Newbie

[Iky]

Hi guys. I totally found this site by accident and I loved the support and kindness people were giving each other. I was actually looking for another crash diet/lose weight fast scheme. And I'm really happy that I found this site because it put so many things in perspective for me. 

 

A little bit but about myself. I'm a 28 year old woman who has been battling with weight issues since after puberty. Currently I'm at my heaviest weight of 112kgs and only 5'6.  

 

I live with my family because I'm finishing up school and the problem with that is eating the foods that the family eats. basically our diet consists of carbs with an extra side of carbs. Mininmal fruit and veggies and lots of sugary drinks. 

 

And sadly the reason why I have finally decided to go about this diet the right way is because my kneecap is deteriorating. And my doctor told me if I don't lose the weight I'm gonna be at risk for osteoarthritis. I'm really scared and I'm angry at myself because my health is at risk. I can no longer do intense cardio exercises or squats. I can't believe I took my health for granted all of these years. 

 

My doctor recommended me to a dietician. And the dietician  told me to walk 30 mins a day around the neighborhood and reduce my daily carb intake. I started walking around the neighborhood for the first week and now that it's getting easier I've began to walk to work which is about a 45 mins walk. I also started drinking two liters of water a day because I feel thirsty all the time. And now I do my own cooking and grocery shopping even though money is really tight. I've bought a bunch of veggies and fruits. I've been making weekly batches of grilled meats and veggie dishes.(it's only week 2 now) So hoping this works out for me this time.

 

I always start off so good but then I fall off the wagon and don't get back on until it's too late. Literally. So gonna give this another go and really hoping for the better long term results this time. 

 

Wish me luck guys! Also can you guys give me tips on what else I should do to reduce my weight? I don't know if I'm doing enough. 

 

P.S. Sorry for the long ass post you guys. If you read this far your awesome! 

[Wobbegong]

Welcome to Nerd Fitness, Iky! 

 

I'm glad to hear you were swayed from the crash-diet approach. Definitely long-term sustainable change will be more helpful to you in the long run; there is no magic bullet, and as we say around here, you can't outrun your fork. 

 

Doing all your own grocery shopping is fantastic! But don't go overboard doing too much at once, especially if you're likely to get overwhelmed and give up. It sounds like you're going with the batch cooking approach, which I also favor (less cooking throughout the week = win). Some days I'm feeling ambitious and I make a couple of different soups and portion them out into 2-3 portion containers to store in the freezer. Then I can just grab any two a week to thaw in the fridge and have some easy, healthy lunches while still getting a bit of variety. It takes a bit longer upfront to make them all, but they last a long time. 

 

Regarding the expense, fresh veggies are often cheaper than frozen: you can buy fresh, chop them up yourself, and then toss them into freezer bags and keep them for when you need them. Your grocery store probably also has coupons. For meat especially, buy what's on sale! Raw meat also freezes really well so you can try to stock up on the discount cuts and just use what you need. 

 

The walking is great! Keep it up, but again, remember not to try to do too much, too soon. If you're able to sustain 45 minutes twice a day (are you walking back home from work, too?) that's awesome, but if that's going to become a barrier to your success, consider just walking to work once a week to start, and doing your 30 minute walk the other days. You are allowed to make your own rules, and it's always better to commit to something you can actually follow through on, because the success you experience will help you come back for more when you're ready. 

 

A final note: most people around here start off ambitiously and ends up having to scale back a bit. It's totally fine if that's you, too! Far more shame in holding yourself to unrealistic expectations that hamstring your progress than in honestly reviewing your goals and cutting back a bit to set yourself up for success. You got this! 

 

Let us know if you need anything! Use the tag system (@Wobbegong) or PM people to get their attention. 

[Sciread77]

Welcome!  I'm relatively new here, but I'm no newcomer to health and fitness, nor struggles with family dietary habits.  I was healthiest when I lived on my own and coached teenage wrestlers, when I could eliminate distractions and had lots of like-minded people in my life striving to eat healthily.  I got a bit out of control when my wife and I were both in grad school, working full time, with 2 kids.  

 

We're course correcting, but, my biggest struggle is family get-togethers.  The family will make each individuals favorite pie, so for 15 people we'll have 13 pies.  I love the autumn and winter, but the food availability makes staying healthy hard.   It's a particular issue for me because I have an autoimmune joint disease.  Things like having higher body fat or drinking virtually any alcohol exacerbate the heck out of it, even with the medications.  So I don't drink and I'm working on the body fat issue too.

