I’m NEW here & need some help!!

M_Shay2414
M_Shay2414 Posts: 63 Member
in Getting Started
Hi, my name is Matt. I’m new to this app.

My issue is, I’ve always been in pretty good shape until about this past year. A couple years ago I was in the gym 5 days a week, had very strict eating habits and fitness was my life. But, someone along the way, I hit my peak and I started to decline. My eating habits changed and I started to eat out almost every day as well as ate late at night. I currently weight 266 Lbs. This is the heaviest I’ve ever been in my life. Currently, I struggle with getting back in the groove of things and figured I would reach out on here. My sugar intake is wayyy too high being as I drink about 5-7 soft drinks a day. I need help! Advice! Friends! Anything! Please help me! I’m unhappy with myself but I’m finding it hard to change. Thanks!

Replies

  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
    You changed once--you can change again. Maybe you burnt out last time being too intense. Perhaps this time don't go back to the gym right away. Try something else like running or biking or hiking, branch out a bit. Set up your calorie goal and get a digital food scale. Start weighing and measuring everything you eat and drink. Your soft drinks will probably have to be cut down to size, but that's your decision. Just hit that calorie goal everyday and you're good to go.
  • gg2007
    gg2007 Posts: 71 Member
    Hey! Its the small changes done consistently that adds up! Way to go for reaching out, just start of with trying to reduce your soft drink intake...eg rather than going cold turkey....reduce it to 1 a day...and then gradually cut it out....likewise with the fitness....start back with some activity a couple of time a week and then gradually build it up. :-)
  • goldthistime
    goldthistime Posts: 3,213 Member
    Have you started logging? That's step one. My advice is to spend some time reading the forums and devising your own plan. There's a lot of people here who are pro-moderation (me included) because it's so much more sustainable. Tons of variation within that, and your best approach is one that you design.

    It's maybe unfairly early to ask you this, but how do you see your life once you get to goal? I take it that you view 5 days a week at the gym as too much. Maybe you want to invest in components of a home gym. I have gotten my "dream body" in the past and lost it again because I turned my attention to other things. I'm not far away from getting there again but although it's taking forever, I didn't drop everything to get here, so I'm not itching to be "done". Best of luck.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    Time to go back to your old eating habits... less of the fast foods and sugary drinks will make an impact.
  • amluckhurst
    amluckhurst Posts: 40 Member
    I recently had a similar problem. Sugar cravings have driven everything. Lack of energy and drive to excercise, poor food choices, more cravings, and round I went again. I've put on a stone.
    I have been combating it by making sure I ALSO eat apples, raw veg, protein like chicken legs/ ham slices and eggs. My cravings are reducing/nearly gone now, so I'm able to get a grip on calorie intake and drop out the sugar.
    At the gym 5 times a week, building up running and cardio. This week back to weights and already feeling stronger and fitter. Two weeks in so still vulnerable to lapse.. Target is to burn 500 cals per workout.
    Don't give up on yourself.
    Gym Time, get back in there and give yourself a good beasting lol. Eat as much good stuff and wait for your cravings to bugger off.
  • amluckhurst
    amluckhurst Posts: 40 Member
    One more thing. logging your food will help you understand where you are going wrong. It will look bad at first, but as you get back into healthy eating, the calorie intake will drop also.

    Keep and eye on the nutrition key. (I didn't realise that I'm not eating hardly any Iron and Vit A for instance....)

    Have you tried really tasting everything? As empty food doesn't taste so good, this might also help you.

  • tonyamorgan75
    tonyamorgan75 Posts: 14 Member
    You can do it. I fell off the wagon.
    Yesterday was my first day logging in months.
    It feels to to be back.

    Keep your head up & remember your worth it <3<3
  • mandymiller1109
    mandymiller1109 Posts: 4 Member
    Welcome! You got this!
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    Try an experiment. Log one soft drink in to MFP and see how many calories it is. Eliminating sugar drinks is an easy way to reduce your daily calories.
  • OBXbrit
    OBXbrit Posts: 48 Member
    I'm new, too - three days in. I'm finding the social aspect of MFP a bit uncomfortable (for me) but when I read your post it reminded me of someone I know, someone dear to me. I'm probably old enough to be your mother so listen up.
    You are knocking on diabetes' door, and once you step through your life changes in ways you can't imagine until you're standing there knee deep in it. Loose the sugar, you can do it. If you can do that for a week, it'll get easier until you can live with limited sugar. The opterative word here is "live". You're a man not a hummingbird...lol! Eat protein. If you had the will power to go to a gym five days a week I know you can do this...please.
  • bandb678
    bandb678 Posts: 104 Member
    Just stay focused (easier said than done I know) and take it one day at a time. Be consistent with logging your meals and make small changes at first....maybe cut out one pop a day?
    Feel free to add me.
  • Laurie463
    Laurie463 Posts: 26 Member
    Feel free to add me too. Go easy on yourself. You did a major thing just recognizing you need to change. Get a food scale and log everything. Prepare to give up the soda....slowly.
  • rdupuy1142
    rdupuy1142 Posts: 21 Member
    edited March 2018
    I used to believe it was mostly about diet, my thought was say you did exercise that day and burned off a decent amount (500 calories)...well almost anything is more than that. 3 cupcakes is more than that. You cannot exercise enough to work off a a bad diet. So was my logic.

    However, I don't believe it any more. Now I believe its mostly about exercise. Maybe one should do both, but they've done studies of people who lost weight and kept it off after 5 years. The main feature of those that kept it off, were that they exercised.

    I know everyone is different. But, for me, it's all about exercise. For one, when you regain athleticism, you can burn 2000 calories in a day. When I hear the exercise tapered off, now I think, well thats what happened. It happens that people lose their good habits, but they can regain them.

    Heck, I took up bicycle racing at the age of 46. Thanks to apps like Strava, everyone can compete. There will be some segment where Strava will say you were fastest, and anyway, I think its cool. The community effect is awesome. Everyone working out together and keeping tabs.

    It's a great thing to add to MFP, an exercise community to go with the diet community. Where people are exercising, not for diet, but for sport.

    About the soda, I think it's an advantage that you are drinking caloried sodas even if you should quit drinking your calories. I wasn't getting calories from my diet sodas but I was huge and drinking diet soda so fyi, I would suggest never go that route. I believe it messes up your bodies ability to gauge when you've consumed calories, and actually causes over eating. I've just seen too many diet soda drinkers that struggle with weight.

    That was hard. I gave up most soft drinks, although I have a gatorade at times, and will add flavor to my water.
  • Cris_elaine7382
    Cris_elaine7382 Posts: 20 Member
    I had the same problem when I started. I had quit diet drinks because they gave me headaches and switched to regular. I didn't realize the insane amount of sugar I was taking in. First change I made was cutting out soda. The only calories I drink are from the coffee I allow myself. The rest of the day it's all water for me. Best first change I could ever make.
    Just make little changes and you will get back to your old habits in no time.
  • M_Shay2414
    M_Shay2414 Posts: 63 Member
    Thank you all for the inspiring, motivational words. I’m still within my first week and have changed some on a smaller scale. But, I didn’t want to overdue it and burn out quickly. I want this to be a lifestyle change. I’ve been discouraged because I have yet to push myself to get back into some sort of physical activity. I work night shift and sleep during the day. I’m trying to get to where I at least do 30 minutes to an hour of exercise a day. Mainly cardio. I may start off slow but as they say, “it’s not where you start, it’s how you finish.”

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