I am not sure how to explain how my change began :confused:

It really started about 2 yrs ago when I had to go into the hospital for what turned into a 2 weeks stay and then a 6 month recoup. time at home where I could barely walk to the bathroom, let alone do anything else.

So let me back up.. I was a 3 pack a day smoker for over 30 years and originally when I agreed to go into the hospital I was told it would be for 3 days max and that if I absolutely needed to smoke, some nurse would take me outside.

Well :rolleyes: when I got in there and after the surgery... not only wasnt I able to get out of bed but was in ICU with a totally different problem and no one was about to let me smoke lol! So I was on a patch and then inhalers etc and after about a week, I realized since I quit this long, I may as well just totally quit. So I told my friend to get rid of all ciggys, ashtrays, lighters etc because I already knew I couldnt go outside for at least a month.

Well during those 6 months basically in bed... my friend made my dinners etc along with the visiting nurse constantly harping about getting enough protien so my body could heal... and I lost 40 lbs. ( Unfortunately I gained them all back later). I also, since I couldnt go out and buy my own soda ( which I drank exclusively), my friend started me on flavored carbonated water. We finally found a flavor I liked and I have stuck with it, for the most part, but I do occasionally have diet A & W rootbeer.

Fast forward another year or so ( after I was back to eating my old ways)and I was tired of being sick and out of breath and back and knees killing me and so I heard about cardiac rehab and asked my doc's if I qualified and I did. So I started that 3 days a week @ 1hr each. And I started seeing inches disappear. And that motivated me to think about eating healthier. It was a mental 'feeling'. It was like I was suddenly psyched to do this. So I went from eating one meal a day @ probably 3500 a day to starting to eat things I just never thought to eat before ( except maybe out at a restaurant) like salads and soups, yogurt etc and started thinking about calories etc. And that worked OK for a while but then I was diagnosed about 6 months ago as Type 2 diabetic. So that meant I really had to start watching sugars, carbs, fats etc. I fail a lot. But the key is I try.

I then found out, after looking high and low for an aquatic program for almost a year, there was one at our community college and so I took 1 class over this last summer. I loved it. And so this fall, I took 2 and also signed up to join the gym at the college. I still fail a lot, but I get right back up most times and start over. And the only thing I can say is, I do well when my 'psyched' mind set is there, but when I get discouraged or apathetic about it, I slide back and fail. So I am not sure how I got 'psyched' up about it, but I think its a real necessary ingredient in the process.

Here I go Again
 

I swear I have done this million of times! I can eat right but the exercise is where I go wrong. I don't even do it. I have a condition where sweat actually makes me itch and its crazy! I however now I have to get pass it or I would be the fat chick forever. Now I have not always been overweight. Even after having my three kids I did not gain a lot of weight. The highest weight was 130 and now I am 282lbs oh I forgot I lost 2lbs. I am 280lbs!!!! Not much but going in the right direction. Good Luck Ladies!!!!

Savina

By no means am I celebrating that other people fail, but I’m glad I’m not the only one that struggles.

Right now, I think my real challenge is going to be going to the gym when I want to just veg out on the couch, and to stay away from comfort food. (I did really well at the grocery store this week, yet somehow I still managed to talk myself into a box of pasta for dinner one night!) Do you keep a regular schedule of when you exercise, or is it something you fit in when you can?

My exercise time is 4:45am - 6:30am M-F (sometimes I take F off), I do whatever I'm in the mood for (or whatever I can talk myself into). On Sat I run up to the gym at 7:30, lift weights from 8:00-8:45 and run home. On Sun I walk to the grocery store around 7:00am to get my news paper, then walk home. During soccer season I lap the field while the kids have practice and during the swim season I workout at least one extra night a week while the kids are in the pool. I don't have it written down anywhere, it is what it is and this is how I wedge working out into my already nutty busy life.

I am in awe of your motivation and it makes my complants of a busy schedule sound like the pathetic excuses they are! (I have no kids and my gym is literally less than 3 blocks away from home)

Currently, I work 8a - 4:30p M-F, and I take night classes M & W evenings, and two online courses. My plan was to go to the gym T,TH and Saturdays after work / saturday morning. I have tried going to the gym before work and I don't think I've made it past day 3 when I give up and hit the snooze alarm until I have to get on the road to work!

I like the idea of walking to the store though. My husband and I have been in the habit of going out for breakfast on Sunday mornings (with nothing healthy on the menu in the best dives of Seattle), but maybe we will walk up the hill instead for some coffee. I have started walking to work (but it's only a little more than 1/2 a mile each way). Maybe i'll try walking up the 4 flights of stairs when I get home from work.

I have found that 'joining a gym' so I can go 'after work' or 'sometime wednesdays' doesn't work for me. I am not sure why, but I am one of those ppl who need a set time. I either have to have a class ( which has a set time) or I know some people can just pick a time and stick to it.. I am not one of those people because I would much rather sleep in, or run this errand or do this n that at that time and then ooops! it got too late and the gym is now closing.

I dont know what kind of person you are... but maybe if you pick or set a time and stick with it, it will work for you :)

I struggle some days with getting my workout started. It's sooo much easier to make a pot of coffee and watch the news than it is to workout, but I've found that if I do certain things it makes it easier to get started. Firstly I set out workout clothes every night before I got to sleep. That way I can't excuse myself from working out because I didn't want to rummage around in the closet and wake up DH. Secondly I set the coffee pot up the night before and I make sure the MP3 player has been charged. I also put a bottle of water in the fridge, and get a clean towel hung over the end of the elliptical. In the morning when the alarm goes off I do not hit the snooze button, my clock is old if I hit the button there is only a 50/50 chance it will go off again. Then I get dressed and head downstairs, before I do anything else I put my headphones on and turn the music up. This helps me tremendously, because the music makes me my body move even if my head is still out cold. Then I weigh in on the Wii Fit Plus, and head to the kitchen, where I eat a banana or an orange and grab my very cold water from the fridge. Then I hop on the elliptical or pop in a DVD or go back to the Wii Fit Plus, it varies day to day. It took me months to train my brain and body to go along with this plan, but now that I have it down pat, it's golden.

I like the idea of setting clothes out in the morning... I was thinking of taking a bag of gym clothes with me to work, so I had no reason to even go home before hitting the gym.

There have been so many times that i've talked myself out of going to the gym because there is just too much to do that night, and yet I always find time to sit on the couch and avoid doing the work!

When I find myself not wanting to exercise, I tell myself to go for ten minutes and that if I'm not really "feeling it," I can stop. Ten minutes in, though, the endorphins are going and I don't want to "waste" the time I've put in, so I've never stopped once I've actualy started. Getting started is the worst for me; once I can get past the initial hurdle, I'm good to go. Maybe because there's always something else to do?

Visualizing success helps. Great music on the iPod helps, too...if I'm stalling, sometimes getting an extra song or two can motivate me to get going.

I also keep a binder with all my exercise info in it. The first page is a blank calendar I printed off; I fill in the exercises I did for each day, or designate it a "rest" day. I also put details (how far, how long, etc.). Watching that fill up over time is really motivating. Sometimes I fill it in ahead of time just to plan for the week and be accountable.

The hardest part is getting started. I keep telling myself,"Just five more minutes, just one more song" and pretty soon, I've done a half hour on the elliptical. A good mp3 player is essential to my workouts.