Female, 26, 10 stone to lose

MissC

Ok guys please no nasty comments, I am in desperate need of help. I have 10 stone to lose and I feel so hopeless or like I'm looking into a bottomless pit. I can't seem to motivate myself at all as it just seems so daunting and impossible. I have basically cut myself off from the world because I am so ashamed of what I have let myself become. I suffer from depression and basically eat to make myself feel better, which I know is so stupid and counter productive.

I want to get fit and healthy again, I used to be a complete gym addict but ended up in hospital from over training and being too thin ( I actually sometimes think I dreamt that now when I look in the mirror) Anyway obviously I go to extremes either end of the scale and need to know how to get the balance right and regain my figure and life.

What should I be eating, when should I be eating it? When should I exercise and what sort would be best? Any help at all that you could give me would be so appreciated.

Thanks in advance

kittenkiller

You probably know what you should & shouldn't be eating as you've been in shape before but you just took it to the extreme.
You know all the drink plenty of water, eat lots of fruit & veg, try to cut down on fatty foods, start exercising gently & build it up gradually, regulate portions of food etc etc.

Do you really have 10 stone to lose or should you aim at a lower loss?
Your health is important & you know that weight is dangerous if it reaches extremes in either direction.

If you're lacking in motivation, try to find a partener to get fit with.
Having someone else to share the joys & miseries with halves the strain & doubles the motivation.

Are you in the dublin area by any chance?

Best of luck, don't get disheartened, be careful & be prepared for a long hard slog, unfortunately there are no quick, easy, safe ways of doing i.t

MissC

Hi Kittenkiller

To have a bmi of 25 I need to lose 8 and a half stone so to have a bmi of 20 I need to lose 10 stone. I am aiming for the 8.5 stone at the moment but my goal is 10- there isn't much of a difference between 10 and 8.5 when I have so much to lose.

I know basically what is good for you but I'm just thinking would cutting out junk food and trying to eat healthy help me to lose it or should I be weighing and counting and not eating after 7pm or following any such rules or would just cutting junk be enough at my weight so see some difference? Should I eat 3 meals a day or 4 or 6 small ones? These are the things I'm wondering about.

I am in the Dublin area yes but to be honest not one of my friends exercises so trying to get a buddy for motivation is impossible and the thought of facing a gym on my own kills me so will have to try and get something I can do at home for the time being.

Thanks for the reply, so far so good today I think. I haven't ate any junk food, that is a first in a very long time.

Supercell

MissC wrote:

Hi Kittenkiller

To have a bmi of 25 I need to lose 8 and a half stone so to have a bmi of 20 I need to lose 10 stone. I am aiming for the 8.5 stone at the moment but my goal is 10- there isn't much of a difference between 10 and 8.5 when I have so much to lose.

I know basically what is good for you but I'm just thinking would cutting out junk food and trying to eat healthy help me to lose it or should I be weighing and counting and not eating after 7pm or following any such rules or would just cutting junk be enough at my weight so see some difference? Should I eat 3 meals a day or 4 or 6 small ones? These are the things I'm wondering about.

I am in the Dublin area yes but to be honest not one of my friends exercises so trying to get a buddy for motivation is impossible and the thought of facing a gym on my own kills me so will have to try and get something I can do at home for the time being.

Thanks for the reply, so far so good today I think. I haven't ate any junk food, that is a first in a very long time.

Three heathy meals, two (healthy)snack meals ..no food 3 hours before bed, 45 mins on the threadmill (pref with incline) in the morning, you will loose the fat..and sustainably so.

Clive

Firstly I'd recommend going to a doctor, to

A) Make sure you have no health problems and can start to exercise with no worries.
Get treatment for your depression, be it medication or referral to a counsellor.

Other than that, if you really have 10 stone to lose, walking is probably the most stressful activity you can handle, so try to get up 30 minutes early three times a week and do that before breakfast.

Other than that, you know the general diet advice, eat good healthy food, don't eat after 7 etc.

But seriously, you need to get your head sorted first - then your body can follow.

ronbyrne2005

MissC wrote:

What should I be eating, when should I be eating it? When should I exercise and what sort would be best? Any help at all that you could give me would be so appreciated.

Thanks in advance

eat when your hungry but distinguish between really being hungry and comfort eating.
eat fresh meat vegatables fish fruit and everything that we all know is healthy brown bread brown rice etc.avoid all processed foods and anything high in saturated fat sugar and simple carbohydrates like white bread white pasta cakes etc
eat at any time you are really hungry,the time you eat at has no effect on weight loss,its total calories consumed versus total calories burned.
exercise whenever you can.walk everyday untill you feel you can go to gym or get an exercise bike in home so you can exercise in privacy,walk anytime you can it will help lose weight and help you feel better.

Shrimp

Good Luck!

