Depression, Video Games, Office Jobs in My 20's Did This To

Tonnenator · November 2011

Hi there! I had office jobs for 15 years and I also sat around and played video games and watched TV on my off hours all through my 20's. I was chemically depressed too, and have diabetes in my family. Well guess what? I'm diabetic now and am on a sleep apnea machine and I feel old even though I'm only 39. I hate it. It didn't help that I lost 30 some pounds during summer of 2010 and then I was in a car accident that made me gain it all back and then some. Nobody seems to understand or have any compassion for me and everybody wants to be my food police. It really pisses me off and makes me want to punch someone when people ask me "Are you sure you're allowed to have that?" like it's somehow their right to guard and police what I eat since I'm a diabetic, and like I'm stupid enough to pick up things and put them in my mouth that I shouldn't, like a little kid. I'm in college now and am actually finding Columbus State to be a place that is very conducive to my weight loss as long as I stay the heck out of the cafeteria! I have decided that fries, burgers and deep fried anything is the devil and I have that stuff only every so often. It doesn't help though that I live with two men, my husband and grown son, who can seem to eat whatever they want and not gain a pound. It's really hard when people want to go out for ice cream in the summer time and of course you want to go but then your sugar shoots up. No amount of walking can undo Weldon's! Anyways here I am, and I'm trying but nothing seems to be happening...my name's Tonya by the way. *waves*

ElizabethRoad · November 2011

Hi Tonya. You say you're trying but nothing's happening - how long have you been trying? Sometimes it does take a little while before you see the scale move. Be sure you are taking your measurements, too. Sometimes that is a better indicator of how you're doing.

I don't want to sound harsh but I do want to say this: you keep saying depression did this to you, office jobs did this, car accident did this. I'm sure those things were major factors that contributed, and I'm not trying to say otherwise. But in the end you really do have to say "I am responsible for my weight and my health" no matter what is going on in your life.

Anyway, welcome and best of luck!

cruiseking · November 2011

There are certain people I don't mention my weight loss quest to. I hate the inquiries, the focus, the attention, and the questions. Some things are best left unsaid. Also, people that have never had an issue with weight, just don't get the psycological acrobatics, of a fat person. In hindsight losing the 50lbs in 7 months was the easy part. The two years of mental torment, leading up to actually making a decision was the tough part. Also, you HAVE to make sure that you find a way to have "the good stuff" available, so you won't be tempted by old habits. Good luck.

kira000 · November 2011

Hi Tonya,
You may feel old today, but you are starting your new life where you are going to feel alive and with lots of energy!
It's obvious what's going on now is not working so embrace the change!!

People who have never had a weight problem just don't understand and sometimes say ignorant things. I am not always successful but I try to ignore them. That's all we can do.

I have diabetes in my family too so I can kinda relate to those issues. I am trying hard not to follow in the family footsteps, so I try to avoid most sugar. It's seriously hard, but one trip for ice cream just makes me want another one so I find cold turkey is the best option. I allow myself fruit or a square of dark chocolate when I have those cravings. Sometimes I will even make whipped cream with no-cal sweetner if I can afford the fat calories. And yes, I know men just shovel it down and don't gain any weight, but we can't compare ourselves to them.

I'll send ya a friend request so if you want to discuss your weight loss journey, you can bounce it off someone who's going through the same issues.

Hang in there and good luck!

janet5432 · November 2011

It depends who the person is. If you’re my relative or close friend yes I will say something because I know people who lost limbs and eye sight due to diabetes. It’s interesting because I wonder why people say oh it’s just one donut or this one time won’t hurt to me. Yet if I told them I was diabetic then they would be supportive and bring sugar free desserts or pick better restaurants without lots of sugared items.

For the ice cream ride or walk bikes to the ice cream place and have sugar free (almost all places have it). We have two ice cream places one is 1-2 miles down the road and pricey. So my solution is to go to the one about 10-15 miles on bike and eat something small and for less. This way they will keep me motivated by wanting to bike ride (I am out of shape so using winter to get in shape by walking/working out at home and gym).

