Diets & Weight Maintenance Support Group
Chat about how well your latest diet is -- or is not -- working. This group is a great place to find support and accountability as well as share success stories and valuable lessons with the community. From where to start to weekly weigh-ins, get help from others to reach your dieting and weight maintenance goals.
When I was a kid, I had a weight problem. I gained weight rather easily and my parents did nothing to stop the bad habits of eating the wrong foods, eating at wrong times and not exercising.
By the time I was 14, I was 5'8", 180 lbs (mostly fat).
By the end of my high school career, I managed to break those walls down and dropped 30 lbs and became really fit. I was at the peak physical state of my life at 18 - 5'11", 150 lbs!
When I turned 18, my best friend died. I became so depressed that I stopped exercising, started eating poorly again and fell off the bandwagon. It was not that bad, though. I only put on 15 lbs and was still pretty fit.
When I turned 21, I started college, got my first real job, moved out of my stepdad's apartment... responsibility hit me like a ton of bricks. I became so stressed that I stopped hitting the gym, started eating poorly, and started drinking alcohol and smoking.
The smoking thing did not last long - I was done with that after about 6 months. However, the alcoholic decline steadily got worse over the past few years.
Now, I do not exercise, I eat very poorly, I drink every day... I am stuck in a rut and cannot get out. I do not have a support group and am not a self-motivator.
I have a diet and exercise plan drawn out, but cannot implement it on my own. What I would really need most is a support group, or a pen pal, even. Just someone to talk to when I feel like hopping off the bandwagon, someone to give me that extra shove to stick with it... anything, really.
By the time I was 14, I was 5'8", 180 lbs (mostly fat).
By the end of my high school career, I managed to break those walls down and dropped 30 lbs and became really fit. I was at the peak physical state of my life at 18 - 5'11", 150 lbs!
When I turned 18, my best friend died. I became so depressed that I stopped exercising, started eating poorly again and fell off the bandwagon. It was not that bad, though. I only put on 15 lbs and was still pretty fit.
When I turned 21, I started college, got my first real job, moved out of my stepdad's apartment... responsibility hit me like a ton of bricks. I became so stressed that I stopped hitting the gym, started eating poorly, and started drinking alcohol and smoking.
The smoking thing did not last long - I was done with that after about 6 months. However, the alcoholic decline steadily got worse over the past few years.
Now, I do not exercise, I eat very poorly, I drink every day... I am stuck in a rut and cannot get out. I do not have a support group and am not a self-motivator.
I have a diet and exercise plan drawn out, but cannot implement it on my own. What I would really need most is a support group, or a pen pal, even. Just someone to talk to when I feel like hopping off the bandwagon, someone to give me that extra shove to stick with it... anything, really.
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Usually I get a daily influx of emails on health topics. An article from Dr. Mercola really stood out recently though because it mentioned that fat cells have their own mitochondria. Not only was this the first I'd heard of this, he also mentioned that fat serves a purpose in our metabolism. Another new factoid for me. The bottom line for me was to appreciate that even our fat cells play a...
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I just do not feel well and I really think that it's because I cried yesterday on my way to work about my Aunt who is in the hospital. I don't think that we will have her much longer. She is very frail. Now she needs help eating. So, this is the third time in a year that I felt this way after crying. I think crying releases toxins into my body. I also worked up a sweat at the gym...
In regards to alcohol, check out the support group on here for support and people who can relate to you.
Take one step forward and don't look backward. We are here for you....
I understand too well the struggle of trying to do everything all at once that is my biggest fallback with any diet.
I have trouble doing just small tweaks at a time.
My eating habits right now consist of fast food, pre-packaged foods, soda, candy anything unhealthy you could name.
For small tweaks, do you think I should try to remove one of those categories, or go smaller and remove a few things from each category? What would you suggest? Any information will help. :)
Thanks for the warm welcome :)
I did join the Alcoholism support group on here and am hoping to get a LOT of support from them, as well as this group :)
I am going to try to gradually ease into a new diet and exercise regimen. The support I have gotten from Daily Strength thus far is more than enough to get me started on wanting to better myself :)
I'd like to throw out a tweak to get you started - quit the fast food first. For all other stuff, you can have it - but you must eat healthy food first. You can have the candy or the soda but you have to start with eating a dish of crunchy raw veggies or drinking a glass of water or herbal tea first.
You might find yourself surprised at how much the urge for "junk" lessens when you have nutritious food in your system. And even if you do decide to have a treat of the candy or soda you may well eat/drink a bit less because you have healthy food in you already.
I suggested quitting the fast food first. You'll need to buy food and prepare meals at home. As a result, you're a lot more likely to have the foods around that are good for you.
My advice would be to try to make this something you enjoy doing. Find the foods and exercises that you really like and you won't want to hop off the wagon.
If someone offered to make you a healthy homecooked simple meal right now, what would it be?
For the first couple of weeks, my advice is to eat whatever you want, but you have to eat JUST 3 meals a day, and 1 mid-afternoon snack. No eating in between meals, no eating after dinner.
Then, after a couple of weeks, your body has developed the good habit of not eating just for fun, but fuel to live. At this point, I believe you should start cutting out the sweets, sodas, pasta, potatoes and rice, but eat plenty of veggies, a couple of fruits a day, chicken, fish, or lean beef, eggs, 1% cottage cheese, etc.
Heck, we all know what we should be eating to be healthy and lose weight. For me, weight watchers really helped, but I didn't eat some of the foods they recommended because they we addictive for me. But the basic diet really is good.
Keep researching and reading and just DO IT! Lots of support here. We will try to help you.
Good Luck! You can do it. Willpower is so hard but once you start fighting those urges its empowering! When I started carb cycling it was hard but when I did a low carb day successfully I felt amazing and proud of myself.