BendableButMendable Member

Thank you both, I think these are great ideas and I can look into them and discuss them with my therapist. I hadn't really considered either option before. She had recommended that I look into volunteering at an animal shelter but all of the shelters around me had stopped accepting volunteers due to COVID. I haven't looked…

Thank you all for your comments, they mean a lot to me.

I'm glad you got something out of it. Thanks for the compliment on the beard, I was actually pretty happy with it when it was well groomed. I ended up cutting it shorter and had it exactly where I wanted it before mask usage became a thing. I couldn't get it to look presentable after having a mask on so I trimmed it pretty…

Thank you so much for this. I have a very hard time asking for that kind of help, but I'm at the point that I can't feasibly refuse help from anyone that is willing to offer it. I will do my best to get the courage to reach out to them.

I owe everyone that has contributed to this thread an apology. I'm sorry that I disappeared and haven't responded in a couple weeks, that was rude and inconsiderate at best. I have been really struggling the last couple weeks with the stress of my finances and trying to get the courage to actually look for work. Work has…

Regarding losing the weight again, don't feel compelled to do anything drastic or rush the process. You might be surprised how much of that new weight is due to water retention from the increase of sugar in your diet. Any of that water weight will come off very rapidly when you get back to a healthier nutrition plan,…

I second @AnnPT77 on the recommendation for fresh fruit. I'm definitely one of the people that had that work for them and now if I go more than a few days without it I get really strong cravings for a fresh orange or a banana. Not only does fresh fruit stand a good chance of satisfying your mental craving for something…

I think I know how you feel with your weight gain and anxiety about the world. I actually lost 80lbs during the pandemic, but that is all weight that I put on due to depression and anxiety issues prior to COVID. I don't know if this will help you or not, but I actually used COVID as motivation to lose the weight. I tried…

Sorry, I had a few other thoughts on your situation in general... It sounds like you've made quite a few changes in a short period of time; there is nothing wrong with that, but it can make it difficult to examine specific results or issues. With such a small calorie deficit you are in more of a re-composition mode than…

Body fat percentage is a reflection of the relative proportion of fat you have compared to other things (i.e. muscle, bone, water, etc.), it is not a "true" unit of measure in the sense that it doesn't tell you specifically how many lbs or kgs of fat you have. When you start working out and eating well your body will shed…

My therapist has been recommending an emotional support animal for a while now. She has recently started teasing me because she says I'm the first person she's had to try to convince to do it. She normally has people go to her trying to get a letter from her so they can get around the no pets policy of their lease. I…

I really do hope this thread has reached someone that it could help, that is what I used to find the courage to make that first post. I honestly feel fairly exposed and on edge about the whole thing still but enough people have commented about their own traumas and anxiety that I feel less alone, and I hope they do as…

Oh boy, that's an unfortunate typo... at least I hope it is ;)

I’m 6 feet tall and in March of 2020 I weighed ~250lbs, by March of 2021 I was down to 170lbs. Other than 3 months last summer where I went to the gym fairly regularly I was about as sedentary as a person can get. Weight loss really is all about caloric deficit. Once you set a smart goal for your daily calories it’s just a…

Thank you both for your kindness, I really do appreciate it.

Thank you for letting me know that I wasn't the only one, although I'm not sure how I should feel about that. On one hand I feel less embarrassed now, but on the other I'm sad that it's such a common issue in the world. And yes, I always made sure to tip well. I've always been pretty good about that but when you see the…

There is a lot I could touch on with this post as it is a complex issue that presents differently for the people that struggle with it. I happen to be someone who has been isolated for the last 5 years, so I am intimately familiar with this. I don't want to hijack this thread but I wrote about it (superficially at least)…

You deserve to be very proud of yourself, not only for the weight loss and the positive effects it is already having on your health, but also because you had the courage to face the personal issues that led to the weight gain and could prevent your success. It is easy for people to make excuses and find any and all reasons…

In that case, how will I be able to take credit for any of your future success? Just kidding. Keep at it and you'll be cranking out reps sooner than you think. I still remember how excited I was when I did 3 clean reps in a row. From 2 to 3 was a hurdle for me, then things started to pick up.

That's not lame at all. Pull-ups (not the same but close enough) are oddly my favorite exercise, probably because I use to rock climb. When I started getting healthy again I couldn't come close do doing a single rep, but I could do negatives. Use a chair or stool to get to the top position and then slowly and with control…

I ran on a treadmill for the first time in years tonight. I had been using a stationary bike to help build my leg strength but I thought my weak legs were preventing me from getting my heart rate where I wanted it. While running on the treadmill tonight I still couldn't get my heart rate beyond the mid-point of my target…

Darn it, the OCD part of my brain wouldn't let me off the hook without making another point about this. I'm sure there are people out there that, intentionally or otherwise, don't accurately track their calories leading them to make false claims about how much they eat to maintain. But another possibility is what I touched…

I promise this will be a shorter post... I uploaded a photo to my account last night and it shows up on my main page and when I go to my profile, but I am still a gray snowman here in this thread. Can anyone let me know if I missed an obvious step for getting that to show up here? Thanks.

These are great questions and it is important information. I had planned on including this info in my original post but I got self-conscious about how long that post was getting so I chickened out and didn’t add it. I am a 6 feet tall 37 year old male with a fairly broad/athletic frame currently weighing in at 168lbs…

Thank you all again for your comments and well wishes. I have been isolated so long that they really do mean a great deal to me.

Trust is a difficult thing. I can't remember where I heard it or from whom, but I remember a quote that goes something like "betrayal hurts so bad because it can only come from someone you trust." Trust is often intimately associated with pain, but it is also intimately associated with so many good things as well. It's…

Now that I know first hand how difficult it is to post things like this I want to tell you how much I appreciate you doing so. I’m sorry that you’ve dealt with so much, especially losing your mother at such a young age. I lost my mom at an early age as well and know how much that hurts and how the effects can linger. I’m…

This made me chuckle. Thank you for that.

Wow, this got a lot more attention than I expected. Thank you all for welcoming me with such an outpouring of kindness and empathy. It is very touching. Also, thanks to those of you that recommended books or other sources of help and inspiration. I have made note of them and will look into them in time. And thanks to those…