Hello

[DuchessInky]

I'm brand new. I have no idea what guild I belong in, or really what I'm doing.

 

I've been playing at trying to be healthy for a long time now, but the tipping point for me was when my mom died in December. She had T2 Diabetes, and a massive number of associated diseases and syndromes that would take too long to go through here. The short version is that my mom's unwillingness or inability to control her bad habits killed her less than a month after her 58th birthday, and I was on the same path. I've been doing a lot of reading, I've got Gary Taubes's book "Why We Get Fat" and I've read it, repeatedly, trying to absorb the info.

 

I'm slowly building my way up to a Paleo/Primal style of eating. I'm a Mark  Sisson fan, if anyone knows the name. I've got his Primal Blueprint book, too. The hard part for me is implementation. Food has always been a rewards system and a comfort for me. "I did good, so I get a treat." "I had a bad day, so I get a treat." Not the best way to live. So, I'm trying to find other ways of treating myself. Suggestions on that would be appreciated.

 

Basically, I need all the help I can get, and am grateful for any advice/support I receive.

 

 

[nixe]

Hi, I'm a newbie myself here and I think that it is very cool that you are trying to change your lifestyle. I know how tricky this can be and I am still struggling.

 

What helped me a lot was not to think in absolutes. Often when I tried to lose weight before I had a very clear cut idea of what was "allowed" and what wasn't and when I hit a stressfull phase in my life I fell of the wagon because of stress eating and lack of excercise.

 

I still have these bad phases  but by not quitting the whole getting healthier thing and just sticking with an "So you ate an icecream bar, big deal!" attitude. I use it as motivation to say, hey, maybe I can find some time for an additional work out and stick with healthy food the rest of the week. It also really helped me to document  everything I eat. Because that way I don't have to prohibit myself from stuff completely but when I see that I am eating something unhealthy 5 times a week I put a stop to it.

 

It's also very important to find physical activities to stick with. Strenght training really helped me, because I could do it alone with no one to watch. I read a book called "Body by you" which had a really good set of bodyweight excercises that started out very easy and improved through 25 levels to really hard (I'm still not through completely). This really helped me, because I could watch myself get stronger and do things I simply could not have done before in a relatively short time.

[Guzzi]

Hey!

 

@Nixe - Everything you just said = top advice

 

@DuchessInky - Don't panic! You only need to decide on a Guild when you start your first challenge.  Think about what you want to achieve during your challenge, what your goals are, read the info here to get a better idea of what guild you think best matches with those goals and the sign up with that guild at the start of the next challenge (coming soon).  There's no right or wrong, so don't worry about it. Everyone on here is very supportive and you'll get tons of help.

 

You'll want to create your character so here's the link to that page too.

 

But don't worry, if you don't want to do a challenge or any of the RPG stuff.  You can still get a LOT of help and advice, but the challenges are the best way to get involved with the community and get support.

 

Well done btw on deciding to change your life for the better, and I'm genuinely sorry about your mum. Feel free to add me as a friend or pm me if I can help at all.

 

Guzzi

[DuchessInky]

Thanks to you both. My major form of exercise right now (other than the job, which requires a lot of walking) is swimming. I go to the pool about three times a week and swim laps using swim fins so my legs do more work than my arms. My arms are much stronger than my legs.

[Guzzi]

Swimming is a great form of exercise! You said you're building up towards going paleo, what changes have you made so far, with your diet?

[DuchessInky]

Gave up fast food for starters.  I don't eat much that has any kind of sugar in it. Fruit or honey occasionally. I stopped using processed vegetable oils. I use primarily coconut or olive oil for cooking fat. I switched to naturally-raised meats as much as possible. (I started this because I was worried about all the chemicals they were pumping into the average factory-farm-raised animal before I even started in on this whole Primal/Paleo thing.) I basically eat veggies, meat, and cheese. I will break my no-grains rule for the occasional sushi dinner, though. I really love sushi.

[Guzzi]

Looking good. Have you seen any health benefits yet, had any bloods done, that sort of thing? (I'm a sucker for success stories )

[Truetopath]

Welcome and best of luck on your lifestyle change journey!

[DuchessInky]

Guzzi, I don't have much of a success story yet. My energy levels are getting better and I have less pain in my back and knees since giving up (most) sugar.

 

Truetopath, thanks! I appreciate it.

[Guzzi]

Guzzi, I don't have much of a success story yet...

That's ok. I'll let you off.... For now.

Be sure and post up your results in The Woot Room when you do. Though getting rid of pain seems like quite a Woot! to me already.