I'm in need of some serious support!

I would love to support you, but I ask that you do the same in return. Please add me as a buddy and make sure you change your settings to share you food and exercise diary so that I can coach you along the way!

welcome & good luck

Just one tip when you're starting to run, make sure you stretch really well before and after. I started my journey at the end of January and was super gung-ho. I ran 4-5 times per week and gradually worked to more distance and for long durations, but I did no stretching whatsoever. By the beginning of March, I developed really bad shin splits. It was painful just to walk some days. After many visits to my chiropractor and massage therapist, I'm back up and going . They have given me stretches.

Stretch your calves and hamstrings both before and after you exercise. Take it slow, and don't forget to have rest days. There's nothing more discouraging than being injured once your on the right track!

Jan 27, 2011 - 171
May 10, 2011 -146
June 12, 2011 - First 10K
Goal Weight - 137 (June 20???)

I'm working on losing 50 - that's close to 60 and I despise running, so I'm no help there. I just like that you're honest! I like walking way better than running, but I get bored with it. So a few months back, we got a bowflex off of craig's list and once I got the hang of it, I just didn't want to stop. I replaced the couch surfing part of my evening routine with working out. I convinced myself that I could do 20 minutes, three times a week, then I got bored and started adding more work outs. Now I am working more and more into my routine and my 20 minutes, three times a week has become 30+ minutes 6 days a week, with alternating cardio days. I despise cardio, but I've got this stubborn streak, and now I am determined that I am going to kick cardio's butt, just like I am going to shove 50 pounds down my scale's throat. Well, I'm determined anyway.

Scales are so mean...I hide mine in the closet :laugh: I am maintaining now, but this site got me to my goal weight and has kept me there. Logging everything, and I mean everything, will keep you honest and give you a great idea of what your eating habits are really like (they might not be as awful as you think). Start exercising, even if it is only 10 minutes a day...I started out with just that amount on my elliptical, and gradually increased it to 30 minutes (now I do 60 minutes of Yoga 4-5 times a week). Grab some friends, and start getting motivated!! Welcome...you can do it :drinker:

Agreed!! This site is awesome, feel free to add me too if you want.

1) tracking for a couple of weeks before I worried about losing.
(although seeing what I was eating I couldn't help but rein back a bit)

2) seeing where I could make small changes on things that weren't that important to me.
(Don't even think of taking chocolate out of my diet!!!)
--Reducing quantities where I won't notice it so much
--Swapping out things instead of eliminating them.


3) Look at my diary and started adding foods that had positive healthy effects specifically for the health issue in my family.
I found most of the things I "should" add were really yummy too! salmon, avocado, oatmeal, mango, red grapes....
(Sort of think of food as medicine to deal with family history of various health issue oatmeal is good for heart health, mango and red grapes lower cholesterol, tumeric and cinnamon good for arthritis)

4) every couple of weeks I see where I can make another couple of small changes.
If you completely revamp your diet, it's way easy to revert to old ways in times of stress.
If you make a series of small changes, food still offers you some sense of comfort.
sort of a comfort continuum, and after a while the first small changes will seem comforting in themselves.
You don't have to be perfect you just have to do better.

5) also rather than being uberstrict with the target MFP set for me I did the math to find out the calories needed to maintain my goal weight and my current weight and I gave myself a range with 1200 as my rock bottom, lose 1 lb/wk as my target and maintain my goal weight as the top of my range. As long as I keep within in this range I'll lose. I tend to naturally zig zag my calories 3-4 at very close to my target and then a higher calorie day closer to the top of my range.

As long as I stayed under maintain my current weight calories I won't gain. So no need to throw in the towel, just pick-up where I left off.

Once I found ways to lessen the stress, I found it way easier to focus on the process and let the results follow. (It's what worked for me some people nee the stress to get them motivated. Me I get scared and overwhelmed and don't see the big goal as acheivable. I only worry about it 1 lb at a time.)