Trying again - My story in a nut shell

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Leesha387
Leesha387 Posts: 20 Member
in Introduce Yourself
Hola! Hi! Im Alicia :) Im 27, I live in the rural midwest. I moved here a couple of years ago from New England. I have been struggling with weight loss most of my life. I gained a ton of weight after i had my son. There were some complications with the pregnancy and delivery and I was left with an injury, I couldn't walk to stand or do much moving of any kind for the first few years of his life, and when your not moving, but your still eating ( and lets face it i wasnt making healthy choices) You gain weight, a lot and before you know it your over 300lbs and ya .. I would try and do a bit of this and that, dieting, pilling. Physical Therapy when i could afford it and all that helped some. anyways long story short. My husband left me about 2yrs ago. and since than I have been dieting on and off. I tried doing my own thing, and that worked for awhile, I tried weight watchers and that worked for awhile. I ended up loosing about 60lbs or so. Than I didnt loose anything and I wasnt really trying anymore. I was exercising but not eating well. I was eating a TON of fat, some of it i didnt even realize how much fat was in certain products. I ended up gaining 20lbs or so back. two months ago I started having really bad pains and attacks in my chest. I couldnt breathe I couldnt move, sometimes theyd last 30mins or so sometimes they'd last a few hours. I didnt go to the doctor, because i could deal with the pain. it always went away eventually so I didnt want to go in for it. . My mom thought maybe it was my gallbladder. I started exercising alot more. and I attempted to eat better but i guess i wasnt eating the right things, I tried not eating much of anything but that didnt work either. 2 months of exercising and not eating much and i wasnt losing any weight - one night a couple weeks back I got really sick. and I was in soo much pain. I thought i was dying. nothing was helping. I thought maybe i had the stomach flu my son had, but his lasted 12hrs I was puking and in pain for 3 days, I finally called my doctor and he had me come down right away. They did some tests and yep it was my gallbladder, Doctor said I could try cutting fat out of my diet as much as possible so I have been doing that , or trying to- some days its hard, especially when i am not the only cooker and shopper in charge of our meals ( I live with my son, and my parents while i get back on my feet) but portion control helps, I found the hardest thing about low fat is there seems to be more carbs and sugar which was something i was always told was bad bad bad. Anyways ive lost about 10lbs since i started the low fat thing, I haven't been exercising as much, but I have been more active in general - gardening, walking, biking,Swimming, going to games and to the park. cleaning, yard work etc . which all helps. Im starting to exercise here and there when my back/spine/hip pain isnt too bad. I am currently at 266 and I want to be down to around 130-150, I figure i can decided what i like, how i feel and how i look when i get down there. My goal weight on here is set to 135 for good measure. I am way to pretty and awesome to be fat all my life :wink: plus I want to set a good example for my son, and be able to keep up with him. I dont have many friends on here, yet anyways. Feel Free to add me, Guys or Girls welcome! Sorry for the novel :) - Thanks!

Replies

  • mjohansen808
    mjohansen808 Posts: 42 Member
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    Lets be friends!!!
  • Karen_can_do_this
    Karen_can_do_this Posts: 1,150 Member
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    Fellow gallbladder sufferer here too. I've had mine removed but I'm still not able to eat anything too fatty without making a mad dash to the loo.
    Congrats on trying to be a good influence to your son
  • SherryTeach
    SherryTeach Posts: 2,836 Member
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    Good luck! Just set your calories for a modest deficit and eat a wide variety of mostly whole foods. Be patient.
  • melimomTARDIS
    melimomTARDIS Posts: 1,941 Member
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    I live in rural iowa, I have 2 kids, and i am a comfort eater or "binge eater". I lost 60 lbs, maintained the loss for a year, life threw me a left hook and I now have 10lbs to shed again. MFP is a great place to learn new things.
  • griffinca2
    griffinca2 Posts: 672 Member
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    #1; don't cut too much fat, your body needs it to function. My husband had his gallbladder out several years ago and currently eating a high protein/fat diet (to help w/his diabetes) and it's not affecting him. #2; I would suggest a 30/40/40 (fat/carbs/protein) macro to start off with and make changes as you go along. The higher protein/fat will help you feel satisfied and you will end up eating less. Also watch how much sugar you are eating; try to get it down to abt 45 gm a day. Be careful, a lot of non-fat/low-fat foods have some sort of sugar added to make them taste better (i.e. non-fat half & half has corn syrup as the second ingredient). #3; don't make a whole bunch of changes to begin with. Make small changes over time (that you are sure to stick to). It is not abt a diet, it is abt a life style that you can live with (with small modifications) for the rest of your life. Don't try to over do it and be patient, you will achieve your goals. As for exercising; you should be doing that as well, but don't over do it either (start w/2-3 times a week). Ensure you include weight lifting along w/the cardio; it will build you muscle mass (which burns calories). Find something you enjoy doing and bring a friend along!! Good luck.
  • North44
    North44 Posts: 359 Member
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    Hi there- yeah I had gallbladder attacks and I did sort of think I was having a heart attack! I didn't suffer as long as you did though because I had two attacks in one evening and had surgery the next morning. It was brought on by a super high fat meal. The gallstones were there already of course, but the attacks were horrible. Now I'm fine. Don't worry too overly much about your fat intake. A moderate calorie restriction for weight loss should already help a lot. I don't really have any issues now and I don't worry about fat. Just eat a good balanced diet!

