30 minutes!

Cherry1

New member
Hi everyone! My name is Devyn, and I want to start writing to keep myself motivated when it comes to being active. Let me start by giving some back story to myself:

In March of this year, I decided to finally get my sh** together and stop eating horribly, (mostly because I have a fear of getting sick and getting a disease from being overweight like diabetes, heart disease, etc).
I also stopped fitting into most of my clothes and it was really taking a toll on my mood and my happiness.

SO--since March 14th 2016 until today, I have lost 68 pounds! I am incredibly proud of myself and try my hardest every day to stay on track and remember that I never want to go back to what I used to be. I still have about 50 pounds left to go until I reach my goal:oops:. Right now, my biggest issue is staying active every day. I am really trying to make sure I get at least 30 minutes in every day of exercise. So that's why I'm keeping this diary! I really need some motivation and a tracker of my activity!
 
Hi Devyn and welcome to the diaries. Congratulations on losing 68 pounds; that´s amazing work! You´ve come to far to not stick to it now. What´s your strategy been so far? And what´s your goal?
All the best, LaMa.
 
Hi LaMa. Thank you for your nice words :D Ultimately, my goal is 150 pounds. Right now I am 197.5 pounds. (Down from 265 :eek::oops:)
I've come this far not by small feats. I have really made an entire lifestyle change in regards to my eating. I used to be the person that ate fast food and out to restaurants 3 times a day. I first started by telling myself that I'm going to quit eating outside food for good. So I did. I started making little things at home instead of eating out. That alone contributed to my weight loss quit a bit.

I also cut out eating sugar by like 98%. I used to put a lot of sugar in my coffee and eat sweets with my coffee but I don't eat sweets anymore and I've learned to accept the taste of coffee without sugar.

Mostly, I owe my weight loss to really cutting down on my portions. As an example, dinner for me used to be a 12 inch sub with a big bag of chips and a sweet iced tea. Ugh! :ack2: NOW, my dinner most days is a meal replacement shake and a fruit- usually an apple.

I learned to make fruits my best friend because I've always had a sweet tooth, and I've always been the kind of person who wants to snack all day. So instead of picking up chips or cookies or cheese its, I'll have a banana or an apple or an orange.

My issue now is staying active!! I'm at the pound now where I have to really keep moving to tone up and make myself tighter instead of flabby. But I'm naturally a lazy girl that likes to play video games all day and nap. So that's what I'm kind of struggling with at this point.
 
More home cooking and less sugar sounds like good advice for anyone! I do hope you eat veggies every day as well, and not just a shake and fruit?
If you have trouble motivating yourself for exercise it can be helpful to chop it up in smaller pieces. Knowing you only have to 10 minutes (3x a day) sometimes makes all the difference!
Since you've lost such a big chunk of weight it might be interesting to make a list of every little thing you can thing of that's now easier of better than before. That way when things are rough for a while you can look at how much harder it USED to be.
 
Hi Devyn! So excited for your life change! You are doing such a great job, sounds like your habits were much like mine! Staying active gets harder the more you loose, because it comes off more slowly as your body isn't burning as many calories as it did when you were 68 lbs heavier....I get discouraged because of that, it came off so fast at first, now soooo sloooow! Have you joined a gym? That was huge for me! I work out 5 days a week for about 40 minutes and it is truly a habit. They say anything you do for 30 days becomes a habit! Id like to suggest something else I never thought I would do but had really changed my life during my process- Join a couch to 5k program. I live in a small town but there is a great free running group that I joined that has been fantastic. (found it on facebook) It got me away from personal "weight loss" goals and instead goals like jogging a full mile without stopping (took me three months but I did it) Running groups are usually free and a great way to exercise safely...if you can't find one around your town (try YWCA message boards and search for 5k in your town) you can download the app- it is free "C25K) it starts out very slow and works your way up through a 9 week program. Search for a 5k about 3 months from now and start your training. The training is only 3 days a week and lasts about 30 minutes. It is such a great goal, makes you part of something bigger and the entrance fees go to charities! Keep up the good work! 150 is a great, healthy, reachable goal and you are more than half way there already! What you have done already is super hard and I hope you are proud of yourself every single day! My running coach (only 22) was 284 when she started running...or walking I should say. It has been 4 years since she took control of her life, now she is 154, ran her first marathon this summer, helps people like us, and looks amazing! She is healthy, did it the right way, and is an inspiration just like you are!
 
You're doing great. 68 lbs is quite an achievement. One of my goals is 30 minutes of exercise a day too. Right now we are having awesome weather so I'm taking advantage and getting out walking.

When you look at your schedule do you see a time that you could fit it in?
 
Hi Devyn & welcome to the forum. Well done on losing 68lbs. That is fantastic. I like New Woman's suggestions. Joining a running/walking group or a gym are great ideas. It seems you have your head in a good space to really get to your goal weight. I wish you all the best with it. I'm glad you found your way to the forum. There is a whole lot of people here who are very supportive & encouraging. Welcome :)
 
I play alooooootttt of stuff. My favorites are Legend of Zelda, Animal Crossing, and World of Warcraft. (World of Warcraft is to blame as to why I'm always lazy):mad:
 
Ahh cool - not played any of them. I like Fallout, Witcher, GTA, Call of Duty, Red Dead etc. Just played the Nathan Drake games too and they were awesomeeee. Only play for a few hours on a Sunday now :(
 
Blah. Feeling kind of upset tonight. I ate a lot of crap this weekend and I intend to get my shit together starting tomorrow morning. I just don't know why I never have the energy to work out.

