New to this, any helpful ideas?

Hey there. Happy to buddy up and would also like some fitness friends here.

enjoying the app so far and might even get a fitbit just so i can see more stats.

I'm a female, aiming to lose 10-15 lbs while becoming strong and lean. I'm relatively healthy, exercise is not new to me, but hunkering down to shape up and increase fitness, making changes in the way I eat so I can drop about 10-15 lbs max is what I'm going for, as well as getting down to 18-20% body fat.

I love fitness but also love hermiting inside my apartment and reading books. I'm banking on the "21 days to make a habit" rule, because I find i am happier and sleep better when I get out of the house.

Oh - I work from home, or from coffee shops. So I have to stay rigid with my schedule or else I have the tendency to...ummm....have no schedule at all. When I go into "no schedule" mode, i am both unproductive and less likely to enjoy the harvest of fitness.

Happy to buddy up. I don't like diets, what i'm doing is shifting the way i consume and the way I work out. Here's what i am doing to reach my goals:

Food
- counting calories, keeping food log here
- cutting out high calorie dairy (read: ice cream is my weakness)
- getting carbs from good places i.e. not high calorie white flour, more like spinach, whole grain, brown rice, veggies
- limiting fruit because i tend to overeat fruit, but not cutting it out
- making sure I eat all my calories


Exercise
- gym membership
- I used to just run; now I am doing weight training and having fun with burpees & various alternate aerobic exercises
- have a trainer (but am FINALLY watching my food intake. I've had the trainer for 2.5 months but was overeating constantly so....i didn't lose a pound, only lost 1/2% of body fat in that entire time)
- walking everywhere
- making fitness a priority
- making sure I acknowledge how much better I feel when I work out
- attempting to "tighten my core" whenever I am standing up


Really love the idea of having friends around here and helping each other with goals.

Personally, I'm about 6 months from turning 40 so I'd like to reach realistic goals by my 40th birthday so I can enter my 40s feeling strong.

Frankly, when I do all of the above (eat right, work out) I feel stronger.

note: I love running and also love the eliptical. I will likely post a lot about the new workouts i'm doing since a lot of it is new to me, for most of my life i've just been a runner with an occasional yoga phase.

You have to set your mind to it. And friends. friends going through the same thing you are help a lot. counting calories is working for me. i havent started exercising yet but i know ill need to. ill be your friend

Everyone is always welcome to add me. :bigsmile: