Hi everyone! I'm 24, and I have been at least a little overweight my whole life. Things got really bad when I graduated from high school. When I was in high school I swam nearly every day, and kept busy with school activities and friends. Now I'm a college student living at home and working full time. I hate how I look. I'm fat and jiggly in all the wrong places. It keeps me from being confident and out going.

I am the queen of excuses. I don't excersize because I'm too fat. I eat junk food because I can. I don't do the things I want to do because my weight holds me back. I don't go swimming with my friends (even though I love to swim). I don't go for walks or bike rides with them. i don't play baseball or rollerblade. Because I can't keep up and I end up feeling even worse about myself then when I started. I love to read and play on the computer. I love to watch movies and write. All things that keep me on my butt and not moving.

Food for me is the enemy. I eat all the wrong things. I eat when I get emotional or stressed and being a college student, well it happens a LOT. I hate what I'm doing to my body. I know all the risk factors associated with being so overweight and it terrifies me. People gain weight as they get older- that is natural. But I'm not old. And if I get much bigger I won't be able to do anything. I need to get this under control.

I'm terrified of what I'm doing to myself, but i'm also terrified of what it means for me. What if I fail? Again. What if I loose the weight and I'm still not good enough. I know lots of silly emotions. But it scares me. I've used my weight as a crutch for too long and it has to stop. I'm hopeing that this page will help me when I get in those "I suck" moods and keep me going instead of just giving up.

So thanks for letting me vent a little bit- and I look forward to doing this! Because as negative as the everything above sounded- I know I can do this if I don't give up.

OK, a year ago, I was in the same place as you...except I'd been bigger since well before high school.

Welcome to the board - I am your proof - you can do this! College student eating is hard - but you'll find lots of information here to help you through it. Motivating yourself to get moving is difficult too - but there are plenty of people who can help you get motivated. You CAN get this under control now.

Keep posting - we look forward to hearing more from you soon!

Welcome Bookworm!

I just wanted to chime in considering your stats are very similar to what mine were 1 year ago....I was 244lbs, work in computers so sit on my butt all day, previous hobbies were TV and more TV with books thrown in. Now, 76lbs later, among many other amazing changes I now have no TV (got rid of it 6 months ago), play tag-rugby, took up running and last Saturday I ran a half-marathon.

I just wanted to let you know that it can be done and you can do it too.

So good luck to you!

Hi Bookworm! I'm a college student too, so I know how hard it is: little money and bad foods are way cheaper than health food, classes and work all day so you're too tired to exercise, etc. But you definitely can do it! Walk around campus between classes, pack a healthy lunch instead of swinging through Taco Bell and, I think most importantly, just keep trying. You asked what will happen if you fail-- if you fail this time, you try again. And again, until you make it! Most of the people here aren't first timers at the weight loss game, but we've all got to keep trying. Good luck!

Hi Bookworm!

Welcome!

Get a piece of paper and write down all your excuses. Next make a list of all the things that you can't do now or WON'T do now because of your weight. Take time to look at both lists carefully. See how many of your excuses you can eliminate as you look at your list of things that you'd like to be doing but can't/won't right now because of the weight.

I did this and am still doing this to keep me motivated. It works!

After that, go to the goals and mini-goals sections at the top part of this forum. Check out all of the successes people have made. I'll bet this will get ya goin'!!!

Cheryl

Wow thank you so much everyone! The support here has been amazing and I really havn't even started my journey. I'm down to the last few weeks of the semester and stressed beyond belief. I usually handle stress by just eating, but I'm trying to stay busy at cutting out my night time laying in bed eating junk food snacks. So far it's gone pretty well. If I don't have it, i can't eat it so I've moved all the stashes I had in my room out. The end of April is when I am going to start focusing on this hardcore but right now I just don't have time time or the energy. School sucks. Work sucks. And I never have time to see my friends. But it will get better. It always does. I just wanted to say thanks again. Reading all the success stories, and even some of the not quite so successful stories are really encouraging. Thanks again!

Bookworm- I completely understand where you're coming from. I was always very thin in HS- played 3 sports- and then just slowly the weight started creeping on in college...and now that I'm in grad school it's really bad. I've been carrying this extra 40-50 lbs on my frame and have had all the same thoughts that you have. I have started to diet and failed about 100 times. I comfort myself w/ junk- because I can- whether i'm happy, sad, etc. I also have the same thoughts and wonder if I'm scared that I'll lose the weight and still feel off? I don't know if you have this problem- but one thing that was bad for me was trying to be perfect. I obviously didn't gain 50 lbs overnight, but I wanted to lose it quickly. I would obsess about which diet was right or which exercise was better, and because of that, instead of just eating a little healthier and adding a little movement to my day, I would get overwhelmed and not do anyhing (except eat lots of crap and make things worse). Like I said, I have tried many, many times only to go back to stuffing my face. You just keep going for it though. It really is mind over matter. I just started again, but I feel like I can really do it now. And instead of feeling so overwhelmed, I just try to make exercise part of my day and eat as healthy as I can. I think it gets easier as you feel yourself changing- mentally and physically.
I also have a lot of stress bc school is very demanding. BUt I found that when I would cope with junk food, I would only get mad at myself- or what more- when it was done. While it didn't seem appealing at first, I found that exercise really does help. When I'm not motivated or feel too tired, I convince myself to just go for a walk instead of running. It really helps to clear my head and relax me. Anyway, I've written a novel here but just wanted to let you know that I've been in the same position, and you can do this!!!