I bought this book about countering your mental and physical problems with the right food today, so I intend on reading it and seeing if that helps at all.

I really, really want to work off these last 40 pounds as quickly as possible. I get pretty motivated when I watch this video I made of my weight loss progression. I'll post it here if anyone else wants to see:

Anyway, I think I'll start the week off right by jogging in the morning when I get up....I hope I'm not too exhausted to wake up for it...ugh.
 
I haven´t got time to watch your video right now but about the exercise: are you really exhausted all the time or do you just plan your exercise at times in the day when you would normally do nothing (or even sleep)? If you are exhausted all the time you should maybe see a doctor to see if you have any deficiencies. If there are times when you have more energy maybe you can move your exercise to those times to lower the hurdle of actually starting.
 
Blah. Feeling kind of upset tonight. I ate a lot of crap this weekend and I intend to get my shit together starting tomorrow morning. I just don't know why I never have the energy to work out.

I bought this book about countering your mental and physical problems with the right food today, so I intend on reading it and seeing if that helps at all.

I really, really want to work off these last 40 pounds as quickly as possible. I get pretty motivated when I watch this video I made of my weight loss progression. I'll post it here if anyone else wants to see:

Anyway, I think I'll start the week off right by jogging in the morning when I get up....I hope I'm not too exhausted to wake up for it...ugh.

I'm not speaking as a licensed medical professional in any way, shape or form - I'm only speaking as myself - someone who has struggled with weight loss and other health-related issues of their own. With that being said, I too have battled the whole "I never have the energy to work out" issue. I'm not saying there isn't (or at least couldn't be) some underlying physical or possible sleep-related issue behind your lack of energy when it comes to working out - like I said, I'm not a licensed medical professional - but when I look back at my own struggle with this I can honestly say when I 'didn't have the energy to workout' it was nothing more than laziness and a lack of will. Yes, there was a time where I had a legit reason to feel exhausted even before a workout - I have sleep apnea and didn't know it until I went through testing - but if I'm being honest with myself then I have to admit that the majority of my problem was just pure laziness, pure lack of motivation and desire to actually get up and do something.

Once again, I'm not saying there might not be some underlying issue (I'm only speaking from my own experience) but being tired is quite often one of those things you have to push through. I'm tired every single morning I wake up but I can't give into it - I have to get up, push myself through it and get through my day. No matter what.

Now, your book is about eating better? That's a GREAT start. From personal experience I can tell you that my level of energy and motivation are directly connected to the food I ate the day before. For instance, I ate pizza for dinner last night and feel kind of 'blah' right now. But, when I eat something more sensible and healthy like pan-seared chicken breast with steamed broccoli and rice then I feel GREAT the next morning. So, that's a good start. Hopefully that gives you that extra boost you need in order to get through a workout.
 
Huh. That is really interesting. I did eat like crap yesterday and am feeling really sluggish today. I've been eating pretty good today, so I'm gonna see if that theory holds!
 
Speaking from experience, if I eat any amount of junk (bad carbs and refined sugar) food, my energy drops to nothing the next day. It's almost like a hangover now. I've noticed that, for me, when I start exercising and eating well after a break (in my case, pregnancies), I rarely feel like I have enough energy to workout... so I go and I kinda ease into it, but keep doing it! By the end of the week, after writing a tad here about how I'm feeling, I find my energy levels skyrocket.

The gym and running are my best friends right now but what you fuel your body with and how you 'tune up' your body (exercise) seriously makes a huge difference in your energy levels, your moods and oddly enough, aches and pains that you were so used to having that you almost forget are there. There's a reason why exercise becomes addictive :)

Congrats on the weight loss and the desire to continue on healthy living! You're doing fantastic!
 
I ate really good today, I'm happy with myself.
Speaking from experience, if I eat any amount of junk (bad carbs and refined sugar) food, my energy drops to nothing the next day. It's almost like a hangover now. I've noticed that, for me, when I start exercising and eating well after a break (in my case, pregnancies), I rarely feel like I have enough energy to workout... so I go and I kinda ease into it, but keep doing it! By the end of the week, after writing a tad here about how I'm feeling, I find my energy levels skyrocket.

The gym and running are my best friends right now but what you fuel your body with and how you 'tune up' your body (exercise) seriously makes a huge difference in your energy levels, your moods and oddly enough, aches and pains that you were so used to having that you almost forget are there. There's a reason why exercise becomes addictive :)

Congrats on the weight loss and the desire to continue on healthy living! You're doing fantastic!


Awww, thanks so much. I appreciate the kind words<3. I DID eat reaaaaaaally good today and tried to really get a broad about of veggies and fruit in :D. I wonder how I'm gonna feel tomorrrrooooooowwwwwww.
 
Feeling...bad. Of course I ate terribly on Thanksgiving, (which everyone does).
But mostly because I had some issues with family over the weekend and I'm just feeling mentally drained and depressed. Hopefully this weeks goes by quickly. It hasn't started yet but I already want it to be over. :(

I haven't weighed myself since the beginning of Thanksgiving so I don't necessarily know what the damage is. I don't want to look now, but I will weight myself after I have been eating well and working out after this week. Hopefully by then I will be back to normal.
 
Back
Top