Obesity Support Group

This community is dedicated to those of us struggling with obesity. Obesity is thought to be a significant risk factor in certain health conditions, leading to increased mortality. Find the support you need by sharing your story, asking questions, and learning from others on how they have coped.

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rebekah123 08/26/2017

08/28/2017

Dear Amazing people,

My name is Rebekah. I am 44. I weight 318 pounds and I want to lose 137 pounds to get to my weight goal of 180. I am here to offer and be supportive to others as well as asking for compassionate and empathetic, consistent support. I am an empath and a highly sensitive person myself. I am a writer but am poor and unemployed and looking to change my life.

I have fibromyalgia, insulin resistance and polycystic ovarian syndrome. I have struggled with my weight all of my life. I grew up as an adult child of an alcoholic with extreme emotional, physical and verbal abuse and other forms of neglect and abuse. I was made fun of in school as a fat kid and got bullied and even beaten up by BOYS just for being a smart kid who was overweight. It was a horrible time and then to have to come home to hell. Then, I starved myself and lost weight in 8th grade and I went down to 85 pds. I normalized to 120 pds in high school and stayed that way until my senior year of college. I was an athlete...a swimming and a cyclist...I graduated college in 1996. I am a survivor of domestic violence in which the guy tried to kill me and I survived. That was in 1998. Around that time when i got away from him, I weight about 170. I started gaining weight and eating from stress. By the time I met my husband in 1999, I was 220. In 2003, I found out I had Insulin Resistance. I then lost 110 pds on Weight Watchers and I was a great success, but when I started struggling on the program and gaining it back, the people in the town started shaming me about it. That was in New Hampshire. I am in Washington state now...and in a bigger city and better place. However, my doctor is unsupportive and a fat shamer and I do not want to get bariatric surgery as I have fibromyalgia and other health issues. I want to do it on my own. However, exercising is a deep struggle due to the chronic pain from my fibromyalgia. Because it is the "invisible illness" ...it is difficult for people to see and understand the excrutiating pain I can be in with it.

I commonly experience doctor lecturing me about my weight without helping me with the things i really need help with.

I am looking to change my entire life and I am a member of Weight Watchers, and I had success on the program as stated above, but now I am like the toucan fat person and I share and feel everyone stares with VERY LITTLE understanding of what it is like to be over 300 pounds.

I can eat fruits and vegetables, high protein and low carb and drink water ...but I struggle doing it b/c I struggle with consistency due to being unemployed and having sleep problems (have sleep apnea and a machine) and sometimes I only have one spoon out of ten and that is hard for others to understand as well.

I am reaching out to ask all of you for help and support. I am looking for ideas and support from other women about how to be successful on this journey.

Thank you for reading this in advance, and I cannot wait to hear from all of you.

Love and Peace, Rebekah

FlRetired 08/26/2017

Hi Rebekah: Thanks for sharing and I am sure that was tough for you. I have heard great things about weight watchers. I love to eat, so I cannot restrict any foods or I will binge. I especially like sweets. I try for 3 meals and 2 snacks each day. Sometimes it works and other times I go off the wagon. I do not like counting calories or journal. We must all find what works for us through trial and error. It is not easy, but when we find it try to be consistent, so that it will work.
Rebekah, you have done it in the past, so you will obtain your goals again. Patience will get us there. You can do it!

Dauphyn 08/30/2017

First I would say is ditch the doc - there are doctors out there that are more sympathetic - my doctor is fairly large herself, and when we get on the subject of weight, it's usually me that brings it up. Such a relief from the docs that just say lose weight and you could eliminate most of your problems (probably true, but it becomes "Peanuts adult speech" when I hear it all the time).

