Not new, but a new plan...

iwannawearatutu

Hello all! I'm not new here, and certainly not new to... well I hesitate to say weight loss, let's call it "trying to lose weight" because honestly I've never been especially successful. I've had 50 lbs or more to lose for close to ten years, and never lost more than maybe 15 lbs or so.

It may seem a little odd for this site, but I've come to a conclusion; for me, weight loss is not so much about calories consumed as calories burned. I mean, it's simply math and you can focus one of these or both, but for me I'm just kind of realizing that my bigger issue is my inactive lifestyle, my lack of muscle definition, not so much the times when I eat unhealthy foods.

So I'm putting together a very baby-steps focused plan, starting in January, to exercise five days a week. I'm following the steps to stay motivated outlined in this article: http://zenhabits.net/get-off-your-butt-16-ways-to-get-motivated-when-youre-in-a-slump/

For instance, I'm taking two of those suggestions - setting a start date a few weeks from now to build anticipation (and also make time to plan) and take tiny baby steps so I always have success to celebrate. I'm genuinely going to follow the suggestion in that article of starting with TWO MINUTE workouts. I know, it sounds crazy. But for me it's become less about weight loss and more about getting healthy, and to do that I need to build the habit of exercising. So I'm going to add 2-3 minutes to my workouts every week, and if all goes according to plan I'll be doing TWO HOUR workouts five times a week by this time next year. Slow and steady wins the race.

Anyhow, that's me - or where I'm at right now. I just wanted to post about it here because I feel that community is incredibly important to achieving my goals. In fact, that article essentially says so in three different ways! So I'm "committing publicly" as the article says, and looking for new friends (not that I don't absolutely ADORE the ones I already have here on MFP) to build a big, strong, CHATTY network of friends who can support me on my journey. I do my very best to be supportive in return, and check in frequently most days to cheer on my friends.

So please, if you like using MFP as sort of a Facebook for weightloss/health feel free to friend me and we can start cheering each other on. The more the merrier!

xaviernelson

Sounds like a great plan. Doing something, no matter how little or small it may seem, always outdoes doing nothing at all.

I took a look at that plan you mentioned and it's got some really good pointers too.

Thank you for sharing.

MTLumps

I think your plan is great! You have a plan and the desire to stick to it - good for you. I also believe that overall health is the best goal any of us can have. We only get this one body and taking care of it should be important - doesn't matter if you do it the same or different than anyone else. Good luck to you!!

niclagi

Best of luck. The site had some interesting bits.
Thanks for sharing
N

viggie

I just read the article and thought it was great. I have fibromyalgia and doing just a little a day is about all I can do. I hope you'll be sucessful. I put the article in my favorites. Thanks for sharing.

Sweet13_Princess

I think having a plan mapped out is a great idea and very motivating. I'm excited for you. Just remember to revist your plan monthly and see what areas need reworked... after all, a lot of unanticipated things happen in ones life and you have to learn to plan around them!:-) Best of luck!

Shannon