New to the forum. Need some starting advice.

[Checksum]

Hello, I am Checksum.

I would first like to say that I am 17 and I am from the UK and I am very overweight. I will not sugar coat and I will be honest I am in the range of about 25-30 stone (350 - 420lbs) I went through a phase of being taken out of school and spending my days playing video games all day and eating which lead to me getting this size. I will admit I was never skinny, to begin with, and neither are my peers so their weight was just projected onto me at a young age but me leaving school and playing games got me to the size I am now. I am now back at college and doing well again with my education and that is going well for me, I also quit playing videos games. The only thing left in my life for me to sort out is my health and I am ready to do that now.

With that being said I am looking for some advice on ways I can lose weight at home and such a big size. I have tried the ways like sit-ups and others things like that but it makes it almost impossible because of my size. I was planning on getting a gym membership but the gyms are still closed near me and I am unable to get there since I live about 1 hour away from the closet gym. It is worth noting that I am unable to drive or even start doing my lessons because of my weight so I am not even able to get myself to the gym as my parents refuse to drive me even when it was open.

When it comes to what I am eating nowadays I do not eat a lot I eat one solid meal a day for my tea/dinner and then I have whatever I can find for snacks if I am hungry. I do want to start eating healthier meals however since my parents do not take the whole losing weight seriously and they cook my meals I cannot choose what I am eating hence why I cut down from 3 big high in calorie meals to only 1. I mean it's not like pizza and junk food every night but it is more on the lines of things with potatoes and pasta like every other night.

Over the summer that has just gone I have saved up some money by working online for people and I have around £300 saved up with more coming in and I am looking for exercise equipment that I can buy that will be good for me to use at home. I was planning on getting some things like dumbbells.

The last thing for me to note is that I used to fast once a week and then I stopped but since I am unable to cook my meals (just simply not allowed) I was thinking of getting back at the fasting and maybe increasing it to 2 or 3 days in the week.

I would appreciate any kind of advice or help I can get as I want to get a hold of my weight issue as it is now the only thing holding me back in life and stopping me from doing things like passing my driving test.

EDIT:
My goal is to cut my weight in half and then start building muscle, I do not want to be a skinny person however I also do not want to be 25-30 stone where I am at right now.

 

[Cate]

Hi, Checksum & welcome to the forum

I am now back at college and doing well again with my education and that is going well for me, I also quit playing videos games. The only thing left in my life for me to sort out is my health and I am ready to do that now.

That's great,
What you eat is most important for weight loss. Is it possible to see a nutritionist to get some help with what you should be eating? Maybe your parents might get on board if they realise you are serious about getting healthy. I'm sure they would want that too.
Is there a gym at college or a pool? I love walking. It's something you can do anywhere & any time. I try not to worry or think about anything when I walk.

 

[Trusylver]

I agree with cate, Welcome to the forum.

In addition to what @Cate has said, simply keeping a journal of what you eat each day can begin to show a pattern and indicate where you can make changes. Starting a thread in the diary section is a good option for this.

 

[Checksum]

Hi, Checksum & welcome to the forum

That's great,
What you eat is most important for weight loss. Is it possible to see a nutritionist to get some help with what you should be eating? Maybe your parents might get on board if they realise you are serious about getting healthy. I'm sure they would want that too.
Is there a gym at college or a pool? I love walking. It's something you can do anywhere & any time. I try not to worry or think about anything when I walk.

There is a gym at the college however it is limited days that it is open and only a portion of people are allowed in at one time because of covid.

In regards to seeing a nutrition we have talked about starting dieting programs like "noom" and stuff like that but if I am honest they never really got round to doing it. I wouldn't say they are action takers and like to put things off for long periods of time and then when I ask them to sort it they say I need to stop using it as an excuse.

I do not mind walking and it is something I do almost daily.

 

[Checksum]

I agree with cate, Welcome to the forum.

In addition to what @Cate has said, simply keeping a journal of what you eat each day can begin to show a pattern and indicate where you can make changes. Starting a thread in the diary section is a good option for this.

I will look into creating a Journal of the foods I am consuming.

 

[Llama]

Hi Checksum and welcome! Sounds like you're really turning your life around and I wouldn't be surprised if you were losing quite a lot already just on the changes you've made.

