Birthday Wake Up Call - back to MFP
__Roxy__
Posts: 825 Member
Hey all.
It's my 33rd birthday tomorrow, and the Autumn Equinox, which always makes me feel reflective. There have been a lot of big changes and tumultuous happenings in my life in the past little while, including a contract change at work (not a positive one) and a rocky patch with my partner (which thankfully is feeling mostly smoothed over).
I am feeling this birthday quite potently. Often, it's the milestones, like "30" "35" or "40" that cause us to take stock. But for some reason, this one is really opening my eyes.
Four years ago when I met my partner, I was at my most fit and healthy. I was strong and active (and honestly, super HOT! haha). In the past four years we have endured so many life challenges (caring for dying family members & the serious financial hardship that resulted, weeks apart at a time due to out of town employment, moving regularly for work, etc etc..) and I somehow let "the hardships of life" talk me out of taking care of myself physically.
Well, here I am, on the precipice of 33 and a heart-sinking 290 lbs.
How did this happen?
How did I [let myself] gain 100 lbs in 4 years?
Oh my. Oh my oh my.
Well anyways. It is what it is. Here I am. It feels like a "new year" for me, as I set my goal to reach 200lbs by my 34th birthday (90lbs to lose). I feel like something deep in me has clicked, and it's time to change.
I feel I am approaching this from a lifestyle perspective and a health standpoint. I don't intend to get wrapped up in the minutia of eating to the precise calorie/macro, or exercising exactly X minutes per week or anything like that.
My goals are to feel better, look better, move more, get outside more. I intend to lose pounds and inches as part of that process. I want to measure my success in Non-Scale Victories even more so than scale victories. I am looking to take a positive personal growth perspective rather than a slave-to-the-scale perspective.
I would love to have friends with 100+lbs to lose, so we can slug through the long haul together.
I live in a rural mountain village and don't have much in the way of gym access, activity partners, etc... so will be leaning heavily on online support.
It's my 33rd birthday tomorrow, and the Autumn Equinox, which always makes me feel reflective. There have been a lot of big changes and tumultuous happenings in my life in the past little while, including a contract change at work (not a positive one) and a rocky patch with my partner (which thankfully is feeling mostly smoothed over).
I am feeling this birthday quite potently. Often, it's the milestones, like "30" "35" or "40" that cause us to take stock. But for some reason, this one is really opening my eyes.
Four years ago when I met my partner, I was at my most fit and healthy. I was strong and active (and honestly, super HOT! haha). In the past four years we have endured so many life challenges (caring for dying family members & the serious financial hardship that resulted, weeks apart at a time due to out of town employment, moving regularly for work, etc etc..) and I somehow let "the hardships of life" talk me out of taking care of myself physically.
Well, here I am, on the precipice of 33 and a heart-sinking 290 lbs.
How did this happen?
How did I [let myself] gain 100 lbs in 4 years?
Oh my. Oh my oh my.
Well anyways. It is what it is. Here I am. It feels like a "new year" for me, as I set my goal to reach 200lbs by my 34th birthday (90lbs to lose). I feel like something deep in me has clicked, and it's time to change.
I feel I am approaching this from a lifestyle perspective and a health standpoint. I don't intend to get wrapped up in the minutia of eating to the precise calorie/macro, or exercising exactly X minutes per week or anything like that.
My goals are to feel better, look better, move more, get outside more. I intend to lose pounds and inches as part of that process. I want to measure my success in Non-Scale Victories even more so than scale victories. I am looking to take a positive personal growth perspective rather than a slave-to-the-scale perspective.
I would love to have friends with 100+lbs to lose, so we can slug through the long haul together.
I live in a rural mountain village and don't have much in the way of gym access, activity partners, etc... so will be leaning heavily on online support.
8
Replies
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Welcome to the other side of the "click"! I had mine right around my 45th birthday and I haven't looked back to my old, sedentary lifestyle since. I came here trying to drop 20 pounds quickly and I accomplished that but I hung around and with the things I've learned these past 5 years I came to the realization that being a certain weight, and needing to basically starve myself to stay there, wasn't really what I wanted. Your attitude is very similar to mine today so I commend you on realizing the difference already.
A few bits of advice:
Find an activity that you love and will keep doing. For me it turned out to be running, something I used to hate. You may find that you need to change things up if you get bored but you should never be in the position where you dread your exercise sessions.
