Anybody doing this alone in the real world?

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  • gingersnaps828
    gingersnaps828 Posts: 86
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    I love this post. What a great story and great idea to get a group of friends with something in common. I am the only one among my family and friends (besides MFP) doing this. It makes it very difficult at times, discouraging and is one of the reasons I've given up on myself so many times in the past. No more excuses though. I'm here to do it this time!

    I've sent you a FR. And anyone else, feel free to add me :)
  • Brenda1636
    Brenda1636 Posts: 36 Member
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    I started my journey alone. I love taking exercise classes because it makes you feel you aren't alone and you can make friends that way. The first gym I joined we were such a close group and I loved it! We would say "See you tomorrow!!" and all that. My boyfriend always went to a gym but we didn't have the same goals so we didn't diet together or workout together. We moved out of town and then we joined a gym together but we still never workout together. Once in a great while we will go at the same time.

    Last year I did have a friend join me at the gym. We only got together once a week. This year we started doing two days a week. I like that I have the best of both worlds. There are days I do just want to do it alone...I do feel sometimes I work harder when I am alone...and then there are days where I would like someone to push me to go.
  • berriboobear
    berriboobear Posts: 524 Member
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    Physically, I'm doing it alone. Although I know I have my mom and my friends' support. I am definitely the biggest in my immediate family and within my group of friends. So yes, it does feel lonely and hard at times. I feel like online communities are great for individuals who are feeling disconnected. There is no one I really talk to in great depth about weight loss in my real life, but I have been loving MFP for this reason!

    Doing this alone really does test my personal strength, both mentally and physically. At the end of the day, I have to want this for me, but I'm also open and welcome to "help" and feedback from others : )
  • becky6m
    becky6m Posts: 108 Member
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    Yes, yes and yes. I think I was told... "if your not losing any more weight then why are you still working out and counting calories".....my reply "Just because i am at my goal weight doesn't mean I just stop. This is my life" sometimes peoples ignorance amazes me.
  • alpenpam
    alpenpam Posts: 27
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    I am alone in this too! I actually am the skinniest in my family, but no one else really wants to put effort into losing weight. They all frown at me for starting to count calories and work out all of a sudden. I was not fat, but had enough of not feeling confident in my body (and my body fat percentage was through the roof!). I never had a regular workout schedule in my life! Currently I'm in week 3 of P90X and I'm dedicated to stick with it so I can finally wear a bikini without feeling self-conscious in it! Also, I'm getting married in 3 months, so of course I want to look awesome on my wedding day (and night, hehe). Anyone adding me as a friend would be greatly appreciated, I could use some support!
  • sarahlpowell80
    sarahlpowell80 Posts: 1 Member
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    I've been trying to lose 1 stone (14lbs) since January and the most I've managed to loose is a couple of pounds. I'm eating reasonably healthily - generally sticking to my target number of calories, and I'm swimming 3 times a week, but nothing.

    I don't eat junk food very much at all, I might have a bar of chocolate or some chips (fries) maybe once or at the most twice a month and I've pretty much given up alcohol.

    Anyone else having similar issues, any suggestions???
  • tbrain1989
    tbrain1989 Posts: 280 Member
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    swimming although very healthy and good for your cardiovascular system, due to its non impact and non weight baring style it doesnt actually burn that many calories, maybe swap it for a brisk walk of a run if your up to it. Or of course do both, by no way am i condeming swimming, its just work done = weight moved, swimming removes the weight, so for all your movement you dont get a lot of reward.
  • chevy1063
    chevy1063 Posts: 7
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    I too am done this alone, I now it is a life style changes. I tried about 5 years ago with Weight Watchers, but did not keep it up. Now that I am hitting 50 this yrs, I want to feel better about myself and love myself again. My new friends on here , have helped me a lot.. It lets me know I am not alone on this change of life style. Thank you all for you support!!!
  • Pamela_in_Progress
    Pamela_in_Progress Posts: 197 Member
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    I am doing it alone as well. I'm not the only person in my friends/family that could stand a little healthy eating and exercise, but I'm the only one at present that's willing to do anything about it. It's really slow going for me and I don't know if it's my age or what? I'm doing cardio 6 days a week and watching my calorie intake, making healthier choices. It can be a little disheartening sometimes.
  • geekette411
    geekette411 Posts: 154 Member
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    I am dieting alone, no one else in my family or friends circle has joined me in dieting, but my husband supports my new lifestyle and cooks whatever I ask for dinner. Part of new new lifstyle is to do more physical activities(mainly walking) on the weekends and he joins me. As a side effect, even though he is not actively dieting he is losing weight too!

    The alone part is minly that I am the one making all of the nutrition and activity decisions. He is not invested in taking the initiative in this lifestyle change, he only follows along with my decisions. That's why I came to this web site, to help connect with people who are 'all in'!
  • KYT1121
    KYT1121 Posts: 58 Member
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    I'm not doing it alone in the real world but I have in the past so I can relate to the struggle. Please feel free to add me! I may not be able to be there in the real world but you certainly don't have to go it alone on MFP!
  • Dewdropps
    Dewdropps Posts: 111
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    I am doing it alone, but not really at the same time. My girls are 7,8 and 10 years old and since pool exercises and swimming are what my doctor ordered, I make sure to go at times they can come with me. Fun for them to swim, it's a great way to burn off their excess energy as we live in the boonies, and they never let me skip a day without a good amount of stress LOL.

    I also love that they see me changing my life, and it's building a foundation for them to continue for years, even well after they are grown and on their own.

    I would love some extra friends on MFP who know what it's like to go it alone, though. It can get rather disheartening and very frustrating at times. <3
  • Dewdropps
    Dewdropps Posts: 111
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    swimming although very healthy and good for your cardiovascular system, due to its non impact and non weight baring style it doesnt actually burn that many calories, maybe swap it for a brisk walk of a run if your up to it. Or of course do both, by no way am i condeming swimming, its just work done = weight moved, swimming removes the weight, so for all your movement you dont get a lot of reward.


