Want a new me

KingOfThoseWhoKnow
KingOfThoseWhoKnow Posts: 53
in Introduce Yourself
Hello everyone, just a short introductory paragraph, I'll try and keep it short :)

My name is Eoghan, I'm 22 and I'm from Ireland. I'm 250lbs give or take, as of now/ I've been overweight for most of my life now, since I was about 11 or so. I've always struggled with my weight, went through the bullying, low self esteem, depression. I'm sure everyone or most of us have been there. Puberty and teenage life was hard for me. I was anti social and had no confidence, never had girlfriends or any kind of social interactions with people, I liked to be on my own and food was my only source of happiness and fun. I would only feel happy when I ate. Looking back on my younger years, I wished I had done things different, so I decided instead of moping about it and wasting future years, I might as well take a realistic and positive approach, and do what I can to make myself happy. I don't want my love and struggle with food/weight, waste any more of my chances or let me miss out on anything life has to offer.

I'm just under 6 " 1, quite a stocky build despite my weight (have always been referred to as the big lad, tall lad etc), so I carry my weight well. My ideal goal weight would be 180-190! I hate my face. It's pudgy and puffed looking! I think it's unattractive. Funnily enough I see myself as quite attractive ( I like my personality and think I'm quite a decent looking chap, not to toot my own horn :p), but the weight just flies in the face of all this. I'm not myself how I am now, I want a new me, I want to look and feel my best, and be able to be happy and be able to socialize and enjoy life comfortably, because right now I'm not! It's not the main reason for my wanting to lose weight, but being attractive to the opposite sex and being appealing is just something I've never been, it seems like a dream come true that I could be attractive to someone. Not to sound shallow!

I've tried many times to lose weight, I always gave up though. I'm sure you've all heard the story before haha. I would work so diligently, exercise tonnes, eat healthy and never see a difference, and would throw in the towel. I decided that I'm sick of giving up. I always gave up too easy and felt like I was doing it alone. Things got stale and redundant, and I went back to my old ways. Hopefully with the support and help on this site and forums, I can get some weight down and hopefully all of it :) Thanks to anyone who has taken the time to read of all this :)

Replies

  • owlyalice
    owlyalice Posts: 12 Member
    Good for you! It'll take a lot of strength, but just keep reminding yourself of what's gonna make you happy in the end! :)
  • valerierackly74
    valerierackly74 Posts: 59 Member
    add me
  • KingOfThoseWhoKnow
    KingOfThoseWhoKnow Posts: 53
    Thanks for the kind replies :) any ideas on where I should start? My idea of nutrition is terrible, when I tried to lose weight and eat healthy, I had no idea if what I was eating was really healthy, or if I was eating too much, or too little etc. It was a giant guessing game and sucked for me. I always heard that I should lower carbs, but most of my staples for meals are carbs and I have no idea how I'd make up meals for a week with no carbs, its just so daunting for me!
  • timmer74
    timmer74 Posts: 46 Member
    I maxed out at 240 myself so I know how this feels. At 250, I would focus on your calorie count more than carbs.... the first 30 or so pounds sounds melt of with any reasonable change to your lifestyle. Besides, you can't eat that many carbs and stay within your calorie allowance.....you'll end up eating better automatically.

    I would recommend using this site to track your calories and exercise. If you create a calorie deficit, you will loose weight. For the earlier stages it is a simple as that. :)

    Just remind yourself that it is totally worth it.... All the best man! :)
  • handyrunner
    handyrunner Posts: 32,662 Member
    Hey dont over complicate things.. Youve started here..just start off with logging and getting under the calorie count. As you start taking control then you can start playing with things like low carb, etc. But right now just cutting the sugar and getting the tracking in, along with excercise will be enough to handle. If you start stressing over the details you may put yourself into information paralysis..

    Good luck to you though..Hope you reach your goals
  • KingOfThoseWhoKnow
    KingOfThoseWhoKnow Posts: 53
    Thanks guys :) My main problem is, I never had an idea of how many calories I was getting whenever I ate something. When I tried to lose weight before, I cut out all my salt/sugar completely, I drank nothing but water (I didn't mind this, water is awesome, and it's free!), I ate only when hungry, and whenever I felt peckish and wanted a snack I would just eat an apple or something. I had 3 meals a day, breakfast was always porridge with fruit and an egg, or a slice of wholegrain bread, dinner was always lean chicken/fish, with vegetables and sometimes potatoes or some rice, but like I said before, I was weary of these foods for the carb content so I avoided them. I jogged and swam for cardio, and did resistance training with dumbbells 3 times a week.

