The war against weight gain

[meepitsmeagan]

I struggle with my weight as well. I'm built like a tank, so when I gain weight, it looks like I've gained 5 pounds to every 1.

So, I try and walk the dogs more. When they play, I run around a little with them. I vary my workouts. I try to do yoga at least 4 times a week. I do zumba ab workouts a few times a week. I dabble a little in bellydancing. I go for a hike. I go for a swim. I've found I hate running, and I hate anything that involves repetitive things or normal person exercise equipment.

When I still owned a horse, that helped a lot because of chores and riding consistently and such. When I move back to MI, I plan to volunteer at a barn or something for feeding, helping in the summer with getting hay, mucking stalls, and maybe even exercising horses. Maybe you could do something like this with something you enjoy? Like, volunteer at a local shelter walking dogs or cleaning kennels or something?

I've been trying to improve my eating too. It is definitely a slow change. I, like Linds, have found that Pinterest helps a ton because it has a lot of healthy food alternatives to what would normally be unhealthy. Like cauliflower pizza.

I still admit to having a MAJOR Pepsi addiction. Have to have 1 can a day... It's bad. I have major erosion in my teeth along with cavities.

 

[Brattina88]

I agree with so many of these posts. Check your bloodwork for sure, turns out I had low iron (helloooo no energy) and hypoglycemia, working with that has helped me a lot.

For me, I couldn't have lost as much as I have without my friend. We started this diet and exercise thing together, we encourage and challenge eachother. Together we can fight back against the "sabatogers" (Heyy try this brownie it's delish one won't hurt you ) much easier lol and we switch it up, keep the food AND the exersize fun and interesting. if you can find a buddy, I definitely highly recommend it

 

[sillysally]

I'm right there with you, except that I'm pretty sure I'm actually considered "morbidly obese." I was kind of luke warm on trying to lose weight again until I got on the scale and was horrified to see the number 294! O_O THAT motivated me!

I'm doing Weight Watchers. Personally, I need guidelines of some sort to follow. I've heard a lot of good things about SparkPeople, and it's free. I tried it for a little while but WW is just much easier for me. In the last 2 weeks I've lost 14.6 lbs. I sprained my ankle a couple of days ago though so am not going to be able to exercise for a while, so that's a real bummer.

Another major motivator is that I'm 31 years old, so it's getting close to "sh!t or get off the pot" time as far as having kids, and my doctor wants me to lose weight before getting pregnant. At this point looking better is just a happy side effect, if I don't take care of this I fear I will die young. One thing that I'm doing differently this time around is attacking the mental aspect of my eating habits. I'm a compulsive over eater--I binge in response to stress, emotions, and boredom, and when I binge I eat a LOT in one sitting. I have been discussing these issues with my therapist, and it honestly has helped.

Buy a pedometer and wear it daily to see how much you are actually walking in a day. Also,something that has helped me is making a list of things I cannot do because of my weight, for example: horseback ride, fit on most roller coasters (I love roller coasters), get up off the floor with considerable effort, etc. When I have wanted to stop at Wendy's or Arbys (my downfalls) I have made it a point of thinking of those things and it tends to steer me away.

If you need motivation or just to talk drop me a PM anytime. Just know you are not alone!

 

[Moth]

I have struggled with weight all my life. I have lost before and then eventually I usually gain it all back. The longest I kept weight off was for 2 years...

Right now I am struggling with myself to get the motivation to work on loosing and exercising more again *sigh*

I am short and stubby...

 

[PWCorgi]

You should all join MFP and be my friends Cause racecar. And cause friendly motivation!

 

[Renee750il]

I struggle with my weight as well. I'm built like a tank, so when I gain weight, it looks like I've gained 5 pounds to every 1.

I'm on the opposite end of it. Tall, slender frame, and I can hide 20 pounds easily . . . so by the time it really gets to me I feel like I've got a mountain to move.

And it takes FOREVER to tell any real difference when I do dump the weight. (I refuse to use the term "lose" because what happens when you lose something . . . you go FIND IT AGAIN :wall: )

 

[puppydog]

It has to come from a drastic change of mindset really.

I have had it. I joined a gym and had a personal trainer set a program for me. It has made a huge difference! When I went to gym before I just never pushed myself enough and I didn't do the correct exercises. Now with a professionally mapped system I can't believe the difference. I never leave the gym dry. I am literally drenched the whole time. It feels great.

Once you up activity you don't want to eat cr@p. Your body just doesn't want it.

 

[Fran27]

It's true, I joined the gym 5 years ago and was going every day and I was pretty motivated, until Winter and my nose acted up and was stuffed 24/7. Then I stopped going because it sucked, and that was it.

I guess my main issue is that I was starving after one hour on a treadmill, so I had to eat something. I'm not sure it really helped in the end (I do have some issues though, often when I'm hungry I'm just feeling plain sick until I eat something, and some days nothing satisfies me and I have to eat a lot to feel better).

