It's time...

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LadyLeonard84
LadyLeonard84 Posts: 8 Member
in Introduce Yourself
Hello everyone :)
My name is Jenna, I'm a 29 year old Mom of 3 living in Ohio. I've been a "big girl" for as long as I can remember and tried dieting here and there but nothing ever serious and nothing I stuck to. I was raised that food equated to love and comfort. My Mama was very big on "I'm sorry for _______, here have a donut!".She also never cooked and literally 3 meals a day were eaten outside the house from various drive thru windows and small local diners where nothing was off limits, etc. I spent a good 4-5 evenings a week scribbling my homework in a Dunkin Donuts at about 10pm >.<
I mean when I look back at that, it's no wonder I was overweight from the age of 8 and as a Mom now myself, it's just horrifying to me and makes me angry as those formmitive years laid a very poor nutritional foundation.

The big motivator now is two fold- Small health issues are beginning to crop up, boarderline hypertension, boarderline pre-diabetic, etc. I'm not even 30 and I'm on a high blood pressure med... (I run 141/91 when I first arrive at the Dr. I've got major "white coat syndrome" though. At home I run about 130/89) That's scary. My husband also needs to lose a considerable amount of weight and he is already on medication for minor Type 2 Diabetes, Blood pressure med, and a liver med. And I'm watching one of my children start to put on the pounds in the same areas I was body wise and I worry about her. My father's whole side of the family is large, all with the same body types/shapes, etc. I've watched them all struggle for my entire life.
I cook a lot, 99% from scratch- but we are not an active family. I've just put my paperwork in for local YMCA membership and the weather is getting nicer and I'm currently shopping for a treadmill, but I need to reel in the food end as well.
I suspect carbs and sugar are a huge problem. I make homemade bread very often, and I probably shouldn't be :frown:

Anyway, other than the health danger end, I'm dying to have another baby and I've had some cycle issues that I believe are weight related. My Dr. has recently put me on Metformin as she suspects polycystic ovarian syndrome, so I'm on this for 3 months and then a re-check to see if there have been any changes. She's already talking possible fertility meds to aid conception. I feel fine about having a plus sized pregnancy, I've had two deliveries at a weight of about 310lbs and four plus sized pregnancies total, all normal deliveries (one baby was stillborn in 2004 due to a cord accident). But I don't want to be THIS plus sized. I'd like to take off about 40-50lbs before I seriously try to concieve. I've only gained 12-14lbs with my last two pregnancies but I still wouldn't want to be where I'm at now at delivery.

So there's that. I've been keeping my food diary on here for several days now, not made any changes yet, just logging my normal eating habits so I can see where the problems are. I'm not starting anything serious until next Thursday or Friday as I'm going on vacation from tomorrow to Wednesday so I figure that will give us (my husband and I) some time to talk about what route we want to take, etc. He's logging his food too.

I'm at the point that I'm not looking at it as a diet, it's a life style change that needs to be made long term and I'm ready.
Hope to make some friends!

Replies

  • drfalktorres
    drfalktorres Posts: 30 Member
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    You can add me as a friend for support! My sister and i both struggled with PCOS…she was on Metformin for years and struggled conceiving-- I was lucky and for the most part, the symptoms are not severe in my case. I can relate to MUCH of your experience (borderline hypertension, food as a source of comfort, etc.)…I haven't made much progress since starting back up a month ago-- but I'm planning on turning that around immediately! I'm with you…it's time….
  • tiggerhammon
    tiggerhammon Posts: 2,211 Member
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    You may add me of you'd like. I am not currently trying to lose but will be again fairly soon.
    Do your research and educate yourself on healthy eating and exercise. There are so many things that are misunderstood (like carbs are bad - no, not really) and so many myths.
    Don't try to drastically change overnight. If you throw out all your favorite foods and stock up on only fruits and vegetables and commit to running every day - you are more than likely going to fail. Make changes slowly, phase out the junk and learn to bake some more healthy things. Make it fun, learning to cook new dishes and all. Drink more water and keep yourself encouraged (that's where we come in very helpful) and don't give up. You are on the road to a better life now.
  • LadyLeonard84
    LadyLeonard84 Posts: 8 Member
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    Drink more water

