So lost...

[MissPreston88]

Little backstory, I was always very active so I have literally never had to do anything to maintain my weight (not rail thin, but athletic. I did drum corps/colorguard/winterguard for 12 years so i had a lot of muscle tone so was always around 145 at 5'5) Fast forward a bit, I got pregnant and it wasn't going well so I wasn't allowed to do any activity. Couldn't lift my kids, walk stairs, anything. I miscarried and lost a ton of blood so I wasn't allowed to workout until that was corrected, I got pregnant far too quickly and so still was on restriction the entire pregnancy along with meds to maintain the pregnancy. I gave birth to a wonderful little boy, but in that 14 months of almost constant pregnancy I gained a lot of weight and am now about 60 lbs heavier than my norm.

Sorry for the backstory, what it comes down to is, I don't know a thing about being healthy, or losing the weight because I just never had to. I bought a fitbit blaze last night, but I am super nervous that I just won't get it. Any tips on where to start?

[SunsetRunner]

I use to work as a merchandiser for Coca-Cola. I was very active. I was on my feet all day, lifting a lot of weight throughout the day, and constant movement. I quit to become a stay-at-home mom. I stayed pretty fit when working, but I was also eating out all the time and because my weight was always stable I never thought twice about my weight or what I was eating. After being very inactive I gained a lot of weight. It never occurred to me that I had to adjust my food intake to compensate for the lack of burned calories that I was so use to doing before. You already know what to do. You just need to adjust according to your current activity level. I ended up losing 110 pounds so far and am actually at a lower weight than when I was working. It will take time so don't beat yourself up about it if you fall off track. Just get back on the horse and try again.

[MissPreston88]

Thanks for the encouragement, and congrats on the weightloss! 110lbs is amazing. I'm just so nervous to see that scale not budge. I used to run and I haven't at all since I was put on restriction. I need to fall in love with it again.

[Annabel398]

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@MissPreston88 wrote:

...

Sorry for the backstory, what it comes down to is, I don't know a thing about being healthy, or losing the weight because I just never had to. I bought a fitbit blaze last night, but I am super nervous that I just won't get it. Any tips on where to start?

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Well, you've had a rough time, and your body has changed a lot, so I would encourage you to take small steps. Just do your normal routine while wearing your Blaze (great choice btw!) for a week or two. That's your baseline.

If you find you're only walking 3,000 steps a day, don't set your goal for 10,000 right away! I started by adding 500 steps to my baseline and seeing if I could hit that. When I met it for three days in a row, then I raised my goal another 500 steps, and so forth. It really wasn't long before I was walking the AHA-recommended 10K a day, plus climbing 25 or more flights of stairs a day. I bet that you will soon have the urge to break into a run instead of just walking (just be sure you're dressed and shod properly for it lol).

Same with logging food. Just give yourself a little time to get used to doing it--then try setting a goal that's a little bit lower than what you're eating now. Keep adjusting your goals as you change your habits. As someone else said, you probably really do know what you have to do... don't eat junk food... shop the edges of the grocery store, not the aisles... eat moderately... drink lots of water... try to cut out sugary drinks... YOU KNOW, that stuff you hear all the time!   You can get into more specialized ways of eating later, if you want (for example, I eat low-carb because my family is riddled with metabolic diseases like diabetes) but for now, just make little changes in a sensible direction.

There are some things we just have to do cold turkey (koff koff soft drinks), but fitness is a lifetime journey, so don't feel like you have to do it overnight. Congratulations on starting!

[MissPreston88]

Thanks, I can't even guess how many steps I am taking, but I bet it's next to nothing. I'm not looking for biggest loser numbers, so I like the idea of baby steps to avoid burnout/disappointment. Now i'm getting excited to get my blaze!

[WendyB]

You got some great advise so far. Just stick with it and you will get there. Keep us posted to how you are doing!

Welcome to the forums!

[emili]

Congratulations on your little guy. As Wendy mentioned you have a lot of good advice here. Just remember you can't out walk or out run poor nutrition. Being active and eating right go together for best results. Make sure you are eating all your colors for fruit and veg, lean protein and healthy fats. Use a scale to measure out portions that fall into your total calorie allowance for the day. Just because you are eating brocolli, doesn't mean you can eat ten pounds of it. Use good judgement for carbs and treats. You can do this. You cooked a human- you can do this for sure.