Afraid I'll never be able to lose weight

[Anonymous]

My problem is quite common, I think. I'm 22 years old and 40 pounds overweight. I've had weight problems since I was a child. When I was 5 years old I spent year in a hospital, fighting with leukemia. Fortunately, I was cured from this sickness, now I'm in complete remission. However, during the treatment I was given some medication that made me gain weight a lot and I can't get rid of it since.

Now I've decided to do something about it. I went to see a dietitian and he informed me about how to eat properly, when and what to eat. I follow these rules strictly and do everything like the doctor told me to.

Only a week is past since I started my diet, but I'm afraid it won't work for me. I know one week isn't enough to see the results, but somehow I think I'll never see them. As far back as I can remember myself I've always been chubby and so I don't even know what it means and how it feels to be thin.

Those of you who tried to lose weight - how soon did you see the first results? I'm just afraid I'm so fat I won't manage it.

[Mark]

Haha I can sympathise with this! As a child until 5 I used to suffer with tonsillitis every other week. This mean't I couldn't keep down food and became severely underweight. At 5 I had my tonsils removed and life got better.. However now my body could stomach food.. and where it used to just puke it straight back up it would now hold on making me gain weight.

I was quite a chubby kid - did rugby which helped it be chubby but not severely overweight - then I injured my leg and had to stop but piled on the weight! In Uni I actually scarily weighed around 19-20 stone which was a massive wake up call because I couldn't even go to a shop to get clothes that fit. So from year 2 I guess I decided to start cutting back. I dropped around 3 stone and looked a lot better, then 18 months ago joined a gym and the weight fell off, (This combined with healthy eating!).

The last turn was a car accident in October which meant I had to stop gyming so weight became to come back on.. New year again I cut back my food and it started dropping off. My weight can go crazy up and down all the time. I find I lose weight EVERYWHERE other than my stomach to start with then I have to work on that and it goes. You can't expect miracles it will take time.. but within a few weeks you should notice a big difference.

Nobody is too big to lose weight - it will happen you just need to give it time. Also many guys will tell you being thin isn't all its made out to be.. Being healthy should be your main concern here dude.

No pain no gain...

[Bowyn Aerrow]

This sounds like another member who use to come here a lot. In his case he admits to being morbidly obese, to the point where his weight issues were causing health issues.

He eventually took the bull by the horns and did the hard work (diet and exercise) and totally turned this aspect of his life around.

If I recall correctly he had pretty much the same feelings you did, a strong suspicion he would never have a 'normal' weight, and that he would never lose weight. However once he started following his program and started seeing some results from it, he was encouraged and kept up with the program and eventually got his body mass to 'normal'.

I think the discouragement aspect here is typical for those struggling to reduce their fat mass.

I assure you, if you do not have a medical problem that prevents fat loss you will, if you stick with a healthy diet and a regiment of exercise, lose the fat. Just don't get all carried away.

Mind you did not gain that fat over night, you should not expect to lose it rapidly.

Also keep in mind that there is a huge difference between 'ideal' mass and 'fantasy ideal'... having some padding is typical of the human species, having 0% body fat is atypical and for many unnatural/unhealthy.

Besides, us'ns who enjoy men with a bit of padding would kill ourselves if every man on earth had less than 3% body fat

[CellarDweller]

If you eat right and exercise, the weight will drop of, but you must stick with it, and be patient.

[CarGuy65]

I can relate to this! In the beginning of 2012 I was up to almost 300 pounds, high blood pressure and borderline diabetic. With just watching what I ate, cutting out the late evening deserts and snacks, and getting out and walking, I lost 70 pounds in a 7 month period. I am still hovering around 225 but feel a lot better and my blood pressure is normal and the the diabetic problem is now gone.
You can do it. It is not easy and it takes a lot will power but you can do it. I still have about 25 pounds to go but I will get there. And yes some of us do like a guy with a little extra padding. Not everyone wants a perfect body with 6 pack abs ! Good luck to you! Paul

[swalter]

I lost 100 lbs in a little under a year with a change in diet, and committed exercise routine. The best thing to do is lose the weight slowly over time, a few pounds a month. The weight will come off.

[jogu656]

I battle with my weight a lot, at one point in my life i was 275lbs, tried many things but something that always works for me is going up and down stairs, i go to a nearby school and do it for 30 min non-stop then i jog few miles everyday, this allowed me to go down to 160 lbs and got to experience what being a size small was, i also eat steam veggies with every meal and it has helped me a lot, im an over eater so i struggle everyday to fight the urge to eat for fun, or even eat wen im not hungry, recently i gained 40 lbs because i stopped working out for about 6 months and ive started doing stairs and jogging again for a month and ive lost 20 lbs, so wen i do this to answer your question it works fast, i don't diet just add more veggies less of the unnecessary foods and water lots of water, by next month i know ill be 160lbs again determination is key plus this is a healthy way and you don't have to go all crazy like me, weight is tough on us physically, mentally, and emotionally, only us who know what it is to be fat, chubby, or big boned (term i was called a lot and hated btw lol) know the struggle so find what works on you, a healthy way, fall in love with it. Hugs and goodluck

[AlfredM]

I'm 23 and was 66lbs overweight.

Well,currently I'm 44lbs overweight,and I lost all that in 8 weeks. I'm also seeing a dietitian and using supplements under his supervision,which is probably why I lost quite fast in the first week (around 8lbs),but the weeks after,I lost at a steady rate of 1-3lbs per week.

Some week I didn't lose any at all,which is what my dietitian called as weight loss plateau region,and those weeks are tough cause it felt like my effort wasn't good enough,and I thought I tried my hardest. And since I've been overweight my whole life,he told me I might hit plateau region more than once,so I'm bracing myself for it,LOL.

This is not my first attempt at losing weight though,but somehow I have a feeling it's gonna work out this time,cause I've put my mind to change my life style instead of just losing weight. It is tough,but we can do it!

[sillyboy86]

I never was overweight (actually I gain ? pounds since of the beginning of this year but for a specific reason) and I was always afraid of this thing cause in my family I have and and various obese people.
Obese.
And now, all of them are still fat people, but during the years they've loss a lot of their weight, for many reasons (also dangerous reasons).

If you do workout, follow a diet and start a more healthy lifestyle you only need to have patience, but not so much, cause quite soon you will see some results. ;-)

[Mark]

If you do workout, follow a diet and start a more healthy lifestyle you only need to have patience, but not so much, cause quite soon you will see some results. ;-)

You are quite lucky - Italians have such a healthier life well it appears so :p