[sabri711]

Hi Everyone,

I'm Sabrina. I have been haunting the forums for about a week now, and have finally got up the nerve to start participating.

I am 24 years old, and living in New York City. I am 5'7 and my starting weight was 209 (as of July 5th) and would like to get down to 145. Although I have some health issues that have helped contribute to my weight gain over the past few years, I will not use them as an excuse for my unhealthy eating habits. I will also not allow them to get in the way of my weight loss goals.


Through out high school I weighed about 140 (and always felt big... we never know what we have until we loose it.. thats for sure). During and after college by weight has slowly gone up (through a combination of my health issues not allowing me to exercise, medication I was on that causes weight gain, and bad eating habits... what can I say. I love carbs!) Enough is enough!

I can not even count the number of times I have gotten gym memberships in the past, and stuck with it 3-5x a week for 4-6 months (gym + dieting) without seeing any results, and then for one reason or another.. (some more valid than others) just giving up.. This time will be different. We are supposed to learn from our mistakes, so this time instead of a gym membership and a diet, I am starting with a yoga membership (I can only do low impact exercise due to a past back injury) and seeing a weight loss doctor at NYU. I am almost one month in, and have already lost 9lb! (low cab/low calorie (1100/day) and yoga about 2x a week.. work allowing)

That is another issue... Work. I work a lot. My roommate always comments that it seems like I always have too much work and not enough time or resources to get it done, so work gets in the way of my exercise schedule as well.

I could tell you that my motivation for weight loss is to be more healthy, but that would be a flat out lie. Being healthy is a perk, yes.. however its mostly for vanity's sake. I am tired of looking in the mirror and feeling like I am looking at someone else. I also love fashion, and would love to be able to shop in regular stores again (and not the largest size in the store) and have clothes fit well again.

That brings be to 3fc. I believe that support and community are some of the most important parts of weight loss. As wonderful as my friends are, I don't think a single one of them weighs more than 120lb (and any of them can eat an entire cheese Pizza to themselves without gaining an ounce), Therefor it makes it hard for them to relate/be able to give me advice.

I look forward to continuing my journey with the 3fc community. Thanks!

[Lovely]

Welcome to 3FC =)

Congratulations on making changes and adding in what activity that you're able to do!

Best of wishes and see you around the boards

[xxkaleidoscopic]

Nothing wrong with wanting to improve the way you look! I am working around a recovering back injury as well, so I definitely know how you feel. There's a Dieting with Obstacles section on here you might check out. I will also say that a lot of people, myself included, agree that while exercising is important, nutrition is definitely the MOST important part. I haven't been exercising much, because of my back (and later it'll be because of time constraints as I start the school year), but I've still dropped weight by eating better! I'm sure you can, too.

Welcome!

[TyZzyzx]

Im new too

1100 Calories a day?! Wow! is that a number your doctor gave you? Ive read quite a few nutritionist's blogs and it seems they all agree that 1200/day is the absolute min amount of calories anyone should eat, a bit more if your active.

If your doctor recommended then great, but that sounds a bit low

[Loli]

It does seem low for your height. But I do know that based on my body fat percentage, my BMR is 1000 calories a day.

[sabri711]

xxkaleidoscopic: As per your suggestion, I looked through the dieting with obstacles a little today while at work, and it was comforting knowing that my health issues are not nearly as obscure as I had previously thought.

TyZzyzx and Loli: Yea, it feels low for me too.. I have been able to stick to it, but just barely.. It has defiantly made me more concious of how many calories thngs have in them, and also made me be creative when it comes to curbing hunger. I am drinking a lot more water than before, and using gum to try to hold hunger off.

The 1100 calories is based on my... (I believe she called it something like) resting metabolic rate or something. Essentially it is based on how many calories my body naturally burns per day when at rest. Calculating in about 5 hours a week of yoga, she suggested that amount of calories for a rate of 1-2lb per week. If she was not an acclaimed doctor that came highly recommended, at NYU no less, I don't think I would trust her so much, but I am no doctor.. sooo.. yea.. I figure if I am paying her, I may as well let her do her job.

Lovely: Thanks!!