You have to win the battle with your mind.. - Obesity Message Board

Hallawes0303 · 11-11-2003, 10:04 PM

Hi I am a new member and I came here trying to find out more about some pill claiming to be as great as the bypass surgery and I am so glad I did because now I know not to waste my money. I am a 23 year old stay at home mom and I have been heavy most of my life. It started in 9th grade at 130 pounds and by the time I was 18 I was up to 180 pounds. 130 today for a woman my age is great but for a girl in high school it was just cruel. After having my daughter in 2001 I am now even bigger weighing in at 240. I wanted to write my opinon to shed a new light to this whole topic of obesity. I have tried a lot of the fad diets out there and yes they would work at first but then my mind would start to stray and I would begin to tell myself well I have done good all week I can treat myself to a burger. Then one burger turned in 2 and so on. I feel the biggest struggle in losing weight is in your mind. It is a tricky things and will play tricks on you. I feel you have to learn to be stronger than it is and eventually it will give in to you and let you do what you are trying to do for yourself. I have also found that support is a big issue for me. I lost all of my friends when my husband and I found out we were pregnant. We were only 21 and who wanted friends with babies was there point. Anyways I have yet to make any friends almost two years later. I enjoy the support from message boards and things of that nature but there is nothing like having a personal buddy. I have even put up signs to find a walking buddy and nothing. It tends to make walking or dieting easier if you have someone who knows your pain and your struggles as well. I have yet to find this but I hope that I do. I started a simple no pill no surgery no miracle diet and so far I have lost 15 pounds. I started a month and half ago. All I did was start to walk at least a mile a day. I also drank the suggested amount of water and started watching portions and what I ate. I do not eat carbs after lunch time and filling yourself up on fruit and veggies is key. My biggest weekness is bread so I allow myself one piece a day of whole grain bread. I have started to stray some here lately since the weather is turning cold. Its hard to make yourself walk when you are freezing but the point is I havent gained any back in the three weeks I havent walked. I think exercise is a big part of it but I also find the portion and water thing is key. I am also hoping to join Curves soon so that there is an alternative to walking in the cold. I also drink diet soda whenever I get bored with water. It is slow going but I hope to loose at least 100 pounds. I guess my whole reason for writing this is just to say dont let anyone tell you cant do it and the biggest person you have to watch out for is yourself. Until you convince yourself that you can and will do it you wont. I fall off the wagon sometimes but I make myself get back on it and tell myself I am not going to fall victim to obesity any longer. If any of you who read this have some of the same will problems that I do please feel free to email me. I cant be a person to person buddy but I will always listen. Good luck to all of you who are trying to do something about your weight issues and take care.

leeanne172 · 11-12-2003, 01:17 AM

Hallawes0303 you sound like a truly determinded person and remind me of myself when I started on my weight loss journey, I know you can do it, I started out fairly much in the same boat your in

I have lost quite a bit of weight so far, 105 to be exact ( I started at 324) and I have about 70 more to my goal.

I don't count calories or carbs, I don't eat like a bird or deprive myself .. what I do is exercise 5 days a week, twice a day, walking exercise (walk away the pounds videos) I do no less then 15 in home walking miles per week plus a ton of outdoor walking. I drink 1.5 liters of water everyday (I only drink soda at the movies) and I eat puffed wheat with all bran for breakfast everyday, I eat a typical lunch .. soup and sandwich (white bread, not brown) and I have whatever I want for dinner, when I want a snack I have fruit .. apples and pears are my faves and peaches if I can find good ones.

I never beat myself up if I 'cheat' a bit, this is a lifestyle change and you just can't go every single day of your life without a treat here and there

I take vitamins, multi, A, C, flax seed oil and garlic

Losing weight is something you learn as you go, I don't believe you can really just say "today I am cutting this in half and exercising this much ..." .. it's something you have to be able to live with .. forever

Good Luck on your journey, I know you will reach your goals also

Kthulah · 11-14-2003, 11:45 PM

Welcome to the board, Hallawes

I'm with Leanne on this one, only my personal focus isn't weight loss but overall health in general. It is something that you have to deal with all your life, and you can't let your mind play tricks on you.

I also don't count calories, and don't eat like a bird, but I do count my accomplishments. I try to think like an athelete.

An athelete doesn't think in terms of calorie consumption unless they have to be a certain weight to make a particular weight class in a competition. They think in terms of how high, how far, and how well they've done something. So if I make it to 20 miles, I'm celebrating like Rocky at the top of the stairs. That's a good feeling associated with an activity that just happens to burn calories too. LOL!

posie · 11-14-2003, 11:53 PM

Ditto, I would love to lose weight, but I really am more interested in feeling better. I used to be so much more active, but now because of my health (and weight) I feel tired and not well much of the time. I feel so much better when I eat well...and my weight just automatically adjusts. But when I get the cravings, it's crazy! And then I eat terrible. I do get hangups about the weight sometimes too and don't think about the health issue at times. But as time goes on and my health worsens and new disorders and diseases pop up in my life, I start to panic and just want to be healthy again. I know what I have to do, I just have to do it.

Kthulah · 11-15-2003, 12:08 AM

Heheheh...My Grandma said to me once, "Darnit! Sometimes life just gets in the way of living!"

Sometimes other concerns will get in the way, or we can psyche ourselves into neglect after an emotional upset or even after a phase of binging. That's one reason exercise is so important. If you stock all your health into your diet alone, then if you break it that can lead to pervasive guilt and cloud the perspective. Whereas if you're exercising too, you can step back and say, "Okay, that was a bad week (month or year), but I recognize what I was doing, and now I'm getting that back under control," and still have the benefit of having kept your activity up during that time.

It's hard to keep up sometimes, and very easy to get depressed, especially if you have physical conditions including brain chemistry issues that make it luck that you're even thinking about self improvement at all. This is where support comes in though. Sometimes we need to lean on each other, and sometimes I personally need a good kick in the bum to get back in gear.