Hi, I would like to get some advice and opinions..
I recently gained a LOT of weight, for no special reason other than lapsing into extremely unhealthy eating habits during a stressful period of life. In a period of two months, I went from being around 110-115 to today about 137 pounds. And now I'm having trouble knowing what to do!
I feel really uncomfortable in my body now... It's just so different and it happened so fast that its like unbelievable how much bigger and softer my body is. It's just really hard to even get dressed or look in the mirror sometimes! Plus this uncomfortableness is contributing, I think, to actually making it hard to start eating healthier again... Like it seems I gained so much weight and the effort to lose it is going to be so much that its hard to even get started, and so I'm resorting to emotional eating just thinking about that, making the situation only worse, of course.
I guess I'm just wondering how to get myself started on losing the weight. I have a long history of yo-yo dieting, and I would like to stop that.
It all starts with the first step. The weight won't come off until you quit giving in to your negative thoughts about yourself. Give yourself mini goals, like getting through one day without the junk food, then two days, then three, etc. It takes time, nothing happens overnight, but it won't happen at all until you let it.
Don't let your weight define who you are. Make a list of all your wonderful attributes and keep reading it. Realize that your weight doesn't make you who you are, but your heart does.
Write down a few days' menus of healthy meals that you like (do not try to punish yourself by eating food you hate). Then, go to the grocery store and stock up on everything you need to create those meals. Throw out all junk food or anything you have in your house that will derail you. Commit to one week of clean, healthy eating. Exercise at least a few minutes at least five days of that week. I think just focusing on the short-term goal of healthy eating and light exercise for a week will really help you in terms of confidence. If you focus on the amount of weight you'll need to lose, you'll just get mired down in negative self-talk. Once you have that week under your belt, you'll be on a roll and have more confidence that you can continue and lose the weight.
That's what works for me, anyway. Don't give up. I know it seems like a big gain, but 137 is still not heavy, and at least you're catching it now.
One thing holding me back is the feeling that, while I know I'm overeating, I don't feel so bad that I'm bigger, but once I start eating more moderately, it feels so wrong that I'm so much heavier. But I guess I just have to sit with that discomfort for a while....
I definitely do have to work on realizing that my weight isn't the only thing that defines who I am and that I'm not any less a good person being 20 or 30 pounds heavier. Right?
What should I do about my clothes? I outgrew basically everything except leggings and sweatshirts. Do I throw out all my jeans that don't fit now? It feels so wasteful, since I was wearing them just a couple weeks ago and plan on wearing them again, since I know this is an unhealthy weight for me I don't want to stay at forever...but then I always hear that it's not good to keep things that don't fit.
What to do after a BIG gain?
