Hi everyone!
I'm Kate, I'm almost 19 years old (14 days!) and I've gained about 30 pounds in the past 4-5 months...I'm up to around 210 now (my highest was 217) and I'm so unhappy. this isn't me! My normal, healthy weight is around 160-170.
The reason I gained all that weight was because I was living on my own as I finished up high school... I wasn't excersizing and I just packed on the pounds. I'm so so so sooooo angry at myself as I just had breast reduction surgery and I feel that if I hadn't gained the weight, my doctor would have made my breasts even smaller. So, now, when I lose the weight again, my boobs are going to look huge still unless the weight loss affects them, too... let's hope.
The thing is, I'm not in the right state of mind to start this by myself. I need help, lots of it!
Right now I can't really do any real excersize because of my boobs healing (I got them done this past wednesday) But I'm going to try going for a walk tomorrow with my mom and see how I feel.
So I guess the real task at hand is food. Doing nothing all day sure works up an appetite haha why is that? I do know alot about nutrition and dieting and such because I have lost alot of weight in the past. I'm not sure what I'm going to do this time, though... Atkins works amazingly for me and if I keep a low carb diet (nothing tooooooo hard, though) I can keep it off. But now that I know how harmful it is on the body, I can't do that to myself.
I'm also not that keen on alot of prep work for right now as my energy level isn't high at all because I'm also just coming off of my anti-depressants and the surgery and blah blha blah excuses excuses... but I think once I'm back on track and feeling healthy again, my energy will come back.
Wow that was longer than I thought it would be. Thank you for reading this and I hope that you have some helpful advice, tips, words of encouragement, whatevvvver for me. I hope traineo becomes a part of my journey to "me" again.

you can do it. just find an exercise program you like and stick with it. or change it up if you get bored. eat good. exercise some... be happy

kate you are not alone...i also just turned 19 and i am also overweight...i dont want to keep talking about me but i do want to mention that if you want to begin your weight loss by monitoring your diet try weight watchers...i joined and have been happy with the results...it wont be until your third week that they encourage you to exercise. so hopefully that will give you sufficient time to heal from your surgery. best wishes and keep us posted!!

I also felt I couldn't do it for such a long time. But two months ago I just started and I've lost 9 kilos (~20 lbs) so far without much exercising.
I am a student at university and spend most of my time in class or working at home at my pc, so I am not very physically active either.
It is possible, just start!
If you think you cannot stand a real diet now and depriving yourself of food, think about doing JUDDDD (Johnson's Up Day Down Day Diet) - the first post explains very good what it is all about.

Kate.... hey! You've made a step in the right direction by figuring out where you're at, where you want to go, and asking for help to get there. You go, girl! Listen, my best piece of advice is "moderation". Whether we're talking diet or exercise, you need to work yourself into it slowly and steadily until you can find the level that's right for you for the long haul. If you jump in with both feet, you may turn yourself off before you get going. But make the committment to yourself and write down your goals so you can pull them out when you're wondering "Why am I doing this?". And don't make them about a number on the scale. Make them about you and your lifestyle, whether it's having more energy to play with your baby brother, improving your tennis game, or getting into that sexy little outfit that you bought last year and now it's hanging in the back of the closet.

You seem to have a lot of the knowledge right now, so you know it's a lifestyle change that works best. The "diet" that worked for me was the "I-can-do-this-for-a-long-time-diet"! My basic premise was "If you absolutely have to have the French Silk Pie, have it! But eat one piece, not two, and have the grapes tomorrow. AND have it because you really, really want it, not because your boss 'bled' all over your work, your other-half/parent was a bonehead, or the mailman kicked your dog." That was my diet, and I tried to make "better" choices overall (baked not fried, etc). The other thing I had to learn was the difference between being "full" and being "satisfied". When things taste good, I want to keep eating... my "satisfaction" level coming far after my "full" level. Listen to your body and stop when you are full. I used all the tricks from using smaller plates, to covering up my food with a napkin, to dumping pepper on what was left to keep me from nibbling. Whatever it takes, do it. Do it for yourself! Believe it or not, brushing my teeth helped me. You won't be as interested in reaching for that 2d or 3rd piece of whatever if you've just brushed your teeth. The taste of the food reinforces the "want more syndrome" for me.

Jullian Michaels, from the Biggest Loser, has a website, www.jillianmichaels.com where you can sign up for a free daily newsletter. What you get is a short, motivating, good piece of advice in your email everyday. Helpful for keeping your goals in the front of your mind.

Best of luck! I have a feeling that you'll be posting fantastic results!

Once you're healed, the mere thought of how great exercise makes you feel should be enough to get you started. If not, find a dedicated friend who will push you.



You claim to know a lot about dieting and nutrition, yet you don't know what to do? That makes absolutely no sense. If you approach food logically you will find that there's no convoluted plan you need to follow (barring allergies and specific special health needs). Stay away from greasy and fried foods and eat whole grains, fruits, vegetables, yadda yadda yadda. Eat well and exercise like it's your job -- it's THAT simple.



If you've been out of the game for a while, your energy isn't going to magically reappear. Once your wounds are healed, get out there and let exercise be the caffeine of your life.

I'm going to agree with Kim and Beita here. You need something you can stick to, and I'll tell you if you're committed to eating better, Weight Watchers is a really healthy way to do it. Even if you can't make meetings, try their online tools. I've lost 18 lbs so far and I've learned how to take care of myself in the process.

Trust me, you want to learn to do that now while you're young. It will serve you even better later in life. All those really thin girls you went to high school with will struggle with weight gain when their metabolism slows, but you will know how to eat right and exercise and will probably be in better shape for it.

Thank you to all of you for responding. Maybe I'm just really hormonal and drugged up on pain killers but it brought tears to my eyes to see so many strangers care...

It's funny how many of you mentioned weight watchers because I did start going to a meeting a couple weeks ago but I didn't stick to it because of exams conflicting with my meeting time and a number of excuses... I guess I wasn't ready? I do plan on starting again and after I finish writing this I'm going to find a meeting near where i live now.

Again, thanks guys! Hopefully I can count on some of you for motivation in the future