New person with a plan!
 

Hello, lovely community members.

My name is KT. I'm 27 years old, 5'7", and probably around 150-155 lbs right now (I haven't weighed myself lately).

In high school, I was a size 12 and weighed about 160, but when I started college and started just walking to class and dropped regular sodas from my diet, I dropped 30 lbs fast and started wearing a size 6.

Just by eating reasonably healthy, I was able to maintain for years around 135-140, but I never was interested in fitness so I stayed "skinny fat" and out of shape.

Last year, I decided to donate eggs to a local fertility clinic, and it was a great experience overall, but the hormone treatments made me blow up like a balloon and I just haven't been able to shake that back off with casual health.

I joined a new ladies-only gym this week. I've had personal training in the past, so I've got a good idea of what I'm doing, and I'm hoping to add a martial arts class into my schedule soon, because I try to have a philosophy that exercise should be more about health and being able to kick some butt than looking like a magazine cover.

Right now my plan is, exercise-wise:
Monday - cardio/upper body weights
Tuesday - cardio/lower body weights
Wednesday - rest day
Thursday - cardio/upper body weights
Friday - cardio/lower body weights
Saturday - cardio/full body workout
Sunday - rest day

As far as diet/nutrition goes, I'm counting calories (around 1500/day) and also trying to stick to fresh, non-processed/packaged/restaurant food. I'm taking diet sodas out of rotation as well, in favor of unsweetened tea for caffeine.

I'm hoping to get involved in this community because I don't really have people in my life who are supportive. My mother has a very toxic relationship with food and body image, which makes discussing fitness or diet with her very stressful and disruptive. Most of my friends are ambivalent about nutrition and exercise, either because they have very fast metabolisms naturally or because they just can't be bothered, and my closest friend in town is a recovered bulimic, so I have to watch what I discuss with her and how I say it to avoid triggering any issues with her.

Hi KT! :wel3fc: Good to have you! This is a great community for support. People here really want the best for you. As you browse around, consider joining the January Weight Loss Challenge thread and January Exercise Challenge thread. Both can be found under the sub-forum "Chicks Up for a Challenge" in Support Groups. The exercise thread is great for holding yourself accountable, and the weight loss thread is very active, encouraging, and motivational, and in the weight loss thread if you don't want to set a number goal, like "losing 5 lbs" for the month, you can set a goal like "staying on plan" for the month. These two ongoing monthly challenge threads have been instrumental to my success so far. I highly recommend them! Good luck to you!

Thanks for the tips, Jacqui!

Hi KT, welcome to the forums and good luck :)

With a little over a week down, I'm still on plan, but I'm amazed at what my biggest struggle has been: avoiding the diet sodas.

At work, it would be much easier for me to run down the hall and grab a diet coke from the machine than it is to have unsweet tea. Yesterday, I went to a party at a friend's house, and the drink selection was soda, diet soda, beer, or wine. Water, fruit juice, and tea were unavailable, and I came very close to drinking a coke zero just because that was all she had, but I managed to avoid it.