Let's help motivate each other to reach our goals

[Ponyfan]

Hi,

I'm heavier than I should be but I am finally starting to do something about it.  With my dr's approval I have started taking Slim Shots and dieting.  I know the Slim Shots aren't magic and to lose the weight I have to make a conscious effort to watch what I eat and really try.

I need help staying motivated and I thought in the spirit of Crowning Glory's Healthy Pony threads instead of making it just a thread about me it could be a thread where we can encourage each other about things.


Ponyfan

[BlackCurtains]

I'm in the same situation, I'm being referred for gastric bypass but I need to lose weight on my own first before I'm approved. I've been dieting for about a week and half and I already feel better I'm trying to do high protein/low carb.

I'm also trying to walk more around my apartment (I can't walk far enough to actually walk outside) and my daily goal is over 1000 steps. It's not much, but every little bit helps.

We can do this!

[MouseCardinal]

I’m heavier than I need to be too, and it just makes my chronic back pain from a previous injury that much worse. I need to walk more than I have been; 1000 steps would be a good start. Like BlackCurtains said, we can all do this if we stick to it

[Minty_Magic]

I am also heavier than I should be. I’ve been watching what I eat and exercising more for a few months now. I’m down about 10 pounds from where I was, but it seems like I’ve stagnated the past couple weeks. Ideally I’d like to lose another 10. A community effort would be awesome! Healthy Pony really did help when I last participated.

I think I need to incorporate more resistance training into my workouts. I was doing that a couple months ago and seeing results, but lately I’ve been busy and too tired to do any high intensity exercise.

[Marshie]

Sounds like we’re all in the same boat!
I’ve been doing Noom for the past couple months, and I will admit I’ve had so many slip ups, but I’m down 15lbs! What’s been helping me is eating a TON of fruits and veggies, drinking water, and just trying to be active for 30 minutes a day.

We all got this! I think this thread would be helpful for advice as well as just pushing eachother to our goals!!
 

[BlackCurtains]

What is everyone having for dinner? I'm making tilapia filets with quinoa.

[MouseCardinal]

What is everyone having for dinner? I'm making tilapia filets with quinoa.

I had a sandwich, some grapes, and I’m trying to drink some water. How has everyone’s activity been today? I haven’t walked as much as I need to, but I’m doing my best 

[BlackCurtains]

I was not very active. I have chronic pain and it's bad today. I did some stretches, but that was all.

I'll get some exercise tomorrow since I'm going out for a while.

[MouseCardinal]

I was not very active. I have chronic pain and it's bad today. I did some stretches, but that was all.

I'll get some exercise tomorrow since I'm going out for a while.

I can understand that, I’m in the same boat. Hope you feel better

[Ponyfan]

I'm happy that others want to participate. I forgot to mention in my original post that anyone that needs help staying motivated for anything is welcome to join in.  It doesn't have to be for weight loss.


I'm trying to drink more water, be more mindful of serving sizes and am going to be replacing my regular Coke with Coke Zero.  I also have some Crystal Light drink mixes I will be using and am going to try Hint Water.  I've had bad luck with flavored water before because most of it tastes terrible to me.   

What is everyone having for dinner? I'm making tilapia filets with quinoa.

I had brisket, potato salad and baked beans but I watched my portion sizes.

I had a sandwich, some grapes, and I’m trying to drink some water. How has everyone’s activity been today? I haven’t walked as much as I need to, but I’m doing my best 

I walked a lot today even though I haven't felt well.



Does anyone use a fitness app or tracker?  I use a Fitbit and the Fitbit app.  I just started using the app seriously to count calories.

Ponyfan

[Minty_Magic]

Part of my struggle with weight loss is my family’s eating habits. Tonight we had food from a local Mexican restaurant, but I had a really light lunch to buffer the huge dinner. I got a lot of steps in (over 10,000!), but I didn’t do much high intensity exercise. I did run a few flights of stairs at home though.

I’m torn because I like going over to my parent’s house to eat and hang out, but my dad is a big believer in intermittent fasting and can not understand the portions of food he cooks and orders from restaurants is excessive. Especially for those of us who haven’t been starving ourselves all day! My mom is trying to lose weight too, so she’s been pushing for more reasonable portions with me, but it seems like change is only ever temporary. I’d probably have better eating habits if I prepared my own dinners, but I don’t want to hurt my parents feelings.

Does anyone use a fitness app or tracker?  I use a Fitbit and the Fitbit app.  I just started using the app seriously to count calories.

