Big girl, big fears ><

[Amylittlehands]

Hello!
I'm brand new to MM and SW (Doing it at home with books from my cousin).
I have a few things I need to ask;
* What exactly is Healthy A & Healthy B? This confused me a bit, I know I need 2A's & 2B's but what foods fall into this category? My food optimizing book didn't state this.

* I'm hoping to lose 94lbs, with no time limit. I see this as a huge task, is it do-able?

* What's a decent amount of syn's per day? should I calculate it daily or weekly?

* Do I have to measure all foods? Like Healthy Extra? Or just syns

Here's all about me:
I've been in a deep spiral of chronic depression for the past four years, looks like it'll be a life-long thing too and on meds for life. I had to quit my job because I had a breakdown. I've gained around 6st in total, maybe even more. I lost my auntie through cancer who was a mother figure to me and a best friend. The only decent thing that has happened to me is finding my soul mate, Simon. If i didn't have him I seriously doubt I'd be posting this right now.

With my depression it's extremely hard to find an ounce of motivation to even get out of bed, never mind losing weight. I have a cross-trainer in my bedroom collecting dust, and I constantly shout inside my head "Come on Amy, even if it's 5minutes" I can not bring myself to do it.

But now I actually want things to change and by golly it's going to be painful, difficult and extremely stressful for me but I need to do this for myself and for Simon too. I don't have money to join clubs like Slimming World and Weight Watchers but I'm planning to use the basic guideline and use the free recipes etc ... I also read through my old posts of when I lost a stone in a month and will take tips from my former self!

I really feel like I need to ease myself into this now, exercise will be done but in small amounts and build it up slowly or I'll end up collapsing.

Regarding food, I have an extremely unhealthy relationship with it. I'm in a vicious circle of; eating to make myself happy for a small amount of time, then I feel guilty that I gorged myself and I then eat again to make myself happy. I really need to break out of this but I keep using excuses for eating healthy.

The main thing I'm lacking is support, my family have never been there for me and Simon, well he tries bless him but he's fit and healthy himself and has this annoying extremely positivive attitutde that I can literally climb a mountain tomorrow.

Anyway, I'll cut this post now. You'll hear from me soon, sorry for the down-of-a-post!

Amy.

Me at a not so healthy weight but happy with my look.

I think I was in the 11-12st's here.

Me now, I feel disgusted at this picture and can't believe I'm posting this.

I think I'm 17st 6lbs, I'll have to check this.

 

[vanilla_cupcake]

Hi Amy, welcome to Minimins

Your food optimising book will tell you everything you need to know about what foods you should be eating, you've obviously missed the page!

There is also a 'doing it from home' section in the sticky threads above the main forum where you'll find a whole ton of information

Best of luck with SW

 

[kimmykins2008]

Hey amy, welcome.
At least your honest about yourself and your situation and understand that things now need to change, well done for taking the first steps.
Your a choices will be for calcium such as milk and cheese, your b choices will be for fibre such as bread, cereal and stewed fruits.
It will all be in the front of your food optimising book.
Yes they should all be measured and counted just like your syns, a and b choices need to be specific amounts of specific products as recommended by the book. The only things that don't need measuring are free foods and super free foods.
Syns per day can be between 5 and 15 so most people tend to opt for 10 syns per day. 1 syn is roughly 20 cals of high fat foods such as cake, chocolate, mayo or sauces.

Maybe it would work best if you were to break your goals down a bit, mine are each two stone apart and this works well for me, aim firstly to loose a stone or two and once you have reached that point aim for two more or whatever suits you. I have up to 6 stone to loose myself and prefer to take this two stone at a time rather than 6 stone at once, feels more achievable to set and aim for small targets that all together will add up to the big target at the end of it all!

As for exercise maybe start slowly with a 5 minute walk outside every day and slowly working up to longer periods for example, the fresh air and natural daylight may also help to lift your mood too, it certainly does for me.

As for support, there is ten tonne of it on here, so visit regularly and ask if you are unsure of anything and there are always people out there that will be glad to help.

Take care and the best of luck x

 

[kimmykins2008]

Ps: I started my journey late dec at 16st 12lb and so have as much to loose as yourself, just remember you are not alone and that there are people on here that have lost much more weight than we have to loose so it is certainly very possible!

 

[PatchworkPuss]

Hi Amy - welcome to SW!

Firstly how old is the book you have? There have been a lot of changes recently so if it's an old one it will only make things a bit more difficult for you. I know it's hard but the best thing to do would be to go along to a class and get up to date info and have the consultant explain everything to you. If you're not that familiar with the plans it can be difficult to get your head around but not impossible.