    I'm about to post this somewhere else but when you said this, my ears perked up... One thing that is glaringly obvious since I started my food journal is that I am NOT taking in enough fluids... Like two days ago, other than a cup of coffee in the morning, I literally drank ONE glass of water that entire 24 hour period. Yesterday was the best I've done at 6 glasses but I'm struggling. My normal seems to hover around 4 glasses of water and morning coffee. I don't drink soda, or anything, I'm talking that is it! That worries me badly but what concerns me more is that I'm not thirsty! How on earth do I make myself start drinking more? Those 6 glasses yesterday had me feeling like I was going to float away. This cannot be good :(
  • rrlwelter
    rrlwelter Posts: 40 Member
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    Your body is accustomed to dehydration, that's why you're not thirsty.

    I carry around a 24 oz Camelbak (indestructible: I have it with me unless I'm sleeping, and have used the same one for over 2 years now working in schools, boating, camping, running). I have 2 s-biners on the handle, one with brightly colored jumprings on it. Each time I refill the bottle, I move a ring from the top to the bottom.

    Initially, I was just going for 3-4 bottles per day, and it was HARD. Now, after working on this for 4 years, my body gets unhappy on fewer than 5, and generally works best (unless it's summer and I'm active) on 7-8 bottles per day. Yes, that's 168-192 oz of water per day. However, I do not drink coffee or soda, and only 8 oz of almond milk (gut issues prevent all 3).

    It's made a huge difference in my skin tone, my energy level, and various bloodwork as toxins are carried away more efficiently.

    I suppose this is a long way to say get in the habit of carrying around a water bottle, and track how much you drink. At first, just add bit, and keep doing that until you can add a bit more. It WILL make a difference.
  • lynnmariestan1
    lynnmariestan1 Posts: 36 Member
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    I also think the best thing to do is to make changes slowly but consistently. I tried a million times to just stop eating anything unhealthy and make drastic changes to my diet, only to fail within days or a week or two, then gorge myself on all of the foods I had cut out, like pizza, candy, donuts, cookies, etc. Then I would gain more weight really quickly, and then try to drastically change my diet, end up too hungry too often, and then go right back to all of the foods that make me gain weight. It was a cycle for years and years, and you'd think somewhere along the line I would have been able to stop it, but I always vowed that "this time I'm not gonna go back to those foods. I am going to lose weight and be healthy".
    I still struggle with food, but am doing MUCH better these days. I would recommend reading a lot of articles or books on what different foods do for you. I would recommend reading "Forks over Knives" or "It starts with Food" or any number of books or articles on how different foods will affect our bodies. It may seem really extreme at first, so I like that other person's comment about just start with baking your treats in a more healthy way. Look up healthier recipes for the foods you like. Drink water constantly, and after awhile, it will become a habit, not something that you have to force yourself to do. Go for walks. Dance to some good music in your house. Changing your eating seems like a struggle at first, but when it finally becomes "normal" to think about something before you eat it, you will know you have made progress. I never thought I would like vegetables. I thought they were so boring, and would basically cram carrots down my throat just to get their nutrition. But then I looked up recipes for roasted vegetables, and have learned that if you put some coconut oil or olive oil on pretty much any vegetable, toss on some sea salt and pepper or any spices that you like, and roast those bad boys, you will have a delicious and healthy food to enjoy.
    My best advice is to spend A LOT of time researching healthy lifestyles. I have found that one website will lead me to another, and you will find there are so many websites with amazing recipes to make healthy food taste waaaaaaayyyyyyyyy better than junk food. And THE BEST THING is that after you eat a delicious, healthy meal, you will be full and satisfied, but you wont feet fat and bloated, and like you need to lay down and groan and burp. You will feed good, and you will have energy to take a walk or do the laundry, or whatever activity you want to do. Eating garbage foods always makes me want to stay sitting, and I'm tired and feel angry at myself for having eating that crap. Even though while I was eating it, I thought I was really enjoying it.
    Good luck, and feel free to add me. I am big time into changing for the better, and since I love food, I am enjoying learning new healthy foods to make all the time.
  • kareniniowa
    kareniniowa Posts: 15 Member
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    You can add me as well. Your story is heartbreaking (childhood diet etc.) I am a 48 year old mom of 3. My mom was a great cook and served us veggies or fruit with every meal. I was blessed to have a good role model that way. I passed that onto our 3 children ages now: 23, 20 and 19. We cook together now & implement our healthy choices with our meals to this day. I am not perfect by any means however, I have a journey of at least 100 lbs. I need to lose that have crept on to spite our home cooking. I would love to give you support and/or ideas for you and your little ones as it was something I was passionate about while raising my babies. Best of luck! We all are in this journey together!
  • LadyLeonard84
    LadyLeonard84 Posts: 8 Member
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    You guys are amazing... Tears in my eyes for the kindness shown here. It's almost like: Full on food- staved on friendship/kindness/etc. But it also cannot be just anyone, it has to be someone who "Gets it"! I'm so looking forward to my time here!

