I'm not really sure what to say, I do know that I am unhappy with my current size, but then again that's something that's never changed. For as long as I can remember, I've been overweight, but I look back at certain time periods and I don't look all that bad. Yet I was still overweight. Does that mean that my self perspective changes with how fat I get? Like, if I get fatter, does that mean I thought I looked better when I was less fat than I am now?
Anyway, like many I've gone up and down on the scale, I'm tired of it. I know I am a beautiful big woman , but for once, just once in my life, I'd like to give being a beautiful small woman a try to see if I like it. I guess for me it's 90% shallow and 10% health. I could run circles around my “fit” friends, and not break a sweat, I never get sick and I've quit smoking again. I find I am getting tired much easier now, must be age. I'd just like to see me in a size that doesn't require it's own specialty store with exorbitant prices and outfits only a grandmother would wear.
I hope I'm not being too negative, because there are some really great stores. I just want to lose a fat percentage of myself, and see if I like what I see. My problem is motivation and energy (which could be revealed as a thyroid problem, when the blood test results come back). I get no support at home, although he loves me at any size. I've learned not to rely on him for support as he says I'm just “big boned” . Don't you just love that one? My mum is great at motivational speaking, except that she too is overweight, yet makes no effort to lose, so I find it hard not to cringe at her adamant theorizing that all I need to do is exercise. My mother-in-law is eager to give advice as well, except that she's never been fat a day in her life, not counting pregnancy. She runs 5 km's every morning and walks 5km's every night. She's amazingly active, and eats like a horse! But even if she didn't work at it, she'd still be small. Must be nice.
Anyway, here's what I do, I eat healthy, not sure how to manage 1200 calories a day unless I bought pre-packaged meals, I try to follow the Harvard Guide to healthy eating, but it's not always easy. I can't find the energy to get up off my lazy duff so I don't exercise, period. I don't get enough sleep, but I drink 21/2 liters of water a day.
I know the exercise is something I have to make an effort at, so in the interim I would appreciate any ideas on how to curb my enormous appetite, and boost my energy levels.
Thanks for reading my bit, and I look forward to reading more of yours.
P.S. I have found that watching weight loss success stories on the discovery health channel, and reading about success stories in here helps.

Girl for someone who didn't know what to say you sure said alot! I know how you feel acutally probably most of us on this site do. I am reading a book called The Thin Books and it says that even though outside encouragement is good, sometimes you have to be your own best friend, which means if no one else will support you, you support you. You can do it! We all have what it takes, we just don't know how to tap into it. My husband and I enjoy walking together, but do we do it regularly? NOOOOO! We rather sleep an extra hour than get up at 4:30 am to go for a walk. Oh, by the way I read that one good way of helping yourself lose weight is to get enough sleep, so you may want to try and get a few more z's. Anyway good luck and visit this site often, we are all here for you. God Bless.

Hi wxgrl,

You wrote:
I know the exercise is something I have to make an effort at, so in the interim I would appreciate any ideas on how to curb my enormous appetite, and boost my energy levels.
--------------------------------------------
I'm not sure what the Harvard plan is, but you can eat a lot, and I mean *a lot* of food for 1200 cals. Just pick your menu carefully. As you eat those fresh, good-for-you foods, your energy should increae somewhat. You are welcome to take a look at my fitday (use the link below) to see what I am eating. Fitday is a great tool, btw, to help you count those cals and keep you on track. You can also track your activities and exercise to see how many of those cals you are burning.

Basically, I would suggest lean proteins and dairy, fruits and veggies, grains, rice, bread, etc, as close to whole grain as possible.

Keep drinking that water! Good for you for getting off to a great start already!!

HTH!

Hi again,
sorry, should have been more specific re: the Harvard food guide. I stumbled upon it one day searching for healthy eating guidelines, not so much to lose weight, but to help keep the cancer away (I had just gotten a clean bill of health after a biopsy ). Everything the site says makes so much sense to me, tying everything I've learned about food and it's relation to health together . I guess that's why it's from harvard. Anyway, just copy and paste in your address bar, it's brilliant, check it out! hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/pyramids.html

My two biggest problems are that I don't know how to say goodbye to the "foods" that I love. I.e: chips, french fries, basically junk food. I've cut them out of my life significantly, but I still want them to be a small part. My second biggest problem is that i'm so lazy! I have no energy to do anything, and I know I should get more sleep , but there are not enough hours in the day. I do not exercise because I have no energy. My doctor is checking me out for hypothyroidism. hope there's nothing physically wrong with me, like, I hope it's just laziness that prevents me from exercising. Time will tell.