Seriously though!

tuxy

i think you have some self esteem issuses to deal with first. if you can deal with that, losing the weight will be the easy bit.

seamus

Next time you go shopping, ask yourself why you are buying each and every item. If there is anything there that you're not buying for a meal (with the exception of tea, coffee, and milk) take it out and put it back on the shelf. Don't buy anything "just in case". If you can't come up with a good (read: healthy) reason for buying the item, then don't buy it.

Keep as little money on your person or in the house as possible. It can be a pain having to go the bank machine all the time, but it prevents you from ringing the chinese/chipper.

I don't know about anyone else, but the only times I find myself eating crap that I shouldn't is when it's available. If the crap doesn't exist (or the ability to obtain the crap doesn't exist), then I'm just as happy to do without.

As tuxy says, it's more than likely that there are esteem and other problems affecting you that you will probably have to sort before you can make any headway on this. The very fact that you are aiming for a BMI of 20 suggests to me a tendency for obesessive compulsive behaviour. But I'm not a doctor.

Pherekydes

MissC wrote:

To have a bmi of 25 I need to lose 8 and a half stone so to have a bmi of 20 I need to lose 10 stone.

These figures indicate you are about 4'6" and 16 stone. This means you are aiming to lose more than half your body weight. It's time to set reasonable goals. Start off by aiming to lose 30lbs or about 2 stone.

You won't achieve anything by setting the bar too high. Set reasonable and attainable goals. When you achieve them you'll begin to feel better about yourself.

Good luck.

Cake Fiend

Clive wrote:

But seriously, you need to get your head sorted first - then your body can follow.

Yep - you need to attack the root of the problem, and it needs to be a long-term solution.

Dizzyblabla

go to weightwatchers, you'll find others in the same boat as you, to be honest, when you have so much weight to loose, the first stone or two should almost fall off once you start eating right. I remember the first time I joined ww, I lost 9lbs my first week, I know this doesn't happen for everyone, but if you stick to the rules and eat ALL the points allocated to you, you will loose the weight.
A friend of mine never ate all her pts and would be lucky if she lost 1/2 a lb, me, I ate all of mine and consistantly lost 1 & 1/2 lbs - 2lbs a week.
After awhile it gets harder, so you do need to exercise too, and don't do what I did, which was get fed up because the weight kept going up and down the same 3-4lbs for weeks after a few months.

Don't kill yourself with 45min jogs on a treadmill at first, go for walks, invest in an iPod or walkman or something, walk to a place if you can't motivate yourself to just 'go for a walk', I used to walk to Wilton in Cork, which was about 5 miles from me, and if I was up to it, I'd walk home too.

if you can't face weightwatchers, then how about just updating us all on how you are getting on? you can use us as your motivation.

Keep a diary of the food you're eating, it can be very hard to cut out all the nice food that you're so used to eating.

bread, cheese and peanuts are the enemy

if you have to have something sweet, have something sweet, if you cut it all out totally from the start, chances are you'll get crazy cravings and binge eat. Buy a bag of mini milkyway's or something, that way, when you feel like a bar of chocolate, you're only having a small taste, which will probably be enough to get rid of the craving.

Popcorn is a great snack, find an air popcorn maker, so no oil, if not, manhattan popcorn is the lowest in fat/calories that I've found, and also really tasty!

Substitute foods, if you love biscuits, have a ricecake instead (they grow on you!)
if you love to snack on crisps, have popcorn or something instead.

Give up beer, and don't touch alco-pops, they are laden with calories... If you have to drink, have a glass of wine or spirits.

Best of luck to you, it's alot of weight to loose, but once you start loosing it, you'll feel so much better, just be careful, don't get obsessed with it all, or you'll make yourself sick.

another good motivation is to save some money to buy new clothes as you loose the weight, a word of warning though, don't buy expensive clothes! You'll shrink out of them quickly! Hang onto a pair of 'fat pants' (I can put on mine over a pair of jeans without even unzipping them!)
putting them on and holding out the waist to see the inches is great!

good luck, let us know how you're getting on!

plonk

hey listen u can do it just believe

b3t4

I'd second Dizzyblabla suggestion of going to weight watchers.

The support is great and it really is a re-education on food.

For extra motivation have a look at their irish and uk websites. www.weightwatchers.ie and www.weightwatchers.co.uk I find that the UK website is much more informative.

Best of luck,
A.

jester77

Sort out diet first. Plan what you are going to eat for the next week and make a shopping list. Just go to the shop once during the week and only buy what is on the list. If you don't buy junk you won't have it in the house and you won't eat it. Also take a picture of yourself at the moment and place it somewhere in your room that you can see it every morning. It can help to motivate yourself when you see it. Losing weight is gradual and you don't always notice it, so you will have a picture to compare against which should give you extra motivation to keep going.
Start slowly with exercise and gradually build it up.
Best of Luck!

LegacyUser

Hey, CONGRATULATIONS!
You are taking the first steps to a healthier lifestyle!

I am no dietary expert, I have asked for advice here myself, but I can comment on motivational techniques.

