Obesity Discussion Forums

[LSW]

Well I'm 27 and feel like my life is going downhill.

I was the fat kid for most of my life growing up. I got picked on a good bit, deservedly so, but when I hit puberty and discovered girls I got thin.

At age 17 I was 5'11" and 160 lbs, pretty normal.

Then I went to college. Lots of time studying, lots of stress (I know, cop out). I also did not make a lot of friends because I was in a long distance relationship with my high school girlfriend and spent a lot of time traveling to see her. I got fat. Really fat, and so did she. I weighed about 250lbs at age 23. I drank about 2 liters of Dr. Pepper a day, ate fast food at least twice a day, and loved sweets.....candy, donuts, whatever. I didn't exercise at all.

My parents got concerned. This is going to sound crazy, but they offered to buy me a car if I lost 50 lbs. So I did. How? I'd regularly go 2 and 3 days without eating and started running. I got back down to 155 and my parnts lived up to their end of the deal and bought me a brand new sports car. I was running 6 miles at least 4-5 times per week. I quit soda and only drank water. I felt great. I looked great I also lived with an old friend who had just gotten out of the marines. He kicked my ass into shape when he found out about the offer. I broke up with my old girlfriend.

My friend found a girl and moved out. I crashed the car I earned from my weight loss two years ago. I got kind of bummed out. I have job that puts me on the road for 4-5 days out of the week. Now I'm fatter than ever, at 260 lbs. I feel like I need to do something or this could get even worse. I love food. I have a bad fast food and soda habit. I love to eat alone, in the car and am embrassed to eat around other people.

I've got a really unhealthy relationship with food

There, the fist step is admitting you have a problem, right? I feel like a piece of shit and my life needs to chage.

[Veldmuis]

First step is indeed admitting you have a problem, the step after that is starting to work on that problem. So good job taking the first one! However as you probably know, admitting it and actually working on it is a lot different when it comes to actually doing it.

I'd advise you to not go on those 2-3 days of not eating methods again though, those might seem to be the fastest, but they are a big strain on your entire system.

For the rest, I hope you enjoy your stay here and get motivation out of the people that will try to support you. So goodluck with your next try and lets hope it will be the last!

[Jasmine130]

Hi there LSW, welcome to this site. I think a lot of us can relate to your experiences. I know I can, at least with the eating patterns, regain, frustration...

We can help you get started with a sensible eating plan and advise for exercising. Some of us are just starting out, some are on the way to goal, and some of us have reached our target and are doing the continuing hard work of maintenance.

It's good that you recognize you have an unhealthy relationship with food. My experience and observation over the years tells me that anyone who is significantly overweight almost always has an unhealthy relationship with food. This unhealthy relationship can show up in compulsive overeating/binging, as well as with anorexia, purging, etc. When we don't see food as a tasty, healthy fuel for our bods, but use food, for example, to "numb out" or cope with feelings we don't want to feel, things can really get out of hand. For the emotional and spiritual part of my ongoing journey, I attend Overeaters Anonymous. What a powerful program and force for change this has been for me!

Anyway, it is very good to see you here and I hope you'll read and post often.

Jasmine

[Fluffymomma]

Hey there! Glad you are with us. Stay w/us, too.

I can relate to the travel. That in itself can be difficult. Going to meetings and then they order lunch in. It all sounds good. Or you are on the road so much, drive ins are so much better...who would eat a salad and drive, huh?

Well, you've come to the right place. You have made the first step of acknowledging the issue. Now, figure out what to do first...maybe it's cut that soda out. It's doing you no good. That's a start. I am not a nutritionist BUT I rarely buy sodas anymore for my family because I may drink 1 out of a case, my husband the rest, no exaggeration. So I buy the Crystal Lights, things like that. And he loves them. Maybe not a perfect solution but he was drinking 4-5 sodas a day.

You know, some hotels have gyms too. Maybe you could try the treadmill?

I wish you much success. OH! Set your burger up! It's fun to watch that sucker slide to the right!

[LSW]

Well, thanks for the responses everyone. I like the idea of the BMI ticker. I'm going to set a goal of doing 30 minutes of cardio exercise per day, even if it's just waking around the block & up-down stairs at hotels for awhile.

As far as diet, I'm going to try going cold turkey on sodas and limiting my calories to 1800 per day. I can't really control exactly what I eat since I'm on the road for 4-6 days at a time every week, so calorie counting seems to be my best option. Perhaps I need to force myself to eat with coworkers only.....I tend to order less out of shame when I dine with others. Left to my own devices I pig out. So, I guess we'll see how it goes.

[Veldmuis]

Going cold turkey on Sodas is a very good idea. I did that myself with Sodas and bad food too. After about 5-6 months (Never really missed it before now either though) I don't even like Soda that much anymore, so if you can handle that you'll no longer feel the urge of getting all that sugar in after a while.

[MichaelB]

I tend to need to go cold turkey with the soda as well.

And blaming college isn't a cop-out. It's a stressful time for many people. College is hard work, and exercise and activity may be hard to fit in the schedule if you're hitting the books fairly rigorously...

Welcome aboard!

[matt007]

Hi LSW, your story could almost be mine. Heck even our starting weights, ages and height are about the same. Except I didn't get a car all I got was this lousy tshirt. The best advice I can give is try and do this in a healthy way, definitely don't use your old method of not eating some days. Don't burn yourself out with exercise or extreme dieting methods. When I started I just walked for exercise and it worked until I started doing more. Welcome and good luck.