Happy to find this place!

[JadeLynn]

Hello-I'm obviously new since I'm posting in this part of the forum, I figured anyone reading would realize this.

I have battled my weight for most of my life. At times I have been in very good shape. And at times I have not. In college I became a fitness instructor but it was not until years later, at the age of 36, that I got in the best shape of my life. 4 years later, I see it slipping away and I'm panicking. I have gone from a size 4 to a size 10. From 120 pounds to 150 pounds (I'm 5 ft 7 inches tall). I'm terrified. And I don't feel like me any more.

I workout every day. That is not the problem. Stress eating is. I like junk food and my diet has never been great. I'm hoping that finding this place will help me feel encouraged to lose these 30 pounds and begin to feel like myself again. I literally feel so heavy when I run now and I am much more tired. My biggest fear is that this will continue and I will keep gaining. I'd be totally open to supporting others in their quest to lose weight and feel healthy!

I'm going to try to keep an online journal of sorts and report on my progress as well as set backs. I have seen some of those here and I thought that was an awesome idea. The problem is that I am not very good at doing that on my own. I tried to keep a food journal, but never follow through. I will be up at 4:30 am running tomorrow. On that I always follow through. Anyone else like to exercise?

Good luck to everyone here and congratulations to those who are on the path to reaching their goals! I hope I can learn from you. Anyone not very good at eating healthy, but that learned how to do so. If so....how did you do it. Please tell me and I will be ever so grateful

J.

 

[AthalaRanger]

Hello Jade, Welcome to the forum.

Stress eating can be very damaging (I've been there), as it end on a vicious cycle. I would suggest trying to find ways to cope with the stress first.

As for food, I started by simply counting calories. Didn't replace anything, just picked a number and sticked with it. As I felt more comfortable, I added some "healthier" foods to my diet, and once I was okay with that, I started making substitutions (and kept doing more as time went by).

Start slow and with something you can stick with. You don't want to feel frustrated or deprived. I went from having cake for breakfast to eating on a very strict fashion, with most of my carbohydrates coming either from fruit or vegetables.

As a side note, I've doing some yoga classes (Via youtube), which I find are SO rewarding and relaxing by the end. I'm considerably heavier than you, so I get a nice work with them, but there are more advanced ones, too.

I've been doing this one () , and this one ()regularly now.

*Note: Second one is harder than the first one.*

I used to do either other (regular) exercise videos, or shadow-boxing intervals, but changed to yoga, as I find it much more enjoyable and easier to stick to.

Good Luck!

 

[JadeLynn]

Thank you so much for your lovely welcome! I appreciate your advice...I believe that I had cake for breakfast yesterday. Well done on changing your habits. I have done yoga in the past and I really enjoyed it. The instructor that taught the class moved. This was several years ago, time to try it again.

I also like to do some of the old Firm workouts. I have had that piece of equipment that is used "the fanny lifter" for years!

The fact that you changed your eating has been an inspiration for me. Has the yoga been your way of coping with the stress?

Do you know how I can add one of those weight loss tickers to my profile. I did sign up for one and created it, but I don't know how others get theirs on the bottom of their posts.

Thanks again!!!
Jade

 

[AthalaRanger]

I couldn't say that yoga has been my way of coping with stress, no, as I haven't been too stressed on the first place. However, I'm very relaxed by the end of those classes, hence, my suggestion.

I'm fairly new to yoga, actually. For exercise, I used either videos (Found also on youtube), shadow-boxing intervals, and bodyweight exercises. However, all those were rather unpleasant and annoying.

Those videos [The ones I posted on the other post] were the ones that got me into yoga, and, personally, I find it way more rewarding. I'm also able to enjoy it, so it's not an annoyance. It might not be as effective as regular cardio, but it works for me.

As for the ticker;

You can create a ticker (or tracker) here; . Then you can add it to your signature

(You may have to explore the options there a bit. I can't tell you exactly what to do, as I've never used one.)

However, to be able to edit (and have) a signature, you need to have a certain number of posts. If I remember correctly, it is either 10 or 15.

I hope that helps.

 

[JadeLynn]

Thanks so much. I have created the ticker, now I will just need enough posts for the signature. When I tried to add one, I could and now I know why!

My life is quite stressful at the moment, but in time that will pass. I did look through my collection of DVDs and found some yoga ones. I have some trouble with my rhomboid muscles and I think the yoga will help. I will also check out the ones that you have mentioned.

Thanks!
Jade