Seriously needing help :(

[ravevampyre]

Hey you guys, long time no see =/

I am in serious need of like, a lot of advice and some buddies to help me out with this losing weight thing that I have yet to achieve =[

There has been a lot of stress going on in my life lately with school and stuff and it's becoming VERY difficult to stay on track.
Currently I am back up to about 145-150.
Again, for those of you who don't know, I am sixteen years old and five foot.

I know this is not a healthy weight for me, and it's to the point where every time I walk by a mirror I suck in my stomach and get very irritable and unhappy afterwards.
A lot of my old pants don't fit well anymore, and even my bras are starting not to fit very good anymore, but I dont want to have to go out and buy bigger sizes.
If I'm going to buy new pants, it will be for smaller sizes, evevn if that will take time.

My main problems are my lack of motivation, my daily routine..and other stuff like that.

I have two of my friends who are supportive of me losing weight and try to help, but for some reason whenever I want to get something like pizza at school and they tell me that I can't, I get angry at them and want to do it BECAUSE they told me I can't.

Another serious problem is the fact that my school is a poorly funded charter Arts highschool, and we don't have any fresh foods.
We have vending machines full of chips, soda, candy, lunchables, mini macaroni cups, burritos, unhealthy microwave dinners and ice cream.

And, on top of that, we have a guy who comes to the school tuesdays, thursdays and fridays and brings mcdonalds, tacobell and papa johns pizza.

I would write a letter to our schoolboard, but the truth is we just don't have the money to GET better food.

I know that I could start just bringing my lunch, because we have a refridgerator and microwaves.

Another problem I have is that my family is really broke right now, and has been for years, and money raises dont seem like they will ever happen.
So when we go to the grocery store, my mom gets frustrated with me because I want to get things like chicken, vegetables, fruits, brown rice, wheat bread, stuff like that. She says those things are expensive and we only end up getting a little bit of veggies and things.
My mom also wants to lose weight badly, but always gives in very fast to fast foods like taco bell, because its right by our house.

OKay, I know this is a long rant, but I really really do need help so I am just getting everythin out on the table so that I can get help fast.

Also, I work at a place called Zoe's Kitchen after school, and they serve basically greek salads, healthy chicken and orzo soup, fresh fruit, slaw ( a healthier version), light pitas, sandwiches, quesadillas and stuff. We use no fryers, and have only tuna, chicken and turkey, grilled. So its a very healthy place, and I get one free meal per shift.
This is a plus to me, I think.
My problem is that I work too much, about 30 hours a week, and I'm only part time and im In school until 3:15 every day. Like today, I am going in a noon and won't get off work until probably 9 or so.

I can't really ask for less hours though, because they NEED me to work the hours that I do, and I need the money pretty badly, and I don't want to get fired.

Okay, now what I want to ask is.

How am I going to work out DDR into my super busy life, when after work I am barely able to do my homework because I am so tired?

What ways will be best for me with trying to eat better, considering my lack of money and my schools inability to serve healthy food?

Also, I have looked on many sites and check for how much I should weigh for my body frame size, height and age, and they all say somewhere around 110 to 125 or so.
Is this correct?

I just seriously want to lose this weight once and for all, and I really would love it if people could help continuously check on me, keep me motivated, help me formulate plans and things.
I would totally do a buddy thing and help them also.
But the more people, means more ideas and that would be awesome.


Thank you guys all so much.
<33

[breakarobot]

For extra DDr time you could try this:

Wake up 30 minutes earlier then you do for school and try DDR'ing for 30 minutes before hitting the shower. Excerising in the morning is good anyway because it jumpstarts your metabolism but of course you'd have to eat breakfast. Cereal isn't very expensive. Get the no name brands.

and after you get off work try DDring for another 30 minutes. try and split up your DDR time.

And for the foods... can't you take home some foods from your work?
And you should still be able to eat unhealthy foods but at a small quantity. You can eat anything as long as you know how much is healthy for you. Just dont over eat. And if you're having that eating crave try poppin some mints. Those sour mints always help me get through the sleepless nights. Its just because your body just wants something in your mouth. So just try some cheap mints.

Hope that helps.

[adeliecp]

Would you be able to buy any of your own groceries? A little bit of money could go a long way in buying fresh or frozen produce. If you can ever go to a store that specializes more in produce, vegetables are usually a little bit cheaper...and usually of higher quality.

I find that it really helps me to cook a whole bunch of foods one day a week and then to freeze most of it into individual serving sizes and then take that with me when I go to work.

Perhaps your family would be interested in doing that. A big pot of lentil soup is very healthy and inexpensive to make.

Perhaps also you could demonstrate to your mother buying healthy foods shouldn't be so much more expensive. Of course, the less expensive healthy foods usually require slightly more work to prepare....but the less processed a food is...usually the better.

