New girl on this forum! I'm excited :)
 

Hi all! I'm new to this forum. My life is a...mess right now. A month ago, my ex broke it off with me (was with him for like 4 years) and I have been in a emotional wreck since then. Last Saturday night, I was diagnosed with Bell's Palsy. I'm not sure how I'm dealing with all this at the same time. I'm not even that much of a strong person to begin with lol.. but I'm trying my best to think positive.

Anyway, I am a heavy girl. I always get the, "You're so pretty." but never got the compliments on my body. I have been this way for so long. My weight caused me to drop out of high school and stop going to college. I'm sick of it. I wanna go to the store and buy those nice clothes. I want the guys looking AT ME when I walk in the club. I want to feel good about myself when I walk out the door. I ACTUALLY WANT TO WEAR HEELS! haha :D

This time, I AM going to lose weight. I want my ex to realize he lost something good. At first, I was going crazy without him. But this is motivating me to get into shape. I'm 23 years old and I'm still young. He's getting deployed in September and won't be back until March. So this giving me almost a year to lose all this weight.

Btw, my ex didn't leave me because of my weight. He left me because I kept something from him for so long. Either way, I know he will be VERY surprised when he sees me soon.

Oh and please don't think I'm doing this for him. I'm also doing it for myself. My health and confidence.

I've been on my diet for 2 weeks already. I walk 4 miles everyday and eat below 1,000 calories. I know it's low. But at my weight, I don't want to eat more than that. Next week, I plan on doing 6 miles.

Anyway, sorry for the long post! Thanks for reading and I hope to get to know you all :)

:carrot:

Welcome and good luck !

Welcome! Today's my first day here too! I'm also 23 (well... I will be in a little over a month) and a very heavy girl. I know exactly what you mean about buying pretty clothes in the store, wearing heels and just feeling good about myself when I walk out the door. I don't right now. The worst is when I do drag myself out into public and I catch a glimpse of myself in a mirror or reflecting object. Makes me want to cry.

We're gonna do this battle together and you'll show your ex that he's missing out! <3

I can't wait to buy those nice clothes either. The plus size section stinks!

Glad you found 3fc... it's such a great site & community! & I first lost weight after my first love when I was 17, he broke my heart and it completely kick started weight loss for me! You can do this :)

Welcome to the forum and good luck on your journey hon!

Thanks Bargoo!

Michigan Jen- YES! I hate it too! When I leave house, I try to cover my body up as much. I'm SO sick of it. I hate thinking, "oh my gosh..what are people going to think about me." I hate going to the store beacuse I always wonder what people think of me. So tired of it. I need to stop thinking about what other people think of me! haha but NO MORE TEARS. We need to be strong. <3

Kygal189- I can't wait either!! I've been in the plus size section since I was 8th grade. I want a change now! :)

Jillnicole- Thank you! I'm really excited :)

Serenityh- thanks =)

Welcome to the forum! I am just curious how you arrived at the 1,000 calories, that is low. Most diets are at least 1,200 calories a day. If you do not feed your body enough, even with exercise your weight loss may stall because your body goes into starvation mode and hangs on to the fat. Just something to keep in mind/
Best of luck to you.

Originally Posted by NEMom:
Welcome to the forum! I am just curious how you arrived at the 1,000 calories, that is low. Most diets are at least 1,200 calories a day. If you do not feed your body enough, even with exercise your weight loss may stall because your body goes into starvation mode and hangs on to the fat. Just something to keep in mind/
Best of luck to you.

My mom has told me that also. But to be honest, I'm not hungry sometimes. I drink lots of water and I only eat twice a day. Sometimes, I have to force myself to eat just to take my medication for my stupid BP. I know it may seem bad but I can't eat more than that. I tried to eat like a regular person is suppose to (3 times a day) but I get full so fast. My problem is that I don't MOVE like I'm suppose to. That's why I gained all this weight in the beginning :(

I'll try to add a few more calories though..you are right :)

Welcome to 3FC =)

I second the idea to try and get in at least 1,200 a day. Unless under direct supervision by a doctor who says to go lower.

You don't necessarily have to eat often to get in those calories. And eating twice a day isn't bad as long as you're getting the nutrition you need for you body. Believe me, I don't honestly think most regular people eat 3 times a day. And if you take the time to know what plans some people are following on the site you'll see people are eating anywhere from once a day to 12 times a day and all kinds of places in between.

Best of luck to you! Can't wait to get to know you better on your journey!

