• What motivates you? Sometimes I have the gusto to do it... and sometimes I dont. It wont be until I start getting looser clothes that I will be REALLY excited.


• If/when you ‘fall off the wagon’ how do you feel? I normally give up a bit. 'Oh well, I knew it was gonna happen'


• How do you feel about reaching your goal? It shouldn't be THAT hard. But realistically when I get on the scale and I gain 4+ pounds it feels like I'm NEVER going to get to it.


• How do you think you will feel when you reach your goal? A hell of alot sexier and hopefully stronger.


• What if you don’t feel that way? What will you do next? Anything better than how I feel now is an improvement.


• What is your biggest worry? I'll give up and I'll keep getting bigger


• What have you learnt on your journey so far? Zumba is a butt kicker


• What is your favourite (relevant) quote? ' It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard... is what makes it great.' - Tom Hanks/A League of Their Own

• Gender:F
• Age: 33

• Starting weight: 175
• Current weight: 175
• Goal weight: 145

• What are your reasons for wanting to lose/gain weight? (Please state which)
I had a baby 6 months ago. I lost the first 20 pounds without trying, I'm sure breastfeeding helped. But then the weight loss just stopped, and I'm the heaviest I've ever been. I feel ashamed of my body, and I'm even embarrassed for my husband to see me.

• Tell me a bit about your past… (Were you always unhappy with your weight? Did it begin in childhood? Did a specific event trigger unnatural eating habits?)
I was happy with my body growing up. I was very active, and ate whatever I wanted to. I was thin. Then, in my junior year of high school, my cheerleading coach told my squad that we all needed to lose ten pounds, because we were getting chubby. That is when I really started to look at my body in a different way.

• Would you consider yourself as having an eating disorder?
My senior year in high school I was anorexic. I would only eat an apple and a couple of bowls of corn flakes in a day. Zero fat. I was very skinny, but I didn't look sick. I looked hot, and all of the boys responded. In college I gained 40 pounds my freshman year. After working hard to lose that weight, I found bulimia to be helpful, since I couldn't seem to control my food binges. Instead of feeling terrible and beating myself up after a binge, I just threw up.

• Have you ever had an eating disorder in the past? (If you are now recovered)
Yes. See answer above.

• Do you feel pressure from the media to look a certain way? (If so please elaborate)
Yes. The top celebrities are all thin, but it's their JOB to look a certain way. My job is to work 40+ hours a week as a teacher, and then go home and be a full time mom.

• Who has your ideal body/Who is your body inspiration?
Jessica Alba

• Why do you want to look that way?
She is beautiful and she has had two kids like me.

• What are you doing to change your weight? Please give as much info as possible (Specific diet/workout plan/taking supplements/surgery…)
I am going to start eating less than I do...I will cut my portion size in half. I also will eliminate ALL my snacking!

• Do you have ‘problem areas’ (please specify) or are you trying to change all over?
I'm trying to lose weight all over, but my tummy area is a big concern. I had a student ask me if I was pregnant again the other day!

• How do you feel about your weight loss/gain? (Positive/negative/motivated)
I feel disgusting.

• Have you got people who support you? (In real life/Online)
Everyone that I'm around encourages bad eating habits. They say 'Oh come on! One cookie won't hurt!!'

• Has dieting changed how people see/treat you now? (Friends/family/public)
My diet is going no where.

• What motivates you?
Looking in the mirror and being happy with what I see motivates me.

• If/when you ‘fall off the wagon’ how do you feel? (Like giving up/motivated to do better/like punishing yourself/upset)
I feel like giving up.

• How do you feel about reaching your goal? (Is it close/far away/does it seem impossible)
It seems impossible, but if I start seeing results, I will continue being motivated.

• How do you think you will feel when you reach your goal?
I will be thrilled!!!!!!

• What if you don’t feel that way? What will you do next?
I know I will be.

• What is your biggest worry?
That I will stay fat forever and embarrass my kids.

• What have you learnt on your journey so far?
I've learned that I have a lot of issues regarding food.

• What is your favourite (relevant) quote?

• Gender: Female
• Age: 37

• Starting weight: 307 (all time high, age 32) 262 (MFP start weight, age 36)
• Current weight: 209
• Goal weight: 170-180 probably

• What are your reasons for wanting to lose/gain weight? (Please state which)

When I was at my all-time heaviest, 307 lb at age 32, I was starting to get winded walking up stairs and have swollen ankles after a day of activity...my bloodwork and testing was all great still, but I knew I needed to lose weight or risk very serious health problems down the road. Once I got back to a normal-for-me weight, I still didn't like photos of myself and I wanted to lose some weight. That's pretty much where I am now. Although I'm technically obese, and definitely need to lose more weight, I have not felt lethargic, unhealthy, or had low energy at any time from the weight of 280 to now. I've always felt hyper and great, honestly. People ask me if I feel soooo different at 209 and I really do not at all, even though I've lost nearly 100 lb...a whole person. The only time I really feel different is the way I fit into spaces (booths, airplane seats, rides), or when I do a quick jog/run it does shock me how light I feel compared to in the past.


• Tell me a bit about your past… (Were you always unhappy with your weight? Did it begin in childhood? Did a specific event trigger unnatural eating habits?)

I was always a bigger kid than average (like WAY bigger) but very height-weight proportional. At 10 yrs old I was 5'6" and 130 lb. When I really got into puberty, around 13-14, I gained a lot of weight but only grew 2 more inches. By high school I was over 200 lb and have never been back below that. My current weight is by far the closest I've been to that. There wasn't a specific event that triggered unnatural eating habits for me. I actually think my habits were pretty similar to most people I knew. Eating a lot of processed, boxed & canned, prepared foods, and going out to restaurants (fast food as well as fine dining) multiple times a week. Even though I ate a reasonable amount of food it was heavily laden with salt, sugar, and fat. There were MANY vegetables I'd never even tried until my late 20s.