I wonder if you've tried intermittant fasting? Basically, you restrict WHEN you eat more than WHAT you eat. I restrict myself to eating between 11am and 7pm. It's suggested you stick with a low carb diet because your body will burn carbs before it burns fat (at least, that's the idea behind the plan). If nothing else, it forces you to restrict your daily intake because you're eating less through the day. It works well for me (when I follow the plan and don't binge on a whole bag of donuts while sitting in bed watching reruns - but that's my lack of willpower).

I hope your hubby is supportive - that's super important. It's really hard to be motivated and stay on track when your significant other does what they want independent of you.

I believe it's largely internal - if you can believe you can do it, you can. If you throw up your hands (like I do often) and say "that Big Mac, large fries, apple pie, with a side of 20 McNuggets should be good," then you many not. Darn, now I'm hungry...

I believe everyone has the strength to succeed - sometimes we have to dig deeper than others, but that determination is there, somewhere... you just have to find it.

localconfusion 08/30/2017

I am on a similar journey. I am 36 and curently weigh 326 lbs. I too have done weight watchers in the past. I have lost 6 lbs in the past month just by reducing carbs and focusing on portion control. I find that eggs are a good cheap protein. Lots of vegetables and fruits. I try to smaller meals thoughout the day. It helps keep me satisfied. My husband was recently diagnosed with type 2 diabeties which started us on this journey. He weighs over 300 lbs also. Doctors, friends, and family don't understand the battle it is to face having to lose this much weight. My knees hurt. I have circulation issues. I just take one day at a time. If I mess up I do my best to recover and do better the next meal. :) We can all do this.

JP17 09/16/2017

Okay first thing I wanna say: change your doctor. He well basically is an asshole. No one should have a doctor like that. And secondly you are an amazingly strong woman. I really admire that in you. I am a lot younger than you but I too need support and make myself happy by getting fit.. Message me if you want to do it together please

KCrossman318 09/16/2017

Hi Rebekah. I am in NH too and people here are CRUEL towards those who are overweight. I have been dealing with PCOS and insulin resistance as well. I tried Weight Watchers but it became too pricey for me. I tried the Keto diet but it was so restrictive and I was very unhappy. I agree with the others here, get a better doc! I had one that would say, "It's because you are fat" no matter what it was that ailed me. Heartburn? "Because you're fat." Sleeplessness? "Because you're fat." Blocked ears? "Because you're fat." I got rid of her and never looked back and the doctor I have now is incredible. Granted now that I am on antidepressants I have been gaining and am at the highest weight I have ever been. You have been successful before, you can do it again! I have faith in you!

Iwishtochange03 10/30/2017

Hello Rebekah, I am Kailey and I am from Alberta,Canada. I suffer also from Polycystic Ovarian System since I was 11 years old (12 years old I got diagnosed.) I understand your pain, when it comes to that, as well as being overweight. Even though I am only 262 pounds at the moment, I can still sympathize. Also even though I am younger, I wanted to let you know that I support you! I also have something you could try to monitor your diet. I downloaded this app recently called: Bitesnap. It counts and adds calories as to what you ate, and it also tells you your current BMI, the percentage of carbs you have ate, as well as fat, and protein! Also how you use it is simple! All you have to do is take a picture of what you are about to eat, and it will predetermine what you are eating, and how many calories it is! However you do have to punch in how many slices of bread for example you are eating. Or if you did not have time, and you already ate your snack, you can search up your item, or create your item and add the calories! I have been using it for two days now, and it really has been an eye opener. I hope this helps! Also keep strong and carry on!

KarenDrKellysOffice 01/26/2018

Hello Rebekah, it´s great to read you do your best effort to change your condition. However you have options, believe me some bariatric surgeries can help you with fibromyalgia, insulin resistance and polycystic ovarian syndrome. You can change your life and we can help you, give you the chance of being part of the patients they already can share a success story.

Visit us www.drramoskelly.com
Call us 619-600-5586

Greetings from Dr Kelly´s Staff

Driabdelkhalek 02/23/2018

I am a doctor for weight loss surgeries and i can help you achieving your ideal body weight within a year
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