Originally Posted by Jynxmekrazy:
My mom has told me that also. But to be honest, I'm not hungry sometimes. I drink lots of water and I only eat twice a day. Sometimes, I have to force myself to eat just to take my medication for my stupid BP. I know it may seem bad but I can't eat more than that. I tried to eat like a regular person is suppose to (3 times a day) but I get full so fast. My problem is that I don't MOVE like I'm suppose to. That's why I gained all this weight in the beginning :(

I'll try to add a few more calories though..you are right :)

There are a couple of issues involved. Be careful that you're not compromising your health! :^:

Meal Frequency: Research has shown that consistently eating too infrequently sends you into periods of "fasting." During fasting, your blood sugar drops, and instead of burning glucose and fat, it will switch into burning your body's protein - its muscles. Then, when you do eat, your blood sugar will rise (dramatically higher than the low it had gotten to). That jump can trigger your body to switch into fat storage mode more readily, thinking it needs to save up for the next "fast."

Eating smaller meals more often keeps your motor running, so to speak. And usually results in higher energy levels than only a couple of meals per day.

Calories: Your body likely burns between 1600 (fairly sedentary) to 2200 (active person) calories per day, BEFORE factoring in any deliberate exercise you do. Eating less calories makes the body need to burn SOMETHING to make up for those calories. There's a limit to how much fat it will burn, depending on oxygen availability, hormones, and biochemistry.

(Calories per day example: I had my resting metabolic rate tested. If I were to lay in bed all day, I would burn only 1300 calories. As a student, before exercising, the estimation total calories per day is 1700. I have been dieting for years, so my metabolism has grown to be more efficient (meaning I burn fewer calories per day :mad: than I used to).)

An example of the biochemistry: on tread mills, there are often Heart Rate monitors that show whether you're in the lower "weight loss range" or a higher "cardio range." In the weight loss range, you are burning predominantly fat since you have enough oxygen to meet demands; in the cardio range, you exceed O2 supply, burn through glucose storage and start undergoing anaerobic respiration (lactic acid production), and then start burning your body protein (muscle). (Basically, you burn less fat this way.) You do rebuild this muscle later, IF you have enough calories and fat for energy. If you don't eat enough, you're limited in how much you can rebuild your muscles, and you can actually gradually become weaker this way.

Also, remember lean muscle mass burns more calories than other body tissues - one more reason why you don't want to reduce how much muscle you have!

The NIH has suggested 1200 minimal daily caloric intake for women, except for under the guidance of a doctor, and careful nutrient management.


Interesting trivia: one of the first muscles that the body starts to break down, and therefore will eventually become significantly weaker when you are in an extended fasting state (weeks-months) is your diaphragm, reducing your ability to breathe deeply. :dizzy: (No worries, except for extended fasting, your diaphragm is still fine!)

Originally Posted by Sakurai:
Meal Frequency: Research has shown that consistently eating too infrequently sends you into periods of "fasting." During fasting, your blood sugar drops, and instead of burning glucose and fat, it will switch into burning your body's protein - its muscles. Then, when you do eat, your blood sugar will rise (dramatically higher than the low it had gotten to). That jump can trigger your body to switch into fat storage mode more readily, thinking it needs to save up for the next "fast."

Eating smaller meals more often keeps your motor running, so to speak. And usually results in higher energy levels than only a couple of meals per day.

Actually this is an old diet myth that isn't based on any rigorous, peer-reviewed, double-blind study. Eating more infrequently prompts the body to burn fat instead of glucose. There are a number of major NIH studies (such as this one and this one) that suggest periods of fasting (over the course of the day, not multiple days) are not harmful to muscle development and may even have other benefits. This New York Times article even cites major cardiovascular benefits regular intermittent fasters can reap from reducing meal frequency.

I'm new here too! Good luck to you on your journey!!

Originally Posted by indiblue:
Actually this is an old diet myth that isn't based on any rigorous, peer-reviewed, double-blind study. Eating more infrequently prompts the body to burn fat instead of glucose. There are a number of major NIH studies (such as (((((((((the forums wont' let me quote your links hahaha))))))))))

That's really interesting...I'll take a look at those. Thanks for citing! I'm in med school, and our metabolism/biochem/nutrition professors made a distinct point of making sure that we understood that by morning, your body has shifted to the process of burning proteins, detectable by the elevated levels of ketones in the blood. Not completely away from burning fats, but primarily protein (after going thru glucose stores). But I am certain that there is much current research on the topic, and this really interests me, so thank you!!