Feeling Fed Up!

[junebuggg]

Hi everyone I am new here and this is my first post. Just want to say first I am really excited to be here and to really buckle down and start getting healthy.

I am 22 turning 23 soon and I feel like I've lost a lot of my life due to really low self-confidence directly linked to my weight and body image. I have been trying to lose weight and become healthy since 2015 and have gotten nowhere and I am feeling so fed up.

My question would be to anyone what would be the first thing I should focus on? if there were one habit or thing, you would recommend?

Looking forward to meeting more people and growing.

 

[Llama]

Hi June and welcome to our forum! I would say the first thing to do is take stock. Write down everything you eat and drink for two weeks, weighing yourself at the start and the finish, then look back and see where you could make easy changes. It really depends on how you eat and live right now and won´t be the same for everyone.
For me snacks were always the easiest first step. If you snack a lot: is it because you´re hungry, because you´re bored, or just because it tastes good? Could you see yourself changing to fruit or a measured amount of nuts instead of what you have now? Or, if you don´t actually get hungry between meals, could you go for a short walk or drink a cup of tea instead of snacking? How about desserts?
Or maybe you eat quite healthy already and you just need to work on portion control, or eating more slowly in order to give your stomach time to catch up and give off clear fullness signals?

 

[junebuggg]

Hi June and welcome to our forum! I would say the first thing to do is take stock. Write down everything you eat and drink for two weeks, weighing yourself at the start and the finish, then look back and see where you could make easy changes. It really depends on how you eat and live right now and won´t be the same for everyone.
For me snacks were always the easiest first step. If you snack a lot: is it because you´re hungry, because you´re bored, or just because it tastes good? Could you see yourself changing to fruit or a measured amount of nuts instead of what you have now? Or, if you don´t actually get hungry between meals, could you go for a short walk or drink a cup of tea instead of snacking? How about desserts?
Or maybe you eat quite healthy already and you just need to work on portion control, or eating more slowly in order to give your stomach time to catch up and give off clear fullness signals?

Hi Maria, It feels so good to be heard and for your reply, I think I will try that writing things down for two weeks. I definitely love snacking and can work on that. thank you.

 

[Llama]

I think the most important thing about this forum is that people here are always willing to hear about the trial and tribulations of food and fitness while our friends and family irl often either can't really relate or just get sick of the topic. Talking through things can be so helpful when you're trying to understand where your problems lie and how to tweak things so they work better.

 

[Err2]

Welcome Junebuggg!

As LaMaria mentioned, everyone is different so it'll help to know more about you - your weight, sex, activity, and what you eat now.

What seems to be working for me is to treat this not as a temporary diet that must be endured before "going back to normal" but as a new normal instead. During periods of my life I could out exercise my diet, but inevitably I'd get out of the routine after things like injury, illness, a job change, or even bad weather and I'd go back to "my normal" of gaining 10-15 lbs per year.

When I started this journey weighing 450 lbs, I had an overwhelming task in front of me so I set weekly and monthly goals that fit along the overall path back to health. And to prevent feeling overwhelmed, I started off focusing on a few changes rather than trying to jump into a 100% healthy lifestyle. For me that was cutting out all candy, chips, sodas, energy drinks, and sweetened beverages -- i.e. junk food -- because that's where a ton of my calories were coming from. I also started tracking my calories.

After doing that for a while, I set a calorie goal for myself and started discovering which low calorie foods I enjoyed (or at least tolerated) eating that would make me feel full. This was really eye opening to me, so here's an example video from a guy with a bit of an abrasive youtube personality:

After doing that for a long time I started looking at macros - protein, fat, carbs - and trying to eat a balanced diet within my calorie goals. Meanwhile I'm also doing similar incremental changes to exercise: walk 1/2 mile, walk 1 mile, do 5 air squats, do 10... ride a bike 5 miles, then 10, then 20... do 1 wall push-up... then 2, then 5... etc

I haven't been perfect so I have to accept when I come up short without beating myself up over setbacks. When they happen, I basically say "now what? what is the best path forward from here?" and move on without dwelling in negativity.

 

[Cate]

Hi, June & welcome to the forum. I joined the forum years ago for the support as I felt I was boring everyone IRL with my talking about it. We never tire of it & offer positive comments & helpful suggestions. Everyone is different & follow different paths, but we all have common ground. WE want to be healthy. I use My Fitness Pal from time to time to get myself back on track & am starting back again today. Others use Cronometer, which has more detail, but I don't find as simple. Starting a diary is a good idea. Put as much or as little into it as you like. You'll find the link here- https://weight-loss.fitness.com/forums/weight-loss-diary.9/
Some tips on useful info to start off your diary can be found here- https://weight-loss.fitness.com/threads/the-way-a-diary-works.39441/
Cheers, Cate.

 

[overlandflyer]

... really buckle down and start getting healthy.
.... I have been trying to lose weight and become healthy since 2015 and have gotten nowhere and I am feeling so fed up....

so what have you been doing these past 4 years?
my guess would be that you're trying to eat less and exercise more...?

could you start off by stating your current condition...?

1) what is your height/ weight now.
2) what is the profile of your household? live alone, with family, etc.
3) what control do you have over your food?
4) do you prepare any meals, or mostly order in?
5) do you live in an urban or remote location? aka... what is your grocery store situation?
6) if you work or go to school, what hours are you busy?
7) what is your average hours of sleep/day?

what do you know about nutrition?
what does an average day of yours look like?
...list a typical day's menu with the times you might eat anything