Firstly the number of healthy extras depends on which plan you follow. Unless you are a vegetarian you would be best doing Extra Easy. If your book doesn't have this plan in it then it is really old.

On extra easy you get one HEA (healthy extra A) which is measured amount of milk or cheese to make sure you get calcium in your diet. And one HEB (healthy extra B) to make sure you get fibre. HEBs are thing like wholemeal bread, wholegrain cereals and cereal bars, dried/stewed/canned fruit, and some fruits. Only foods that are high enough in fibre can be counted as a HEB and there will be a list of some of them in your book. There is a huge, complete list online if you are a group member.

Then you have your free foods which you can eat as much as you need to feel full without being stuffed - you don't need to weigh these. On Extra Easy that would be lean meats, fish, pasta, rice, potates, grains, lentils, pulses, some meatfree products, and most fat free yoghurts and cottages cheeses. You can eat as much of these are you need just as long as each meal is made up of one third 'superfree' foods. These are most fruit and vegetables. Again you don't need to weigh these so fill your boots.

Then you have your syns. Everyone gets 15 a day and you can choose to use them daily or carry some over for the weekend, whichever you prefer.

There are lots of threads in the sticky section above that explain things for newbies and FAQs so go and have a read of them. If you have any questions just give a shout!

 

[Chipmunk89]

Hiya hun, welcome to MM and SW. This site is a brilliant support. Take a little bit of time to familiarise yourself with all the different sections as there are so many areas to help you with different things - a place for Syn Values, a place for questions about Healthy Extras, a place to look at Inspirational Photos of people who have lost astonishing amounts and look incredible etc etc. I'm doing SW at home too and I literally could not have stuck with it for this long without Minimins.

As for the questions you have, you should be able to find that in the Food Optimising book. I think you have to read all the info over a couple of times until everything starts to make sense... then it will still take a couple of weeks practicing to get the hang of it properly but it is really easy once you get there.

Have a look at the Slimming World Advice for New comers sticky thread on the main page as that explains it all in a really easy way too!

I know the amount to lose seems daunting at the moment but try to break it down a little bit. If you averaged at 2lb loss a week it would take less than a year to get rid of the 94lbs.

YOU CAN DO THIS!

 

[rachaeld82]

Not much to add to what everyone else has put, other than to say good luck! If you ever feel in need of support, come on to this website - its fantastic!

 

[xMandyDx]

Hi Amy,

Well done for coming on here and bearing all, so to speak. Your talk of depression really struck a cord with me. I suffered with post-natal depression for over a year after my youngest and it was the hardest thing I've ever battled. Weight loss is a cinch compared to forcing myself to get up, get dressed, brush my hair and sometimes that's as far as I'd get before wanting to kill someone or cry for hours on end.

I went to the doctor, who gave me anti-depressants, but to be honest, I'm no good for taking medication and just threw them out and battled it on my own. It took serious amounts of will power, which I had to literally drag up from the depths of myself, to do this. But I done it.
I would make myself get out every day, even just down the road to my friend's house. I hated doing it. But afterward, when I came home, I was glad that I had done it. Still I would have to force myself again to leave the house the following day, hating every minute of it.

Depression is no small thing. I really hope you can get to grips with it. Losing weight and gaining self-confidence will help immensely with this. Just the simple satisfaction of having complete control over one aspect of your life -- food -- will be enormously rewarding.

Have a look around the site, join a thread in the Through the Stones to your Zone area, and get daily support from members who have exactly the same amount to lose as you.

If there's anything you need to know, just post a question or do a search. Everyone here is so helpful... I can honestly say I probably wouldn't have done as well as I have so far, if this site didn't exist.

Best of luck x

 

[flab2fab82]

It is doable to lose 94lbs. I also do Slimming World from home and have lost 70lbs so far. I have found various internet sources which are invaluable for support. This place is good as are many of the facebook groups.

 

[Micci]

Hi Amy,

welcome to minimins and the start of the journey to a new you. You'll get support and good advice here - I can add nothing to the advice you've already been given as to how the plan works.

However, I see you feel really unsupported and have depression. Eh, I know about depression from personal experience and living with someone who is bi-polar.

Can you talk to your doctor? I have been lucky with our local health services and got to see a very good counsellor. It has primarily been CBT aimed at helping me with binge eating but it has spread out acccording to my needs and I'm very grateful to have this support as my SW group is crap.

This was actually a self referal, I picked up a leaflet and phoned to say I needed help. Or maybe I filled in a form and then got a phone call - I can't remember. Before that I was getting support from a local low cost counselling service that was very good too.

Could you access anything like this do you think? Have a google on your area and low cost counselling and have a look around your Primary Care Trust or even ask your GP direct if you feel comfortable talking with him/her.

Wishing you all the very best.