Hey, y'all!! I'm Rebecca, and I just found this site through a link through a link through a link or something like that. You know how that can go.

Anyway, I currently live in Florida and am working as a receptionist at a college. My husband and I moved here about 4 and a half months ago, and I love it! We've been married for almost a year (1st anniversary is in 6 days!), and in that time, I've put on at least 20 lbs. And I wasn't skinny to start with. I really want to lose about 40-50 lbs, but it's been really hard for me. I do have 3 women that I work with, and we're weighing in each week and having our own office version of Biggest Loser (my favorite show), but even that's hard. I've only lost 4.6 lbs so far, in three weeks, and most of that was due to the fact that I was sick for several days last week and was eating very little.

I try to exercise, but fitting it into my schedule is more of a challenge than I expected. I've thought about joining a gym/YMCA, but it's either not open when I need it to be, or I can't put in the money that I need. Excuses, I know. Plus, I hate the idea of sacrificing what little time my husband and I have together to go off and work out. Before you even say it, I know he could work out with me, but with his work schedule, sometimes we're lucky just to be able to eat dinner together before bed.

Long message short, I'm pumped to try and lose this weight, and I'm really excited to get to know some of the people on here and have more people to keep me in check!! Nice to meet all of you!

Rebecca

Hi Rebecca!

Welcome to Healthy Pals! Thanks for the introduction about yourself.

I can understand what you mean when you talk about wanting to spend the time with your husband after work and find it hard to work out... what are your work schedules like? What does your husband do for work? You said it is hard to find a gym... I have had friends who have worked at colleges and they always got free access to their college's gym. Do you get free access to the college's gym that you work at? That could be something to look into!

Maybe since you and your husband don't have much time after work, you could schedule in some workout routine at your house just before bed? Just an idea...

We are looking forward to getting to know you and to your contributions to Healthy Pals! Thanks for signing up!

Happy Anniversary! (in 6 days)

The school I work at is a career college, so no gym. Too bad, though, because that would be nice. I do try to get out at lunch and go for a walk, because an hour for lunch is much more time than what I need to eat.

My husband is the plant supervisor at a concrete plant, so he works from about 5 am to sometimes as late as 6 or 7 pm. You never really know. But since our alarms start going off at 4 in the morning, we try to be in bed by 8 or 9. So that only allows for a couple of hours at night to eat dinner, pack lunches, take showers, etc.

I work from 7:30 am to 4:30 pm, so I usually beat my husband home by about an hour or so. I could work out then, but it's hard to know. Sometimes he's earlier than I expect, sometimes I have to do laundry, etc etc etc. I've been trying to work something in in the mornings, after he leaves and before I leave, but that doesn't always work out.

I'm supposed to be taking a new position at work soon, which could change my schedule to where I'd be working two days a week from 11-8. That'll be good because it'll give me some more time in the mornings to work out, but bad because my husband will most likely be asleep by the time I get home!!

I guess it's never easy to juggle everything.

Hi Rebecca!

Unfortunately, the results you want to see in losing weight probably won't happen unless you make some sacrifices. You probably already know that, but really don't want to miss any time spent with your husband. I'd say your best time to work out would be right after you are done with work before your husband gets home. You said you usually get home before him so that time would be perfect to minimize the lost time spent with him. As for the days that he gets home earlier than you expected... that might just have to be one of the sacrifices to make.

When you said your schedule might be changing to 2 days a week working 11-8pm, will you still be working the other 3 days of the week?

That's too bad that the college you work at doesn't have a gym. How is the weather right now in Florida? I bet there are lots of things to do outdoors. Maybe you could have some of your work out time fall on the weekends and you and your husband could go explore the outdoors and go and hikes? That would allow you to spend time together and get a workout in at the same time! What do you think?

Hello Rebecca,

My name is Ken. I work in the fitness world. I see people all the time who get married and have that initial period of weight gain, especially in the 1st year. It is kind of like the Freshman 15! Great job on the 4.6 lbs. What have you been doing to lose the weight... besides the Flu technique ???