Consider strength training, if you aren't thinking about it already. You don't need a gym membership, start with body weight movements like push ups, planks, etc. When we lose weight it's a combination of fat, muscle and water. At 290 pounds you actually have an advantage because you have extra muscle your body created just to move your extra weight around. The more of that muscle you can keep while you lose weight the better you're going to look and the higher your metabolism will be, too. Plus you'll be stronger and who doesn't want that?
Be sure to do all of the "before" things so you can look back and see results later. Take pictures and measure yourself with a tape measure and record the measurements in MFP for tracking as you go along.
I'd wish you luck but I don't think you're going to need it. You have the right attitude to accomplish your goals.6 -
Welcome River_Goddess. SueInAZ gave good advice. I too have 100 lbs to lose. My wake up call was high blood pressure and looking at the turkey neck I grew over night...yikes! What I'm finding to be true is that there is always going to be life events out of our control that can derail us. That's life. I was here back in Sept. 2015. I let other people control how I am living my life, instead of me controlling my life or at least controlling how I let things affect me. I asked myself do I want to be fifty and fat, or fifty and fine? So I'm gonna give this my best shot. I'd be happy to be a friend. Send me a request. All the best.2
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Such an honest post! I'm impressed! Let's do this together!1
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I'm right there with you! I turned 35 on July 4th and made a "bucket list" of things to do or start before I turn 36. I'm shooting for a weight loss of 70lbs, but truth is I could lose more. I'll lose 90lbs with you! I need a motivation partner!2
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Add me too!
Your story is nearly my story. I had my 'click' on my 33rd birthday - 6th June. A time when hubby and I had been in a rough patch for a while, my grandmother dying of lung cancer, my mother facing another toe amputation due to diabetes complications. I realised making the most of the life I have been given is actually my responsibility, not anyone elses, and no one was going to give me the health and wellbeing I want. 99lbs to lose. I'm down 15lbs as of today.
It doesn't matter how you let yourself get to where you are. What matters is what you do about it today.
Great advice already given - find movement that you love. Mine has become heavy lifting. But I hate gyms - so rather than invest $$$ in a gym membership I already knew I was going to loathe, I bit the bullet and invested the $$$ into a power rack, barbell and weights. And I took over part of his man cave
I'm about to start swimming again. I have issues with my feet so walking and running can be hard and painful (hopefully once more lbs disappear not so much of an issue), but I can swim.
Check out Fitness Blender for workouts that are online and you can do from anywhere. Try it, do it if you love it, if not, find something else that works for you.2 -
Life happens. All we have is today. It is never too late to make changes and you are still really young anyways. Sometimes it takes the adversities to get us to a point to make those changes.
Getting a fitbit was one of the first things I did that just helped me get started and moving. It was motivating, it got me up and moving, doing challenge groups, making friends and having support. I think more than anything it just gave me a tangible goal and feeling of accomplishment to meet it.
@SueInAz is right on with her advice!1 -
I started my journey today and will be here for a while. I have 10 pounds to lose and then another 10 and 10 more after that. There will be lots of 10-pound sequences until I will be satisfied.
I suppose my profile picture says it all. I feel like a stranded whale and I want to change a lot about me, my life -our life.
I will be a tough friend, I will hold you accountable and I expect the same from you. I am not here to play around. I am here to get it done.
So, if I haven't scared you yet - and if I am not too old, then please feel free and ad me. I would be honored.1 -
Good luck! You say you don't want to get wrapped up in counting but to be completely honest it is ALL that matters. you need to know exactly how much energy your body expends and then be in a deficit (ideally around 3500 calories a week) and this is the ONLY way to lose weight. Once you start tracking every day it will become second nature and you will start to know the calories in the foods you are eating without even tracking. You could get there by ensuring you are in the deficit by exercise, but it should really be 80% diet.
Trust me, I used to think the same and then wondered why I wasn't getting anywhere, I was eating well but I had no idea how much I was eating. An extra handful of nuts of coffee can put you over and one "cheat day" over the weekend can ruin your whole weeks deficit0 -
I had the same! My 28th birthday is next week and over the last few years I gained just under 50 lbs. So I decided enough is enough. I know why I gained weight, but after an emotionally abusive relationship, and someone who controlled everything I ate, I didn't care and enjoyed myself for a while. Now I'm back on!1
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