I set up a blog, on myspace.com, and I post my monthly goals, and how I am going to achieve them.
I also post everything I eat and the amount of exercise I do every day.

The reason for this is the attention and support I get from the other users, and it works as an incentive for me to stick with it.

I know you want to loose 10 stone, but I would recommend that you break down that goal into monthly, or fortnightly goals.
So, instead of setting a 10 stone target, set a 1 stone a month target.

Alternatively, you could forget about the weight and set dress size goals, so you could aim to drop a dress size in the first fortnight and then a dress size per month after that.

These are motivational things that you can do on your on, but it is nice if you have the support of friends, and you mention that your friend 'don't do' exercise.

For this reason I would suggest joining weight watchers, or a similar club. You will meet lots of young women with similar goals to yours, who would be delighted to have a 'walking'/'get fit' partner.

Another thing you could do is getting someone to take a pic of you today.
On the 11th of every month, get back into the clothes you were wearing in the first photo and have another picture taken.
This will help you to actually SEE the results of your hard work and will give you the buzz you need to keep going.



That’s all I can think of for now, but GOOD LUCK, let us know how your getting on.

STICK WITH IT!!

happydude13

If possible it is beneficial to integrate activity into your daily routine,

e.g.
- Leave earlier for the bus/train/LUAS and walk to a further away stop, get off early

- Walk/Cycle to work/shops/etc

Also you are much more likely to do something if you have told someone
you are going to do it, specifics help here.

and eating proper is v good idea.

TouchingVirus

Deal with your self-esteem issues first. Motivation is what you lack and thats what you need in order not to sabotage your efforts.

MissC

Thank you all for taking the time to reply to me. Ye I realise I have to get my head sorted first, it has been suggested to me to go to the Marino Therapy Centre to talk to people there who deal with food disorders, body image etc.. so I am going to give them a call and see how I get on there, they may help me sort the head part of it.

As for the food and exercise, thank you for all the great tips, I am really going to try and incorporate some of them into my daily life, today is the second day without junk food and I'm just trying to take it a day at a time and just make healthy eating normal to me instead of getting completely obsessed about it like I usually do.

Thanks Again

serabi

Longfield wrote:

Three heathy meals, two (healthy)snack meals ..no food 3 hours before bed, 45 mins on the threadmill (pref with incline) in the morning, you will loose the fat..and sustainably so.

wouldn't you starve.....
I'd need more than that

Supercell

serabi wrote:

wouldn't you starve.....
I'd need more than that

Five meals a day..how do you starve? , healthy doesnt mean small..just the "good" foods..not processed crap, and brown where it can be had (bread, rice, spagetti..) ..all in moderation of course.

McGinty

Hi Miss C

Like the others have said, fair play for seeking to improve your health. I have had a continuing battle with my weight, I'm 34 now, and I've been slim and fat, I'm overweight right now and on a healthy eating plan like yourself. One thing I would highly recommend is to eat consciously. I'm a divil for obsessing about food but when it comes to eating times I just gulp it down without any thought. Lately I've started eating at the table with no distractions (TV or books) slowly chewed my food and most importantly PUT MY KNIFE AND FORK, OR SPOON DOWN BETWEEN EACH BITE, I've noticed that slim people who don't gain weight but eat what they want tend to do this (it has also been scientifically noted as well), you will fill up much quicker and you will naturally eat far less, believe it works, it is difficult, at the moment I am still trying to reprogramme my bad eating habits. Basically it is about getting in touch with your appetite, letting it tell you are hungry or full, and your internal body wisdom will allow you to choose the right foods. The best of luck with it, and like others suggested break your overall goal into easy, achievable steps, either a stone or a dress size. One final tip, visualise yourself thinner and how you feel and look as you become slimmer and another tip, if you have a bad day, don't beat yourself up and give up, just say okay, I slipped up, and keep going the next day. We are human, not perfect, and humans make mistakes and that is okay. Best of luck.

0utshined

My 2c.

There is a big difference between the 8.5st you need to lose and the 10st yu want to. The less you have to lose the harder it will be, that's just the way it is. Focus on the 8.5 first and see how you feel when you get there, you may find it's the right weight for you. If it's not then start round two, after winning round one.

As for getting there I'd suggest counting down rather than up, so instead of thinking "I've lost 1lb" , consider that 8.5st is 119 lbs and start knocking lbs off that. Set up an online diary on blogspot.com or something so you can keep track of how you're doing.

Hope it works out for you anyway,
0.

misswex

Hi MissC

Wish you the best of luck with your diet.

I myself need to lose some weight. Did great a couple of years ago but seriously lapsed last year and didn't give it my best effort so trying again this year.

I'm finding keeping a diary of what I'm eating/exercising really helps, I can't see what exactly I've eaten that week and also what exercise I have done and its a great motivational tool.

I would suggest that you start walking, it really is a great form of exercise and it really does help you loose weight.

Seems to be alot of us girls on here trying to loose weight, maybe we could all start up a support group or something!!