[mechell81]

Ok well I have been reading the forums and really getting to the root of why I am overweight. I feel more positive this time and I feel more confident. I can honestly say I have not been one to do the yo yo dieting...honestly I haven't tried enough and all I have ever done is gain weight. Now I have been between 290-335 for almost four years now. I am almost 25. I sort of feel at the point where enough is enough. Its like I have been waiting for the perfect time to lose weight. But I realize that I need to just start now not later! Here is what I am planning to do...feel free to let me know what you think...

1) July 3rd is grocery day and I plan to get rid of everything I shouldn't be eating. The number one killers for me has been soda and just plain junk food. Also I eat WAY to many carbs. I sat down last night and made a list of everything healthy I could eat. I even pritned some receipes off of here.
I realize chaning the way I eat is step number one for me!

2) Physical activity. It is hard getting a good workout sometimes because I wear out easy and my weight does cause some pain. So I am starting out slower in this area. I ordered some better supportive tennis shoes. Hopefully I can start walking around the block soon. I will try to get some sort of physical activity a day though.

The chaning the way I eat is a really big thing for me. I always have given into eating junk after a week of good eating. I do have a lot of doubt in my head. I have been at such a high weight for so long its even hard to comprehend being under 300 pounds. I still struggle also with will I even lose a pound? I know it sounds ridiculous...but I really think that even I eat right and work out I won't lose weight. Does anyone else feel like that? I know it is so unlogical...but I am not really sure why I feel this way.

Well here I go again I hope to really have success this time. I am ready to feel better!! Also I just wanted to say all of your posts are very inspiring for me!

Michelle

[Heather]

Michelle -- Good for you! Sounds like you are planning for success!!!

For me, making baby steps was very helpful. Like you, I had trouble with sustained exercise but just did a little. I don't like to do exercise and have found that setting goals (for me it was minutes/month) has really helped keep me accountable, but also gives me flexibility -- I don't HAVE to exercise every day, but on average, across the month, need to get in X minutes. You can see in my sig how my exercise has increased, since November at least!

And the food -- I write down everything I eat. It was a real eye opener at first! I have slowly changed what I eat, moving to more healthy foods -- though not everything I eat is healthy for sure, the vast majority is!

The ABCs of weight loss for me are:
Attitude -- keep it positive and belief in yourself (and you could add Accountability here)
Behavior -- focus on eating and exercise and don't worry about the number on the scale so much (it won't behave as you want it to anyway).
Commitment -- make the decision to do this for YOU. If you fall down, get back up. (But don't feel you have to commit to a particular PLAN)...

Good luck, and keep coming back here for Ideas and Inspiration!!

[djstorey]

Glad to hear you have committed to being healthier! Good for you!

I agree with everything Wyllenn said. I started the same way, with baby steps. I didn't try to change all my bad habits at once. I started walking just a couple times a week and didn't try to increase until I felt that I was ready. I also changed my eating little by little.

Every time I tried to lose weight before, I would just jump right in and exercise every day and try to eat only healthy foods and it never worked! Within a week or two, I would burn out and get discouraged and go back to my old ways. I finally realized that I needed to make little changes that I could stick to and to only make 1 or 2 changes at a time. Guess what? It actually worked! I won't say it's always been easy. I also can't say that I've never blown it, but the weight has come off and when I hit a rough patch, I know what to do to get myself going again.

You can do this. Take it slowly, aim for health, not numbers on the scale and be patient! It will happen for you if you really want it and put some effort into it.

[mel67]

Wyllenn, you are a jewel!! love your ABC's! sounds like you're on the right path, mechell. good luck!

[lilybelle]

Welcome Mechell and Congratulations on the decision to get started. Please know that with consistent healthy eating and exercise that the weight will come off. My biggest struggle with losing weight was that I didn't think I could do it. I am happy to know now, that I am stronger than I thought. Believe in yourself and it will work. Best luck on a successful weight loss journey.

[Michelle]

Originally Posted by djstorey

Glad to hear you have committed to being healthier! Good for you!

I agree with everything Wyllenn said. I started the same way, with baby steps. I didn't try to change all my bad habits at once. I started walking just a couple times a week and didn't try to increase until I felt that I was ready. I also changed my eating little by little.

Every time I tried to lose weight before, I would just jump right in and exercise every day and try to eat only healthy foods and it never worked! Within a week or two, I would burn out and get discouraged and go back to my old ways. I finally realized that I needed to make little changes that I could stick to and to only make 1 or 2 changes at a time. Guess what? It actually worked! I won't say it's always been easy. I also can't say that I've never blown it, but the weight has come off and when I hit a rough patch, I know what to do to get myself going again.

You can do this. Take it slowly, aim for health, not numbers on the scale and be patient! It will happen for you if you really want it and put some effort into it.

I'm so glad I came across your post! This advice is great and I think this theory can really help me out, because I tend to get on the scale almost every day, and then I get very down about the results some days...thank you!