Topic : Obesity

Hi Cherie 

  

Thank you so much for your advice - once again.  It is really appreciated.  Trust me, i need it. I have just joind the Dr Phil website, so I am still finding my way around.   

  

The reason the UWS is so hard to find is that the book came out before the show ( we are a little behind in the shows) so people were uninformed about the book.  Apparently there is a cook book available aswell, would you suggest I get that one to? 

  

Vanessa 

  

Hello 

  

Hope you still there.  I have just recently joined this webite and came across your e-mail.  My dad drinks too.  My mom passed away 4 years ago from cancer and things went from bad to worse!  My dad drank every day.  I felt it was my resposibility to look after him, so I left my home and my fiance and moved in with my dad. Needless to say this did not help.  He would threaten to kill himself and sit there with the gun in his hand.  Time after time I would try talk him out of it. I never dealt with my own pain as I felt that I need to be strong for him.  The only thing that kept me sane was the thought that my mom was with my brother and sister in heaven.  My mom went through alot of pain in her life and she would no longer need to feel that pain. I thought I would die with out my mom - I could not imagiine taking another breath without her in my life.  

  

That was my life 4 years ago.   

  

Today ,I am back with my fiance and we have a beautiful baby girl - nearly 10 months old.  She is the light of my dads life ( and ours) and I she keeps him going. Dont get me wrong - he still drinks nearly every day. Only thing is now he has a beautiful warm smile to come home to ( we are all staying with him now!)  

  

I have still not dealt with the pain of losing my mom - I try no to think about it..  I am grateful for every day I have with my family. As "they" say what does not kill you makes you a stronger person!  

  

What I do know is that alcohol only makes situations alot worse. 

  

 I do have the cookbook but don't really use it all that much. It does have some recipes that sound good, but there are so many recipes shared online too. Our 200+ board has lots of great support for those like me who have lots to lose. One of the members on that board started a recipe board that follows the guidelines on WLC. It can be found at

 http://www.drphil.com/messageboard/topic/235/

Just copy this and paste it into your browser and it should take you directly there if clicking on this link does not work. I think you'll love some of those recipes--there are lots of them and new ones get posted all the time. Also, if you haven't found a support group yet, just click on message boards and scroll down to weightand under that you'll need to click on "Weight Loss Challenge discussions". There you will find 3 or more pages of support groups and their titles should tell you what type of group it is. Some are more active than others. You'll find, as I did, that a group with only 3 or 4 messages posted per week is not active enough for good support. And boards with 300 messages a week will have you spending ALL your time on the computer and not getting exercise or anything else done. Some sort of happy medium is good--like 8-10 a day which means there will average 50-75 or so messages a week. That lets you keep up with your support friends online and yet not spend TOO long sitting at the computer. I wish you luck with your weight loss journey--it DOES work and I'm sure you will be successful. Until you can get a book, I'd advise you to look at the top bar and click on advice. Under that pull-down menu you'll find weight and that has several topics that will help you get started.

The item called "high response cost high yield nutrition" will help you get started on knowing what to eat. Add about 8 glasses of water daily to that (coffee, tea, and other beverages don't count--I mean WATER).  And move your body a little extra each day ON PURPOSE--it's what we call "Intentional Exercise" or IE for short on the boards. You'll find it gives you more energy and makes your body burn fat quicker too as you build muscle mass. Those articles under the advice bar are very helpful. Good luck and I hope to hear from you again--if you want to drop me an e-mail sometime, just click on my username and my e-mail address will be in my profile. I rarely check out THIS message board and only look occasionally to steer a newbie to a good support board. The Obesity board is more for information and the WLC Discussion boards are where the REAL support can be found. Hope this helped you and anybody else who is just browsing messages here. btw, if you ever send an e-mail, please put "Dr. Phil" in the subject line or my spam trapper will put the e-mail in the trash automatically. I get over 400 e-mail a day and had to do this just to screen out all the unwanted stuff, but I DO have a special folder for all my Dr. Phil e-mail and that's a priority with me.


Cherie

Hello everybody, 

 

        I am 25 year old. And i am over weight. I dont know where to go by this. I need to help please gave me advise to lose the weight.. thanks u for listening all see ya bye  

 

Lisa 

Hi, 

I am 24 and over weight. About two months ago I was weighed, and the result were an eye opener. I weighed 290lbs. I knew if  I did not do something that I would end up dead like my mom. She was 34 years old, and 400lbs when she died. 

I started a diet two weeks ago, and I feel great. My pants are already getting loose!!! I don't know really how much I have lost because I threw my scales away. I have found that scales discourage me from my goal. I have been on many diets, but I just feel something different about this one. I think it is because this is for me.  

  

I know I am in no position to give advice, but I see so many people on here saying they just can't get going. Well, this is what made me think, and get started.  I want to be healthy enough to run a play with my kids. I don't want to die young like my mom. I want to be there for my kids when they need me. Every time I open the refrigrator I vision my kids crying over my grave, asking why couldn't she just loose a little for me, like I did at my moms grave 10 years ago. Obesity kills! And I don't want to be its next victim. I have alot to loose, and I know I might fail once or twice, but hey, one burger won't kill a diet.ha So, I beg you all, DONT GIVE UP!!! 

