Hi! I'm a newbie to fitness.com. I have been reading the magazine for a couple years, though.
I am a 29 year old mother of 2 boys. I am also a full-time high school teacher. In addition to those challenges, I am married to a US soldier who is currently deployed to Afghanistan. He has been gone for almost 13 months, but is due to return home in the next 45-50 days! You can imagine my excitement for his return, but I am beyond stressed about my fitness and appearance. I have been putting off exercising for a while. I have, however, thought seriously about it. I have concentrated mostly on improving my diet. I try very hard to count my calories and snack better - no more turtle brownies or pints of ice cream at midnight.
I am looking for some online support in my endeavors to look my best upon his return, and I have 45 days to get to my goal weight. I am the type of person who needs someone to interrogate me daily about what I have eaten and if I have exercised, and if I fall down, I need someone to fuss at me and almost guilt me into getting off my butt and getting the job done! Is there anyone out there who can help me?
Here are my stats:
Weight: 143-146 (I keep bouncing between these 2 numbers.)
Height: 5'3"
My goal weight used to be 125 because that's what I weighed in high school, but considering that I have a full-time job, a recently quit smoking, and I am almost 30, I have done some research that shows that those factors have a lot to do with what your healthy weight is, my new goal weight is 135.
Is there anyone out there who is willing to help me?

Hello and welcome aboard!!

There are lots and lots of supportive "family" here. I say family, b/c thats what we are, sometimes we even fight like family, lol!

If I were you, i'd start a diary/journal. Weight loss is easier when you are keeping track of your eating/excersize habits. It also gives us a place to go and check up on your progress and encourage you on bad days...which, lets face it, we all have once in a while...me, I've had a bad year, lol.

anyways, welcome aboard and let me know if you have any questions

oh, and I don't think we are actually connected to the fitness magazine at all????

A lot of that has to come from within. None of us can crawl out of the computer and drag you back to the exercise mat.

A reasonable goal for most people is about 1% of your body weight per week; that means that getting to 135 is likely to take you about 7-8 weeks. So don't be discouraged if you don't get it all off by the time your husband gets home - you'll get there!

Firstly, thank your husband for serving, AND for the sacrifices that you and your family make as well!

How wonderful to have him coming home soon. I'm sure he will be happy to see you no matter what. But can understand that you want to feel great about yourself too.

Exercise is always a good idea for health and weightloss. I was just tellin my daughter today that exercising is not that hard, once you get going. It's the "getting going" that is tough. Once you make the commitment to get up and do your exercise (whatever it may be), stick with it for a few weeks and before you know it, it will become a habit. Its hard for me to believe that I can actually feel my body miss exercising if I go more than a day without 30+ minutes of cardio.

Also, Congratulations on quitting smoking!

I'm more than happy to "encourage" you to get off your duff and get moving if you want- I have to do that for myself anyway!

Thanks for the reply. I have been keeping a food diary of sorts. I keep track of what I eat on index cards. On those cards I keep track of my caloric intake and fiber and protein intake.
Thanks for the encouragement again.

I know alot of folks who frequent the boards like the journal at FitDay - Free Weight Loss and Diet Journal.

It not only makes it easy/fun to track the food and exercise, but also helps calculate the calorie range you should be shooting for, etc.

Good Luck!

I got off my duff today and worked it on my eliptical for 30 minutes and then used the step I've had for 3 years, but only used twice 3 years ago! It felt great!
I used to love working out and did it daily. But that was when I was living with my in-laws last year and had a ton of extra support. Now the kids and I live on our own and there is no extra support here.
Anyway, I hope I can manage to fit this kind of exercise into my schedule at least 3 more days this week and then do the same next week. Ambitious, I know!
I started trying to get to a healthy weight about 3 weeks ago just by making myself aware of what I was putting into my body. Since I started this journey 3 weeks ago, I have gone from 148 to 144. Not bad with zero exercise! Now I am going to incorporate exercise into my routine. I would love for you to check in periodically and inquire about my progress. I'd be happy to do the same for you.
Oh, I will definately relay your good wishes to my husband. Thanks again.

Your husband will be so glad to come home! You're doing a great job already. Keep up the good work. As long as you are trying your best you have reason to be happy and you will be so glad to see him.

Welcome to the forum.

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I got off my duff today and worked it on my eliptical for 30 minutes and then used the step I've had for 3 years, but only used twice 3 years ago! It felt great!

WTG! Getting going is the hardest part, IMHO. Keep this up and you will create a new habit and it will only get easier from there.

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I would love for you to check in periodically and inquire about my progress. I'd be happy to do the same for you.

I would recommend you start a journal/diary here on the boards that myself, and others could visit and your track your progress. It took me about 2 weeks before I got the courage to do it, but so glad I did! Not only does it serve as a tool that I can look back on to see what worked/what didnt, but it makes it easy for new friends to monitor your progress as well!