I've gained 30lbs!

Hi Almost Date Twin I too have gained almost 30 lbs and I HATE it! My best friend has motivated me to do zumba 2 times a week and I actually really enjoy it. I burned 964 calories in just 1 hour last night. FH and I will also start walking a few miles in the evening.

I did the 21 day fix last year and lost 11 lbs in 21 days, so I am considering getting back on board with that as well. I work long hours and have a 7 year old so I am pooped but I want a bad ass mermaid gown so that is my motivation. I have also significantly altered my diet. We can be accountability partners if you'd like? Since our dates are so close together. Good Luck!

Diet is more important than exercise, but I find exercising makes me feel so good it makes me want to eat better. Get your diet under control first, then once you are doing ok with that try adding morning workouts. I have so much more energy in the morning provided I go to bed at a decent hour.

I did Fit Girl's Guide the 28 Day Jumpstart. It is a meal plan and work out plan. No gym required. That was important to me because I have a gym membership and don't use it. I will say, I slightly cheated on the meals. I added extra protein because I get angry if I am hungry.

But it was great for me. There is also a large instagram community that live by it. I'm thinking about going back and doing it all over again.

Think about why you gained the weight in the first place. What changed when you moved to Charleston? Start there.

I think it's been mentioned already, but I also highly recommend MyFitnessPal (app). I lost about 20 lbs using the app, with no crazy exercise plan (cardio like 15 min 3x/week, try to get at least 10,000 steps each day). Make sure you hold yourself accountable and log EVERYTHING you eat. For the first few days, just try logging everything without making changes. This will help you identify weak areas.

Don't get discouraged first off. I think everyone has been in this kind of situatuion before. Secondly make small changes to your routine. Wake up a hour early, go work out. Start off slow and make sure you keep it going for 30 days. After 30 days it is like a new part of your daily routine! Just stay positive.

Erika! I just broke through some huge psychological barriers and painful baggage (eating disorders/body image issues/blah blah blah) and lost 30 lbs, and still have 15 to go but am now so confident it'll happen. You. Can do. It.

You ask about how to be motivated. Something that really hung me up in the past when I was trying to lose weight is that I hated my body and hated myself for not having what I felt was a beautiful body. Working out was torture, a punishment for chocolate and yummy food. Discouragement drove me to eat my feelings, which drove me to try (and fail) to brutalize myself in the gym to make up for it. It was a vicious cycle, and I hated it. Hated every part of it, and myself, too.

Then FH came along, and he really helped me work through a lot of those issues. He helped me shift my mindset and STOP looking at myself as ugly. He helped me feel beautiful as I was--but also, in the end, you can't just rely on a man's word alone to make you feel beautiful (although words of affirmation from your SO are hugely important, whether it's your love language or not!). But FH gave me the key to shift the way I looked at myself. And that's the thing--you've got to change the way you look at yourself.

For me, I stopped hating my body and trying to punish myself. I started wanting to love and care for my body, and I started allowing myself to think maybe it could be beautiful just as it was, imperfections and all.

I had thought forever that I would lose weight eventually, and that would make me finally feel beautiful. But it never happened. To my surprise, once I started letting myself believe I was beautiful as I already was, I was able to shed the weight.

You are YOU already, beautifully and totally you, just as you are. Not minus 30 pounds. Love yourself. Love your body. Work out to improve your life and take care of your body--it's the only one you get, and it's special! It deserves some serious TLC for putting up with you your whole life.

For the first time in my whole life, I now feel completely comfortable and happy in my own skin. I was CONVINCED that could never ever ever happen to me. But it did. And it CAN happen for you too! You just have to embrace it.

I hope this wasn't weird to share or anything. I just see so many girls hating their bodies like I did, and it hurts my heart because I remember how that feels, and I remember the pain of it.

Erika, I believe in you! You can totally do this.

Try myfitnesspal.com it's free and it'll scare you into eating healthier (it says "if you ate like this everyday you'd weight XXX". lol. And take a look at the nutritional stats and see what you're most often overdosing on. Drinking lots of water and eating high fibre foods (ie whole grain/veggies instead of white) will help you feel full longer. Also, EAT BREAKFAST! It kick starts your metabolism. Breakfast with some amount of protein is the best. The easiest for me is greek yogurt.

With exercising, focus on core strength over cardio. Don't cut out cardio, but the focus should be on strength.

I just bought the Herbalife shakes am going to be doing those for breakfast. They're actually really yummy and you can just mix them with milk. I've also been drinking a tonnnnn of water. No more soda or sugary drinks.

