Help a newbie get back on track re H&F? Long, sorry.

[Jo]

Hi! I’ve been a longtime member here (came over with everyone when we GB’d the CN  ),
but I almost never post and I've never posted on H&F before.

I need advice. I used to be active and relatively fit, ran a HM in April 2017, etc etc. In May 2017, work got incredibly chaotic and stressful, I ended up covering my job plus another full-time job, running a (long) search process to replace the job I was also covering, restructing my department, and covering for 3 months while my boss was out. It was terrible, the most stress I’ve ever had, and just generally awful. We got back to almost normal in October, and I’ve had 3 months to just try and de-stress (while only working one job, and taking care of family stuff etc).

Over the past two years, things have gone about as well as they could possibly have gone, with work and family and home, but the thing I had to let go of was myself. I basically stopped exercising and I completely stopped eating healthy. I’ve gained 40 lbs in the past 20 months. Which seems like a lot but crept up at the easy rate of about 2 lbs a month,  And when I do go out for a rare run, I can only run about 3 slow miles before feeling like I’m done.

So now I’m looking at 2019 as a year to get back my health.

Work is incredibly supportive - my annual review said my boss “wants [me] to take some time to take care of herself” and included a very decent raise, bonus, and some extra time off in the summer. I’m using the time and the funds to climb Mount Kilimanjaro at the beginning of June. And I just signed up for the same HM I ran 2 years ago, this year on April 27.

I need to get my weight down and my fitness up, and I’m not sure where to start. I have a tremendous capacity for focus and self-discipline. It’s what got me through the difficult time at work, and I’m ready (even excited) to turn it to focus on getting myself healthy. My plan so far is:

running: I love running and I’ve missed it. I also have all the stuff I need (although not everything fits any more). I’m planning to just get out there and run my usual 4-5 days a week, although shorter and slower than before. I tried C25K for a bit in October, but I hated it because I want to run long and slow, not in short bursts, and I can still go 3 miles. I’d love to use a program to get me up to speed, but I suspect I just need to do what I’ve always done (long and slow, speed work, intervals, hill runs, tempo runs etc). Is there a place to find a schedule for these types of runs if my goal is simply to return to fitness/increase speed?

other activities: yoga and strength work at home. I usually start the year with the 30-day yoga challenge (I make it to somewhere between days 15 and 18 most years), but that should get me back on track for 2019. I also want to do some body weight exercises at home (we canceled the gym membership when we (I) didn’t have time for it). Any suggestions for an app or videos or something I can follow for basic body weight stuff that doesn’t require extra equipment?

and food: I’m planning on counting calories (1500-1800, depending on daily activity), focusing on lower carb (I’m thinking 40% carb, and either 30/30 or 35/25 or 40/20 for the rest of my macros, protein/fat), plus cutting out refined sugars. 3 questions here: what’s the best balance of macros for me in this situation, are there good resources for recipes and meal planning for people working on their macros, and is there any tracking app that’s better than MyFitnessPal? 

So I’m here. I’m in need of advice, and I would welcome any feedback you might have about my new plan. Thanks!

[Jo]

Also, as part of my commitment to do this, I’ve changed my username from “lurker” to “Jo” (which is an actual nicknamed mine), added a handy avatar of Mount Kilimanjaro (to remind me of what I need to do this summer), and promise to stick around and post occasionally.

A bit about me: I’m 46, married, 2 kids (9 and 13), and I live in southern VA. One dog (walking her is the most regular form of exercise I get now), and a job that is hopefully going to stick to a manageable 40-50 hours a week from now on. I work for a nonprofit, and I have weirdly flexible work hours (can take 2+ hours I’m the middle of the day for a run, but often have events or meetings in evenings and on weekends).

Anyway, I look forward to “meeting” you all.

