Enough is enough, need to do something!

[Noo_Noo]

Hey, it's Noo_Noo from the UK here.

Decided that I was sick and tired of being overweight, and not being able to walk short distances without getting tired, sweaty and generally irritable.

So, a little about me:

I'm female, 23 years old,

Height is 1.57m and I weigh (at least I did this morning) bang on 110kg, giving me a BMI of well over 40. Erp .

Used to be pretty fit and active as a youngster, was in some pretty serious sports teams at school but that changed when I became an adult. Firstly, it started with discovering partying and earning my own money, which meant I could eat what I wanted. Then, went to university. Became pretty dependent on alcohol, gained lots more weight (and went from a size 14 to a 24 in 4 years), nearly crashed out of my studies, it was without doubt some of the most depressing times of my life.

Now that I'm a graduate with a job I feel its time to put it behind me. Ultimately, I know I won't be a skinny model (my hip bones are pretty large) but I want to be able to do 'normal' things again, y'know? Things like being able to sit in a camping chair without checking the weight limit first. Things like buying my clothes off a peg in the shop. Things like being able to have sex with my partner without popping the slats on the bed out .

So, what am I doing?

Firstly, I've cut the crap out of my diet, especially at work. No more sandwiches, crisps and fizzy sugary drinks, it's all about fruit and crackerbread, and Slim-fast meals. At home, portion sizes have been cut (my partner understands, but he loves to cook, bless 'im). I've also restricted my drinking of alcohol a hell of a lot, I was crawling up the walls for the first few weeks but I feel a lot better now, especially in the mornings. It's now strictly a weekend thing, and even then its clear spirits and diet mixers only.

I don't know what y'all opinions are on cardio machines, but I picked myself up a cheap eliptical cross trainer a fortnight ago and 20mins a day on it leaves me absolutely cream crackered. I've also got some free weights on order, any workouts you can recommend with them would be much appreciated.

So, er, thanks for reading. I'd post some more progress but I've only been going for a fortnight, as I say.

Thanks for having me here

[Ocelot]

Hey Noo Noo! I was just waiting for your post to read "I'm a cleaner and my clients always leave their food around. What am I meant to do, just throw it away? No one told me Tubby Custard was so calorific...!"

Back to the real world, welcome to the nerdery, you'll find lots of interesting discussions and linkage around here to help you out.

I recommend trying bodyweight workouts as they seems to be what work for me, as well as eating loads of protein and fresh fruit and veg. Consider counting calories, I know it sucks but it's the only constant to losing weight it seems - calories in vs calories out! There are tactics to cut calories without having to count of course, like eating clean/paleo. So really, just do what's good for you.

Congrats on maintaining momentum for two weeks, that's a pretty big streak and shows you have the staying power to keep it going- no matter how many times you fall down you just got to keep getting up! That's what I tell myself anyway. best of luck with everything and come to me if you want to hear or impart ramble - I'm not the most successful or sorted person out there but I am widely read (been getting stronger/leaner since 2010!) and am always happy to chew over any fitness-related topics you are interested in =D

[Noo_Noo]

I recommend trying bodyweight workouts as they seems to be what work for me, as well as eating loads of protein and fresh fruit and veg.

When you say 'bodyweight workouts', what exactly do you mean?

As for calorie counting, I'm registered on Fitday and been using it the past couple of days, it's a bit of an eye opener. No more pizza for me by the looks of things, oh well

[Ghost]

Bodyweight workouts require no equipment whatsoever. Well, maybe a bar for pullups, anything to hang from really.

So things like pushups, pullups. You may want to check the Assassins Den for more information on those.

I use them all the time. Great for anything really.

Fast, effective, and cheap/free.

And some people say you can't get strong with bodyweight workouts, I say try one arm pushups!

And they are great for losing fat, I've had heaps of success with them.

Oh, and welcome to the Rebellion!

[Nuala]

Welcome!

Don't worry about pizza, it's vastly overrated

I will +1 what ghost said and presents you the most popular bodyweight workout over here:

The angry bird workout is quite popular, I have not tried it yet though but it looks fun (minus the jumping jack, I hate them for good reasons)

The beginner bodyweight workout: I started with this one, it's really effective

You could also check the different guild to see if one suits your taste, having guild-mates with the same goal or approaching will definitely help you during your journey

[Porkins77]

Noo noo,

Welcome! I'm also a noob but I've lurked here awhile. There's no better place for support and advice.

By the way, cocktails and pizza...I'm with you, it's going to be hard to limit them.

Congratulations on your successes thus far!

[Noo_Noo]

One thing I need to ask - do hormonal contraceptives affect the body's ability to lose/gain weight, or is that a load of bull? I've heard differing opinions on the subject, and obviously have far more likely things to blame my weight gain on, but I'd like to rule out anything that's going to make this task harder than it already is!

[Blaidd]

Hi Noo Noo,

Welcome. I feel your pain 100% (128kgs and dropping - started at 138kg). I know the drag to get exercising and changing diets and stuff. Steve gave a really good piece of advice in a few of his blogs - start changing one thing at a time. You're going to smash it!!

Maybe join the adventurer's guild and consider signing up for the 6 week challenge? It's only in the second week so it's definitely not too late. Good luck. Chat to us if you need anything at all - motivation, support, guidance etc etc.

PS. Google is your friend - research research! Hugs

[Ocelot]

Yeah, those two links are perfect for what I meant - also look up planks and wall sits, I've found them useful/gentle/easy to measure improvement! They're isometric so you want to be doing other things too (pushups, squats, etc)

Re: the drugs...

Maybe they do and maybe they don't - I have no idea!

However, if they do have an effect, it's bound to be quite small and possible to overcome with good diet and working out. There is no way a drug can force you to hold onto fat if you're in a caloric deficit. Weight doesn't tend to fall off at a steady rate - I generally have to keep a good eating/exercising streak for a few weeks (all the time, of course, thinking 'this isn't working why isn't it working aaaargh') until all of a sudden wham I'm 2-3 lbs down and overnight I seem to look different in the mirror. (But I'm only eating a small deficit as I don't have that much to lose, its definitely possible to lose more immediately- everyone is different!) I seem to remember that this effect is known as 'the whoosh effect' but I can't remember if there's a good reason for it. It's frustrating though - I'm pretty much stuck on whoosh mode, I never lose just a little bit at a time - my body clings to it for some reason!

Anyway, I'll stop babbling. Good luck!