I'm not sure what to do...

I am 21 years old, and I am overweight by about 50 pounds. I am bigger than all of my friends and have always been bigger than most. I am only 5'1" but weight around 185lbs. This is the biggest I have ever been and I am so disgusted by it, but continue to eat unhealthy. I hurt my back at work (I am a nurse and a patient fell on me) so it is difficult for me to exercise right now, although I am healing... I would appreciate any words of advice, recipes (I am a very picker eater and struggling with variety) or anything else. Please help:)

It sucks that you have been injured.  But you will/are healing so that will all pass and you can get on with who you really are.

But why are you a "picky" eater?  I admit, everyone is different and I am not arguing with you in the least.  You have the right to eat what you like.

But the human body can taste thousands of distinct flavors.  With a little experimenting you probably can widen your available food choices without getting out of your comfort zone.

in any case you can start just by making simple changes that wont be a big impact in your life.  Simply skipping butter on your toast and using jam instead can save you a couple hundred calories a day.  Have fruit instead of fries at lunch, 

The point is to ease in small changes so that you gradually improve your diet. 

One thing that is very important is to turn off the mind when you are tasteing your food.  Don't judge the food.  Experience it instead.  Instead of thinking "I hate broccoili but I will eat it if I have to" , turn the thought off and when you taste that vegetable it is really suprising how sweet most of them really are. 

When your back is better you will be ready to incorporate some excercise.  But until then make small changes and you will begin to see improvements that encourage you to go farther.

Good luck to you!

Hello there,

    It's really good that you are coming to terms and able to recognize the issue.  One thing that helped me (I love food) was to log everything I ate for a week without making any changes.  Then I went through the list of the food I normally ate and began experiment with healthy versions or substitutions.  An example is my love for olive garden and all italian food.  On this site, there is a recipe for healty chicken alfredo.  I used that but added chicken tenderloins that I personally seasoned with garlic POWDER and italian herbs.  I also enjoyed this over whole wheat pasta.  I tweaked that recipe further by not adding salt or anything with salt in it.  Instead I added extra black pepper to kick up the flavor.  Below is the original recipe:

Low Fat Alfredo Sauce

1 tbsp. margarine 1/4 cup flour 1 tsp. salt 1 pinch nutmeg 3 cups skim milk 1/4 tsp. pepper 1 tbsp. chopped parsley 1 tsp. minced garlic Directions

1. Heat margarine over medium heat in a medium-sized saucepan until melted.
   
   
2. Add flour; Cook, stirring for 1 minute.
   
   
3. Whisk in milk, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
   
   
4. Bring to a boil, whisking.
   
   
5. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.
   
   
6. Toss with parmesan cheese (3/4 c) and pasta.
   
   
7. Note: I forgot to add the parmesan cheese when I tried this recipe. It is really good without it, so I did not include it in the actual recipe (fewer cals...yaaay!). We ended up just sprinkling some on top, and it was great.
   
   
8. Note: we also added ground beed (also not included in the recipe), and chicken breast would be good too
   

As far as you injury goes, I would try slow, non-resistance exercises such as yoga.  (Do the moves from your chair as best as you can, do not get on the floor b/c you may risk worsening your injury)  Now is a great time to work on your posture and breathing.  Popping on some headphones and going for long walks is a great way to lose the pounds and tone up too.

Good Luck!

~Krissy

Thank you so much for your responses! I really appreciate it. I do love fruit and veggies, the biggests issue I seem to have is that I just overeat! I love pasta and have tried wheat pasta and I'm not a fan. I am trying to slow down and enjoy what I am eating and am planning to incorporate lots of fruits and veggies into my diet. I have also recently found that I love salad! I can eat a small garden salad and soup and feel full for hours, I just need to learn to step outside my "comfort zone" and try some new things. Thanks again guys! I welcome any more help as well!

Another suggestion I would make is to keep a food journal if you aren't already. That way you can more easily track what you are eating and how much. I learned SO MUCH about portions and calories by doing this.

Good luck and I hope your back heals quickly!

You have got some really good advice.

I know you are injured but can you maybe do some swimming?  A friend of mine had a very bad fracture, she even had to have surgery and metal plates to replace/ stabilize her bones so most exercise was/is difficult for her but swimming has really helped her to lose weight and her pain is also decreasing since she is not bearing as much extra weight on her already injured body.

For over-eating, if you cook your own meals, cook only what you need for that meal or freeze the leftovers right away.  Calorie count is a very helpful tool to use because you will learn what you should eat along the way, what to avoid, what to get more of etc.  It takes a conscious effort not to overeat.  Having six small meals throughout the day really curbs the hunger.  If you don't have a scale, I would suggest that you go out and buy one.  I have done CC successfully with and without one and with is definitely better.  I was either over-estimating or underestimating servings and for those of us who have a tendency to over-eat generally have portion-distortion also. 

Don't feel bad about not liking every healthy food you try.  As long as you are getting more nutritious food than bad I wouldn't worry about it.  About the pasta thing, it takes a while to get used to.  You can try mixing a little whole-wheat pasta with the regular, to get used to it that way but if it never happens don't dwell on it. There are other ways to get in whole-grains and complex carbohydrates. 

There are a lot of exercises online that you can do that help you to lose weight and build strength but arent cardio based. I know how you feel too. I am also about 50 pounds overweight and i find structure really helps me pass the time and eat at the right amount of calories. Im a dork and make charts that i can fill out everday. Also, staying positive really helps which can be hard. Im very critical of myself but i try to say atleast 3 positive things a day. You could also try just walking every evening. Don't have to power walk but any type of exercise is better then nothing

You guys are great. My back is feeling much better and is healing a bit each day. Swimming is a great idea! I didn't even think of that and I love to swim! I am a member of the YMCA here in Orlando, so I can swim there! thanks for all the tips!

RN here and I identify with one of your problems.  I eat too fast, always did while in school, then while working.  My husband and I sit down to eat and before he is half through I am finished and loading the dishwasher.  Lately I am makingan effort to slow down.  Good luck with your efforts!

Chicken goes with a large variety of things and it's a pretty lean meat, so I think you could eat that for protein and adjust the flavor to your taste with spices, herbs, etc. I really like a grilled chicken breast with black pepper and Italian seasoning, cajun spiced, or with marinara sauce(and the sauce has to be completely chunk free...I'm a picky eater, too).

When I was a kid, all my parents could get me to eat was basically pasta, pizza, chicken, cereal, and hot dogs. As I got older I decided to start trying new things on my own, and I'm really glad I did because I eat many new things that I don't know how I got by without before. I'm still really picky, so much that I actually prefer to cook my own meals, but I have more variety to choose from.

At least you're not like me because I didn't like veggies until a couple years ago, and those can really be helpful when you're trying to lose weight. Make sure your meals have veggies filling up most of your plate, then protein, then carbs, starches, etc. I wouldn't rule out whole-wheat pasta just yet. Experiment with different brands. I found one that I hated and one that I loved. oh, and there's a brand of white pasta called Ronzoni smart taste fortified with fiber and minerals like calcium. Substitutions for pasta to think about are Shiritaki tofu noodles, spaghetti squash, broccoli slaw, and Fiber Gourmet pastas. 

I hope your back heals soon by the way! :)