    I disagree. I swim 5 days/week for 1- 2 hours per day. When I say swim, I mean swim. Out of breath, muscles screaming etc. Using a special swimming monitor, I can easily track my HR as well as the calorie burn, and I average somewhere between 900-1100 cals burned per session.

    Also, swimming is low impact, but have you ever tried to run in water? The resistance is unbelievable. You can build up any area in the water as you can with weights and machines. There are some great instruction videos on Youtube you can see exactly what I mean. Just search "water exercise"

    I would bet that I use more range of motion/more groups of muscles in the water than the typical gym goer could.

    TLDR: Low impact does not equal low cal burn
  • fyoufat
    fyoufat Posts: 85
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    I feel like I am doing it alone-as in little support. My husband isn't unsupportive, but he doesn't really say anything unless I mention stuff and even then it is pretty generic "that's good". He is not fat and I don't know whether or not he feels uncomfortable mentioning it (which he says is why) or what. I have told him just simply acknowledging something would be nice but he has yet to do it really. I can't wait until the day he says "it looks like you lost weight" or "wow I can tell you have been working out now".

    I'm sure he would rather me be skinner (I was like 100 lbs less when we met omg) but he is the type of person who has never said I was fat and he still seemed interested in me in that way- if you know what I mean. I know I have only lost 22 pounds and still have a lot to go, but no one has said anything (my family). I am sure they might not even notice it on me but, they all know I go to the gym at 4:30 am and workout, etc. and they don't really encourage me, I don't know. And I tell them I lost 22 pounds and they didn't really say anything-like they don't believe me? And these are people (i/e my mom) that used to bug the crap out of me about loosing weight, and now that I actually have drastically changed my life-they don't even say anything. Litterally everyone in my family and my husband's family is of healthy weight, although not very athletic imo.


    So I feel like I am doing it totally on my own (in RL at least). I am now not even going to talk about it in RL and just wait for people to say things to me because I am ultimately doing this to improve my life in all aspects. It is hard because I weigh things and log things, workout and it is obviously I am doing these things and ignoring the subject seems weird to me). But, the way I think about it is, when I finally reach my goal it will be so much more rewarding to know I was able to do it with very little encouragement from my family.
  • hellokathy
    hellokathy Posts: 540 Member
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    I have three friends who want to lose weight. The one who is in a similar situation lives too far away, so it's not much different than the encouragement I get from people on here. The other one is much skinnier and prefers other kinds of fitness that I cannot / don't want to approach just yet. The third...well, we said we'd do this together but she's better at dragging herself and me down rather than encouraging. For example she'll only tag along when I'm going to the gym once a week instead of bringing it up herself. And when we go, she tries to talk me into having McD or Starbucks afterwards. So I prefer to go without her.

    So yup, despite there being people I can talk to about this, I am pretty much doing this on my own. Sometimes I think it would be nice to have proper gym buddies but then again...it's not exactly a group activity.
  • vmckinzey
    vmckinzey Posts: 98 Member
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    For the most part I'm also doing it alone. My son has a lot to lose, but he's doing his own thing and I need consistency. My husband is very supportive, but has never had to watch a calorie in his life so it's not always easy. It gets difficult some times, but God and my MFP friends are helping me through it. Taking it one day at a time.
  • lnxjenn
    lnxjenn Posts: 64 Member
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    I am not really doing this alone, but sometimes it feels that way. My husband is supportive and we have been eating healthy together for the last year. He's lost quite a bit of weight thanks to changing of his eating habits since I moved in. I have been struggling and haven't lost anything. So I am restarting, and still feel like I'm struggling frequently, even when i do eat healthy. I was quite active at first but I haven't been as active the past few months.

    I live with my MIL as well, and she really needs to lose weight. she is quite the aggitator in the house and is usually the one bringing in lots of processed and junk foods. It's quite bothersome and a distraction. Usually I get disgusted and it makes me want to eat better. But still hasn't helped my weight loss efforts. :embarassed: I don't eat her stuff but it sometimes triggers desire for a sweet thing...
  • SJackson50
    SJackson50 Posts: 282 Member
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    Besides my extremely supportive, rock star friends on MFP, I am doing this alone...I exercise alone at home...I eat alone in my office with food I prepared, while everyone else goes out...

    I have one super-slim sister (size 0!) and two others who need to consider the health impact of their weight. All seem a little envious--my slim sister because she is no longer the only slim one ;-) This has been working extremely well for me and with only one size, or 15 pounds, left to my goal, I wouldn't have it any other way.

    Good luck to everyone in their goals and feel free to add me if you believe we have something in common!
  • Cp731
    Cp731 Posts: 3,195 Member
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    Yes.
    Its lonely fitness world for me. Ha!
    I often run and ppl just stand there looking all, idk, lazy, unmotivated, fat.
    I have lots of friends that could care less, they see me changing and make comments, but I cant get them motivated.
    They make comments about how they wish they could do what I do..and I cringe..why would anyone want to continue a lifestyle of harm and laziness? I guess I was lazy at one time, for a minute..
    Ah, Too each is own.
  • brookemcfarlin12
    brookemcfarlin12 Posts: 26
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    i'm doing this alone. I have my boyfriend with who I live with for support, but he doesn't exercise with me, so there is the fact that I am doing this on my own. I live with him and his family (his mother and brother)
    His mother is skinny, but she eats barely anything so I can't really relate with that. His brother eats what he wants and is overweight. So basically i'm doing this in the long haul.
    Hoping that I can get my boyfriend to start running with me, but we'll see.

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