Giving up hope...

[Jbraaten]

I'm a 20 year old woman who is extremely overweight. My problem is that I don't see myself as fat, I know that I am bigger, because I always have been, but now I look in the mirror and I realize that it has gotten severly out of hand. I've tried dieting before and usually I give up a day or two in, the last time I did much better. I was counting my calories and exercising every day, and I did not lose a single pound. When I realized that I wasn't losing weight I gave up. Now my coworkers are doing a "Biggest Loser" challenge at work. We weigh in every friday and put money into a pot, and at the end the "biggest loser" wins the money. I'm not concerned about the money, I'm just hoping that this group effort will be the support I need. I don't understand what I am doing wrong. I don't want to take pills because that never gets anyone anywhere for very long. I keep my calories around 1800 a day, and I don't punish myself if I go over. I work out, doing different muscle groups on different days. And still nothing. If I'm not going to lose the weight, why continue to do the extra work?

[Barb135]

Welcome to the community!!  Skailark is right - you don't sound like a quitter, we're all here for the same reason, so why not let us help you.  

First of all, you say you've tried diets before and nothing happens - have you been checked by your doctor to make sure you don't have any medical issues that would prevent you from losing weight, such as hypothyroidism, pre-diabetes/insulin resistance, adrenal function, etc?  

Since you say you are keeping your calories at around 1800/day, I might suggest that you start a food journal, in which you log everything you eat, including the amounts and # of calories.  That will confirm the calorie intake, since sometime we actually eat more than we think we do, just with a "bite here, a bite there"; this little piece of candy, that tiny corner of a piece of cake - it all adds up and it sure jogs me when I see it there in black and white.  Another thing that's helpful is to log how you feel when you eat in order to pin point things that might cause emotional eating.  Spark people is a good place to track your food intake.  

I don't know what types of exercises you do, maybe you could change them around a bit or maybe you aren't hanging in there long enough - I know that's easy for me to say, huh??  lol.  You can use the weight, exercise and mood trackers here on MedHelp and you can set them to be seen by other members of the community or you can keep them private.  You can also start a journal here.  

Please do join us with some of the challenges, games etc.  You can have fun, make some great friends and get a lot of support for your efforts.  Where else can you find so many benefits all in the same place??  Hope to see you often.  

[Skailark]

Hi!

Welocome to the community! What a perfect timing to join the club! Having just started our own challenge here at Medhelp you should find plenty of support and encouragement here!

Giving Up Is Not An Option here! Loosers Quit And You Dont Seem Like OnE!

You say you have been exercising and eating healthy.? Why not give it some time and wait for the results? You can expect at least 1-2 pounds a week if you stick to a plan long enough... Are you game for it? If you promise us that you will atleast not give up for two weeks then we are ready to show you how this deal is done!

No worries no one is perfect here and we all are in the same boat! Join us and get acquainted witht the wonderful people in the community! You will fiond so many weight loss tips from them. Make sure you are here on a regular basis and post about your progress. Doensnt matter how silly you think your question is dont be afraid to ask!

Also add the exercise tracker,mood tracker, and weight tracker to your profile! They are really handy! Now you do this bit for us and we will make sure that you win thepot every week at the weigh ins!