I am a 19 year old female and I need to lose 25 pounds. I've been having great difficulty achieving this. My family doesn't support me at all and since my dad does the grocery shopping, he always buys some cookies and junk foods because my brother eats some every now and then. Even when I tell my dad not to buy them, he'll buy them anyway.

I also have issues dealing with stress and boredom. I often eat to replace these feelings, even though I know I shouldn't. I also eat late at night (I tend to stay up late) - I go for granola bars and oatmeal cookies usually, or other foods with carbs. Again, I know this is not right for weight loss. I know what proper nutrition is, yet I can't seem to stick to it.

Do you guys think I should see a doctor about this? Can any of you help me? It's very difficult to go on a diet and stick to it alone. I've been trying to lose this weight for almost two years and I haven't had any success.

I used to exercise a lot, but I injured my lower back and ankles in the past so I stick to the elleptical trainer. I've been using weights three times a week for the past two weeks (I've done weight training in the past so I know how to build a proper schedule and such). I don't do much cardio anymore because I have way too much work to do, so whenever I get the chance to actually sleep a solid 10 hours (which is rare), I do! I plan on getting back to the cardio regime within a week from now because all my final work for school will be done by then.

I'd appreciate any advice and tips! I feel really...well, kind of useless because I know what I want, but I just can't seem to get there. :confused:

I think the biggest problem you are having is with yourself. Weight loss is a personal choice, yes it helps if you have the support of your friends/family, but ultimately its still YOUR choice, its about will power, nothing more.

With that being said, just because your dad buys junk food, does that mean you need to eat it? No. Yes, it helps if its not around, but if you have the will power, you just wont eat it.

As for cardio? The excuse of "I dont have enough time", is just that, an excuse. If you have the will power, you will MAKE the time, instead of saying there is no time. Everytime I think to myself "I don't have have time", I think about John stone. From his posts/journals, he is one crazy busy man running his own business from home. If he can find time, so can I. You just have to think about it like "will it hurt me to wake up an hour earlier?" or "do I really need to watch this tv show?" .

As for seeing a doctor. You are trying to lose 25 lbs, so you aren't obese at all. For the most part, only those with severe weight issues need to see a doctor. Everyone else just needs to find motivation.

Also, you said you've been trying to lose weight for 2 years. Well, that may be another problem. Losing weight isnt just a stage, it really is a complete lifestyle change. Its not just making the change to lose the weight, but you MUST adapt the lifestyle to maintain the weight loss.

So with all that being said, I really hope you can find the motivation and make the lifestyle change for good :gl:

Quite often motivation comes from progress. I dont see a problem with jump starting your motivation until the feedback starts to be a driver.

Sounds like your brother is being used as the excuse for buying cookies. Can you get him on your side ? If he tells your dad he dosent want them then they may get dropped. If thats not plausable, you could ask your brother to stash the Cookies so that you cant find them.
Can you ask for other foods that you can use to distract you from the cookies. Usually a apple is enough for me to not want the junk.
How much have you discussed this with your dad? Does he realise that he is being counter productive to your goals? Maybe you need to enlighten him, parents are not allways great mind readers.

Good Luck
Widers

I think the biggest problem you are having is with yourself. Weight loss is a personal choice, yes it helps if you have the support of your friends/family, but ultimately its still YOUR choice, its about will power, nothing more.

With that being said, just because your dad buys junk food, does that mean you need to eat it? No. Yes, it helps if its not around, but if you have the will power, you just wont eat it.

As for cardio? The excuse of "I dont have enough time", is just that, an excuse. If you have the will power, you will MAKE the time, instead of saying there is no time. Everytime I think to myself "I don't have have time", I think about John stone. From his posts/journals, he is one crazy busy man running his own business from home. If he can find time, so can I. You just have to think about it like "will it hurt me to wake up an hour earlier?" or "do I really need to watch this tv show?" .

As for seeing a doctor. You are trying to lose 25 lbs, so you aren't obese at all. For the most part, only those with severe weight issues need to see a doctor. Everyone else just needs to find motivation.

Also, you said you've been trying to lose weight for 2 years. Well, that may be another problem. Losing weight isnt just a stage, it really is a complete lifestyle change. Its not just making the change to lose the weight, but you MUST adapt the lifestyle to maintain the weight loss.

So with all that being said, I really hope you can find the motivation and make the lifestyle change for good :gl:

Well, I would disagree with this somewhat. Sometimes it isn't "Just an excuse" to say that you don't have time to do as much exercise as you'd like. I've been in situations in life when working out would have meant less sleep .... and for me, if exercise is pitted against sleep, sleep is going to win every time. She didn't say that she isn't doing ANY exercise, but she said that she doesn't have the time to do as much as she'd like, so she's choosing weights over cardio.

