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Hey all, first of all i'd like to say i'm new to the whole "Keep Fit" thing, i have never really been a health person, really cared about my weight...

But anyway, Here we go...

I'm around 100kg, i'm 18 years old and i have little or no motivation to eat healthily or exercise (at all)... I'm what people would call a computer nerd/geek, i just enjoy sitting at home playing games and fiddling with computers.  I used to skate for up to an hour a day when i was 15/16, and i loved it, but as i've got older, it's beginning to wear off.  I have terrible eating habits, i eat fast food all the time, simply because i need "Fast" food and i eat fast food most days (excluding 2-3 a week) - i just really enjoy the taste!!!  I'm always exhausted from work, because i'm on my feet for up to 10 hours a day, and i never want to go for a walk, and all i want to is rest (i.e. on my computer) when i'm not working.  I often find myself not eating until late hours of the day, skipping meals just because i think it could help me lose weight (even though i know it's probably not true and know i'm probably gaining weight from doing it.)  My limit to physical exercise is doing between 20 and 50 sit-ups/push-ups before bed, but that is also rarely done.  I just don't enjoy going out, not 100% sure why, i don't overly like the outdoors and i'm a little embarrassed about the way i look.  I drive a lot, i enjoy driving, cars are also a passion of mine, so riding a bike or walking/running/jogging to get places just seems really impractical to me.  I really have no idea how i'm going to get myself out of this position, no idea what i can do to motivate myself to get out and exercise, and there is no way (that i can see) that i'll be able to get myself out of my eating habits.  I have no exercise equipment in my house and i buying large things i can't do (i live with my parents - they wouldn't like it), i also can't afford things because i'm saving for a trip away at the end of the year, all my money is going towards that and my car maintenance, my limit to spare cash is probably just under $100 a fortnight.

Please! I really need help, any sort of help will do, any advice i will take on board... I just don't know how i can stop what i'm doing!

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Hi there.

Welcome to the board.
There are a couple of things you can do to use as a starting base.
The biggest one, and the one that will see you actually through all of this, is to have a really strong support base. Whether it is your family or a couple of good friends, it's essential you have people there to support you, who can be strong for you when you can't, and who can help guide you through the wilderness of making lifestyle changes.

I know you say you see walking as impractical, but it is free to do and you don't need to pay any joining fees. Set a stopwatch or timer, walk for 10 minutes, then when it goes, just walk back home. That's 20 minutes, easy. If you can do that 3 or 4 times a week to start off, you'll be on your way. (You increase this by after a week or so walking for 20 minutes one way, then walk the 20 minutes home. You can also increase intensity by walking at a faster pace for 10 houses and then back to moderate, then brisk again - it's like interval training.)

The final bit is to really evaluate your food. Fast food is only going to lead to further increase in weight and probably heart disease, diabetes and god knows what else, if it remains your greatest source of nutrition. It could be that you have an addiction to it (you say you love the taste of it!!!!) It might be a good idea to spend your little bit of spare cash on going to see a nutritionist or dietician (you should be able to cover a lot of this on medicare I *think* - not 100% sure)... But the most simple rule of thumb is buy fresh fruit and vegetables, and if you eat meat, lean red meat, chicken and fish. Use wholegrains and lentils and nuts. Fast food is so far removed from anything nutritional and doesn't resemble anything what it came from. The closer the source to it's natural state, the better off you know you will be. Steamed vegetables, stir fries, soups, salads. Homemade casseroles, pies even, homemade pizza, homemade chips.

So those are the three things you primarily need to cover: support, walking, and learning about nutrition. With a small amount of effort, you CAN make this really easy to do.

Hope this info helps.

Thanks cowgirl, i'll try and do some of that walking, if i only think of it as 10 minutes, it doesn't seem like much at all.... still, the only problem is my exhaustion from work... i work terrible hours so i end up waking up, getting ready and going, getting home late and relaxing and going to bed... i will try that though... thanks!

