I'm so happy to have found this forum. I haven't looked around very much yet, but from what I can see there is no push to follow one philosophy or another. Just what I need

You see, I'm a very obese 41 year old woman, who has tried just about everything; literally. So what I'm looking for now is a means to develop a healthy relationship with food, and I suppose deal with my own issues.

If there is anything that I can say I've noticed about all my attempts, and half successes, of dieting, is this: Diets just don't work. Thin people don't diet; they may be healthy eaters, but in my opinion their relationship with food isn't an emotional one, and therefore they can simply put down the fork when they feel satisfied.

With all my dieting from low carbbing, to starvation dieting, to grapefruit diets, to GI index dieting and so on and so on, I have consistently run out of steam, and fell off the wagon. Each and every time I was the textbook case of yoyo dieting and just getting heavier.

Not any more. My plan to to be healthy, both physically and mentally. Which is what drew me to this forum. I liked the name, and thought what better chance to get going.

I look forward to looking around and must say the look is beautiful. I have been n a few forums before and just adore how you have this one set up.

I look forward to learning more, and perhaps starting a "Journal".

Cheers everyone, I look forward to where this venture leads me

LN

I've done some looking around and a bit of posting. But am wondering if there is a suitable place to start my own personal thread to journal my thoughts and experiences. Mostly for the sake of keeping myself accountable. I would appreciate any suggestions for such a thread. Thank you, and have a lovely day. Time to get to sleep now

I've suggested a kind of 'Journal' category before, and Tammy was going to look into it. Whilst I was thinking more along the lines of somewhere where people could post workouts and the like, I see no reason why it couldn't be used in the manner you've suggested. It's a good idea in my opinion.

Admins - leap upon this idea with gusto!

In regards to your introduction - welcome to the site!

Diet-wise, rather than attempting to restrict calories in a severe way, simply cut out the crap from your diet. Eat healthy food - as unprocessed as possible. Are there Weightwatchers groups in Canada? A lot of people seem to have a lot of success with that system- it uses a daily 'points' allowance. I think it's good as it permits amounts of 'sin' foods, so people don't feel like they're being deprived of their favourite foods all the time.

Exercise is also important. Doing a lot of walking is a good start as it's low impact, important if you are heavy and just beginning to exercise. Aquarobics is similarly good as the weight of the body is supported by the water. Where you live - whether it be in a city or out in the middle of nowhere - will determine just what's available out there. Bodyweight exercises are good too - squats, push ups (on the knees if you can't do proper ones), pull-ups, dips, jumping rope all help burn calories, get the heart and lungs working, and help build and tone muscle, and more muscle = more calories burnt, even when at rest.

It sounds to me like you are well aware of what constitutes a healthy diet, but due to your aforementioned emotional link to food, you find sticking to a regime quite difficult. You've made a first step by deciding you want to do something to lose weight and improve your health - keep that in mind when you feel yourself slipping 'off the wagon' and you should be able to pull yourself back on before you fall off completely. It's much like giving up smoking - it's easy once you decide you really WANT to do it!

In the meantime, here's a video about a guy who lost a lot of weight, I think it's very inspirational and motivational: Ben's Story

That was all done on the C25K program - that's Couch to 5KM for the uninitiated, a program designed to get sedentary people up off the couch and capable of running a 5km within a few weeks.

Thank you Gravy for the prompt reply. I don't think I'll be on terribly long tonight as it was a VERY long day. I did read a bit about Ben last night when I signed on. I promise that tomorrow I'll click the link you provided

Regarding my day, I had eaten unhealthy foods, breakfast was fine; an apple, water, vitamins, and Iron supplements. Lunch was a grapefruit and microwavable meal along with tea. Then after work I was so busy that when I got home I didn't even want to prepare anything, so I ate some potatoe chips, and had gouda cheese with crackers and sliced up sausage, and 2 glasses of wine.

I suppose that if there is an up side to all this, I drank plenty of water. Also I'm pretty happy about the fact that although I ate less than healthy foods, I didn't OVER eat those foods. Thus, there is hope for me yet, lol.

Good night Healthy Pals forum,

I'll be seeing you tomorrow.

LN

OMG I just watched the link to Ben's success. Ben your my freaking hero. It brought me to tears to watch your success. You must be so proud, and I can only imagine how pleased your grandma is. You my friend are an inspiration. The greatest things come from a thought, don't they?

