Hello, everyone!

I am brand spankin' new here to this forum. My name is Megan, and I'm an 18 year-old from Cleveland. I can't tell you how many times I've woken up and mentally said to myself, "Today is the day I start my new weight-loss journey, and I am going to DO IT this time!" But, alas, I always fall off the wagon, and I end up drowning my discouragements with a bag of Reese's Cup Miniatures. It's awful! Growing up I was a skinny little thing, but once I started my period and quit cheerleading, I began to put on weight, and I'm so frustrated. I look at old pictures of myself and feel so sad.

But, I'm still hopeful; that's why I'm here! However, I really do feel like I can't do it. I just feel like I'm going to end up like my mom, who received a gastric bypass almost 7 years ago. Weight worries have been with me my entire life, but mostly for me watching my mom struggle day-to-day. I am so scared I will end up like her. I really want to nip it in the bud at an early age, which is why I need motivation! I just want to hear that I really can do it, because I've lost a lot of faith in myself.

I am 5'6" and my weights are 150/150/125.

Hi Megan, you CAN do this. I wish I could have known everything I know now at your age then i would not be this weight at my age now.
The battle is so much in our mind, we don't have to listen to our mind when it tells us to go eat a bag of yummy peanut butter cups, we DO Not have to obey that thought or any other thought that tells us what we should go eat when we are stressed, happy, bored etc.
Taking it just one day at a time helps as well. Just for today just for now we have to work thru this. Today someone brought in macaroons to my office, i cant buy those I will eat them all i love coconut and chocolate, but I have not had one. If you can win some of the small batttles now it will help you tremendously in the future. You do not have to be like your mom, you are Megan and you can do this. Changing your thinking is to believe you can do this is key, dont beleive the lie that you cannot do this, it is just a lie, believe the truth this is possible!

oh and by the way, you are already gorgeous!

I agree, Megan. You CAN do it!! Have you come up with a plan yet? That's a good place to start and might help motivate you. Think about if/how you want to incorporate exercise into your life... are you going to calorie count... how many calories you should eat each day, how much protein, etc... what you need to set limits for... other ways you can stay active... Good luck!

Welcome to 3FC =)

I think it's fantastic that you just want to head off potential future problems with food struggles.

It sounds like you face similar problems that many people do when trying to lose some weight. You fall off the wagon, and then just give up entirely.

Weight loss, and eating healthier does NOT mean you have to be perfect. It does not mean giving up foods forever. It does not mean never making a mistake and eating something you didn't really want.

Let me assure you, no matter where you are in your journey, at some point you'll eat something you didn't really want... or you'll go over your calories for the day, or you'll miss a day of exercise. A mistake WILL happen, because we're human!

The mistake isn't what matters, though. It's what we do immediately after. I promise you that a quick "Oh shoot. Didn't want to do that. Okay. Next meal I have planned more carefully." is enough to move on!

Down in the Maintainers area of the forum where you'll find a good number of people who've taken off some weight and have been keeping it off, you'll notice that they still plan. They still have good days, and bad days, but the whole point...THEY'RE STILL GOING FORWARD!

I'm reminded of a saying. When you're climbing a mountain and stumble a few feet, would you give up and throw yourself off the entire mountain?

It's a ridiculous and unrealistic way to look at weight loss. Sustainable. That's what we're after here. Not perfection. Perfection isn't sustainable. Reality is that most of the time we're gonna make good choices for ourselves, but if we give up every time we make a little mistake, we'd never get to goal!

No more looking at dieting like some perfection project. Look around, formulate a healthier way of eating, maybe look into getting an activity started that you enjoy doing.

Then commit to continuing regardless of the little slip-ups (or big slip-ups!). I promise that if you keep going NO MATTER WHAT, you'll be thrilled a year from now that you stayed with it.

You can do this. You can make healthier choices. Don't aim for perfection. Aim for continuing. =)

Best of wishes!

Thank you everyone. I already feel more motivated from your support! I honestly have tried to lose the weight at least 10 times, and the lifestyle of my first semester of college didn't help either! I think I'm going to invest in a pair of rollerblades. Is rollerblading a good exercise? That and biking are the two exercises I enjoy the most.


Also, did I mention that another reason I joined this site is for the wacky smileys?

Well said, Lovely!

It's EXCELLENT exercise! I'll let you in on a secret. ANY activity or movement that you enjoy is good exercise. It does not have to be a "formal" aerobic exercise complete with legwarmers and headband! Activity SHOULD be enjoyable! You like rollerblading and biking? AWESOME! Do them as often as you'd like.

My favorite one? :

Hooray! I'm so glad to hear that! My dad also told me tonight that he would pay for a personal trainer; something I know is a HUGE sacrifice on his part but also extremely generous! I truly feel so blessed to have support from loved ones. I'm also glad I found this lovely network of people going through the same ordeal as me. Misery loves company, right?

Gosh, I could have written your story myself, especially with the fear of ending up like Mom...I have issues with motivation too, and I've come across SO many encouraging messages since joining 3FC. Taking it one day at a time really does make all the difference. You are in control of you, and even on the days when you just do not feel like exercising or sticking to plan, you just have to make yourself do it. Have you thought about joining a challenge thread in the Chicks up for a Challenge forum? I found that having that little extra boost every day helps a lot.

You really can do it...remember, one day at a time

Hah, one of the first things I did here was disable the smileys! I'm sure they're very nice as smileys go, they just do my eyes in.

You've already been given superb advice about how to get past mistakes, to which I'd like to add one thing. When I was at school learning biology and my experiments weren't working out as they should, a teacher told us that it doesn't really matter if the experiment went wrong, and in fact in one way it's better. Because then you look at it carefully, work out where you went wrong, and learn from it, instead of just following the book without thinking about it. I ended up in English literature but hey, it's still very sound advice.

Most people with your dieting history feel they can't succeed because they always set themselves unrealistic goals and go for quick fixes. The truth is that there are no quick fixes in weight loss. Set yourself something manageable, typically 1-2lb weight loss a week, avoid extreme diets, and if you calorie count, make sure you calculate your calorie expenditure correctly and don't try to cut too many calories. I've got 35lb to lose overall, with the added impediment of not being able to exercise due to disability, and I'm losing 1lb a week and absolutely thrilled about it. Slow weight loss is more likely to be lasting, too.

Another tip: if your mother has an uneasy weight history, don't discuss your weight loss attempts with her, it tends to complicate matters.

Hi and welcome!

You have gotten great advice already and you can do this! You have to accept the fact that you must make a lifestyle change... it can't be a quick fix, because when you go back to eating "normally" the weight will come back on. Maybe start by making small goals.... increase your water intake (you should be drinking at least 64 oz a day, but the more the better... I aim for 92 oz a day). Rollerblading sounds like a great start to increase your movement! Also, if you're in college I'm assuming you have access to a free gym on campus? Take advantage of that! There are a ton of websites out there that will take all of your information and tell you approx. how many calories you should be eating each day.

The most important thing I had to learn was to be kind to myself... I am not perfect and I no longer beat myself up for having a bad eating day... it happens, we all slip up and the important thing is just jumping right back into your healthy lifestyle.