    I followed this religiously for a month or more, but I saw no shift on the scales or in my appearance etc, I got really demotivated and disheartened, because a month feels like a LOOONG time when trying to change your ways. I've heard of people getting results in that time or less, so I just figured I was doing it wrong, so I gave up. I didn't want to keep going and risk wasting time and effort. My problem is I never know if what I'm doing is right, because I don't know how to measure or get calorie amounts! I just stuck to eating more real foods, eggs, nuts, seeds, fruits, vegetables etc, that was pretty much my plan.

    So I guess my question is, was there anything wrong with what I was doing before I gave up? (I wasn't counting calories, just eating healthy and lots of exercise). When should I notice changes? When no changes came after a month, did that mean I was doing something wrong? I know I have a LOT of questions, but I really want this to work this time!! :)

    Thanks again to anyone who reads this huge post!
  • Magikarp88
    Magikarp88 Posts: 3 Member
    Good luck! I have recently started to try and shift my flab. Same as you really, been over weight for so long I think i have forgotten what is is to be thin!!
  • Wilhellmina
    Wilhellmina Posts: 757 Member
    Welcome! I also never had any idea what I was eating and thought it couldn't be that bad, because it's only healthy stuff. But with filling in my food diary I came to the shocking conclusion my carb and calorie intake were beyond what was good for me, towards 3000 cal. a day! So, I guess if you fill in your food diary daily and see what you eat and drink in a day, you will get your eating habits better under control. That is already a first start you can make.
  • KingOfThoseWhoKnow
    KingOfThoseWhoKnow Posts: 53
    Good luck! I have recently started to try and shift my flab. Same as you really, been over weight for so long I think i have forgotten what is is to be thin!!

    I actually have no memories of being thing! :O, it's crazy. I'm flabby and bleh, kills my confidence! The thing I'm looking forward to most is being a different person when I lose it all, everyone knows me as I am now, as a fat person, I want to make people's jaws drop when they see how different I'm gonna look, or plan on :P Here's to positivity!
  • WarriorReady
    WarriorReady Posts: 571 Member
    Congrats on wanting to stick too it and looking for support my friend! Have you figured out your TDEE yet? Try going to http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ to figure this out. It will be a good first step.

    Also, don't be afraid of veggies, potatoes, and brown rice. These are good foods that help fuel your body. Also, protein is important. Having an egg with your porridge in the morning is a great start to the day. When you want a snack and grab an apple have it with some peanut butter, nuts or even cheese.

    Best of luck to ya! Feel free to add me if you like. :drinker:
  • JJananii
    JJananii Posts: 30 Member
    Go here

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1161976-adopt-a-noob-official-mfp-thread

    They're all people who are willing to take beginners under their wing and help them with all of these kinds of questions :flowerforyou:

    Also, to know how many calories are in what you're eating, it's best to get a food scale. You don't need an expensive one, I got a cheaper one and it works great. On the nutrition labels of the food you're eating it should tell you the weight of a serving next to the measurement. I used to use measuring cups but I heard that wasn't as accurate and it's true. I just started weighing my food and I'm glad I did because now I know exactly what I'm eating.
  • KingOfThoseWhoKnow
    KingOfThoseWhoKnow Posts: 53
    Thanks for the great replies :) I added some new pics showing how I carry my weight, like I said I'm quite tall and naturally big so I KINDA get away with the chubby look haha, but still hate it. Took pics from different angles too if anyone wants to see :) Mainly serving as a reference point so I can look back and say "wow look how I different I looked before I lost a tonne of weight!" ;)
  • lisaabenjamin
    lisaabenjamin Posts: 665 Member
    It's simple maths: if you eat more calories than you burn, you will gain weight. So if you burn more calories than you eat, you will lose weight!

    If you were eating the right kinds of foods, and exercising, but not losing any weight, it's likely because you were simply eating too much. Even healthy foods have calories, so eating too much will still cause you to gain weight. That's where MFP comes in!

