Hey Y'all - Seeking Friends and Guidance

[serevelle]

Hey Nerd Rebels!

 

Elyse here; I joined this lovely site about 3 months ago and I have been a complete dunce about using it. Aka, I haven't used the plethora of resources and support network that NF is more than willing to offer. I have all sorts of excuses why not: work, sleep problems, weight roller-coaster, and mainly medication that doesn't work. But, I know and y'all will likely agree that excuses are just another way we put ourselves back to level one or worse.

 

I'm starting NF this time with hesitation but a great amount of hope. I have an irl NF friend who I'm hoping will help me stay on target with my logging in and posting. I also reach out to any of you wonderful strangers who wouldn't mind taking a complete rookie under their wing; I'm nice I promise!

 

That all being said, I suppose this is where I list the problems and goals I'm facing. I am a 25 year old old, part time restaurant employee who has a huge problem with emotional eating, a deplorable exercise regiment (read: none), and an a major addiction to spending money on frivolous things such as fast food and Magic: The Gathering cards. My height and weight are severely non-proportional; I'm 5'7" and at last look pushing 340 lbs. Yeah, it's bad. 

 

I am currently on Weight Watchers, and have been for about a year now. That being said, I've not done much of anything to help myself follow the regiment that WW subscribes to and I've gained because of it. I'm currently at my heaviest weight ever and my parents and I are looking now at the idea of bariatric surgery to try and curb what we are afraid is coming down the pipes: diabetes, high cholesterol, and arthritis. High blood pressure, cholesterol problems and cancer all run in my family so I'm scared out of my skin that I'm making it all the more easy for these things to catch up to me. 

 

So, with all of this stacked against me, why am I choosing now to get started and why didn't I start earlier?

 

There are a good amount of reasons for the latter question, and by reasons I mean excuses, but honestly I'm not going to bother with those now. What I am going to say is I feel that I'm finally in a good position to change things in my life. I've recently added a small dose of medication to my regiment that has helped me look at things more optimistically, consistently. I am in a good place with friends and family emotionally, and feel that I can turn to them in the coming months for help when I will need it with this journey. I also am about to move to a new store with my job and am looking forward to hopefully more hours and a more regimented schedule of when I am working. This amount of structure that I'm currently facing or about to be launched into makes me incredibly hopeful about the future of my physical health. 

 

I hope that I will be able to do my part in the coming time to do what it takes to make those tough decisions about my health and my weight, and to strive to do better each day. I look to you, the Nerd Fitness Rebels, to help me on my journey. 

 

Thank you all for taking the time to read this, and I am looking forward to leveling up with all of you!

 

Elyse

[Elastigirl]

You are here now and ready to make changes, that is what is important.

[Br0din]

 

[...]

 

There are a good amount of reasons for the latter question, and by reasons I mean excuses, but honestly I'm not going to bother with those now. 

 

[...]

 

These are the decisions you make to make yourself better.

 

Welcome and may your journey take you to a better place.

[Captain Badass]

Hey! You've come to the right place!

 

Did you know that moderate exercise has way more of an (positive) effect on your overall health than your weight? Obviously if you're morbidly obese you're putting strain on your internal organs, but if you're horribly underweight you're doing the same thing. 150 mins per week of walking has been scientifically proven to reduce the risk of cancer, diabetes and heart disease by up to 50%. I've just completed a course on sports science, so I have the peer-reviewed studies to back it up, if you'd like to see them. It's a shame our society focuses on obesity and not much on the value of exercising. I'm aware I sound like a used-car salesman so I'll quit this line of replying...

Essentially you've got to find things you like doing. For me it was doing lots of different exercises until I found the ones I loved. I haven't removed any foods I enjoy from my diet, but I count calories and they have to fit with my calorie goal for that day. When I exercise I can eat more.

 

If you haven't found me too patronising please feel free to add me as a friend and ask me anything you think I may be able to help with. I'm so glad to hear you've got support IRL. So many of us on this journey haven't!

[Noname123]

Yep, echoing Captain here  

 

Additionally, the biggest part of weightloss isn't exercise- that's a good healthy habit to pick up, however your weight is not dependent on it. 

 

What's making you fall off Weight Watchers? What do you like about it? What don't you like about it? Once you figure out the worst issue that has you falling off the wagon you can adjust your behaviors so you stick with it or find a method that's easier for you to maintain while gaining results. You totally got this