I need motivation!

[poppinspal]

Well I'm new to DIS and WISH. Although I've been lurking around the DIS site for almost a year for help planning Disney trips. Thought I'd post my story here and maybe get some advice. I'll warn you now I'm long winded. (feel free to skip to the last two paragraphs.)

I've always loved sports and been an athlete. I played sports right up till I left college. Unfortunately I left college early due to some personal problems. When I left I did the absolute wrong thing and started drinking. (Don't get me wrong there's nothing wrong with having a few drinks but this was more then a few drinks.) Since I left college I've slowly cut back on my exercise and quickly started putting on weight. (The 8:30am-5pm job didn't help that.) At one point my doctor said my cholesterol was too high and that if I didn't lower it I'd have to be put on meds. (I refused to go back for testing.)

Well in the past 9 months or so I've made some big changes in my life. I went back to school part time to finish up my degree. (Yay me! This was big.) I had started to workout again which had me feeling pretty good. I cut back on junk food and foods that I knew weren't good for me. I stopped seeing some people who were negative influnces in my life. At 24 I've finally got my life back together. Add in a very caring boyfriend and you have the makings of a happy girl.

But then in December the holidays hit and then I went to Disney. My whole workout routine got totally knocked off track. I slowly undid all the months of workouts. Finally I just gave up. But then yesterday I went to a free cardiac health screening put on by my work. The good news was that all my working out and diet change had got my cholesterol down to 190, the lowest it's been since I was almost a child. But the two things that sent up alarms for me were my blood pressure and my weight. I've never had high blood pressure and my weight was a number that to me is just scary. I was told to cut down on salt as a starting point.

So here's where I need help.... besides cutting out candy, ice cream(which I miss!), cakes and chips. (I still have them but as a very rare treat.) What suggestions do you have for eating healthy? I'm a non veggie person, how can I make myself enjoy veggies more? I've gone two weeks now without any alcohol and will continue like that till I've got myself drinking less. I'm also going to try to cut back on soda. I've started waking up at 6am to do my work on the treadmill and sit ups. (Thank god we have weights and a treadmill in our basement.) But are there any exercise videos or anything you do that you find to be fun that also seem to give you good results? I'd like to maybe try some other exercises. And how can I stay motivated to wake up that early to do my workouts? I can't find time at night and I like the high working out in the morning gives me for the rest of my day.

Phew that was too long. But I really need the help and figured this is a place I'd feel comfortable getting it. This is the one aspect of my life I feel I lost control of. Plus I want to start shaping up for beach season and my trip to disney in september. (The first with my bf woohooo.) I weigh 147 now (I'm 5foot 3inches) but would like to get back down to the 125 I was when I left college. But I've never been a fan of scales(even when I was in shape) so to state my goal differently I'm a size 10 or 12 and I'd like to drop down to at least an 8. Help me!

 

[ohMom]

poppinspal to WISH. what a great day to come out of lurkdom! it's so much funner to make friends and get invovled here, i think you'll find this a very positive, supportive board; just like you're looking for!

first step to officially taking the WISH challenge is to follow the link in my siggie and grab the official clipart! start with the member one, your starting weight as of day you join in; and then every 5 lbs you can to change it! how simple yet so fun and motivating! cheesy? maybe but it works

i understand your position, i lost 25 lb doing WW on my own in 2003, then allowed myself to regain over the course of 18 mos, and a DCL cruise over thanksgiving followed by the holidays took me back up to 5 lbs from where i started. i was so disgusted with myself. i'm 5'4" and right now 148 so i'm with ya. my goal is 135, i know i'll never be below 130 and for my age (33) i'm ok with that. is 125 a healthy reasonable weight for you? just seems so darn little to me we are all different, finding a goal that is healthy is important.

eating healthy for me is following WW, right now i'm trying to follow a chart from WW which is a lower carb/higher protein mix. i struggle with the vicious carb cycle. want some carbs/sugar? eat some. want more! eat more! get upset with self and feel like there's a brick in my stomach! eat more! y'know the cycle i bet.

