I was fat and healthy......until now😢

sageandroses · July 2020

Hi all. Thanks for taking a minute to read this. I’m brand new here and looking for some help and support.
A little about me: I’m a 49 year old mom of 4 ranging in ages from 7 to 18. I have been overweight my entire life. I have been on every crazy diet imaginable over the years. My weight has been up and down and up again, but I’ve never needed to lose weight for health reasons-until now. Over the past year, my weight has crept up. And for the first time so has my blood pressure. And blood sugar. And I’m starting to have back and hip pain. It’s definitely time to make some lasting changes.
So, long story short, now my motivation isn’t aesthetic, it’s health.
Any tips or suggestions as I get started would be appreciated.

losingthisweight457 · July 2020

Hi there! I am in my 30s and am experiencing some of the same things you're going through. I lost a lot of weight years ago and then gained it all back and more. I am also having issues with my blood pressure so I had to start taking medication for it. My back and hips hurt from this extra weight I now carry. So I am really now dedicating time to work on myself so I can get healthier. Only tips I can offer is to start off slow and steady so you don't burn out and give up. I have been doing Leslie Sansone work outs from home, you can find her videos for free on Youtube. I like to do her 1 and 2 mile walking from home videos. When I get a work out done for the day, I am much more careful about what I'm going to eat and that's motivation for me to eat healthier. I'm also making sure to get out in the sun every day to soak up some extra Vit D, it's super important for our immune system.

hipari · July 2020

Hi, and welcome! You can totally do this.

I suggest getting started by just logging all your food and drinks honestly for a week. This doesn’t have to be a week of ”dieting” or making any changes, just getting used to the process and seeing where you are now. Then it’s easier to take a look, review and start making sustainable long-term changes. No crazy diets needed. All you need for weight loss is a moderate calorie deficit from a way of eating you can continue for the rest of your life.

I agree that walking is great for overall health, as well as motivation.

For more specific guides, check out the stickied forum posts on top of different forum sections.

If possible, get a referral to see a registered dietician. They are likely more able to help you with customized advice for your health problems than us, friendly internet strangers.

littlegreenparrot1 · July 2020

Seconding the advice to see a dietician, there are changes you can make that often positively impact your blood pressure. I have done so with mine in the past.

I started by reading the British Blood pressure association website and taking on the advice, I'm sure there is an equivalent body where you are.

Jordanna_Beast · July 2020

HI! I'm actually in pretty much the same boat. 38 and obese, but I always had low blood pressure, good resting heart rate, etc. This is the first year that I have had high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and liver disease. I don't know what happened, but I'm here to fix it. Feel free to add me if you want support!

AnnPT77 · July 2020

There's a wealth of good info (and experienced people to answer questions, if you're selective in what to believe) here in the MFP forums, IMO. If someone has very acute health problems, then professionals are the first go-to, but if it's just that recognition of a sloooowwww slide toward worsening health, I think you can manage the basics on your own. (Professional help is still a good plan if it's easily accessible and affordable for you, of course - I'm not deprecating that, just suggesting that if it's out of reach logistically or financially, you can make good progress on your own. I did.)

I'd second the advice to read the "stickies", which are the posts in the "Most Helpful Posts" section of each forum topic area. The ones in "Getting Started" and "General Health, Fitness and Diet" are going to be the first best ones, to start chipping away at reading as you have time.

I think this one is the single best MFP on-ramp (don't let the joke/clickbait title put you off

):

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

You can do this . . . and the rewards are tremendous! (I wish I had done it decades ago.)

Sawjer · July 2020

Everyones advice here is fantastic

Feel free to add me for motivation and feel free to message if you have any questions or want any advice! Stay strong, we're all here and we're all in it with you!

jodibeth5744 · July 2020

Hi @sageandroses i totally get what you’re saying but the truth might be that even though you felt ok all these years, your body was accumulating negative aspects of carrying extra weight. You are finally now just outwardly seeing the issues. But they all take time to create. Fortunately the body is amazing at realizing when it’s being treated well and starts to heal almost immediately. I am in my 40s also and have walked a similar road. Two main things that have helped me are switching to a whole foods plant based diet and doing yoga. I didn’t think I could ever do yoga so I asked my 10 year old to find YouTube videos we could do together. She found a channel called “the yoga room” that has a variety of “yoga for bigger bodies” videos and they are priceless to me in their understanding of the modifications I might need. Hope this helps and feel free to friend me if you need support!

