I am lost....looking for answers

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dianacrum
dianacrum Posts: 67
in Motivation and Support
So after a recent mini "health check" offered here at work I have realized a few things...One of them being I am getting older which I have to learn to accept. With age comes fighting many battles especailly with your health. I am overweight (not a suprise to me), my triglycerides are too high, my blood pressure is high, my HDL, Cholesterol Ratio and glucose are all borderline. With that said, Dia
betes, High Blood Pressure and Heart problems run in my family. I HAVE to fight this.....I HAVE to take control of my health!! But, this just isnt enough to motivate me....why?? I WANT to live a longer healthier life, I want to be in shape, I want to not hide from the camera, I want to wear cuter clothes...so many wants, just not the WANT to do anything about it!!! Anybody have any suggestions?? (Sorry for the rant, but I had to get this off my chest and hopefully find some answers)

Replies

  • mizkoukla
    mizkoukla Posts: 11
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    I have had similar problems with want vs actually doing. When I first moved to NY to be with my Fiance, I was 125lbs... today, Im 195. You would think that wouldnt be that terrible... except that was a year and a half ago. I have gained 70 lbs in about a year. It takes everything I have just to maintain under 200lbs. I want to be my old self but I have absolutely no motivation to get there. No, that's wrong, I dont have the drive. I have motivation. So you arent alone hun. I have had some success with finding substitutes for stuff I really enjoy. I eat pretzels instead of chips and I try to eat less. I add more spices to my cooking for flavor instead of a ton of salt. Also, if you really like coffee, and you cant seem to stop having those iced coffees that are soooo delicious, try iced tea/lemonade mixes. I was surprised to find that a lot of brands actually are less than 200 calories a bottle. For 20oz of that vs. Pepsi or my Starbucks Frappucino, Ill take it and its really delicious.

    I have faith in you!

    Good Luck!
  • TravelDog14
    TravelDog14 Posts: 317 Member
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    I can relate to part of your rant, I started on this getting healthy journey after being diagnosed as pre-diabateic in June of this year.
    It was the wake-up call I needed to motivate me to make the necessary changes.

    First thing I'd say is make the small easy changes first so you can start to see the little successes you can have.
    Move more--take any chance you can to get up off the couch and move. Walk around the block, park your car as far away from the grocery store door as possible, limit TV watching, pack your lunch everyday with healthy food, get healthy snacks into your house, take the stairs instead of the elevator. Walk everywhere you can every chance you get, your body will thank you.

    Once I took small steps of moving more I realized I felt better, even if for a long time nobody else could see the difference. I also didn't tell anyone about what I was doing, I wanted to start making changes on my own terms without the feeling that others were watching what I was doing.

    Good luck Diana, it's not an easy path, but it's worth it.
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
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    First thing I'd say is make the small easy changes first so you can start to see the little successes you can have.
    Move more--take any chance you can to get up off the couch and move. Walk around the block, park your car as far away from the grocery store door as possible, limit TV watching, pack your lunch everyday with healthy food, get healthy snacks into your house, take the stairs instead of the elevator. Walk everywhere you can every chance you get, your body will thank you.

    Once I took small steps of moving more I realized I felt better, even if for a long time nobody else could see the difference. I also didn't tell anyone about what I was doing, I wanted to start making changes on my own terms without the feeling that others were watching what I was doing.
    I will second this. Just moving a little more each day will garner you some results. Success breeds success. I started my journey with walking more and refusing the take the elevator, even when one of my classes was on the 9th floor! It took me a few weeks to get to the point where I could walk all of the way to the top without my legs shaking and my lungs gasping for air but when I did it, I celebrated.

    Another really easy "fix" is to cut out high calorie drinks. Switching from full calorie soda to diet soda or from high fat/high sugar coffee to black coffee with skim milk and Splenda will save you a LOT of calories every day, especially if you drink more than one per day.

    Honestly, getting started is always the hard part. Start really slowly. Make one small change at a time. Once you have one change down, like cutting out sugared drinks, change one more thing. You can do this!
  • Captain_Tightpants
    Captain_Tightpants Posts: 2,215 Member
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    Your problem may be that all your wants are in the future. How about nurturing a want to just feel better right now in the present moment?
  • Fvaisey
    Fvaisey Posts: 5,506 Member
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    An answer that I've heard for this is just to take some action. Whatever it is action builds action. As you gather in the reward of what you are doing you'll find your motivation growing. The first step is the hardest, so make it a small one.
  • sunsnstatheart
    sunsnstatheart Posts: 2,544 Member
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    Motivation is highly personal. For me it was the way I felt. If I ate right and exercised it made me feel better. Now spread that over several years and the other things like health and energy to keep up with my kids also came. So I guess if I have to suggest, find something selfish, for you, that makes YOU want to work out and use it. Somebody you loathe that you want to show up? Use it. It doesn't have to be pretty and it doesn't have to be shared with everyone.
  • Snikkee
    Snikkee Posts: 295 Member
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    honestly, with or without the impending problems in relation to your health, you just need to do it, stop looking for that perfect reason why you should do it. It sounds like you are just looking for reasons not to, or giving yourself reasons not to work out, and eat healthier. You will never find a reason to be healthier if all you do is give your self excuses not to. It is all about mind games that you play with yourself. I struggled with this for years, and I still do, but what makes it different is that I still do it whether I want to or not, and I the days that I didn't want to, I never regret working out and eating healthier, I feel better for doing it.
  • dianacrum
    dianacrum Posts: 67
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    Thanks everyone!!
  • yvonneseage
    yvonneseage Posts: 55 Member
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    One top I can give, is starting logging everything you eat on here. It's mad to see how many calories some foods have and how little others have. When it's all in front of you, you start seeing where you can make changes.

    Also think about getting a pedometer, or even a fit bit. It's interesting to see how far you walk just at home. You may even motivate yourself to walk to the shops etc instead of driving. If you use the fitbit it will increase your.calorie allowance due to measuring your activity levels

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