Has anyone gone from very unhealthy life style to a healthier one?

[JoyfulGirl]

Other people have posted weight loss threads. I thought about jumping in but I'd been meaning to come clean here. I feel like a lifestyle outcast. It's not about the number on the scale for me..
I'm 26. 5'2" and 120 pounds. This is about the heaviest I've ever been. It's also the most out of shape I've ever been.
Until last month-
I tended to skip breakfast. eat top ramen for lunch. then mcdonalds or something similar for dinner. I counted french fries as vegetables. For awhile I was drinking 2 liters of pop a day. and a pot of coffee and 3-6 shots of espresso.
I was smoking a pack of marb reds a day. Sometimes a pack and a half.
I slept between 3 and 4 hours a night. No joke.

I knew better than this. I use to be extremely active. I honestly knew better but somehow it just didn't stop me.

Starting last month-
I'm eating breakfast now even if it's just a banana. It's an improvement for me.
I still have a love affair with top ramen but now dump vegetables and egg and junk in it.
Something about the exercise I think is making me literally sick to my stomach when I eat greasy food too much. Eating better meals. I still get too much fat.. but it's by far an improvement with what other nutrients I'm getting.
Drinking several liters of water a day instead of soda, and just have a can in the evening because I'm like a crack addict with it.
down to 1/2 to 1/4th of a pack a day of smokes. Every time I smoke all I can think of is, "oh god my cardiovascular system is going to pay for this tomorrow morning.
I'm sleeping about 6 hours a night
Bike riding for an hour or 2 3 to 5 times a week.

I have stayed the same weight over the last month but lost about an inch in my waist and gained about an inch in my thighs. My whole body is some firmer. It's encouraging.

Most days, particularly in the morning I feel like absolute hell. My body in many ways feels better. I have more endurance, stupid daily things don't tire my muscles out like they use to. But I'm exhausted. Between drastically reducing my nicotine and caffiene intake, and with exercising. I am so sleepy and addle brained sometimes I could drop. But I can't sleep much more than 6 hours at a time. Sometimes I feel like puking while riding my bike and twice I've upchucked my water on rides. I've thrown up my breakfast a couple times in. Cutting back on caffeine and nictoine leave me with headaches.

I really had to whimper. This getting into shape thing is hellish. The benefits far outweigh any temporary discomfort. But it's rough. If someone needs a poster child for how NOT to live and the consequences when ya decide to change it here I am

I feel like a freak here and it's embarassing. Even the people who are dealing with obesity.. I read their posts about their overall lifestyle.. and lordy. I might fit into a size small but I'd trade places in a heart beat it feels like. I'm envious. Not trying to minimize other peoples struggles but I just feel like a freak.

BTW. I have no BIG health issues, just the whole kit and caboodle of lifestyle issues. So please no one worry that I'm going to keel over dead. I have low BP and all the changes- caffiene, nicotine, less sodium in my diet, more exercise, are actually dropping it lower. I have seen a cardiologist in the past about it. He was all for me being a healthier person and there's not much to do about it other than increase the sodium in my diet unless I want to take some nasty pills. His first response is always- drink more and take in more sodium to go with it. 800 dollar cardiologist appointment and testing to be told to drink chicken brother a couple times a day. lol.


I don't feel like anyone's been in my shoes:/ If anyone's gone from an extremely unhealthy lifestyle to a better one.... Please tell me this is going to get better.. soon. :/

[hirakukibou]

Although my lifestyle wasn't as extreme as your was, for instance I never smoked, I have made some changes in the past few years, cycling being a big one and cutting way back on caffine being another. I don't think you are a freak, just one of many of us trying to live a healthier life and from what you describe you are doing just that -- a step at a time (which is all you can really do). Give yourself some credit. Keep it up and I do think it gets easier as your body adjusts. Hang in there!

[FreshNewbie]

Hey Joyful you don't sound so joyful today eh??? You know although I was never hooked on junk food like french fries and soda, I always loved sweets. Sometimes it would lead to a really bad binging day or two and a couple of pounds gained. I have to admit that I been having some eating habit problems myself, I would often skip meals like you, or just starve myself because I thought it's ok. I also used to smoke and quit. Look at you ->already making progress, getting healthier, riding your bike! Don't feel like a freak, it's extremely hard to eat very healthy and exercise all the time, especially while woking, going to school, etc. Don't compare yourself to anyone, see yourself as your own project that you have to work on step by step. It will take time and some suffering but you will see that in a long run you will be so much healthier and happier with yourself. I still have a piece of cake here and there, but no more 2-3 day bienging spree. Good luck

[JoyfulGirl]

hirakukibou- thank you for responding.. I appreciate it. Sorry to hear about your clipless tumble. I almost managed to do the same thing gearwise, but I'm not clipless! LOL. This smoking thing is the pits. crossing fingers that it all gets easier
FreshNewbie- My theory with eating healthier is.. I don't care what junk food I eat as long as I eat all the stuff I need to eat as well. Alot of times that keeps me too full to be able to hit the junk food. lol. So it works out fairly well. I usually end up falling victim to some late night Ben and Jerry's these days and I have to have my daily chocolate but compared to what I was eating.. I'm not gonna beat myself up over it. I don't even care if I gain weight be it fat or muscle<though I'd prefer muscle > as long as my overall health improves. Picking battles and all that.