• Would you consider yourself as having an eating disorder?

No.


• Have you ever had an eating disorder in the past? (If you are now recovered)

No, not really. I have never binged, or starved. I had a period of about 1 year where I had EXTREME anxiety and OCD-type behaviors which involved eating a very small range of foods (somewhat due to my schedule and tight budget) and spending a LOT of time (like hours) cleaning and obsessing over my teeth daily. I lost weight during that time (which I needed to lose) but not in a healthy way. However I still don't view it as an eating disorder, because I don't think I really thought about food any more than usual. It was more of an emotional and mental problem I was having at that time.

• Do you feel pressure from the media to look a certain way? (If so please elaborate)

Yes, perfect. Do I care? Not really. One of the beautiful things (for ME) about being 37 is that I've been around long enough to not really worry about that stuff anymore.

• Who has your ideal body/Who is your body inspiration?

I don't have someone like this in mind.

• Why do you want to look that way?

N/A


• What are you doing to change your weight? Please give as much info as possible (Specific diet/workout plan/taking supplements/surgery…)

Counting calories by logging every bite I take on MFP, every day without fail. I do exercise more than I used to but I am still not a workout fanatic by any stretch of the imagination. I usually bike, hike, or play tennis for several hours (right now, it's mainly just on the weekend) and also do a lot of walking. I try to do a mile per day at minimum and in a week, I average much more than that but there are some weekdays I do not walk outside of normal daily activities.

• Do you have ‘problem areas’ (please specify) or are you trying to change all over?

Mostly I wanted to lose everywhere, and I've lost pretty evenly from my body. I like my body but I could live without my "bingo wings" and my belly flab is still pretty bad even though it's beginning to look very good in clothes. I love what weight loss has done to my legs and bum, though.

• How do you feel about your weight loss/gain? (Positive/negative/motivated)

I feel great about my loss. I feel very proud of the changes I've made and improved nutrition/lifestyle.

• Have you got people who support you? (In real life/Online)

Definitely. My husband lost almost 200 lb when he was in his early 20s and has kept it off for over a decade. He has been my #1 supporter and inspiration, although he was just as into me when I was 270 as he is now at 209. He's a great partner in all of this. My best friend is going through her own transformation of health/fitness for different reasons so she's supportive even though we don't see eye-to-eye all of the time (she's anti-carb, anti-gluten, etc). My mom is clueless and unintentionally sabotaging at times but truly means well and is a cheerleader for me, always commenting on this or that part of me looking smaller and being really sweet about that stuff.


• Has dieting changed how people see/treat you now? (Friends/family/public)

Yeah. I don't always like this to be honest. I'm treated much nicer and accepted more by women, they are more likely to want to be my friend and invite me into their circle for girls nights and stuff. It is a dramatic difference. My stepsister is a decade older and very thin, and only this year does she seem all jazzed about us "hanging out" and introducing me to her friends. I am hit on and/or checked out by many more men, and different types of men, and they're more open with compliments and pick-up lines. I am 37, short hair, no great beauty, and I've been asked out more (even with an engagement/wedding ring) in the last 3 months than I have since I was in my early 20's and worked in a bookstore (hit on daily there even at 299 lb). It is kind of weird. On a different note, I feel like my bosses since losing weight (new bosses, who didn't know me at my heaviest weight) expect more from me, and are harsher on me. I really think I got a lot of pity niceness when I was heavier. But I didn't realize it until now.

• What motivates you?

NSVs AND the lower number on the scale.

• If/when you ‘fall off the wagon’ how do you feel? (Like giving up/motivated to do better/like punishing yourself/upset)

I feel a little bit guilty or panicky. But then I console myself a bit by thinking of all the other success stories on MFP who have also discussed splurging now and then, and I remember it is just one meal or going over on cal/fat that one day, not ruining all of my progress.

• How do you feel about reaching your goal? (Is it close/far away/does it seem impossible)

I think it will happen but in my mind it is not a SET thing. For example right now I want to get to onederland (9 lb away) and then probably aim for 180. But even if I set a "final" goal and reached it, I don't see that as the apex of my life or anything.

• How do you think you will feel when you reach your goal?

Proud of myself. But I already feel that way, to be honest. I hope I'll feel more comfortable in photos...I have come a long way from practically having a mental breakdown at EVERY full-length pic...but would love to just freely pose in any pic without overthinking my body positioning.


• What if you don’t feel that way? What will you do next?

Work out a lot more.


• What is your biggest worry?

Flabby stretched out skin. Although I already have it, it's not so bad currently and I think this fear prevents me from setting a super low goal. I am afraid the aesthetic effects of loose skin would be scarier if I got down to a "thin" weight. I still want to lose another 30+ lb at least, though.

• What have you learnt on your journey so far?

Counting calories actually works. The "math" of it all is very comforting to me! I love numbers and graphs. This has worked faster for me than anything else.

• What is your favourite (relevant) quote?

It's not that inspired or special, and I'm sure there are better quotes. But I still really like "No matter how slow you're going, you're still lapping everyone on the couch". I struggle with being highly competitive and a perfectionist, and I don't have a ton of confidence about my athletic abilities but this is always in the back of my head making me feel like YEAH, my brisk 2 mile walk is better than lying around watching TV, even if it's not 100 squats or a 5k.