    Good luck to you!
  • BrendaMaldonado1
    BrendaMaldonado1 Posts: 25 Member
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    I used to get horrible gall bladder attacks... i started having them when my daughter was less than 2 months old (she is about to turn 4 yrs). I would get shoulder pain and throw up i was so miserable i started getting them more frequent & the attacks lasted for a yr... i decided to eat healthy and i have not had an attack since March 2013. I will never forget those attacks worse thing ever very very painful.
  • Hearts_2015
    Hearts_2015 Posts: 12,031 Member
    edited June 2015
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    Focus first on getting the eating under control and making healthy choices, get your water in etc.

    Than after you get a good grasp on healthy choices see about adding in exercise again...... sometimes it's one or the other that I'm doing better at. The most important thing to remember is eating at a deficit takes the weight off, exercise is a cardio (healthy heart) bonus. Weight training is the icing on the cake that gives you definition. But eating more food than you burn off... well it pretty much minus's out all the exercise time. :'(

    Welcome and good luck to you! :)
  • Leesha387
    Leesha387 Posts: 20 Member
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    griffinca2 wrote: »
    #1; don't cut too much fat, your body needs it to function. My husband had his gallbladder out several years ago and currently eating a high protein/fat diet (to help w/his diabetes) and it's not affecting him. #2; I would suggest a 30/40/40 (fat/carbs/protein) macro to start off with and make changes as you go along. The higher protein/fat will help you feel satisfied and you will end up eating less. Also watch how much sugar you are eating; try to get it down to abt 45 gm a day. Be careful, a lot of non-fat/low-fat foods have some sort of sugar added to make them taste better (i.e. non-fat half & half has corn syrup as the second ingredient). #3; don't make a whole bunch of changes to begin with. Make small changes over time (that you are sure to stick to). It is not abt a diet, it is abt a life style that you can live with (with small modifications) for the rest of your life. Don't try to over do it and be patient, you will achieve your goals. As for exercising; you should be doing that as well, but don't over do it either (start w/2-3 times a week). Ensure you include weight lifting along w/the cardio; it will build you muscle mass (which burns calories). Find something you enjoy doing and bring a friend along!! Good luck.

    Oh yes totally - some fat is good, good fats right? and yes ive notice that - low carb diets seems to have more fat, and not necessarily the good stuff. low fat and fat free products have alot more sugar and sometimes sodium. while diabetes isnt an issue for me it does run in my family .although for now i seem to have the opposite problem. My exercise is usually at home with my mat and my basement. unless im walking with my son or bike riding. There's not much else around here to go to, type deal. but Im sure i could find something if i need.

    and thanks everyone else too, Sorry I didnt reply sooner. i couldnt figure out how to find this post again on my phone lol
  • ineedthis1107
    ineedthis1107 Posts: 2 Member
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    I am really new and can't tell when this was posted. But, I really hope you succeeded and arrived at the goal you set for yourself, or are keeping to the path you have decided on and getting there. I hope it feels good for you to make even the smallest of conquests. It's all about the little steps you know? Even an exploding star takes a long time to be noticed. :)
    I think you'll be an amazing discovery <3
  • Hiker_Rob
    Hiker_Rob Posts: 5,547 Member
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    You are definitely starting on the right track and I wish the best for you. Keeping as active as possible will really help, I began with just going for walks and slowly built up from there, the more fit you get the more you can do! Cutting fat is very important if in excess, as others I'm sure have mentioned your body does need fats to function. I'd suggest asking your doctor what a good ratio of macros might be for you based on your history.
    Sugars as are another that really need to be kept in check as they can be a killer too, as are excessive amounts of processed foods.
    You've got the right ideas down and I am sure you will do well, just take it slow and realize that it didn't get put on overnight so it will take a while to come off, settle in and enjoy the ride, it actually can be good with a few hard times in between. Feel free to check out my profile and send a friend request if you like.

    Good luck!!

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