Support is going to be hard, my family are huge critics, and criticize everything i do, so i can't get them to help me through it, buying foods for myself is hard because mum does all the shopping and she doesn't want all my crap through the fridge and pantry... the only other person i've really been able to get help from is my ex-girlfriend, but we don't really see each other anymore! 

 I suppose getting nutritional help from a specialist could be ok... but i live in tasmania, i'm not 100% sure where i'd go for something like that.

 Either way, i will try the walking and look for someone to advise me on nutritional info.

I definitely have incentive though, i have pictures of what i used to look like when i was around 70kg, and i was real skinny... that's what i'm aiming for, and it'll hopefully help with where i want to get myself! Maybe i don't need the support... ?

 

Thanks for the advice, if anyone else can let me know of some little tips, i'd be really greatful!!!
 

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Another couple of options (which I know are available in Tasmania...) could be to join weight watchers, they have a For Men programme. They have really sensible eating advice AND if you go to meetings (which aren't just the domain of women) you get the additional support of the community meetings, which might help you build up a support base if your family & friends are a bit shaky in that area. (And you can do it for around $14 a week).

At some point, you're going to have to take full responsibility for where you are at, and what you do to help you achieve your goals. If that means you have to give your mum a grocery list, or shop for yourself, and request your own shelf in the pantry & fridge, so be it. It might mean you need to learn how to cook - remember there's no quick fix, it's got to be for the rest of your life.

Here are some Tassie people:

For food options, i've found a diet that my dad went on for a while, he lost a lot of weight and looked great at the end... This could solve a lot of my problems! 

 Its a No-Carb/Reduced-Carb diet.  All i have to do is eat no carbs through the day and then have what i want at dinner.  This means that if i need fast food for lunch, i can go to legs and breasts and buy a quarter chicken and a coke zero.  For Breakfast i can make myself some bacon and eggs or something of the sort.  No snacking through the day shouldn't be too hard as i don't really get time to snack anyway. 

By the way cowgirl, i did my first 20 min walk today.  Sad to say that it wore me out (it wasn't even a brisk walk)...

Does this diet sound ok? or should i try something else (see a dietitian)?

Thanks so much for your help and advice cowgirl! Your helping lots

 

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Hi there,

Well done on your 20 minute walk!! That's excellent!!! Don't worry about it wearing you out - in another week or two, a 20 minute walk will be a breeze, as long as you try to get the walks in each or most days.

There's a lot of debate about the no carb & low carb stuff. I'm not a fan of them because your body needs carbohydrates, and a lot of the stuff out there is really not sound nutritionally. Having said that, if you were to change your white bread for multigrain bread, your white rice for brown rice, and so on, you will notice a small change. Primarily white breads/pastas etc are so highly processed, that your body doesn't have to work to use them in your body - they are converted straight to sugars. That's not good, and there's a whole stack of implications in relation to your insulin levels and so on that I won't go into here.

Here's a quick sample of some things you can use to structure an eating plan.

Breakfasts:

Scrambled eggs or omlette (2 eggs) with chopped up tomato, some red onion, capsicum, mushrooms and a slice of bacon & 1 slice multigrain toast.
Porridge/Rolled Oats with fruit and a slice of multigrain toast
Cereal and fruit and yoghurt
3 slices lean bacon (grilled), 2 slices tomato & 1 poached egg on slice multigrain toast
Crumpets (2) with 1tbs honey & chopped banana
1 cup peaches, 1 sliced banana, 1 small tub vanilla yoghurt
1 tub vanilla yoghurt, 1 small banana, 3/4 cup skim milk & 1/2 cup ice - blend + smoothie.

Lunches:

Soup (eg can of minestrone or make your own pot!), toasted english muffin topped with sliced tomato & a slice of low fat cheese, grilled, plus an apple.
Roast beef sandwich - 2 slices wholegrain bread, 60g sliced lean roast beef, 1 slice low fat cheese, dijon mustard, lettuce, red onion, tomato, plus 1/2 cup grapes.
Tuna sandwich (wholegrain bread, small can tuna in springwater, salad & dijon mustard), small tub yoghurt, banana.
Baked potato, small can baked beans, low fat cottage cheese - sprinkle on chilli and black pepper to give it a bit of zhing!
Turkey wrap  - wholemeal lebanese bread, lean turkey, cranberry sauce, salad plus an apple

Dinners:

Pizza - wholemeal lebanese bread, spread with pizza sauce, topped with low fat cheese, vegetables such as pumpkin, capsicum, zucchini, tomato etc etc and a sprinkle of lowfat cheese
Steamed vegetables & grilled lean meat
(The key with dinners is to use a lot of flavours such as herbs & spices... you can do a stack of different things with them).

Snacks:

3 cups of air popped popcorn (no butter or salt)
4 crackers with low fat cheese & tomato slices
vanilla yoghurt with berries, peaches or banana
1 scoop of sorbet & fruit

Aim for 2 serves of fruit per day, and at least 5 serves of vegetables each day.
Lean meats, particularly chicken & fish, grill them not fry or use spray of oil not poured.
Water - drink!

That's just some ideas for you on the food front. You shouldn't need to cut out an entire source of food (such as carbohydrates) - because that is not sustainable long term. I still think it might be a good idea to speak with a dietician or nutritionist, because it will give you a greater understanding of what is actually needed. Small regular meals through the day should be optimum - you don't want to eat when you are starving.

Learning to listen to what your body needs and how it feels is really important, and it's a skill I think all obese and overweight people have lost. Having said that, it's not hard to re-learn the skill, but it does take commitment to really listening to your body, really assessing how you feel and what level your hunger is at.

A massive part of any of this is going to be planning so if you can plan ahead you'll be halfway there. If you can have a think about the meals you can make & take with you, that's awesome.

Making up instant snacks in preparation, so you're never left short, is a really cool thing to do. It might mean getting those ziplock sandwich bags and putting together things like: 12 almonds in each bag - that's a snack (high in protein). 13 sakata cheddar cheese crackers in each bag is a great snack if you want crunchy things. Air popped popcorn is another good one there. You can keep them in your backpack or your glovebox in the car. Throw an apple in the drinks holder in your car each day & I guarantee you will eat it - bang one piece of fruit already sorted. When you're out on the road and the only choice is drive thru maccas, you'll be doing yourself a favour by having that apple and bag of snack in the car.

Hope that helps!

Your great at all this stuff cowgirl, are you some sort of doctor or dietitian or something?  Your really helping!

 Today, i had the option of driving to the post office from work or walking, i would nearly always drive to save time.  Today i decided to walk, turned out it was the perfect walk for what u advised - 10-15 mins each way!  Works out well.  If i can do that at work every day it needs to be done, and do one when i get home every day (or before work), thats between 20-40 mins of walking a day!

Creating my own breakfast and lunch shouldn't be too hard, and i should be able to prepare them to take to work... The snacks should be okay (I  LOVE fruit - So working on that should be alright)  Only obstacle is dinner, mum usually has it prepared before i finish work, and she cooks for 5 people, so she can't just make one different for me... She's usually quite good with what she cooks (health wise), like tonight we had a chicken schnitzel (however u spell it) with a side of carrots, broccoli and a potato bake.  The veggies were done in a container with water in the microwave (is that steamed??)... so I'm not sure how good that's going to be...  But if she cooks something unhealthy like chips, bacon, eggs and sausages and stuff, its going to be rude to say "Nah, I'll just grab myself something else".  Any ideas?

I like vegetables, but i usually like them with something... like celery with peanut butter, or cauliflower/broccoli in cheese sauce... Any ways you know of to spice up my veggies without going unhealthy?

Sorry if it sounds like I'm trying to make it hard for you or if I'm just creating problems... I'm just trying to figure out how to do this the right way!

2 last things.... How big is a serve of vegies/fruit? and you said "You don't want to eat when you are starving" --- What if i become starving because i can't get time to eat a snack (before/after my break at work) - I can't eat during work... big no no

 

Thanks so much for your help cowgirl... means a lot!  