Dogmom1978 · July 2020

Definitely get a food scale if you don’t already have one. Weigh and measure everything. Like someone else said, start by just logging what you ALREADY normally eat to see how many calories you are consuming and what the break down is (fat, protein, carbs).

Also, I don’t care how much you exercise, set it to SEDENTARY in the MFP app. Then enter any exercise you do (such as walking). If you set it above sedentary, the app grossly over estimates how many calories you burn in a day and you might gain weight even when you believe you are eating at a deficit.

Lietchi · July 2020

slunburg wrote: »

If you set it above sedentary, the app grossly over estimates how many calories you burn in a day and you might gain weight even when you believe you are eating at a deficit.

You're right that the activity level setting should not take into account exercise. But advising sedentary without even asking about her activity level outside of exercise is really bad advice. She should choose sedentary if she is sedentary (I believe the cut-off is around 3500 steps a day). She's a mom of 4 children, that alone makes sedentary less likely. And on top of that she could have a desk job or a more physically active job, or other non-exercise activities, we have no idea.

GaleHawkins · July 2020

sageandroses wrote: »

Hi all. Thanks for taking a minute to read this. I’m brand new here and looking for some help and support.
A little about me: I’m a 49 year old mom of 4 ranging in ages from 7 to 18. I have been overweight my entire life. I have been on every crazy diet imaginable over the years. My weight has been up and down and up again, but I’ve never needed to lose weight for health reasons-until now. Over the past year, my weight has crept up. And for the first time so has my blood pressure. And blood sugar. And I’m starting to have back and hip pain. It’s definitely time to make some lasting changes.
So, long story short, now my motivation isn’t aesthetic, it’s health.
Any tips or suggestions as I get started would be appreciated.

@sageandroses at the age of 63 in Oct 2014 I realized I had been swimming in the sea of diets for the past 40 years and was about to go under for the third time. Some how in my weakened state the idea came into my mind never to try to lose weigh again because if after 40 years of yo yoing weight with 100%+ regains every time clearly dieting to lose weight was folly in my case.

I exchanged the goal of dieting to lose weight to a goal of not dying prematurely because the kids were only 16 and being forced to watch me die in front of them as they would help dress me and get in and out of the car.

Stop dieting to lose weight which never worked in over 40 years in my case saved my life. Now at the age of 69 my weight has been 40-60 pounds less for over 5 years with awesome annual lab reports and Rx med free.

All I have done is cut out the use of any form of sweetener and the eating of any form of any grain. The first 2 weeks were hellish in my case but forcing our kids to watch me die in front of them was more pain than I wanted to force on them. I gave up using food as a way to prematurely end my life and started using food to regain some of my health. The funny thing I never cut my calories but just change the source of my calories to match what my mind said it needed to give me back some of my health.

Best of success at finding a way to better health though eating.

Dogmom1978 · July 2020

Lietchi wrote: »

slunburg wrote: »

If you set it above sedentary, the app grossly over estimates how many calories you burn in a day and you might gain weight even when you believe you are eating at a deficit.

You're right that the activity level setting should not take into account exercise. But advising sedentary without even asking about her activity level outside of exercise is really bad advice. She should choose sedentary if she is sedentary (I believe the cut-off is around 3500 steps a day). She's a mom of 4 children, that alone makes sedentary less likely. And on top of that she could have a desk job or a more physically active job, or other non-exercise activities, we have no idea.

Actually, it is WAY more accurate to choose sedentary and then enter your exercise (which is what I advised). Enter anything else and I guarantee you slower results. I put in active when I started because I AM active and it was telling me that I was burning over 1000 calories a day. No, definitely not. It simply is more accurate to say sedentary and then enter your exercise in separately. Do what you want, but don’t be surprised if you aren’t seeing the results you expect if you let the app calculate your activity. Thanks

Lietchi · July 2020

slunburg wrote: »

Lietchi wrote: »

slunburg wrote: »

If you set it above sedentary, the app grossly over estimates how many calories you burn in a day and you might gain weight even when you believe you are eating at a deficit.