Okay SUPER LONG POST ahead. I posted this before in a weight loss question back in March. I've lost about 20lbs in 4-5 months and have been maintaining at my "happy" weight for a month now. I'm working on leaning out right now as well as training for a half. Here's what works for me:

It's all about calories in vs calories out for weight loss, but it's also important to exercise to get "lean" and "toned".

Here's what's worked for me so far:

I've lost 7lbs and 6.7% body fat through a blend of strength training and cardio at my gym since January (a total of 15 lbs down since September... my GW is 20lbs down which would put me at what I was throughout HS and college). My gym offers personal training with their membership (which is a great deal), and they design my workouts every six weeks. A lot of my workouts are similar to "The New Rules of Lifting for Women: Lift like a Man, Look Like a Goddess". You can also find some great beginner workouts for strength training on bodybuilding.com. I also love http://www.blogilates.com/.

At my gym, I weigh in and they also take down my measurements (inches and body fat%) and log it in the system so I can see my gains over time which helps me keep accountable to myself. I have friends at work who go to the same gym and we keep each other motivated. I also joined several challenges. Finally, I have a fitspo tumblr account and post when I have small gains or minor set backs (this is what I've found that works best for me to keep track of gains/setbacks). These are things that work to keep me accountable. Find what works to make you accountable.

I also took a nutrition class at my gym to make sure I was on track. I don't keep any sweets or snack foods in our house because I know I'll eat them all (*eats all the chocolate*). I meal plan and use a grocery list to buy only what we need and that way I'm not tempted to buy sweets/treats/unnecessary stuff. Since I'm not a huge breakfast person, I drink an 8oz protein shake and have black coffee. I also drink loads of water. My other favorite is to have a glass of crystal light lemonade at dinner which replaces the soda I use to drink. If I *really* need a soda and don't want coffee, then I'll drink a diet (but I only drink like one a week...)

I have a notepad underneath my monitor that I write my goals on and update them every 1-2 weeks. I have short term and long term goals.

Even if I'm not feeling motivated, I make myself go to the gym. It's a commitment for me to go to because it's the closest gym and it is 20 miles away. So if I make the trip (which I do 4-5 times per week), then I actually make the workout count. I keep a gym bag in my car stocked with clothes, toiletries, and water.

There's no magic pills. It's not always easy. And it's a slow process. But if you make goals, stay accountable, and make small changes to your life, then it is feasible.

Let me know if there's any way I can help! I love meeting new people to stay accountable with. Here's my fitspo/weight lose tumblr account:

http://emaebe.tumblr.com/

Also, can I second ALL of what Randi said? The best way to lose weight and be happy is to love the body you're in currently. Don't let it hold you back.

I was happy and gorgeous at 170lbs and I'm happy and gorgeous at 148lbs. The only difference is that I can go further on my hikes when we camp.

Stop letting the excuse of an average work day stop you. The healiest people I know are also the busiest. You're never going to get healthy unless you get in the mindset that you're never too busy for a workout.

I always find its difficult to go to the gym but then once my workout is done I feel so much better. It takes 3 weeks for the habit to form after that its just your usual routine. Don't make any excuses and just go.

If you want some real motivation.. go try on dresses at the size you are now.. take a picture and print it out and post it on your mirror. Then after improving your nutrition and getting on a healthy work out schedule, when you REALLY go dress shopping you will be amazed by your results

Like @VM, I get up early to work out. I was trying to do it after work, and I just wasn't motivated. I do 25 mins on the bike, and 25 mins of weights. I adjust if I am super tired/busy, but I am more committed to strength and building muscle than riding the bike for 15 kms.

I just went dress shopping, and I was in between sizes (16 in the chest, close to 12 everywhere else), she said if I got the 14 that "it would be incentive to lose weight!" (and I wanted to punch her), but I am trying to accept the body I have, and I would hate to get the dress and not be able to zip it up. If I lose weight, I can always take it in, so no worries. But if I build muscle, I might not go down any sizes anyway.

Remember not to look at the scale, because 1 lb of muscle looks different than 1 lb of fat. Look at inches and look at how happy it makes you feel.

Trying on wedding dresses motivated me too. Partially because I am not where I'd like to be, but partially also because I looked awesome in more dresses than I expected. Even if I don't lose a single pound (I've gained 40 in a year and have recently lost 5) I would rock my wedding dress and feel and be beautiful. That gave me the body love and boost I needed to treat myself better.

The thing that motivates me the most is to sign up for an event. For example, I signed up for a super sprint triathlon and that motivated me to exercise. Or I signed up for the Tough Mudder and that motivated me. When I am not signed up for an event, I start slacking off. I would try that.

I love you all. I cant wait to apply or actually push all this to my daily routine.

You've got this, Erika.

Good luck I also gained a bit of weight recently and am trying to motivate myself as well. I'm really hoping to need my dress taken in at my alterations appointment!