Hi I'm new (clearly)

I'm 16, I live in London and I just want to get rid of this weight ONCE AND FOR ALL. I feel like its been holding me back, confidence wise for far too long. I have about 30lbs to lose and the good news is that that number doesn't seem to be rising these past 9 months or so as it has been 2007 - end of 2008 which is basically when I put all this weight on. I think it may have something to do with my PCOS especially as I eat very little junk food and my eating habits didn't really change during the time I put the weight on. It also might make it harder to lose weight (50% of women with PCOS are overweight). Since I've been regular (sorry if TMI) I haven't really gone above my current weight.

I can lose weight if I put my mind to it but I always end up eating too little then giving up. I was doing really well this summer and lost a noticeable amount of weight but then I started school again and its been so hard to always be healthy and pretty much impossible to count calories and as a result I put all the weight I lost back on (though luckily no more) despite being much more active than I was in the summer.

I just don't know what to do anymore. I have so much work (in the middle of my GCSE [pretty important public exams in the UK] year and I don't have much time and its only light while I'm at school - by 4 something o'clock its dark so I can't really go running because I live in a fairly rough area. I'm constantly exhausted. I go to the gym for an hour and a half a week but I don't really have time for much else. I don't have time to eat properly in the morning and at school we have to eat the school lunches (not allowed packed lunch) so counting calories is out of the question as I have no idea what they put in the food.

So basically I really want to lose weight but I have no idea how when so many other things get in the way. I'm pretty sure its possible but how do I go about it?

I know the usual advice to cut down on junk food, fizzy drinks etc. but the thing is that I don't really eat unhealthy food on a daily basis anyway. Is there anything else that you'd advise? I'm pretty deperate haha.

Also, I'm 165 lbs, 5"7.5 and I don't really look too fat but I FEEL it. If my mum found out how heavy I am she wouldn't believe it, especially as she was 98 lbs when she was 21 ha. I want to get down to around 130-5 then just tone up.

Advice on how the **** to do this would be greatly appreciated.

Well calorie counting is usually pretty reliable. Write down everything you eat and the calories. This will help you know exactly where you are as opposed to where you should be. There are lots of websites to help you keep track of calories and find out how many you should be consuming. fitday and thedailyplate are two popular ones. As far as exercise, maybe try looking for workout videos on www.youtube.com or www.bodyrock.com or http://www.exercise.com/exercise-videos There are tons of free videos to be found and you can do the exercises right in your home!

And you can get support/help with your pcos here: http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/pcos...ce-support-70/

Firstly, welcome!

To me it sounds like your biggest thing is time. In this case, my best suggestion is to prepare and do what you can with what you have.

One thing you said is that you don't have time for a proper breakfast. If you absolutely must have a quick breakfast, don't eat something like pop tarts or donuts or something. Good alternatives are things like wholesome granola bars with lots of different grains (not the mostly sugar and granola kind), or a handful of something like nuts, they have fat but they are packed with protien. Another good quick breakfast is a banana, its kind of like nature's 100 calorie pack (depending on the size but on average...) and you don't have to 'make' it you just grab one and eat it.

You have established that you can't control what you are given for lunch at school, and I don't know how meals compare in the UK from US, but really, it is up to you how much of it you eat. In my opinion however, US school lunches were puny and tasted icky, so I didn't eat much of them anyway. However going on what Aclai4067 said, one thing you might be able to do is find out the foods and their servings and look up the common calorie content for them online.

The one thing it does sound like you have control over is supper time. I don't know your living situation, but one thing that has helped me is letting my family know what I am working towards and asking them to work with me. I got my mom to mostly stop buying pop (for a while anyway, my dad wouldn't put up with it) and my mom does tons of home cooking, so I have no idea sometimes what all is in the food, so I have been using portion control as my main plan for now.

As for exercise, I know just what you are saying about it being dark out early etc. I am in college and my classes go until 8 in the evening sometimes. My problem is opposite yours, I live in rural country land, so I don't go running because it is so sparse that it's not likely that someone would see me if something happened. I am guilty of not being very active as a result, but others advice to me that I will pass on to you is to use all the time you can. You don't have to have a gym to exercise. Did you know cleaning is one of the most rigorous/calorie burning home activities you can do? Also, little things add up. Someone told me that they did just small sessions of say 10 mins of exercise in the house and held canned goods as weights for example. Anything that keeps you moving.

You said you would be afraid what your mom would think if she knew how much you weighed, but really, you and your mom are two different people. With everything being said, if you are 5 foot 7.5 inches, that is a very tall frame, and 135 is pretty darn slim! I can understand the stress of gaining when you are used to a certain weight, but you have to be careful about distorted body image, and I think that you pretty clearly pointed out that you might be going through some of that when you said you dont look fat but you feel fat. My thought, is that you are only 16. You are still growing, and you are still changing and you are still learning, (I don't think we every stop doing that) and please please PLEASE don't ever think that what is challenging you now defines who you are, or for that matter, that your weight defines who you are. If someone told me at 16 what things would be like for me now (I'm 21) I would call them crazy. One final thought for you, I would look into some of the many support groups on this site...There are a LOT of support groups and TONS of information on this site that you can use to your benefit to find out just what you want to do for sure.

Hi StreetLightPeople!
I know that it all seems so overwhelming and frustrating - it best to get a plan and then just take it a day at a time - no looking back, no beating yourself up, just moving forward - the support you need is here!

Glad to have you join us! There are lots & lots of different groups and forums - I'm sure you'll find some that will keep you motivated, inspired and entertained! There's also info and first hand advice on different eating plans and exercise to help get through the ups and downs. You might be interested in the PCOS forum or maybe even the UK chicks.

There are bunches of people here with more to lose and some with less - the bottom line is that we all have to do it a day at a time. The good thing is that we'll have lots of company along the way.

I've only been here a few months myself, having NEVER been part of an online forum. What has been so eye-opening is how much it has helped me. Whenever I feel overwhelmed or defeated, I just log on and read some of the success stories, complete with their before & after photos - or read about others still dealing day to day with their challenges - and before I know it, the time has flown by and so have all the thoughts of cheating or giving up.

So welcome - you 've found the right place - join in by inspiring us and being inspired!

All the best - good luck with your goals - we'll all be here to see you through,
Lee

Welcome to 3FC and good luck with your goals.

Hugs
Michelle

Thanks guys
You've helped a lot and I'll definitely check out the support groups as well as the rest of the site. It seems great.