My W.I.S.H List - a new and healthier me (P/M's & posts welcomed - I need help!)

[MKbound]

My name is Jennifer and I am ever so glad to have found this WISH journal. I am new to the DIS Boards, as well as to WISH. I have been a Disney lover since birth (my Mom is the ultimate fan) and we go as often as possible.

I am 32 years old, married with no children. I am a prosecuting attorney in Florida and my husband has just retired from the Coast Gurad and is starting a charter dive boat business. I have been battling my weight since my teen years. when I was in law school I managed to successfully lose 45 pounds and get into a size 8 (my best ever, and boy did I feel great). That lasted for about 2 1/2 years, then I quit smoking. Steadily, over the past 8 years I have gained back all that I lost and then some. (Not to mention that I started smoking again 4 years later, so now I can't even say it was for a good cause). Now I am at the heaviest I have ever been in my life (215) and a Woman's size 16/18. I have been "determined" to do something about the situation for QUITE a long time now. Life (or some other excuse) always seems to get in the way of me actually achieving anything though. I know that I KNOW how to do it - after all, I've done it before. But it is HARD and my will power is low. My weight definitely affects my sense of self-worth, and overall mental health. Here I am living my dream life in paradise, but I am miserable lots of the time. Then I get so angry at myself because (like I said before) I KNOW how to fix this - I just don't. I must be the queen of rationalizations and excuses.

Anyway, we are planning a family trip to Disney at Christmas and in doing some planning I found the DIS boards, and then wonder of all wonders - the WISH journals. I began reading. Your support and assistance to one another is wonderful. I have seen in some of your posts many of the same issues that I struggle with. Maybe, here, among others traveling the same uphill path, I can finally get past the excuses and just DO IT.

Sooooo, here is my WISH list for my new life:

My long term, over-all goals:
1. Get back into a size 8 ( generally I like to guage my success by my dress size and not by actual pounds - since a large part of my plan will involve exercise with weights, and muscle weighs more than fat, etc)
2. Figure out the psychological aspects of my unhealthy relationship with food. (I really think the journal can be of great value with this aspect).
3. Figure out a way to make working out a priority in my life, instead of an ordeal to be avoided. I want to fit working out into my routine 6 days per week.

I am really bad at short term goals (I think this is part of my overall problem, and why I manage to convince myself that the whole thing is hopeless and so it really doesn't matter if I just don't go to the gym today). Any comments or suggestions on this (or any portion of my journal) are definitely appreciated.

You all have given me hope that this time I can succeed. Maybe all I needed was the magic of Disney to get me where I need to go. Whatever comes of this, thanks for sharing your assistance and personal ups and downs with me.

 

[DoeWDW]

Welcome to the DIS and to the WISH journals, Jennifer!!

You are in good company now and we all support each other - please know that you are not alone!

I like your goal of looking at size, not just weight. I use a tape measure to track my progress, as well as the scale. Taking your measurements allows you to see progress, especially if you're weight training.

What eating plan are you going to use? There are people here who follow all kinds of eating plans and I'm sure you'll be able to find people to share recipes and strategies with.

I'm also struggling with depression and my relationship to food. I'm hoping my journaling will help me with this also.

I'm glad you found us!

 

[MKbound]

Thanks so much for your warm welcome. I have not really decided yet what my actual plan will be. At the moment, my greatest concern is getting back into the gym on a CONSISTENT basis. I know that will go a long way to getting me where I need to be. At this point, my food plan consists of trying to eat sensibly and drinking more water (I am going to post an e-mail I recieved about the benefits of water vs. soda).

I know the atkins diet and other really low carb diet plans won't work for me. I really don't think that they are sustainable for the long term, and thats what I need to do - find healthy eating habits that I can sustain for life. Since I've done all the yo-yo dieting over the years, I know that once I go off an atkins type diet I gain more than I ever lost.

I am definitley interested in learning any insights that you may have about the psychological relationships of food and mental health. I do really think the root of my problem lays in that relationship.

 

[geetey]

Hi Jennifer and Welcome to WISH!!

I don't have a journal here but I do pop over for a visit now and again. I have been WISHing since March and I still don't have a final goal! LOL! I use the 10% goal. I take my current weight and decide to lose 10% of it. So your first goal would be 215-21=194. Then you get a real sense of success when you hit a goal! That, along with the clippies, help keep me motivated. Perhaps that can help you too.

A great website to use for tracking your food is www.fitday.com Even if you don't have a specific plan, using fitday will provide you with info about your fat, protein, carb intake. It's a great tool!

Just another thought - I only recently started going to the gym. I just wasn't motivated to make myself get up and GO there. I have been using the Walk Away The Pounds tapes and they are AWESOME!!! Lots of WISHers agree about these tapes. You can find more info about them at www.lesliesansone.com The tapes/dvds are readily available at Target, Walmart, etc.... A tape is $6.99 so it is an inexpensive way to add exercise to your routine and you can do these anytime you have!

Good luck with your weight loss journey! Hang with WISH and onward and downward you will go!!!!!!!

