interested in joining

  • Hi,

    I saw an ad that sure looks tempting (but so does food) for MRC. It is kind of a long drive from home, but I am truly desperate. How is it going for people here? I have 36 pounds to lose, seem to be constantly nibbling and don't seem to have much metabolism. I have 4 kids, and that last one seemed to have killed my weight losing ability.

    Thanks for being there,

    Marie
  • Welcome, MarieM4Him!!

    Personally, I found it a little tricky to navigate around this place when I first started, about a month ago. Go to Forums, find a topic that interests you.
    Subscribe to it, so you can get back. If you find you don't like it so well, you can always unsubscribe, but in the meantime, you won't get as lost. Or you can start your own thread, if none of the ones you look at seem quite right for you.

    I live in Chicago, so I haven't seen ads for MRC; I don't know what that is, whether it's a health club, diet plan, or clinic for weight-loss surgery (WLS).But I can tell you you're starting to pay attention to your weight at a good point--before it really balloons out of control. At 204, I only wish I had paid better attention to my own at the point you're at now. Now I have to work to get back to that--and then work some more! So there's no time to start like the present!

    If MRC is a clinic for WLS, I don't think you need that. If it's a diet place, proceed with caution. Check it out before you sign up for anything. If it's legitimate (truly interested in helping people pay attention to their eating/exercising habits, as opposed to just making money off "supplements" of questionable legitimacy), if it's legitimate, they can wait for your money. Weight Watchers (WW), is tried and true. They teach you to pay attention to what--and how much--you're eating, and what your activity level is. If it's a health club, you say it's kind of far away. You have to sit down and realistically figure out how likely it is that you'll actually get there often enough to make it worth your money. For years I wasted money on health memberships that I hardly went to, because it wasn't convenient.

    Oh--and a VERY important thing: Please go to your doctor and get a physical, first. Everyone's heard the statement so often they don't even hear it anymore: Before you start any weight loss program, you should check with your doctor. You're a mom--CONGRATS! on your four lovely children. But mothers notoriously put their kids, their husband, the rest of their family--everybody but themselves--first. THIS IS IMPORTANT: YOU HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF, IN ORDER TO TAKE CARE OF EVERYONE DEPENDING ON YOU.

    Please forgive my "lectury" tone. I'm not trying to do that. I'm emphasizing the importance of having a doctor check you out before you start, to rule out any unknown problems. You spoke of how you were having trouble losing weight after your fourth child. That tells me you didn't have such a problem after kids #1, #2, & #3. It's possible something in your metabolism has changed, that's so subtle, you couldn't know about it, unless you had some blood test find it out.

    I used to be able to take weight off fairly easily. The magic formula does boil down to: Eat a lot of fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Don't eat a lot of fried food, or drown stuff in butter (unless it's the expensive margarine that reduces cholesterol--it actually works, but it costs ridiculous $). EXERCISE.
    Eat smaller portions. Eat a lot of little (healthy) snacks throughout the day, like fruit & nuts, and eat smaller meals. FIBER FILLS YOU UP. DON'T EAT CALORIE CONCENTRATED (FRIED/FATTY) FOODS. EXERCISE. DRINK A LOT OF WATER. KEEP MOVING, WHATEVER IT IS--DANCING, RUNNING AROUND WITH YOUR KIDS OR THE DOG.

    Two years ago (after a December I had the worst flu for about a month), I couldn't lose weight, even when I did those things above, that ususally worked. I went to the doctor, to see if anything was wrong. Like you, I couldn't "just lose" anymore. He took my blood sample. He called me personally (something he never does!) to tell me my thyroid had stopped working.

    That's something I NEVER would have found out if I hadn't gone to the doctor. And fortunately, I caught it early. I could have gotten really sick; my hair could have started falling out. But being unable to lose weight is a sign. So check it out--YOU'RE WORTH IT!