for me counting points helped me realize portion control and the nutricional value of the foods i was eating. for example, i could have a jr cheeseburger for 7 pts, or make my own veggieburger with low-fat cheese on a whole wheat bun for 4 pts. over time i learned how to budget better my points by making better food choices -- then i realized how my BETTER i felt eating that way

for the record -- i'm a bit sweet tooth -- and i don't completely deprive myself either. ice cream? LOVE IT! try Weight watchers smart one novelties they are delish! if you can eat malitol (sweetner) there are lots of yummy ice creams for you.

i would suggest also browsing some recipes on the Healthy Eating board, you may be surprised at how yummy they are! i made a WW pineapple upside down cake for Easter that was heavenly!

i know i keep saying "WW....WW....WW" that b/c it works for me. but you will find the plan that works for you, and it may be your own. that's fine. whatever works for you is the right one.

exercise -- i like the Walk Away the Pounds dvds, Denise Austin's Shrink the Female Fat Zone dvd and any kind of pilates/yoga. my suggestion is to check out your library and see what you can borrow to try before you buy. do you have FitTV? there are great shows on it. I also have Exercise on Demand which i just discovered with lots of great shows. try to incorporate some strength training to boost your metabolism and tone your muscles.

one more thing (you thought you were windy? ) measure yourself! on the days when the scale isn't budging, it's so uplifting to remeasure and see the difference in your size -- that's really what matters anyhow, right!

 

[poppinspal]

Thanks for the welcome. I grabbed the clipart. I'm all about being cheesy especially if it helps me stay motivated.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who finds myself doing so well then slipping back into my old ways. The thought of putting on my bathing suit right now makes me more then a little sad. I'd be happy with being around 130. 125 probably is little but that's what I was when I was my healthiest. (Meaning most in shape.)

My mom does WW and seems to do really well with it. I just don't know if I could handle the going to meetings part of it. I know they really work well for some people but for me it's makes me feel a little uncomfortable.

I do know I need some way though of keeping track of what I eat. I've managed to get pretty good at not being out of control with what sweets I eat but I know I'm still missing some key parts of eating healthy. I'm definitely going to have to try your ice cream suggestions. It might be the happy medium.

I'm always looking for more recipes just because I like trying to cook new things. So checking out the healthy eating might be just the thing to get me going.

I'll also try some of those videos you suggested. I just got a netflix account so maybe that would be a good place to try some dvds out before I buy them. I'm lucky to have a father who is pretty into working out so he'll be making sure I do strength training but I'd like to do some more enjoyable workouts too.

I never thought to measure myself, that's a great idea! I've kind of always been a person who doesn't weigh herself. (Even when I was small.) I'm more about size and how I look to myself. So maybe I'd be better off with a size goal instead of a number goal.

Thanks for all the great advice!

 

[bubba73]

Welcome to DIS poppinspal! I hope you get all the motivation that you need to be able to reach your goals. The first thing that I would suggest would be to change up your routine. Don't do the same thing all of the time. That gets very boring and you won't stick with it. Instead of the treadmill, go to the park and take a nature walk. Do some power walking. Ride a bike. Anything to change up the monotany (?) of your routine. Also. with your weight training make sure you are doing a lot of reps with long, slow movements. This is perfect for helping you tone. Make sure you throw in your ab work. You don't have to do just crunches. There are many ways to work on your core. Try laying on the floor and lifting your legs up about 8" to 12" off the floor. From this position, try to do the same movement as a pair of scissors would make. This is great for all of your ab regions. Also, try to drink as much water as you can. I try to intake around 1.5 gallons a day but I am also a bit bigger than you are so you might want to scale that back some. Take a good multi-vitamin. This will aid in your energy levels. I will be back later with more ideas as they come.

Have a great day!!