Taking back my life

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ttack1579
ttack1579 Posts: 5 Member
in Introduce Yourself
Hi everyone,

Recently, I had a health scare that gave me a swift kick in the butt. Yesterday, I went to the doctor (haven't had a doctor for 18 years) and she suggested this site as a great tool. I hope to find encouragement here, but want to be totally honest about my problem. I am 5' 5" and weight 297 pounds. If you are disgusted with this, you are not alone. I am disgusted with myself. Fifteen years of poor eating habits got me to this point. Now, I am worried about leaving my children motherless, and my husband wifeless. IT IS TIME FOR A CHANGE. Not just for me, but for my family. Yesterday, was my first day using this site. Any suggestions for healthier living are appreciated. Thanks, and I look forward to sharing my progress with all of you.

Replies

  • SusieQ6870
    SusieQ6870 Posts: 5 Member
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    I just sent you a friend request. You are not in this alone! For me the key to any success so far is having a large group of friends on here. They help keep you accountable, some days they are the only reason I keep going, I don't want to let them down. So make sure you go into the looking for friends thread. YOU CAN DO THIS!!!
  • gnnamkit
    gnnamkit Posts: 6 Member
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    Don't rush into anything. If you go too hard too soon, you'll wear yourself out and become unmotivated. Done it heeeeaps of times. Plenty of people and groups on here to challenge you and keep you going. Good luck!
  • scottacular
    scottacular Posts: 597 Member
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    Nobody on here will be disgusted by your weight, but will give you kudos for realising the problem and making the first step towards putting that right. The first step is always the biggest, dieting/exercising is always really difficult when you first begin. But it gets easier and the more you get used to it the more natural it becomes. Don't set yourself a time limit on this, you've got the rest of your life to improve your health and every day you stick at this, you'll extend your life a little bit further. Basically, think of weight loss in terms of years rather than days, weeks or months.
  • ShellF415
    ShellF415 Posts: 182 Member
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    No one is disgusted because we have all been there. Log everything you eat and stick to your calories. A food scale is one of the best investments you can make.

    I have found that the calories burned estimates in the exercise on MFP are high so if you plan to exercise, I recommend finding a way to accurately monitor your burn such as a Fitbit.

    Best of luck on your journey! You CAN do this.
  • ttack1579
    ttack1579 Posts: 5 Member
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    Thank you all for the kind words of encouragement. In a couple of weeks, I will go back to my doctor for blood work so she can give me the whole picture of what the extra weight is doing to my body. She is going to refer me to a dietitian who can develop a safe and reasonable goal for my weight loss.
  • ShellF415
    ShellF415 Posts: 182 Member
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    Also, slow and steady progress is best. It's truly a marathon, not a sprint.
  • TheVogonVegan
    TheVogonVegan Posts: 75 Member
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    I also added you as a friend. I am 5'5 as well and I started at 275, so I wasn't far behind you either (and still not far along). It doesn't matter where we start, only that we're here now and we're going to do this together as a community. As far as suggestions for healthy eating, just don't go full tilt and burn yourself out on it. I tried that "get rid of all the snacks in the house/only eat veggies" approach for years and I always failed. I realized that it was way easier and more effective for me to sometimes eat bad foods nutrition-wise as long as I stayed in my calorie goal. I don't feel deprived (as someone with a definite food addiction), and then I still lose weight and eat healthy a majority of the time. My mistake for years was thinking that I could live and be happy and satisfied by never eating my favorite foods again. Noooope. Anyways, welcome to the club! =D
  • nmcrosier
    nmcrosier Posts: 268 Member
    edited March 2015
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    Welcome to MFP - you are definitely not alone. Visit your wall often & log everything. You can do this & be successful. I believe in you!

    Like you February 2014 I had the wake up call - I hit 250 (I'm 5'6"), my asthma attacks were becoming regular occurances, I was out of breath from the shortest walks, I was drinking too much, the extra weight was causing all sorts of disk issues in my back/back pain, dealing with an *kitten* of a spouse, grieving hard for my loss of a child and injuring myself like crazy doing just minor things. It was time for a change. I was sick of myself and no longer recognized the person I was.

    That's when I found MFP & DietBet - I set up an account immediately on both sites - February 9th to be exact (it's like now what I consider my second birthday!). I knew DB would help my competitive nature, so I signed up for their Transformer (lose 10% of your starting weight in 6 months). Next was MFP because I would need the help of tracking what I was doing and eating this is soooo important. You'd be surprise what is in our foods that we take for granted...and even better both programs "talk" to each other/share data.

    Both together have worked wonders for me. In fact in January, I signed up for my second Transformer on DB to get the last 20#s off (I was just under 200)...I'm officially down about 20 as of this morning (181)! So 5 more to go...but I think I'll make it 10-15 since I'm more squishy than I like.

    So, Keep fighting - you deserve better health for YOU and your family!
  • stenchdog4000
    stenchdog4000 Posts: 9 Member
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    I am 5'5". This time last year I weighed 297 lbs too. I am now at 224. You can do this :) Slow and steady is the way to go. Eat a good balanced diet, don't go over your calorie budget and build your fitness up gradually.

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