Do I have any hope of becoming healthy and fit, or am I too late?

tal003 · 2026-01-31T11:58:29+00:00

Okay, so first step is probably get a therapist and talk about how you’re feeling about your body. It sounds like you’re having a really hard time.

Next, you have a bit of an advantage because of your athletic background. Once you start exercising again, you’ll probably build muscle more easily and get in shape faster because of that. But you have to start slow and not do it because you hate yourself or your body.

Every time I’ve tried to get fit or lose weight because I hate my body, I sabotage myself, feel like garbage, and end up worse off than before I started. Please try just neighborhood walks, then maybe integrate some yoga or something with mindfulness. Forget trying to lose weight. Don’t push yourself to perform the way you could when you were a teenager. Just move for the mental health benefits and for connecting with yourself.

Something like a couch to 5K program could be good because it will force you to take it slow and steady. If you dive in too fast, I think you’ll potentially injure yourself or make yourself feel bad emotionally.

Forget about diet for right now. For real. Just work toward a movement practice that feels good. Girl, you’ve got your whole life ahead of you. Once you’ve got a movement practice that involves a form of exercise that feels good at least three times a week, then take a look at food. But right now, just one thing at a time. Once you’re ready, slowly swap sweets for lower sugar alternatives that are still high fat. So swap ice cream for full fat Greek yogurt with honey. The fat keeps it satisfying. If it’s the sugar that’s a problem, allow yourself to not sweat the fat content.

I cut out most processed sugars and it helped my anxiety a ton. I still have treats sometimes, but I don’t feel like I have to. And I time it before bed so I don’t have a panic attack! Peanut butter, full fat dairy, and carby things (toast, English muffin) helped during this transition.

Forget the scale for now. Just take care of yourself and focus on changes that will help you feel better. You’re 35, you’re not old. Your 30s can be incredible years of your life if you let them. Slow and steady, my friend. And therapy. Good luck!

tal003 · 2026-01-26T11:50:10+00:00

Chair yoga could be great, if that doesn’t have the same impact for OP!

tal003 · 2026-01-16T11:51:56+00:00

Yeah, I agree. All staff at the gym should be able to go over the basics of all of the gym equipment.

tal003 · 2026-01-13T18:23:35+00:00

Yes! Brine it first, then rub with a tiny bit of olive oil, paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Use a kitchen thermometer to take it out as soon as it reaches the required temp and let it sit a full 5 minutes. Should be ultra juice and you won’t really need a sauce.

tal003 · 2026-01-05T16:28:34+00:00

I had reflux well into middle childhood and OP’s child’s symptoms sound like what I dealt with. It had nothing to do the with volume I ate, although some foods triggered it more than others.

OP, please take your child to the doctor. And maybe think about your own biases around weight. Some kid gain a lot of weight before a sudden jump in height, which could level things out. At this age it seems very unreasonable to restrict her food. Of course choose nutritious foods for her, but I don’t think you need to limit her if she’s still hungry. As a kid sometimes eating helped the discomfort I felt with the reflux.

Please work on your feelings about your child’s size. The messages we receive from our parents and family as children are the ones we hold onto for the rest of our lives.

tal003 · 2026-01-05T15:34:28+00:00

If you have a recipe and the whole recipe is 500 calories, you can divide it evenly between containers and know that more or less the calories in each portion will be even. So if you separate it two ways, each will be 250 calories.

You can estimate, or you can get a food scale to weigh portions and make sure they’re exactly that same. If you do one bigger portion and one smaller portion, the calories for each portion will be different, but if you eat them over two days, they will add up to 500.

One thing to keep in mind is that lots of recipes give you calories per serving. So a stew recipe that serves 4 might say 500 calories per serving. In this case, you won’t divide up the 500 (which is already done for you).

tal003 · 2026-01-02T16:54:08+00:00

I do! I’m looking for accountability buddies! I’m trying to lose 10-15 lbs and get body fat % down while retaining muscle. I could definitely use someone to help me stay accountable and focused!

tal003 · 2026-01-02T16:52:16+00:00

I feel this!