 

A big part of why I started on here is to stay on track.  One thing that is really helpful to me: it's OK to not follow your prescribed eating patterns 100% of the time.  I've often fallen prey to the mindset that says, "Well, I ate a piece of pie that's forbidden so I might as well have eight more" or "That was a huge feast yesterday, I guess I'll eat chips all day."  That mindset has torpedoed my efforts for years, and my slightly obsessive mindset causes me to make mountains out of mole hills.  For example, this weekend, after my nephew's dedication, I ate: a helping of lasagna, a helping of mostaccioli, a helping of ravioli, a helping of tortellini, a helping of vegetarian ravioli, 9 meatballs, a piece of cheesecake, a piece of ice cream cake, and 1/4 tray of brownies.  I was feeling pretty defeated afterwards.  But yesterday I stuck with my normal consumption and activity, like I have the several other times this has happened over the last seven or so weeks, and it's been working. I'll take the slow, more consistent progress over the yo-yo of the last 4 or so years.

 

That's no small thanks the support of my wife and the people on here.  I've already posted several times in the Respawn thread, and that in and of itself is an excellent practice!

So welcome.  The Force will be with you.

[Roamer]

Welcome aboard! Glad you joined! I'm all about motivation and keeping after goals so if you feel you need a little push to keep you doing I'm happy to be that person!

 

Now to answer the question you asked about weight loss - let me be frank and say the only thing I can do is give personal advice that has worked for me. I'm NOT a physician (Be grateful too because a lot of physicians are negative Nancies). I've always been told that incorporating some strength training is crucial to weight loss - try lifting some weights, doing some squats, etc. Cardio is great but it can only go so far if you keep your intensity low. Basically use your muscles more because they will help burn the energy your body has stored up. You seem like you have the dieting part down so that's the best two cents I can give you without burdening you with information overload.

 

There is one more thing I'd like to throw out their too: DON'T GIVE UP. If you forget everything, don't forget that. Think about what you want and work hard to get it. That's my philosophy with exercise and life and it's worked out pretty well so far! Hope you have fun on the forums and if you ever need to talk about ANYTHING at all feel free to shoot me a PM!

[Sciread77]

2 minutes ago, Roamer said:

Now to answer the question you asked about weight loss - let me be frank and say the only thing I can do is give personal advice that has worked for me. I'm NOT a physician (Be grateful too because a lot of physicians are negative Nancies). I've always been told that incorporating some strength training is crucial to weight loss - try lifting some weights, doing some squats, etc. Cardio is great but it can only go so far if you keep your intensity low.

 

There's good news here, too.  Smaller and less intense resistance training can be beneficial.  It sounds like your joints aren't ready for anything big like the strength training a lot of people talk about.  There's usually something that you can do, and many doctors will give you a list of recommended exercises or refer you to a physical therapist for help with strengthening and stabilizing joints.  In any case, make slow changes and give your body and joints time to adapt.  I, myself, am often guilty of doing too much too fast and getting injured.  That doesn't do anything good for your long-term progress!

7 minutes ago, Roamer said:

There is one more thing I'd like to throw out their too: DON'T GIVE UP. If you forget everything, don't forget that. Think about what you want and work hard to get it. That's my philosophy with exercise and life and it's worked out pretty well so far! Hope you have fun on the forums and if you ever need to talk about ANYTHING at all feel free to shoot me a PM!

^^ This, 100%. 

[Iky]

@Wobbegong thank you for the advice on the groceries. And freezing batches of soup sound like a wonderful idea to spice things up. I only walk to work in the mornings and I take public transport in the evenings. For now im gonna focus on building my stamina. And on days where I feel too exhausted to do that walk I'll stick to the 30mins around the neighborhood. I'm actively avoiding doing too much at one go. 

 

@Sciread77 I'm sorry to hear about your autoimmune joint disease. That can't be easy but it's good to know that your doing something about it. 

I am the same exact way when it comes to food. It's like an all or nothing mentality. "I ate junk food twice today so I might as well just continue eating junk for the rest of the day." "What's the point of eating healthy now?" Like thats how I was always programmed. And now I'm trying to get out of that mental space because it's the one thing that always sets me back. So thanks for reminding me that sometimes we eat things we crave but that doesn't meant it's the end of the world. You can make better choices for the next meal.  