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about to go to bed & will answer the rest tomorrow :) but wanted to clarify:

the eat/starving thing i meant was that you don't want to allow yourself to get to a point when you are ravenously starving hungry because you will happily eat anything that comes into view - and that is destructive to helping you reach your weight loss goal. by keeping some fruit or a snack ready and at hand, it will help avert the situation of becoming TOO hungry, instead of stopping at the closest KFC and blowing all your good work.

oh and i'm not a doctor or a dietician.
i'm a girl who's battled with my weight, wasted all my 20s being fat, have tried every SINGLE diet, every SINGLE pill, every SINGLE shake, every SINGLE meal-packaged program plus had 12 years of gyms, personal trainers & classes, and only now at 35 am tying it all together and finally having it click... i can spot the calories of most things from 50 paces and hate to see anyone else following a futile & expensive path when yep, it all comes down to simple and sensible things.

i think i should have a PhD in the Battle of the Bulge!!

you can have as many vegies as you like - a serve is usually 1 cup so 5 serves = 5 cups.
you can sort that by throwing 5 vegies into a pot with some herbs, lentils, stock & water & voila! you have soup. or if you want to throw some meat in there too, and make it a little thicker by using less water you can make a casserole.

herbs are your best friend when it comes to vegetables.
my absolute favourites are cumin, chilli, black pepper, salt, oregano, basil, rosemary... there's sooooooo many to choose from and the beauty is it is part of the fun of learning about what tastes great and what you like.

if you can, maybe sit down with your mum & go through some recipe books, and together come up with some meals you might like... (you could even offer to shop for it to save her time!)... anything that says butter/oil - try to change it for a spray of canola oil instead (ie instead of frying in a lot).... change white bread for brown/grain and normal fat cheese for low fat, and so on...

just start with little things. don't forget that rome wasn't built in a day, and you will do your head in trying to do everything at once.

maybe for the next 2 weeks, focus on just a couple of things:
walk as much as you can
make healthy snacks available
drink enough water
cut down your fast food (or only treat yourself once for the whole week)

oh & it sounds like your mum microwave steamed the vegies. steaming is one of the best options, so that's great!

i'm off to bed now!!
i'm really pleased with all the progress you are making, it's excellent!!!!!

Hi Snowy,

Great work on the walking!

If you want to spice up the veges, throwing some lemon juice over them goes really well.

Ray

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My new book: Winners Do What Losers Don't

Sounds nice Ray!  not sure how well lemon would go on some vegies though lol.

 Had a bit of trouble keeping with it today... i was so tired and i didn't get a chance for breakfast because my alarm didn't go off and i was late for work... so i didn't get anything for breakfast, and i didn't get time to make myself something.  I was starving in my break (I know i shouldn't have been... ) and i got fast food... i went to praties and got a snack sized pratie with (this is what i asked for) Low fat cheese, light sour cream, ham, pineapple and bacon.  I tried to get something as healthy as i could get it while having it still taste good.  It tasted great, but i'm not sure that what i had was that good for me.

 
I really have no idea when it comes to what's good for me and what's not... i really should go see a nutritionist i think.  Just going to be hard to find the time among everything else!

When i got home i was still tired so i went to bed for a while, when i woke up it was night and dinner was ready, so i didn't get a chance to have a walk, and the mail didn't have to go out at work today...

I guess some days are just going to be harder than others.  I'm going to go make something for lunch tomorrow before i go to bed.  We have some left over schnitzels from the other night (didn't use oil to cook), i might make that into a sandwich with some wholegrain bread, some low fat cheese and maybe take a salad with (or instead of)... might bag up some fruit/small snacks too.
 

 Really appreciating the help! thanks so much for helping me through this, i know once i'm over this first hump i will be able to get through it so much easier.

Oh one other thing i wanted to ask... What about steamed dim sims? i really like them, they taste great steamed and they fill me up quickly.  would it be ok to do that?  or is the bad part of the dim sim more of what's in the it?

 

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If you are exhausted all the time have you looked for a reason?

 

Are you getting a reasonable amount of sleep?

 

The internet can be a time thief.

 

If you are feeling tired you should be aiming for at least 8 hours a day.

