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Exercise

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How to make some big changes

9 replies

Isadora2007 · 09/05/2017 19:49

So. Lots of things are pointing me to the need for change-
*I'm approaching 40 (8 months to go)
*I'm facing major surgery some point in the next 7/8 months (12 hour op, 8/10 week recovery time).

  • i am 3/4 stones overweight
  • i overeat regularly and have a bad relationship with food
  • my mum at 70 has just been told she has dangerously high colesterol despite being a normal weight and eating low fat and healthy foods.

So. What do I do? How do I turn my life around? Any tips or hints or inspiration please.

One thing I don't want, thank you, is to go to a diet class. I have been there, done that and lost (then gained) the weight. No fads...just a real way to make life changes.

Or am I asking the world?

OP posts:
ZilphasHatpin · 09/05/2017 19:52

You're certainly not asking the world. It's entirely possible to make changes to live healthier. One thing I find helpful is real people's transformation stories/images. Have a look around instagram or Facebook and see if you see any people you could follow for motivation.

To start you off, why not buy a step counter and decide on a target for yourself. Say 10k steps everyday for 2 weeks and then see if you feel like increasing it after two weeks. It will make a difference even if you make no other changes in your life.

mumsnitter · 09/05/2017 22:31

For me, just making one change (group exercise in my case) snowballed into lots of changes eventually. Over 2 years I lost 12kg and now run miles, recently 1/2 marathon! That all happened from making one change and the rest naturally happened.

Do one thing and see where it takes you Smile

Blossom789 · 10/05/2017 04:32

Keep it simple - eat healthier and move more! Faddy diets can work but often lead to weight gain when normal eating resumes. As long as today is healthier than yesterday that a good place to start. If you make it too complicated you probably won't stick to it. Walking is a great exercise- you could do it now it's brighter and the weather is good. Look into nice walks in your area such as round nice lake or up mountain that you can work towards at a weekend.

fiftyplustwo · 10/05/2017 04:40

As for the cholesterol, check out the 5:2 diet and Moseley's book. I believe I recall from the program it was tested that this diet did actually change cholesterol levels. That could be one step. I'm not sure whether "low fat and healthy food" is always all that healthy, it might be something we're just lured into believing, so going over you and your actual food habits, what it is you're actually eating, might be a good thing. Try to replace processed food and remove white sugar, things that contain white sugar or corn syrup. Start today by making small changes such as eating porridge for breakfast instead of Frosty Flakes with Chocolate Milk, etc. And check out that book in the shops. (There are actually two, one with the description, and another with recipes.)

fiftyplustwo · 10/05/2017 04:41

And you're actually "asking the world" Smile as this reply was bounced back to you from Scandinavia.

SorrelSoup · 10/05/2017 05:21

Yes get a pedometer. I've been doing my Fitness Pal and it works if you set to 2lbs loss a week. I've started running for the first time ever with couch to 5k. I use the run double app. You only run for a minute at a time to start with. Zumba is great. Doesn't feel like exercise. I'd get your bloods done at this point too. Check out your cholesterol and what's going on. Even if you don't like my Fitness Pal it will show you where you're going wrong. Good luck. I'm in the same situation as you with the birthday, and these are all my chosen changes for this year.

NeverTooOldForAnything · 10/05/2017 09:18

The key is to find a new routine that is going to be sustainable.
Can you afford a personal trainer, preferably one with qualifications in nutrition? Ask your GP, you might qualify for a referral to a gym, which makes it considerably cheaper.

If you can't / don't want to go down that route, try and figure out what kind of exercise you would enjoy as a hobby. I used to think exercise wasn't for me because all I had tried was running and team sports in PE class and I hated it. I have now taken up powerlifting and I love it, I look forward to my training sessions and they have become my me-time.

It might take a bit of trial and error, but there will be an activity you will genuinely enjoy, and it doesn't matter whether it's running, Zumba, Olympic weightlifting, salsa or football as long as you do it and like it!

Regarding nutrition, use a free online calculator to work out your TDEE (the number of calories you need daily to maintain your weight) then cut out a sensible amount (maybe 200/300 call less per day) for a steady, sustainable weight loss.

Use an app like MyFitness Pal to track what you eat (don't use the goal generated by the app, replace it with the one you have worked out yourself ; MFP is often terribly wrong with calorie goals). Also, don't be tempted to enter your exercise in the app, the calories burnt are also mostly wrong and give you the impression you can eat back your exercise calories.

Then, rather than a diet, just try and use these calories sensibly. The odd Mars bar isn't the end of the world if the rest of your food intake is nutritious. No food groups should be banned. Base most of your meals around lean protein (chicken, turkey, fish, tofu, Greek yoghurt etc), veg (mostly green), wholegrain, fruit and healthy fats like nuts. The occasional restaurant meal or take away won't hurt if your other meals are sensible.

The best way I have found to make sure my meals are healthy is prep a big batch at the weekend and portion it off, put half in the fridge and the other half in the freezer for later in the week. So for example last Sunday I cooked lots of chicken breasts in the slow cooker with a tin of tomatoes, herbs and a bit of stock. I cooked a lot of broccoli, leeks and green beans in the steamer. That's my lunches sorted (and enough chicken left for a chicken and pasta meal on the Sunday night). I also made a big mushroom and spinach frittata, which I cut into 5 portions. 90 sec in the microwave and breakfast is ready! Hands-on time for the whole lot was about 30 min and I have a week's worth of lunches and breakfasts. In the morning I grab my tupperwares, add some nuts and fruit and take the lot to work. Easy!

Isadora2007 · 10/05/2017 15:46

Thank you, thank you all. Some great ideas and workable challenges there for me.
I managed to do the couch to 5k plan last year and bitterly regret stopping running. So I am going to start again. Stop making excuses and get out there.
I also thought hard about what exercise I actually enjoy and remembered I loved bodypump back in the day... so went to a class today! Me and my sister are also going to sign up for Barre exercise as we love our memories of ballet as children!
I will look at the 5:2 again as well as my fitnesspal.

OP posts:
NeverTooOldForAnything · 10/05/2017 22:32

Well done! It sounds like you are off to a great start!

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