I am a huge fan of the Biggest Loser too! I have currently lost about 80lbs. over two years. I don't like to tell people how I did it... I like to let them figure out how they will do it for themselves... my way may not work for everyone. I do share but it is not as important as self-revelation.

With that in mind, I get am not gonna start you off with: you could try this... or this... instead I want to ask you a couple questions and help you figure out what is the best route to take!

Questions:

1) How active are you on a daily basis?
2) What are your eating habits like?
3) What is your favorite activity that you could do everyday if you didn't have work? (activity is something active... not to be mistaken with hobby which is something that could be none active )
4) What is one thing that you have lost that you want to get back?
5) What type of support network will you need to achieve your goals (need a workout buddy, group or self motivated)
6) What are your obstacles to achieving your goals?
7) You have made a big goal of losing 40-50 lbs... let's just say losing 50lbs. Have you made any smaller weekly goals or daily goals to help you get to your big goals?
8) How important is this to you... where does it rank in your priorities?

We can start with that and see what you come up with... good luck!

Ok, to answer a bunch of questions at once, here goes:

If the schedule does change, yes, I'll still be working the other three days, probably from 9-6 or something like that. Fairly similar to the schedule I have now, except I'll have an extra hour in the morning instead of at night. Perhaps I'll have to shuffle a workout in there.

The weather right now is beautiful most days. Mid 60s today, I think, but it's supposed to be back up to 80 by the weekend. A little breezy, but if you're outside doing something, that's good. (I just went on a 15 minute walk around the block during my lunch hour, and while it was chilly when I first started, by the time I got to the corner, I was quite warm!)

As for what I've been doing to lose the 4.6 so far, I've tried to watch what I'm eating (both with sugary and such stuff, and with portion control), and I've been trying to do at least a little working out 3-5 times a week. But the flu technique definitely got the most weight off! The first two weeks we weighed in, I lost a steady 0.6 lbs per week.

Now, on to the lengthier list of questions!

1. How active am I? Not as much as I used to be, for sure. I sit most of the day at work, and at home...well, I don't do much there either. I'm trying to figure all that out.
2. My eating habits aren't great, but my in-laws have been staying with us for the past few months, and my mother-in-law cooks dinner on weeknights, which forces me to eat better. I'm pretty picky, though, so I've been working on incorporating some more veggies.
3. I really like walking, especially if I could go out in a tank and shorts to get some of the Florida sun!! Problem is, I'm at work during most of those sunny times, and by the time I get home, it's time to eat dinner and get in bed. Oh, and I did take a step aerobics class in college, and that was really fun!! Exhausting, but definitely fun.
4. One thing I've lost. Hmm. I know that when I was single, I made lots more time to work out. I had a gym membership then, and I used it. Plus, I wasn't so winded when I was doing daily activities. That scares me that I've gotten to the point where I am now. I went tennis shoe shopping yesterday, and it was all I could do to tie them. I realized then that I really need to do something.
5. Workout buddies are good for me, because it gives me something to hold me accountable. However, even if I was working out alone, just someone asking me if I was still doing it would be good enough. Someone to keep me on my toes. Like right now, with these weekly weigh-ins, I find that I make decisions with that in mind. "I can't eat the ice cream tonight; I have a weigh-in on Friday."
6. My biggest obstacle would be time, obviously. And my picky eating. It's so much easier for me to eat a donut than raw carrots or something. Maybe my biggest obstacle is just myself. Hmm.
7. I haven't necessarily made specific smaller goals (lose 5 lbs in two weeks) or whatever, but in my head, I keep trying to be the biggest loser at the office. I made up this spreadsheet to calculate what our percentage of weight loss is each week, and I play with it to see what I need to lose to win the next week. (Oh, did I mention that we're playing for money? $1 per week, per person. At the end of 4 weeks, the person with the biggest cumulative percentage of weight loss gets the $16--4 people playing. Then we start another 4 week period. This Friday is money day.)
8. I'm pretty committed now. More than I was 4 months ago. My husband and I have started talking about having kids, and he really wants me to lose some weight (and I do, too) before we even consider getting pregnant. So if I can reach my goal, I'll be healthier, feel more attractive, and possibly be able to start a family. That's a big motivation.

