Help with beginning?

FitHappens

New member
I posted a longer version with lots of background information for anyone who cares however after doing all the typing I realized that to help me out, you didn't really NEED all that boring background info to help me so if you scroll down, below the second **************** line I posted what it is that I'm looking for help with. Thank you very much for any help!!
*******************
Hi all! I am posting this for myself and for my husband. I am currently 38 weeks pregnant (due March 5th) and prior to pregnancy I was a fitness instructor & owned a fitness facility so of course I was in amazing shape (I taught a minimum of 5 fitness classes a week... you don't have much of a choice when working out is your job!). My husband, on the other hand, could not be more opposite. He comes from a VERY overweight family (his sister and father both weigh in the low-mid 400's I would guess and his mom in the high 200's) with a lot of health issues related to their weight loss. When he was younger (high school and beginning of college), he was the skinny one of the family (he was pretty involved in sports) however sometime soon before we met he put on weight FAST.

I saw pictures of him from less than a year before we met where he was small and I asked him what he weighed there and he said in the 180's... when we met he was in the 230's. Obviously.... that's a really fast weight gain. In his defense, he was living at home and eating whatever his parents provided and they eat SO unhealthy (they fry food every night, always have big desserts and actually eat TWO dinners) plus he was an engineering student and was working full time.

It was kind of weird in the beginning because I'm SO into fitness however for whatever reason, me being a fitness buff and him being a bit on the chubby side never really affected the relationship. He never acted like he cared about his weight (although he must have because he wouldn't take his shirt off at the pool) and never talked about having a desire to change it at all and since he didn't care, neither did I. I figured if he was happy how he was then I could be too (afterall, he didn't seem THAT big to me when I could compare him to the rest of his family... just a bit chubby).

At his yearly check up last year (January-ish) (it was our first year married so he got insurance through work for him and I... it was his first "yearly" check up in years), the doctor informed him that he was medically obese and headed towards diabetes and heart disease and not THAT far off from being morbidly obese (5'8" tall and weighing in at 245 lbs). He said he wanted to lose weight so we started walking around however his job at the time was super labor-intensive and he didn't have an interest in changing his eating habits so not much happened and that all fell by the wayside.

WELL then last Summer we found out that we were expecting our first. I decided to sell my fitness studio and am now preparing to stay home with our LO. Well with the changing family dynamic, my hubby decided he wanted to lose weight for REAL. Of course, I'm excited to get back into working out as well postpartum (it always was like a drug to me). We have a couple who're close friends and I said that I wanted to do a half-marathon post-pregnancy with the female. She said it sounded awesome BUT also signed up her fiance. Well when my hubby heard that he was running it (it's in October) he said that he wanted to as well. I didn't want to be discouraging but the idea made me very nervous... he eats very unhealthy and hasn't worked out in years besides the occasional attempt to walk.... training would be hard and he hates to be uncomfortable... but if it's what he wanted I wasn't going to discourage him! So today, we signed up for the half marathon. My hubby asked that I find us a training program and I do all of our grocery shopping and meal-prep so he said "just figure out what I need to start eating and I'll do it". He wants to get into good shape for the sake of our soon-to-be little boy and that makes me so happy I just feel so lost (which is weird considering that I used to do this stuff for a living!). I need help!

*************************************

My husband and I are signed up a half-marathon in October. I've provided background info on both of us as well as what I need help with diet-wise and exercise-wise.

Me: I will be postpartum in a few weeks (currently 38 weeks pregnant). Didn't used to eat healthy but never ate big portions. I'm small. I'll be staying home with our LO so my schedule is completely open for training/planning.

Husband: Technically considered obese. Hasn't ever tried to lose the weight. Weighs approximately 255 pounds and is just over 5'8" tall. Has ankle problems which I believe are due to his weight. Works a weird schedule (4 hours Thursday morning, then 12 hour shifts Friday, Saturday and Sunday night). With his long shifts he needs food to sustain him.

Working out: I found this training plan and would like to follow it. Does it seem like a good one? Since it's a 14 week training plan, I was planning on beginning in the middle of June. How can we work our way up to being able to run? Husband literally hasn't run in years. I was thinking of starting walking as soon as the doctor clears me and once we're able to comfortably walk a few miles together, throw in some jogging? [link removed]

Eating: Obviously, I am able to find healthy recipes and know the basics (low carbs, eat lots of veggies, drink lots of water etc.). My biggest concern is with my hubby and his work schedule as well as breakfasts. I am in LOVE with cereal but I know it isn't healthy and am wondering what a healthy breakfast would look like. Also, what could my husband eat on work days? He sleeps all day and then is at work for 12 hours at night and only gets to eat once.

Thanks for any help!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
FitHappens

I understand your concerns and challenges -- and in some ways based on your background, you probably know deep inside what it is really going to take to reach your goals.

There are tons of good reference material out there so I won't go into all that.
But it always boils down to the same 3 factors for weight loss and overall fitness conditioning.

1) Lean Protein & Complex Carb diet (minimize those simple sugars)
2) Some resistance training 3 days per week
3) Some cardio 3 times per week

This is a well rounded approach that only takes about 75-90 minutes 3 times per week max.
Heck - most people waste more time than that on the Internet or watching some bad TV shows

Michael Spitzer - Author - FITNESS at 40,50,60 and BEYOND
 
Very long and detailed discussion.

I agree many people think they do not have the time yet they have the time to spend in front of TV.

After a pregnancy my wife put on over a stone in weight.

She found it very difficult due to commitment with our new born and returning to work, here is what she did before returning to work.

My work i start a 9AM, only takes me 10 minutes to get to work, so I used to get up at 7AM and man the house while Jennifer went out for a run, every morning without fail she would go out for an hours run, after 2 months she lost the weight and continued until she returned to work.

Now its difficult because on returning from work we all want to spend that quality time together.

Mark Leroy, Saltcoats, CA
 
Last edited:
Back
Top