[beck_in_oz]

Im wondering if anyone else is in this position or has been, or has some advice for me!!! Ive changed the way I eat/live since the start of the year... I lost the first 20 kg (44pd) quite easily and then got stuck at around 85kg. Over the next 2/3 months I have lost the next 5kg and I think its taken me a month to get another 1 kilo off... Ive tried fixing my eating, increasing excercise but it just wont move. Im feeling frustrated and getting anxious about it. I feel that im getting smaller but not much and (i know its wrong) seeing my friends eat so bad and stay small and im eating well and exercising and still big is just about to tip me over the edge!!!

My other problem is that for my height (5"1'ish) the advised weight range is like 45 - 55kg (approx) and i know im never going to be tiny so i set my aim at 60kg. I am currently at 79kg and am about a size 14/16. I think if i lost another 19kg I wouldnt look healthy at all, i was annorexic in high school and my lowest was around 52kg and i was very sick. Im confused therefore as what to set my goal as. I want to have a goal so that I can achieve it otherwise I will possibly just give up ---> may be why im not loosing... Has anyone had to change their goal after starting loosing weight and what is reasonable?? I was thinking that maybe il make it when I fit into a size 12 but my top size doesnt match my bottom size so im just not sure... If you have any ideas it would be GREATLY appreciated!!!

Cheers from Oz, Beck!

[wannaBaloser]

Dear Stuck,

a few things come to mind:
one--diet, if you keep a diet diary and write down every single bite of every single thing you eat for a week or better even keep it for two weeks. Then go back and examine it with a serious eye. Where could you improve your intake? This has been around for decades, but it still is around becaues it works. What ever diet you are on will work, if you stick to every rule. The best diet is moderation in all things; with nothing forbidden. You might think you are eating right and still have a few things you could improve.
two-exercise--you need a rounded and balanced routine. Cardio- walking, jogging, running, biking, aerobics, wild dancing ( I rather favor the latter); and some strength training--either hand-held weights or stretching bands
and flexibility- with a really good stretching routine or yoga.
three---your body may be in transition --all those fat cells are leaving and muscle cells are building and it just is not reflected on the scale
four---you may be doing the same routine and your muscles no longer respond to it---change your type of exercise--- change the intensity change the frequency --make some changes--- if you were jogging--try swimming or biking or dancing --- do your routine in reverse --
check into having a good evaluation done by a trainer at a gym on a day pass or a guest pass see if they have any other ideas.
five---be patient because everyone's body is individual and does its own thing in its own time...not according to what anyone elses body does
six---your body is more reluctant to lose weight the older you get- so be patient

best of luck
O2BN...Andalusia
walkin2bfit

[funniegrrl]

One of the biggest lightning bolts I ever had was when I realized that it just didn't matter what other people could eat/do and stay slim. They have their body, I have mine. I have to work with mine, that's all I've got. I can't change it, and I certainly don't have time or energy to spare to devote to worrying about it. Every minute I used to spend thinking, "Why me?" and wishing I were them was a minute wasted, not only in the cosmic scheme of things but in practical terms.

We are strongly influenced by the way we talk to ourselves. When you say negative things to yourself, railing at the universe for the unfairness of it all, not only do you waste time but you are teaching yourself hopelessness. You simply reinforce all of the thoughts that hold you down and make you feel no effort is worthwhile. You convince yourself that because you weren't born with all the cards in place, that your entire existence is doomed.

That's not true, is it? Of course not!

So, every time that Evil Voice looks at your slim friends scarfing down cheese fries, remind yourself that you don't stick with them 24 / 7. They may compensate for those fries later today or tomorrow or later in the week. Even if they don't, getting angry and discouraged because they have a different metabolism is pointless. This is the same infuriating behavior that causes women to fixate on others who have large boobs or blonde hair or round butts or white teeth or high cheekbones or ... whatever the media has taught us is desirable this week. First, you don't know whether they were born that way or if what they've done to get it, but in the end it doesn't matter. Second, rather than spending time and effort making your brown hair look as nice as it can and taking pride in its native lovliness, you wallow in jealously and negativity.

So, head up, be proud of what you have accomplished with YOUR body, and make peace with the fact that you may have to work harder than some others, but that that's just the way it is and you'll do it because you want to be the best you that you can be.