Space_Elf

The diet is medically necessary. Turns out I have some severe food sensitivities, which caused almost a year of constant nausea. I'm feeling better since I cut dairy, sugar, and gluten. Except every so often my sweet tooth gets the better of me. I am trying to be kinder to myself, but sometimes I get so frustrated.

After a prolonged bout of depression and some digestive issues, I'm going to try and make a come back from the swamp of despair. I'll consider myself out of the swamp when I've got a diet/exercise routine I can stick to at least five days a week.

Hi, I hit a real low point again and couldn't be bothered to get a trying done. I'm doing a little better now and I want to start working out again and maybe lose some weight. Mostly I want to lose weight. I feel horrible about how much I've gained in the last few years. There are a few obstacles and I'm not sure how to overcome them. I have a new restrictive diet I need to stick to. No sugar, no gluten, and no dairy. I have really poor self control. I tend to cave every few weeks and eat sugary stuff. I struggle with depression and it can be hard to just get out of bed some days, much less exercise. Keeping a lot of how much I didn't get done is upsetting and I'm even more likely to avoid exercise and posting a log. Any advice would be welcome!

I have come down with a cold or maybe flu. I hate being sick, everything hurts.

I hit the snooze button a lot. I did most everything except the online class I meant to and leaving the house. Well, technically I did. I went with Dad to a local stationery shop. I don't count it because I use Dad as a sort of shield in social situations. I let him do all the talking.

I tend to research history by immersion. Some reference catches my fancy and I start looking into the relevant time and place. What did they wear? What kind of music did they listen to? What did they eat? What did they think? Why did they think that way? So, yeah. I've ended up with a lot of recipies for food and cosmetics.

back to the drawing board. I completely fell apart here. I'm very out of shape and had to do an emergency clothing run to target when Ifinally admitted to myself that I've gotten too fat for most of my wardrobe. Not to mention the depression just keeps dragging me down and makes everything feel impossible. However, it was my birthday yesterday and I'm going to get back on track. My goal is to lose 40lbs in a year. Plus, I really really want to go back to school in the fall and I need to work on that. Goals For January: Talk to doctor about antidepressants. It's time, I clearly can't kick the depression with just therapy. adhere to my new weekday schedule! 7am - Weigh myself, take photo of scale. Drink smoothie with supplements. Do tai chi for 20 min 7:30am - have cereal and tea, read comics 8am - do 5-40 minutes of some kind of exercise, anything will do. 9am - tidy up around the house, check in with Nerd Fitness, pack stuff for the day. 10am to11:30am: do online coursework, productive stuff. Bonus points if I leave the house and do my work from a cafe or library. 12pm - eat lunch, keep the portions small. Free Time! 4pm - do some tidying up, update my planner, check emails and other correspondence. Dinner when Dad gets home or when I'm hungry. Small portions. Sometime before 9pm I can have a small serving of dessert. After 9pm, I can only have herbal tea and water crackers. I think the diet will be easiest to stick too since that's pretty much what I am doing now. The tidy up times are a little easier, though I procrastinate a bit. Doing the online refresher courses (I hate math, so much) and possibly leaving the house to face weather and other humans is really the hardest part.

And... More issues with the snooze button. So far the one energy level correlation is the sun. I hit the snooze until I need the bathroom or the sun comes out. Also, once I'm up I feel pretty sluggish unless the sun is shining. Whee double the SAD. Social Anxiety Disorder and Seasonal Affective Disorder. OK, so I've not incontrovertibly proved the seasonal thing.

I've been using the Headspace Take 10 app because it was free and I really had no better ideas about where or how to start. I have tried other guided meditation apps and videos, but a lot of the time something about the voice or the ambient sounds annoy me. Anyways, Headspace seems to work well but.... Even though I think I'm comfortable starting out, I find a few minutes in that I'm itchy/achey. As soon as I've scratched my nose, something else is unbearably itchy or I just cannot find a comfortable position... My feet fall asleep, my hips ache, my neck twinges.... Always something.

Yesterday I did get back on track except that the evening tidy completely slipped my mind. For some reason none of my alarms managed to get my attention and I was kinda busy checking email and reading. Today has been a kind of repeat. I skipped exercise in favor of having breakfast and then I got back on track in time for the morning tidy. I just keep hitting the snooze button. I didn't sleep well and all I wanted was just a little bit more sleep, then I'd get up. I did journal about it though, so that's something.

Not sure if your advice helps, but I'm giving it a shot for the week and we'll see what happens. Thanks!

Not a newbie, just a re-spawn (4th or 5th time?). I'm happy to do my best to help out with motivation, inspiration, or whatever. Also, total bookwyrm. Drop me a PM if you're interested.

I'm happy to be a buddy. I'm focused on mental health as well and I do get overambitious with challenge goals. Drop me a PM if you're still interested.

Well, the best place to start is by reading this: https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/strength-training-101-where-do-i-start/ As for concerns about your back. Remember to maintain your posture, double and triple check it. Start with the lightest of weights and only move up when you are completely confident that the current weight is too easy. Again, be absolutely certain of your posture. Ask someone to check if you need to. That's where the problems are most likely to hit, if you're lifting too much or lifting with bad form. Personally, I'd follow up weight training with some very light stretching or maybe a yoga routine. I hope my advice helps, but if not.. there's lots of people here on Nerd Fitness who have been where you are and can probably give you better advice you just have to keep asking questions.

Can't say much that hasn't been covered, but here's my 2 cents. Habit building. get into the habit of tracking your diet and exercise, don't bother trying to change either of those, just establish the habit of tracking it. It doesn't have to be very thorough, just an outline of wether you did exercise what foods you ate and how you feel about it. Then pick one thing, one less soda, one five minute warm up, one apple a day, or whatever. Just pick one thing to add or cut just a little of. Once it becomes habit (30 days is rule of thumb for habit change), it won't require as much effort to stick with it. Just keep going, one little tiny habit at a time.