Whew. That was a lot!

Yeah, looks like you might have some extra time to get your workouts in during the morning with your new schedule... especially on the days that you wouldn't start until 11 am! Now you just have to find a gym! Is it way out of your budget to fit a gym membership into your finances? I know at the YMCA, you could get a free membership if you were to volunteer there. You wouldn't have to spend a ton of time volunteering either (depending on what you volunteer to do), maybe once a week. Could be worth a free membership? I volunteer some of my time at the Y that I go to so I get my membership for free!

I have a job where I sit in a cube all day long too. So I know what it is like to sit all day. That is why before I even get the chance to go home, I go straight to the gym and get my workout in. I know if I were to go home first, I'd probably never make it back to the gym. I'm not saying that's how you should do it, but you should find a routine that works for you, that you become used to. Maybe that will be before you go to work in the mornings?

I didn't know you could get a free membership if you volunteered!! Maybe I should look into that! We have a Y about a half block from my work, and another about a mile from my house. That could definitely be something I could do, provided I could find time in my schedule. Thanks for the tip!

Hopefully it is true for the Y's in Florida! Worth it to go find out!

Have you ever heard the saying if you fail to plan then you plan to fail?

I am a big believer in that... It is what helped me to lose weight when I got serious about doing it.

I made my BHAG - big hairy audacious goal - Lose 50 lbs.

Then I made a game plan... small goals each week to track my progress... these smaller goals were small action steps... not the generic lose 5 lbs. a week or anything like that... it was more like go check out the gyms in the area to see which one I liked the best or work out 4 times this week for at least 15 minutes... or it could even be to find a friend to go workout with this week...

What are the first steps you need to take to get ready to achieve your goal?
Make these first few steps baby steps... achievable during a one week period... make them easy to do... you want to build on success... also this will help with your accountability to yourself... you can write them down here and then rate yourself on how well you achieved them!

What do you think? Want to try it?

going to get tennis shoes was an action step... That is a great example of the type of game plan you could use to set yourself up for success!

Hi Rebecca...
This is Flo...Welcome to Healthy Pals.
With your determination, you will succeed. So be proud of yourself and your goals. Don't focus on rapid results, but be excited at minimal lost pounds. I lost 45 pounds, and I have kept it off for a year and 2 months now. And at my age, much older than you, it was hard at the beginning. The scale wouldn't budge. You know the metabolism... slows down when you get older. But I was very excited when the scale went down a half a pound at a time. And believe me, the first 2 months I lost nothing. But then slowly, my cutting back on food portions starting working.

(I'm old enough to probably be everyone's mom on this site. haha.)

So if I did it, so can you. But the most important factor, I believe, is how determined a person is when wanting to lose weight. If you aren't serious about it, then it won't happen. When you finally make up your mind, and you are bound and determined to succeed, then you will!! People who are talkers and not doers are the ones who fail.

Sounds like you are very serious about this and all of us at Healthy Pals support you.

This week's goal is to spend at least 15 minutes, at least 3 (preferably 4) times working out. Most likely walking. I know I can do it, because I've already done one at lunch yesterday!

I'll be honest. The tennis shoe shopping had another ulterior motive. We're going to Disney World this weekend for our anniversary, and we both needed new shoes. But hey, it's another way to get some walking in!! And it's a motivation to break in the new shoes!

When you are ready, maybe you could take a look at the 12-week challenge: week-challenge-t45.html

This is something that you could probably do without having a gym membership anywhere. You could then post your progress under the topic like other members have done: the-week-challenge-f41.html

What do you think?

I think I could do that, perhaps starting next week after we get back from Disney Sunday night. But at least today, I got my second workout of the week in--30 minutes of walking outside during lunch!