Newbie very unmotivated and anxious...

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AzureKitsuneChan
AzureKitsuneChan Posts: 8
in Health and Weight Loss
I apologize if this post seems all over the place. Its nearly 5 am as I write this and I am just very nervous.

I have been heavy my whole life. Either I didn't do a lot to do about it, or when I did, I didn't do a lot. Last year at school I did take the gym "class" that offers us a whole membership for a gym, where I did most my work on the elliptical and treadmill. Just walking. My knees are too week to run with this much weight (at only age 22. Ouch.). I don't have high blood pressure or diabetes yet, and my doctor actually didn't seem that concerned about it, to be honest... I used to drink a lot of Pepsi (Not diet), but have since quit. Now I drink a lot of water and green tea. Sometimes kool-aid... But I very, very rarely drink soda at all anymore.

I was proposed to by my boyfriend (now fiance..) on my birthday and we plan a wedding in approximately 2 years and it just suddenly snapped me to attention. I want my fiance to be able to carry me out of the ceremony when it's over. I want to look good and be confident on my honeymoon. I want wedding photos I can be incredibly proud of. (No offense to anyone... Just saying..) and the only way I can do that is if I take action somewhere..

The problems arise when.. I don't have a job. My fiance is the only worker in the house, and even his paycheck barely keeps us afloat. We rarely have money to go out or order, which is good. But it also puts a big strain on what I can afford to buy. We get food stamps to sustain us. Usually I buy the staples - bread (wheat), milk (red cap. whole?), eggs (white, not brown), brown rice (Minute), taco seasoning and shells (corn, I think), russet potatoes, frozen fish, canned veggies, fresh fruit, fresh lettuce (I think iceberg though?), ground beef (tubes of 5 pds of it.), and frozen chicken breasts... We sometimes eat manwich or hamburger helper, but often I cook. Usually baked chicken, or fish. Or I make stuffed green peppers or meatloaf..

I don't know how healthy my diet is. We also buy some yogurts and eat pb&js for lunch, usually 1 or 2. Or sometimes I have 1 can of Chef Boyardee Beefaroni. sometimes I dont eat lunch. We have bacon or sausage (3 peices) for breakfast with eggs, or pancakes. But usually I dont eat cereal. On the occasion that we have cereal I like frosted miniwheats, or honey nut cheerios. However, we do eat a lot of fruit! I don't have many 'weaknesses' anymore. I dont like candy, or chocolate very much. I finally kicked soda - its never in the house. I don't care for chips anymore, and only eat a few when we have them. I do like cheez its but rarely buy them...

I suppose what I believe I 'need' is someone to help me build a healthy, cheap, and easy 30 day menu that would help me lose the weight. I plan on mostly doing my exercise by walking... My knees, as I said, are very weak and cant even handle a jog yet. I've been heavy since i was VERY young. Perhaps swimming, when I can get to a pool. But only casual swimming. I dont like laps... I know i need to find an exercise I enjoy, because it's always been the feeling of being "locked" into something thats discouraged me before. I know, I am full of excuses. I've been trying to pull myself up, but have very little support. Hardly any family or friends...

So I guess, can I do it? Eat a healthier menu and just walk, and perhaps swim, and be able to lose the weight I need to by October 2016? I know we cannot afford a gym membership... So I cannot get to one any time soon. Even just 5 dollars... There is no way. and I severely dislike gym environments - they intimidate me. I always feel like Im being stared at and I dont want to move.

So I guess if anyone can help me, that would be amazing. I don't want to give up again..

Thanks!
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  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    weight loss comes from how much you eat not what you eat...you can eat all those things you listed and still lose weight. Just smaller portions of them.

    exercise is for health...

    there is no reason you can't lose weight...you just need to be in a reasonable calorie deficit...

    If you want to walk or swim great no gym membership necessary...lots don't go to the gym...I don't...
  • joanna_82
    joanna_82 Posts: 151 Member
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    It sounds like you need to take a giant leap forward and start giving this a go. Without knowing your current height, weight and how much you want to lose I can make specific suggestions, but start with putting all your information into the site and calculate how many calories you can have a day for a reasonable weight loss. Then plan how you can eat the things that you can afford into that calorie allowance.

    Walking is great, so get out and walk as much as you can.

