Emotionally fed up about loosing weight

Hi,

Thanks for opening up, its not easy, but you definitely are at the right place. I suffer from anxiety (and social anxiety) and had have similar thoughts especially about money and exercise.

First of all, I entered your stats in a calorie counter and i couldnt help but notice that your calorie intake seems rather low...Depending on your goals, it says you should eat between 1877 and 2127 calories a day to loose. To give you an idea, i'm 5'8, 200.8 pounds and eat 1800 calories a day. I lost about a pound a week since i've been doing that (without exercise). So make sure you are eating enough, you body needs to be properly fueled in order to accomplish amazing things!

As for you dietary restrictions, I would highly recommend to consult a registered dietician. I can't help but question the food your doctor as ruled out for you. Green beans ? I mean it's a veggie! I understand the goal is to limit refined sugar intakes...so veggie doesn't seem like the place to start for me... I know it costs money, but it may well be worth it to consult a specialist! Family doctors are not nutritionists!

I understand money is an issue for you and I totally get that. I myself have a very small grocery budget. Here are my go to : eggs, frozen fruits, frozen veggies, lentils, legumes, oats. I buy meat only when its on special : chicken, pork, lean ground beef...Going to costco to get frozen fish, sea food, fruits and veggies as well as greek yogurt (nature with no added sugar), cottage cheese and some plant based proteins (chia, hemp hearts, flax seeds) saves us a lot of money. If you are not already a member and can't afford being, you can go directly to the register and buy gift cards...they will let you in so you can spend it. One way to save a lot is to not consume processed foods...meaning cooking everything from scratch at home. It can seem overwhelming at first, but I truly believe its an amazing thing to do. You will control everything you put in your body as well.

Also, make sure you weigh your food and log everything in. Don't forget liquid calories and condiments! Everything counts.

Finally, take it ONE STEP AT A TIME. You biggest struggle seems to be exercise...so I would start by changing the diet. do 1900-2100 calories for 21 days, choosing whole filling foods...you will see success, feel better and perhaps WANT to go for a walk. Remember, you cannot outrun a bad fork. Meaning what you eat is the most important part! I know that I used to be overwhelmed by doing everything at once : workout, eat right, changing habits...I had major anxiety! I started with drinking up to 2L of water per day. The week after I started to walk instead of taking the bus to go to work. Then I started counting calories. Then workout once a week. Then twice, up to four workouts a week...and it helps me keep my anxiety under control, even though its not always easy nor linear.

I watch my carb intake very carefully, here are my typical lunches : Eggs salad in a lettuce wrap, with soup, a piece of cheese and a handfull (about 17) of almonds. Yesterday I had soup with salmon filet and a greek yogurt. Today I will have lettuce with tuna, mustard and oil vinaigrette, with avocado, cucumber and carrotts. Sardines, eggs and tuna are very cheap lunch protein. Sweet potatoes, quinoa or brown rice are also a good choices to go with chicken, turkey, steaks, etc. Add a handfull of frozen veggies to that, and you are set! One thing that helps me a lot is to prepare breakfast and lunches ahead of time on sundays...then I always have a healthy choice ready to be taken out of the fridge.

As for snacks, i will have a bowl of cottage cheese with fruits, greek yogurt with flax seeds and dates, veggies with homemade hummus, protein bars, a fruit smoothie with a source of plant based protein...there is also plenty of ''lower carbs'' & whole grains muffins and breads recipes out there! What is your daily carb intake ? Maybe I can help! Feel free to add me, my diary is open

Maybe set your goal to 1 lb a week. You need to do something you can sustain long term. 1 lb a week adds up.
You can eat any food and lose weight if you stick to the right number of calories. If you can not eat certain foods due to a health condition eat the foods you can eat.
Talk to your family about the seriousness of your health condition and need to lose weight. They can help you.
You do not have to eat exactly the same as your family. Have a big salad with your meal. Buy frozen vegetables and cook a portion for you. Have broccoli but put the cheese sauce on individually.
Plan meals. Good for the budget and making sure you have foods you can eat. Buy less premade foods.
http://www.budgetbytes.com has cost concious recipes that my family has enjoyed.
Have other things to do. If you are depressed, bored, etc work on developing tools to deal with those things that don't involve food. Therapy and medication might be helpful. Music, art, games, meditation, journaling, message boards, gardening, cleaning, crafts, wood working, learning something, talking to someone, exercise might all be things to try. If you know you always have issues at a particular time change what you are doing at that time or save calories for that time period.

