Weight loss Check In W/E 2/8

[Brichard]

Holding at 203!

It is always a bummer to have my first week w/o weight loss, but I'm ahead of schedule anyway. I am either going through a plateau or I haven't eaten quite as well as I should. I really think it is more of a plateau.

I had some low-fat bananna pudding for four straight days. This wasn't a huge amount, but it is an extra dessert that I have not been having thus far. I think it would have been fine to have it a night or two, but eating it for that many days in a row may have kept me from dropping a little. Who knows?

Anyway, I bumped the running up to 3 miles today. I've also decided I'm going to sign up for the Mini-marathon again. In order to do that I'm going to have to increase my mileage to 5 miles per day. With my current workout, that means I'm going to have to start getting up at 5 instead of 5:30. Which will be fine as long as I start going to bed at a decent hour!

How'd everybody do? We have made it for almost a month (or more for some of you!) folks, so we should have some healthy habits and routines by now!

[AnnW]

Look at how much sugar is in that low fat pudding and I think you will see why you are maintaining. Up your intake of water.

Personally, I am having a hard time getting back on track. It's very hard to get motivated to do anything healthy, when it didn't seem to do much for my mom.

[Brichard]

Annabelle!

Yeah I've been on low-fat long enough to learn that there can be additional sugar. Overall, I don't think pudding or the Wafers have much of either as far as desserts go. But... it is a dessert and certainly has more calories then my usual standby's like an apple or an orange. Most low-fat foods also have higher sodium content, so I try to limit my portions of those. The nice thing about eating FF yogurt is that the containers are usually so small!

I don't think you should give up on eating healthy. I think you have to play the percentages. Some folks live forever eating poorly and some don't live long even though they followed every rule. I always think of Michael Landon. He was the picture of health to me and yet he died young of cancer.

Overall I think you find that people who eat well and exercise will live longer. Also, how old was your mom when she passed away? It seems like she lived a long life, but I don't remember her exact age.

I also think you just feel better. When I am drinking lots of water, exercising, etc. I just feel better. Not to mention the intrinisic satisfaction you get of looking in the mirror and knowing you are looking your best.

I also will tell you this. I took a course on cancer in college as an elective. I don't remember everything in the class, but something I will never forget is that the number one determining factor on wheter or not somebody gets cancer is their diet. I would have thought smoking or pesticides, etc, but number one was diet.

[AnnW]

I know all that, I was just saying it's hard to get motivated to do the right things.

[Brichard]

Originally posted by AnnW
I know all that, I was just saying it's hard to get motivated to do the right things.

I'm just trying to motivate ya' buddy!

:happydnc:

Apparently I'm not doing a good job eh?

Motivation is a funny thing. I've never really figured it out. I mean what makes a person try dieting 10 times and then on the 11th time they get it right? I do believe in what Zig Ziglar says, "Motivation is not constant." You have to find new ways all the time to get there.

I think the biggest motivator for me is disgust. I just have to get disgusted with how I am living, eating, etc. The good news is that it is a terrific motivator, but the bad news is that it takes awhile before I get to that point.

I think the key for me is to limit my threshold of when I get disgusted. When I originally got to my highest weight I was 230. The next time the highest I got was 220. This time the highest I got was 211. If I can keep going at this pace, maybe I'll finally get it right!

[littlesista06]

Originally posted by Brichard


......I mean what makes a person try dieting 10 times and then on the 11th time they get it right?

Because sometimes it takes a person that many times to finally figure out that DIETS don't work. You must change your lifestyle to take the weight off and keep it off.

Brichard, if disgust is your motivator, that's fine. But don't you need to find something to motivate you to maintain once you get the weight off? Why loose it, gain it, get disgusted and have to put yourself through all that work again?

[AnnW]

I think if we are all perfectly honest with ourselves and each other, we will admit that health has nothing, at the least very little, to do with our motivation to lose weight..it's vanity.
I firmly believe that when God wants you he wants you and nothing we do can prevent that. My mom is a perfect example...ate right, never had yo yo weight, weighed the same as when she got married 45 years ago, exercised every day for at least 40 years, but her heart gave out...she was doing all the things you are supposed to in order to prevent that from happening. I have many friends who have gotten cancer for no apparent reason.
There are definitely things that contribute to various diseases, I am not denying that, but in the end..it's about vanity. It's like a friend said to me shortly after my mom died "I am still going to exercise and eat right, but now I know I am doing it just for vanity, cause it really has nothing to do with how long you live".

[Brichard]

Originally posted by littlesista06


Because sometimes it takes a person that many times to finally figure out that DIETS don't work. You must change your lifestyle to take the weight off and keep it off.

Brichard, if disgust is your motivator, that's fine. But don't you need to find something to motivate you to maintain once you get the weight off? Why loose it, gain it, get disgusted and have to put yourself through all that work again?

Well littlesista the word diet has so many different meanings to people. I have never really been on many of what I would term fad diets. I did the cabbage soup diet for a week and I tried the Atkins thing for a week (hated Atkins). but overall I am referring to diet as the conscious effort to eat properly. In my mind to do it right you have to be on a permanent diet. Some call that lifestyle, but the words to me are somewhat synonymous. I know that can be confusing though, just my weird definitions!

