challenging the mind set to get rid of the weight?

[markymark1]

So im a 22 year old guy, have always being a big guy, managed to get down to 16 stone when i was in six form, boosted my confidence and made me feel good, i started university and got depressed, piled on the weight got to 22 stone, i am not around the 20 stone mark,

 

i really really want to lose weight but i just cant seem to either keep up excerise or actually work out fully, and all i do is eat crap, i drink so many fizzy drinks and eat lots of sweets and chocolate,

 

I love cooking but hate cooking for myself, im still single as i have no look with girls and have zero confidence with them,

 

money is really tight and all this combined i find i sink in to deep depression and take ages to bounce back, im good at hiding my feelings and put on a brave face, i feel like a disator at times and i need to try and get my life sorted,

 

i find it really hard to get out of deep depression, i work for the ambulance service so dont really want to approach my doctor and ask for anti depressants as i dont want the numb feeling that they can give, i am about to restart with my councellor next week but i am not sure if this will actually work,

 

any advice on weight loss, breaking bad habits of food and drink, and fighting depression and improving confidence?

 

mark:(

[ErosOcean]

Disciplining yourself is not easy but it does make your life better. The only way to get better at being disciplined is by trying. You have to keep trying and never give up.

 

Start small, you want to build momentum. So the first thing to do in losing weight is to gather information. Learn about nutrition and what type of diet you need in order to get to your goal. Diet is important because it's 80% of the work. The other 20% is exercise.

 

Although I'm a vegan now one book that helped me to lose weight is Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson. This book is really good in covering the information about nutrition and why people can't seem to lose weight. Reading this book will give you some profound knowledge on what types of food causes you to get fat. It will also help you put together a healthy meal plan. I've also used some of the concepts in this book to construct my vegan diet.

 

The next step is exercising. You can start small by walking a little more. But one resource that I've been using is Lean Gains. If you google it you'll find the website with information on how to get started on this particular workout program. It's really simple, effective, and some of the success stories who have six pack abs still eat junk food like ice cream and hamburgers. Of course, you would get results faster if you stuck with a healthier meal plan.

 

I would focus on getting into shape as eating healthier and being fit can help fight depression. Plus, looking good can give you some confidence. Not saying having six pack abs will make you the happiest person or will get you lots of girls. But a healthy lifestyle is a start towards a better life.

 

The hardest part is not focusing so much on being negative. Some people have made it a habit. This has to be broken by thinking ahead and above yourself. Focus on the activities that will get you to your goals. Don't put a lot of focus on what you don't have.

 

Another thing you can do to motivate yourself is to look in the mirror and say, "I AM willing to change." Repeat this daily. Say it in your mind when you don't feel like working out, say it when you start feeling depressed.

 

It's just one step at a time to getting better. Just like when babies learn to walk. You can't force them to start running if they haven't even learned to walk right. It takes time but you can do it. Keep trying and don't give up.

[charlietheginger]

I boiled eggs and ate fruits and veggies

For 5 month lost 40lbs

 

30eggs a day

6 hard boiled eggs 5times a day

With half banana of orange with the eggs

 

If their is a will their is a way

[FitChick]

You don't have to go to extremes. Join Weight Watchers or Slimming World. Try the Zone Diet or Mediterranean Diet. They are sensible lifestyle changes which you can continue once you've lost the weight. At that point you can limit yourself to one treat a day.

[River Rain]

I manage depression. I force myself to exercise every day because that really helps my mood. I also take B-complex vitamins daily and fish oil, which help both with stress and mood. I gave up the anti-d route because of side-effects. I think the key to beginning is the tired old phrase (but effective) "Just Do It". You remember how good you felt at 16 stone, keep that visual in mind and force yourself. It's all about self-discipline, and when you're feeling low, that's hard to find, been there. Try to do something active every day though. And do yourself a favour, give up the soft drinks, they are evil. I only drink water and fresh juice now, and occasionally some wine, but water is my main beverage of choice.

 

I've chewed gum when I wanted to snack too, that works for me. But my "trick" is the daily exercise, it's the foundation of everything else that I do that's healthy for myself.