It just seems like I should feel -better- for all this effort. Thank you two for being kind and helping me not feel like some sort of mutant. I really appreciate i

[FreshNewbie]

Well, you know the reason why you feel so fatique-> you cut on soda and smoking. Your body needs to adjust to a diet without so much coffeine. I am sure you will soon see some changes. Just the fact that you smoke less now is so much better for you. I can say with confidence that there is probably not one woman on this forum who does not feel out of energy or tired one day or another. I used to drink 2-3 cups of coffee a day, now i try to drink one cup only one weekend mornings, trust me I can feel the change. You have more willpower than you think.

[Pedalhead]

Joyful, I feel your pain. I quit smoking about 2 1/2 months ago, and it hasn't been easy. I have noticed that one move in the direction of good health leads to another. You're doing the right thing with picking your battles...it helps to have more victories.

[JoyfulGirl]

LOL. it's not will power. The only thing I decided was that- I WILL BIKE REGULARLY. I thought I was going to die after the first hour ride where I'd had about 5 cups of coffee that morning and eaten nothing. Then as I pedalled along at a blazing 7 miles an hour a few days later I realized the smokes were going to kill me, not lung cancer, my heart was just going to explode from me mashing along. The food's followed because I feel like death if I don't eat better, with proper nutrition I feel like death warmed over! I can NOT bike and maintain my previous lifestyle. <G>
PedalHead-I'm so glad I'm not the only one here who's smoked. I couldn't imagine any of the healthy fit and motivated people here puffing away:/ at least not on a cigarette

Since I cut back on smoking now I feel sick to my stomach when I do smoke. I can see that alone forcing me to quit entirely. My body's in full scale rebellion. I'm calling the U.N. in soon if it doesn't shape up.

[I TRI]

My guess is that your adrenals are all whacked out from lack of sleep, caffiene intake, poor nutrition etc. They will regenerate as you keep up your healthy habits (good job, by the way) but you may even consider something like an herbal supplement to help them adjust. Something like Siberian Ginseng is good and not too stimulating (panax or korean ginseng is more stimulating), licorice root (not long term), ashwaghanda, etc are all good. Milk Thistle would be great for your liver which has probably taken a beating too.

Lots of B vitamins and vitamin C will also help the adrenals. DHEA and pregnenolone are hormone precursors that the adrenals can use to make cortisol and its other hormones, but although you can buy them OTC it pays to be more prudent with taking them. Many people find they really help with energy and emotional stability.

I hope this helps. If you have any Q's feel free to email me. I'm a naturopathic doctor so I'm really into this stuff!!!

Nicola

[Barb]

Hang in there joyful! You are not a freak. I know it takes A LOT to fix those habits. The BF is trying to quit smoking...we are thinking the patch it the next step for him (I think wellbutrin will help too). Soo my question to you is, does the riding really make your lungs revolt? He never complains about stuff like that. Maybe I have to get him into really riding

Keep it up, I know it can feel like #$%@ but it won't forever!

[luv'nAustin]

Hi Joyful Girl! I want to congratulate you on your desire to change and the progress that you have made to date. Way to go! It'll take time to make the changes, after all, you've probably had these habits and eating patterns for some time now. Stay steady and these new healthy habits will totally replace the old ones.

I'm trying to improve some lousy eating habits myself. My coach has finally convinced me to eat breakfast and I'm 44 years old and hadn't had breakfast for nearly 30 years! Thank goodness you are getting smart while you are still young!

[Fredwina]

Abiut 5 years ago , I weighed 350 pounds (I'm 5'9), I got about 150 off in the fcourse of a year. Granted , I had only to deal with Junk food addiction(and still do every day)
I think it is hard with a "get it now" society to make changes like you're trying to make. After all, the Gal taking Metabazap on tv lost 200 pounds in 10 seconds, so why can't you?
One of my favorites quotes is By Chairman Mao(sorry for the politics) "A Journeyof Thousand Miles begins with a single step". Just make sure yor'e making the right steps, and before you know it, you'll be at journey's end

[Pachyderm]

Although I am not a smoker and I am overweight, I do have some experience of what you are going through. I have been hugely addicted to junk food, particularly chips and take-outs. I used to drink an awful lot of diet coke as well. Since giving them up and starting to get fit I also feel very tired all the time . My trick is to exercise in the morning before I get tired (there is no way I feel like exercising after a day at work!). I have porridge for breakfast, a pasta salad for lunch, and then in the afternoon when I get really tired and just want to curl up and go to sleep under my desk, I have a snack of a piece of malt loaf and some dried fruit and drink some water. This gives me the carbohydrate boost to wake up and finish my day of work.

