New here, nice to meet you all!

sheddingthelbs
sheddingthelbs Posts: 26
edited September 24 in Introduce Yourself
*waves* Hello everyone! I suppose I'll introduce myself a bit. I've been wanting to lose weight for years now, but never had much motivation til now. I'm 5'10" and currently 195. I'm hoping to drop to 150 by August.

A few months back, I finally got off my butt and convinced myself to lose weight and bought the '30 day shred' DVD. After 3 workouts, I couldn't do it anymore. I have lower back problems and the workout agitated it. So after my failure I turned back to food and managed to put on 10 more pounds, so here I am! I'm also a smoker (planning to quit, but scared to gain weight while quitting) which makes exercising even more difficult because I'm so short of breath. If anyone can offer some tips, please do! I need all the motivation I can get. I won't be telling any friends or family about my goal, because it seems like every time I do it, I fail and I feel stupid for telling people I was going to in the first place. *sigh* So hopefully there's some people here who will offer support and/or kind words through my journey!

EDIT- One last thing. Does anyone here have insomnia or just a really weird sleep schedule? I don't really have a set time I go to sleep because of my insomnia, so it's hard to plan meals. Advice?

Replies

  • dlaplume2
    dlaplume2 Posts: 1,658 Member
    Hi Welcome aboard. Don't worry about failing. If you keep at it you will succeed. It's a process and you need to take baby steps. For the most part people here are health concious, but there are people on here who smoke and either are trying to quit or have already quit. You'll know when you are ready.

    The same thing with exercise. You'll know when you are ready.

    start with the food and stick to it. Once you see the results it will motivate you.

    Besh wishes.
  • e3slisa
    e3slisa Posts: 65
    :smile: Hello there and a very big welcome, I am sure that this site will offer you the motivation you need fro your weight loss journey. I have sent you a freind request if you would like to accept and am here to offer added support, we all have the same goal. Good luck and here's to a new beginning :wink:
  • Vicky14174
    Vicky14174 Posts: 715 Member
    i don't sleep well either. I also have no sleep pattern and haven't for years and years. I finally get so exhausted that i finally just "die". But that only happens maybe once to twice a year. I feel the pain.
  • Pullwench
    Pullwench Posts: 44
    Hello there. I can't help much with the insomnia, but as far as getting started in your journey to a healthier you I have an idea. When you first start out, you don't necessarily need to hit the gym hard. Try easing your way into it. For instance, I started by just tring to stay under my daily calorie amounts and taking a 20-30 minute walk around my condo complex. Doing just those two things alone has helped me lose over 10lbs!!

    Granted this is not the fastest way to lose the lbs. However, it may help get you started. Weight has alot to do with back problems as well. This may be a way for you to lose enough to where you would be able to begin to do more strenuous exercise.

    Feel free to add me as a friend if you need more support.
  • GooneyAngel
    GooneyAngel Posts: 90
    welcome
    ! It is very nice to meet you. I just joined My Fitness Pal about a week ago and am still learning to use the site. I love it. The people here are very encouraging and have positive attitudes.
    I do have irregular sleep issues and am also a smoker. I believed that I could not exercise and smoke because of becoming short of breath. A few things that I have done is to smoke outside, that alone has cut down my smoking by 50%. I know it is a little extra effort, but well worth it! The first thing I do in the morning is drink a cup of coffee, outside to have a cigarette, then on the computer. I usually wait about an hour after my cigarette then go to the gym for about 2 hours. I found that it helps to wait at leat an hour from my last cigarette before I hit the gym. If you don't go to the gym, go walking (without smoking).
    I have also founf that if I do a good workout and not nap during the day, I sleep better at night.
    It may be a few weeks before you see results or notice you have more energy, but, the results will come.
    I found that I consumed the most calories with the coffee creamer I used in the mornings. I never measured and when I did, found that I was consuming about 250 - 300 calories just in my creamer! I was wondering why I didn't lose any weight the first weeks of my joining the gym. So, now I measure and use sugar free creamer. By using this site I have lost 2 pounds in the last 5 days!
    I wish you all the luck on your road to a healthy, fit life!
    Please send me an invite for friends, I still don't know how to.....
    Diane
  • mytime60
    mytime60 Posts: 176 Member
    Hi welcome! I found this site almost a month ago, and I have nothing but positve things to say about it. I tell everyone about it! The support here is fantastic. I would say start with the food and get a good grasp of that. I also suffer back pain, and find walking is something I can do that doesn't affect my back too much. I do try and do some tummy crunches though because strengthening those muscles helps the back too. When you decide to quit smoking, I don't know if you rent or own, but when my Dad had to quit; the hospital told us to paint the house and wash all curtains and drapes as the lingering smell of smoke does make you crave it more. I also am 5'10 " but 216 and have set my first goal to 175. Once I hit that I'm aiming for 150-160; will see what looks good! I have sent you a friend request if you wish you can friend me.
  • Patw356
    Patw356 Posts: 1
    :happy: Hi, I'm new to this too - I joined the site on Monday and I find it really helpful to know exactly what calories I'm eating every day. I gained weight when I quit smoking and haven't been able to get rid of it since even though I started smoking again. I have now started the diet to get ready for my son's wedding in May and am going to try and give up smoking again (managed 10 years last time). I have bought one of those electronic ciggies and they are really good. When you inhale it really hits the spot and you do feel like you've had a ciggie.

    Anyway, good luck with everything and will probably chat again soon. Pat x
  • kalli4
    kalli4 Posts: 13
    I just joined myfitnesspal on Sat. in order to help me keep track of my calories and protein while working out. I'm currently doing the last phase of 30 Day Shred and will be starting P90X for the first time on March 6th. My sister told be about this site as a good tool for watching my diet while doing P90X so that hopefully I can stay on track with the diet. So I thought I'd get started a little early. From everything I've heard about P90X I am excited to see the results but a little nervous about the workouts and scared of the pain, LOL.

    A little about myself...I am 29 years old. I have been married to my high school sweetheart for 10.5 years. We have four wonderful children, 3 girls and 1 boy, to which I am a stay at home mom.

    This fourth, and last pregnancy weight has been difficult for me to take off. I have been one of those lucky people in the past that it melted off easily, but this time it's taking quite a bit longer. My baby girl turned one the beginning of January and I am still holding on to 5 lbs, plus I had gained a few lbs before getting pregnant with her that I wouldn't mind losing. I've been working at it actively for a month now. I do 30 Day Shred every day and 30 minutes of high intensity cardio 6 days a week. I'm looking forward to moving on to something more intense soon!
  • sheddingthelbs
    sheddingthelbs Posts: 26
    Thank you to everyone for the kind words and excellent advice! Also, thank you for the friend requests!

    Just did a 10 minute jog which to me is quite a good start! (I don't remember the last time I ran or jogged!) I'm looking forward to losing weight and chatting with everyone!
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