 

[5infam]

Hi Jennifer,

I have a journal here as well, and I really feel as you do, that emotions and the mental game can get in the way of doing what you want in life. I think a big portion of the battle is getting your thoughts and motivations in order and then attack the bad habits. As part of my journey, I have found this system helpful in regards to both an eating plan as well as a fitness routine:

1. Decide - Make a decision right now that you are going to do something about your fitness level. Not just talk in generalities, but make a specific eating and exercise plan and follow through (sounds like you are on your way to doing this).

2. Take action - follow through on your plan!!! This is obviously the hard part for some people (including myself), but once you get going, each day gets a little easier.

3. Determine whether or not it is working for you - If it is, keep with it, if not, try something else. I have tried so many diets over the years, but many are not sustainable for long periods of time (my opinion), so you have to find what works best for your body and your lifestyle.

4. Modeling - By this I mean, find someone (or many people) that have done what you are trying to do, and model your plan after theirs. This can help out a lot with the trial and error part, which can just get you to your goal faster.

If any of this plan looks familiar to anyone, it is because I got it from Anthony Robbins - Personal Power tapes. You can check out his website at
I listened to these tapes a long time ago, but I still use some of the information today. They really helped me to figure out why I do some of the negative things and helped me flip them to possitive actions. I reccomend them highly, since you mentioned you were interested in the mental aspects of weight loss (and truly all other areas of your life) as these tapes will help you to study your own behavior, as well as others around you.

Sorry for such a long post, but your thinking here reminds me of where I was when I started about a year ago. Now I am down almost 76 pounds (which is probably more than you need to lose in total) and another 64 to go. I think its time for me to pull those tapes out and listen again. Maybe I can fine tune my plan a little to help keep me going.

Good luck!!!

 

[LuvTigger]

Hi Jennifer!

I don't have a whole lot to add, but I wanted to welcome you to WISH! I hope you will become an "official" WISHer, look at one of the posts at the top of the WISH page about "taking the WISH challenge." I find that the competitive side of me really enjoys getting new clippies, etc. that the WISH has to offer. For you, since you are focusing on exercise, you may like the exercise clippies.

I also wanted to suggest an eating plan since you mentioned you don't think you can do low carb. When you do eat carbs, try to make them whole grains, and reduce or eliminate sugar. For example, instead of white bread, use whole wheat.

Please check in with WISH as often as you can, we are here to support you!

 

[MKbound]

Well, here I am again. Its the first day back to work after the long weekend, and I am ready to post my second journal entry. I have made some progress towards an overall plan over the weekend (but no actual achievments as I got sick and was unable to work out). However, I have joined the Onederland by Christmas Challenge (still haven't figured out how to get that darn clippie to work though!), as well as the 100 cheat free days challenge. One of your responses lead me to an excellent website (fitday.com). Starting today, I have begun to keep track of my daily food intake on that site - what a great system they have developed!). I expect this to help tremendously with the food portion of my program. I have finally devised my "program" for the 100 cheat free days challenge. I will:

1. drink at least 8 glasses of water per day
2. follow my exercise plan (3 weight/aerobic workouts and 3 aerobic workouts per week)
3. climb the steps at least twice per day (instead of taking the elevator at work)
4. keep my daily calorie intake below 1500 per day, and make sure that no more than a third of that comes from fat

My goal is to start on that challenge tomarrow (since I have just finished coming up with it I have already technically "cheated" today)

I think my short term goal (for Halloween) will be at least one dress size (I am not sure how long I should expect it to take me to lose a dress size so don't know if this goal is realistic - or overwhelming or not challenging enough??) and approx. 15 lbs.

In addition, I am commiting to explore the mental blocks I throw up against progress. I hope to explore those issues in this journal, but regardless, I pledge to give some thought to it each week.

Thats all for now. Soon this space will begin to fill up with what I am actually doing instead of just my plans!

 

[DoeWDW]

Jennifer, you are being so INTELLIGENT about all this. You're doing great - planning everything out. Just make sure you set goals that are realistic and try not to tackle everything at once. I've been working on my eating for a couple weeks but have not started to exercise yet. My pedometer is being shipped to me as we speak so I'll probably start using it next week. I do better when I try to make just one change at a time, or else I get overwhelmed.

Hope you're having good days and best of luck on your 100 day and ONEDERLAND challenges!!

 

[Auntmeme]

A big welcome to you Jennifer!

I enjoyed your journal so far and encourage you to keep it up. You have a great plan now it's time to get to work. We are in this together and will be here rain or shine. We have rain and I wish it would turn to sun so I can get out and walk.

I love what you said about Disney Magic, these boards are the best

Focus your efforts and keep to your goals(mini ones too) and you'll be that size 8 before you know it

 

[nancyj_pa]

Jennifer,
I couldn't get my onderland clippie to work either. I PM'd Native Texan about it and she sent my request on to the technicians that help us out.

I couldn't even get my 5 lb clippie to work without help. I work on a computer all day at work, but I feel like an idiot sometimes trying to do the clippies.

Nancy