@heartsrose74 This might be long, sorry.
I was always thin in highschool. At 5'0" and 105lb, I looked good. I didn't have to do anything to maintain that. I wasn't in sports, and my only activity came from marching band. We did have to do a lot of running and pushups, so I joke about it being my sport.
Fast forward to my first child at 22 years old. It wasnt until after he was born that I though I needed to do something. I joined my first gym when I was 24 or 25. I had no clue what I was doing. The trainers there show you a few things so I mostly stuck to machines and cardio. I had no idea what to do with dumb bells. I managed to get into better shape anyway just because it was something instead of the nothing I had been doing.
Fast forward to 30 when I had my second child. This time I didn't bounce back at all. After losing the initial baby weight I was stuck at about 124-125lb. I had two kids, a career and a crappy marriage. I stayed in that rut for a few years. I would go to the gym a couple times a week which probably prevented me from totally blowing up, but I wasn't progressing either.
Fast forward to age 35. For whatever reason that age hit me hard. I was so sick of how crappy I felt and looked that I wanted to change. I dont know why turning 35 was so traumatic, but knowing that every day I would be closer to 40, really kicked me in my ass. I had remarried and my new husband wanted to get in better shape too. We were both tired of being tired.
We started with P90x. I cannot say enough great stuff about it. I LOVE Tony Horton. We did the whole program all the way through and I lost 6 pounds that I managed to keep off. I decided I needed another challenge to keep me going so my husband and I did a Spartan Sprint. It felt SO amazing completing it. We felt so strong and motivated.
At that point I felt better than I had before but I had plateaued. Mostly because of what I had originally posted. I still didn't have a good diet and I wasn't really focused at the gym. I was still just going on random machines, never used the dumbbells. I knew that was where I was failing.
For me personally, I had to hire a coach. I needed to have someone create the diet, tell me what and when to eat, show me new exercises with proper form. There is a lot of information out there and a lot of people can do that on their own, but I couldn't. Once I started working with him, I wasnt so intimidated when I would go to the gym on my own. I knew what I was doing and I knew I wouldnt look stupid. I never had anxiety that people were ogling in a sexual way, I just didn't want people to look at me like "She has no clue what she is doing".
My advice, if you cannot hire a coach, is to go with a partner who knows what they are doing. My husband didn't know much better than me, so (as much as I love him) he wasnt a help in the gym. Maybe your co-worker can help you? He sounds supportive and like he knows what he is doing. The diet is so key though. I can tell you that I gained muscle from lifting weights, but the fat fell off from better diet and cardio.
I know what you mean about wanting to be in better health for your kids. Not only can I do more, and want to do more for my kids, but they can see that eating healthy, drinking water and staying active can be fun.
I was always thin in highschool. At 5'0" and 105lb, I looked good. I didn't have to do anything to maintain that. I wasn't in sports, and my only activity came from marching band. We did have to do a lot of running and pushups, so I joke about it being my sport.
Fast forward to my first child at 22 years old. It wasnt until after he was born that I though I needed to do something. I joined my first gym when I was 24 or 25. I had no clue what I was doing. The trainers there show you a few things so I mostly stuck to machines and cardio. I had no idea what to do with dumb bells. I managed to get into better shape anyway just because it was something instead of the nothing I had been doing.
Fast forward to 30 when I had my second child. This time I didn't bounce back at all. After losing the initial baby weight I was stuck at about 124-125lb. I had two kids, a career and a crappy marriage. I stayed in that rut for a few years. I would go to the gym a couple times a week which probably prevented me from totally blowing up, but I wasn't progressing either.
Fast forward to age 35. For whatever reason that age hit me hard. I was so sick of how crappy I felt and looked that I wanted to change. I dont know why turning 35 was so traumatic, but knowing that every day I would be closer to 40, really kicked me in my ass. I had remarried and my new husband wanted to get in better shape too. We were both tired of being tired.
We started with P90x. I cannot say enough great stuff about it. I LOVE Tony Horton. We did the whole program all the way through and I lost 6 pounds that I managed to keep off. I decided I needed another challenge to keep me going so my husband and I did a Spartan Sprint. It felt SO amazing completing it. We felt so strong and motivated.
At that point I felt better than I had before but I had plateaued. Mostly because of what I had originally posted. I still didn't have a good diet and I wasn't really focused at the gym. I was still just going on random machines, never used the dumbbells. I knew that was where I was failing.
For me personally, I had to hire a coach. I needed to have someone create the diet, tell me what and when to eat, show me new exercises with proper form. There is a lot of information out there and a lot of people can do that on their own, but I couldn't. Once I started working with him, I wasnt so intimidated when I would go to the gym on my own. I knew what I was doing and I knew I wouldnt look stupid. I never had anxiety that people were ogling in a sexual way, I just didn't want people to look at me like "She has no clue what she is doing".
My advice, if you cannot hire a coach, is to go with a partner who knows what they are doing. My husband didn't know much better than me, so (as much as I love him) he wasnt a help in the gym. Maybe your co-worker can help you? He sounds supportive and like he knows what he is doing. The diet is so key though. I can tell you that I gained muscle from lifting weights, but the fat fell off from better diet and cardio.
I know what you mean about wanting to be in better health for your kids. Not only can I do more, and want to do more for my kids, but they can see that eating healthy, drinking water and staying active can be fun.
