[caliyah]

just wanted to say hi.

Feel like I've been at this weight loss thing for years. Getting back on track. I let work and stress always get me off my weight loss goals and get me off track.

I'm so tired after work I can't even workout. I was unemployed for a year and lost so much weight. I packed on the pounds once I got a job. Now I'm in the middle of a high stress job figuring out what to do. How to destress and workout. I can't even start the first workout. I'm focusing on diet right now...one step at a time I guess.

How do you all balance work and stress and weight loss? What are some ways to stay focused while at work?

[onic28]

Congrats on making the choice to put yourself first! It already looks like, according to your ticker, that you're 15 pounds down from where you started!!

To start out, I'm a full time student (taking about 17 credit hours on average a semester) and I work 24-32 hours a week. During the summer, I house-sit most days for a large client base and have to be up at 6 to get all my morning rounds done, before going to an internship and then finally work. Trying to balance this on top of having a social life means that I'm definitely able to relate to your struggles!

The first thing I'll have to say is that you're already making the hardest choices... deciding that it's time to make changes and get healthy.

Now, you say you're focusing on diet right now instead of working out. I've gotta say that I'd probably do it the other way around. I only say that because I know how awesome working out is for my stress and for my overall level of contentment. When it comes to dieting, that's a small thing to really change. You're GOING to eat food. It's just a matter of picking the right ones... but working out is a BIG step that could bring you results in DAYS! I once had a doctor tell me that, "You can eat the right foods everyday for a year and you'll only lose a few pounds... you've got to MOVE, Olivia. Actually get up off the couch and move." LOL harsh words, but I've found them to be true!

For me, staying focused on anything is just a matter of small reminders throughout the day. One thing I did that I think has helped me the most is that I bought a big bulletin board at office max on sale for $10. I have a daily weigh-in sheet, a "goal" sheet, a picture of me at my heaviest, a picture of what I'd like to look like after I'm done, I have my "magic number" really big in the corner (125!)... it's a HUGE source of motivation for me. I also have bible verses, quotes, a small pocket for me to put ideas in... anything that would help me keep on going with my weight loss. It worse WONDERS! I see it every morning and It never goes away... One thing that I've thought about doing that would relate to you, is that I've considered developing a menu for the week... that way, I can plan ahead for my calories, what I need to buy, etc. Not only will food no longer be a real issue, but I can look forward to certain meals and there's no "What am I gonna do tonight? Idk... i'll just order out..." Nope, those days are gone!

Good luck, girl! Tell me what your plans are!! Maybe I'll learn something for myself

[Munchy]

I get it 100%. I find that planning and packing my meals in advance really helps with the eating, but you have to make the time to exercise. I have a somewhat stressful job, am a single mom to a three year old, and it's tough to keep it all together.

At the end of the work day, I change into workout gear and lace up my sneakers for a walk/run and some lifting. If I make it a point to bring my gym bag to work and workout before picking up the little one from daycare and going home, I don't have a problem. It's tough to start, but the energy from working out comes immediately, you will feel better at night, subsequently sleep better and have more energy in the morning - just in time to do it all again.

[mkroyer]

Originally Posted by onic28

Now, you say you're focusing on diet right now instead of working out. I've gotta say that I'd probably do it the other way around. I only say that because I know how awesome working out is for my stress and for my overall level of contentment. When it comes to dieting, that's a small thing to really change.

im sorry to the poster, but this is wrong wrong worng... diet is everything, where fat loss is concerned... "you cant out-exercise poor eating habits"
Fatloss comes from being in a caloric deficit. None of us can make a DENT in our daily caloric burn with an hour at the gym = 400cals burned (give or take people) You can eat back those 400 cals with 2 cookies, or 2 servings of peanut butter, or ONE Starbucks fancy macha-frappa-crappa-chino. If you can ONLY focus on one thing, then try and do better than eating "mostly good" or whatever. You need to get a digital food scalem and measure out your portions, that way you know EXACTLY how many cals you are putting in your mouth. Now if you are new to dieting, you may not have to be so strict and obsessive.... you may be able to do fine with cups and measuring spoons and whatnot... oh! and you need to figure out your BMR.. thats your basal metabolic rate. You can google it and find all sorts of calculators... remember, none of them are gospell truth....... thery just give you an IDEA of what you burn in a day. And if you are very sedentary, than you are just going to have to accept that you get less food.....

im NOT knocking exercise!! Trust me, im an athlete, and exercise IS great for reducing stress, and overall helath and wellbeing, etc etc...... but exercise can simply be walking for a half hour to an hour in the morning or during lunch or whenever. ALso focus n MOVING more throughout the day! Those "little things" like parking further away, and taking the stairs REALLY add up..... COOKING has a high caloric burn... believe me, all the calories you burn in a day through NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogensis) will blow the cals you burn in the gym outta the water! Just standing, taking frequent bathroom breaks (so you have to stand and walk) you get the picture.
i LOVE exercise, BUT if you can only do ONE OR the OTHER, and your PRIMARY GOAL is FATLOSS...then diet needs to be your true focus

[onic28]

I should clarify... I am by no means suggesting that one should completely ignore their eating habits to focus specifically on exercise. What I am suggesting, is that one should make small changes to their diet, gradually introducing themselves to a lower caloric intake as well as ridding their diet of bad foods that we've become accustomed to. My point was that the hardest thing (for me anyway) is gaining the motivation to get up and excerise... instead of focusing on a new diet, I focused on making sure I was working out and then also, making smart choices when I eat.

The original post mentioned stress, and I have found no better way to beat stress than to work out... even when I'm busy. I would also dare say that when one begins to work out, they FEEL better. And that feeling makes you want to eat better, and continue down the path of health... It is far too easy to go on a diet and remain sedentary and fall back into the same traps of overeating.

[caliyah]

thank you