Hi there!
I'm new (I actually started [again] with Fitday February 1st, but just noticed the forums a couple days ago). I have a question, and then I'll give you a (probably longwinded) bit of background on me.
I noticed that a lot of people on here are eating about 1,200 calories. I averaged out what Fitday and a couple other sites said I should be eating to lose weight, and it was about 1,750 (I'm 5'5 and started at 203lbs), so I'm trying to stay below that, but I find that if I eat much less than that I'm dizzy and lightheaded and irritable. I know quite a bit about nutrition and eating healthy, and like a lot of people have said, I'm eating a lot
more than I was with my old crap diet, it's just less calorie-dense.
My question is this: is it normal to feel so weak, and how do you do it on 1,200 calories? A few times I've had 1,400 and could barely move. Do you just accept that you're going to feel terrible, or do you not get this feeling?
I've been slowly but steadily losing weight on around 1,700 calories, so I'm not looking to eat much less than that. I'm down about 8 pounds and have been slowly adding in more exercise. I just don't know how to make fewer calories than that sustainable, and I want this to be my new lifestyle, rather than a quick fix.
Anyway, here's me:
I'm a 34 (almost 35) mother of a two year old. Before he (and my partner) came along, I was always fairly active and didn't have a lot of issues with overeating. My partner has a much bigger weight problem than my current one, and when we got together, within a few months I went from 140 to 165. He was driving me everywhere, when I used to walk, and taking me out every night, when I used to eat at home. I ballooned without even realizing it was happening. Then I got preggo, and didn't actually gain that much (about 20lbs), but the real weight came after he was born. I had post partum depression, I was averaging about 2 hours of sleep a night, and I became addicted to cake/cookies/brownies etc. My partner was more than happy to bring them home for me.
Last spring, an older friend was saying she wanted to lose some weight, and I discovered I had gone up to 210lbs, which was
horrifying to me, so we decided to share an online Weight Watchers membership. Since we signed up with her credit card, we agreed that she would use the online food journal. At first I was writing everything on paper and then looking up the points of each food, but it was so tedious and cumbersome that I ended up using Fitday and just using WW for recipes/tips/etc. I lost 10 pounds in 5 weeks. Then I kind of fizzled and didn't gain but didn't lose. Last summer was really stressful and I lost another 10 pounds in about 3 weeks just from not eating, and I knew it would probably come back because it was stress weight. After eating junk like a maniac through Christmas, I discovered that I was back up to 203. I was also having digestive problems from my low-nutrition, high-cake diet.
I'm working part time in retail, which right now mostly means standing, but in another month or two there will be a lot of hauling boxes around, going up and down stairs and ladders, general running around. I try to walk about an hour a day, and most days I've been lifting (3lb) weights for about half an hour. My kid is clingy and always with me so besides the walking, mostly I have to exercise after he's gone to bed. Richard Simmons was fun but a huge failure because it's hard to do with someone hanging off your legs. Last year I bought a Gazelle, and that was fun but a giant safety hazard. So I've been doing weights and calisthenics in the evening. Nothing formal, just getting myself moving. I'm not really good with anything structured.
I have a couple of obstacles in my attempt to lose weight. My partner, who is 350lbs, isn't motivated himself to lose weight, and has been bringing junk in the house and rolling his eyes at the groceries I buy and my cooking and the big bowl of salad on the table every night. It's a constant struggle, even though he doesn't say much, to keep positive about what I'm doing. He doesn't really support me or tell me I'm doing well. I know he doesn't want to be big, but he doesn't want to do anything about it either. I really want him to lose weight because I worry that our kid will end up growing up without a dad, but beyond cooking healthy, I can't force him to change. It feels sometimes like how it would if we were both alcoholics but I was trying to stay sober.
The other obstacle is my mother. She is about 98 pounds, and is constantly calling me fat (which I am, but I know I am, I don't need to be told). Even when I was 140lbs she called me fat. Last year I told her I had lost 20lbs and she just said "pffft, you've got so much to lose that 20lbs doesn't make any difference." She has no understanding of body types and thinks I can be like her if I would just try, but I haven't been 98 pounds since about grade 3. And I wouldn't
want to be 98 pounds anyway. For a brief time in college I went down to 120lbs (I was living on 1 package of ramen noodles a day), and people were asking me if I had cancer. I'm not built to be so small. Even at 120 I was still in size 10 pants. My mom thinks I could be in size 2 if I would just put in the effort (because apparently if you eat little enough, you can lose bone!).
Anyway, that's my rant. I can talk to my WW friend about it, but I don't really have anyone else to talk to, so I figured this was a good place to find people to talk about weight issues with. I need more people to support me, rather than put me down.
My ultimate goal is to be back to 140, but I'm doing it in small goals. In February I lost 7 pounds, so I figure I'll take it month by month and try to lose
at least 7 each month. That's 50lbs by the end of summer, and I can't turn up my nose at that.
I hope I didn't come across as too much of a giant bummer, and I look forward to finding some healthy life buddies
Helloooo
You CAN do it! You've proven yourself already.
ONGOING: 7/26 ~ 206.4 . . . 
ADIOS: -12 lb @ 208 lb 
-> 
Linear Mode
