Hello all you lovely people!
I thought I'd join this community as it seems like a welcoming place with nice and interesting people!
A little about me:
I'm a 37 year old female from Finland who's planning a 6 month long project to reach a few goals and I would love to share that journey with others. Regardless of whether others share similar goals or are doing something quite different, I still love a good community spirit. My personal goals are listed below.
I know how to lose fat, am determined enough and capable of carrying out particular diets and have even managed to get rid of self-sabotaging behaviors like binging or telling myself that I'll fail. So technically I'm golden. It's just that I'm a terribly disorganized procrastinator!
Basically I put off going to the gym or to yoga and I put off planning and preparing meals, which means that I end up neither exercising nor eating proper foods. I wait until I'm too hungry and then just eat some processed foods. I keep choosing the more comfortable option all the time and my habits are all over the place, so I want to change that. I never thought I'd say this but I actually want routine in my life. I've never been a person who would enjoy routine, so now at the ripe age of 37 and finally feeling more like a grown-up, I need to learn how to incorporate routine into my life.
My goals:
1) To have a set routine for maintaining health, fitness and beauty, and to have a plan B in place in case something goes wrong and I need to be flexible. This includes meal times, exercise, skin and hair care routines, etc. I know that what looks good on paper might not work in real life, so this will be a process. As long as by the end of the 6 months I have a plan that I'm already executing and can use for the rest of my life (or at least for several years) I consider this goal accomplished.
2) To engage in various different types of physical activities. For example lifting weights, yoga, dancing… Not too much, as stress will do no good for the body, but I want to do different types of things. Not just for the physical benefits, but for mental as well. I want to use my body in ways that will make me feel strong and capable, but also to express enjoyment in life. So I wish that by the end of 6 months I would be engaging in 3-4 different types of physical activities, each one at least once every 2 weeks. Trying to cram 4 different types of activities for every week might end up being too stressful, hence the 2 week goal.
3) To have a recipe binder for at least 30 different dishes that I love, can prepare with ease and are appropriate for my body and lifestyle. What this means is that I have a set of foods that I can prepare depending on the situation. For example a post-workout meal (a big plate of pasta) would look different than a meal for a day after indulging myself (a salad with lots of veggies and lean protein). And I do intend to reserve the right to indulge. One meal doesn't ruin everything. It's how you recover from it. Also, it's good to have something you can fall back on if you're tired and pressed for time and just don't know what to eat. Those are the times I tend to eat processed foods that do me no good and make me feel and look awful.
4) My physical goal would be to be at 20% body fat. It's not a small goal considering that I'm now somewhere around 32% or so. I'm basing these numbers on my scale that measures body fat, so they might not be totally accurate, but I just want to see that 12%-ish reduction. I honestly don't know where my weight should be then, but probably around 140lbs or so (I'm 5'8"). The weight doesn't matter to me. I also have a body type I would want to obtain, but in all honesty, you can't bend your own body to be something it's not, so my tangible goal is just to reduce the body fat percentage and see what I look like after that! :-) This is definitely a vanity goal. I want to look as good as I feel, and I feel happy, youthful and feminine. I most certainly do not hate my body right now, but it doesn't feel quite right. In theory the 20% should be achievable in 6 months with approximately 600kcal deficit per day. It's not going to be linear and I actually am not at all interested in counting calories anymore, but I'll do it if I have to. We'll see how things pan out. Right now I'm interested in combining intermittent fasting with a mediterranean diet.
What I want from this community:
Well…to be part of a community, really :-) I've noticed that it helps a lot. I'm not going to use the word "accountable", because somehow it doesn't sit well with me. I'm responsible for myself and as such accountable for myself, but it gives me a boost to be able to share the experience with others. To me it's like sharing a race with others; you'll get a bit competitive and want to show that you can do it, but you'll want others to succeed as well and help them reach their goals.
I do want to share what ever bits of knowledge I've accumulated over the years of on-off dieting and successes and failures. I'm not the right person to say "this is how you should do it", but I can tell what has helped me. So, I am very interested in offering support for others as well. People can be so hard on themselves, so I can probably also be seen forcing compassion upon people from time to time :-) Negative self-talk isn't going to help in achieving any goals! Neither is unrealistic expectations.
So…now I just need to figure out the right place to start a thread for anyone who'd like to share a journey with me for the next 6 months!
Looking to share a 6 month long journey with others!
You sound like a woman with determination! Good to have you! Jump right in! Good luck!
But I literally don't know ANYTHING about cooking. Not even the basics.
