Hey everyone.

My name is Tina and I'm from Ontario, Canada. I'm currently 22 years old and have struggled with weight issues my entire life. Sometimes I think it's genetics or my parents fault for me being overweight ever since I was a baby. But, I can't blame others for my faults. I've realized that over the years it's been my neglectfulness and bad eating habits that have contributed to my overweight problems.

My highest weight has been the 300lbs mark which was really emotional for me. Yes, I cried when I saw the numbers as I couldn't believe I let myself fall that deep. When I started to actually log my weight which was last year, I tracked it from 298.5lbs. The most weight I lost was about 15lbs which was because of my stupidity of trying to starve myself. Of course I gained most of it back and am now at 294.5lbs.

I've never really sat down and thought about what actions I wanted to take to get a hold of my situation. The problem for me is that I don't feel like I have the support at home. It feels that whenever I tried to get on some diet plan, it was all sabotaged by what my family would have for dinner the next day. It seemed like we always had my favourites after I announced I was going to tackle my weight problems. Coincidence or not, I just found it hard to not be able to consume my favourite meals for dinner, which is why I've always failed with my goals.

Watching episodes on Oprah, Dr. Phil, and Montel about the growing obesity problems, I have decided that I wanted to give this year another try in tackling my weight issues. What's so special about this year? My older sister is getting married in August and of course I'm part of the bridal party. The sad part was when we went searching for the perfect dresses. To me, I didn't care what we went with. I knew it would look bad because of my rolls and I personally wouldn't feel comfortable. The sizing was the worst part too. I ended up having to have the biggest size made for the dress that we picked which itself was degrading to me. I just felt horrible, embarrassed, and sort of depressed.

I've never joined a gym before and I'm hoping to do so this year and get a little workout routine going. So my question to anyone experienced, what should I do in regards to exercise and eating habits?

...and yes...I know I must stop with soda, chips, ice cream, sweets, fast food, and all those other so tastey foods. *sigh*

Welcome! You can do it! I lost 112 pounds over 4 years. Sometimes it's slow, sometimes fast, but just stick with it. You wrote a great post and put your heart out there. ((huggs)). I look forward to watching you shrink!

I would start with walking as exercise. Don't push it. Do it everyday. If you can only go 5 minutes, do it. work up to 10.. then 15.... ect.

Way of eating... you need to decide what you can stay with for the long term. Low fat/whole grains, low carb, Weight Watchers....whatever you can STICK with. Eat veggies and fruit before the rest of your meal so you fill up on nutients, fiber and fewer calories before going to the rest of the meal to keep from over eatiing.

And.......people may try to sabotage you... "Oh just have one"... or make cutting remarks as you lose. People can be jealous, catty and plain mean when we are trying to do good for ourselves. But there are always those too that are cheering us on too. What I'm saying is don't let the mean people or "food pushers" get to you if you can help it.
Hope this helps.

Hello there fellow Ontarian. Best of luck in your journey it's not easy but it can be done.

About your family making your favorite meals when you're dieting. Do consider that this may not have been sabatoge but an attempt to make you feel better about the fact that you'd chosen to diet in the first place. From now on though anytime you're confronted with things you love to eat you have to portion it out. The key to losing weight is keep track of how many calories you eat vs how many you burn. A diary both at home and on these boards will help you.

Exercise wise you need to be gentle at first becuase at your current weight high impact stuff could end up injuring you and slowing your chances of weightloss.

Like wendy said start out walking go as long as you can every day and try to extend that time each week. If you have weights wandering about the house use them. If not fill some pop bottles with water and use them as dumbells. As you lose weight and get healthier there will be more exercises you can do.

Speaking of water, drink it often. No more pop and Juice if you can avoid them the more water you drink the more weight you lose ( just be carefull not to drink too much. It's better to sip at water all day then chug once an hour)


Food wise it depends on who shops but overall aim for more fruits and veggies, eat in moderation and avoid stuff that's breaded or fried as well as uber salty since salt makes you hold in water and waterweight.


Now remember the scale is not the be all or end all of your weightloss , you will likely lose more inches than you lose pounds so grabbing a measuring tape to track your progress is advised as it tends to give results faster.

