Hi everyone.
I recently discovered this site and decided to join because it seems like a nice positive support community that I can hopefully incorporate into my life to help me achieve my goals.

I have never been overweight until the last few months but I have never felt truly comfortable or proud of my body. Growing up I was tall and matured much faster than other students so I always felt out of place.

I have been a yo-yo dieter for much of high school and my time in college. I often can't control my eating, especially now that I live with a roommate and am alone much more often. This has led me to gain some weight recently and I want to make this the time where I can finally change and be consistent in my lifestyle and goals. I want to have a healthy body that I can be proud of when I look in the mirror.
I have been bogged down recently looking on Instagram at all of the unrealistic fitspo images and these have made me even more upset with myself but I consider this a fresh start and am looking forward to the future.
Thanks for reading!
Chat with you soon.
H

hi Haley,

Maybe you won't end up with weight problems if you can be more routine in your eating. If you try to eat at meal times rather than snacking, you will avoid lots of problems.

If you avoid eating junk food, you will avoid lots of problems.

Maybe the main challenge for you is to learn to accept your body as it is.

if you restrict your foods you will end up doing the yo yo thing. Try reading the book french women don't get fat and also the book called The Don't Go hungry diet. Both of these books will help you balance out your way of eating so that it doesn't become extreme which leads to extreme weight increases.

Probably because you are still young you are feel more pressure to look as good as all the beautiful people but wise women learn how to maximise their assets rather than to focus on losing weight.

Get a good haircut. Buy decent clothes and shoes that suit your figure. Drink water for your skin. Eat fruit and veg for your skin. Do a bit of exercise. Leran how to enjoy life through enjoying simple pleasures and physical recreations. Take up an adventure type of sport.

learn how to deal with stress through other ways apart from eating.

Keep a food log to monitor the quality of your food.

Keep alcohol to a minimum. And drink with food.

When you get older you will look back and wonder what you were so worried about and hopefully if you get onto it now, you will avoid all problems that many people here and everywhere else made in their youth through anxiety about being good enough.

All that said, to my mind 5'6" is not very tall but its taller than me. And height is attractive. I know a woman who is about 5'10 or 11". She is brainy, but not pretty. She has lovely long hair, and is big boned and usually a little on the heavy side. She has a winning natural personality and is therefore totally beautiful because of all that. She loves unusual clothes and has the confidence to wear them. Everyone loves her. So don't' get over self conscious and critical about what you've got. Just learn how to make the most of them. Strengthen your good points. Cultivate your good side.

I wish i had started younger on personal growth but i had no idea about how to go about it. No one ever gave me any guidance and so i just stumbled and flopped around and ruined my skin with too much sun, getting overweight, smoking and finally eating too much sweets. NOw its a bit loose and when i run you can see it. but in my face, its much more obvious. My sister who is older was never overweight has less sun damage than me and has kept up her fitness all her adult life. She doesn't show any of the signs i have had to come to terms with.

I hope you find some friends here though. You will.

Why are you comparing yourself to fitspo images? That's just silliness. At 5'6" and 166 pounds, you are not starting off too bad at all though.

Since you don't have too much to lose at your current weight and size, have you thought of starting some body conditioning exercises? I don't mean running or the elliptical to merely burn calories. I mean working out to strengthen and change your physique. Often, this is what folks are aiming for but they get bogged down by the numbers on the scale.

Welcome, haley2lose. You'll find a lot of support at this site. I started posting here once out of sheer frustration with myself and it turned out that was exactly what I needed to move forward.

The best advice I can give you is to treat weight loss as a grand puzzle and you are the mastermind that's going to move the pieces around.

Don't shun it, don't be embarrassed by it, don't be depressed about it, and don't be angry at yourself for any reason. Losing weight and/or getting to a healthier lifestyle is an opportunity to exercise our power as individuals and to enjoy all of the little fruits of our labour. Welcome the struggle, and the struggle in between, because you are up for the challenge.
And I know that this sounds lame, but you have to make this challenge FUN for yourself.
And keep looking forward to all of the achievements you are going to make! And they are not just going to be scale achievements .

I was recently reminded that I'm not in competition with anyone else when it comes to getting fitter and healthier - its only me against me. How someone else looks, good or bad, doesn't help or hurt me in my journey so I can't compare myself to them.

I find eating several times a day but smaller meals/snacks is helpful. It was hard to do at first because I was always a big meal eater maybe 2-3 times a day, but once I got used to feeling like I was always reaching for food it has been effective in keeping me from the extreme snack attacks or overeating in general.

Welcome Haley! I'm sure you'll find great info and support on this site. You will see many people doing all kinds of things to get to their goals, as well as their struggles and triumphs. Keep in mind that what works for one person might not be right for you. Figure out when you're most likely to overeat and find ways of eliminating those behaviors or situations. Motivation will come and go but consistency is what will get you to your goal. You won't always feel like working out or sticking to your food plan but if you do those things anyway, you will find yourself coming out on top. I wish you all the best and look forward to seeing you around this wonderful site.