    One day at a time. Start today!
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    OK so you have a target to aim for ...congratulations on your engagement :D

    And yes you feel like you have lots of obstacles in your way...but we all do

    So plot in your stats on this amazing free website, see how many calories you should be eating to achieve weight loss and go from there

    As for money ...

    exercise can be free ...start walking, everywhere...spend a few dollars on a cheap pedometer and track how much you walk now ...try to increase it...aim for 10,000 steps a day eventually...walk to the cheapest shops ...walk to the park..to find work etc...walk briskly in 10 min bursts

    Vegetables are cheap and filling ...find the reduced aisles in your supermarket

    Look for budget, filling meals (these can be incredibly tasty) ...here's a British website of someone who feeds herself and her child well for pennies (cents) ...adapt the recipes. http://agirlcalledjack.com/category/recipes-food/

    Invest in a cheap digital scale and weigh all your food (Wallmart?)

    Drink lots of water directly from the tap

    It's not impossible.. It's not even more difficult than other people's challenges ...you just have to want to do it...and then do it...and when you have a setback get up and do it again

    You can do it
  • Booda101
    Booda101 Posts: 161 Member
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    Congratulations to you for wanting to take charge of your health and life! Sure it seems daunting at first, but it will be so worth it.

    Definitely read this post: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

    Start at with small changes that you can sustain. For me as an examle it was switching to a sweetener instead of sugar in my daily coffee. Little things like that will help shave calories and definitely add up over time.

    Walking is a great exercise. Do what you can. Set a goal of say, walk to the end of the block or parking lot or whatever it is. Then add a little distance each time. Like I said, just do what you can. You'll probably surprise yourself when you put your mind to it.

    What many people (myself included) advocate is how much you eat, not necessarily what. (But you'll see the debates daily). I don't restrict myself as an all or none, I just cut way back on things I love (ice cream comes to mind). Just determine what your caloric needs are and try to stick to them

    You can do it!!
  • AzureKitsuneChan
    AzureKitsuneChan Posts: 8
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    Weird. I thought you all would be able to see my profile. I did put all my info into it - height, weight, etc - and set it to public. I am 22, 5'0 even, 210 pounds and I'm trying to get down to 125 in the next 2 years. Sorry. I had assumed you all could see that... Like I said, I'm very new here. What small changes should I make to begin with? I have a hard time seeing what I can do in certain situations. We dont use a lot of sugar... Dont drink coffee... Hmm.

    We do eat a lot of vegetables, but usually canned because I have to try to feed both of us on $180 a month.. Which is quite difficult for me, as the 5 pds of ground beef is $17 and we usually buy two of them... The frozen fish is also quite expensive. I *do* tend to deep fry some things - home made fries, and cat fish, sometimes chicken tenders, etc... But its not often.

    As for how far I can walk, I can actually walk pretty far already. I've never had a license or a car myself, and up until recently, had to walk everywhere. I'm actually quite used to it! I am just very, very lazy. Thus why I cant do the harder exercises quite yet. Anything too extensive would just bore me and burn me out. I get more enjoyment sitting on the computer or playing xbox currently. Probably how I got where I am, tbh. But I am definitely trying. Wish I had stairs in my house!!!

    It'll be harder when school starts again. School burns me out pretty bad.

    But thanks for all the words of encouragement, guys. Hopefully I can pull this off, huh? c: It would be nice to fit into less than a size 14 jean or enjoy wearing skirts..
  • sodakat
    sodakat Posts: 1,126 Member
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    My suggestion is to start logging everything you eat now into the daily food journal. That will give you a good idea of how many calories you consume daily compared to what MFP suggests you should eat. Once you know how much you are eating you can cut your portion sizes to fit within your weight loss goal.

    You do need to buy a food scale. Maybe you can earn some money by doing odd jobs (whatever you are able to do that there is a need for in your neighborhood). I know it is super tough to eyeball meat, rice, pasta etc. Even fruit should be weighed for accurate logging. Meanwhile log the best you can until you can afford a food scale and get an idea of your daily calorie consumption.
  • michikade
    michikade Posts: 313 Member
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    I know you're dealing with a very tight budget so I'll try to keep that in mind.