    I've been making some big changes already this year, my motto is "unloading burdens", whether that be mental burdens, physical burdens, etc. Anything standing in the way of happiness. So far this year I've cut off some toxic relationships, lightened my work/stress load in my home, backed out of a very stressful high profile community commitment where I had served for years, reworked my finances to decrease stress, and quit smoking. Mentally, I feel amazing, on top of the world- and my marriage is stronger than it's been in years. I'm so in love with my husband and decreasing all that other junk that was taking my attention away from my family and life enjoyment has been so refreshing. I've actually had a couple days in the last month where I have known true euphoric happiness for the first time in my life, where I would just stop dead in my tracks and want to pinch myself for being SO happy. It's such a heady feeling, yet so scary as well because I want more/don't want it to end, but worry that the weight will compromise my future happiness health wise. I feel so much lighter already (mentally!) Now I just need to match the physical portion up a little ;-)

    Thank you guys again for such a warm welcome.
  • ravenribbs
    ravenribbs Posts: 289 Member
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    Feel free to add me--more company on the journey makes it more do-able and more fun!
  • tiggerhammon
    tiggerhammon Posts: 2,211 Member
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    Drink more water

    I'm about to post this somewhere else but when you said this, my ears perked up... One thing that is glaringly obvious since I started my food journal is that I am NOT taking in enough fluids... Like two days ago, other than a cup of coffee in the morning, I literally drank ONE glass of water that entire 24 hour period. Yesterday was the best I've done at 6 glasses but I'm struggling. My normal seems to hover around 4 glasses of water and morning coffee. I don't drink soda, or anything, I'm talking that is it! That worries me badly but what concerns me more is that I'm not thirsty! How on earth do I make myself start drinking more? Those 6 glasses yesterday had me feeling like I was going to float away. This cannot be good :(

    Okay, first, one cup of water in a day probably isn't good. Second, 8 glasses of water a day is not neccesary! 8 glasses equates closer to 16cups than 8 cups and 8 cups is the recommended, not 8 glasses. Third, there is no scientific evidence behind that 8 cups thing either.
    Biggest reason I say drink more water is partly because it is filling, it will help you eat less and feel a little more full and because sometimes hunger is confused with thirst. Try this, of you think you are hungry, drink a glass of water first and wait a bit. Then, if you are still hungry - eat.
    The amount of 'water' we consume in a day is not only calculated by how much water you drink. How much water do you suppose you are getting from you watermelon, your oatmeal, etc...? There is water is almost everything we eat. Unless you are eating saltines all day, you don't really need to be tanking water.
    There has been no proven health benefits in drinking tons of water, but on the flip side, drinking 8 full glasses of water a day isn't going to hurt you in any way either. So, go ahead, drink all the water you want. And, when you fall short, don't stress it.

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