[pteromom]

I've lost 60 pounds, and I did it simply by trying every day to make the best choices. That means saying no to bad foods when you can, eating less of them when you can't, and waking up every day with the attitude of "I will try!" instead of getting angry at yourself if you have a bad day.

 

I still eat all the things I love - I just eat LESS of them.

[SmileFace]

When I initially lost weight. I started at 300+. I started walking. I was pretty depressed back then and it helped on my mood. I didn't see walking as a way to exercise, since I was still to be ashamed to join a gym but I seen it as a way get away in a healty way. Walking replaced my food - I didn't need to eat when feeling down but I walked. I discovered tons of new neighborhoods and walked all the bridges in my town. I never take elevators for flights less than 5 and never take a elevator going down - doesn't matter the amount of flights. I take the stairs over esclator. I leave home early to go to work so I can walk instead of taking the bus. Anyway the point every little counts. I lost 40 pounds this while I stopped drinking my calories. That is all I did and since I was seeing progress I wanted more. I stopped all processed carbs - anything that will melt in my mouth was a no go. I lost a next 30. Everything was falling into place. At this point I started going to the gym and actually dieting - since it does take some dedication the lower your weight but don't rush into anything but take it in steps. All the luck. I am down 130 from my highest. Start will small changes to a better life. First things first stop drinking your calories!

 

Plus try to pre pack your meals. I buy about 3 dozen eggs, 2 packs of frozen vegs, a pack of chicken breakfast, greek yogurt, cottage cheese, frozen spinach, fresh vegtables, tofu and vary my meals from that. Remember seasoning of all types are all low on cal so no reason for bland foods. Just low carb, high protein.

[Madman81]

For exercise, I think you should try something like P90x. It costs about $140 to buy, but you can probably find it online and download it for free. I got it about a month and a bit ago, and decided to actually pay for it as an extra motivator (so that I'd feel like an idiot if I spent the money on it and didn't use it).

 

I've had a few setbacks with it so far, but I'm getting back into it. The great thing about it, and other home exercise programs that you follow every day, is that they give you goals and targets. P90x comes with a meal plan as well. I never thought I'd say this (traditionally I LOVE burgers and fries, e.g.), but I find I actually crave healthy food, big salads for lunch, stuff like that. I've found the best things are getting the workout done first thing in the morning so that I start the day with an accomplishment, drinking lots of water during the day, and most recently, switching to tea from coffee.

 

Another good idea is to allow yourself a weekly "cheat day". If you crave pizza, or fish and chips, or whatever, it can be hellish to have to stop eating them "forever". So don't. Eat healthy most of the time, but allow yourself the cheat day so that you have something to look forward to in terms of food. And after you've enjoyed a cheat meal, you know that you don't have to wait forever to enjoy it again -- you only need to wait a week.

 

Another one: don't forego snacks, but make them healthy stuff. Almonds (especially the tamari ones -- damn, those are good), baby carrots with hummus, gherkins, berries, stuff like that. You won't lose weight just by reducing your food intake -- you'll lose weight by ingesting the same volume of food but having it be healthy food. It may seem a bit counter-intuitive, but if you eat a massive bowl of salad for lunch (go a bit easy on the dressing), you'll feel full, but you'll only have consumed half or less of the calories you'd have consumed if you'd eaten a double cheeseburger with bacon. Plus all the extra nutrients you're getting from the veggies.

 

And, lastly, you need inspiration. What's your favourite music? Listen to it while you exercise. In my experience, the best bets are rhythmic and energetic (techno, hip hop) or aggressive (heavy metal, hard rock). Google "body transformation images" and see how other people have shed pounds and improved their physiques. There's tons of inspirational stories out there. Go to bodybuilding.com and look for their section on transformations -- lots of before and after photos with stories attached to them. People in far worse situations than you (massively obese, near-death experiences, etc.) who have made huge improvements. You can too.

 

Hope I don't sound too preachy, but these are just things I've done that have really helped me. The work's not done yet, but it's going well and I intend to keep it up.

 

Get out there and do it, my friend. You'll feel great. I guarantee.