Desperate Newbie

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MyTyme64
MyTyme64 Posts: 1 Member
in Introduce Yourself
I am beyond desperate to lose weight. In the past 12 months, I have lost my best friend, my Mom. And on top of that I am going through menopause. The stress and depression has taken its toll on me mentally and physically. I am trying MFP as a last ditch effort to get my weight under control. Im at my wits end and need all the help and guidance I can get. Please, and hints suggestions to get me headed in a positive direction would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

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  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,138 Member
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    That sounds like a tough run of it! I think the most important thing to do is realise that weight loss is a long process but it doesn't need to be miserable or difficult.

    There is some great information in the stickied posts on the Getting Started board.
    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10300331/most-helpful-posts-getting-started-must-reads#latest

    How much weight do you have to lose?
  • 1poundatax
    1poundatax Posts: 230 Member
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    First take a deep breath- you have been through a lot this year on top of the general stress of all that is going on in the world.
    For me what worked was making small changes to begin with. The first thing I did was to start tracking everything I ate no matter what. When I saw what I was eating I started focusing on reducing my snacks and eating healthy snacks. (Eating between meals a bite of this, a few bites of that was my biggest issue which doesn't sound awful but it was all day long,) I started making new, healthy recipes and really looking forward to my meals. Having a meal to look forward to helped me walk away from a snack. There is no food that is absolutely off limits for me.

    Be gentle with yourself when you mess up- it is not the end of the world. Accept it and move on. Don't let your validation come from the scale. I tend to go for days or weeks without losing anything and then suddenly lose a couple of pounds. I have learned to accept this. I am now losing roughly 5 pounds a month which is ok with me. In the beginnining it was 1 or 2 pounds a month as I made the changes. I have made and continue to make life style changes because I know for me this is not a diet, it is what I need to do to maintain my health.

    I had been exercising at the gym pre-pandemic but hadn't been putting much effort into it. From March until over the summer I did very little in the way of exercising. I began incorporating exercise into my day and exercise for 150-200 min. a week now. Some days I do a greaat workout- some days it is pretty light, but I am doing it for my overall health, not weight loss.

    You can do this- one step at a time.

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