    I don't know the fat percent of the ground beef you buy, but could you move to one step leaner (so if it's 73/27 maybe go 80/20, or if it's 80/20 go 90/10). I know it's a little more expensive but it'll shrink less (so more food - May last a little longer) and the lower fat percent will naturally mean lower calorie count.

    Pinto beans are dirt cheap and a pound of them can make a pretty big pot.

    There's nothing wrong with canned veggies in my opinion, just keep an eye on added salt content (salts good for you, don't get me wrong, but it can lead to water retention if you're having a bit too much of it). Although, the no salt added ones can be flavorless sometimes so you may have to weigh pros and cons. I don't know how you fix them up - if it's straight can to heat to plate cool but if you add butter or something you can cut that in half or out completely to reduce some calories. (I'm southern - most people here put butter in everything, hahahaha).

    You could try, if the budget allows, to Change the wheat bread to a heartier bread like whole grain or 9 grain or something. I find those kinds stick with me a little longer than a regular wheat and some wheat bread has extra sugar in it.

    You can lose weight by eating exactly what you eat right now, just measuring everything and eating a bit less. I would also say reducing the fried foods one more step - if not very often means twice a month, for example, maybe make it once a month,
  • AliceDark
    AliceDark Posts: 3,886 Member
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    Congratulations on your engagement!

    If you spend some time on the forums, you'll see people tell you a billion different things that you "have" to do in order to lose weight. Most of them are total BS. You don't HAVE to change your eating habits in order to lose weight. You don't even have to exercise. All you have to do is burn more than you take in, over time, but how you do that is 100% up to you.

    I think most people find it easiest and most sustainable to start with little changes that don't have a huge impact on your quality of life. Some people want to start out balls-to-the-wall and decide that they're only going to eat 1200 calories of skinless chicken and kale, but those people are delusional if they think they can keep that up long enough to make a difference. Nobody can do that, unless they're a robot. (If you're a robot, you should totally tell us, because that would be cool).

    You can keep eating the same way as you do now, just eat a little less of it. Learning how to log your food accurately makes a huge difference, so you should read this: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1234699-logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide

    Walking is fabulous exercise. For now, unless and until you want to try something else, you don't have to do anything other than walk. You can try to push yourself a little bit as you start to lose weight, and go a little longer/farther/faster (not necessarily all three), every week.

    Realistically, you're going to be working on losing weight for a long time. That's not meant to be discouraging, it just is what it is. Don't try to do anything now that you can't sustain for the next 1-2 years, because that's a recipe for failure.
  • AzureKitsuneChan
    AzureKitsuneChan Posts: 8
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    Thanks for the congrats guys! My fiance is awesome. We have been together nearly 2 years, but I've known him for forever. Haha. He's very supportive of me regardless. He doesn't like me to down talk myself so he is constantly telling me how beautiful I am to him... But he does support my weight loss goals!! He went on my walk with me today.

    The meat we buy is 80/20 so 80% lean. Idk how good that is. We cook about a pound at a time, but we usually have some left over so I might eat... 40% of a pound. I'm bad at math XD I figured it would take a long time but do you guys think it can be done in 2 years? that's my goal anyway..

    So I guess. How do I properly log food? Fiance wanted Manwich tonight. Should I log what the can says and how much I ate of it, with the buns separately? and when I cook with spices, how do I factor those in? I don't usually measure those, but go by taste. I will definitely invest in a scale, but it may take some time as we are behind rent and Sprint. But I will definitely try. Until then, how can I better log?
    For example, I made bbq chicken breasts last night? Each breast was about half a pound and we each ate one breast. But I also put a sprinkle of salt, paper, mesquite spice, and 2 drops of liquid smoke on them, plus 3 separate brushings of sweet baby rays bbq sauce. How would I accurately log that?


    Thanks so much. All of you.
  • michikade
    michikade Posts: 313 Member
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    I wouldn't worry so much about the spices, but the barbecue sauce should be tracked if possible just because of the sugar - and therefore carbs and calories - of it. A sprinkle of salt, pepper, etc will be fairly negligible unless you have a medical situation regarding your sodium intake - in which case tracking the salt should be done.

