Stressed and Getting Healthy! new group

Stress has, over the last couple of years, turned my life completely upside down. I wasn't exercising, was eating stuff that was horribly unhealthy, wasn't sleeping, and was pretty much a disaster. Add high blood pressure into the mix and it's not a good thing.

I've since cut back to 1/2 time at work and am beginning to schedule a lot more, including time for me, and not just my boys and husband. It's amazing what a couple months can do. I'd like to be able to say that I'm working from 8:30 to 12, then at the gym from 12:30 to 1:30, then home to do some work for my own business, get supper ready, and get everyone off to their various activities. So far, I haven't yet had a day that I've met my ideal, but I keep working at it ... it's got to all come together at some point ;-)

So it looks like there are 12 of us. How did everyone do last week? Did you remember to weigh in on Monday? Feel free to post your result good or bad. We are all here to support you.

Stephanie E

within the past 2 weeks I have lost 2 lbs, but they were lbs I had lost previously and regained.

I am trying to get back 2 more pounds down, to 139.2 (my lowest point this year) and someday back to my lowest adult weight, 125

I'm in the same boat as Sarah, having lost 0.4 pounds last week (part of the 4 I gained whilst on vacation). But, hey, I'll take any loss, so long as the number's going down!

A friend suggested I post this for everyone. Sorry it's so long. It's kind of my weight loss journey and best advice.

Thanks for asking. I lost 140 pounds after having bariatric surgery in December 2002. It took me a year to lose it. Then I kept it off for about 18 months until I had to start taking steroids. I gained 90 pounds in six months. Then In August 2010 I had a revision of my rny (my type of bariatric surgery) where they redid the short y portion and removed a foot of small intestine. That jump started my weight loss and I have been able to lose 60 pounds this last year. Losing it the second time around is a lot harder than the first time! Even though I have the surgery as a tool, I am able to eat anything without any restrictions. I feel I was able to lose the 60 pounds on my own through working out, eating right, drinking lots of water, and taking my vitamins.

My best advice is to keep a journal of not only your food, but your emotions. Doing so can help you identify a lot of patterns that by doing so can help your weight loss. Make sure you record what you eat, the time you eat, how you are feeling, why you are eating, and what you are doing while you are eating. Recording everything you eat and drink can eventually make you think before you eat and drink. Writing down how you feel can help you identify if you are an emotional eater or eat out of boredom. Writing down what you are doing while you are eating can also really help you. I learned that I don't usually sit down to eat a meal, therefore I was eating too fast and that lead to sometimes overeating.

Make sure you are drinking enough water and milk. Some research says that drinking milk can help you lose weight. And please take your vitamins. My bones are in the osteopenia range and have been since I was 35. My surgery causes malabsorption and that didn't help either. Right now my labs show that I am not getting enough calcium in and it is starting to pull from my bones even more.

My motivation is to get back to where I was before the steroids. I have been through a lot of complications from my surgery and I want to make sure it is all worth it. But I would have to say my biggest motivation is my son. He is almost 13 and is right now struggling with his weight. He is 5'7" and weighs almost 200 pounds. His dad is also tall, he is 6'6" and weighs about 280 pounds. I don't want him to have to go through what I did as a child growing up overweight.

The way I stay on track is by having an accountability partner. My neighbor and good friend Carla is mine. She's not afraid to call me out for eating badly or for being lazy and not exercising. She's also my workout buddy. She doesn't take excuses, but yet she also knows when I need a break.

Lastly, I would recommend setting mini goals. I feel more motivated to keep going and less overwhelmed if I break it down. Set a goal daily. It doesn't have to be weight loss related, but just achieving something daily can put you in a better frame of mind.

.So what is your motivation to lose weight? Are you just starting? How are you going to reward yourself when you do lose weight?

Hope this helps someone.
Stephanie E

Stephanie E

My main motivation is pretty terrible, and not healthy thoughts at all. I'm tired of looking like an 'average' girl, I want to look amazing and beautiful and fragile like the models or the sick girls. But I know they are sick. I know I can't look like that unless I hurt myself, and it is taking a lot of work to try and convince myself that I am looking pretty good being average. Boyfriend and I actually had a great discussion last night about it, and what we can do to help me. Which, we aren't sure what we can do, but we are trying to add more positive thoughts in when we remember.

In January, I was overweight, so I wanted to lose weight so that the doctor would stop saying 'you are a little heavy' when I went to visit. Now I am at a healthy BMI and have been for a month or two, and I feel pretty comfortable here many days. Many days I don't want to lose anymore weight at all, then the thoughts hit me again and I hate my shape and figure so I workout like a monster and stop eating and that doesn't help at all. I lose like 3 lbs, get all excited, then gain them back in 2 days.

At any rate, I'm hoping that being in school for the next couple months will actually prevent me from workout out TOO much. Hopefully I will try to fit in something and just get a half hour or so, that is all I really need. No reason for me to do 4 half hour workouts a day, every day. No reason.

I agree Sarah, 4 half hour workouts a day is pretty tough. I'm on summer break and if I get 2 hours of workout in a day it's very tough, and i don't do it every day. You are very busy and have a lot going on. So definitely don't need that.School is very important. Health and fitness is too, but you have to find a balance, a compromise that you are okay with. It would be good for you to find a balance for sure, cause doing one extreme to the other is doing you more harm than Good as far as what you want.

My main motivation is pretty terrible, and not healthy thoughts at all. I'm tired of looking like an 'average' girl, I want to look amazing and beautiful and fragile like the models or the sick girls. But I know they are sick. I know I can't look like that unless I hurt myself, and it is taking a lot of work to try and convince myself that I am looking pretty good being average. Boyfriend and I actually had a great discussion last night about it, and what we can do to help me. Which, we aren't sure what we can do, but we are trying to add more positive thoughts in when we remember.