 

 

@Roamer thanks for the workout tips. Sadly my knee joint is not in the best shape for squats at the moment but I'm gonna implement weight lifting at least for my upper body once I start getting the hang of everything else. And I think that because I'm in pain just climbing up a bit of stairs I have this determination to just shed this weight.So giving up is not in the books for me. But If I ever feel like I'm slipping at least I know there's awesome people I can talk to. 

 

And guys today I walked over 15,000 steps and 10 kilometers. I was the girl who had entire days where I didn't even reach 50 steps. Also my food was on point even when my friends were eating fries and other addictive foods in front of me I stayed strong. Super excited for this journey and hope I have many days like this where I feel a sense of accomplishment and I can sleep happy. 

 

 

 

[zeroh13]

Hi Iky, welcome! You're off to a great start!

 

I think one of the hardest things when you're trying to be healthy and living with people who aren't, is saying no to all the unhealthy food that gets brought into the house. It's especially hard if you eat meals together. Like, if my wife buys cookies I'll look at the bag and think, one or two won't hurt, except it never ends at just one or two! Buying and cooking your own food will definitely take you far.

 

With falling off the bandwagon, I've found that the four week challenges help get me back on my feet when I'm struggling. (You can learn more about the challenges here: https://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/help.html/4-week-challenges/challenge-instructions-and-faq/)

 

Best of luck!

[Tialoredron]

Welcome to the Rebellion Iky!

 

Doubling up on Zeroh's post, I'd recommend setting up a 4-week challenge thread as well. As Wobbegong pointed out, its best to make small amounts of changes and I have had some successes; the great part is that you can always respawn and begin anew as you need to after giving consideration to why a success didn't happen (my challenge thread below is filled with a plethora of examples where I fail in some/all of my goals throughout the week, but each morning I start again from square one and attempt to do better than yesterday or maintain what I have accomplished).

 

You've got a great path forward and already doing great things! Let us know how we can help out and of course the best of luck on your journey!

[Iky]

@zeroh13 @Tialoredron thanks for the tips guys. I really appreciate it. I'll definitely look into the 4 week challenges. Good luck everyone !!

[Machete]

On 8/21/2017 at 8:54 AM, Iky said:

Hi guys. I totally found this site by accident and I loved the support and kindness people were giving each other. I was actually looking for another crash diet/lose weight fast scheme. And I'm really happy that I found this site because it put so many things in perspective for me. 

 

A little bit but about myself. I'm a 28 year old woman who has been battling with weight issues since after puberty. Currently I'm at my heaviest weight of 112kgs and only 5'6.  

 

I live with my family because I'm finishing up school and the problem with that is eating the foods that the family eats. basically our diet consists of carbs with an extra side of carbs. Mininmal fruit and veggies and lots of sugary drinks. 

 

And sadly the reason why I have finally decided to go about this diet the right way is because my kneecap is deteriorating. And my doctor told me if I don't lose the weight I'm gonna be at risk for osteoarthritis. I'm really scared and I'm angry at myself because my health is at risk. I can no longer do intense cardio exercises or squats. I can't believe I took my health for granted all of these years. 

 

My doctor recommended me to a dietician. And the dietician  told me to walk 30 mins a day around the neighborhood and reduce my daily carb intake. I started walking around the neighborhood for the first week and now that it's getting easier I've began to walk to work which is about a 45 mins walk. I also started drinking two liters of water a day because I feel thirsty all the time. And now I do my own cooking and grocery shopping even though money is really tight. I've bought a bunch of veggies and fruits. I've been making weekly batches of grilled meats and veggie dishes.(it's only week 2 now) So hoping this works out for me this time.

 

I always start off so good but then I fall off the wagon and don't get back on until it's too late. Literally. So gonna give this another go and really hoping for the better long term results this time. 

 

Wish me luck guys! Also can you guys give me tips on what else I should do to reduce my weight? I don't know if I'm doing enough. 

 

P.S. Sorry for the long ass post you guys. If you read this far your awesome! 

 

> 45 minutes of walking a day

> grilled meats and veggies

> drinking water

 

You're doing enough. Don't get caught-up with trying to add more. It doesn't have to be fancy for it to work. Just remember that the faster you lose the weight, the faster it can come back. A fundamental misunderstanding of this is probably why 90+% of people who lose weight gain it all back. Actually I think if you commit to doing these three things for the rest of the year you'll probably be better off than most of us. Good luck.