    Log everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) you eat and drink. Make sure you weigh out your portions - don't just guess, the MFP database isn't always that accurate. That way, you will see exactly how many calories you have eaten and you can plan your meals and exercise accordingly.

    Good luck!
  • ilessa
    ilessa Posts: 61 Member
    Some posts I found helpful to get you going :)

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/818082-exercise-calories-again-wtf
  • skidlock
    skidlock Posts: 12
    Good luck!

    I would say that when you say "I cut out all my salt/sugar completely, I drank nothing but water (I didn't mind this, water is awesome, and it's free!), I ate only when hungry, and whenever I felt peckish and wanted a snack I would just eat an apple or something. I had 3 meals a day, breakfast was always porridge with fruit and an egg, or a slice of wholegrain bread, dinner was always lean chicken/fish, with vegetables and sometimes potatoes or some rice" and you say you exercised a lot too that you must have gotten hungry and then binge ate in between (certainly what I did when i went too far with the calorie cutting!).

    Logging will allow you to monitor things and if you exercise you will get to the end of the day and see you have available calories and can indulge a bit. I cycle, play squash & run and eat lots as the exercise means I can. Logging stops me going through a whole pack of biscuits and really helps make sensible decisions, whilst not making yourself miserable. A couple of tips:

    If you are eating things you cannot log as they're homemade, do a rough estimate using the rough ingredients on the site and add an additional 1/3rd. This will mean you're not underestimated and has worked very well for me as I often eat homemade food that is hard to log.

    With exercise, if you're cycling in town for example, take note of the fact you will be stationary for some time at lights etc. if you're swimming how long to you wait at each end for rests? Take this in to account when logging exercise. Likewise. take this in to account when working out your speed. you may be going faster if you take out the breaks!

    It's very easy to mentally convince yourself of things and to try and trick the system (this is a well known and proven scientifically), and accurate logging for me was metronomically spot-on ONCE I had overestimated my calories a bit from what I'd like to write down, and underestimated my exercise a little from what I felt I did. I highly recommend this method.

    You get little bonuses - like walking around day-to-day burns calories too, so if you do this you will have constant little boosts when you weigh in, and will keep going.

    Good luck mate!
  • SteveK279
    SteveK279 Posts: 134 Member
    I know exactly how you feel man. I'm a bit older (31) and finally made the change myself last October having been pretty damn big for a long time. Dropped from 271.8 to the 190s until Christmas & festivities pushed it up around 200 again, but I'm confident that'll all be gone by the end of Jan!

    It does make a big difference with the women and with yourself (though you still feel fat sometimes!), so try stick with it - if you can get a bit of exercise in it'll either speed up the losses or allow you to eat more...and it really isn't so much what you eat rather than the calories when you look at the weight losses...the rest comes into it if you're trying to tone & build muscle. If it's not sustainable and you're missing out on too much, you'll quit...I know I would have.

    You'll hear a lot of conflicting info around here, but just try to figure out what works for you and follow through - be honest with yourself as to what you're eating and the scales will be kind - log everything as best you can and you will succeed.
  • KingOfThoseWhoKnow
    KingOfThoseWhoKnow Posts: 53
    Thanks for all the fantastic replies, I can see everyone here is definitely very supportive and knows their stuff :) Buying a scales for weighing food is gonna be my first move, I am going to be nothing but meticulous when it comes to logging! Thanks for the tips about overestimating home made stuff too, that will definitely come in handy. Logging exercise will probably be a bit difficult, when I jog/swim etc, I take small rests between the high intensity parts of the exercise (the ACTUAL exercise haha). Should I log the whole time spent exercising, or just the higher intensity parts between rest? For example, I used to jog, with a 5 minute warm up walk, then 6 reps of [1 minute jogging, 90 seconds fast walk], then a 5 minute walk as cooldown (this was on the Couch to 5K programme). Is that technically only really 6 minutes of exercise?!, given the 6 jogging reps are the only real parts my body has to struggle with
  • SteveK279
    SteveK279 Posts: 134 Member
    If you have a smartphone, download one of the many apps like runkeeper etc that will track the distance / speed / calories etc for you. Ideally the best would be in conjunction with a heart rate monitor, but failing that, just try to estimate. If you went for a walk for a few hours you'd log it, so I'd log the lot since it's better than being lazy on the couch!

    Make sure your settings on here are set to sedentary though if you're logging everything, otherwise you're double counting it.

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