And sure, willpower is what it takes to maintain a good diet, but when you've got people who basically put the stuff right under your nose, it requires 10 times the willpower than if the bad food weren't in the house to begin with. My girlfriend has the same problem when she goes to visit her parents during the summer. She can maintain her diet pretty well at home, but when she visits her parents, they have all sorts of unhealthy food available, and she pretty much falls completely off the wagon during that period.

One thing you might do, is to buy some of your own snacks that aren't too terribly bad. My girlfriend always has these special ice cream bars that are low cal and low fat (and they actually taste halfway decent), and when she gets an insatiable craving, she'll eat one of these. So, instead of consuming 500 calories in chips, she'll consume a 100 calorie bar, and that will usually satisfy her.

Also, you might consider eating multiple meals per day (6 or so)....which will prevent you from getting really hungry, and hence seeking out snack foods. Drink lots of water too....that sometimes helps me. I usually have a bottle of water with me everywhere. I find that once I've gone a week or so with little to no junk food, I really don't crave it that much anymore....even if it is right in front of me.

I know it's a personal choice and the I don't have time thing is the truth. I'm a very crazy-busy person as well and the only reason I don't have time for a week or two right now is because I have more schoolwork to do and the only time I have to do it is during what's supposed to be exercise time (which is also my relax/fun time). That I will get back on track very soon.

Getting up earlier does hurt me because I only sleep about 4 - 6 hours a night as it is, plus I have a medical condition that makes me fatigued and want to sleep much more than what's necessary.

As for having junk around the house, I know I don't have to eat it either. However, it's a lot easier for me when it's not there, that's why it frustrates me.

So other than these things, I don't know how to go about losing the weight. I do drink plenty of water and herbal tea - I always carry a water bottle with me as well. I agree about how having the junk food right in front of me is much more difficult to cope with.

I have tried talking to my dad about just hiding the junk if he buys it, but he doesn't want to because my brother had junk-food problems in the past and if he hides it, he may start eating too much again.

I apologize for any confusion about my previous post. Thanks again guys!

Here are some of my strategies:
When I was in high school, I kept a mini fridge in my room, and only ate snacks out of it - nothing from the kitchen fridge (a picnic cooler would also probably work)

Sugarfree jello is awesome - 10 cal in 1/2 cup (I think) so you can eat a decent bowlful without blowing the diet - and I agree with JoeSchmo, if you can find lower-calorie versions of things you like, that helps a lot

When I have a craving even though I know I'm not hungry, I chew sugarfree gum

If you can, get up in the morning for some exercise once school stuff settles down - exercising raises your metabolism for a couple hours afterwards, and after a week or so of working out, you'll have a lot more energy during the day

For stress and boredom, I recommend Pilates - I do Denise Austin's Pilates for Every Body and it's really relaxing and it makes me feel like I've done something good for myself! And of course it'll give you something to do, and all you need is a couple 5 lb weights. You might want to check w/your doc first since you have a back injury, though.

Also, you might try eating 5 or 6 small meals a day, if you can - eating regularly keeps your metabolism steady; plus, if you never really get too hungry, you won't overeat at mealtime

I sympathize about your family - my whole family is overweight and perfectly happy that way. Plus I grew up in the south, so I was raised on fried chicken and stuff like that (breaking the home cookin' habit is tough). Hope this helps - feel free to PM me if you wanna talk or anything!

Thanks TechNicci! I have already gotten back to my exercise (cardio and weights) routine since this weekend, and I also chew gum when I get cravings in addition to using lower calorie versions of sweet foods that I like - this includes the Jello that you mentionned.

The only thing about having a fridge/cooler in my room is my parents are unebelievably paranoid. They would think I'd be starting to develop some kind of eating disorder if I didn't eat what they do, and as a result, not allow me to do this.

Now, normally their foods aren't bad at all, mostly healthy in fact, but I barely have any oil in my diet other than the omega 3, 6 and 9 as opposed to their using regular oil to cook foods.

Either way, I'm normally only in my room for about 8 hours max a day - this includes sleeping, studying, getting dressed and all the other little things. So I won't really be needing it there anyway at night.

Thanks again, I appreciate it!

As a solution to boredom you should take up a hobby that will, while not totally preventing the boredom munchies, occupys you enough to prevent you from lingering on food. Guitar used to do it for me as I would play endless hours into the night but I'm switching to video games. Pick something you enjoy to give the nighttime hours meaning and a purpose other then freetime to gorge. That way when you return from work/school you'll have something to look forward too rather then food.