Newbie

Hey, all, my name's Amber, and I'm 19 years old. I joined this website as the first of many tries to help change my life. At 19 and 5'7, I weigh 340 lbs.

All my life I've felt different because of my weight...I've been bullied, picked on, ridiculed, and harassed, because I weight more than other people. Some of the people who've picked on me have been family members. It really hurts. I feel like I don't belong anywhere and it gets so bad I don't even want to leave the house. However, I'm not here to whine.

I want to change my life! I want to be normal, I want to be happy, and carefree. These should be the best years of my life. I would love for some tips on healthy things to eat, and how to avoid fast food as that is a huge vice of mine. I want to make friends to share in my weight loss. I've got a long long long way to go and would love some support. Thanks so much <3

Hello, I am so proud of you to have made this decision at such an early age tells me you are wise.  You have come to the right place for support and advice.  There are so many people here who have gone through what are going through myself included.  What I can tell you from my own experience is that noone can lose weight like an obese person, you know how to diet!!!  The problem is, and I think most would agree, is KEEPING THE WEIGHT OFF.  There's a recent post on this board about maintenance, you should check it out.  Not to sound cliche, but it's true, you just have to change your lifestyle and your relatinship with food.  Educate yourself on nutrition, DO NOT STARVE YOURSELF, your body needs fuel but the right kind.  Try making the healthy choices and stay away from processed and fast foods.  I am now exploring the vegan diet myself so I'm getting some books to educate myself some more on nutrition etc.  I want to encourage you to never give up on you.  I know it's hard.  You have to figure out what is causing your obesity and deal with it.  I know for me one of my problems was that food was the only thing that made me feel good so now I'm looking for other things that I can enjoy in my life.  I trying to break habits that cause me to turn to food, for example I stopped watching television until I can get to the point where I can and not get the urge to snack.  Keep coming on OH and keep posting, it really does help.  Good luck to you.

Thanks for the reply, it means a lot. I was going to post on the teen boards but it is pretty dead over there-and I am an adult, and wanted some real time adivce, versus waiting for weeks to get any answers or replys.

It is going to have to be a lifelong change, as cliched as that sounds, and to be totally honest, I'm scared of it. It's a HUGE change, a lifestyle change. And it's hard to change when you are set in your ways, whether they make you happy or unhappy. I commend you for going vegan-as long as it's the healthy way, of course ;)- but I honestly don't think I could do it, haha. I like meat. I'm going to try to cut out most, if not all, of my red meat consumption because it is SO bad for you. I don't like fish, and I'm iffy on turkey, so it looks like I'll be eating more chicken.

I am also taking steps to learn more about nutrition, I'm enrolled in a free nutrition class via Yale university online [if you want the link i'd be glad to share it]. I haven't actually started it yet but it was recommended to me by a friend and supposedly it's a wealth of information.

Thanks again for the warm welcome!

Dear Amber,
Hello and welcome!!!
Congratulations on taking the big step and deciding to make a change.
You sound like you are writing my story, many things are similar.  I missed out on much of what life can offer because I stayed obese so long.
The good news is you are so young you can overcome this.  You can be successful and because you are young your skin and body will bounce back nicely.

I've been there......I spend my 20's, 30's, 40's obese....I know the pain and now in my 50's I know how fantastic it is to be free from all the pain stuffing my face with food brings.
I would be honored to help you with this.

Please read my weight lose journey it's on my blog.....ask me questions or PM me if you want to chat.

I'd love to see you successful and live your life to the fullest.

Best wishes to you on your weight loss journey!!!

I friended you, and thanks so much. I can't tell you how good it feels to be involved on a site with people who have gone through and ARE going through the same things I am. And it's really encouraging to see someone succeed, because success stories of people who have done it all on their own are sometimes hard to come by.

Thanks again

Amber

Welcome Amber!  You are doing the right thing trying to make the change now.  I understand how you feel about being ridiculed and harassed even by family members.  it isn't dun and it isn't easy.  I don't know if it is an option for you - but I just recently started counselling, and it is helping with some of these same issues.

Avoiding fast food can be hard - so try making small changes.  For example - if you don't feel like making lunch/dinner - get a 6" sub instead of a burger.  Or opt out of the fries.  

I am all for making small changes that you can live with.  The same goes for exercise.  i am 38 and weigh 352 (yippee - lost 11).  It is HARD to get moving - I understand, truly!  But, just small things can add up to a big change.  Even just 5 minutes of walking each day, you will soon notice how you can walk 7, then 8, then 10.  You will be amazed at how quickly you improve - and especially at your age!

Take care,

Heather.

Congrats on your weight loss....You have a great  attitude, small changes add up to a big difference....slow and steady wins the race!!

Thanks for the reply--I am relying on little changes to add up, hahah! Truthfully the thought of doing this as a huge change all at once scares me and the idea of a change at all scares me too. I don't know how I am going to exercise, it's been so long since I've done it, but I know that I can.

Welcome to the group.  I hope we will see your around here often.  Try going to the restaurants you eat at website and picking a few low calorie options. It is shocking at how what you  think is the lowest calories options are often not. It is of course best to avoid fast food but reality is you will end up at one sometimes so best to be prepared. Try keeping a note card or small notebook in your purse so you can have options that fit within your eating plan for the day.

Hi Amber - nice to meet you. I agree, you're smart to be finding this website and to realize you need to make serious changes. We'd be happy to help you make those changes.

I think most of us have gone through similar stuff to what you have - I remember always being the fattest in everything I did - I didn't let it stop me from participating but I always felt bad. It does hurt. ((((HUGS)))) Are you living at home? That may be a problem unless your parents are willing to support you in these changes because it will mean buying and eating food that you may not be used to eating currently.

I only eat whole foods - no industrially heavily processed foods with ingredients I can't pronounce. I do buy some frozen and canned foods - but only with simple ingredients that I would make myself. I worked to change my taste buds so that crap food is no longer tasty. The hardest thing I have is eating out at fast food restaurants since there really is very little real food. At Wendy's I'd get a baked potato with nothing on it - no oil, no butter, no sour cream - I'd add steamed veggies or buy their side salad and add some veggies from the condiment bar and use salsa or lemon juice as the salad dressing. Those salad dressing can have more fat than a hamburger - so go on line and check out their menu's and look at the fat and calories. Chipotle is a favorite of mine - there I have a bol with black beans and rice and a mix of their different salsas with lots of romaine lettuce. Some places just don't have anything I would eat period. I can see where it will be tricky to change and still hang with friends but it can be done with some preparation on your part. When you walk in you should already know what to order and you may have even eaten at home so you only need a small salad from the restaurant. BTW, when you first do these things your friend will make comments etc. but if you keep eating healthy they will just accept it and not even thing twice about it. If they see you losing weight they may even start to copy what you're doing. You can make it work and you can succeed if you make real, permanent changes - and you will be happier.