For me I had to go cold turkey. I am getting better about having one bite and not getting hooked on sugar again. However, Mt Dew is the devil to me. If I had even one sip all my work would be derailed. Also certain candy bars are my favorite and eating one is not an option. Food journal and stress journal helped me a lot.

Good luck in your journey. I know MFP has helped me a lot.
Janet

pfeiferfit · November 2011

Welcome, and good luck!! I hear you on all of those factors - I have an office job and a lot of depression in the family and my background.

It gets better once it picks up steam.

There are a lot of supportive people here, and I find it helpful looking at what has worked for other people.

For ice cream and treats, I find that I just go out and have a diet coke when my family's having sweets. It's a treat for me.

And yeah, I could mow down a box of cookies on a bad day too, but if I ever want to make my goal (and change my life) that's not in the cards for me.

A friend said to me the other day "maybe I've already eaten my lifetime's worth of bread" and I thought MAN I've DEFINITELY eaten mine. I used to eat a half loaf of raisin bread on my way home from the bakery.

Here you will find a LOT of recipes, stories of challenge and success, and some REALLY HUGE transformations. So again, welcome!

kira000 · November 2011

Pfeiferfit, What a great way to think about it! It's not that you can't have bread, but that you've already eaten your fill. :-)

Tonnenator · December 2012

Wow it's been almost exactly a year since I posted this thread. It's like a message in a bottle. Since then, a lot has happened. First of all, I am almost ready to graduate with my Associates' Degree! I'm so excited. Finally, I will have achieved an actual GOAL in life! Better late than never!

Secondly, I am now down to 272 finally - after finding out that I have an underactive thyroid. Surprise, surprise! Also I found out that I have high triglycerides. In fact they are DOUBLE what they should be. The doctor said that this is inherited, and even if I had sat down and wolfed down one stick of butter after another all day, I still could not get my triglycerides that high on my own. So it's not my fault! Yay.

I have since been put on Lipitor and Synthroid, as well as a low cholesterol and low fat diet. So I am low carb, low sugar, low fat and low cholesterol. I call it the Why Bother diet, LOL! May as well eat air.

Anyways another thing I have done is taken up dance classes at college. This may sound silly since I am a big girl but I was not the only big girl in the room. In fact, I wasn't even the biggest - and I had a blast. Our college has a zero tolerance policy for bullying, so everything worked out including me ha ha. My teacher is a taskmaster and he had us sweating buckets all semester long. I took Jazz and Dance Appreciation. Now I am about to have a one month break, and I have Ballet and Tap coming up. Considering my injury - did I mention that? - I have metal in my right knee from an accident I was in - I now have a goal to get myself in some seriously better shape by the middle of January when Tap and Ballet starts.

During the semester, I sprained my ACL on my "good" knee, because I showed up to class too late to stretch. Bad, bad, bad. I ended up hospitalized and that was when they discovered the thyroid problem. The ACL healed up nicely though and I was back in the swing of things in a couple of weeks.

My family is at a new church since February of this year. A few weeks ago this old lady JUMPED MY CASE because she saw me eating this like, 2 inch cruller donut. We had left late, and I hadn't had any time for breakfast, and that was ALL I had. I was shaking - what could I do? But man she came out of the darkness of the hallway and chewed me a new one! She was a total stranger too and I was like, "Hello I'm sorry do I know you?" Then after church it was pretty much ON. She was an old lady but I let her have it, intelligently of course, because I could tell that she wasn't sorry. She had no right to do that.

Anyways that's where I'm at. And to the person who said how long have you been trying I would say off and on all my life. In recent years it has been for a couple of years at least. The accident didn't help - I had gone from 296 down to 245, then ended up in a wheelchair for 6 months and I gained it all back. That was with me doing weights, watching what I ate and going to WalMart to wheel myself around, too. Didn't matter.

So here we are...I am back down to 272 and am rather happy about that. Can't wait until Spring Semester for Tap and Ballet!

Depression, Video Games, Office Jobs in My 20's Did This To

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