Now I"m feeling inspired to really get moving too. I do have a question though. Were you suffering with health issues or even joint issues when you embarked on your journey to healthy living? If so how did you address them.

I have a couple of good friends who I met from a weight loss forum in the past. NOw I'm going to e-mail them and have them check this site out. I think they could really like this nd who knows maybe invite a couple of their own friends too. They just have to see this video.

It's just occurred to me that I didn't properly thank you Gravy for the warm welcome

Sorry about that . I wanted to mention that I completely agree with you about whole healthy food options. Also we do have a Weight Watchers here in Canada, but it is soooo costly. I've tried many healthy diets too. There is a weight loss center we have here called Herbal magic. It is accompanied with a food plan, and when I compared portions and rules with a weight watcher friend, we discovered that they were almost exactly the same plan, so I have a solid idea of the concept with WW. I agree that they are effective, I however ran out of steam with my own dieting. So for that reason, I ended with the realization that what is really needed is the good relationship with food. And ultimately a good state of mind. So I'm doing all kinds of self help, positive thinking, deal with issues, new age stuff. With success I will not lean on food or cravings on what I would otherwise consider bad days. You see, that's what really gets me...the bad days. God forbid I should have a bad week. Well forget it.

So that's pretty much the plan. Eat well, and have even better thoughts. FYI, I have no deep dark scary thoughts or anything, I just get easily overwhelmed, frustrated, am sensitive, a stresser, a mom (lol), and don't put myself first nearly enough. Years of this has caused me to put on weight a bit at a time, and like Ben I got big, and became unhappy with myself. Oddly enough I have great self worth and love who I am, yet there are still issues. Geez, I sure ramble on. You will definitely need a spot for me to write. I'm only supposed to introduce myself here, haha.

Hi Nickel4x5 and welcome to Health Pals! I see you have made yourself right at home here, which is excellent!

You are absolutely right! Diets do not work!!!! What does work though is a LIFESTYLE CHANGE. You must change your lifestyle and keep with the change for long term results. Dieting for a little while and then going back to your unhealthy ways will never work. Starvation dieting is especially a big no no! Your body needs fuel in order to burn fat and lose weight.

Do you currently get any exercise? in addition to making healthier eating choices, exercise if very important. Even if it is just starting out walking 10-15 minutes a day... that's a good way to get started to hopefully be able to do more later on.

I'm excited to hear more about your journey!

I have been meaning to do that!

There is now a Personal Journals category under Exercise and Fitness!! I'm going to move a few existing threads into this new category. I hope this is what you were looking for!

Hi Nickel4x5,

Welcome to the forum. I would love to help you become a little bit healthier. I do believe in self discovery. If there is anything I can do to help you on your journey just let me know. I currently work with the Tacoma YMCA in a program called the "Biggest Winners." It is a healthy living, weight loss group. I focus on the exercise portions. I am still figuring out the eating myself

If you have any questions or want a suggestion of what I would do... I would love to help... but we don't really believe in prescriptions... self realization is better than anything someone else says. It sounds like you are headed in the right direction... Just remember this though... "You can be on the right track, but if you aren't moving you can still get run over." Kepp trying something... if that doesn't work try something else!

Good luck and God bless,
Ken

Wow, I'm so happy to be talking to more people. Tammy I already mentioned this on my Journal page, but THANK YOU for making the journal thread and moving my stuff there. I really appreciate it.

Tammy and Ken. I appreciate any helpful hits you have to offer. It's truly incredible how much wisdom we an pick up from others personal experiences, moreso than textbook type advice. Perhaps it's the human element, our own personal struggles along with our own little solutions, so I deeply appreciate your advice.

I have dieted so often and feel almost like a pro dieter with absolutely no success. When I recently came upon some self help information about learning to be healthy by thinking healthy, I realized that I never had healthy thoughts. Even when I was an exercise freak there was this element of dysfunction to it all. So dealing with the stuff going on in my head will be an adventure that I'm quite looking forward to. I hope you won't mind coming along for the ride, haha...

No problem!

It has been seen that Canadian people are healthy as compared to the other nations. Because Canadian people are too much conscious about the health and also about the use of the food.

Whittier Gym