time for some baby steps in the right direction

[Lowenna]

Hi all

 

As it's the traditional time of year for starting out on projects I thought that I'd re-start my getting healthy project.

 

A quick recap of my fitness history:

I was very fit as a child and teenager ( at various times I swam competitively, did ballet, gymnastics, yoga, pilates, horse riding and played hockey for my school)  and ate healthily because my mum cooked healthily. I never really thought about my weight or my diet because it all just worked so I didn't need to. Then I went to college, stopped exercising almost overnight, started eating way too much takeaway and gained 3 dress sizes in 3 years (UK8 to a UK14). I joined nerdfitness a while a go and had some success with my first two challenges and actually lost weight for the first time in my life! But then I flaked out and let everything get back the way it started, but now I'm back and this time I want to make it stick!

 

Where I am now:

A lot squashier, weaker and more inflexible than I want to be. Eating badly, not exercising, all the usual self-destructive stuff we do because it's the easy way out. As well as all the usual difficulties of changing habits we all have I have an extra challenge to overcome; I have depression and generalised anxiety disorder, so finding the motivation and courage to take control of my health is incredibly hard. I know that improving my physical health helps improve my mental health, so I'm going to try to keep that in mind to keep me going. Baby steps are certainly the order of the day.

 

As my favourite types of exercise are swimming, walking, yoga and pilates, and I want to focus on eating clean (i.e. nothing processed, lots of fruit and veg) you'll probably find me hanging out in the Druidy places.

 

Thanks for reading

xx

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Welcome aboard. I'm going to be a druid for the next challenge to work out some back issues/gain flexibility/lose weight (in that order). Depression certianly can contribute to a bad spiral of self-destruction, and you're right about the baby step progress. What are some of your first baby steps you want to take?

[Laureleye]

I have been battling depression myself.  Since overcoming inertia (the strongest force in the universe) is doubly hard when depressed, I found it useful to actually schedule my workouts like they were appointments, rather than waiting till I "felt like it".  If you need help documenting those baby steps into goals, give a shout.  Welcome to NF. 

[Lowenna]

Hi tanktimus and Laureleye, thank you the welcome !

 

I'm thinking my baby steps for next challenge are going to be orientated around starting my day off right, eating a proper healthy breakfast and doing morning yoga, that sort of thing, because I find if I start off being vaguely functional it's easier to continue being functional throughout the day. As you said Laureleye inertia is the strongest force in the world and the initial overcoming of it is the hardest part once I'm moving continuing to move is easier. I really like your idea of scheduling workouts like appointments, I think I'll try that. 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

It sounds like you wrote yourself some goals for the next challenge, perhaps, 1)wake up by x each morning, 2)eat a proper healthy breakfast each day, 3) Do yoga each morning, 4) Schedule workouts and other things to be productive.  What do you think?