Overwhelmed by it all

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A bit of background:

I'm 23 and sooooooo overweight. I have been ever since I was 18 and it's been going up and up ever since.

I've tried different diets, Weight Watchers, Slim Fast, 5:2, cambridge and even been on MFP a good few times only to loose weight and pile more back on or give up after a couple of weeks.

Now here I am, heavier than ever with about 100lbs to loose and it just seems like I'm setting myself up for failure as it's such an huge seemingly impossible task.

Did anyone else ever feel this way? How did you get over it?

Replies

  • CJisinShape
    CJisinShape Posts: 1,404 Member
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    Take it one step at a time. Instead of extreme workouts, try walking. Instead of having a "clean" diet, try eating a good breafast, and add more vegetables to your diet. You'll find that the changes are easier to stick to if you don't pile them all on at once. It may not make for super fast weight loss, but at least you'll stop gaing weight, feel more in control, and have a place of strength from which to make the big push.
  • jwats8
    jwats8 Posts: 112
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    You can do it! Just take it one day at a time- MFP is a great tool- we are all here to help, and we all understand what you are going through... I suggest you make this site an absolute every day- log everything you eat, even if you eat insanely bad- bad days happen to everybody. I have found that logging in every day here keeps me on track, and even if I do fall off the wagon- (sometimes the wagon runs over me back and forth thump thump thump)- I get back on track much easier by logging on here. Friend me if you want!
  • ossentia
    ossentia Posts: 96 Member
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    This isn't a race. So what if you have 100 pounds to lose or even more than that? It's one day at a time. A year will pass whether you're counting calories or not. It's up to you how you pass that time. Next August, you can be the same weight (or bigger) if you do nothing or you can be at a healthier weight because you've taken control of your eating habits.

    Once you make the decision to get healthy, you do the best you can every day by counting calories and moving more (even if that only means taking the stairs instead of the elevator or parking at the other end of the grocery store parking lot). On the days that you go over your calories, you do better the next day. One "bad" day or even a few doesn't make you a failure, and it doesn't ruin what you will have already accomplished. There is never a reason to "give up" because this is not a diet. You are learning how to live a healthier life. It isn't all or nothing, either.

    And, you don't have just one goal: lose all this weight. You have several smaller goals. Lose ten pounds, fit into a smaller size, walk a mile without getting winded, see your feet while standing straight up (that was a cool one for me). Do this slow and steady and you'll be amazed at the changes you'll see. Good luck!
  • no_time_like_the_present
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    Thanks everyone for the support :)

    I know you're all right and it will take time but I guess because I've lost lots before (about 50lbs last year) then gained it back plus extra I'm just worried about it happening again.

    Luckily my friends are very supportive and I'm going for a walk after work with one of them tonight so like you say, it's a step in the right direction!!

    Hopefully I can stay motivated - It doesnt help that I have a family meal out tomorrow. My family are the worst for commenting on my weight and when I fall off the wagon of diets so if they see that I'm not having the usual 3 courses + a bottle of wine they'll know I've started to try and lose weight again and the comments will come about how it never works ect....

    Sorry, mini rant over!
  • girlviernes
    girlviernes Posts: 2,402 Member
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    That's really tough to sit through those types of comments. What do you think you could say in response to stand up for yourself?

    By the way, it is "lose" weight not "loose" weight.

    Aloha!
  • trogalicious
    trogalicious Posts: 4,584 Member
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    if you're yo-yo-ing... then you're not making sustainable changes.

    do it gradually. slowly. make changes that you can live with for the rest of your life.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1235566-so-you-re-new-here

    you aren't new here, but these may help.
  • Bobble11
    Bobble11 Posts: 49 Member
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    For your family meal tomorrow night say you feel a bit unwell so you're only going to have something plain with some water. If they're not going to support you then they don't deserve to share in the joy of your journey. They get to kiss your skinny *kitten* at the end of it.

    xx
  • no_time_like_the_present
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    if you're yo-yo-ing... then you're not making sustainable changes.

    do it gradually. slowly. make changes that you can live with for the rest of your life.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1235566-so-you-re-new-here

    you aren't new here, but these may help.

    I've just read your post and it is a eyeopener! I know i've been doing things the wrong way but didn't quite realise to what extent.

    Re the 1200 cals - last time i tried MFP I tried to stick to this and that's probably the main reason for failing.

    Now it's set as 1410 but I'm going to try and do a (very slow) 30 min bike every morning on my exercise bike at home and that's coming to 352 exercise cals which i think is a massive amount more than what I actually burn but will be eating them back just so my daily calories arent too low and will make me want to stop.

    Once I've gotten into the habit of logging all my food and exercise for a while hopefully I will start to see what works for me.

    I added up what I used to be eating tho and was averaging at 3000-3500 cals a day so anything less than that is an improvement!

    Ps a Heart rate monitor is already on my Xmas list but the trouble is my Husband wants one too so we'll probably each buy our own but say its a present.
  • laurie04427
    laurie04427 Posts: 421 Member
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    I think it helps if you feel like you have control over things. Personally I tend to have cycles of eating healthy and working out, and then.. not (lol).

    For me, figuring out how many calories I should eat to lose vs how many calories are my maintenance helped. That way I know the range I need to be in, and some day's you'll just be hungry so I'll aim to just be under maintenance those days. Some weeks I'll be off track so I'll still just aim for that maintenance calorie goal, helps to know you're not getting fatter at the minimum sometimes. Plus I think it's good mentally to take a break from trying to lose weight once in a while.

    I use this tool to figure out how many calories to aim for: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

    Also helps to pre-log the day a bit. I do this in the morning when I'm at work. Kind of scope out where I'll be calorie wise vaguely so I just kind of do what I wrote and don't have to think much. Less likely to go off track.
  • LAT1963
    LAT1963 Posts: 1,375 Member
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    See a doc and get starting lab levels so you can track improvement in cholesterol, etc. Also to identify any weight-gaining health problems you may have, like PCOS, insulin resistance, or thyroid problems.