MartiniGirl's Diary

cbjfan61

cbjfan61

New member
12/27/2007 - I'm hoping to try and focus myself into being healthy again. Over the three years of staying home with my two girls fulltime, working fulltime, and getting through my doctoral coursework I've gainned 60 pounds.

I want to go back to where I was when I began this slide into feeling crappy, aching joints, lack of motivation, and slight depression over gaining the weight in the first place. I know the suggestions posted here ask us to answer a lot of questions when starting out; but right now I am just ready to focus on some initial thoughts.

Goal - get back to my original weight prior to going back to school

How - baby steps....hoping to start with something as simple as drinking more water and learning "how to eat". I honestly think I've forgotten while making kid food for my two girls and having too much stuff on my "personal plate" with staying home, working and doctoral work. I have a feeling those enjoyable gin & tonics will need to go and be subsituted for tea intead to relax at night :)

When - I don't think I really have a timeline in mind...but I guess if you need a goal I am going on a two week cruise through the panama canal in August for my 40th birthday/PhD completion and there is no time like now to get this done. But......the timeline should really be to just frankly feel better.
 
one change a time will get you where you want to be and not seem like it's hard work...

Read around the forum, especially the stickied threads and you'll get lots of valuable information

welcome and muchsuccess on your journey and have a great time planning for yor cruise
 
Thank you

Thank you for bothering to reply. I appreciate that. I just think I desperately need to A) find out what can work for me and B)figure out where to start. I'm worried that being overwhelmed with not knowing will cause me to "give up". I doubt I'd be the first.
 
Taking it one step at a time, changing one habit at a time... is the easiest way, in my opinion anyhow, to avoid the overwhelmage and quittage factor (plus you get to make up words too :D

First step - take measurements - neck/chest/bust/waist/abdomen/hips/thighs/calves/upper arms/ whatever else you want... and record them... you will see changes often in measurements sooner than you wil lsee changes on the scale.
Take pictures of where yu are right now - pictures often give you a more accurate portrayal than scale numbers

Start by the drinking of water...

Next step I'd suggest, because it's a crucial step - is getting a good set of measuring implements - kitchen scale and start to keep track of your calories - using a site like or one of the 100s of free sites on the net that help this...

and relax - we really make it so much more complicated than it needs to be... Just go one s tep at a time.
 
"One day at a time...."

When we talk about "one thing at a time" do we mean that seriously? I mean do you literally start out changing nothing else; but let's say drinking 5 glasses of water a day and then after a week or something move to maybe eliminating that one thing (pizza, soda, mac&cheese, or whatever) that you always fall back on? If so, do we do one change a week, or can you implement some changes quicker?
 
Day 2

12/28/2007 - "Today is the first day of the rest of your life, eh?" so that is the saying. I can't say I feel any different, and I would never expect to, with the possible exception of feeling good about making a baby step or two. I did have several glasses of water today and that is not something I normally do. I can't say I cut back on any number of calories; but the water is today's step. I also can not say I exercised like people do when they make the decision to lose weight or make a New Year's Resolution; but I did a bit of stretching this evening in hopes of getting this old, tired achy, unmotivated, and out of shape body in motion.

I'm very interested in some advice from those who've been overweight, hurting and having a hard time learning how to move again.....how to do you start? Do you stretch? Then walk...even if slowly....massage the joints or what do we do to help those joints feel ready for some work? Even if a little work for now.
 
Day 3

12/29/07 - Today did not go as a normal day. I had 30+ people coming for a Christmas party so I didn't eat regularly, count my water or anything today. The "upside" of today was that I was so very busy from the time I got up to the time I finally sat down at 11:30pm. I realize that "exercise" is more than all day housework, but being even busy all day makes me feel like maybe there is a small step for today. I would like to get some water in me yet tonight and do some stretching just to work on these aching joints.....

again I ask for advice.....how do those who ache and such get themselves started exercising? Any advice?
 
Days 4-6

12/30/2007 thru 1/1/2008 - was out of the country for a mini-vacation to celebrate the new year. I actually did great in a couple areas....I drank water at all my meals while out of town and I did a lot of walking whille doing the "tourist thing". Again, can't say I'm changing my eating habits yet....but I do feel really great about the walking and increase in water while away from home.

Again I am still requesting advice on how to get moving at home to "start exercising" when I am achy and such...curious still how others have done it. I started with just stretching; but had hoped that by being in a forum like this we'd have advice and support when we had questions.....did I misunderstand the purpose of this area?
 
Sorry, I'm not a diary-follower, or I'd have chimed in before now.

Honestly, when I started out, I did zero exercise. At that point, I was having foot problems (and general out-of-shape issues) such that walking even short distances was painful, and I'd get out of breath going up the one flight of stairs to my office. Plus, in the past exercise has made me ravenously hungry, so any calories burned would be more than compensated for by eating more. So I focussed on getting my eating in order, and added exercise when "I'm out of shape" was a bigger pain point than "I'm overweight." Which came about 4 months and 25 pounds in. By then, reduced weight had gotten rid of the stabbing pains in my feet every time I walked.

If you can walk, I'm a fan of walking. It doesn't burn a ton of calories (but that's true of almost any exercise of similar intensity), but it's easy, cheap, and gets you moving. There's a "take 10,000 steps a day" challenge you'd be welcome to join, if you're interested. Even if you don't get to 10,000 (which I don't on many days), it's a good way to stay motivated.
 
Gratz on your commitment to a healthier you!

Starting your journey in the midst of the holidays is proof of your desire to get going ASAp!

In my opinion, exercise is just as important as the food eaten. Establishing a routine is key to making exercise not so much a chore. You need to find something you like and be sure it is realistic. Then, the hard part- actually doing it. For me I just "bit the bullet" and starting working out on my dusty Nordik track. I had heard that habits form in about 3 weeks time, so I committed myself to working out at least 3 times a week, for 30 minutes each time for 3 weeks. By the 2nd week, I could already feel my body craving more. I think starting is harder than maintaining exercise. Like the NIKE commerical says . . Just Do It!
:biggrinjester:

 
Baby steps are definitely the key. I stopped drinking soda six months ago and two weeks ago quit eating after 7 p.m., and now I am starting to switch to much healthier foods and actually counting calories, fat, and carbs. The slower you go, the more long lasting the effects will be. Also, it helps to remind yourself that you are not on a diet you are simply making a "Lifestyle Change."
 
Thanks and Day 7

Thanks so much to you all for taking time to write. I think I need to figure out where to actually ask questions (perhaps in the newcomer area) and where to just write out my daily thoughts (here perhaps?). I do appreciate it. I don't think I can commit to both exercising and changing my eating habits all at the same time. I would be overwhelmed.....more so than already I guess :)

Day 7 - snow day for the kids so it didn't go as easily as I'd hoped....didn't eat the best today (damn kid food I need to learn to stay away from) but even with the hot dog for lunch and some pizza for dinner I didn't go much over my "estimated caloric intake". Cleaned and took down Christmas decorations so I did get some "light" exercising in which the "food diary" said did burn some calories. Starting to feel that maybe I can make it. 7 days of trying and not yet giving up is a good thing for me. I feel like it's "7 days sober".....but for me "7 days of trying hard".
 
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