Disgusted with myself

Hi,

You can do this no problem!! Set a reasonable long term goal for yourself and then break it down into smaller, shorter term goals. From there, work towards them measuring as you go. There's a whole category on here with success stories, so I would click there and read away. I'm more than twice your age and have yoyo'd my whole life, so I understand, but at your age you will find it easier.

What has worked best for me is getting into a routine and sticking with it, EXERCISE which allows you some more freedom in your total calories for the day, track every day (even when you've gone over your total...be honest with yourself) and allow yourself to make mistakes without deciding that you can't do this and then quitting.

I promise you that you can do this and as you progress you'll feel amazing! Good luck!

You can make the changes you want to see in yourself happen. You just have to want to change MORE than you want to stay the same. You have to want health and fitness more than you want comfort and the chemical rewards that come along with an unhealthy diet.

Everyone says "of course I want better health more", but most people can't admit that they really want a comfortable life with food/drink pleasure more than they want the change required to get the health they want.

Your health and longevity are the rewards for the hard work that lies ahead. Want it more, and make it happen.

I should add, that many people that experience success spend a good deal of time "taking 2 steps forward, one step back". It really takes dedication to break old habits and make new ones. Enjoy your victories, learn from your mistakes, and don't give up.

It'll be tough, but you have to change your lifestyle. Find ways to be more active and make it permanent. For example, always park at the back, always take the stairs, etc. Get involved in an active hobby that you enjoy. I love to hike and joined the local chapter of my trail association - now I always have someone to hike with. No matter what happens, losing weight won't "stick" if you don't learn to love yourself no matter what.

Don't just go on a crazy crash diet, have a great big strop when it all goes wrong and cry that nothing works. Promise yourself you'll do it properly. It might take a couple of years, but may then last for the rest of your life.

I wish someone had told me this years ago, and maybe I would be fit now. Solid solid solid advice.

We have the exact same height and weight, 25 years old. I am also grossed out when I look in the mirror (which is seldom). I just started back on diet/exercise. I am pretty excited about the future, but I know there will be days (as there have been so many times before), when I am like "Why am I trying SO hard and not getting any results!!". Just because I was impatient, then I gave up and here I am starting again. Lets do this together!! You should add me, we can help motivate each other!

Congratulations, you have officially taken the first step. You have honestly assessed your condition. Now it's time to start the "University" of a healthy lifestyle. Do your research and proceed with the correct plan for you. It may take some trial and error. The main thing is eat less, eat healthy, and move more! Good Luck, you CAN do it!

You can so do this. What I've found has helped me is to focus on getting fitter and healthier and introducing small changes at a time rather than getting too fixated on kilos and calories. For example I used to be a big binge eater of chips so swapped that for raw veggies (still has crunch and tastes good too.) Also I make it my goal to do some sort of exercise each day. As I have a young baby at the moment I find it easier to make my own workout routines at home and have a few dumb bells. Any extra chance you can get for a walk is good too. I also often workout when I'm watching tv. Good luck and feel free to add me if you wish.

Hi,
As someone who's just finished their University degree I can relate to you. I was also pretty much the same weight as you when I started and I'm also 5ft 4inches. I found university is a great way to become a 'new you' in whatever way. For me it was going from a shy, unconfident teen to a ridiculously chatty, getting involved (slight) party animal but this can mean you become whoever you want and it's a great opputunity to start over so to speak.

Now I didn't start loosing much weight at university until my 3rd year - first year was all to new and i went out a lot (alcohol isn't the best thing to keep consuming if you want to loose weight!) and then second year was too stressful personally. But then over the 9months of summer and most of 3rd year i lost 2 stone - I noticed no difference but my friends did so that made me happy. And then the stress of finals and moving house and being a graduate meant i put most of it back on. Now i'm waiting around to see if i'm doing a masters and, for once, the boredom has made me want to get fit and so far I'm back down to 190lbs and am determined to be down to 150lbs (at least) this time next year for my friends graduation (they're will be no cloak to hide behind as its not my graduation!)

So firstly remember university is hectic at first (good hectic ) so don't worry if you aren't that commmitted to loosing weight at first, but you can reinvent yourself as more confident (and studies have shown the happier you are with yourself the more likely you are to improve with yourself so concentrate on your positives i.e. great smile, confidence, etc).