[gt7301b]

A couple thoughts:

I'd start back slow. I wouldn't go from rarely running to 4-5 times a week, a 30 day yoga challenge, and strength training.  Doing too much too soon is asking fort an injury.  I'd try and add in a few runs a week and start a half marathon training plan around Feb.  A lot of people like Hal Higdon's plans, so that might be a good place to start.  I would try and focus on returning to fitness and once you have a base address the speed.

With regards to food,  I don't think it might be a trial and error thing for you to figure out.  I know for me when I try and cut back on carbs the fat naturally goes up and I would be hard pressed to only hit 20% fat, but that is because I end up adding in things like avocados and nuts.

Good luck!

[chw57]

I am such a huge fan of fitnessblender.com. It’s a whole bunch of free workout videos and you can filter by difficulty and equipment required. I vastly prefer it to at-home yoga!

Good luck with your goals! You’ve totally got this.

[cuadrado]

I would recommend approaching food in the same way you approach fitness. Start slow and be realistic with yourself. Make a few small changes and build on them once you're doing them consistently.

I just find that when you are overly aggressive with making drastic nutrition changes, it ends up backfiring and is hard to maintain long-term.

[labbie]

Hi and welcome! For your half training, I've always had good luck with the Hal Higdon training plans, beginner and intermediate.
I'm also a fan of the fitnessblender workouts, and it would be a good way to weave in strength training for your climb in June.
I don't have any specific advice on the food tracking but agree that starting, or re-starting, out with small changes may be less overwhelming.
You got this!

[Jo]

Thanks, all. I suppose my running isn’t quite as bad as I think - I’ve run about 15 times since thanksgiving, and I ran a 5k race (goal was to have fun and finish) December 8, so I feel like 4-5 times a week isn’t a huge increase since I’m now at 3-4 times a week.

And I’m struggling with the eating because I don’t really know how I got here. It feels like I flipped a switch, stopped paying attention, and now I just want to switch back. I can’t see what baby steps would be. (I’m sure I could figure it out,this is more about my mindset than anything else). Anyway, I’m going to try to be more intentional, but not to get too down on myself if it’s harder than I think or I mess up.

I appreciate the help and I’ll check in here each day and try to be supportive to others. Have a great, fit, day!

[oswin]

Hi and welcome! I have nothing to add to the great advice you've already gotten. Good luck and have fun running.

[melmel48]

Dec 27, 2018 4:46:04 GMT -5 labbie said:

Hi and welcome! For your half training, I've always had good luck with the Hal Higdon training plans, beginner and intermediate.
I'm also a fan of the fitnessblender workouts, and it would be a good way to weave in strength training for your climb in June.
I don't have any specific advice on the food tracking but agree that starting, or re-starting, out with small changes may be less overwhelming.
You got this!

I have used Hal for all of my training! Through about 20 half marathons and 5 marathons. 

[Jo]

Thanks, everyone! I’m working on baby steps re food. Yesterday, I mostly tracked, made a point to stop eating at 7:30 pm, and drank more water.

Today, I’m trying to fully track, keep up the evening nom-snacking, drink 8 glasses of water, and eat more veggies.

For exercise, yesterday afternoon I got hit by a miserable cold, so I just walked, dd got a kid’s Fitbit for Christmas (because we are going to Europe in the summer and I think she’ll be excited to see how far she walks and I want her to have a watch), so we walked long enough to get her to 10000 steps. She was excited!

Today, I think it’s likely the same, I’m pretty miserable, so walking it is.

Thanks for the ideas and support. I did have an appointment with a RD a year and a half ago, did metabolic testing and got a whole plan but it was right before the chaos hit and I never put it into action, so I may try to work on that. I think it was 1800 cal/day, with a lot of healthy snacks (Yogurt, fruit, etc). I can look it up and try, it’s a good starting point, and I’ll look up fitness blender as soon as the thought of sweating doesn’t make me cough

[sadlebred]

If you are that miserable and sick, you'll only make yourself sicker by working out-even if it's "easy". Nothing is ever gained from that. Take a day or two off til you feel better!