In January, I was overweight, so I wanted to lose weight so that the doctor would stop saying 'you are a little heavy' when I went to visit. Now I am at a healthy BMI and have been for a month or two, and I feel pretty comfortable here many days. Many days I don't want to lose anymore weight at all, then the thoughts hit me again and I hate my shape and figure so I workout like a monster and stop eating and that doesn't help at all. I lose like 3 lbs, get all excited, then gain them back in 2 days.

At any rate, I'm hoping that being in school for the next couple months will actually prevent me from workout out TOO much. Hopefully I will try to fit in something and just get a half hour or so, that is all I really need. No reason for me to do 4 half hour workouts a day, every day. No reason.

I lost another pound this week, so I feel like I'm finally back on track after a year, school starts back up Wednesday. I have already woke up the last couple three mornings with anxiety because being a sub I get called in the mornings. I have to wait for the phone to ring, or wake up to it ringing. And it causes me a lot of anxiety. If I get called the day before, it's not so bad. But not knowing what I'm doing if I work or not, if I need to get my lunch together, if I need to speed through breakfast. Sometimes I get called to schools, and they have given the wrong direction, all kinds of things come up. I have been working on all the stress and anxiety for this last year. The first two years I subbed, I wouldn't even go into the teachers lounge to eat lunch, I sat in my car or off by myself. This past year I would go into the lounges. I still have to pick food choices I can have that will cause the least amount of attention. No way will I use the microwave and all. I hate having to peel a banana and having that peeling sit there till I get up and throw it away. lol. It's silly I know, but there are just all these little things, being around people I don't know is hard for me, especially when it comes to eating. Then there is the issue of whether or not I will be called in much. With all the cuts we experienced, and having teachers without jobs that will be subbing now too (Im an assistant teacher) They get first pick on the calls, the rest of us are always on a rotation, so we have these teachers who will always be called first. So I'm worried about not even getting enough work to help sustain our home, summer is so tough, and we are backed up on bills. And then I have two kids still in highschool, one is preparing for college, we don't know a whole lot about that. I know about the community college, but not about looking into bigger ones, scholarships, and all that. Then my other kid struggles a lot, especially with math but has her own anxiety issues. and then just the norms with making sure there is dinner on the table every day, and helping with homework, and so forth on top of my own stuff. It's a lot of stress for me. I'm trying not to get too worked up over it. But I know if I'm not careful, things can go bad. I'm hoping I can keep up on my workout, so I can keep going, I would love to lose another 5 pounds, I think if I could do that, then a lot of the fat I want gone would be gone. We'll see. I'm rambling here, but lots of worries in my head right now.

Welcome Texasgirl!

Well I did better than last week. I lost 3 of the 5 that I gained last week, was hoping for all 5. I hope everyone had a good week. I had a week full of anxiety. I learned that my liver functions did not come down like they had hoped, so I had to go have more labs drawn. The doctor scared me when she tried to assure me. She said that I wasn't in need of a liver transplant or anything like that yet. The yet really got to me! Then on Wednesday I had to get up in front of the whole speech class and give a 3 minute speech about myself. Luckily the teacher had told us that we already have an A as long as we got up there and made an attempt. My speech only lasted for a 1:45 seconds. Then I get my sons report card and he has all C's and F's. So that has me stressed out!

But I am taking a first year seminar class that is supposed to teach you how to succeed in life. I learned that I am in charge on my own destiny. I've told myself that before and never believed it, but this time I do. So I've decided I've spent too long be anxious and depressed in my life. I'm in charge now and I'm going to make better positive choices and no longer going to be a victim.

Stephanie E

I'm finally beginning to see some progress, so that's a good thing. I've gone from 217 to 214 and have managed to do at least some exercise every day for the last week. Food-wise, well I haven't been as good as I'd like, but am getting there. Not having crap in the house certainly helps!

This week shouldn't be too bad, either, as we're on strike at work, which means 3 hours of walking a picket line every day ... good way to burn calories, but not so good for other reasons. Despite that, I'm going to keep up my other exercise, as more exercise seems to lead to healthier eating (at least for the most part).

Stress ... well, this week I'm just trying to ignore it. I have no clue what's happening with work except that I need to picket from 9:45 to 12:45. That I can plan around, and am just having to accept that I can't plan for next week, at least not at the moment. Anyway, off to make supper for my boys, then drive in to the city for Zumba. Have a great week everyone!

Glad you seeing progress and feel good about it. I eat better too when I keep working out. Sorry about the strike, that's never any fun to have to deal with!

I'm finally beginning to see some progress, so that's a good thing. I've gone from 217 to 214 and have managed to do at least some exercise every day for the last week. Food-wise, well I haven't been as good as I'd like, but am getting there. Not having crap in the house certainly helps!

This week shouldn't be too bad, either, as we're on strike at work, which means 3 hours of walking a picket line every day ... good way to burn calories, but not so good for other reasons. Despite that, I'm going to keep up my other exercise, as more exercise seems to lead to healthier eating (at least for the most part).

Stress ... well, this week I'm just trying to ignore it. I have no clue what's happening with work except that I need to picket from 9:45 to 12:45. That I can plan around, and am just having to accept that I can't plan for next week, at least not at the moment. Anyway, off to make supper for my boys, then drive in to the city for Zumba. Have a great week everyone!

Had a really depressed Wednesday that has been dragging over and bothering me yesterday and today. Trying hard to overcome it