Im desperate. (what am I doing wrong?)

J

JosephBrown1492

New member
Hi! I'm Joseph Brown. I am 15 years old, 6'3" and 250 lbs. I have been working really hard and I am beginning to get very discouraged.

-The Problem-
As of late I have become more and more discouraged. For the last 2 years I have put on a lot of weight and tried very hard to keep it away (to no avail) I am a sophomore in high school and as such there is a lot of social pressure and anxiety regarding physical appearance. I have very few friends even though i'm nice to everybody. And I know this isn't the place to talk about such things, but it has been getting to me. I feel like a lot of people judge me based on my appearance. Despite the fact that i am not one to let such things get to me it has (as was aforementioned) quite discouraging. I came here because I need help. I don't understand what I am doing wrong?

-My Day-
Every day I wake up around 5:30 AM for early morning classes. After that I begin my school day consisting of various classes most notably: Weights and conditioning, and fitness for life (Physical education).
So as you can see throughout my school day alone I am getting over 2 hours of physical excersize 5 days a week!
And on top of that I play water polo in the afternoon from 8-11 with games on fridays and saturdays. For those who arent familiar with the sport picture soccer in the water :) When im not at school or practice im working (at mcdonalds), reading, or playing video games (for which teenagers are notorious). I feel like my life has balance. I am getting 4-5 hours of excersize per day (most of which is rigorous), Working, and waking up plenty early!
So that brings me back to the topic: What On Earth Am I Doing Wrong!!!

-Potential problems I see-
So in this post i will attempt to be as brutally honest about myself as possible. I have a hard time sleeping at night. I usually end up falling asleep around 1:30-2:00 No matter how hard I try nothing works to go to bed earlier! Also I can't tell if im undereating or overeating? In a day I usually skip breakfast or have a protein shake, have a school lunch (Blech) and whatever I can find for dinner. Yes I eat out sometimes. No its not a lot. Yes I have a big appetite. Yes i could probably eat a whole cow in one sitting if i let myself. Despite all this I attempt to have as much restrain as possible!

-Medical issues-
While i don't have any severe medical issues like diabetes (thank god) I have a plethora of minor ones.
I suffer from asthma (especially in winter months), Allergies, and back pain. (it runs in the family)
My main issue however is I have messed up feet. Whenever I walk or run My feet go completely flat as if they have no arch support what so ever. (also what sucks is i have size 14w feet yikes :/ ) I have spoken with the podiatrist multiple times and all he has ever been able to recommend is inserts or special shoes (which cost a lot) and despite my efforts these help very little. Whenever I run my feet immediately have a severe aching pain that surges up my feet, ankles, and knees that wont go away (sometimes for days). This makes it very difficult to run and perform certain excersizes such as squats.

-My Achilles heel-
Earlier one thing i forgot to mention is my severe addiction to soda. And already I know what you are thinking; "Oh duh there is your problem right there". I know and I have heard it all before. A few months ago I switched to diet and have been having some success in losing weight since then but not much. And its not necessarily just soda either, i just tend to drink whatever is in front of me (excluding in most cases water). Including juices, and other flavored drinks. I don't crave candy, chips, or almost any other unhealthy snacks. Just soda. I have never felt like I over ate "that much" at most i might have an extra helping of dinner if I was hungry however if left to my own devices I drink entirely too much soda. And as of now there is no end in sight. I have been trying to find alternatives (to little success).

-In conclusion-
I apologise for spilling all this out on this post I am just desperate. All I have ever wanted was to be accepted as healthy, and not just the mcdonalds poster boy. I want to look and feel healthy and I am hoping some of you may help me achieve that. This really is my last resort. I just need answers.

Thanks,
Joseph Brown
 
Welcome to the forum Joseph :)

I think the place to start is your diet, I would suggest you start a thread in the diary section to start logging your food each day so we can get a better idea of where you may be able to make changes, you have already self identified your soda problem, just the idea of having to write down your poor diet choices can make you think twice about consuming something you know you shouldn't.
 