Walk in your home. I set a timer, turn on some music or the tv and walk around my house briskly. Walking is walking even if you only walk back and forth in one room or your own yard. There are step based workouts. Walk at Home with Leslie Sansone- http://walkathome.com
There are lots of workouts on you tube for free. You don't have to start with exercising for hours. Aim for 30 minutes of some activity a day to start. You may do less to begin with. That is fine. Just start where you are and improve with time.
If you have trouble standing or walking right now try seated workouts.
https://m.youtube.com/#/playlist?list=PL-3ha1N51FWOHt_G7xKX_Eq_94_NFsVk1
https://m.youtube.com/#/playlist?list=PLu8guPhQX33AMQEbFaNHGiVlD05W46_pl
https://m.youtube.com/watch?list=PLySdLXx0-oyvf5635ap84FstzlvSCIgn2&v=DYuw4f1c4xs
https://m.youtube.com/watch?list=PLySdLXx0-oyvf5635ap84FstzlvSCIgn2&v=s0KmVnoVn-k

I had to spend a good deal of time working on the mental blocks to losing weight and the personal excuses I was using. There's some good articles out there...Google "mental preparation for losing weight" "mentally ready for weight loss." I also don't have a lot of extra $$ at my disposal, so no fancy stuff for me. Just me and my food scale and some determination...plus a few short walks each day when I can squeeze them in.

The biggest difference for me so far (because I had come up with every reason under the moon why I CAN'T do this), was figuring out what I CAN do. I can walk. I can measure. For me, it's the mental game and that's where I have to invest most of my time in struggles. I can conquer the hungry feelings (and sometimes I feel REALLY hungry)...but I work on the mental part and try and win that battle every day. That stupid voice that tells me I'm too old or it's too late or I can't do this or it's too hard. It is hard, but I HAVE to do it.

I'm not too old. It's not too late.

PCOs is brutal.....I know.....cause I have it and I went from thin to huge once my PCOS hit. It has felt like swimming against the tide....always.....and the pain, exhaustion, facial hair and even baldness for some women (me) is so brutal. I feel so much for you. Plus when you were thin once it is like waking up in a nightmare every morning with a body you don't recognize, periods that are horrid, pain that can be as bad as giving birth, and weight just comes on so easily. I am also insulin resistant. I am so impressed by your doctor even knowing how to approach weight loss with these conditions and that it needs to be somewhat different than the average person.....wow....i had to figure that one out on my own and i am only realizing lately that for sure i am carb sensitive and the only way i lose weight and keep it off without feeling like i am starving or going crazy is cutting back the carbs but not cutting them totally out. I feel so wiped cutting it all so i focus on cutting out sweets, sauces and stuff with sugar in it, bread (especially white), most cereals, and anything with white flour but allow myself small servings of potato with the skins on and with fat on like butter or sour cream to slow the sugar absorption, small amounts of gluten free pasta, or small serving of rice or rice vermicelli (again with fat in the meal so sugars release more slowly). I also focus on making sure i have protein, some nuts, avocado, coconut oil, and veggies and berries. When I am doing this (which is still not enough of the time!) i actually lose weight but don't feel like my brain won't switch on cause i have a small handful of specific carbs a day:) Just something I am beginning to figure out and do. I also have to track track track because my life can be so fuzzy and I can lie to myself that i have been cutting out sugar, etc. if i don't! Don't know if this helps but i send you a big huge hug and pray you will find the right balance.....meanwhile.....you only have today and are younger than tomorrow so try to notice nice things about yourself that you have today that you may miss when you hit 100:)!! Sincerely, LargeLassy:)