 

At 18 you should be coping with a 10 hour day no problems.

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Hey there...

So guess what - in the real world we all live in, we all have an off day here & there. We don't plan ahead. We sleep in. We get sick. Miss the train. BUT the thing to do is to get right back into it as soon as possible - immediately - next day at the latest.

If you have an old exercise book or notebook from school, grab that and keep it handy - on your desk or the bench or somewhere you can access it. Start to write down everything you eat & drink. It is a good way to start becoming aware of what you can recognise as good nutrition or not. (Steamed dim sims - try to keep them as a treat/sometimes food... try not to think of food as being good or bad - just that some has greater nutritional value than others).

I'm not sure what a pratie is (unless it's a baked potato which kinda seems like it might be) and you know what - sounds like you made a pretty good choice with it. You chose a smaller portion size, you got the low-fat options, and it tasted great. Ticks in all the boxes! 

Now, the getting home & going to bed - this is the bit where you could have dragged your sleepy butt around the block for 10 minutes... the fresh air and movement would have given you a little more spark for the evening, and you wouldn't have missed your walk at all. Even if you only do 10 minutes, it's better than doing nothing. Just keep it in the back of your mind that anything is better than nothing. You are learning much, grasshopper!

And can I just say HAPPY DANCE for you!!! Making your lunch the night before is a fantastic way of taking control and planning and knowing ahead what you will have. Leaves little room for a MacAttack when you have a healthy lunch ready to go!  Did you make the lunch & snack bags?!!!!! I am really proud of you for thinking ahead!

A couple of emergency options for breakfast on the run: get some healthy breakfast bars (this will take a little investigation & require you to go to the supermarket and hunt about. You want to make sure that the sugars aren't massive, the fat's not high, and the kJ aren't out of control! Easiest way is to compare similar products.) So... keep a box of breakfast bars in the car, and grab an apple on your way out the door. Those Up & Go breakfast drinks are another option you could include here. Keep a pack in the fridge. But, don't fall into the habit of using them as breakfast every single day - these are emergency breakfasts you don't have to think about.

Oh - I thought of something else you could do to help you learn a bit about nutrition too. Go to the local library (it's free!) and look for books on nutrition. Rosemary Stanton is pretty clued in on this stuff, so look for something by her. Be alert so you don't pick up "fad" diet books. You will find a million books on diets - so just be aware of that. Look for reputable books (ask if you need to!) and if something sounds extreme (ie don't eat X or Y and only drink Z) then it probably is a fad book.  Steer clear!

Now - the other thing is: well done on reaching your first hump. You've done all the right things. Some days it will be easier, and some days there will be more humps than a pack of camels in Arabia. The thing to do is just keep going. Stick to your plan as much as you can. Understand that we do have lapses, fall over, scrape our knees, but we have to get up again and keep on going.

You're doing great!

On the dim sims most foods that are reprepared in the supermarket have nutritional information on the packet.

 

You should aim for about 6,000 Kj a day to lose weight and less than 50 g of fat.

 

My initial feeling is that it should be possible to make a better choice.

 

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Ok, i won't go for the dim sims... i might try it maybe once a week/fortnight, if that.  I just thought cos steamed veggies were ok, i thought maybe other steamed food would be good too.  It's ok though, i can live without them

Those numbers are good to help with my weight loss don, i'm a math person, so exact figures i like! If anyone can give me any more sort of boundary figures, i think it would help a bit! 

Cowgirl, your really giving the the inspiration i need.  I just met up with someone i haven't seen in a little while, they said i'm already looking thinner, i have lost around 4/5kilos already.  It's amazing how little i have to do to get these results!  I'm really proud of myself for getting this far, i just hope i don't fall off the horse and it runs away!

 Thanks for your help guys i'm getting better.  i think the hardest bit is finding the energy and motivation to actually get myself up to go for a walk!

 Any more help would be much appreciated
 

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well done!!!! that sounds like an excellent result!
now all you need to do is "rinse & repeat" - keep doing what you're doing, learn as much as you can, and never ever settle for second best!