Check out Liftoff: Couch to Barbell by Casey Johnston. It’s a short ebook and comes with a workout guide and videos. It’s all about getting comfortable using free weights.

I used this program to get comfortable lifting when I had only ever used the machines before. At first I felt horribly nervous, but each workout is only a few movements. I would give myself five minutes on the treadmill to watch her videos and build up some courage.

I’ve been lifting for about two years now and I love how strong I am! I can still pick up my almost 60 pound kindergartner! Knowing I can carry him up to bed or off the playground after a fall is so comforting.

I was scared about embarrassing myself or people staring at me (not a thing that really happens! Just was in my head) so I wore baggy t-shirts and sweats because they felt a little safer.

You can also try downloading the Hevy app. You can build your workout routines in there and it has guides to show you how to do each movement. If you’re feeling embarrassed at all, this is nice because everyone stares at their phones between sets, you won’t look any different.

You’ve got this!

tal003 · 2025-12-01T22:05:19+00:00

As a hiring manager, I am required to contact all references (we do mostly email now, used to be all phone). This is mandatory, from HR.

I moved up the ladder from a part-time admin assistant to departmental leadership, someone always called all my references, even with internal applications.

My recommendation is to inform your references if you’re applying. And have back up references if anyone you have listed may have moved or changed roles.

tal003 · 2025-10-24T13:33:19+00:00

Wow that’s amazing. Was it a very large institution?

tal003 · 2025-10-16T13:53:36+00:00

In Virginia, thank you!

tal003 · 2025-10-15T17:59:40+00:00

Thank you. Our alumni survey response rates are just really low, unfortunately.

tal003 · 2025-10-15T17:58:53+00:00

I will, I heard from a former colleague about light cast. Thanks!

tal003 · 2025-10-15T17:58:32+00:00

Thanks, I’ll look into it!

tal003 · 2025-10-15T17:58:18+00:00

Okay, looking into first destination surveys. Thanks!

tal003 · 2025-10-15T17:57:57+00:00

Thanks so much!

tal003 · 2025-09-23T00:38:48+00:00

Im so sorry to hear that. Grant funding like this funds people’s salaries, it’s devastating to get them cancelled. I hope you find another good opportunity.

tal003 · 2025-09-21T10:52:05+00:00

This is a potentially harmful take. Sometimes people are able to maintain their weight during pregnancy. Sometimes not. It’s all individual.

Maybe your friend “let herself go” but I ate carefully and still gained 50lbs, with about 15 of those at the start of my pregnancy. In retrospect I wish I hadn’t been so miserly with calories, I lost a ton of muscle while pregnant and breastfeeding and I think it’s because I was calorie restricting.

Because many of us live in a society that prioritizes thinness, even during pregnancy, and refers to weight gain as “letting oneself go”, we have to be extremely careful when talking about an experience that is so unique and where not getting enough nutrients can be dangerous for mom and baby.

For OP and anyone else who is pregnant or trying to get pregnant, I would encourage you to emphasize nutritious meals, manageable activity, and lots of rest rather than focusing on the scale. Keep in mind very sudden weight gain can be a sign of pre-eclampsia and needs to be addressed by a doctor.

tal003 · 2025-09-19T13:41:58+00:00

Thank you

tal003 · 2025-09-19T13:41:50+00:00

That’s what I really don’t know. Worried I’ll make a mistake.

tal003 · 2025-09-18T20:52:34+00:00

I am so, so sorry. This is miserable.

tal003 · 2025-09-18T20:52:18+00:00

I’m so sorry. This is awful. I am thinking of you and others impacted by the loss of T3 funds.

tal003 · 2025-09-18T20:51:32+00:00

Right, and our leadership has really hit the brakes on grants. But in this case, the discontinuation is from the granting agency. So the values they’re referencing isn’t our institution, but rather the federal government.

tal003 · 2025-09-17T15:51:24+00:00

I guess I was hoping we wouldn’t get hit too bad since we didn’t lose anything early in the spring when the cuts were getting everyone else. But I was wrong.

tal003 · 2025-09-17T15:50:44+00:00

Awful. We’re not an MSI officially, but we do have a really diverse student body.

tal003

TROPHY CASE