Quote:
Originally Posted by Pattience
I think perhaps your mental state is your biggest hindrance currently. First, you don't have to be at the gym to lose weight. You can lose weight easily without exercising. Of course its a good idea to move about but you don't need to go running, go to the gym or any of those other things, particularly when you are at your current weight. I am not exercising on my diet though i do some physical activity. I mow the lawns which is quite physical. and i do a bit of other gardening activities. I also walk about the property a fair but i do spend a lot of my time sitting on my bum at my computer.
Remember weight loss is 80% diet. It doesn't matter if you don't want to start with exercise. You can come to it later when you feel more like it.
When you are depressed and fearful its hard to kick start a diet. In fact, you will have to manage your food intake but you don't have to suffer too much. I don't . IN fact i avoid suffering at all costs.
What you will have to do is eat better food.
What i suggest is working out your current maintenance calories using my fitness pal or similar and eat according to those for about week or until your mood starts to settle down and you start to feel more optimistic.
Cut out whatever it is you are stuffing into your mouth that you know is adding no nutrition and just making you hungry. If that's bread, then cut it out. You can bring it back later. If its sweets, cut it out. If its ice-cream, cut it out. If its takeaways cut it out. if its chips and salsa cut it out. Chuck everything out of the house that falls into this category and don't let it come in. Look the other way or leave the room if someone else is doing it in front of you.
Start making your own food. Minimise buying anything readymade in a packet.
Start your food diary again. List everything. quantities included.
Try to eat mainly three meals a day but if those meals are still quite large, break them down into fewer smaller meals.
I generally try to eat breakfast before 9am, lunch at noon, a glass of wine or some fruit at 4-5pm and a dinner between 6-7pm. And nothing after that.
When i started my diet this time, i put a lot of effort into talking myself into RESOLVE to resist eating the wrong things and overeating. So start working on your resolve. Later on this will be second nature and you won't need to worry so much but i found it helpful at the beginning.
Remember just doing this, you should not be hungry. You are still eating a lot. But if you are hungry it may be because your seratonin levels are still low. Keep eating healthy and they will come back up. When you start feeling normal and well again, start your diet. Start reducing your calorie intake but do not do it by too much. Just plug in a loss of half a pound a week. THERE IS NO HURRY. You will be fine if you do it this way and the weight will fall of you, with ease and without strain.
If you have nothing to do in your life but eat and watch tv, consider trying to find something else interesting to do and fill your life with. Try volunteering. I am doing it one afternoon a week and its good. I've recently taken up sewing and have started a small business. That is good for me though its also been a source of stress. Stress is bad for dieting but i have learnt how to manage it and get over it quickly. When i get stressed, i stop focusing on losing and just make sure i stick to my healthy eating plan.
I weigh myself every day but i don't worry too much about what it says on a daily basis because i know the scales go up and down all the time. There are reason for that.
So when you decide you are ready to try again, come back to this thread and try to follow the ideas i've given you. You will see it works.
When you have nothing else to do, start educating yourself about nutrition. Do not fall for all the diet food fads. There are no miracle foods. They are just trying to get your money.
Read the articles on hormones on the nutrition wonderland website. Read them a few times. Take on board the information they tell you there. I have found the knowledge in those articles on seratonin, leptin, insulin, dopamine and fibre very useful this time. Understanding this stuff helps you make better choices and helps you not to worry so much about the wrong things.
I'll offer you more advice if you want it.
You cannot afford to give up on yourself. You just need to get ready and be willing to change your life. It is possible and its not hard when you know what you are doing.
I think my issue is that I'm doing some pretty intense schooling right now, and building my portfolio. I devote myself to this a good 8 hours a day. I find myself working at 9am and getting through barely half around 4pm, when my boyfriend gets home.
I'm putting so much effort and drive into school and my portfolio that I am COMPLETELY neglecting my body and my old habits.
I feel really good about myself after a light work out, so I think going to the gym might boost my confidence.
I think the problem here is that I am so busy I find myself having no time to plan out meals. I cook almost everything I eat, but a lot of it is curry and pasta and my favorite foods.
I am rewarding myself with food and that has to stop, or at least, it needs to decrease. I am making very good grades and I'm so proud of myself and happy that I feel like it gives me rights to eat what ever I want.
It's a weird subconscious "right" I think I have, and I need to do something about it.
But I'll tell you what, I've copied and pasted your comment, and I'm going to follow it. You have helped me greatly, I appreciate your feedback more than you know. Thank you so much.