MrsTryingAgain HOORAY!!!!!!! I am so happy for you and DH! But I'm sure it's scary, too, once the drs agree to the urgency that you have been arguing for all along. Best wishes for Monday. We are all here cheering your husband on
PETRA!!! Hi!! Remember me from a few years ago?? I'll have to change my avatar back to not being ensconced in my raincoat; you'd probably recognize me better... I am so happy to hear all the good things that have come your way since we lost touch (ie, meeting your DH and getting married!! Although, maybe you had started dating him, I can't be sure). Sorry to hear about your BP; hopefully your cardiologist can help you get that under control so you can get the surgery you desire. Best of luck to you, and so nice to see you back!
Hi, to everyone else. It's hard for me to keep up on this thread, but know that I am thinking of you all and cheering on your successes! I'm in the final 2 weeks before my big trek; getting excited!!
Hi everybody.
When I started my journey and joined this forum I had three vague but honorable health-oriented goals:
1. Eat more nutritious food (veggies, whole grains)
2. Eat less junk
3. Get regular (min. 4 times/week) exercise
Weight loss was sort of a happy by-product.
Now that I seem to be on track with those goals I'm starting to wonder if I should set more concrete goals.
Do you all find goals motivating? Weight goals ("onederland or bust!") or fitness goals ("three flights of stairs w/o dying!") or size goals or a combination? I'm keeping all kinds of records (weight, BMI, measurments, cloth size, etc.) but the approach feels scattershot...
And.. Do the motivational benefits of goals outweigh the maybe demotivational aspects of never seeming to reach goals?
Just wondering what you all think...
Hi Newleaf! Yes, I remember you. Glad to see you have been faithful to your goals. Is this trip one of those you take with sister or sisters? I think I remember something about that. Yes, DH is the guy I started dating about the time I disappeared. Really great guy-definately worth the wait.
MagicSusan- I think goals are an individual thing. I have found getting focused on particular numbers to not be helpful for me but focusing on staying on plan and focusing on healthy lifestyle choices to be a better option. My personal opinion. Other people find those shorter term goals to definately be helpful for them.
MagicSusan different goals work well for me, it can be a simple as on the treadmill sometimes I try to get to the next 5 minute, then the next whatever of a mile, keeps me going.
With the calendar, I have my weigh-in day, but also like to see the difference between the beginning and end of the month.
Also, I have a certain shirt that I try on every once in awhile to see how it fits.
Sometimes, just staying the course is a good goal, depending on what's coming up and what time of year it is that could be challenging.
MagicSusan I lost my first 40 pounds with goals very similar to yours. I wanted to eat healthy food, increase my fitness, and gain strength. The weight loss, while I was working on that too, was the side effect. However, once I lost 40 pounds, this turned into a vanity exercise, so then I moved to the numbers goals. Timeframe goals don't really work too well for me, because as soon as I feel like I won't meet a time goal, I let up until the next time goal period begins.
Petra Oh, how wish things were as they must look in your eyes. It's really just a matter of timing. In this period when you have popped back in, yes -- I seem exactly like before. Great shape. Same weight / appearance (except I'm gray now). Awesome international trek pending with sister (good memory!). However... like you, I disappeared. Like you, I put the weight back on. Like you, I came back, committed to being done with the yo-you once and for all. Ugh.... I don't know if you remember the medical drama I was going through at the time you (and I) disappeared. In the 3 years, I had 1 minor, 1 major, and 1 supremely major surgery, and a lot of mental anguish. Lo and behold, I put the weight back on. After the last (supremely major) surgery exactly a year ago, I decided I was DONE with the weight. And ta da.... here I am again. It's a frustrating cycle, no?
I think goals help keep you motivated and accountable to yourself. I have a yearly calendar hanging on my wall in my office. In 2012 I started putting an x for days I didn't work out and an o for the days I did. Each month I set a goal and then at the end wrote the actual done underneath. Its a great feeling to meet or exceed goals. Its also a reminder when you don't meet them that you need to try harder the next month. I feel off this wagon from Oct to Jan but started Feb1 again. I wrote a goal of 24 workouts and did 18. March goals have been set for 26 days and I have done one so far. Its funny because that calendar is my motivator. I don't want to get to the end of another month and not make my goal. I also have this walk/run schedule posted to my wall. Its a 12 week program with some pretty intense endurance run/walks on saturdays. I have been wanting to do this for a while and actually started it on monday. So its another "calendar" type goal that I get to look at every day and see where I am at. I am very visual so this helps me so much.
Good reminder on the calendar goal. I have a similar one -- 250 exercise sessions in 2013. I find it very motivating because I set it as realistic and doable -- thinking exercise 5x per week, for 50 weeks, with 2 weeks off. And "exercise session" is flexible. Sometimes it means 1 1/2 hours at the gym, other times it means 20 min on the stairmaster in my basement. And on days when I really can't motivate myself to do anything, it means a brisk walk around the 1-mile hilly loop in my neighborhood.
The important thing is that I get out there and do something that I wouldn't otherwise do, on most days. And truly, there have probably been 2 or 3 days already this year where I haven't felt like doing anything, and I absolutely FORCED myself to haul my butt around the neighborhood loop just so I could notch off the session. And that's what the goal is all about. Just getting me out there doing stuff -- long term, for a whole year. Because I'm in this for the long haul.
@Magicsusan: As everyone probably figured out by now...I'm a quantifier. My husband tells me I'm always keeping score and it's true. I need goals that are specific and realistically attainable/sustainable. If they are too grand in too short of a time - I will only disappoint myself. It's better to achieve ahead of schedule than miss a deadline!