It doesn't help that I went through a diet that worked great, but as soon as I stopped (started working and couldn't follow it anymore), I gained everything back and some. I know I'll need to be ready to make the change forever when I start doing it again. And right now it's just not it (some days just suck and I don't know what I'd do without my comfort food). I guess it helps if you're a good cook and know how to make yummy stuff from healthy foods though... not my case...

 

[mrose_s]

Find your triggers. Mine is obvisouly stress, I have been eating quite well up until the last couple of weeks when I have started stressing about school and money and atm I seriously can't get junk food into my mouth fast enough. I'm having trouble forcing myself to face it but I have a few go-to things.

I look into the reasons why I want to eat clean and mostly vegan. I go through my factory farming videos and make myself face it again.
Watch the DVD "Food Matters", its great for making you relise the importance of the nutrients you put in your body.
I feel a thousand times better after just a day or two of eating clean and that helps motivate me.
Write down what you eat - face up to it. Often when I start doing this I'll want to eat junk and think "Guess I won't write that in", knowing you have to make yourself accountable helps.
I go to Personal Training twice a week now. And good god it has made a difference in my body shape, I havn't lost any wright but I have lost size everywhere and tightended up a lot in just two months.

Really learn about what your body needs, it will keep you healthier in the long run and it is fun to eat clean when your doing it. I know that I eat for emotional reasons big time, I know how to make healthy food treats but when I'm stressed I really want junky junk food.

I'n trying to work through this at the moment, I am probably only about 5kg overweight but I have been bigger in the past and I am really conscious of it. Message me if you wanna talk, support is a big thing.

Motivation comes and goes, in the end you just have to DO IT!
If you wanna be one of those people that goes for a run everyday, then all you have to do is go for a run everday. If you want to be one of those people that eat healthy food, all you have to do is physically do it.
See, simple... but not easy.

 

[Jules]

((((HUGS))))

I know exactly where you are coming from. I always had to work hard to maintain a healthy weight... And then they crept up on me over the last few years. Our last move to Indy was stressful, I was unemployed, home alone, sad and definitely ate out of boredom and for comfort. And then one day I stepped on the scale and almost fell over. I had gained another 4G lbs on top of the weight where I felt okay, but was trying to shed another 25lbs.

And it just kind of clicked. Don't get me wrong it's still hard... And I hit a plateau in the middle where I just idled for a few months. But I made working out a routine, and now, as stupid as it sounds, I miss it when I don't go. I don't mean to sound too much like a motivational speaker, but in the end YOU have to simply WANT it. WANT it bad enough to say no to Papa John's and doughnuts. It's hard... Every day we have cake and whatnot in the break room at work, it takes will power to walk past it (doesn't mean that I never snack or go eat out, but I chose wisely and definitely make it a treat).

It helps to tell people no because you're trying to shed pounds. Most people will try to help or are understanding instead of trying to manipulate you into eating pizza with them. Sharing on myfitnesspal. Three coworkers of mine and me all weigh in on Fridays and we share what we lost or gained or if we stayed the same (we don't share the actual weight). Is there a group you can join?

Also, for me after a while, people notice and comment on weight loss, it's becoming more fun again to shop for clothes... And you'll get the satisfaction well from within yourself.

I also cut out a lot of carbs, and try to loosely follow the paleo diet, and it seems to leave me less hungry. I'm not a huge red meat eater all the time, but I try to keep my carbs down and protein up. If I do go out and eat a sandwich, I take the top off and eat it as an open-face sandwich, for example. Lol, every bit helps.

But I know exactly where you are coming from. It is not easy and difficult to break through that cycle.

 

[oakash]

WATER!

Its extremely important. Yeah, you're gonna be peeing what seems like every ten minutes, but 8 cups of water a day at the minimum. Bring a bottle with you and drink it, fill it up, and repeat. Also, do the little things. Park far away, take the stairs, carry your groceries in a handheld thing, if you're picking something up that has some weight to it, pick it up 5-10 times (Correct form )

Don't eat as many carbs, to help you, give the really unhealthy stuff away, so you can't eat it even if you want it. Plan your meals the day before, and pack healthy lunches and snacks, (Carrot sticks, celery, broccoli, broiled eggs etc ) Eat whole grains. It's actually not that bad.

Get on tumblr and follow the bloggers who are also losing weight the healthy way, they're called fitblrs They post inspirational stuff, yummy healthy food, workouts and stuff.

 

[Laurelin]

I just bought a human raw food 'cookbook' simply because I HATE cooking so hopefully this will give me an idea of ways to eat things and more variety without actually cooking.

It's hard because I don't eat terribly so when people say 'just cut the pizza' or something it means nothing to me to start with. I know mine is mostly activity level and I'm upping that slowly. But I've been running a couple months and seeing no results. Dietician and no results. Medicines have been helping with my menstrual cycle (I actually have one now), vitamins with energy and skin. But the weight is staying put and it's frustrating. I've been bouncing between the same 6 lbs for months now. Dietician said I need to add in more weight training. And my work has free trainers that will set up a workout for me so I'm going to try to do that... I'm terrified of going.