    What you can do before you get a scale is estimate as close as possible. You can use measuring cups for your portions of veggies and fruits (or even meats if you want to chop them up to fit them in the measuring cup - it works better for ground beef though, haha). Eyeballing pieces of meat is rather difficult but if you buy a bag of the frozen chicken breasts, for example, and the whole bag is 48oz net and it came with 10 chicken breasts (these are random guesses, I know usually that size bag has a few fewer than that), if each breast is about the same size you'd know they're roughly 4.8 oz each. Same goes for fish fillets. Just be aware that guessing isn't going to be accurate - but it WILL give you at least an idea.
  • AzureKitsuneChan
    AzureKitsuneChan Posts: 8
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    I usually do "weigh" my meats that way. We carefully measure five exact "slices" in the 5 lb roll of ground beef so it should be pretty close. I actually prefer to substitute ground turkey, but the budget does not allow for it at the moment... Beyond that, I'm still confused on how to currently accurately log it all. Like before, with the manwich. Do I log the meat filling with the buns separately?


    Actually. Even with a scale I wouldn't quite know how to do that. Hm.

    Like if I make a pb&j, do I weigh the whole thing? Or the bread, peanut butter, and jelly separately, since they all have different nutritional values? I feel that would be teidious, but most accurate.... So no clue!
  • UmmSqueaky
    UmmSqueaky Posts: 715 Member
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    Your goal is totally doable. I started 8 months ago, 5'1, 205 lbs. I'm currently at 150 and hope to be to 125 by the end of the year.

    Check to see if your local library can get this cookbook:

    http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/08/01/337141837/cheap-eats-cookbook-shows-how-to-eat-well-on-a-food-stamp-budget

    And save up a bit each week to get a food scale. The food scale has changed my life. When preparing a recipe, I weigh each ingredient. I then enter that amount into the recipe builder here on MFP. I then weigh the finished product and divide it by whatever number gives me 100g per serving. So, if the manwhich I made weighs 1000 grams, I say it has 10 servings. I weight the manwhich I want to eat - say it weighs 230 g. So, I ate 2.3 servings of my manwhich. Log that, plus the bun it goes on and voila, I've logged my meal.

    Re: physical activity. Get out and walk. Walk a lot. If your area is bike friendly, save to buy a bike at a garage sale. Check out the fitness section at your local library for low impact cardio dvds to borrow, and books on using your body weight for strength training.
  • UmmSqueaky
    UmmSqueaky Posts: 715 Member
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    re peanut butter sandwich:

    Get our your food scale and make sure it's 0.
    Stick your bread on it and record the weight.
    Press tare to get it to 0 again.
    Scoop out your peanut butter and record the weight.
    Press tare to get it to 0 again.
    Scoop out your jelly and record the weight.

    Go to MFP and find the entry for each of the 3 items. Log them with the weights you recorded. Voila, pbj sandwich recorded.
  • JTick
    JTick Posts: 2,131 Member
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    re peanut butter sandwich:

    Get our your food scale and make sure it's 0.
    Stick your bread on it and record the weight.
    Press tare to get it to 0 again.
    Scoop out your peanut butter and record the weight.
    Press tare to get it to 0 again.
    Scoop out your jelly and record the weight.

    Go to MFP and find the entry for each of the 3 items. Log them with the weights you recorded. Voila, pbj sandwich recorded.

    Or, option 2 if you don't like math:

    A serving of PB is 32 grams. Place jar on scale. Press tare. Scoop until it says "-32 g". Enter 1 serving of PB.

    I almost always make my servings the exact amount...It just saves an extra step.
  • michikade
    michikade Posts: 313 Member
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    Yes, for the highest accuracy you weigh things individually. So for the manwich, you'd log the bun by itself and then the filling (the highest accuracy would be to log the meat, sauce and any other additives separately - so if, for example, you had a half cup of ground meat, plus maybe a sixth of a can of sauce, plus whatever else you put on it, until you get a scale, because then you can actually figure out grams on the meat).

    For the PB&J, you'd need to weigh each thing individually. You could put in, say, a tablespoon of peanut butter and a teaspoon of jelly but the grams would give you a better idea (my tablespoons of PB, for example, may easily be closer to 2 tablespoons if I'm not being careful and accurate --- HEAPING spoonful, I love that stuff ;P) Some things have a negligible difference in calories but over the course of a day those differences really start to add up if you aren't careful and mindful of what you're writing down. I have accidentally neglected to write down stuff before and so at the end of the day I thought my remaining calories on my plan were much higher than they actually were and ended up overindulging. It happens to all of us.

