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Hi Jemma and welcome!
You've outlined a load of things in your posts and I can't answer them all, but I hope these few things help:
1. first up, you KNOW what you have to do, but yes, it is hard to get on and do it. We all face that and staying motivated or even finding motivation is hard mental work.
2. slow and steady progress is boring, but it's the way it works - there is no quick fix and no quick, safe, shortcut (you know that too!)
3. set yourself some realistic and small goals to get you going - ANYTHING is better than nothing when you feel you're stuck in a rut.
Here's some more on SMALL goals:
Your goals for the long term are pretty big (getting back to your pre-pregnancy size/shape) and it can seem really daunting to set a goal that is a long way out of reach. Set yourself a small goal for diet, exercise, timeframe and happiness and revise them regularly (more about that under Timeframe Goals)
DIET GOALS - decide on a small goal that makes your diet more healthy. Jemma, you've already got a good understanding of what you need to do to eat better, so decide on something small that you will stick to. It doesn't have to be radical or complicated or punishing, it can be ONE thing you choose to eat (or not eat) that is a healthier choice than yesterday. When you do that for enough meals/snacks and days in a row, you WILL see diet results. You know diet is important - the theory is that easy - doing it is hard, so don't make it TOO hard for yourself. Make a choice now about your next meal and then you're on your way.
EXERCISE GOALS - again, set yourself a small goal. You already know you need to exercise and it's great that you belong to a gym (from other post) so commit to doing two or three cardio sessions this week, either at home or the gym. That's it. Try it. Doing something (anything) is better than nothing at all. Take the stairs, park further away, hide the remote - anything that will get you up and going.
TIMEFRAME GOALS - You sound a bit dismayed that exercise results don't come quickly and you can only stick to your diet for a few days. Time is a key player in your success - it takes time to see results, time to increase fitness, time to grow muscle, time to slim down. It took nine months to grow your baby didn't it? and there were tiny changes day by day at that time. Same goes. You might not see the changes that happen on a daily basis but if you get some exercise and eat better your body will be changing for the better. You might feel better setting a timeframe goal that is not about this 'week'. It might be about 'today', so "today, I'm going to eat well, never mind about yesterday or tomorrow, but today I'm going to eat well". Make that promise to yourself and do it - it is only for today. Then try it again the next day. If you stuff it up, then start again the next day.
HAPPINESS GOALS - this is a sliding scale of satisfaction or happiness (that's what I call it). Make sure you include this in your goals somewhere. I give my goals this kind of rating so that it keeps me interested. Eg. I have set myself a goal of six workouts a week. That goal is pretty stretching for me, not impossible but not altogether likely - so my happiness goals go like this:
I am satisfied if I do three workouts a week (not ideal, but I'm satisfied)
I am happy if I do four workouts a week (yep I'd be happy with four)
I am really happy if I do five workouts a week (that's what I think is actually do-able)
I am ecstatic if I do six workouts a week (because that is really pushing it)
Your GOALS for this week:
what will you change about your meals and food this week? or today?
what will you do to be more active this week?
when you look back on the week, what will you be satisfied with? happy with? really happy with?
Remember, keep it small or you'll just set yourself up to fail. It is a hard road to fitness and health, but the hardest part is making the decision to change what you're doing. Best wishes,
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160cm / 58kg / 22% fat
Jan09 was 63kg / 25% fat
trying to build upper body muscle
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