I have myfitness pal and it's okay but I hate counting calories of things I make and aren't already on there. Plus myfitnesspal and then my RMR test put me at two very different calorie intakes.

Anyways, I just hate when people say 'its simple' because it's really not for everyone.

 

[Kat09Tails]

For me it is about activity level - when I'm more active - not working a desk job I shed pounds. That said - I've never been a thin person and I have come to terms with that. I am not a thin person and I don't want to live the life it'd take for me to be a thin person - to me - it's just not that important verses enjoying the things in life that matter to me.

The best thing I've ever done in my life was making the choice to stop letting weight dictate my happiness or comfort with myself. I threw out the scale and started healthy living and decided to let the cards fall where they will. I don't drink to excess, I don't smoke, I go out, eat what I like in moderation which may contain dairy products that are not low fat, try to sleep when I can, and try not to stress out about "stuff".

 

[Renee750il]

Laur, have you seen this site? Lots of good info on raw eating http://www.rawfamily.com/

As far as the low fat dairy, low fat foods across the board, I've had far better results using whole foods, the less processed the better. I eat less of it, but it's more satisfying and the extra processing just CAN'T be good, let alone the stuff that's used to replace what's been processed out.

 

[Beanie]

I'm with Renee on this. I tried low carb for about two months and I was miserable. That whole "you don't crave carbs when you stop eating carbs!" was a lie. I also felt horrible guilt for eating things like an apple... or God forbid I eat a banana with a whopping 50-odd carbs. Nobody wanted to differentiate between carbs from grains versus carbs from fruit, it was just all bad. After two months (I was determined to give it a fair shake) I didn't see any changes, I was still miserable, and I quit.
Instead I just started eating real food. Apples? Okay. Bananas? Okay. Chicken? Awesome. Broccoli? Fab. Sweet potatoes, oh yeah. The less processed I can get my food, the better. And if "high fructose corn syrup" is an ingredient, it's not going in my body. I've actually cut a lot of grain out of my diet just because of the nature of how I'm eating... a little bit of rice still, and I don't feel guilty about corn, and I've got a nice bag of stone ground whole wheat flour that I bought intending to use a bit in a pizza crust (still haven't opened it!) I look at a lot of Primal and Paleo recipes even though I'm not strictly on either of those diets. I call it more "clean eating" even though that has different meanings to everybody. I eat full fat cheese. Nuts, and I have a minor problem with natural peanut butter (which is a legume.) Bottom line is, when I picked up a can or a jar and read the ingredients, does it read like "PEANUTS" or "TOMATOES, PEPPERS, SALT, VINEGAR?" If yes, I'll eat it. And honestly, I don't even view "sugar" as an enemy (though obviously I do limit how much of it I eat.) I would rather eat sugar, honey, maple syrup, rather than fake sugars which are either chemicals or took a chemical process to extract.
I feel amazing and I look amazing. This is the best thing I have ever done for myself. And it's not like I don't eat either... my plates for dinner are loaded with chicken and veggies. TONS of food. I don't feel deprived, if I want a bloody banana I WILL EAT ONE. (In fact I just finished a breakfast with a banana in it.) I still eat NACHOS! (though usually on maybe only about a dozen chips that literally read ingredients: corn, salt.) Meat. Everywhere.

Working out is important but HOW you eat is 80% of it. I'm also hitting the gym and working hard there, but I really believe a lot of the changes in my body are because of the way I eat which basically allows what happens at the gym to change me.

I don't run to lose weight and never have. I did lose weight while running but it was a bi-product. I run because I love to run. But to do some major damage to your fat... lift weights.

Check out this website:
http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/

And these posts:
http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/06/13/60-pounds-overweight-to-6-pack-abs/
http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/
http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2010/10/04/the-beginners-guide-to-the-paleo-diet/
http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2012/07/26/priorities/
http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2012/06/04/new-habits/
http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2012/05/17/this-time-its-different/


And before you think changing how you eat means you can't have anything yummy anymore, LOOK AT THIS PINTREST BOARD:
http://pinterest.com/sheltiechick/clean-desserts/
and this is the food board:
http://pinterest.com/sheltiechick/clean-foods/

You can still eat! Just eat REAL FOOD! No more Papa Johns. No more Dunkin Donuts. NO. MORE. You have to devote yourself to the change and make it happen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zCy3EWs9Q0

 

[oakash]

Ahhh dang it I didn't actually mean carbs. I was only thinking about white bread and all the stupid processed carbs. I am never gonna allow someone make me feel guilty for eating fruit. Fruit is amazing. I eat bananas in my shakes and for snacks daily. So yeah, go with staying away from processed foods.