    Yeah, it can be a little tedious to log each thing individually but as you keep at it for a while you'll get much faster about getting things in, and if you eat similar things they'll start coming up in your "recent foods" list which takes a step out of the equation (assuming your measurements are the same each time). Like, for example, I weighed out some 25 gram bags of almonds and put them in snack ziplock baggies in the pantry so now if I want to grab a bag of nuts I know exactly how much it was. I do suggest for some grab-and-go foods to pre-weigh portions once you get your scale for stuff like that - makes it faster especially if you are wanting something on the go.
  • AliceDark
    AliceDark Posts: 3,886 Member
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    Until you get a food scale, it's fine to use measuring cups and spoons. They're not as accurate as a scale, but they're much better than eyeballing! Plus, you know, baby steps. It's not a big change to start using measuring spoons, and then it's another small change to go from spoons to a scale. For the peanut butter and jelly, use a baking measuring spoon (not a regular old measuring spoon) and level off the peanut butter with a knife before you spread it onto your bread.

    You could also start using the Recipe Builder tool for things like the sloppy joe filling. Plug in the amounts for the full pot of filling (a can of sauce and a pound of meat or whatever), tell the tool that it makes however many servings, then you'll have customized entries in your database that you can pick from. Again, it's not as accurate as a scale, but if you're picking entries from the general database, you have no idea whether or not they're even close to what you're making. This way, at least you're in the ballpark.
  • allie_00p
    allie_00p Posts: 280 Member
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    Added you :flowerforyou:
    As others have said, my first suggestion would be to get a digital food scale (I got one at Walmart for about $18) focus on getting your eating on track first, try to move more. Once you feel like you've gotten into a rhythm with that, then worry about how to start a workout program. Congratulations on your engagement, that is such an exciting time! Wish you the very best!
  • Annabear3
    Annabear3 Posts: 92 Member
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    Congratulations on the engagement! That's a very happy motivation

    I am working to lose a lot of weight myself and so I know it's hard to change life habits. My recommendation is that you log everything you eat the very best you can, either weighing it or using measuring cups. Use the guide the MFP gives you on the number of calories you need to consume to lose your desired amount of weight. If you keep in within the right range of calories, you'll lose weight. As for exercise, walking is a fantastic choice! It's how I got started a month ago. You'll start to feel stronger and your stamina will increase. You can move up to other forms of exercise if you want, but there is no rush. My husband and I have turned our walks into exploration time. We try to hit different parts of our neighborhood and walk up and down the streets. We've found all sorts of hidden paths, crazy home decor, and even a small hidden playground! I use an app on my phone called Map My Fitness. It creates a map of where we are going, how far we've gone, and how many calories burned. You can even link it to MFP.

    You can also go on you tube and find all sorts of low impact workouts that you can follow along with in the comfort of your home for some extra movement or to change up your routine.

    Good luck! You'll do great as long as you remember more calories out than in. If you need a friend on the site, I'm here :)
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
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    yes, you can do this. You do not need a gym membership. I'm a student (at age 39) and have access to a campus fitness center but it takes too much time to drive 15 miles each way when I'm not otherwise on campus. Time better spent elsewhere. Walking is GREAT exercise. You don't really need any other tools.

    If you do not have one, I highly recommend getting a food scale. $20 or less, and since you'll be eating less food overall it will 'pay' for itself.

    The foods you listed are fine. Any food is fine to eat actually - the key is how much you have overall, and tracking/logging everything accurately. Have smaller portions of the main dishes and more salad. Perhaps get spinach to go along with the iceberg and throw in some other veggies as well.

    Set goals. You don't have to master everything all at once.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
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    One other thing about the ground beef - depending on how you prepare it, you can get rid of alot of the fat (and calories) of the lowest quality ground beef. Google Hillbilly Housewife and ground beef, and I think you'll find the article with statistics, etc. Browning, draining: removes much of the fat. The main difference then being that you end up with less finished product when you use 73/27 than 97/3 but the cost savings makes up for it.

    Also if there is an Aldi near you - check them out. Its a no-frills grocery store so lower overhead. Lots of generics but good for the basics.

    Baking, grilling of course will be lower cal/lower fat than frying. Not that you should eliminate all fat, but how you prepare food has a big impact on the # of calories you consume.

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