Hello

Schmamy01

Hey everyone! I am a 36 woman who is pre-diabetic & currently 5’7” and 295lbs. My goal is to get healthy and fit and get down to about 175lbs. I’m a bit terrified lol. Any tips you can give me on how to burn/loose fat, especially insulin resistant fat, while keeping in mind overall mind & body health, would be great! I am currently starting a Mediterranean style of eating. Basically, if God didn’t make it, I’m not eating it lol. I swear I’m allergic to exercise & I do have BED. But I have begun this journey with a fasting blood sugar of 168 and at that # decided it’s time. After 4 days of consuming “real food” and monitoring my macros and calories, I am already noticing a difference in my face. It feels really good!

CalisthenicsTraining

Find some cardio that you enjoy doing. The more you enjoy your exercises and the diet you are on the easier it will be. If it is running, challenge yourself. Each time note how far you can run and see if you can beat your high score. Same with a bike. And for a diet you enjoy, look around in this app and scan your foods. Stay within your calorie goals. If you find options for lower calories you should be able to keep things you enjoy eating.

springlering62

Hi @Schmamy01 welcome to MFP!

Have you entered your height, current weight and goal weight and come up with a calorie goal?

Get an inexpensive food scale off Amazon and start weighing your food.

Read these boards every night, especially the “sticky” threads at the top of each section. Absorb, learn, ask questions and be involved. You’ll notice many people with one or two posts never come back after their initial “I’m in!” post. It’s the users with lots of posts who are the successful losers, (although we do have some fabulous lurkers here that will pop in from time to time with success photos and stories).

Like you, I had no intentions of exercising. I lived on a couch with a book or needlework and many many snacks within arms length.

Like you, I decided to eat “clean”, before “clean eating” was a thing. We all go through this at first. Bad food. Naughty food. Made me fat! How dare it?! 😬

I tossed or gave away any food I perceived as “bad”. Out of sight, out of mind, but I found (and still do!) out of the house is even better.

Getting a fitness tracker helped tremendously. I had a complete disconnect between the calorie “cost” of foods (especially snack foods 😬) and the effort it took to “burn them off”. My tracker (I use Apple Watch but there’s many reliable trackers) totally realigned my thinking.

I was already doing basic yoga classes, but began incorporating daily walks. The more I moved, the less hateful the idea of exercise began to seem, until I reached the point it was more of an effort to make myself sit on the couch than to stay off it, I love moving so much.

You don’t have to start with running, as mentioned above. In fact, I was a year in and sixty pounds before I tried it out- for the first time in 45+ years. Do what you enjoy. We’ve got runners, bikers, rowers, lifters, even a woman involved in dog frisbee, all sorts on these boards. My husband discovered a thorough enjoyment of aquafit classes and Tai chi, at 66, bless his heart. It’s no problem being motivated when you enjoy something that much.

And, as I lost weight, I realized, there are no “bad” foods- only bad behavior. I learned to control myself, and not berate or guilt myself with occasional slips, and began reincorporating foods back I’d forbidden myself. But I no longer load the pantry with chocolates, cookies etc etc. I know myself too well.

I learned to adjust recipes. For example, homemade tomato soup a couple nights ago- I saved 100 calories per serving by cutting the butter in half, eliminating the tablespoon of sugar, and substituting fat free half and half for heavy cream. Simple easy adjustments. Healthier, and if it wasn’t as delicious as the original, well we never knew it. We gobbled it down.

I won’t lie. It’s not easy, but it’s mental fatigue, not physical. You have to invest time in learning, weighing, logging, until it becomes second nature. My food diary is pre-logged days in advance. That helps me control grocery shopping, and enables me to make quick changes on the fly if I decide to go out for dinner or have lunch with a friend. I already know the parameters I’m working within for that day.

The physical part is actually the easy part. And the fun part. Logging, not fun. Arm balances, lotsa fun.

Hope this helps.

Oh, and do invest in a great pair of walking shoes. Losing a toenail in cheap, ill fitting ones…..not a good plan. Most of us start out doing a lot of walking, and there’s no shame in that. Gotta start somewhere!

springlering62

And, finally, I wish wish wish wish wish I’d done this myself at 36 instead of waiting til 56.

You owe it to yourself, to your kids, your SO, to be the healthiest mom and partner you can be. I so regret my kids saw the worst possible example (me) as they were coming up.

I wish I’d been more active, and that we’d done more fun things as a family, but I was in no shape or mindset at the time. We did do things, but I think of how much more would have been available to us and regret it.

Regret is a waste of time, but I do have regrets.

I am, however, going to be the funnest grandma ever.

—————-

One thing I’ve learned throughout the past four or five years is, you don’t have to be an “athlete” to move.

Schmamy01

I’m single and have no kids 🫤