I could use some support if you have some to offer :)

I'm here for you Vivie72. Befriend me if you want to.

What type of workouts are you doing?

You may have already seen this message. I put it as a blog on my page. I truly think this helps when people feel like they are stuck and not sure what to do to continue. I dont want you to give up. I KNOW you can do this:) I also know there is strength in numbers so feel free to message me anytime if you are having issues throughout the day. I can check in daily with you if you would like:)

Just so you know, this may turn into a novel:) And dont go strictly by any of this. What works for one person may not work for someone else. We did a "Get Fit, Get Healthy" challenge at my work for 8 weeks. I lost about 22 lbs. and 5% of my body fat. We had to do certain things to get points for the challenge. These are the things we needed to do:

*64 oz. of water each day. This does not include coffee, juices or kool-aid. Now you can have 64 oz. + juices but you must drink 64 oz. When you do drink juices, they have to be 100% juice. Easy enough right? Grape juice, apple juice, orange juice. Tomato juice too but the sodium is ridiculous in it. I'm sure if you want some of that it would be ok for a change. Just dont make it your only juice.

*7 hours or more of sleep. This can be hard if you have small children or just a hectic schedule. If you are able to lie down for a nap during the day, you can count that, but it is much better if you can get 7 hrs straight.

*Eat breakfast within 2 hrs of waking up. This is a hard one. Some people just cant stand eating first thing in the morning. I usually grab something quick like an apple or a banana.

*5 servings of fruits/veggies a day. Pretty straight forward. Again this is where your juices come in. You can use 4 oz. of fruit juice as a serving of fruit. For the record, jelly beans are not a fruit even if they are fruit flavored.

* 210 minutes of cardio a week. Now you can get this walking, biking, swimming, yardwork (raking and push mowing count) snow shoveling is a BIG one but obviously it will be a few months til we can do that again and I dont mind a bit!! Now it doesnt matter how you break this down as long as you do a minimum of 10 minutes for any time you are counting it. You can do more than 210 minutes of course if your schedule allows.

*Toning with free weights or stretch bands 3 times a week for 10 minutes a piece. You can definitely do more than 3 times. That is only the minimum. Sometimes I will use my free weight and incorporate them into my aerobic routines.

That's it. Those are the simple rules I am following and the weight is coming off. You dont want it to fall off all at once. If it does, then you're doing something drastic and the chances of sticking with it are slim. Working it off slowly is the best ticket. Making small changes makes it easier to become lifestyle changes not temporary fixes.

Also, I tend to stay away from white flour. You can eat breads, potatoes and pasta in moderate amounts but it is much better for you if you eat whole wheat breads and pastas or sweet potatoes. Dont get worried about the fact that there are about as many carbs in whole wheat pasta as there is in the regular. It's better for you~trust me!!

Another trick that helps? If you have time, measure out a serving of your snacks. Use ziplock baggies and have them ready to grab and go. I usually have pretzels, animal crackers stuff like that ready so that I dont have to think about it. If I just try to sit with a bag of pretzels, pretty soon Ive eaten half the bag but if I have a true serving size packaged, I know when to stop.

If the idea of this process is overwhelming, dont try to change everything at once. Maybe work on 5 fruits/veggies and once you have that figured out, then try 64 oz of water. Keep adding a step to it til you are on your way to healthier choices.

Good luck. Hope this helps:)

Becca

I'm here for ya!!!

I'm here for you too Vive72. Maybe we can encourage each other. I've started and restarted my "taking better care of myself" plan several times within the last year. I'm a Type 1 diabetic and also a doctoral student. Besides insulin and a few other preventive medications, I've been pretty lucky for the past 20 or so years as far as my diabetes is concerned. However, lately, I've been having a few complications and have realized that I will not be able to enjoy all of my hard work if I don't get my diabetes under control. I'm on a 1400-calorie diet and I'm trying to exercise on my treadmill at least 45 minutes six days a week. I'd like to lose about 30-35 pounds. Thanks for sharing your story. I think it's great that you've almost met your goals. Do you work out?

Hey Vivie

How's things? I hear your frustrations I think most of us have been there at some time, well done on getting your exercise up thats the first step.

Have you looked at your food? Log everything including those sneaky jellies you grabbed going out the door its the small things that add up.

Feel free to add me as a friend if you want extra support. You will get there most of all on your birthday you will feel like a million dollars because the hard work will pay off. Good luck!

The tips people have given you are great! I have one to add and that is to not eat or limit processed foods... they are full of sodium. I'm talking about prepackaged meats, lean cuisine or weight watchers meals. Look at the sodium content and make your foods homemade. You can make the lasagna they have with less than half the sodium.. If you dont want to do lasagna make whole wheat spaghetti with sauce that you make.. use a can of no salt tomato sauce some onion and garlic, oregano and basil. You can throw in some no salt diced tomatoes if you want more texture. The premade sauces have a ton of sodium. I try to keep my sodium under 1500mg/day. MFP says under 2300mg,
Like Becca said you dont have to make all the changes at once. If you incorporate one or two this week then one next week you keep your body guessing and the weight coming off.
Oh also avoid food high in the glycemic index. Im including a link to a nice chart to help you.

http://www.southbeach-diet-plan.com/glycemicfoodchart.htm

url=http://www.myfitnesspal.com/weight-loss-ticker][/url]
Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Weight Loss Tools

good luck and add me if you would like!