Hi, this is the first time I've tried something like this, because I maybe never accepted I needed to put a goal to reach, for some people that may want to know about me and be friends here is my story and why I'm trying to lose weight:

I'm a 22 year old Mexican woman, even though I still don't consider myself a woman at all. My entire life I've been the "fat" kid, and the fat person, I think people can be very mean to fat people, like we are not worth a thing just for being fat. When you are a kid you just have to bear with the things your parents give you to eat so I had a vitamin rich but also very caloric diet my whole life (Mexican Food is really heavy) I think my mom just thought that was the best for me. When I got a little older I wasn't that fat, but I still had a little of over weight, wich made me very self concious and I had a low selfesteem, I've suffered from clinical depression for over 8 years now due to a sexual abuse in my childhood, I never looked for any help so I think that's why I've been in that place for so long, I've also had severe panic attacks for over 2 years now. Today I'm the fattest I've ever been, I'm 216 lbs and this past year has been the hardest year in my life. In three years I've put on 70 lbs, 145lb was the thinest I ever was at the age 18

This was me then:






I have many passions in life, I love singing, drawing and cosplaying (Dressing up as fictional characters) At 18-19 I started cosplaying cause I though I was not that fat at that time and I gained a little confidense by doing so. It's been nearly 4 years since I last did cosplay and I miss it a lot, but I just can't allow myself to try and cosplay now that I'm so fat, I feel worthless just thinking about it, and I can't even sing like I used to because I have many troubles breathing and also I have a problem with my nose that need surgery and I don't have the money to pay for it.

When I was 8 years old I went to japan to visit my aunt, there I realised, that being fat was not normal, since asian people are all so thin, it's a big difference to se how in mexico many people are fat and it is "normal" here at some point, I think that was the first time I trully felt bad about my weight since I had to use adult clothes instead of kid's clothes, that was the time I started being self-concious about it. I dream of one day going back to japan to visit my aunt (who is alone there with her daughters) and even live there, but I just can't imagine being thin enough not to be stared at or laugh at.

This is not a new year's resolution, at all, since I know this not something I want to do, but something I HAVE TO DO! I can't take this anymore... So I hope I can find some help and guidance in this forum, althought I know all this takes is real effort, I think for once in my life I'm truly motivated to lose weight and cosplay again and also one day go back to japan not feeling ashamed of the way I look. This is me right now:



I'm gonna finaly get a goal and it'll be 133lbs and I hope I can come here when things get difficult and I want to give up, I don't want to give up till I get there!!! Feel free to add me on facebook or skype, if you want to be friends send me a private messege and I'll answer for sure!

Thanks for your time, and nice to meet you all!

Welcome aboard! You've had a rough past, but coming here can definitely help you motivate. Mexican food is terrrrrrrrrible for dieting, especially through the holidays with those pinchi tamales! LOL Love them, the the lard is well, lard!

Not sure what Cancun grocery stores have, only been there once...and when I tried traveling downtown I almost got arrested (not our fault we were dumb gueras haha) But, you can still make MX food lighter...frijoes sin lard or oil. Cut out tortillas as much as possible..(If you can find high fiber lower calorie ones, they can be eaten once in awhile.) And the list goes on...

Do you have a game plan for dieting? Do you plan on exercising, calorie counting or both? Lots of different types of weight loss programs on this website, just let us know what interests you and we can all chime in with suggestions. I am a calorie counter (as I have to keep myself accountable for what I put in my tummy) And just starting working out, again. I know some ladies here are on Weight Watchers, or other programs. So if you have any questions ask away

ˇBienvenidos al foro!

Thanks a lot, well, I've been using my bike 5 days a week for the past month, although I didn't cut bad foods off my diet, because holidays, I know thats a terrible excuse XD But I'm really clueless on what diet I should follow, grocery stores here have a lot to offer but I don't know what to buy, also I don't have that much free time so it's hard for me to cook my own meals, sometimes I'm too worried that I may not eat the right things and I end up eating nothing and then I end up eating a lot of things I shouldn't I really don't eat that much mexican food, and I don't even like tortillas that much, I rather eat pasta and I know is also very bad for dieting If you could recomment me an easy to prepear diet that I can follow even when I'm at work I'd be really grateful, thanks for your support!

OH yes pasta can be a calorie bomb. The key to everything is portions. Even if you buy prepackaged food start paying attention to the food labels. It all starts at the grocery store. Read your nutrition labels. How much is a serving? How may calories are in a serving?

First figure out your RMI Resting Metabolic Rate here

With that in mind, that is how many calories a day you burn just sitting around. So to maintain your weight, that is how much you would eat...

To lose weight you will need to cut back. Both on eating and increasing exercise if you want faster results. For example, if your RMI is 2000 calories a day, you would need a NET daily intake of 1500. So, in other words if you eat 1500 and do no exercise, or eat 2000 and burn off 500 calories you are there. 7 days of that in a row, would equal a 3500 deficit AKA 1 lbs of weight loss.

Shapesense has some great articles explaining it. Read this also.

As far as guessing what you burn there are calculators online...Or for more accurate results you may want to invest in a heart rate monitor. There are some that connect to smartphones...and others that stand on their own (Polar)...I have both now, keeps me motivated and accountable for what I put in my mouth and for what you burn exercising!

I've decided to follow a 1600 calorie diet and also keep on excercising on my bike 5 times a week, I hope it goes well, I'll let you know about it Thanks for your help!

By the way, love your avatar. It's adorable.
Looks like you, too.

You are adorable! Cosplay is the bees knees. I've never done it myself but have friends that do. So awesome. Do you read any anime at all? I have only dabbled but haven't gotten into anything new. My first anime that I read was Death Note and effing loved it and haven't found anything else that is up to that level. lol

Anyhoo, thank you for sharing your story. I am always so so pleased when people have the opportunity to share their situation but also take the time to share their struggled and more importantly talk about the emotional connection this fitness journey has attached to it. Setting realistic and attainable goals is where it begins and verbally saying them solidifies them in your being. Trust me, every time I have a goal I speak those words into existence. You will be incredibly successful if you keep the fight, stay focused, acknowledge your mistakes and defeats but use them as motivation to keep going.

I look forward to chatting and getting to know you. We should talk all things nerdy soon but maybe via messages so we don't annoy people. lol

No problem! If you have any more questions let us know!

Thanks!

Thanks everyone for your support!