Lessons learned (maybe) from my new love of running. Can I make this fun?

56 year old menopausal female here about 35 lbs overweight. That’s about 10 lbs more than the usual plus or minus 20-25 that I’ve gained and lost four or five times since I was in my 20s.

In October I started jogging. Not to lose weight per se, but to improve my cardiac health. I’ve never liked running before, but I like other cardio activities even less and never seem to stick with them. Found Nike Run Club app and started playing with it. They have a great selection of guided runs that are very motivational. In 6 weeks I did my first 5K, and just before Christmas I managed my first 10k. Currently training for a half marathon.

My life changing guided run was one of my first 20 minute runs. I was slogging away and feeling so-so about the run when the coach came on and told me he wanted me to do what it takes to make the run FUN! I never thought that it could be fun, but by following his tips, it turns out it actually is.

Much to my incredible surprise, it turns out I’m a runner! Actually a very slow jogger, but going from not being able to jog 30 seconds straight to being able to jog an hour and a half has really changed my life. I look forward to my runs. Running is actually fun! Who knew? And that novelty hasn’t worn off at all.

I’m now ready to focus on losing the weight. It occurred to me just this morning that if I never liked running before and now love it, maybe I can apply those same thought processes here. Above all I want to make this mostly fun.

I’ve never thought of weight loss as fun. I enjoy the results, but I hate the slog of calorie counting or otherwise watching what I eat. But maybe I can reframe that similar to how I do hard breathing or muscle soreness to a success.

I’m aware that positivity is nothing new in the weight loss world, but for some reason making it fun seems to have been my motivator for running and I’ve never heard that applied to losing weight.

But I’m ready to try with that shift in mentality!

I am looking forward to figuring out how to make losing weight fun. Even just thinking that it could be fun is making me smile, so that’s a win.

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Negative vs Positive thinking (33F SW: 375 CW: 240 GW: 170 H: 5’5”

Hey guys, I just wanted to share a thought I just had with you all:

As someone who has been overweight and big all her life, I have noticed some things that have started to make me feel... uneasy. As I get smaller, my skeleton slowly floats to the surface. I catch myself looking at my arms and hands, and I have trouble recognizing them as my own. I can see the muscles move under my skin in finer detail, without having to flex. I’m starting to see how small my body actually is. I was just sitting down and leaning forward with my forearms resting on my thighs and I was shocked to feel a “hard bump” in my thighs. I felt around them and it dawned on me that those were my quads, and I could FEEL them. I have never felt anything except a flat surface whenever I leaned my arms on them. And of course, my forearms are smaller too, so I can’t just lean forward anymore, I have to put them in the right spot, or they’ll fall off. This blows my mind, because this body doesn’t feel like mine. I still have that “big girl” mentality and I’m still insecure, but I keep realizing that I don’t have to be anymore. I’m still a ways away, but I’m thinking about it more negatively than positively. If I can change my thought process on this, and stop thinking “I’m still fat” and instead, think “wow, I’ve come a long way! And I’m almost there, can’t give up now!” then this disconnect I’m feeling will slowly fade away as I get used to my new body. And I’ll get my second wind and see this through to the end.

This hurdle has stopped me before and caused me to gain all the weight back and then some. But this time is different. I’m focusing more on my mental game this time around, and I knew I’d eventually make my way back to this particular hurdle. But this time, I’m ready for it. And I learned from my past failures, which is why I know what I need to do to get passed it this time. Failure isn’t always a bad thing, getting discouraged and frustrated IS. Had I paid more attention to my mental state on my last weight loss journey, I never would’ve failed in the first place and I would be where I want to be, today. I refuse to make the same mistake twice.

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Need Diet Tips

Hello, folks. Hope you’re all doing well. I’ve been trying to lose weight forever but I’ve been struggling for a while because I just do not know how I should be eating. Yes, I am aware that calories in calories out are what ultimately determines weight loss, but I always get confused because of all of the conflicting information out there. Some people say to cut back on the carbs, others say you can eat whatever you want, etc. I am not sure what to do myself. Should I avoid certain foods if I want to lose weight? Or will I be fine if I stay in a deficit? What do you guys do? I’d appreciate any and all advice. Please and thank you.

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Gained 5 lbs back from bloating and over eating. | Starting over again.

I felt like I was losing weight too fast though. If anyone remembers me, I started at 295, Currently lost 30 lbs and weighed in at 265!! At one point I was 263 when I wasn’t eating. It only took a month and a half from being sick and possibly less than that. So it makes sense to gain some of it back.

