Please help! I have no motivation!

[Pam]

Hello Ladies. I really need your help! Ever since I was 6 years old, I've been obsessed with my weight. I was in gymnastics, and was constantly surrounded by girls who were tiny. They made us weigh ourselves every single day, and record our weights. I distinctly remember most of the other girls weighed 40 pounds or so, and I felt huge at 65-70 pounds. However, by this time, I was 9 years old! I was by no means overweight. My coach put it into my head that I was. As the years went by, all I thought about was my weight. When I was 12, I thought I was gigantic, so I only wore one outfit ALL the time, because I thought it made me look smaller. I wasn't even big then. I went on this diet, where all I ate were green beans and pretzels. Sounds odd I know, but that's literally ALL I ate. At about 5'2", I went down to about 82 pounds. I'm not sure when this diet ended, but I returned to a normal weight by the time I was 14, and I still thought I was fat. Slowly, my weight crept up to about 135 pounds, at 5'4". This time, I wanted to loose weight in a healthy manner. The thing is, I became obsessed. I did go from 135 to 112, but it was pretty fast. I was doing the Power 90 videos, but the problem was, I was obsessing over the eating part. I would eat NO MORE than 1,200 calories a day. I calculated EVERYTHING I ate on fitday.com. It was taking over my life. I went to a rehearsal dinner with my boyfriend, and I wouldn't even eat, because it would ruin my diet. A few months after I went off the diet, I continued to exercise. However, I had felt so deprived, that I began to binge eat. I would consume huge amounts of foods, and I started to gain the weight back. It made me hate myself. Now, here I am. I eat terribly, and I haven't been exercising. I desperately want to weigh 115-120, which I believe is healthy for my height (5'4"). I now weigh about 140. I just don't know how to do it! I'm so afraid that I will become obsessed again, or even more afraid that I will loose the weight, only to gain it back again. I plan to start a healthy exercise program. I love jogging, so I would like to jog for 30-45 minutes a day. I also really like pilates for toning, as well as using a step for my buns (my biggest problem area!). I just need some motivation! I hate the fact that I feel as if my whole life has been wasted, because I'm too worried about my body. I'm afraid my metabolism has been ruined, due to all the yo-yo dieting! Please help me.

Thank you for taking the time to read this!

http://community.icompact.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

[Pam]

Hello Ladies. I really need your help! Ever since I was 6 years old, I've been obsessed with my weight. I was in gymnastics, and was constantly surrounded by girls who were tiny. They made us weigh ourselves every single day, and record our weights. I distinctly remember most of the other girls weighed 40 pounds or so, and I felt huge at 65-70 pounds. However, by this time, I was 9 years old! I was by no means overweight. My coach put it into my head that I was. As the years went by, all I thought about was my weight. When I was 12, I thought I was gigantic, so I only wore one outfit ALL the time, because I thought it made me look smaller. I wasn't even big then. I went on this diet, where all I ate were green beans and pretzels. Sounds odd I know, but that's literally ALL I ate. At about 5'2", I went down to about 82 pounds. I'm not sure when this diet ended, but I returned to a normal weight by the time I was 14, and I still thought I was fat. Slowly, my weight crept up to about 135 pounds, at 5'4". This time, I wanted to loose weight in a healthy manner. The thing is, I became obsessed. I did go from 135 to 112, but it was pretty fast. I was doing the Power 90 videos, but the problem was, I was obsessing over the eating part. I would eat NO MORE than 1,200 calories a day. I calculated EVERYTHING I ate on fitday.com. It was taking over my life. I went to a rehearsal dinner with my boyfriend, and I wouldn't even eat, because it would ruin my diet. A few months after I went off the diet, I continued to exercise. However, I had felt so deprived, that I began to binge eat. I would consume huge amounts of foods, and I started to gain the weight back. It made me hate myself. Now, here I am. I eat terribly, and I haven't been exercising. I desperately want to weigh 115-120, which I believe is healthy for my height (5'4"). I now weigh about 140. I just don't know how to do it! I'm so afraid that I will become obsessed again, or even more afraid that I will loose the weight, only to gain it back again. I plan to start a healthy exercise program. I love jogging, so I would like to jog for 30-45 minutes a day. I also really like pilates for toning, as well as using a step for my buns (my biggest problem area!). I just need some motivation! I hate the fact that I feel as if my whole life has been wasted, because I'm too worried about my body. I'm afraid my metabolism has been ruined, due to all the yo-yo dieting! Please help me.

Thank you for taking the time to read this!

http://community.icompact.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

[bulletproof77]

Hey there,
Sorry to hear about your life long struggle with your body image! Glad to hear you recognize it, and want to change for the better!

I guess first off, you need to think of it as a lifestyle change... Think of it as staying healthy and taking care of your body, not just a temporary "fix". Don't worry about the past, you can only change the future. Everyone has the potential to find their inner athlete.

I posted a few websites which were really good, here they are again:
Women's Weight Training (http://www.stumptuous.com/weights.html)
Fat Loss Tips (http://www.fatlosstips.com/)

The other thing I'd advise is to stop counting calories and stop weighing yourself -concentrate on how you look and feel! And don't forget the importance of rest - training doesn't make you stronger - it's the rest/repair time inbetween that does.

[Italianangel]

You can come back easy, with your mesamorph gymnast body you are sooo lucky if you learn to do it right and also like bullet says, lifestyle change.
I was you.........been there......
You need to put your obsession to gaining muscle weight, it weighs more than fat so ditch the numbers.
Look at eating every 2-3 hours, protein at each meal, tons of fruits and veggies, chicken fish, and clean whole foods.
Exercise 3 days per week at least with some weight and cardio.
Let me know if you need more help with this and I can help, will need more details though.
Linda

[krissy.b]

Have you ever had your basal metabolism calculated by a nutritionist? That's what your body burns on a daily basis just by being alive basically...basic functions. I had this done when I was recovering from some eating problems and it was kind of a wakeup call for me. You burn a lot more than you think you do. It might give you a better handle on what you're doing.

Sounds to me like your exercise doesn't need any help. And I don't really know, I'm not an expert, but 1200 calories is a pretty normal number...not everyone needs to eat 2000 calories a day. It really has to do with how many calories you use naturally and how active you are.

What I would do if I were you is to try out new types of exercises, work on toning, maybe some strength training and focus on eating for health, not for losing weight. One will follow the other. Keep your foods varied...don't limit yourself to a set of foods, that's never healthy. Focus on getting lots of veggies and fruits! They'll fill you up so you won't want to splurge so much.