Would love to hear what works for you!

hstorrie

Hello All,

I just joined this yesterday. I am a school teacher and a head coach for both the boy's soccer team and the girl's volleyball team. I am a very athletic, outdoor person, but since I am stuck at the school until 8 or 9 every night with my athletic teams I have very little time to work out. I am getting married in July and I want to trim down and shape up. I guess I'm looking for some lifestyle changes that truly helped some of you guys the most. I am currently eating fewer carbs, more protein, and lots of leafy veggies, but I'd love to hear what has worked for some of you.

I am also recovering from reconstructive ankle surgery that I had about three months ago. I tore it playing soccer and just never got it repaired until recently. This has also hindered my ability to just go out and go on a five mile run like I always had in the past.

I currently weight 211 and I would love to get down about twenty pounds before the wedding. I know it'll be tough, but I feel as though with the right combination of diet and exercise I'll get there!

Suggestions are welcome!

Thanks!

adelsbc

I'm a teacher too. I have started going to the weight room during my lunch and work out on the elliptical for twenty minutes, I think this midday jump in my heart rate helps. I just eat with the kids during their lunch instead of eating at mine. Also, I'm sure that during the team's practices you can join in on some of the exercises they do. I have been trying to wake up and get a twenty minute work out in before work as well, but I don't do it often. But when I do, the scale shows it.

The biggest help I've found is changing my evening meals. When I am strict about what I eat at night, it really shows. Some of the best meals I've found are to eat a salad with steak on it- no dressing, or cereal for dinner.

I've really slacked off on my food for about a month now, but with my workouts, I've been able to maintain. I just started Jillian Michaels 30 day shred, and that has been really fun and it's a short workout. Good luck to you!

kwinterscheidt

ive always been told loosing weight is 80% diet and 20% exercise. I would focus on what your caloric intake is and be really good about tracking everything you put in your mouth. my husband guessed he was only eating around 1500 calories a day before he started tracking his food, turns out he was eating about 2500, so tracking is really important.
does your school have a pool that you could use? i think water walking or swimming laps would be a great exercise for your recovering ankle. i was a competitive swimmer for 8 years and i saw countless runners walking and running in the pool while they were recovering from a running or sports injury.
just my thoughts but hope it gave you some ideas

ESVABelle

I cleaned up my act. First, I went all natural. If it didn't come from the ground or have a mother, I didn't eat it. No more yucky over processed foods. I read labels. If it had things I didn't recognize or couldn't pronounce, I didn't eat it. Increase your fiber! I'm a fiber fanatic and I can't talk about how much I love it enough. Also - fruits and veggies (good source of fiber) will give you the "cleanse" to kick off your lifestyle change - I don't call it a diet because that implies that it's only temporary. Once you cut out the junk and baggage, weight will come off easier. The healthier I got, the more healthy I wanted to be. I've now switched to organic...for the most part. My budget doesn't allow for me to be 100% but I get organics in the important things (like fruits that I eat the skin - no pesticides for me!)

No pills. No potions. No "magic cures". Just work. Lean meats, whole grains, fresh produce, and WATER WATER WATER. Help your body flush out the bad stuff! Also, after tracking what you're eating, check for deficits - get a multi-vitamin that fills your voids (I use Nature-Made Multi for Her with Iron and Calcium).

Make time for exercise. Jillian Michaels is 25 minutes. Got a dog? Take him/her for a walk. Get moving. Start small since you've got the bum ankle. And if you can't do the high intensity cardio on the Jillian videos, do punches! Get down in a squat and punch it out! You don't NEED to work your legs to get cardio, but that's just a suggested modifier.

Anyway, I wish you the best of luck! For the record, I'm an athletic trainer, so if you've got questions about the ankle/rehab/exercise modifications, feel free to send me a message or add me! I took classes in all of that and nutrition, fitness assessment, kinesiology and exercise physiology. I LOVE this stuff! :-D

Jhensley2011

All my life my weight has fluctuated. I have tried MANY different kinds of "diets", pills, miracle drinks, etc. The ONLY thing I have found to work is to make an OBLIGATION to yourself (I know this sounds stupid but it works). This can either be mentally or physically. What I mean by that is you can 1) using an inner motivator to get to your goal (I'm gonna do this no matter what) or 2) find a goal outside of yourself that will make you do it.

I, too,have a very busy work life and during the week I have very little time to myself. I made a committment to complete a marathon. In the midst of working to complete this task I set for myself, I dropped 18 lbs AND quit smoking (something I needed to do anyway). All by training only on the weekends. It made being more active in hopes of losing weight that much more fun, not to mention successful. I feel great, have a better mentality, and treat my family with much more patience than I ever thought I could. All this in addition to looking a bajillion times better! If a marathon is not your thing, you can find something else. Now that the marathon is over, I've made a committment to my dog. I get exercise when he does, almost every day even if it's just a little while.

Those are my thoughts. I wish you all the luck you THINK you need. However, you already have the means to make it happen
:-)

Congrats on the wedding as well!