I use a combination of Fitbit and LoseIt to track my weight loss. LoseIt makes it really easy to track the foods I’m eating and calories, and it syncs right in with my Fitbit app too, so I only have to enter the food in one place. I also have the Fitbit scale that tracks my weight, BMI, and body fat%, so I find that helpful in seeing my overall trends rather than just weight.

EDIT: Ponyfan, I see you’re trying to find a good flavored water. I’m not sure if they sell it where you are (it’s made here in AZ), but I am a HUGE fan of Yerbae sparkling water. It’s super sweet, but it has no sugar, no artificial sweeteners, and no calories. All the ingredients are plant based too. The only downside is it is caffeinated, so you have to be mindful of that. I’ve found 1 can generally gives me the perfect boost in my day.

[Pokeyonekenobie]

I need to be better about exercising daily.  I've been walking on the treadmill but got out of the habit last winter when I got a cold and then I had a hard time picking it back up and my use fell off completely when my sister's kids were here for Spring Break and again for the summer.  So I'm trying really hard to get back into it and I found that my shoes weren't helping because they were slightly too large and it caused my feet to rub and feel sore when I was trying to run so I've bought new ones and we'll see if these make it better.

I've also been trying to lose weight by watching what I eat and trying to limit sweets but I got out of habit with tracking last Christmas because I wanted to see if I was at a point where I keep the weight loss going without tracking.  While I haven't gained a lot back, I have gained some so I need to be better about tracking it.

It's hard to eat better at home because my mom doesn't want to eat what I cook (probably because it isn't loaded with sugar and salt) but if I don't eat what she cooks she gets offended so I have to be careful about breakfast and lunch (since I eat those at work) so that I can actually eat dinner.  One of these days I'll be able to afford to move out and then I think it will make a big difference, but for now I'm just trying to work out better and try to watch my portions.

Non-exercise goal: I have a bunch of art projects that I've started and I really need to finish them.  I feel like I'm excited to start them but once I get to a certain point I seem to get distracted. So I need to focus and get some things done!

[Flitter]

Does anyone use a fitness app or tracker?  I use a Fitbit and the Fitbit app.  I just started using the app seriously to count calories.

I use MyFitnessPal. Using it along with actually weighing and measuring my food with a scale and measuring cups/spoons has really helped for me.

[MouseCardinal]

The only app I’ve been using thus far is the Apple Health one to track my steps, but it may be good to use the apps you folks have suggested

[Taffeta]

I don't have a weight loss goal - I actually had the opposite problem growing up as I couldn't put on weight and am finally at a decent weight that the doctors don't give me grief about (mutters about doctors who are obsessed with BMI). But I am very conscious about my diet. My Dad has a hereditary issue where his body can't deal with cholesterol, so he has a very strict diet (his Dad died as a result of it quite young, I never met him, so Dad is very hot on checking saturates and such).

I eat a pretty good diet especially when at home because of growing up with Dad's rules (none of the rest of us are so strict) but I had a pretty bad cake habit in London and also I still probably eat too many unhealthy dessert things. So my resolve through lockdown - especially as I'm 6 months from turning 40, eek - has been to cut back on cakes as much as possible. I've done a really good job actually, and I'm starting to pay more attention on my own account to sugar, saturated fat etc in ingredients as well.

I can't cook (executive function, yay me) so in London I was eating a lot of processed food as well. While here, I'm trying to add more fresh veg to stuff I heat in the microwave, since I can't prepare a meal from scratch. It's helpful having Dad's input on that as well.

But my real goal right now is trying to sort out my academia.

I have major problems with organisation. I love writing but I've been made to feel so horrible by academics over the last year and a half, in most part because they give very patronising advice based on what is often wrong information. I am not pretending that there aren't times my writing has problems. I have serious issues with organisation and structure and pretty much nobody helping me on that at the moment - but it's when someone comes in at you all patronising and then gets all their information wrong that I just lose it.

So instead of trying to write an article, I've been building a website around my knowledge instead. I'm about halfway through the most tedious part of it. I coded it from scratch and I'm quite pleased with its layout, but I really want to get it done and finished so I can email one of the nice people in my field and ask them to look at it.

Academia is like an unhealthy relationship for me in that I love it, I know I can do it, and yet am constantly hitting the walls put up by other people. They've made me lose so much confidence in myself since my VIVA, which is annoying. It's especially annoying since I know people whose work is in print with factual mistakes that haven't been called out. But I still want to break those walls down. So that's my goal right now.

I have no idea what post-covid world is going to mean for me, job-wise. But right now this is all I can do.