New here

[AmyAmi]

Hi everyone,

I'm new here but not totally new to fitness. I need to get back on track after a few bad years.

My history...as a teenager and for the first part on my 20s I was one of the lucky ones - I could eat what I wanted and never seemed to gain a thing. Then in my mid-twenties after a ruptured appendix followed by too many antibiotics, my weight jumped almost 50 pounds in a few months. So, off to the gym I went. I followed the Body for Life plan which was big at the time and worked for me. All was good and I maintained my habits with a few ups and downs, but generally stable. Then around 2007 I got into doing triathlons - this was the only reason I've ever run in my life! I did mostly sprint distance with a couple of longer Olympic distance ones thrown in. I kept up a bit of strength training too.All was good. I was maintaining my weight, had energy, was active in all sorts of ways...then I moved to France.

That was October of 2011 and ever since my life has been a series of ups and downs...administration/paper issues, employment problems, being in a new country...at first I lost a lot of weight, which was probably muscle. Then I gained. And gained. I'm probably the heaviest I've been in my life, which for a person who used to be the "skinny one" is an odd thing. (I haven't stepped on a scale recently, I prefer going by how my clothes fit and measurements...the scale number drives me crazy!)

So, last fall, unemployed but with a renewed sense of purpose, I got a gym membership and a plan. It was kind of like what I did 15 years ago, but again it seemed to work and I saw results. After about 12 weeks, my measurements were looking good and I was feeling better and I had a new job to start. Then, life stepped in, as it always does. I had to fly back to Canada on a moment's notice because my mother was suddenly sick in the hospital; she passed 4 days after I returned.

Needless to say, being in Canada for a month during the coldest winter in 50 years, after a loss like this = cue the emotional eating. I stayed in Canada for month and returned to France to my new job, which they thankfully held for me. But instead of starting my job on top of my game, I was living day by day.

Anyway, now all my fitness work last fall and over Christmas has been undone, but I am determined this is not the body for me. I have been going to the gym periodically over the last few months and have been on a few hikes. It's my eating that is the problem, and I need a new workout strategy. Did I mention I live in France? Country of bread, and cheese, and wine. And butter. My vices aren't soda, or chips, or fast food. It's baking, and pastries, and chocolate. Ok, and pasta. Ummm, I live an hour from Italy.

I can be a bit of an eager beaver, and I totally chase the fork. And I let emotions and bad days get in the way. Also, my partner doesn't always help - he aids and abets the bad habits. He needs to get in shape too which he knows but is doing less than I am about it. So I feel like a spend a third of my time trying to motivate him, a third of my time explaining why "treats" are a no-go, and the other third I just give in.

So, any advice is welcome and if anyone has tips on how to get a spouse on board, that'd be great.

Happy to be here.

Oh, did I mention I turned the big 4-0 a couple of weeks ago? Yeah, that too. So any of the ladies who might have advice on peri-menopause...I've got the beginnings of that going on - hot flashes, some insomnia, general change of things...

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Welcome to the rebellion.  I hear you on being surrounded by bad stuff, my city has one of the highest obesity rates in the US and we are surrounded by unhealthy things to eat. If I may make a suggestion, take that third of your time you spend on trying to motivate your partner and spend it on yourself. He either will or will not make changes, but you can't force him. Trying to do so will just make you both miserable. Just love him and support him, and do your own thing health wise.