Hi, Joseph & welcome to the forum. You sound like you are doing just about everything right to be fit & healthy & you also sound like a very nice person. Being a teenager is probably the hardest time of your life. It sounds like cutting our soda alone would fix your weight situation. You may not be consuming enough calories. Do some homework as to what constitutes a healthy diet. Here are a few useful links-
https://www.choosemyplate.gov/. This is a US one.
https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/guidelines/australian-guide-healthy-eating
& https://www.nutrition.org.uk/healthyliving/healthydiet/eatwell.html
A lot of us use My Fitness Pal to log our food & exercise. Think about starting a forum diary & perhaps list what you eat for a few days. The link to the diary section in this forum is https://weight-loss.fitness.com/forums/weight-loss-diary.9/ You can copy & paste your introductory post from here to make it easier. The people there are very supportive.
I know it's hard to find self-confidence in your teens, but to me, you seem like a good person & I give you kudos for wanting to improve your health & well-being. Once again, a great big welcome! Cheers, Cate.
 
I appreciate all the comments! Thanks so much! I will be trying to keep a diary of what i eat. I am hoping for some better success ^-^ Thanks again everyone!
 
Hi Joseph,
You sound like a good guy, thanks for all the info. You're right, you get plenty of exercise so if you get good nutrition the weight loss will take care of itself. You seem like a sensible guy so can I suggest a few simple changes to try and follow and see how you do?
Drinks - try a couple of weeks drinking just water (I know, that sucks for a teenager but it's a couple of weeks out of your life so give it a go). You may be surprised how different it makes you feel. And try to drink a lot.
Food - rather than prescribe meals etc see if you can follow a few principles:
1 protein - try to eat whole lean meats and fish
2 carbs - dark leafy greens, salad and vegs the way to go. Try ditching the potatos and bread etc for a couple of weeks too.
3 fats - good fats are things like oily fish, olive oil, nuts and seeds

Here's a few easy rules to help make some good choices so you don't need lots of specifics:
1 if it had 1 mother it's good protein, if it had 30 mothers it's probably processed and not good
2 try to skip packet snacks and sugary, fatty foods (if it was around 100 years ago it's probably fine)
3 if you're feeling hungry you may actually be thirsty, have a good drink of water and give it 20 mins to see if you're still hungry
4 be conscious about what you put on your food. A lot of healthy meals are ruined by dressings, sauces and coatings that are full of sugar.

I say all this assuming you don't have any health or medical probs that would make it unwise, so it's general advice but if it's safe for you to do so, make some changes and stick to it for a few weeks. Good luck buddy. I'll have a look at your food diary when you post it too.
 
Shred, skipping breakfast is fine. The whole "breakfast is the most important meal of the day" has been misleading people for years. It's the most important meal because if you are eating garbage, it can lead to insulin spikes all day. However, doing intermittent fasting (skipping breakfast), in some cases, is better than having a health breakfast. Since most people don't have time for a healthy breakfast, it's better to skip it.
 
Appreciated. I wasn't suggesting breakfast was the most important meal of the day or that fasting doesn't work, just that given his level of activity He's unlikely to need to fast to lose weight. Just switching to better quality nutrition and keeping usual meal schedule would likely yield good results.
 
Hi Joseph, it's your diet. You sound smart so here is my advice. You need to cut your carb intake a bit, but not totally. Try eating a small portion of healthy carbs for breakfast I. E oats. That should kick start your metabolism again. Then eat as much meat and veg as you like, so that you don't feel hungry. Stick to diet soda and water. Fluid is good, but not if it's filled with sugar. It worked for me. Read my thread just above yours - 'screw excessive exercise and fad diets' - for more info, I hope it helps xxx
 
In my experience, people aren't educated on food they consume. Get yourself educated, and then you will lead more healthy lifestyle.
 
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