[time2shine18]

Hi, My name is Angie and I desperately need help.
I am 5'7 and 170.5 lbs. I am unsure what pant size I am due to the fact that I only wear sweats now. I used to be skinny at 145lbs (I have been 180 before) but I feel like I am fatter at 170 than I ever was. My measurements are 42-39-43 (I was professionally measured 2 times) and I am very desperate to lose weight. I am positive I am an apple because my legs and butt are thin and muscular and I have hipbones sort of sticking out(think a very fat potbellied pig who is anorexic from hips down my body looks like a giant V). My upper half though is very squishy and fat (39 inch waist sometimes 40.5 will do that). I am so desperate to loose 30lbs I am considering a water fast or eating nothing but fruit for 30 days. I desperately need help. I am only 18 and I can't be this big in shirts and pants. I don't know what else to do so if anyone can help me please respond.

[vibrantecho]

Hi Angie!

First off, take a deep breath and relax! You've found a great place here, with lots of "chicks" who will support you. 30 pounds is definitely an attainable goal for you, but it's NOT going to happen overnight. Safe weight loss is about 2 pounds per week - so for you that's about four months. May seem like forever right now, but believe me, it will be worth it in the long term. If you try some drastic diet, you won't see long term results, so lets just not even go there, okay? There are better ways.

Why don't you take a few minutes to tell us about you? What are your eating habits now, what activities do you like to do, whether you have struggled a long time with your weight, anything like that, that will help us help you make SMART weight-loss decisions that you can actually live with!

BTW, being 30 pounds overweight is not the end of the world! I know it seems like it at times, I do! I'm "only" 24, 5'2" and weigh 210 pounds - that's about 85 pounds that I want to lose. If I can do THAT, you can do this, okay???

Best of luck - stay in touch!

Fiona

[aphil]

time2shine18-

Hi! First-I want to welcome you here. Second-I want to say that you need to take a step back...and just take a deep breath for a minute.

Weight loss is not something that you can achieve overnight. It just doesn't happen. You could go on a crazy fruit only diet or water fast...but this is what will happen:

You will lose muscle mass-not fat. Going on an all fruit or water fast means you will be getting no protein. The muscles in your body require protein. If you don't eat it...you lose muscle. When you go on an extremely low calorie diet like you mentioned-your body will go into starvation mode. Our bodies have protective properties that keep us alive. Your body does not know that you are starving yourself on purpose...it will assume that you are in some sort of third world famine-and slow your metabolism down so that you conserve body fat to keep you alive.
You made a statement about your upper body being "squishy". This means that you carry some extra body fat. If you lose weight in this frantic sort of fashion-you will lose muscle (the FIRM that you want to KEEP) and you will KEEP the squishy...the fat. You will not be able to stick to a plan of this type for long...so when you cave-you will gain those few pounds back...and then you will be "squishier" then you were before-because you will weigh the same-but now carry more fat and less muscle.

I know and understand the franticness and hopelessness that you feel. All women who are or have been overweight do. But-I assume that you want to lose weight and KEEP it off, right? Then you need to learn healthy eating habits and get regular exercise. Only when weight is lost properly will you lose fat and keep your muscle mass.
You have to think of it in a different way...you didn't gain 30 pounds in one month...you are not going to lose it in one month. Aiming to do so will only disappoint you. You need to set achievable goals. Aiming to lose 1 pound a week is more realistic. 1 pound a week may not seem like much...but if you look at it in a different way...that is almost 10 pounds by New Years...or 20 by the spring/summer season.

Fiona is right-the first thing I need to know is your current eating and drinking habits. What do you eat each day? How many meals...what size portions...how many sodas per day? How often do you exercise and what do you do? Some people are overweight because they are very sedentary. Others are overweight because they eat too much...others are overweight because of the KINDS of foods they eat. (an 80 calorie apple and a 250 calorie candy bar are pretty close in size...but the person eating the candy bar snack every evening is taking in an extra 170 calories per day...it adds up!)

I would love to help guide you in making some better choices to help you in your weight loss efforts. I hope that you respond.

Aphil

[vibrantecho]

aphil - I always enjoy reading your posts.

fiona

[nurse2bmelanie]

I would do anything to weight 170 right now. Im 5'3" and 200 pounds. Some one is always worse than you are. Ive noticed that working in any kind of health care facility makes weight seem trivial.

[aphil]

Thanks Fiona!

nurse2b-my mother is a nurse!

Yes-someone is always worse off than you are...and we all need to remember that whether we have 10 pounds to lose or 200-that we should all do it in a healthy and sensible manner so that we keep it off for life-which is the point!

Take Care,
Aphil