Hello all,

I decided to join this forum because I am trying to change my lifestyle, which, in the last 2 years has become quite unhealthy and lead to a 15 pound weight gain. I'm turning 30 in November, and I'd like to do it looking and feeling better.

In the last year, I been having a difficult time getting myself off my couch and doing physical activity (which is very strange, as I used to be very active), and difficulty with eating large quantities of unhealthy food and snacks in the evening. In the past month I've been able to stop bingeing, but I'm still eating a lot at night to fill some kind of void. I feel silly quoting her, but I heard Oprah say once, "You're hungry for something, but it sure ain't food.", and I think that describes my eating patterns quite well.

So, the goals for this week are: 1) Work out every day for at least 20 minutes, and 2) Eat when you are hungry, stop when you are full (and no binge eating).

I'll let you know tomorrow how I did today.

I look forward to getting to know you all,
R

Hi roadrunner! Welcome! I'm headed towards 30 as well, and really want to look and feel my best. Good luck in your weight loss journey

Welcome aboard Roadrunner! Like you, my goal is to be in better shape by the time I'm 30, which is Sept 2011 so I have some time. I wish you great success! This is the best weight loss forum- in my opinion, you will find an abundance of help and support here, stick around!

You can definitely do it! It's an amazing feeling when our bodies talk, and we actually listen!

Welcome! I just joined last month, but the support and friendliness here is awesome. I'm turning 27 soon, and it was the three-oh looming on the horizon that really kicked me in gear. I only have so much time left to be young and hot, I'd like to capitalize on it!

thank you for all of your support.

today was decent on the eating front, but I didn't get to work out. I did a lot of work tonight though, so I do not feel so bad about it. At least I wasnt sitting around watching tv. Tomorrow I am hoping to get a workout in as well as continue to eat only when I am hungry.

Ack,
the "bad day" is habit forming....
No binge eating yesterday. One 1/2 of a brownie and a beer was the worst of it. I still did not work out. I found out my sister is quite sick and I've been spending my time dealing with that. At least it takes to focus off food.

So this week was not the best week..... I didn't work out at all and I didn't do the best job eating healthfully. I binged once this week, and did a lot of TV watching. I didn't feel all that great about myself and had some higher-ups at work notice that I am not satisfied or happy with my work (although one boss did think I was doing a great job with him and called me a "rising star", which was very nice). In addition, my sister most likely has a brain tumor.

Not the week to start a diet.

Still, it is pretty clear to me that I use food (and more recently television) to blunt my frustration, to forget about my inability to make difficult career and relationship choices, to forget about the mounting pile of work I have to get through (a mount that keeps on piling up), forget about glioma survival curves, etc. In addition, the food serves as a punishment for not being able to deal with those issues as I feel large waves of guilt after binge eating and then feel bad about myself when I don't fit into my jeans, weighing more, etc.

Pretty standard, but not healthy.

I think in the end, to have a healthy relationship with food and to keep my body healthy, I have to address the other problems I have. I'm kind of at a crossroads in terms of my career and with my relationship and I have had a very difficult time figuring out what I want in both realms. This week was kind of the first week anyone actually brought up the topic of me being unhappy at work, and it was quite useful.

I know it seems odd for me to be concerned about my relationship with food when all this other stuff is going on, but like I said before, the food serves as an escape and a punishment, (kind of like a drug would for a drug addict) so in order to deal with the issues in my life, I need to stop using food to keep me away from them. Also, I always feel better and am more productive when I workout, so I feel that if I can start to be more active, that energy and improved feeling of well-being can help me work on my other issues instead of trying to ignore them.

So, it is time then to start to tackle these problems one at a time! I'm starting with work, since I have a few deadlines that need to be met. Today I sent an email to help get me started on a project that could help dictate what I do next after residency.
Tomorrow, the goal is to follow up on that email, revise a document, work out at the gym and contact some people to help my sister find a good oncologist.