[JustMare]

Hello to all! I'm new here, and I was wondering how you got your start on this journey.

I've been overweight all my life it seems, and like most people, my weight has crept up every year. I remember telling myself years ago that I would never get past 200lbs, but here I am at 235.

I used to think that I wanted to lose weight to "look good" or fit into some magical size clothing. As I am almost 37, I now realize I want to lose weight to be healthy. I'm terrified of heart disease, diabetes, stroke, etc... I'm tired of feeling bad.

I'm having a full checkup on Tuesday with blood workups, and hopefully all will be OK.

I have a treadmill gathering dust in the basement.

So, how do you start? Just one day at a time? Set goals for exercise and go from there? Did you have a wake up call?

Thanks!

[beautifulone]

Hi Mare, !!!

I guess it's different for everyone, but for myself, I started 6 weeks ago and I wasn't sure what to do with my eating or with my exercise at first. So I went to the gym and worked out. Then a day or two after that, I thought to myself, well I'd better go again, so I went. Pretty soon, it developed into a routine by which I went four times a week for forty minutes to do cardio. Recently I saw a trainer for a strength training routine and I'll be adding that on this week. I've pretty much been testing it out all along. Even 6 weeks later, I'm still putting all the pieces together... maybe that's because I'm taking it slowly and trying to consolidate one aspect before I add something else on... but it's working for me and as long as it's doing that, I'm satisfied and happy about it

So how do you start? You just do it one choice at a time Whether that's a breakfast dish or deciding "I'm going to exercise today!" or even just saying to yourself, "YES I CAN DO THIS". You decide what you want to do, how you want to do it, and then you set out to do it Sometimes it works better than other times, but the goal is to keep at it overall and you will see results

I don't know if that's something you were looking for or helpful, I'm still trying to figure out what I'm doing myself but give it a try and remember that nothing's ever really set in stone. Try things, see what works and what doesn't, what you're comfortable with and what is realistic for YOU, and give your body a little time to adjust.

Good luck and welcome again

[owira]

how do ya start? well i used to do the big change thing .. meaning .. i would up and change my whole life figuring this is what will make me healthier .. of course .. so much change in such a short time was hard to keep in the long run .. this last time i started making changes back in january .. i cut back on cokes .. then just gave em up completely after about a month .. doing that alone i lost 15 lbs in about 2 months .. then i started tryin to get back to the gym .. that has always been a battle for me ..but a couple months ago i found one that is more convenient for me.. just a block and a half away from work , once i get my foot in the door there its harder to talk myself out of doing my work out ... where as my other gym was a 30 minute ride otw home .. PLENTY of time to talk myself out of going.. i slowly started losing more weight til had lost a lil more than 20 .. gained cpl back ..lost em again ..they are like unwanted relatives ..always coming back when ya thought you were rid of em ...then i started Weight Watchers a few weeks ago.. after 3 weeks i have lost 7.5 lbs .. i am learning how to eat smarter and healthier through their program and i like that i can eat anything i want .. i just have to budget my points .. this so far has been a 8 month process and i have lost about 30 lbs .. the biggest jump was when i added the weight watchers plan and started making better choices in my food .. i can't believe the amount of food i used to eat .. or i should say type of food ..that was my biggest eye opener .. seeing how many calories my lunch was a day ..than i was like no wonder i haven't been losing even tho i go to the gym regularly now!! .. anyways just take it one thing at a time .. manageable tasks and goals that make ya feel great about what you are doing ..and not overwhelm yourself ..that just sets you up for disaster ..

[ladybugnessa]

i kept stopping and starting all my adult life. finally May 1 my husband who is also morbidly obese and I agreed we HAD to do something. we started just with our food choices being better (actually we follow South Beach Diet principles) and then by August I was ready (having lost about 25 pounds) to start moving more. I joined a gym.

it's not about looking good. for us it's a matter of survival. and now we know feeling better.

[DebbieII]

Hi Mare,
I told myself the same thing. "I will NEVER allow myself to go over 200 pounds" At 209 I woke up.

My family was here for my son's High School graduation. My Mom, Aunt and Grandma were sitting around comparing all of the medications they were taking. High blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol, the works. It hit me, I'm gonna be in the same boat if I don't do something RIGHT NOW.

Right now turned into several attempts at "dieting" and didn't last very long. It took me about a year to get really serious about it. I started Nutrisystem a year ago. I thought the convieniece of prepared foods would help. IT DID!!
I lost 40 pounds. Woo Hoo. Then I relaxed and gained a little back. That scared me.

Now I am here. Out of Nutrisystem food. Doing it by making good choices. I got my treadmill out of the closet and am actually using it. I use the guidelines they teach you with Nutrisystem , just use my own food and flex it a little. My biggest problem is going out for dinner. I do it often. But I am focused on making good choices now and instead of ordering the Big mouth burger at Chili's, I order the Guilt Free Chicken Sandwich. Life is good.

I'm gonna make it to my goal this time. And stay there. Your goal is the same as mine and our starting weight is pretty close too. We can do this. One day at a time. If you need a buddy, I'm here.

[Elanajel]

I agree with what others have said--you reach a certain critical point and realize you absolutely have to make changes.

What WW helped me with: looking closely at my environment and habits to see where I could make changes, and helping me get a handle on portion control. I really like my leader; I'm Lifetime so I go every month for a weigh-in but wouldn't mind going more often because she is so supportive.

You did the right thing by posting here--there is lots of good advice and support. Ask for help whenever you need it.

[Obsidianbbw]

I have been heavy all my life, but active. I have been trying half heartedly for years, but this year the man I believe I am going to marry said he would like me to be around for the next 50 years. He didn't say I needed to lose weight just that he wants me around and he loved Me no matter whatever size I am..


I started out doing the Walk away the pounds 1 mile and thought I would die. I now do 2 miles every other day and I think I'm ready to go for 3 (actually looking forward to it. It took a while to get there and I feel better. I also have a family who think taking blood pressure and other medications are just a part of growing old and I don't want to be like that.

[JustMare]

Thanks so much for the replies. I appreciate each and every one.

I walked today on my dusty treadmill for 20 minutes. It was a big thing for me since that thing has been sitting in the basement for 2 plus years. I've done WW before, and it does work; I just need to realize that I'm in this for the long haul. It's not a diet, it's a life change. That's really hard to get into my head. I just know I don't want to get sick from this weight. My husband's aunt is almost an invalid from weight issues--knee replacements, and now she needs ankle surgery. I don't want to be like that.

I was always lucky in that I never had issues before. Now I have the beginning stages of arthritis in my hip, and I definitely notice it hurts more when I gain a couple of pounds.