[jessie1983]

Hi guys,
Not sure how this all works! I am a new person, and here are my numbers (although I work in kg I've translated them for you )
Start 262lb/current 244/ goal 154lb.

My first mini goal is 220lb, as that will put me under the 100kg mark (which I've not been since high school!)

I'm looking for some motivation as I have been obese MY WHOLE ADULT LIFE and have no idea what it is like to lose weight/ be smaller than this.

I go gym 4-5 times a week already, and have for about 5 years. I am planning to step it up a bit though and include more hiking/bike riding in my daily life.

I live with PTSD and at times quite severe anxiety, so this combined with medication I take has helped to keep me this heavy. It is another obsticle (and excuse too I may add!)

My problem is food. I love cooking and eating. In Australia we have access to amazing fresh food, and lots of variety, at really cheap prices. But even if you eat quinoa salad 3 times a day, if you eat a truckload it is still going to make you and keep you fat

I am a social worker and work in child protection. Stress eating, as well as workplace wide binging (cake days at least once a week!) has resulted in me not losing weight despite cutting back in my "real" life. I have just quit my job and plan on spending the next few months studying and focussing on my mental and physical health.

I found out I have high cholesterol and elevated insulin. I do not want heart disease and I do not want diabetes at 30 years of age.

I'm not into fad diets, I have tried them all and they don't work for me. IN fact, I was recently overseas for a month and lived off beer, fried noodles and chips. I lost 5kg, I think because I was doing low carb for months and my body seemed to love having some carb again! As I already cook healthy food I just need to cut down on serving size, and ensure all my foods are Low GI. Is low G
i a big thing in the U.S.A? And certainly cut back on the booze. I hope losing the stressful job will help with that

[gardenerjoy]

Welcome, Jessie!

We know about low GI in the US, but as I understand, you Aussies invented it for us. Thanks! I don't use it as a diet plan, but it definitely influences how I eat.

I've also had the experience of overeating healthy food. Such a bummer that just cutting out the junk food wasn't enough! It helped me to follow an exchange plan (so many servings of carbs, so many servings of vegetables, etc.). I really think I could have counted anything (calories, or carb grams, or fat grams), but I find it easier to count exchanges and it doesn't turn me into a perfectionist about the whole thing.

Good for you for taking this change in your life style as a time to focus on your mental and physical health. I love being at home, especially that it gives me time to plan and cook healthy meals.

[Jacqui_D]

Hi Jessie! I don't think you can go wrong with low GI. It's very sensible. Glad you've joined us here at 3FC! Good luck!

[jessie1983]

Thanks guys! I don't know if low GI started here, but everyone seems pretty obsessed with it. I always lose weight when I swap out bread for pumpernickel (Thanks Germany!); rice for quinoa; and corn flakes for all bran. My biggest struggle is that for some reason my body doesn't hold onto sodium, and so I am constantly sodium deficient, which makes me feel dizzy and gross. As I don't do chips or other salty things, I normally end up cooking eggs or having a mini meal :-S. I have just started chucking down a tsp of vegemite which is delicious and so high in sodium, maybe this will help. What do you guys do for those 'salt' cravings? I imagine I will get tired of vegemite soon :-) Thanks for the hint on the exchange plan! I will have to look into what that means. Cheers guys !

[gardenerjoy]

I have the opposite problem with sodium, jessi1983. If I'm not very careful, my blood pressure goes up.

Popcorn is low GI, isn't it? Soup can absorb quite a bit of salt and still be tasty. If you can afford the calories, how about salted nuts or peanut butter with salt in it? Do you have edamame there? That can be fixed as a salty snack and still be pretty healthy otherwise.