In the end remember it took years to put the weight on and it will take time to take it off.


see you around

Good luck dieting. I was larger than you when i started, and my family love to sabotage me also (my mothers pretty overweight), so i diet to spite them. When they give me chocolates for xmas or birthdays i take them with a smile, i have 1 a day for a month until they are finished. 1 a day wont kill the diet, but the box in a day would

Hi there Tina! You've gotten some great advice so far and I don't really have anything to add but I wanted to say hello and welcome you to the forum. If you don't feel like you're getting the support you need at home, forming a support group outside the house is a great first step. Start a diary! I'll keep an eye out for it.

Hey there Tina!

I'm only a couple of years younger than you and at my heaviest i was 259lbs and i am now 240lbs and i had the exact same problem with you when it comes to living at home, my solution though was to buy my own food, put my name on it, dont eat any of the familys food and they wont eat mine. Sounds petty but it works as you think to yourself that aint mine i cant have that and you are just left with what you have bought. Although obviously just stick to buying food that is good for you.

Also when it comes to water, some people dont like it, i for one can not stand it. You dont have to drink plain water if you dont like it you are able to add some sugar free dulutable juice to give it that bit of flavour.

Another handy hint is to always have chopped vegetables and fruit to hand if you feel peckish and always, always carry a bottle around with you with your fluids in and drink throughout the day.

Get yourself in the mind set that you can do this and you know you can! You will show your family you dont need them to cook your favourite meals for you and you can do it on your own! If you want a buddy im happy to be there just send me a private message or something if you like.

Oh, and Good Luck sweetie

Hey Tina,
Well, yeah, you've gotten some really good advice so far.
I wanted to add some things that I've done, since though I'm only 16, I have been struggling with my weight all this time.
My mom is asian, and my God, she can cook good. I never really cared much about my weight cause I always thought, I've always been fat, I've tried dieting, it doesn't help, this is how I'm supposed to be. Well, I nearly died when I saw that my weight was 220 lbs. I finally decided to take a stand. It was hard at first, and I also tried starving myself. I love 10-15 pounds thanks to that, but realized it was unhealthy, so I started eating more and thus gained back the weight (my metabolism was low from the food-deprivation) and started again at ~ 220.

So far, I've been counting calories and trying to avoid my mom's food. It's sometimes realllyyy hard when she makes my favorites, but I'm getting there. I try drinking 1-1.5 glasses of water before I eat, so that I'm not too hungry. I also try using breakfast plates all the time instead of dinner plates, so that my portions are smaller. (Yeah, this is the part where you DON'T go back for MORE servings)
If I'm craving something unhealthy, I drink water or have a TINY piece of it. If I want more, I tell myself that at the end of the day, if I didn't come past 1400, I can have a piece (It's usually chocolate <3). I usually DO come to or over 1400, so I end up not eating it, OOOR I'm not craving it as much anymore, and thus I have more will-power to avoid it.

I haven't tried it yet, but a lot of people advise that when after you eat (this may come in handy with the portion thing) and you're STILL craving, it's good to brush your teeth. Don't wanna kill the fresh mouth by eating.. and food usually tastes funky after you brush your teeth..

At the moment I'm eating 200-250 calories every 3-4 hours soo, 6,9,12,7 and at 3, for lunch I eat around 400 calories. Do whatever you're comfortable with. I usually come out to around 1400 calories then.

Also, for exercise, you might wanna try the elliptical. That's easy on the joints, and you lose quiet a lot of calories.

Also, try making mini-goals. If you look at the amount of weight you have to lose, it can sometimes be demotivating. Sooo try making mini-goals of like 10-20 lbs. Once you reach that, treat yourself with something nice like a nice shirt or something. Of course, there's barely anything that can beat your feeling accomplishment. It's easier to tackle this whole weight-loss thing like that.

I hope this was useful.. If I think of anything else I shall post.
I'm rooting for you!
Good luck!!
- Maya <3

Welcome to the forum! At your weight, you really dont need to go that low to see the numbers start to drop. I started in the 160's and lost regularly on 1850 calories per day, so I wouldnt think you would want to start out lower than that. See if the weight comes off steadily on a reasonable amount of calories plus some walking every day. Keep in mind that one does not need to starve oneself to take off weight. What was an average day's eating and drinking pre-diet?

i am new too, hope we can be happy here