New to the group
alainaswain3698
Posts: 11 Member
Hello my name is Alaina. I am 46, and married with a 20 year old daughter, and 17 year old son. Due to the stress and depression following my father’s passing last year, I turned to food for comfort, and put on quite a bit of weight. Two weeks ago, I got a rude awakening when my blood work came back showing that I had type two diabetes. This week my doctor put me on metformin. I know my eating habits were atrocious, so I decided to try this app to help me track what I am eating, nutrients, water intake, and my walk steps.
So far I have lost a pound from just weighing and measuring my foods, and keeping with my daily calorie range. I also gave up caffeine, soft drinks, and mainly drink water and herbal tea with no sugar. I have been substituting red meat for chicken, turkey, or fish, and switching to whole grain bread, pasta, and cereal. Where I really need the kick in the butt is getting my butt up off the couch to exercise more. I do at least 5,000 steps a day at work, but want to get motivated to meet my goal of 10,000 steps.
So far I have lost a pound from just weighing and measuring my foods, and keeping with my daily calorie range. I also gave up caffeine, soft drinks, and mainly drink water and herbal tea with no sugar. I have been substituting red meat for chicken, turkey, or fish, and switching to whole grain bread, pasta, and cereal. Where I really need the kick in the butt is getting my butt up off the couch to exercise more. I do at least 5,000 steps a day at work, but want to get motivated to meet my goal of 10,000 steps.
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Replies
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You are on the right track!
Just the measuring and logging is the critical first step to know what you ARE doing.
I have found the MFP logging to be very helpful - for me anyway. Let us know about progress...1 -
Welcome to MFP and to this group!
Getting up off the couch…
Some points to think about:
Is it your habit to get home from work and just relax and zone out? If so, do you think that is a necessary wind down time for you?
What activities do you enjoy? Biking? Walks around the house? Running?
Would a gym membership be enjoyable? Not possible. Enjoyable.
If it’s not enjoyable for you then you might not stick with it.
If you’re more of a homebody who enjoys crafting and watching TV more than mountain biking and running, you might get a lot of benefit from some kind of at home exercise equipment.
Personally I use something called a NuStep. It’s a recumbent elliptical.
If you’ve ever been to physical therapy you might have used one. They’re expensive, but very adaptable to different physical conditions, which is key for me and my husband. I can exercise on it and still knit or do games on my phone if I’m going at a walking pace.
There are less expensive recumbent ellipticals so if it seems like something you’d like, and you don’t have any disabilities that would make using a different one harder for you? I think it’s worth looking into.
Some people like a treadmill. Not everyone has room for one though.
There are smaller machines that can be beneficial. That’s probably a whole big discussion.
Happy to provide some suggestions if you’re interested.
If it’s outside activities that really help you? There’s things like fun runs and mileage tracking apps that can really make it fun.
I like one that is (unfortunately) only on Apple. It’s a walk from the Shire to Mt Doom.
It’s pretty, and I like seeing how far I’ve come.
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That is very cool - the walk from the Shire to Mt. Doom...1
