O-H-I-O!

[tinatracy]

Hey everyone! This is me...[ATTACH=CONFIG]1332[/ATTACH]

I am Tina, I am twenty eight. I am a mother of three small children, and a wife of eight years to my best friend.

I am 226 lbs. I have never worked out...I am going to say never because even in middle school and high school I never gave it my all.

I have been a big girl all my life, except for the year my mom insisted I tried Metabolife. I did it, and I lost a lot of weight. Unhealthily of course. When the FDA determined Metabolife not to be safe, I stopped taking it and realized I was addicted to the stuff. I gained all the weight back.

Frankily, I wasn't ready to lose weight, I was only 14, and my mom pushed me. I was angry after that and stopped all efforts of losing weight.

14 years later, I am realizing my children have picked up on our bad eating habits, and my son is having a little belly pooch out. I want him to be strong and healthy. We have diabetes in our family on both sides, and I want my children to overcome that.

In order to help them, I need to be a role model. I have devoted 2012 to getting fit.

I am quitting soda coldturkey, and have already had the headaches that come with that.

I am going to be learning how to eat healthy, and along the lines of the Paleo diet.

I am using kitchenmonki.com to help me establish good recipes for our family, as we are all eating the same things. It is not a buffet in my house.

I am going to be going to a Martial Arts Studio this year. Pil-Sung Body X Fitness class.

I am nervous. But I have faith I can do it.

I would appreciate the encouragement and support needed to keeping me motivated.

I am excited about NerdFitness. I am gauranteed its going to help me keep on keeping on.

[ebm1224]

welcome to the community! i think you have found a great support system and you obviously have the desire to build a better life for yourself and your family. some stuff to think about:

1) is paleo the best way for you to go? alot of good can be done by simply reducing the junk and increasing the good stuff. congrats on the soda btw - i'm going without it for the next 30 days and i'm already in a bit of withdrawl.

2) is your husband on board with you on these goals and how do your goals intermingle?

3) are there activities that you can get your kids into (ideally as a family) that are active and healthy? even something as simple as a family walk on the weekends can make a big difference in your kids feelings about healthy habits.

these are just some of the questions that came to mind when reading your post but, as you probably already know, goal setting is so important in this process. i used to use and really like sparkpeople.com. it's a great site with groups related to those trying to get their whole families on the road to better health.

good luck!

[ETFnerd]

Welcome to the nerd plains... good luck in the new year...

[positivelyrob]

Welcome and good luck. If you find the fitness path you've chosen is too painful I think you would benefit from low impact cardio and diet change to start. However, if you can handle it, go for it! I would also suggest doing something 4-5 days a week, 2-3 will be better than nothing, but probably won't cut it.

If you can't go without soda, cut down to 1-2 diet sodas a day. Some people might disagree with me, but I still like Diet Coke/Diet Dr. Pepper once a day.

[dpasion]

Welcome! NF has been really supportive and informative. I quit soda too and am on my fourth week without the stuff. The first week was the hardest but after that it gets easier. Looking forward to your progress!

[tinatracy]

Thanks for having questions to help me think all these things through...

1)I do believe Paleo is a great nutritional lifestyle. I am needing to learn that food is not an activity. The foods I had been eating are full of carbs, and I am needing to completly change that. I honestly know a "break day" is going to ruin me. I need to quit the junk. It's killing me.

2)My husband is definitly on board for me changing my eating and my excercising. He work third and has promised to wake up to watch the kids while i go workout. He is not ready to workout since had had his ACL tear.

3) My kids and I are looking for opportunities to be more active. It is going to take a little bit more for me to have the energy to keep up with them. It's deep snow here already, so I need to make sure weather is appropriate for outside.

I am really appreciative of you asking, it gave me lots to think about.

I tried sparkpeople.com I didnt really enjoy it. But thanks for the suggestion.

[tinatracy]

I have been doing awesome without soda. I have really not had the craving.

I also really like my fitness class. It is really active, which is something I need to modify the excercises for me at first.

I have only gone one day so far, but the instructor seemed to understand that I am not gonna go from sitting on the couch my whole life, to doing a planking position.

I am motivated to endure it.

Thanks for the great ideas.