[dominodreams]

Hi,
I'm Chelsea.
I'm 23. I'm not particularly overweight, but when I met my ex in 2005 I was 140 (at 5'7"). I have always had self-image issues (who doesn't??), but when I broke up with said ex I weighed in at 170. I had never been more than 150 in my life, I never gained the Freshman 15, despite my horrible, awful eating habits (I once ate a 3lb can of ravioli in one afternoon while absentmindedly surfing the internet).

I made the mistake of putting an old picture up on hotornot and some jerk messaged me just to tell me that in america hot women don't "chunk out" or something like that. And that was a pre-ex-boyfriend picture. Ugh. In general I'm harder on myself than anyone. I've had a few people comment that I look like I've lost weight, but I haven't. Over the last full year I've lost 7 pounds. I fluctuate weekly between 160 and 163.

I'm pretty sure I have an oral fixation. I smoke occasionally (like every so often I'll get a pack of cigarettes during a stressful time and smoke one every day or two), but I don't like the taste. Just putting something in my mouth calms me down. I do the same thing with food. I stopped leaving food in my mini fridge at work (just water) and I stopped keeping dollar bills in my wallet (vending machine). But I'm hungry all. day. long. I'm always looking for healthy snacks, but I'm horrible about letting food go bad. My eating habits always change, and it's incredibly difficult to maintain any sort of routine (I have adult ADD something fierce).

I'm trying to lose weight by eating more healthy, rather than actually dieting, but working in an office, where they always have free lunches at meetings and for various teams, it's near impossible to maintain eating habits. Looking at the men I work with, it's a wonder that nobody's thought to order healthy lunches rather than barbecue and pizza!!

Thanks for letting me rant. I've never tried a weight loss support group before. I'm hoping this works out for me.

[Thighs Be Gone]

dominodreams, don't listen to the haters..they will only try to trick you up and sabotage your efforts..

If you are insatiably hungry my guess is that you are plainly not eating the RIGHT foods. Stick to high quality, lean proteins, and the good fats--olive oil, raw almonds, two squares of dark chocolate with high concentrations of cocoa, avacado bits, 1 tbsp. of peanut butter, etc. These mixed in w/a low calorie diet and you will be in good shape.

[Schumeany]

Protein in the key to not feeling hungry all the time...and also cutting out most of the sugar and non-whole grain carbs from your diet -- those will give you serious "lows" and all kinds of cravings. Eat 5 or 6 small meals a day, and get protein with every one of them. It really will help. I am kind of orally fixated myself...as a kid I chewed on everything, and while I have tried to give it up in the last year or so, I have been known to buy cigarettes during stressful periods as well -- just smoking one every couple of days when I needed a mini-break.

BTW, 140 at our height is absolutely NOT chunky. On me that translates to around a Size 6 -- idiots on hotornot sites are not the place to go for feedback on weight! 160 puts you less than a pound away from being inside the "normal" range for BMI...not fat, my dear.

Anyway, welcome! This is a great place to hang out and get the support you need. Good luck on your journey.