You are right about the disgust thing not being a great motivator. I'm not really recommending it, but when I look back on my successes and failures, that seems to be the one thing that really drives me. But once I get there... I'm really there. I am generally a very disciplined eater.

One of the things I am trying to figure out are what triggers me to change my diet/lifestlye. Usually it is a job change, house move... something that just throws me off. I also notice a let down in my conditioning after the Mini-marathon is over. I typically take a break after the event and that shatters my routine.

I'm hoping that something as simple as getting rid of all my big clothes will work. Once I get to what I think is a reasonable size, a 34-36, then I think I'll get rid or alter all the bigger clothes. When the clothes get too tight I'll know that I need to get re-focused. I'm also going to try going to the gym the week after the mini. Even if I back off a little, I want to keep the routine going.

I'd like to say that I'll just get on this lifestyle change and never slip up, but historically I know I can fall off the wagon so to speak. I think my overeating is related to emotion, and that will probably be a battle for me my entire life. I can cope with it through routine, but when my routine is interrupted, that is when I have problems.

I was telling dw this week, "You know it is so silly. When you are eating right and exercise a person feels so much better. Why is it that we ever get off a healthy regimen?" There really is no logic to why a person stops, but sometimes we are just illogical beings.

You present a good challenge though. What are you using as a lifelong motivator(s)?

[angie r]

I am down 17 total pounds. I think I took off 5 this week? I don't remember what I weighed last Monday, but I didn't lose any from the week before.

I am in good control of my eating and I am ready to add excercise.

[littlesista06]

Originally posted by Brichard

You present a good challenge though. What are you using as a lifelong motivator(s)?

Never having my dd come home from school again in tears b/c a classmate told her I was fat.

How's that?! :grimace:

Also, b/c I don't want to look like all those other fat people I see out there.
And, I want to keep up w/dd and all the outdoor activities she and dh are getting into.
Plus, just the benefit of being healthy and feeling better about myself. I hid behind my weight so long, and now, I look better, feel better and and am more confident with myself. I will not put any of this weight back on, I am certain of it.

Love this quote I heard recently - "Nothing tastes as good as being thin feels." Amen! ;)

[littlesista06]

Originally posted by angie r
I am down 17 total pounds. I think I took off 5 this week? I don't remember what I weighed last Monday, but I didn't lose any from the week before.



Way to go Angie!!!!!!!!!!! :happydnc:

Wow!! You've lost 1/2 of what I've lost and it's taken me 9 months!!

[angie r]

Thanks Jen! You've done a great job. I think it is much harder to lose those last 10-20 pounds. I have a long road ahead of me.

I am starting exercise with 2 of my friends this week. We are going to try Pilates? I don't even know what it is?

[littlesista06]

Oooh Ann's done it and loved it, she said and I'm looking for the videos at the library before I invest in them. Let me know how you like it.

[AnnW]

ROFL read Jen's post first and thought "what did I do???"

yes, I have..makes for long lean muscle. It's doesn't replace cardio at all though. I just ordered the Windsor Pilates tapes.

[angie r]

Originally posted by AnnW
ROFL read Jen's post first and thought "what did I do???"

yes, I have..makes for long lean muscle. It's doesn't replace cardio at all though. I just ordered the Windsor Pilates tapes.

Pilates is not cardio? You now have my interest peaked! We are checking the library too Jen.

Are they on DVD?

[AnnW]

Nope, not really. cardio..you may huff and puff, but it wouldn't really count ;) It's definitely a toning work out.

[Marla]

Pilates works your muscles, enhances your flexibility and teaches you the right way to breath.


I own two pilates DVDs

[Jeff]

I am pretty much holding steady to a slight incline. I am about well, but still lacking a bit of motivation. It is coming back so I am not too concerned. I've started setting my alarm for 5am every day and must get out of bed and at least walk out of the room. After that I can go back to bed or stay up. So far I ahve gone back to bed, but each day I do stay up about a minute longer. Talk about baby steps LOL.

[MK]

Glad you're starting to feel better, Jeff-- just take it easy, and don't push yourself too hard. It takes all your energy just to get well.

I too started a fitness program with the new year, and have held to it! I started out just walking real slow, trying to recover from severe fatigue, caused by a vitamin deficiency. But I'm making progress! This week I increased my walk time by ten minutes, and I'm also walking a little faster, and getting farther. Not only that, but I'm feeling so good, that yesterday I actually jogged fifty yards! (that says a lot, since I have exercised induced asthma) I also did a lot of sideways skip/hopping.

In addition I had some hand weights cut for me at work out of scrap metal, and I have started working on my arms, paticularly my triceps a bit more. ('m a janitor, so I already use my arms a lot--my biceps and forearms are pretty solid)

I also got a little boost to my self-esteem yesterday: I noticed that although my thighs are big, they are quite firm, with nothing to grab onto. I checked my bum, and it's firm too!

As for my belly, it still needs some work-- a lot of work-- and I already mentioned my arms.