Newbie nerd ready to step up and start working towards a better me :)

[Sallybee]

Hey everyone, I'm Sally - though people tend to call me Sallybee or simply Bee, I don't mind really.

I've been struggling with my weight for years, making the same old excuses about why I was so overweight (it's in my genes! all my family are like this! etc.), all in all just a form of weight loss procrastination really. Although I was bullied at school for being overweight, it never prompted a change in me because other than the odd jibe from someone, I was able to live my life pretty much the same as everyone else, being overweight never felt like a large detriment to my life.

The first big change in my outlook came in April 2009, when my grandfather died unexpectedly following an operation to remove a tumour from his liver. He had suffered from diabetes as well as being overweight - two factors that my grandmother considers to be contributing factors to his death. There came a point where she sat me down and begged me, in tears, not to end up in the same place as him.

From then on I've made half-arsed attempts at losing weight, mainly involving starvation and doing the odd dodgy 80s workout video. I'd lose a stone maybe in a month or so, only to put it back on the next month when inevitably my starvation tactics led me into the arms of high-sugar, high-fat junk foods. This summer, I reached my all-time highest weight: 258 pounds.

When I started university in September I tried to embrace all the changes that came with it (the independence, living away from home, the increased workload), and so far that's going rather well. I'm ready to add losing weight (properly and in a healthy way) and getting fitter to that list of changes and wholeheartedly embrace that as well.

I apologise for the essay, but sharing my reasons for wanting to do this makes me feel even more determined to push to reach my goals

[ETFnerd]

Hi Sally, I was bullied too and was diagnosed with diabetes last year. I dropped from 255lbs to 160 in 2011. With a good plan and motivation, you can do it, and maybe if you do it, your family will know that they can do it too. I'd like you to read the threads of someone who is close to your situation and has a great attitude like you seem to have. Maybe you can support each other.

http://nerdfitness.com/community/showthread.php?6510-Oh-dear-lord-what-have-I-done-!&highlight=sacculina

http://nerdfitness.com/community/showthread.php?6552-Sacculina-s-Antithesis-of-Fail-log&highlight=sacculina

Good luck in your journey and I am sure that if you chase your happiness without giving up, you will reach goals beyond what you could have imagined. Welcome.

[ironplasma79]

Working against genetics can be like swimming upstream, but it is possible. Conditions like diabetes come from both nature and nurture, and the fact that you are working to make a change will go a long way toward preventing the condition from arising. Good luck.

[jessie75]

Sally,

welcome!

Much like you I am determined to avoid the 'family curse' though I start off really good, then loose it all when something throws a wrench in the works. I'm trying something completely new this year (a contest with my BF and his family) and am hoping that it will help get me past the wrenches.

I hope you enjoy NF and I look forward to seeing you around the forums Let me know if you need a buddy

[Sallybee]

Thanks for the links ETFnerd, I will definitely be checking those out.

Ta for the lovely welcome everyone, this community seems so lovely and full of motivation, can't wait to get involved in it all!

[ebm1224]

welcome to the community!

[aj_rock]

Hey, don't worry about the genes! Assuming you do have bad genes, people have worked through them before! I would say though, for your family it may well be more a product of lifestyle than anything else!

Welcome to the rebellion