intro post and today

[green]

Hi! Got up my courage to make an intro post. I'm Greenie to most people, so we'll stick with that. I'm 32 and have been mostly inactive for forever.

I'm working on keeping my mind on my goals and staying positive. One of the things I've done to do this is to add a bunch of pictures of fit women on flickr to my favorites. I look at them when I need motivation. I try to visualize myself as fit and healthy.

I'm interested in what you all do when you need motivation or if you're feeling less than positive.

I'm also quitting smoking! Which will probably make my metabolism slow down so exercising is really important.

I joined sparkpeople.com last week and by tracking my diet and exercise I've lost two pounds so far. My start weight was 210 and my goal is 160. I am just so worried I won't be able to keep it up.

I have a habit of not eating all day and then bingeing at night. I'm slowly getting out of the habit of that. I'm tracking my nutrition and so far I'm doing well. :D I just need to learn new habits and stick to them.

Another thing is my anxiety. Before last week, I was afraid to go out of the house to walk down the road. I would panic to think about it. BUT I started walking down the road (the first two times with my boyfriend and then with my son) and then I could do it by myself! I've joined a gym before but my anxiety/agoraphobia kept me from going for very long.

What I'm noticing, though, is that the exercise and eating right is doing wonders for my anxiety. My mood is elevated and my anxiety is much lower than it was before I started exercising. I'm keeping track on a daily basis of how I feel, and it's really much better.

So, I'm doing cardio every day, walking a mile 4 days a week, doing strengthening exercises 3-4 days a week. That is the plan, at least. I don't work so I have lots of time to exercise, as long as my body and mind are up to it.

Tell me how you stay motivated! Tell me how you stay positive! I really need to know. I am feeling positive and motivated right now, but I'm so worried that will change and I'll fall back into my bad habits.

TODAY: did 35 minutes of a pilates/yoga blend. couldn't do the last 5 minutes of it, but my goal is 30 minutes of cardio at the least a day, so I went over! \o/ I might do something this afternoon, too. If so, I'll edit this post.

Comments

[carolyn_claire]

I need motivation input, too, so I hope a lot of people have ideas!

I have anxiety issues, too, and exercising is good for that--burning off adrenaline and relaxing me, clearing my mind, redirecting my focus. I'm uncomfortable in a gym setting, too, but I love walking outside--nature is good for me. I used to drive to a park with a walking trail, which seems kinda silly, since walking was the goal, but it was a beautiful park and worth the drive. Do you enjoy your walking route? I find that helps a lot, as does listening to music. And when I'm feeling even less interactive, I wear sunglasses, which also helps.

I use the Calorie Count website, and it's a huge help. I've been taking a break from it for a few months, but it's time to restart it because calorie creep has set in and I've regained two or three lbs. Time to go for another 20 lb goal!

[green]

My anxiety comes and goes. It can be pretty bad when it's on, though. I'm hoping the exercise keeps it at bay.

I guess I enjoy my walking route well enough. I don't bring music, but I'll probably start doing that soon to keep from being bored. The sunglasses idea is good!

I checked out the Calorie Count site but I think I'll stick with sparkpeople. It seems that they do the same thing, though.

Good luck with your goal! :D

[seleneheart]

Congratulations on all these positive steps you've been taking in your life! You're very brave.

[green]

I don't feel brave, but I'm trying to BE brave despite that. Thank you so much.

[rydra_wong]

For me, it's been important to get my focus off what I look like, and more onto how my body feels and what it can do.

When I'm focused on what I can climb or how much weight I can lift, I feel far more confident in my body.

For the first time in my adult life, I've been wearing shorts this summer, because it's been horribly hot here lately, and right now, for me, feeling comfortable and not overheating when I climb or run is a much bigger factor than self-consciousness. Which is a big step for me.

It's also affected how I eat -- I'm motivated to eat more healthily (which in my case means more protein and more overall calories, for starters), because it helps me build muscle and climb better.

And I pay more attention to how food affects how I feel -- for example, noticing that eating protein at every meal and going for low-glycemic index foods means I have more energy and I don't "crash" a few hours after a meal (which may not apply to you at all; it's about noticing the effect things have on your individual metabolism). When you notice stuff like that, it becomes self-motivating -- it's not hard or self-denying to avoid eating something if you know it'll make you feel crappy.

It sounds like you're already getting some of that direct reinforcement by noticing the effect the exercise has on your anxiety, to which I say w00t! \o/

The one thing I'd suggest is to think about things you want to do, as well as ways you want to change your body.

So, don't just think about "fit and healthy" as a state -- think about doing a push-up, or getting your hands to meet in gomukhasana, or deadlifting your bodyweight (or taking up rock-climbing *g*) -- whatever appeals to you, whatever seems challenging and scary and thrilling.

Before last week, I was afraid to go out of the house to walk down the road. I would panic to think about it. BUT I started walking down the road (the first two times with my boyfriend and then with my son) and then I could do it by myself!

Rock ON. That is so, so cool.

[green]

YAY! Thank you for this advice. I think I will make some goals about what I want to do, because that makes sense. The rock-climbing wall at the gym always seemed so intimidating, and I've never been able to do a pull-up, and there's lots of other things I can't do right now that I will be able to do once I get in shape. Thank you so much!

[rydra_wong]

there's lots of other things I can't do right now that I will be able to do once I get in shape.

Lots of them you'll be able to do before you're "in shape", whatever that means for you -- it's not like it's a fixed state and there are all these wonderful things that will only happen when you're "there", and you have to get "in shape" before you can start with them.

One of the excellent things about strength and exercise is that you can start working now towards the things that appeal to you; okay, so you can't do a pull-up, but -- if it's something that appeals to you -- you could start working on one of the assisted pull-up variants (maybe an inverted row, if you don't have a pull-up bar).

Then when you can do a pull-up, it's not like you're "there" and it's all done, you are officially "in shape"; you'll almost certainly find you go "YAY! I ROCK!!! Go me! ... I wonder if I can do a second pull-up?" And by then you'll have new goals and challenges and ideas on what you want to work on.

Does that make any sense? I'm not always sure if these things make sense outside my brain, but for me it made a big difference to shift away from thinking about this in binary terms ("fit" versus "not fit"). It can become more about the process, and doing things you enjoy.

[green]

That totally makes sense and you're right, I'm thinking of it as two states and it's more of a continuum. :)

[nicolakgreen]

I hadn't thought about exercise helping with my anxiety, that would be a fantastic bonus.
I don't know about you, but I am finding this community really helpful with motivation, both the check ins and everyones comments. I tend to lurk more than participate as a rule, but posting and commenting here gets such nice comments, it really helps keep me enthusiastic.

[green]

I really like it, too! Everyone is so nice and supportive. :D