[xstatic]

ravevampyre said:

Another problem I have is that my family is really broke right now, and has been for years, and money raises dont seem like they will ever happen.
So when we go to the grocery store, my mom gets frustrated with me because I want to get things like chicken, vegetables, fruits, brown rice, wheat bread, stuff like that. She says those things are expensive and we only end up getting a little bit of veggies and things.
My mom also wants to lose weight badly, but always gives in very fast to fast foods like taco bell, because its right by our house.

So your mom can't buy nutritious foods at a grocery store, but she can afford fast food? Fast food is much more expensive than buying groceries.

[abrannan]

xstatic said:

ravevampyre said:

Another problem I have is that my family is really broke right now, and has been for years, and money raises dont seem like they will ever happen.
So when we go to the grocery store, my mom gets frustrated with me because I want to get things like chicken, vegetables, fruits, brown rice, wheat bread, stuff like that. She says those things are expensive and we only end up getting a little bit of veggies and things.
My mom also wants to lose weight badly, but always gives in very fast to fast foods like taco bell, because its right by our house.

So your mom can't buy nutritious foods at a grocery store, but she can afford fast food? Fast food is much more expensive than buying groceries.

Agreed, and to continue this thought, the key is going to be finding a way to get this point across to your mother in a way that she'll be able to hear. I know you're already feeling overwhelmed with everything you're trying to do, but if you could put together a sample week's lunch/dinner menu, and pre-price it out and compare it to the amount of money that goes to fast food, that would be a start. Of course, you'll probably also have to volunteer to cook, since I suspect that's your mom's real issue.

[ravevampyre]

Thank you guys a lot, I'll try taking all of the advice given and apply it.

With the whole being broke and mom not wanting to spend money on healthy food, but then buying fast food, I AGREE is ridiculous.
We were just at the store and I wanted to get a little box of cuties ( those mini orange thingies) because they are easy to carry around and I love them, and she was like " NO THOSE WILL GO TO WASTE I WONT BUY THEM" and I was like wow I hate my life lol.
And the thing is, SHE wastes food more than I do.
But when I try to point that out, she just gets mad.
I will try waking up thirty minutes earlier at least to DDR, and then when I have time I will DDR at night.
Thank you guys lots, any more advice would be much appreciated!

[icywhale]

I want to add 1 more advice. I've been having similar problems with not having enough time and taking excessive calories, until someone told me a very interesting fact. If we work or have an active life, the calories we take during day time will probably be gone by the time we go to sleep, or at least a great part of them. What we sometimes do wrong is eat alot for dinner and not eat enough for breakfast. We tend to gain extra weight when we are asleep. Thats the time of the day our body is conditioned for fat storage. I tried to lose weight by eating only the minimum amount of food during daytime but when I get home after work Im so tired and hungry theres no way I can stop myself from eating a big nice meal. So the trick is to eat a whole lot in at daytime and eat just a little bit at night. You might think those are a lot of calories but they all dissapear by the time you go to bed.

[asylumzero]

Also try to do the method of fidgeting/chewing gum. I don't know from personal experience if it really works, but it's regarded among forums as a small contributor towards weight loss.
I also like the idea of using a bit of your money to buy vegetables... making salads for yourself every day at lunch is a really cheap and healthy way. After a month of eating cafeteria food at my school, I gained 5 lbs and started packing my own lunch and lost it.
Also, about your friends telling you that you "can't" eat pizza---do any of them eat healthy food for lunch? They should share some with you if you are really in need of it

[devias]

You really, really need to convince your mum to buy healthy food. This is really important for weight loss and if your mum wants to lose weight, she should really think about it instead of buying Arbys or whatever you have in America =)

And write a letter to your school board. In Australia most schools are required to have healthy food on their menu... and you wont believe all the calories there are in all that unhealthy food =( graar... Seriously, don't buy anything from your school canteen.

Zoe's Kitchen sounds great. Why not save the leftovers from the meals and take them to school for lunch?

And I agree with asylumzero. Your friends, if they support you, really shouldn't eat unhealthy food like pizza in front of you. I agree with them saying "don't eat the pizza pls" but if they eat it in front of you, it's just TOO MUCH TEMPTATION!!! I know. Aaah...

What about keeping a food diary? Write down how much you ate or drank of a food/drink and then check online to see how much calories are in it (or check the packaging if it's a packaged food. do you have calories on the back in america?) According to my iPod you should be eating around or under 1339 calories a day.

And never ever skip breakfast. Ever. EVER. Skipping breakfast slows down your metabolism which means you won't be able to lose weight as well as you could have. Corn flakes are pretty healthy and they'll be a good breakfast with some low fat (remember that =) Don't get coco pops or fruit loops or something like that =)

Homemade lunches are great. I get up around 7 AM and it takes me around 5 - 10 minutes to make my lunch. I usually have an apple, banana and a vegemite sandwich. Yum...

If you ever need any help or advice, feel free to contact me through PM or something =) I'd be happy to help.