Finding Balance

joshuakcaron

Hello,

I recently got married and I started thinking about how badly I want to be more healthy so that I can spend as much time as possible with my beautiful wife. I’ve had success at losing weight in the past (50 lbs in 2 months) but the measures I took to the lose the weight we’re too extreme. I was being monitored by professionals the whole time but it’s just not a realistic goal and I gained all of the weight back shortly after and now I weigh more than I ever did before.

I’m trying to figure out the best way to find a lifestyle balance that works for me. In the past, I was working out 4-5 hours a day. I also significantly cut back on my food intake.

I’m hoping I can lose half a pound a week, maybe even less, minimizing the amount of exercise needed to reach my calorie goal for the day. I’ve just never lost weight before without putting in an extreme amount of effort exercising so I don’t even know if it’s possible.

Currently, I’m two years sober. I quit to save some money and hoped it would help with my weight. It helped with the savings but my weight barely fluctuated. Right now I am working on cutting sugary drinks. I used to drink 4 energy drinks a day, I had cut back to 2 a day but since I’ve been married I haven’t had one. I am currently drinking what’s known as “G-Fuel” and I also drink coffee (black).

Anyways, any tips for a low exercise (not zero though) lifestyle that can result in weight loss would be firstly appreciated. One thing I hope to do is start playing hockey again now that I have a car and can drive to arenas.

sugaraddict4321

Congratulations on your marriage.

It's not always easy to find balance, so I think you have to be open to trying different approaches and seeing what works for you. You don't need to exercise to lose weight, but it is good for your health to be at least a little active. You may find that moving more, even if it's just walking 15 minutes a day = you can eat a little more and still have a calorie deficit to lose weight.

If you feel like you're not sure where to start, take a look at this thread:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10300331/most-helpful-posts-getting-started-must-reads#latest

It's a list of the "most helpful" threads, as recommended by members of the community

KungfuPandin

Hey there,
its great you are thinking about taking steps for your health and well being. It's also great that you are now thinking that the measures you previously took were too extreme. I agree with you. They sound too extreme to me. I couldn't do that! I think exercising 4-5 hrs a day is too much for most people. I couldn't do that and I was set to run a marathon (just a few weeks off from it) and then had an injury. It's hard work and probably something you don't want to hear but weight loss is mostly going to happen on your plate. My advice is to start small. Start where you are at right now with the things you have around you. It's very easy at first to go in big and go hard because you have all that motivation at this point.. but motivation fades after a month or two and what's left is consistent discipline and daily actions which lead towards that change..The people who don't gain back weight are the ones who made behaviour change part of their plan and didn't do it fast, sometimes it takes years..at least that's my opinion from what I've noticed in myself an in others. Doing to much too soon overwhelms most people. It's so easy in the world right now to be fooled into thinking that huge fast losses will lead to big gains. We are actually sold this concept.. initially that's the case but trust me from personal experience on this, it's slow and steady changes that ultimately take you where you want to be... what kind of change is best for the long term? What is the one thing you can do right now? Just one. I like your ideas of cutting out soda, do you think you could expand on that to include more water? Tracking everyday will help you understand what you are eating and drinking. Slowly you'll end up putting more vegetables on the plate and eating more whole foods.. trust me, it's the biggest bang for buck and fills you up.. But perhaps focusing too much effort on multiple goals might have gotten too much in the past?.. focus on that one specific area in your goal.. nail it.. and move to the next.. You'll get there for sure!.