I think the tiredness is partly a stage in the detox process, while our bodies try to rid themselves of all the bad stuff we've been eating, and partly just getting used to doing exercise. I don't know about you, but before I started exercising, I was completely sedentary, and did virtually no exercise. I'm also hoping that in time I will start to feel better, I certainly won't be able to continue for ever like this. When I have tried to do things like this in the past, I have eventually started to feel better, and even got to the point where I started to feel like superwoman. I could do anything!

Keep it up, you will get over this period, I am sure of it.

[plantluvver]

Somehow I missed that, I don't know what I was thinking. I smoked for YEARS and I was a life insurance actuary! The person who actually does the statistics, and figures out how many people to expect to die each year.

I have quit smoking so many, many times. Maybe five or six times that were major, where I stayed away for three months up to a year. But this time, it seems like it really has taken. It has maybe been three or four years. (Used to be I'd break up with a boyfreind, and need to smoke again.)

Different symptoms at different times, and IT HURTS.

But for me, I could not reduce my consumption of cigarettes. Far, far easier for me to go cold turkey. Using nicotene gum only would make my withdrawal longer.

A few times I used a supplement that contained capsium, and I think B vitamins, and maybe oat or some kind of grass type extract, it really helped. and the capsium seemed to allow my mucus to flow, and not just clog me all up. But I TRI I am sure knows this stuff better than me.

Don't feel that your setbacks are failures. Each time I quit, the quitting process became easier, (though each time, I had less confidence.) But I knew that even if it was only a day, I had given my body just a little bit of a chance to fix the damage.

You might need to sleep long periods. Also, tons of water. Sometimes, I had to quit caffeine and alcohol too. Just the smell of coffee made me have craving so severe as to feel physical pain.

Don't worry about how much you eat, if its good stuff. It seemed the more often I ate when quitting smoking, the more I would lose weight. I stiffed my face with fruit and hardboiled eggs, and if people asked what was going on, I said I was on a diet. (I was afraid I would fail. That was in the days when you could still smoke at your desk, and in fact almost everywhere.) Jumping in the shower can sometimes help, if it's available.

And the last time I quit, I had already broken all my triggers. I had not smoked inside the house for six months. I smoked in a dismal corner of the basement only.

It may be six months or more before you can go near a cigarette without temptation.

But even with all my extra weight now and my inactivity and depression, I feel healthier at 47 than I did at 30, when I smoked and exercised.

Oh, I also at one point took up swimming then SCUBA diving, can't do those and smoke (simaltaneously, anyway). Knitting and crochet can help also.

I wish you sucess in your struggle.

[JoyfulGirl]

PlantLuvver- It's really great to hear that your modifying your lifestyle so much to be a healthier you...Cheers to the weight loss that goes along with it. It's also always good to hear about people who have quit smoking... A bad day for me use to be 2 packs a normal day was 1 pack.. now a normal day's a quarter pack.. a few days of half a packness this month. Going cold turkey so far.. I go gonzo. It's not pleasant. I think for now I'll be happy if I can keep my smoking reduced like this for awhile... Pretty happy with cutting down by 3/4ths. Then maybe in a few weeks, months, whatever I can work on the last of it. Makes me laugh though because people keep asking if I've quit smoking. It's hard as heck AND I don't get to say that I've quit smoking. pretty funny in it's own way.

CycleChic- Hey! We have even more in common then though in a sort of opposite way, I have issues with hypothyroidism. My levels are currently ok without medication. I went through some periods of being nastily hypothyroid though and it's miserable. For some reason it just magically straightened itself out. I probably should have listened to the endocrinologist better so I understood what was up but now I just get tested once a year to make sure all is well.


For me I really started gaining weight when I was about 24.. I went from extremely active and weighing about 105 to within a year I tore the cartilage in my knee, tore my rotator cuff, and got a stress fracture in my foot.. combine that with my mom being diagnosed with cancer, and my dad developing some nasty health issues that had him in ICU for a couple of weeks at a time over and over.. there were some other extended family medical disasters and a few deaths.
I kept eating portions like I had when I was active then I was eating out of vending machines too like a cow at pasture. AND I'd bake cookies for all the nurses who were so great but I'd eat half of em myself.. AND my greatest exercise was walking to the store to get another pack of smokes. I reached my plumpest at 130 but worse, I was grossly out of shape. You can be hard bodied and cut at 5'2" and 130 pounds.. Unfortunately I was just the squishy kind of #130.

Anyway. I just want to be an overall healthier me. Something I've always lacked is moderation. Maybe I'm trying to build some of that as well as muscle.

[Dok-torr]

Well done all of us!
The body has to go through some huge changes when you stop the nicotene, caffeine and sugar all at once. The way your body metabolises its energy stores has to readjust too. You are expecting it to be active and are stopping its usual glucose loads. It will take some time to be able to use other stores and to even up the blood sugar and insulin levels.

Going cold turkey is tough. I admit I made the changes over a much more gradual time period. The smoking was first (20 year habit) then the activity levels went up (once I could breath again!) then the diet improved.
I managed to lose 60+ pounds over the last few years and am now doing enduarace cycle events and training for a half marathon!

I feel bettre than I have ever felt in my life and will never get out of shape again.
Keep it up guys, and thanks for reminding us all why we do all this!