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michey

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Hi, I'm new to this forum and found myself here because I really want to shed some kgs but I am struggling to start. i need a kick start really but I keep avoiding it.

Also, I'm also torn between quitting the ciggarettes or losing weight. I'm in the morbidly obese category and I smoke about 15-20 ciggs a day. What is worse? I don't know which to start on first? Both seem bad but unless I go to some sort of stop-smoking-lose-weight-boot-camp I can't do them both together.

They are so intertwined for me that when I try to address one the other becomes more of an issue - at least for a while.

Any thoughts? What is worse - smoking or being fat?
 
They're both bad. :)

Honestly I can't tell you which is worse but if it were me, I'd quit smoking first almost because of the cost alone.

I dunno .. you say you "can't" do both at once ... but then you say they're so intertwined that you can't separate them. I think either way it's going to be tough, but on the other hand, if you build healthy eating habits, it might be easier to quit smoking because your body will be in better shape and you'll be properly nourished.

Also "can't" is sometimes a matter of mental focus. If you think you can't, then you won't be able to at all. If you think you can ... I'm not saying it's a magic bullet, but at least you're not shooting yourself in the foot before you even start.

Just my thoughts on the matter. :)
 
I decided on the weight first. I am about 20ish lbs to my goal and I'm feeling like I could quit now that I have my eating on track. I would definitely recommend sticking to your diet for several weeks before trying to quit so that you aren't reaching for those sugary snacks when you want a smoke.
 
I dont know about smoking - never having smoked - but I can comment about the morbidly obese thing. For me - I had got so that I didnt actually believe it was possible. I had tried to go on several calorie counting extravaganzas back when everyone said that women needed to cut down to 1000 calories a day to lose weight. It was impossible - the diets got abandoned - and the weight piled back on (with more to join it). I got really depressed every time it happened too.

I would make a start on whatever you can do today to get healthier. If that is that you smoke one less cigarette with your coffee - do that and feel good about it as a step forward to good health. Try to find the time to go out for a walk for 30 minutes. If you manage it - feel proud of yourself. Maybe clean up your diet a little too. That may mean trying to eat 5-a-day or maybe using fry-light (or similar) 1 cal spray for frying instead of oil. Maybe you could do all three. My husband used to bring in a chocolate biscuit or bar and hand it to me while watching the television. One of the first things that I started doing was saying "thanks - I'll have it later" - then later on I would put them in a drawer. Pretty soon the drawer of chocolate treats was pretty full and I had lost some weight. I hadnt told him at first that I was making changes because I knew that he knew how depressed I had been the last time an attempt failed - and he didnt want me to try and fail again. He loved me as I was...

Whatever you manage to achieve - feel really good about yourself - and determine that you will try to do the same tomorrow - and if you feel strong try to add something else to the mix. Before you know it you might have pretty much addressed both your major problems and turned your health around.
 
Hello everyone, wow some really interesting and different approaches there. KaraCooks, thanks for the tough love approach - I really need to examine my thinking about 'can't'.
erikajune - I have been thinking of that, getting the diet thing happening and tackling the smoking a bit further down the track.
Omega - thank you so much, I've been thinking in all or nothing terms and you've suggested make some small steps on both - great idea. that seems achievable - no heroics just lots of small steps.

I'm a bit of a hare at times, and need to be the tortoise to succeed at this.
 
Michey.
how about you try to SLOWLY cut back both.
example may be smoke 3/4 of each cig before you squish it and toss it and try something creative with food such as start to replace a un healty snack with a healthy one once a day to begin
 
Michey,

Oh my, a co-hare! :D Omega's suggestions are terrific, all those small steps to get to what we really want to achieve. they are the most realistic steps, IMO.

For me, the real enemy here is our psyche. "Hares" like us need to be genuinely committed. A good way to keep our focus and dedication to our promise intact is to find someone who can be accountable for us in our sworn "health creed". Someone inside the home, perhaps? Someone dependable to kick your butt every time you're not doing your promise. :gnorsi:
 
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Hi Princess_Lissa - my co-hare!!

I agree some accountability is in order, although i think i need to really start to be accountable to myself. Especially my 'future self'. I get a bit focussed on now, ie I want it NOW and to heck with the consequences.

This is my thinking: My 'past' self got me into this mess, she was thinking of the past and her 'now' only. Not of me right now today (who was her un-cared for future me) in my now with this body I dislike. I need to focus on my future self a bit more, think of her needs, live less 'now' focussed and work on nurturing the future self.

As I'm writing it, I feel like my past me has let me down, been a bad big sister. I want to be a good and supportive big sister to my future self. My future self could be defined as me in 1 hour, me in 10 years.

I guess its another way for me to think about consequences for my actions.

I know this sounds a bit 'out there' and i wish i could articulate it better, but i hope you know what i mean....
 
Michey,

Oh, I totally get you!!! It's really nice to know that you've gone through those "visualizations" and "conversations".

I think you've hurdled the first step in weight loss --- you got commitment girl! Why not try a food and mood diary?

I think your big bad old self is regretful and will really take care of your future self. Good luck on your journey!
 
For what it's worth - I have a comment about my walking that may be relevant. It came to mind when I was reading of your sister to future self thoughts.

As I said - when I started out I was very big - very unfit. I started by going round the block - slowly because I did nothing briskly back then. As soon as I could go further I did. I kept upping the distance. I didnt worry about speed - but I did walk every day and over time I naturally speeded up without trying. I found it great to wear a pedometer all day long from when I got up to when I went to bed. Every step of the day is burning calories - and if we are more active all day long it counts towards making us healthier. Each day I could have a little competition - the new fitter me of today could compare my stepcount with the old less fit person of yesterday. I could capture it all into a spreadsheet. I could see myself going further than I ever dreamt possible. I was getting fitter - and the weight did come off well (I was making my food healthier too).

Naturally I started investigating other forms of exercise too as time went by...

You might find a pedometer helps with the "becoming more active" side of things.... I still wear mine for every step of the day and I am 2.5 years into my project.
 
Omega - great approach - thanks so much for sharing.

I've actually done some exercise which is a huge start - and i enjoyed it too!!! small steps are the way to go for sure.

Mood and food diary is a great idea Princess_Lissa - I might give it a go - i found this

which looks helpful.

Thanks ladies!!!
 
michey said:
I've actually done some exercise which is a huge start - and i enjoyed it too!!! small steps are the way to go for sure.
Click to expand...

Well done for starting the exercise. I know what a big step it is with morbid obesity - and how very beneficial. It is great that you enjoyed it.

No-one that knew the old me would have ever guessed that I would really enjoy aerobics!!!!! I would have never guessed it myself. I didnt discover it until I tried it when experimenting with different forms of exercise.

You are doing brilliantly. Feel good about the enormous strides forward that you are taking.

Good luck
Margaret
 
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