okies... so im fat :/ i have been pretty thin most of my life, but after i left school i basically got lazy and depressed. now im far over weight. i havent weighed myself in a long time and dont plan to any time soon. i rarely exercise at the moment and to be honest i feel tired and like **** most of the time.

next week, i am going to stop drinking, and exercise every day (if i can!) i am hoping to start walking for about 30mins or so every day for the first month or so? and then start jogging, and maybe add 5minutes to it every week. i have no idea what i should be doing to lose weight, but i figure if i start exercising regularly itll help start me off. i plan to start a martial art also once i feel fit enough and confident to.

as for my diet? well i have no idea. i have read a billion times about atkins... only eat leafed veges, and meat/chicken and then nuts etc after a couple weeks... i have no idea tho. so i will probably start just skipping meals and maybe only eating once a day :/

i need some advice here. i have no idea if im on the right forum as i havent even checked around here much and am just looking for advice in general... i am drunk at the moment, but im going to try my absolute best to not drink again for as long as i can stay sane. i wont go into this tho and my other probs, i just want to lose weight - well.... weight isnt the main thing, i would just like to be able to feel fit enough to start participating in sports etc every day again...

sorry for the long ass post, and i dunno if anyone will read it, but im going to go through with this starting next week.

ill just post again - maybe ill start recording my thoughts here :p ive been thinking of dropping my weight through exercise for a long time. im 24 now, and i feel pretty awful and somewhat ashamed. i am fat - i can see that.

my main problem i have noticed is just strait up motivation to do this. i am going to force myself tho. i am going to start enjoying it to once i get into a routine.

i dont want to look at scales now and i dont want to start looking at them every week checking how much "ive lost"...

blah - maybe i should just post back here in a week or so once ive started it up - too much to say atm.

You've left a couple of "blanks" (specifically age and gender, as well as what you mean by "fat"--yes, they *do* make a difference...) so I'll give you some of my own advice, one size fits all.

First off, why are you waiting to "start"??? If it's a matter of, have to go to a party...or, too hung over to exercise...or whatever in *that* vein; well, you *can * start eating healthier foods Right Now, you can take a walk from point A to point B Right Now, you can drink, say, two beers at the next party rather than...7...

Another approach I would reccomend is, go gently. Sometimes our first impulse is to go "extreme" with our eating plan to just "get the weight off" or to go hard-core with exercise; well, in my vast diet experience, neither approach has worked LONG TERM (and trust me, you do *not* want to lose this weight only to have to lose it again, plus 15 or so of it's friends along for the ride...)--basically, LONG TERM, aim for healthy eating--you know what that is, more fruits and veggies, lower fat, less sugar and processing of foods-- and aim for consistent exercise. I don't find it necessary to kill myself 7 days a week, I do 5-6 workouts a week, many weeks 7, but broken down to Interval days (bursts of elevated heartrate) gentle cardio days (joint gentle--elliptical machines, walking) with resistance training, and then some active resting days--walks, other types of "creative" exercise (dancing, housework, you name it.)

Browse the different forums, you'll find something that meshes.

good luck!!

...as well, if you're wanting to(write to) process the "pre-weight loss plan" thoughts, "journals" are a great place to go to...

Hello burnz!

Welcome to the community!! :)

To get right into things, as far as the dieting goes, you should NEVER starve yourself!! There is definitely a line between eating too much but also eating too little; both may result in you gaining weight. If you don't take in enough calories, your body will think it's starving and will try and store and convert all of your calories into fat. You also may not be giving yourself the vitamins/nutrients/energy that you need in a day to do things like exercise.

I know that Atkins and the south beach diet and that Dr. Phil stuff is working for a lot of people. But for me, I've found the best thing to do is just watch what you eat. You can have pasta.... just don't eat 3 bowls of it!!! You can have steak, but eat half at the restaurant and take the other half home!!! Calorie counting has been the best way for me to watch what I eat.

And I DONT deny myself things I enjoy. For example: i LOOOOVE chocolate.... but I don't eat it every day. When I want to treat myself, I go to a good chocolatier and get one piece to enjoy.... that way I get the fix I want and I haven't overindulged myself into a guilty action. :)

I think the one thing you have to remember, like what Jessica said, is that this is going to be a lifetime thing for you..... so do things that you know you will be able to maintain for a good part of your life!!

hi burnz..like skew said, it would be helpful to know more about you..but congratulations on the decision to cut out your drinking and start exercising..those are both excellent beginnings...as far as eating, if you cut back to one meal a day etc, it will slow DOWN your metabolism..not something you want to do...the best thing to lose weight (permanently too!) is to eat 3 meals a day plus 2-3 snacks..dont ever skip breakfast...it starts your metabolism going for the day...

so, a sample day could be high quality cereal w non fat milk for breakfast (examples would be oatmeal, raisin bran, kashi heart to heart..even cheerios) w maybe an optional piece of fruit....

lunch could be a turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread w lettuce and tomato and another piece of fruit, say an orange..any raw veggies you want

snack could be a carton of non fat yogurt and a banana

dinner could be boneless skinless chicken breast, small potato..small amount of butter, veggies to the max

snack could be 2 graham cracker rectangles and a glass of non fat milk or an apple w peanut butter

weight watchers is a good program that teaches you how and what to eat if you could go to that, www.fitday.com is a good place to keep track of what you are eating and your calories..dont ever let your calories drop below 1200..you can pick up an inexpensive calorie book where ever books are sold..write down what you eat..

the exercise will be awsome!! good luck!

Skipping meals and only eating once a day isn't going to do squat in the long run, IMO... you will probably end up binging in the end and weighing more in the end.

IMHO, over time, reduce your foods to proper portions and choose better food items (centering on fruits and veggies) to have for your meals and snacks (if you have them).

Originally posted by burnz
okies... so im fat :/ i have been pretty thin most of my life, but after i left school i basically got lazy and depressed. now im far over weight. i havent weighed myself in a long time and dont plan to any time soon. i rarely exercise at the moment and to be honest i feel tired and like **** most of the time.

next week, i am going to stop drinking, and exercise every day (if i can!) i am hoping to start walking for about 30mins or so every day for the first month or so? and then start jogging, and maybe add 5minutes to it every week. i have no idea what i should be doing to lose weight, but i figure if i start exercising regularly itll help start me off. i plan to start a martial art also once i feel fit enough and confident to.

as for my diet? well i have no idea. i have read a billion times about atkins... only eat leafed veges, and meat/chicken and then nuts etc after a couple weeks... i have no idea tho. so i will probably start just skipping meals and maybe only eating once a day :/

i need some advice here. i have no idea if im on the right forum as i havent even checked around here much and am just looking for advice in general... i am drunk at the moment, but im going to try my absolute best to not drink again for as long as i can stay sane. i wont go into this tho and my other probs, i just want to lose weight - well.... weight isnt the main thing, i would just like to be able to feel fit enough to start participating in sports etc every day again...

sorry for the long ass post, and i dunno if anyone will read it, but im going to go through with this starting next week.

I think the first thing you should do is maybe talk to a nutritionist.. Like the others said. Skipping meals is not the route the go.. Not only will you mess up your metabolism but what's gonna happen the minute you start eating normally again?? The weight will come back on and possibly more....Starving yourself is definitely not the route to go..