Also unis offer lots of sports clubs and activities great for loosing weight and getting fit and all are either really cheap or free! AT my uni the gym was also only £90 for the year and this def helped me loose weight in my last year. ANd don't worry about being new to a sport because loads of other people who are too and want to learn.

Also I don't know your plans on getting a job but i know working in a shop on my feet all day def helped me loose weight considering lectures are a lot of sitting around! I also had the bonus that my uni's location is practically on a mountain and this helped me get even a bit of exercise every day.

And remember university is so much fun and if you're enjoying yourself you won't have to compete with boredom snacking.

SO I probs haven't been that mcuh help (and i def not a success story just yet) but just be aware you are about to enter an awesome and exciting time in your life (i miss being a student immensly!) and you can be whoever you want to be. There are lots of ways the uni can help you and you can make new friends who want to do the same and motivate each other! SO best of luck with uni and the weight loss, feel free to message or add me if you want to or have any more questions

Hello,

I've never weighed myself and I recently had to get some tests done at the hospital and they had to weigh and measure me.
I've always been battling with my weight, from my early teens.
I'm quite like a yo-yo, losing and adding all the time.
Anyway,
I asked the hospital not to tell me the measurements and they agreed.

However, the doctor had to throw in at the end of our conversation 'oh you might want to consider losing some weight'
...
It got me down for a few days.

Then this morning I got a letter in the post, from the hospital telling me the figures.

I'm almost 18 years old, female, 5'4ft and my weight is a disgusting 97.5kg(214.5 pounds) .. And my BMI is 36.

I feel sick and angry with myself.

I'm off to University in 4 weeks and I want to be a slim as I can.
I've tried dieting and exercising before and I lost loads, then added it again.

Can anybody suggest a reasonable goal, exercise routines, diet plans etc?

Also I would love to hear about your success stories!

Cheers

Ok, so you've had that moment of shock, anger and self-disgust. That has motivated you to get here. Now it's time to put that aside, forgive yourself, and start taking care of yourself (mind and body). Turn that anger into positive energy to move yourself forward.

You can do this. I started off at 214 lbs too, only I'm an inch shorter than you (so probably looking a little bigger) and more than a decade older than you.

I totally get wanting to be slimmer when you go to university, I certainly remember that feeling. The thing is, try not to put too much focus on a deadline. You can definitely lose some weight in that time, which will hopefully improve your confidence, but the real work is going to come in the weeks and months after that date.

A lot of people gain weight at university. You're starting in a really good position, because you're already aware of needing to lose weight, and you can start managing this from the beginning. It will be hard; there will be lots of junk food and drink, and more fun things to do than exercise, but if you make the effort, you can enjoy those things in moderation, and lose the weight too. Oh how I wish MFP was around when I was at uni!

My biggest advice would be to keep things simple. Set MFP up to lose 2 lbs a week to start with (you'll need to be losing at a slower rate as you get closer to goal). Eat the foods you like, weigh/measure track everything as accurately as possible, and go from there. Look at your diary and identify areas that it would be helpful to change. You may find it helps to increase your protein intake, as protein will keep you fuller for longer. Getting plenty of fibre and water will help too.

Accept up front that this is going to take time - a long time. Losing weight can be very boring at times, and you won't always feel motivated. Try and build habits that you can sustain easily, without really thinking about it. Don't make drastic changes that you can't live with more than a couple of weeks. If you don't want to eat junk food, don't eat junk food, but if you're secretly craving pizza and refusing to let yourself eat it, then that isn't likely to end well. Eat and drink what you like, but learn to eat appropriate portion sizes and fit it into your overall nutritional goals.

If you have will have free access to a gym, or a good discount, then take advantage of that. You don't *have* to exercise to lose weight, but if you can make it a part of your lifestyle, that will help a lot. If you can fit in some form of resistance training, that will really help you to maintain your muscle mass as you lose weight. (It also helps get you a more "toned" look in the end). There will probably be loads of groups/societies you can join, so try and join something active so that you can meet people, and have that extra motivation to do something active at the same time.

It would be a MUCH better use of your time to try and develop good habits and get a sustainable eating and exercise program worked out before you go than to crash-diet for 4 weeks.

^Totally agree with this. Losing at uni will probably be challenging for lots of reasons, so make the most of these 4 weeks to really get those healthy habits going. Learn about portion sizes, and what keeps you full, and what kind of meal timings suit you best.