Greetings, I am 50 years old, our entire family has a problem with being overweight, my Mom's side! Some are more overweight than others, 4 out of 5 of my siblings, including me have had thyroid surgery for goiters, growths, nodules, also have border line hypothyroidism, etc... In 1999 I weighed 255 pounds, I lost approx 76 pounds from the year 1999 to 2003, I don't own a scale! I did not actually believe I had lost that weight! I knew that my clothes were bigger, just stretched out! I had cervical spine surgery in Minneapolis in 1999 and then lumbar surgery in 2003, medical digital scales! I was shocked! happy too, I had decided to halve what I ate, and ate what I wanted, I walked from 1 to 3 miles per day, depending on pain level, I walked as far as possible! after 2003 I did have a fall and tried to "walk off" the pain radiating down my leg,  I just had another surgery on lumbar spine,Sept. of 2005, collapse of vertabrae, following the fall! but I continued to walk at least 1 mile per day, when I couldn't walk down my drive way, or turn for the toilet paper I called the spine center again, so I still walked a mile or so 4 days prior to my last surgery! But, since the nerve pain continues, and I should not have walked as much as I did, I am now taking it very easy, according to the doctors. Since the physicians had told me to walk as much as I could, they didn't realize I was not the "normal" patient who did not want to move from pain, I thought I could get better and stronger by walking! yes not a good thing, but so far so good! I consider myself blessed, and if I can lose 76 pounds, following 5 spine surgeries for DDD, and osteoarthritis, at age 50, anyone can  & begin slowly! But the thing for most persons who are overweight that I have spoken with, is, that food is an oral pacifier for pain, known or not to the person at the time, most often, child sexual abuse at a young age! Where the guilt felt, is reinforced, "as a persons body responds as a good sensation, with or with out the permission of the bodies owner!, continuing the feelings of self guilt!" (Daniel Diller, MSW.) Sharon. Michigan

Sharon, I am so happy for you!! I am looking forward to in about 6 months I posting on the board how much I have lost!!  

I have been over weight my whole life, in fact my goal weight 140, I have not been that weight since the 4th grade. Stories like yours inspire me to keep going. I know every one says loose it slow or it won't be a lifestyle change, but I won't it off so bad!! I know that once it is gone I would keep it off. The only thing I worry about is, I have heard alot of people who have lost alot of weight have had problems with loose skin.  Do you or any one here know how to prevent that from happening? 

From what I've learned from others on my support board here at the Dr. Phil site (many have lost over 200 lb.), drinking lots of water while you lose helps a lot. Also, the exercising helps too. And as you lose, you will notice that age plays a part--the younger you are the more elastic your skin is and can snap back. But some who are past 50 have lost a lot and found that wearing clothing with a little spandex in it for support helps support those muscles WHILE they are losing and then the exercise helps tone it so it will stay in place, drawing the skin up and in with it. Also, for those who lose a lot of weight, waiting up to 2 years after the weight loss is important as sometimes it takes that long for the body to respond and draw that skin and those muscles back where they belong. After 2 years if the skin is still "flappy" that's when to consider cosmetic surgery to remove that loose skin. But give your body a chance to fix itself first and use those spandex tops and pants to prevent the floppy look in the meantime.

Hope that helps.

Cherie
 

Hi, 

  

I am new to this site...I am having the same struggle. AIU can start a diet or an exercise program..I just can't stay with it. 

  

I just am tired of being FAT. Literally. I just want to feel good. 

  

Rhonda 

  

  

The question now is where to go to continue and have success at losing the weight. First, if you haven't read Dr. Phil's Ultimate Weight Solution book yet, get it and start reading (work through the questionnaires as you go too; don't skip over thinking you will go back to do them later--you get far more out of it if you work through it as you go). Then start planning one healthy meal, then another and another until you have one day's meals (3) planned. Now plan 2 healthy snacks and you are set for your first day of the food--remember, food is only ONE of the 7 keys. Drink at least 8 glasses of water and move your body more than you did yesterday (baby steps will get you to your goal). To work on ALL SEVEN keys and have that permanent weight loss success, move from this "Obesity" board (which is informational mostly) and go to one of the support group boards (there are MANY) listed under message boards with the overall heading of "WEIGHT" and a subheading of "Weight Loss Challenge Community". Groups are based on age, amount of weight to lose, location, lifestyle, etc. Try a few groups that sound like they have something in common with you until you find one you feel comfortable with. They will be far better as a support group than a single buddy or even 2 or 3 buddies. Individuals vary in their success rate and some even drop out entirely--your message board support group will be there for you through your entire journey even though a few of the members may come and go on occasion. You will find great support on the message boards.

This program really does work and I'm sure you can lose the weight too and keep it off. This is the beginning of a healthy new lifestyle for you. And you will be happily surprised as how good you WILL feel. I know you can do it--hang in there.

Cherie