I came to myfitnesspal for myself.

I have always been overweight my whole life. A big part of it I believe has to do with living with a traditional Italian family. When ever I felt sad about anything my grandma would make me something special to eat. If I tried dieting my grandma would tell me I wasn't eating enough and try feeding me more. Now I know this isn't entirely her fault because I could have said no but I didn't. I struggled with depression since I was 13 years old caused by my parents separating. A big part of the major weight gain began in 2009. My mother in law passed away and my husband and I ate a tremendous amount of fast food during that year. I stopped caring about myself because I felt there wasn't a point. Like I mentioned in the previous discussion I am going to be 23 and my husband and I are newlyweds so I started thinking more about the future and how I would love to have kids. My mom is also overweight and when she got pregnant with my 3 brothers she ended up getting diabetes with all three pregnancies and it ended up staying with her after my youngest brother. That really woke me up to me wanting to be healthier.

I came to MFP after learning about it on another forum. I'm glad that I did. This site has been an invaluable resource.

I have been overweight all my life, but I didn't become obese until I was an adult. As a kid, I loved being active and being outdoors. I ran, climbed trees, biked, and hiked like everyone else, but I was just a little heavier than everyone else. I was also a very good eater as a kid, and the adults in my life loved to over-feed the happy, cute, chubby girl I was who ate everything they have to give? I was surrounded by loving well meaning people who didn't know what I was headed for.

I know that I am morbidly obese now because I refused to acknowledge the changes in my body that could have helped me to nip my weight gains in the bud long before I got to morbid obesity: When my favorite suit was no longer comfortable, when I couldn't button my winter coat from the year before, when a necklace my sister gave me no longer hung as low as it once did. There were signs that things were getting out of control, but I ignored them. As far as eating goes, I allowed food to become my comforter. Late nights with pizza and ice cream quelled loneliness and good times with friends always required a feast.

Fortunately, now that I know these things about myself I can change them. I no longer emotionally eat, and I pay attention to my body much more. I believe that as long as I have these two things under control, I can get out of the morbid obesity category.

As it stands, I am 14 pounds away from being less than 100 pounds overweight, which will take me out of the morbid obesity range.

I came here because my daughter was on here. She wanted to lose weight - she is not heavy but wanted to loose 15 pounds - but my unhealthy views on food and being a sugar junkie has fallen on her I am sure.
I joined - but have not been faithful...I only had 3 friends...not trying to branch out.
Monday I did - I joined groups, started a group and I am so encouraged. I think everything takes a village. I am a food addict and I dont want to admit that but I am. I eat fast and I cook way to much and I bring extra baggies to work when there is a meeting so I can take food home - I have been in my life where there wasn’t any food and then I have been where there was too much - used food to comfort myself and even when I was 137 pounds (Im 5;9) I thought I was fat. I clearly have issues with eating.
BUT I have overcome so many things (with the help of God) and I have transformed myself - I once was a caterpillar and now I am a butterfly and I REFUSE to believe that I cannot change my eating habits and live a healthy life style. I also know I cannot do it alone - I need MFP and these groups - these ladies who are gracious enough to share their stories and journey.


What I love is MFP is not just about success storeis its about the steps and the journey - I love to see "Half thier size" in people magazine - but it doesnt let me know really the struggle - and when I see others are like me and wanting like me - I am encouraged to be encouraging myself

Coming to this exact point, when I decided 22 days ago was the day, is a less then inspiring story but we need a back story.

I've been overweight since early childhood, its hard to know for how long but it was made abruptly clear to me in elementary school (maybe 2nd-3rd grade) by my first bully. A vicious older girl who made it plainly clear that i was fat. It was part of my families habit, at that point in time we weren't eating healthy and I learned to hate every sport you play as a kid (I didn't hate sports but I was never particularly good regardless of wight and had little interest so being connately put in the outfield in little league didn't go a long way to endearing me to sports). I don't blame my family, we were all complicit and we all suffered for it and we have all made strides to overcome and fix it. They have been tremendously supportive of me but I was the last hold out while I saw each of them make the changes. I took comfort in the fact for a long time that my mother was still overweight like me even as my father made big strides, but then one day i realized she was improving herself and i was just growing fatter.