Up until this point, my goal (time after time)was 150lbs, size 10 pants. It seemed very specific at the time(s). As fast as I could (cardio,cardio,cardio). That's all that mattered. Not eating healthy, getting stronger, etc and no plan for after I hit the 'magic' 150. And every time I reached 150, I wasn't happy. I would stop the cardio (finally, whew) and start eating. Everything. It was all just a means to my end - not a true change of lifestyle.
THIS time, I have very three very specific lifestyle changing goals and a detailed long term plan on how to get there and stay there.
#1. Free Weights. The weight program I am doing is broken into 4 phases, 4 weeks each then changes to new section with 6 phases of 6 weeks each. So that is my fitness goal: Finish each phase. It should take me about 10 months from start to finish. Maybe longer if I choose to repeat the first 4 phases - depends on where I am at when I finish at the end of April.
#2 Body fat under 20%. As for weight - I'm no longer interested in the scale. I am targeting a specific body fat % by May 1. No sense lifting all these weights and then hiding my muscles under a layer of fat!
#3 Finally: food. On all previous attempts I severely restricted calories (1100ish) and would be so hungry, dizzy and cranky that I constantly thought of food and what I was going to inhale as soon as I was done with the 'diet'. I felt so deprived and a bit resentful of all the 'good' food other people got to eat. Oh and at least a 'cheat' day every month. With that came the inevitable crushing sense of failure. I knew it wasn't sustainable - just didn't care as it meant the weight came off fast. Sadly that cycle continued for years before I finally realized that I was doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Silly girl - stop beating your head against the same wall- it hurts! This time - I eat 1500-1600 calories (150+gram protein, 150 carbs, rest fat grams) of healthy, low/no sodium foods. I'm not hungry and I don't feel deprived or miss crappy food. It's taking longer this time and amazingly, that doesn't bother me because I know I can sustain this - and have for 83 days without going off plan!. No more hunger, cranks or dizziness. When I start heavy lifting in May - I will need at least 2500 calories a day - no way I'll feel hungry. I'm actually worried about how in the heck I'm going to ADD 1000 calories! Definitely slowly! My goal is to bulk muscle - not fat!!
As an added bonus: I get rewarded every time I lift weights! I can do one more rep or lift a few more pounds. It's quantifiable in a way that cardio never was. And cardio didn't transfer over to my day-to-day life. I never ran really fast across a huge parking lot and thought, "Whew, good thing I can do lots of cardio or I never would have made it into the store!"
However last night I was in the basement 'playing' in the litter box and I picked up the big 38 pound bucket of litter with one hand and lifted it up to my chest to grab the bottom with the other hand like it was a box of tissues!
Yikes - there I go again, typing like I talk...on and on!
Good advice for MagicSusan. Everyone is motivated differently. Numbers, NSVs, health, feeling better, admiration from others, strength, etc. I have to say, I'm a bit jealous that you're looking for motivation at a time when your efforts are leading to weight loss. I'm in the opposite situation. I'm motivated and paying attention, but the weight is not coming off. Sigh.
I've been lurking here today, hoping to find some new methods, but mostly procrastinating. Feeling like the oddball in this group. I have no big food issues, no sweet tooth, I don't think I will have problems maintaining, but I just cannot seem to lose. I don't have big health issues, but I do have low metabolism--To lose, I have to consistently keep under 1000. If I stop paying attention, I will gain, and age has made this a bigger issue. Frustrated and worried. And drowning in work & stress. I'm in a catch22 situation--need to get more exercise to be stronger so I can get work done more efficiently, but the workload is keeping me from exercise. I keep saying "after this deadline...", but there is always another deadline. Blah blah blah whine whine whine
So proud of DS15....won a state academic contest and is going to nationals in florida.....Hey, had to say something good after that whinefest....Full of mommy pride and love for my two tall boys....who still let me hug them every now and then....
Good luck tomorrow MrsT!!!
OK....enough procrastinating.....back to work.....No chance I'll get done early today...just hoping I get some sleep tonight!
LuvCats: Hope you enjoy Vegas. Come home safely to us. We'll help you get back on track if needed when you return.
Thanks so much! Hopefully I don't need a kick in the pants like I might have in years past but I sure welcome all encouragement I can get.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LindaWW
LuvCats - I am jealous of your Vegas vacation. DH and I always have talked about going, but never have. I would love to go someday.
It was wonderful! I'd encourage you to go for it! We took advantage of the winter special that was going at the Bellagio but booked through Orbitz. I was under $500 for flights, car rental and 1 night at the Bellagio (we spent the other 2 nights at the Palazzo from frequent user points through the chain they are part of). Wed-Thursday were a great time to be there.... Friday evening/Sat. got crazy with all the people. Overall well worth the trip!
Wow! Thank you all for your thoughts on this.
It's a lot to think about, but I think already that my goal will somehow be health oriented. It's so tempting when you see the weight coming off to start thinking things like "oh, I bet I could get down to such and such a weight by summer if..." which seems likely to lead to disaster and derailment...
Target BMIs with no fixed date is also a possibility... I'll keep you guys posted!
Have any of you seen the old Romeo and Juliet movie? I remember watching it in high school, so -- early 1980s, although the movie itself could be even older. The reason I ask is because I just laughed. Juliet's nurse wore some kind of head contraption that looks like me with my raincoat pulled tight. Is it called a wimple?
It was all just a means to my end - not a true change of lifestyle.
