Need encouragement please, gaining weight like crazy :(

Feel free to add me! I seem to have no problems putting weight on, but am struggling to take it off. Extra support and encouragement is always helpful. Good luck!

I have been here since july and i saw results. Motivating ourself toget a healthier lifestyle is hard in the beginning. But once you get use to it. it is becoming part of your life. The first weeks are hard but it DOES give you good results.
Having friends to encourage you and motivate you helps a lot. Sometimes it is even easier to realte toperfect stranger than your realtives.
sending a Friend Request.

Now think igolden! I am much older than you and have tried everything in the book over the years. The thought of going back to cottage cheese and ryvita makes me squirm. I started dieting on my own at Christmas, secretly, didn't tell anybody and just felt if I could lose one pound in a week I would be happy. I lost three quarters of a stone in six months and then stopped. Whatever happened the weight stayed around the same. Got totally depressed and something awful happened. I will give you the details although they are not pleasant. To my horror I found that the large fold of fat over my stomach (a pretty sight) was now becoming sore, wet excema covered it and it was smelly! I was so frightened I could not even think of visiting my doctor! First of all I bought Dermaspray (from Amazon) which did miracles in hours and then I discovered Myfitnesspal in the Daily Mail. Each time I eat I immediately put it in the diary. I know they say you should not weigh yourself daily, but I do and write it not only on the diary, on a note on the fridge door, and on stickynotes on both my computers. Only once have I found that I was craving in that stupid way we do, and then I used the old trick of cleaning my teeth. The thought of a smelly sore body because of too many snacks in the car after my shopping trip will stay with me forever. I am feeling so much better about myself, I feel in control of both my life and body. Have now lost a further ten pounds with this app. It works,, it really works igolden. Just think you want to lose one pound a week, that is all, nothing dramatic and don't tell anybody! OK? Only last week a friend suddenly said - you've lost weight. I just grinned, replied, Yep and it is very hard going. But I felt marvellous. Some come on, igolden, let's go and I want to see in a few weeks time something positive from you in these posts! Not saying Good Luck and all that rubbish. Just start from this moment on.

So sorry! There is so much to learn on this site! This will take some getting used to! Is there a way to move my comment to the appropriate board?

Heh I imagine a mod will probably move it for you at some point if they notice it, but it's not a big deal.

I'm here on MFP everyday and you're here and asking for help so at least you're starting out right. I'm always willing to give any advice I can.

I have lost about 40 lbs since joining MFP last September (have been at maintenance for a couple months now). The biggest advice I can give is to take it one step at a time and make it a lifestyle change. Here's roughly the process that worked for me!

First week - just log. Get an idea of what your calorie intake looks like. You will likely be shocked and feel really bad, but you have to start somewhere! Log EVERYTHING. For over a year now, I have pretty much logged every morsel and drop that crosses my lips!

Next couple weeks - focus on smaller portions. Don't radically change what you're eating...just eat a little bit less of what you normally eat.

Then, for a couple of weeks, make a couple small changes. Mine were having things like taking an apple for my snack at work instead of chips. Add some veggies to meals that normally don't have them. Introduce new healthy foods where you are currently eating less healthy stuff.

I basically continued this for months, gradually making small little changes like this until they "stuck". So it took me awhile to get to the point where I was consistently eating at my goal for weight loss - I didn't switch from 2,000 to 1,400 calories overnight. This made it much more sustainable!

After several months I began to get serious about exercising. The first 20 pounds or so were lost without any exercise, just calorie counting.

Something I wish I would have done is focused on both strength AND cardio - you burn so many more calories when you are also incorporating strength work! It can be intimidating but you don't have to go hardcore; I started with Jillian Michaels DVD's, with 5 lb weights (1 and 2 pound ones aren't going to do much), and now I typically use 10 or 12 pound ones.

I always ate back about 3/4 of my exercise calories - but used a HRM to ensure I was actually burning as much as I thought I was. Machines and MFP are not necessarily going to be very accurate. "Eating back" doesn't mean eating them after your workout...I would evenly space mine throughout the day. You will see people on here who take it too literally and say "but I'm not hungry after working out!" The idea isn't to come home from the gym and eat the quantity you burned - it's to have more fuel over the course of the day for your workout. Your calorie deficit is already built into your calorie goal so NOT eating back is not only not necessary, but can be harmful and cause you to plateau because you aren't getting enough fuel.

That's my two cents. Good luck!!!

From my own experience and life, I know it is not easy, but please do not give up! You are young, beautiful and motivated. Perhaps it would help if you keep an accurate food diary so you can see where you may be making mistakes. Also, as an idea: i found that what helped me greatly in the past was walking with friends. Every step counts. I made great friends (from acquaintances) by forming a daily walking group. Maybe you can try this, or other things that you feel can help you. Look to the future, not the past. You are taking steps toward the true, thin you, as of today. Go for it!

Have you had your thyroid checked? I gained weight really fast over a year and it was due to thyroid. I know you said you are an emotional eater..but just throwing this out there.

Seif0068... I just happen to come across this post.... Thank you sooo much for the advice. I've been struggling lately, and your post has been a pick me up... Thanks, Kat

You're very welcome! I hope it is helpful!