But I started snacking on chips again and drinking more soda than I should. I can’t let myself fall back into that habit. So, Luckily I caught myself last week and I stopped immediately!! No more buying chips and soda as a snack, Even if I was getting diet/zero sugar it’s still making me bloated. Instead I picked up flavored packets that I usually get that only tastes like soda. That will help kick off the addiction.

I really need to start taking this weight loss journey seriously and stay consistent/disciplined. I did go to the gym a lot in January, but then I had my birthday trip to Disney World, I was sick for three weeks after and I’m just now feeling better today besides the bloating. I’m hoping the gym will help with that!! It might be Thursday but now is better than waiting until Monday to start my routine. When I usually go back it’s hard for me to fall back into my routine, Which is about 1 hour and 30 minutes. On active days I go for a walk at the trail and will be adding maybe a short 20-30 minute workout at home so my body stays active. I’m also hoping to get back into swimming soon- I got really into it before covid but now that I got the vaccine I should be able to do it.

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Where do I start, or have I?

Hey guys. I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this, but I am looking for some pointers.

I (23F) have struggled with my weight for pretty much ever. I have never been fat or obese or anything but, I am curvy. It took me a long time to figure that out and developed an eating disorder in high school. I am 5'7 and I went from around 170lbs to 130lbs. That doesn't sound like much, I know but I hold my weight very weird, I guess? I looked very thin and a lot of people noticed that I was a little too thin. After I graduated, I started gaining the weight back very quickly, and in the past year I have gotten all the way up to 190lbs. Again, I'm not huge or anything but I need pointers on how to go about this weight loss journey. I would love to get around 145-150lbs. This past week I started cutting out all pop, fast food, pretty much anything processed. I really want to start going to the gym but I am not even sure where to start there either. My mind is always going back to binging and purging since that's how I lost weight so fast back in high school, but I worked really hard with my recovery and I don't want to ruin it. Are there anything important things I should know with starting this the right way?

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[Century Club] February 11, 2021 - Have you lost or need to lose 100 lbs or more? Here’s a thread just for you!

I have often welcomed those who have lost 100+ lbs (~ 50 kg , ~7 stone) to “the club” and joked that club meetings were on Thursdays. I recently suggested that we try out having a regular weekly thread to talk about issues that are particular to those who have lost 100+ lbs, those who are well on their way and those who are just at the beginning of a journey this big.

Welcome back to the Century Club! Each week I will provide a topic of the day that has been on my mind or inspired by previous posts. However you are free to talk about any topics you think might be relevant to current and prospective club members.

Previous Topics: Relief Valves - Seeing Objectively - Tips you hate - Fear and Self-Loathing - Starting - 2020 recap

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Today's topic: Time to Vent

Another week goes by where my workload didn't allow me to respond to last week's thread as much as I'd like. I did notice one trend though, and that's that many of us seem to want to let loose about things that annoy you.

So what's annoying you these days? Weight loss related or not.

I'm still frustrated and discombobulated that I don't feel safe going for a run in my neighborhood with so much snow and ice on the ground and temperatures below freezing here in New England. It's turning into a bit of a stress spiral where my walks don't help me destress enough to be able to focus on my work, my work suffers and that adds more stress. Sigh.

Anyhow. Here's a trend that has been annoying me recently at r/loseit. So many people who only want to lose 15-20 lbs or so and don't realize how small the changes they need to make to their routine really are. The changes I instituted were small and I had a much larger amount of weight to lose. One thing my journey has taught me is that consistency far outweighs intensity when it comes to trying to adjust your weight or fitness levels. You can move mountains one pebble at a time.

I'm taking that to heart and have started doing the 5 week NHS Strength and Flex routine. https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/strength-and-flex-exercise-plan/. It feels like I'm not doing much when doing the routine, but I do realize I will benefit from the sustained/repeated nature of it. Hopefully the weather will improve soon and I can continue to fit that in between my runs.

What about you Centurion? What would you like to vent about today!

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When is weight loss a cause of concern?

I've been on this weight loss journey for around 6 months now. Instead of trying some bandwagon diet I worked with the foods I like and worked it into a high protein, low carb 'diet.' I put 'diet' in parentheses because it is my new lifestyle. So I really don't view it has a diet anymore. What has me concerned is my recent weight loss. TBH I haven't really been trying lately to lose weight. So idk if the weight loss is from my new eating habits or a medical condition I don't know I have. My therapist is telling me it is my tbi/ptsd making me worry about something that is highly unlikely.

Has anyone here seen weight loss from going on 'autopilot' with your new eating habits?

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