It's nice to be able to get some of these things out in the open though. Get them out of me and into the open air. I feel like I have more room to breathe.
Anyway, i've gone on long enough. Just glad that someone's out there to hear me.
Thanks all.

WOW!!! wxgrl!! Congratulations on getting a clean bill of health!!

And thanks for sending the link for the food pyramid. I also eat from the pyramid. There are two dieticians in my dept, and they both agree that it's the healthiest way to go!!

Oh, btw, , if you check out my fitday today, you'll see that I had a hot dog today. I've decided to not feel bad about it, but to just go on from here. I was just complaining last night that I haven't been able to keep my cal count up high enough recently....oh, well. I guess I fixed that! I'll have to watch it carefully the rest of the day now.

Wxgrl, I was always told, and finally learned, that you have to expend energy to make energy (if you DO have a thyroid problem, that can interfere, but if not, keep reading). If you get up and exercise ONCE, you might get that ball rolling. As you increase exercise and get regular at it, you will see that you have so much more energy than you ever did! Eating healthy will also feel more natural since you are working at your body and your body will be thanking you! As you cut back on the wrong foods, you might find yourself needing them less all the time.

I'm doing Eating for Life/ Body for Life. I eat 6 small meals a day. I frequently have to leave myself reminders that it is time to eat again because I am rarely hungry. On the plan, you get one day a week to eat the off plan foods, like french fries and chips. (However, you still want to watch the overall calories - if you eat it, you have to burn it no matter what plan you are on - but this allows you do it without feeling like you are cheating.) There is also a weight lifting routine in Body For Life, but you can still do a modified version of EFL if you aren't interested in weights. There are some links on this thread, if you are interested:
http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=41749

Now, for weights - building muscle is the best way to get your metabolism up and running. If you increase your lean muscle then you will automatically need more calories to maintain that muscle. In short, you can eat more.

I won't lie to you, you will have to exercise and cut back to lose the weight. You will have to decide if you really want to lose the weight. If you do, you have all kinds of great resources at your fingertips. We are here to support you and answer your questions if you are ready to join in. I bet your MIL will be a big support to you if you ask her. I can tell you as somebody that loves exercise (and dreaded it for 30 years) that I would love to spread the word to others and would love to see somebody exercise that needs it. She knows the benefit of it, and maybe she can help persuade your husband to be more supportive. I hope you can get support from him. I got zero support from husband #1 and it wasn't easy. My current husband cracks the whip for me! It is a huge help, and hopefully you can get some of the same support.

We're here! Feel free to ask questions!

Hey thanks!
Don't worry about a hot dog, I had a bag of chips the other day! I loved and hated every moment of it! But as I say to myself, what's done is done, and move on! I try not to dwell on things that are now property of the past, as I can do nothing about them except learn. I just have to be stronger when the urge strikes again. Mind you, I'm not eliminating all junk food, just trying to eat less of it. Unfortunately that bag of chips was no small one! I'll keep trying, and I know I will succeed.

To : Jennifer 3FC
Hi,
yeah I have to wait for my blood tests to come back. I don't think I have it (a thyroid problem) but it would sure explain a lot. We'll see...
About 3 years ago I lost about 75 pounds and 3% body fat in around 4 months. I was exercising about every second day, but didn't change my eating habits at all. I guess for me the motivation was being under constant scrutiny, and really wanting to lose some weight. It helped me that I had an evaluation done of my physical status, and then had a personal trainer create an exercise program specifically for me.
I began putting back on the weight when I left that gym, and now am living in a remote area that has no gym, and a relaxed attitude about appearance. So I keep getting bigger and bigger. I did lose about 30-40 pounds last summer, but I cut what I ate in half, and walked a lot. I had a very stressful motivator that time, and would not ever, ever, ever repeat it. Ever.
So, I guess, the one constant both times was the exercise. I hate to make excuses, but I know I would be so dedicated to exercise if I had access to a proper gym again. I believe it with every ounce of my body. (and that's a lot of ounces!)
I guess in the mean time, I need to search to find an alternative motivation, and get to it! I really am glad I found this site though, It's reassuring to know that there are other's out there that struggle as I do.