They say the third time's a charm, right?

Spiderminx
Spiderminx Posts: 9
in Introduce Yourself
Yup. You read that right. This is my THIRD--count it, THIRD--time attempting to use MFP. The first time, I never went anywhere with it; the second time, I gave up; and this time I'm more motivated than ever.

I've been overweight since eighth grade. Age 13. As I went through high school, it only continued to get worse and it got to a point where I was reaching heights of 215 by age 19. Yikes! I moved to the north in March and lived a poor man's lifestyle, having to walk an excess of 4-5 miles a day and eating maybe once per day if I was lucky. I dropped down to 175lbs by October. It wasn't healthy weight loss, but I wasn't complaining. Long story short: I had bad roommates and was forced to move back in with my parents for college. I am now age 20 and back up to almost 190lbs since October. I have about zero self-confidence and it makes me physically sick to look at my own reflection.

Enough is enough.

Motivated or not though... I have no idea how to lose weight healthily or eat right. Every article I see seems to contradict another and I don't even know what's right or wrong in the health department anymore. I'm not asking for anyone to hold my hand and guide me through everything at all, but if someone could point a finger in the right direction I'll hop right to it.

My ultimate weight goal is 140, however I'm currently pushing for 150 to get started. This is my resolution for 2014. I want to get to a healthy weight so I can stop feeling the way I feel about myself.

So, I'm looking forward to working alongside everybody and thanks for taking the time to read my blurb.

Replies

  • GiveMeCoffee
    GiveMeCoffee Posts: 3,556 Member
    Welcome Back!

    Easy way to get started started logging and be as honest and accurate as possible.

    Don't worry about fixing everything at first, start with getting your logging as a habit, it should be something you do automatically just like brushing your teeth.

    Small deficit a week - 1 lb a week great goal.

    Find an exercise you like to do this way you stick with it!

    Remember motivation comes and goes, you need to develop good habits.

    (Hopefully this makes sense as there is way too much blood in my caffeine stream at the moment)
  • gabrielleelliott90
    gabrielleelliott90 Posts: 854 Member
    Well done for coming back and trying again.

    I don't eat healthy, I used to and now I just have not got back to it, I plan to in Jan. With MFP though you eat what you like, log everything, workout to get more cals. Don't out pressure on yourself to eat perfect, or eat healthy right away, work up to it if you like but really you can eat how you want, it's up to you. I eat what I want, and lose weight and I'm the happiest I've been when losing weight.
  • keykey48
    keykey48 Posts: 51 Member
    I've lost count on how many times I've 'started' at MFP but this time it's going to stick! welcome back!
  • jcyearwood
    jcyearwood Posts: 6 Member
    I went on my first diet in the 8th grade. Dropped 16 pounds, which was a lot then, and I was still overweight. I've been dieting ever since. I've been on several medically supervised diets, and the one I am currently on is Optifast. I get 800 calories a day and after six weeks the weight has been melting off. A guy drops weight faster than a gal, though, so you might not see the same results as fast.

    Here's what I've learned after wrestling with my weight for sixty years. There are right ways and wrong ways to do this. The wrong way is to eat too little, and end up going into starvation mode. You need to hit the minimum daily requirement and get exercise. You can't lose weight without exercise. You can't lose weight by diet alone. You have to do both, and you have to get a minimum number of calories or body shuts down and retains everything.

    The second thing is to drink water. Lots of water. Every ounce you lose comes out through your kidneys. A lot of people think they lose weight with bowel movements, and it probably feels like that, but your total gut weight is not more than ten pounds at most. If you want to lose fat, it has to come off through your kidneys. If you aren't drinking plenty of water and peeing a lot, you are not losing fat.

    Finally, the hidden culprit is sodium. It takes me a week or ten days to rebalance my sodium levels after just one splurge. Amazing. If your sodium is high, you will retain water and your kidneys won't be processing fat. Period. That's the way it works.

    A woman needs about ten calories a day per pound. If you want to weigh 140, don't eat more than 1400/calories a day, and exercise. The real advantage of MFP is it allows you to track exactly what you consume. It only works if you use it, and you won't lose if you don't monitor how much you eat.

    For you and me, lifelong victims of stomach problems (our stomachs work too well), this is a lifestyle, not a temporary fix. Blow the diet just once, and you balloon up like a dirigible.

    To avoid sodium, buy fresh food and cook it yourself. To improve the taste of your meals, add fresh vegetables. Meat doesn't have much taste, really, something we amend by adding all kinds of flavoring. I bet you would never eat another short rib if you didn't have sugar and seasoning on it.

    Good luck. Am sending you a friend request. Hope you do well this time.
  • Lotty1994x
    Lotty1994x Posts: 3
    Hey you! This is my second time on here! I lost 3 stone in 4 months the last time I was on here, but I became comfortable in myself and slipped back to my old ways.
    The important thing is that we have found the courage to start again! WE can and we WILL do this! :D
    Lets support each other! :D xxx

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