I've been lurking on the site for the past few weeks and decided to take the plunge and join. Here's a bit about me: I am 41 and a stay at home (and homeschooling) mother to 2 kids. I started really trying to lose weight about 2 weeks ago. I started at 287 and weighed in this morning at 278. I am using the Lose It! app on my phone to track my calories and weight. My goal is to get to 175, which is the lowest weight I've been as an adult.
Over 10 years ago, before my first was born, I had lost about 75 lbs (went from 250 to 175). Then I had two kids, had some life crises, had some medical problems, blah blah blah and am now at my highest weight. I'm ready for a change!! I am trying to go slow and steady and to be patient with myself. Right now, I am just focusing on calories and eating healthy, whole foods with limited carbs. I am also trying to do wall push-ups, sit ups and lunges. We are going to buy a recumbent bike in the next few weeks.
Exercise is tricky for me because I am with my kids ALL THE TIME! My partner works A LOT and travels out of town a lot. So I am trying to find things that I can do within the home. Also, I live in Texas and it is hot as beejus out there! I have a wii fit plus and a cardio boxing game. And, like I said, we are going to get the recumbent bike.
My partner is also trying to lose weight which is very helpful because she's not eating a lot of junk. But I need to be careful to make this my own so I don't slip if she slips.
I've set some mini-goals for myself. There are a lot but I want them to be meaningful and also close together so that I don't get discouraged. I would love to join a group or thread with people with similar goals for support and accountability.
Hello and welcome to the very supportive 100 pounds to lose. A lot of us have partners here who eat differently. I know my husband eats sooo much sugar and doesn't gain weight. I think it's really encouraging if you do this with your partner. IF she slips you're there to support her and motivate her and encourage her to keep going.
Welcome and congrats on the 10 lbs. The hardest part is getting started and keeping going. You already seem to be on the right track. And I definitely think it's an excellent idea to have your own plan going so that your success is not dependent on whether someone else is sticking to plan.
The biggest thing is believing that you can do this! Know that no matter what setbacks or how long it takes, you can totally do this! You didn't gain everything in a day and life happens. The thing is if you stick with it, it works. It's true. I started at 275 where even 200 seemed miraculous and I did it, I'm still doing it. The key was just sticking with it no matter what.
I think minigoals are excellent. And yours seem great. Challenging but not so much that there's to big a gap between them and they seem too much. I also really found joining challenges here on 3fc really helpful. They have some great ones on here on the 100-lb club or on the Chicks Up For A Challenge board or even in the age group challenges. Or you can always start up your own, people are always up for a challenge.
I get what you mean about exercising in hot weather. I live in the tropics and um... like NO! Workout DVDs are also a cheap great option that will allow you to try a variety of "classes" (aerobics, weights, zumba, dance, kickboxing, walking, step) especially if it's hard to get to the gym etc because of your little ones. When I was a kid my mom used to do Jane Fonda's New Workout and my brother and I used to bounce around with her and it was a fun bonding time.
Anyway here's looking forward to seeing you around 3FC. Congratulations on getting started and your success so far and all the best of luck on your journey. You can do this!
New to the site and want to lose over 100 lbs. too!
I want to congratulate you on your 10 lb success! Every pound counts. I've been seriously dieting since March and have had some good success so far -- actually the best success I've had in years and a variety of things are helping me. First of all, I look at every five lbs. as a 5 lb. bag of sugar. Can you imagine having to lug around 2 five lb. bags of sugar all the time? That's what you just lost! Thinking in smaller increments with a visual has helped me be proud of myself when I have days and days (and sometimes more days) of no weight loss. Then the weight starts dropping again. I've never had much will power or self control when it comes to food. We have always been a foodie family and everything we did was around food. My husband actually found a book he wanted to buy about the primal diet which is basically going back to nature in your food purchasing and eating. I am not plugging it but rather telling you how I started back in March. It helped so much that my husband was doing it too and he didn't have nearly the weight to lose that I did. We ate fresh and as much organic as possible, absolutely no processed foods, no grain, no rice, no starch, no added sugar except honey. It was actually pretty easy especially since we could have a little dark chocolate occassionally. I lost my first 22 lbs. on it. My husband looks great but I had just started so I got a bit discouraged. I reached a point where I couldn't seem to lose any more weight and hovered at the 22 lb. mark for about a month. Then I realized that gosh! I still had some things to evaluate in my body's ability to process food. Gave up the nuts and berries, and voila! Started to lose again. My sister and I joined a medically supervised weight loss program 2 weeks ago together and that has really kick started me back into action. Now I have lost 37ish lbs. total lost. I am so glad I found this forum and I hope to gain encouragement from others in my boat as well as give it because this weight loss thing is a big deal and we all deserve a pat on the back for trying to help ourselves be healthy. Thank you for reaching out because it gave me the courage to do the same. Good luck!
My best advice for someone starting out is to start out small and make little changes that get the weight coming off slowly, then continue to make changes that keep it coming off. I see a lot of people go on radical diet and exercise plans, lose a bunch of weight, but as soon as a big life event happens or there is a plateau, they quit.
I've lost weight *very* slowly. It's taken me two years to lose 46 lbs, but I've never gained back more than 8 lbs or so and I've kept going slow and steady. I started out with some calorie restriction and walking and have continued to ramp things up to the point where I'm working out quite a lot, but now I'm losing close to 1.5 lbs a week. Because I made changes slowly, though, they are now part of my regular routine.
Eating a diet of 1800-2200 calories a day and working out 60-90 minutes a day works for me. Others would choose a lower calorie goal and less exercise. The exercise makes me feel strong and healthy, though, and meeting my fitness goals keeps me encouraged when I'm hitting plateaus.
HI and welcome aboard! I've been MIA for a while, but I wanted to be sure to welcome you
I like that you have a "solitary" plan, because other people's plans don't always fit into what we want. Yet you've also got the support of having a partner who's losing too! win win!
You've got kids, not sure how old they are, and hopefully air conditioning where you live??? I didn't set foot in a gym and lost 170 pounds (HOLY CRAP that still freaks me out! i do the math again sometimes lol 323 - 153, yup!). 5 minute drills running up and down every stair in the house, taking laundry downstairs a few things at a time, power-cleaning the house, workout videos for indoor walking, LOTS of things can be exercise and get you moving (and tucker your kids out)
Best of luck, and 3FC was a HUGE part of my success so be sure to check in often!!
Thanks everyone! I appreciate the responses and support. I think this forum is going to be very helpful. I really don't talk about my weight with anyone IRL, except for my partner.
Yesterday was my "cheat day." I had a party to go to and I planned for it during the week. This is a real struggle for me, to "cheat" and not just say screw it to the whole thing. But I am determined to not let that happen this time. I ate more than I would have liked yesterday but I mostly ate fat and protein and avoided the carbs, except when it came to the birthday cake. But at least it was a small slice. And then there were the beers! I am feeling very bad about it but I am trying to look at the big picture. I went over my calories for the day by about 550 but I am still 500 calories under my budget for the week. And I ate less than I would have a month ago.
Today is a new day so I have to put that behind me and not use yesterday as a reason to stop.
Just joined and looking for support
A lot of us have partners here who eat differently. I know my husband eats sooo much sugar and doesn't gain weight. I think it's really encouraging if you do this with your partner. IF she slips you're there to support her and motivate her and encourage her to keep going.
