New! Hi! Panda!

[UndergroundSusie]

Hi, I'm new here and wanted to say hi! I'm a high school math teacher with a pile of weight to lose and a desire to get strong. I'm still working out in what capacity I want to get strong. I think I'm leaning toward druid but not for sure. Hah. My spirit animal is a panda. I'm a lifelong nerd married to the football player. Erm, I'm not really sure what else to share. Anyway, hi! 

[Guzzi]

Hi back! And welcome. 

 

Its funny, there's been a few teachers start recently. I wonder why that is... Summer holidays anyone?  

 

How you use the forum is up to you. You can start a Battle log and use it to track your progress, you can take part in challenges, simply soak up information and use it to improve your workouts/eating etc, or just hang out in the Chat Room. It's totally up to you.  

 

I like to recommend the 4 Week Challenges to people because it makes you an active participant in the forum, lets you meet other members, form friendships and get some accountability. They're also a really good tool to help you reach your long term goals by breaking them down into smaller, short term goals which I think is important in keeping you motivated.

 

It's a tough slog to just keep working away toward losing 50lbs (for example) and trying to change everything all at once - eating better, exercising more, cutting soda, stop smoking..... Arrrrrgh! 

 

But if you have a challenge to, say, cut out soda over 4 weeks. Then go on to do another challenge to eat vegetables with one meal every day for 4 weeks and to use the stairs at work instead of the lift. You can focus on making small changes at a time, and make them lasting changes! And all the while you're getting support and advice from your fellow nerds  Coz we're like that.  

 

sorry about the weird fonts, my phone and the site don't get along.  

[Guzzi]

Oops! I forgot to say, the next 4 Week Challenge starts on the 17th of you want to join in! 

[UndergroundSusie]

I would like to join in! I'll have to start thinking about what measurable goals I have. I've really struggled with my weight forever, lost it all, got pregnant and used that as an excuse to eat as many cheeseburgers as I wanted. Now it's back plus some. I counted calories then but am completely unwilling to do so this time. I really do want to make a lifestyle change and I refuse to count calories for the rest of my life. I bought a workout program and am going to use that for now because, and most importantly, I paid for it and it wasn't cheap.  Second, I don't really know where I'm headed yet, so it seems good until I figure that out. Thanks for all the awesome info! 

[Guzzi]

No probs!  

 

When I first joined I was totally lost and didn't know where to begin so now I try to tell people the stuff I wish someone had told me. It might not suit everyone, but at least they have the option to ignore me, lol!  

 

Making a lifestyle change is exactly the way to make this work. The short term fix seems appealing when you're desperate to lose weight but it just doesn't work long term and you end up unhappy all over again. 

 

As for your goals, you don't need to know your final destination to take the first steps. If you want to lose weight then the first thing to do is to improve your diet. Cut out something here, add something there.

 

I'm a big fan of food diarys, to get a better picture of your diet before you start trying to make changes. Most of us are slightly in denial of what we eat. You've seen the show Secret Eaters, right? We all do that to some extent. Maybe we have a biscuit (cookie?) with our coffee, that's ok right? Cos it's just one biscuit. But over the week it turns into half a packet... Ouch!

 

But I'm waffling. Again.

 

Why not have a look through some of the current challenge threads for inspiration? I've seen some really good goals floating around. 

[Slate Specter]

Welcome! I'm new here too, and also a mom (2 daughters, ages 4 and 2). I feel you with letting that be an excuse to not eat right! I'm glad we're both here!

[UndergroundSusie]

Oh, totally! I have been doing semi-paleo. Meaning, kinda bumbling through it until I figure out what I'm doing. Haha. I gave had a mostly awful day and wanted so bad to have some m&ms but had some beef jerky instead. I feel like that's a win. Haha. Thanks again! I'll take a look around. 

[UndergroundSusie]

5 minutes ago, Slate Specter said:

Welcome! I'm new here too, and also a mom (2 daughters, ages 4 and 2). I feel you with letting that be an excuse to not eat right! I'm glad we're both here!

I have two boys, 4 and 3! I'm glad we're here too!