Do you weigh yourself or measure progress in any way? Not knowing exactly what you weigh can be comforting when you don't want to confront reality but when you're ready to make things better it's nice to be able to see the progress you make. If you don't have access to trustworthy scales you can just measure your waist/arms/legs/chest once a month and as long as it's the same time of day and the same spots every time you'll know if you're going in the right direction.

You don't need the gym to lose weight, least of all when you're just starting out. How much you eat of what things is 90% of the work. So if you do start a diary (which can be super helpful) be sure to record portion sizes.

 

[Micha49]

Hello Checksum, your step forward shows that you are courageous and that all you need is some routine to follow, that is the most important as you made already the first step to ask for assistance, now this routine which leads to discipline will lead you to success. In your case to see how initially slowly then later more visible you will shed pounds. to keep this routine of following steps, day by day will lead you to feeling more comfortable, don;t worry about what people say or think. It is your life and it takes a hell of an amount of bravery to come down from where you are to weigh less and less. Look we all are struggling each on his/her way in different issues in our life. YOUR GOAL IS TO LOOSE WEIGHT? if that is 500 grams or 1 lbs, it means SUCCESS. Fasting is a great way of putting your body into context to your mind, to your spiritual being; to be aligned with existential energy which brought us to this earth in the first place.
To be born, is SUCCESS, cause to have that one sperm among milliard sperms achieve to fertilize is fantastic, you made this and you are now at the verge of life to learn how to get down from 400 lbs to less, and THEN YOU CAN use this knowledge, this enthusiasm, this conviction to teach others, for example other young people who suffer like you do. I suggest that you start fasting two days a week , no food, fasting until eight pm to have a very small meal; and that is crudities. Then you can increase after 3 weeks to three days intermittent fasting, no food after midnight until 7 or 8 pm. The time you do not eat - a bit tough- you must fill with some activity, whatever you find , best creative. take yourself as chore that you do some creative things during your fasting, some project .... painting, knitting, writing your story like that. Concerning food, there is a lot to say. Keto diet is one way, But it takes also some great effort and you need to be able to prepare your own meals, which I don't know if that is possible where you are. Ask for crudities, salad, vegetables, fruits, that can be a great staple for nutrition, NUTS, NUTS, NUTS and dry fruits.....!!! I can tel from my own experience in the polar region, where I lived that that is the main basics with which you can greatly survive...
Every day of fasting you continue with that project, it will be visible proof of your success.!!!!!! I can say a lot more, I just re-found this forum where I left some parts of my story some time back. Be steady, just follow your routine, mark ALL, everything in your diary; Greetings Michael

 

[overlandflyer]

hi CS... let me make a few suggestions. first, about exercise. i'm 68 and have some arthritis going, so i don't really do a lot of exercising, but i do walk. with my latest condition... some sciatica pain... i discovered a daily "cure" is getting out for a 30-40 minute walk every morning. walking is also a way to get out and away from the fridge.

regarding your diet... there are some healthy snacks that do not require cooking. buy a bag of carrots? one of my latest trending snacks is using salsa as a "dip" for cauliflower, both right out of the fridge with little to no prep work involved. fasting is certainly a good tool for any sort of diet, but remember that you also need to get the other days under control. try to keep carb calories low and cut out as much sugar* as you can.

* keep in mind... there are dozens of different words within ingredients labeling for "sugar"

 

[Skurgeon]

There are many ways to skin a cat as the saying goes.

My advice, if you want to build muscle, don’t think about losing weight first and then building muscle. You are young and you have excess energy stored on your body. You can absolutely build muscle and lose fat at the same time. In fact I believe it might be the optimum route for you to take for various reasons.

But these kinds of things are highly personal. I’ve had a lot of success in my journey so far and I have a lot of people asking me my secret or for advice and I tell everyone the same thing.

It’s one word “Adherence”

Whatever plan you decide on if you can’t adhere to it then it’s not a good plan for you. Find foods that fit in your plan that you also like. Same for exercise. Same for routine. If you don’t like it then adherence will be tough and will power will eventually run out.

I promise you there is a lifestyle of exercise and nutrition out there that you can adhere to because you enjoy it. When you look forward to doing/eating something that also helps you reach your goals instead of doing/eating something just to reach your goals you will be golden.

There will always be hurdles, potholes and obstacles…. That’s life. These things might slow you down but if your mindset is “always forward” you’ll find your way around them and end up where you’re trying to get to.