You're right that the activity level setting should not take into account exercise. But advising sedentary without even asking about her activity level outside of exercise is really bad advice. She should choose sedentary if she is sedentary (I believe the cut-off is around 3500 steps a day). She's a mom of 4 children, that alone makes sedentary less likely. And on top of that she could have a desk job or a more physically active job, or other non-exercise activities, we have no idea.

Actually, it is WAY more accurate to choose sedentary and then enter your exercise (which is what I advised). Enter anything else and I guarantee you slower results. I put in active when I started because I AM active and it was telling me that I was burning over 1000 calories a day. No, definitely not. It simply is more accurate to say sedentary and then enter your exercise in separately. Do what you want, but don’t be surprised if you aren’t seeing the results you expect if you let the app calculate your activity. Thanks

I know perfectly well what I'm doing for my own weight loss journey, thanks (in my case sedentary but linked to an activity tracker and eating back all the extra calories it gives me).

But I still think it's dangerous general advice to give. Someone who has a very active job and/or is has other physical activities outside of exercise risks underfueling themselves if they select sedentary, especially if they have selected an aggressive rate of loss. I find undereating far riskier than selecting an activity level that is too high and having stalled weight loss, even though both problems can be remedied by monitoring weight loss and adapting the calorie goal/activity level. (checking if actual weight loss corresponds with what we intend to achieve is something I believe everyone should do, in order to make necessary adaptations, since we are all different).

Dogmom1978 · July 2020

MFP will tell you that you burn an obscene number of calories. If you simply select sedentary and LOG your exercise, you won’t risk over or under eating. It’s really a very simple concept. I’ve been doing this for years on and off and although I’m not good at sticking to eating right, I do know what I’m talking about. As I already said, if you simply log both your food and exercise you won’t risk under or over eating by choosing sedentary. Thanks though

sageandroses · July 2020

Thank you all so much for your responses! I’d love to add you all as friends, but I can’t seem to figure out how to do that. Lol.
Regarding the issue of activity level, I’d consider myself sedentary. I’m not as active as I’d like to be with my kiddos and I have a desk job. I occasionally use an activity monitor and I average around 5k steps per day. I’m currently trying to focus on my eating before I add in exercise. I chose a 1pound per week loss. I have been going slightly over on calories, but feel like 1500-1600 is sustainable for me (MPF set it at 1350) and I have been slowly losing. I’m also trying to eat more plant based as we are heavy meat eaters. I’m finding some intangible benefits. I just feel better when I’m eating more veggies.

Mithridites · July 2020

sageandroses wrote: »

I’m currently trying to focus on my eating before I add in exercise. I chose a 1pound per week loss. I have been going slightly over on calories, but feel like 1500-1600 is sustainable for me (MPF set it at 1350) and I have been slowly losing. I’m also trying to eat more plant based as we are heavy meat eaters. I’m finding some intangible benefits. I just feel better when I’m eating more veggies.

Sounds to me like a very good beginning. You are not taking the all-or-nothing approach that can lead to quick burnout. Focusing on logging is positive, because logging is a skill, and a very valuable one. If you don’t yet weigh your food on a kitchen scale, may I suggest that as your next step? It’s opened my eyes to sources of error in my logging that could have been pitfalls. A tbs of peanut butter is a good example. Mine was rarely 15 grams, more likely 18 or 20, and in calorie dense foods like PB, that can add up. Weighing also made me reconsider the frequency of eating certain foods, like butter. It used to be a given, but it REALLY adds up without giving my tastebuds a reward most of the time. So now I just use it when it’d really count, like with corn on the cob. I agree with you that shifting more towards plant-based foods makes a difference. They are filling for not a lot of calories, and the fiber smooths digestion beautifully. Do try to hit your protein goal, though. It fills you and helps maintain healthy muscles. Seafood, beans, tofu - try and see if they are a good fit for you. Good luck on your journey - slow but steady is best

Feel free to add me if you like. My diary is open to friends.

Dogmom1978 · July 2020

I agree that starting slow is key. If it isn’t too hot in your part of the world, you might want to add in short walks a few times a week when you are ready to exercise as your “start” to exercising. If there is already some sort of exercise that you enjoy and the goal is to get back to that (hiking, biking, weight lifting, swimming, etc) slowly introduce it into your routine when you are ready for the next step.

I was fat and healthy......until now😢

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