I've lost weight before. When i was asked by my yoga instructor the last time was my ideal weight I had to admit it was in middle school. I still remember the school photo, to have that face again. I looked like any other kid. I lost the weight with my family in our first journey into weight loss at weight watchers. We had a family photo of us on a trip to Alcatraz island in San Francisco that spurred us into action. None of us liked that photo, theirs one copy covered in dust on the far side of the refrigerator that I refuse to look at (I think I destroyed the rest). WW worked for a time and I lost 10% of my body weight, 30lbs. I don't remember my weight at the time but i was happy. But eventually it stopped working, and as a teen I just didn't have it in me to keep it going. It would be that way for everyone in my family, we were in and out if WW multiple times. I've joined 3 times and each time left more quickly then the last. I wont go on a WW bash as its done wonders for my father who is still going as a lifetime member, but it certainly was a diet for me and not the lifestyle change I was really going to need.

From high school to college it just got worse, particularly in college and after i graduated. I was overweight in school but in the past 7 years I seemed to have been in a race to pack it on. Pack it on I did. I'm not even sure of me weight now. I have it down as 330 but it could be higher, the scale refuses to say. I know it gives me the error sign but i imagine its groaning at me when its little lcd says errr... I've let myself have this destructive life over the past 7 years as i've watched my parents transform theirs. My father now runs marathons at 60, completing his first 10k a year and half ago.

I've tired in that time to be satisfied with myself even though it was also giving me permission to continue on with my habits. You know when your eating 40 chicken nuggets and a cheeseburger in secret that you have big problems. But i have done the weightless before to no avail. I didn't want weightless i wanted a lifestyle change that would happen to include weightless. I wanted to learn to be comfortable with my body, to think about and eat food normally, to be in enough shape to do all the physical things I dream of.

Coming to this point in time was simple enough years being feed up with myself. None of what i was doing was giving me any sense of satisfaction and I could only see it getting worse. I am morbidly obese and i never want to have to say that about myself again. I couldn't wait for the right moment because every day was the right moment and that was just waiting for false motivation. Then at the beginning of last month I got a new client, a preschool teacher and yoga instructor I have know for a while, who wanted to do trade for work. I was offered two months of private yoga instruction and accountability for the work she wanted me to do for her. I knew that was the perfect opportunity to start, if not then than when? If i could keep it up for two months then i could do it for a year. Two months of yoga couldn't be that hard (it is) and i didn't want to come out of this feeling like i wasted an opportunity, like i did with that gym membership two years ago (I can't even step in the door for the shame of running into the trainer who was helping me).

I'm 22 days in and the yoga is incidental now. It's about the path i am on. I found myfitnesspal the day before my first class and during our meeting when asked about how I would manage my eating her first recommendation was the same app.

I've been logging everything (ok can was forget about that big chocolate egg from easter, i swear i only ate it all in one go so that the temptation wouldn't be their) every day faithfully for the past 22 days. I told myself at the begging this was a lifestyle change, not a diet. that i wouldn't be ashamed of where i was beginning or how I progressed, that i would do it in a realistic manner and that i would enjoy what i ate. At 20 days in i could look back and say to myself that if the next 20 days were like the past 20 days, getting to 40 wouldn't be an issue. I've been happy eating even under my calorie allowance. It hasn't been easy but i'm enjoying the food and if i can enjoy what i am eating the bit of exercise i do each day then living my life like this is a perfectly obtainable goal.

I still don't know if i'm losing weight, but one day when the scale finely gives me a number i'll know i'm on the right track.

Idlehands, ask your doc to refer you to a lymphedema clinic. They will show you how to do lymph drainage to move some of the fluid out of your legs and will measure you for compression stockings that FIT. My legs get too swollen to wear off the rack stockings, so the custom fit ones are a godsend. Even if your doc insists it's not lymphedema, push for the referral. You likely have a combo of edema, lymphedema, and lipedema, all of which can be helped with drainage (which is a type of massage) and stockings.

Thank you for this! I will look for one in my area, I think with my insurance I don't need a referral for a specialist but I'll double check that. I appreciate it, it really is a big fear for me. And I also have a bad habit of hiding from my fears rather than dealing with them.

Good for you! My experience with the lymphedema specialists has been wonderful. My legs were so swollen they were starting to crack and weep fluid. Now they are half the size they were, with no skin issues.

That's so good to hear, they're not at that point yet but it probably wouldn't be long. I have a patch of red itchy skin on the front of each leg