My Story/Reply to my Welcome Email

[dream4acadia]

What am I struggling with? Now that is a loaded question....but I see you are not averse to wordiness, so I feel like I'm in good company.

I need to move forward to better health in so many ways. I currently weigh 250 lbs & have approx. 41% body fat. I did a turbo fire challenge last aug - oct, and had great success with it! Was eating clean as much as possible, but also using Shakeology & P90x Results & Recovery. Got down to 235 lbs. had planned on tackling Insanity in January. Then life handed me a major blow....

On December 10, 2012, my mother committed suicide. She had been struggling with anxiety & depression for two years, but none of us saw this coming. Needless to say, this emotional eater/ food lover turned back to food as comfort. Holiday eating only progressed my vice of choice.

A couple of months ago, my husband asked me to check out the primal blueprint. I was intrigued, and we have been giving the concept a try. However, I'm still falling back into emotional eating pitfalls. I need to get moving again. I have been lifting with Chalean Extremes Burn Circuit 3x a week for the past month & getting about 60-90 min of cardio on a stationary bike.

I have been planning on starting Insanity on April 15th but now I'm concerned that this is what is warned as being Chronic Cardio. I am so tired of spinning my wheels. The primal lifestyle suggestions have me questioning everything I've learned in fitness & nutrition over the years, and I'm in desperate need to just be told what to eat & what to do so I can lose this weight, feel healthy, and escape vices that lead to depression & regrets!

I'm willing to scrap insanity, Shakeology, & p90x results & recovery if I have guidance & direction. Mark Sissons primal blueprint makes sense but it is too open ended for someone like me who lacks a natural inclination to self discipline. Turbo fire worked for me bc I was guided through nutrition & told when to push play with what.

I have spent the last few years as a Zumba Fitness instructor. I opened a fitness facility with a fellow instructor. The business partnership did not work out, but I still have the desire to help others tackle the same life long struggles that I have dealt with. I now realize that before I can dream big with a fitness career, I must make my own health & fitness a priority first.

I'm a challenge, but since you wear your nerd stamp so proudly, I feel confident I'm not an impossible challenge. Please help....

[SSquirrel]

Firstly my condolences about your mother.  It wasn't suicide, but I've lost many family members over the years and both my dad and stepdad (cancer in both cases), so it's never easy losing a parent.  I'm actually pretty new to this as well, but I thought maybe sharing what I have been trying so far could be beneficial.  I snagged the MyPlate app and tracked every single thing I ate for 1 week.  This let me know exactly how bad some of my days were as far as calories and carbs and such and a couple of days that I tried to (and did) hit my caloric goal for the day let me see that I could have a good day as it related to tasty food and still achieve my goals.

 

I'm talking w/one guy from here as well as a friend of mine I introduced to the site yesterday about possibly all trying to workout together.  I'm planning to take the Beginner Body Weight circuit and adding in the leg lifts from the Parkour training (we don't trust the doorways in our apartment to put in a chin up bar so no pull ups for now) to make my basic workout.  Do that Monday/Thursday, Interval training on Tues/Fri, Rest on Wed and Sun and on Saturday take the family to the park to walk around or hike a trail for an hour and toss in a few things like jumping jacks and squat thrusts.  Mix that with better eating and I think I will see a lot of improvement.  End of May, the pool opens back up at the complex and I plan to be in it every day that it's open and not raining, in addition to my other workouts.

 

I like the idea of this plan if for no other reason than I don't have to go anywhere to do it.  Do the bodyweight stuff in my apartment.  Go run around the apartment complex or a quick trip to a local park for the running.  My 7 1/2 year old is in her 2nd year of running cross country at her elementary school and wants me to start running with her, which is part of all this. Plus my Utilikilts are getting WAY too tight and I don't want to wear shorts all summer

 

Keep us informed on what you decide and always ask questions.  We're all still elarning, I know I sure am   My wife is cooking some spaghetti squash tonite and we're experimenting w/some dish ideas.  I haven't had it before, so something new. 

[mentalfloss]

Wow well I'm really bad at this so I don't know what to say, but that is devastating I hope you're coping alright!!

 

I'm only a newbie too and so I don't have much advice but for what it's worth, reading The Primal Blueprint started me on a course that is one of the few things I haven't just given up on lol, however I do know what you mean by it being a bit open-ended - I crave structure and specific direction otherwise I get lazy and make excuses.  Especially in relation to exercise - not sure if this is where you had trouble, but his philosophy on exercise, although it made sense, I wasn't getting results because I went too easy on myself I think.  So I gave myself permission to exercise as much as I want haha.

 

Anyway not sure if that was helpful or even made sense but at least you know people can relate to your situation!!!  The gyms where I live offer like a free initial consultation where you discuss what you want to achieve and they draw up a plan for you which is pretty specific - does your local gym offer something like that?

[Morrigainz]

First of all, my condolences to you on your loss. I also have a mother who suffers from severe depression, and we have been through several of her suicide attempts together. I hope that in the months and years to come, you are able to heal and remember your mother with positive, fun memories of good times you had together.

 

As for the fitness stuff, I have not used any of the Insanity, ChaLean, etc stuff. However, if it works for you, why change it up? If having a plan set out for you works, keeps you on a schedule, and keeps you accountable, I see no reason to deviate. I assume these things have you doing different workouts each day, yes? That's different from hopping on the treadmill and running for 60-90 minutes every single day. In fact, you can use the treadmill or stationary bike to supplement your workouts, if you like.

 

I know it is really overwhelming. My main advice is to research, research, research. Not only will you be able to come up with a plan that works for YOU and that YOU can stick with, but with all the knowledge you've gained, you'll be able to tweak the plan as you need.

 

For now, I would focus on two things: eating healthy and moving. If, once you've started to get into it a little more, you want to count calories or track macros or measure your bf% or whatever you want to track, then go ahead. Personally, I find that when I jump into things like that I get easily overwhelmed and distracted from the point...which is to be healthy.

 

Good luck to you! Welcome to the Rebellion!

[Terinatum]

Welcome.

I'm sorry about your mother. Depression s a horrible illness. I wish you and your family comfort during this grieving time.

I am 260 lbs and have lead a very sedentary lifestyle for decades. I have found that, like MirGSS, moving is essential. It seems that once you get moving, motivation kicks in. Weird right, you'd think it would come first in order to get you moving to begin with, but Noooo.

Our brains don't like change. It waits in the corner and looks for clear evidence that it will work before joining in. You see theparadox? So, I do some planning, like you, I love it! But then I try to get into a mind set that focuses on experimenting. That way the brain knows it can always go back to the old way (hopefully not every time), so it is easier to get the motion started. Let yourself know you can always change the plans of how you do it, if it feels like crap or you aren't feeling better in your body.

My new mantra is 'slow and steady, and it ISN'T a race'

Good Luck, Rebel.