lol, I'll stop then.

Well, I guess I won't mail your invitation to the Women of FitDay Calendar, then. Was counting on you for Ms. July, but we'll put Mike in there in a star-spangled Speedo instead.

LOL, yes let's put Mike in for Ms. July.

Wednesday Report Card:

Health & Fitness Goals

1. Keep calories to 1,400 M-T-W-T-Sat, 1,650 F-Sun. 1,546, 1,372, 1,392
2. No grain based carbs for the entire week, including corn! Success, Success, Success
3. Exercise 6 hours. 48 min, 48 min, 63 min (total 2:39)
4. 96 oz water. YES, YES, YES
5. Carbs under 45%. 34%, 43%, 40%
6. Protein over 40%. 44%, 40%, 40%

Other Stuff

7. Call SIL and find another race, 5/14/11 is not going to work out. NO, NO, NO
8. Clean 2 rooms (15 min each) + 1 load of laundry. NO, YES and caught up for yesterday as well. 2 out of 3
9. Figure out basement shelving layout. NO, NO, NO
10. Write library proposal. NO, NO, NO
11. Work on church design 2 hours (or more). NO, NO, NO

Today was rough. I have a new baby that I'm watching, today he cried for about 4 hours. Tomorrow his mother is going to bring his portable swing, or she's taking him to work with her. I can do collicky for a while, but then I need some relief. Tomorrow should be interesting, middle DD is being awarded "Student of the Month" and I'm taking a screaming infant with me to the assembly. Hopefully he'll behave for at least 15 minutes.

Wow, what an interesting thread today! I regret that I had time only to skim.

Mike, that's cool that you have an 18 year old daughter. LOL that you wouldn't share your Toaster Strudels with her. .

Welcome, Lindsey, it's never too late to join us. We're glad you're here.

Welcome, erinmrystrom. Glad you find the thread motivating.

Almeeker, good luck with the baby tomorrow. Congrats to DD on being student of the month.

Mai, it really is difficult to keep up with all the posts. I have only time to skim them tonight and answer mostly just those who made a comment to me. We just do the best we can--some days I have more time than other days. I'm sure we would have had fun meeting for Girls Spring Break Week had that been real, but we can have a lot of fun here online, too. :) I loved reading about how you feed your children. I tried to feed my kids as healthfully as possible when they were young (they're now ages 34 and 31) and they had fast food or junk food just occasionally. When my son started school he fell in love with the cafeteria's McDonald type lunches. BUT in the back of his mind, he knew how to eat healthfully as he did at home. He is not yet married and does his own cooking. And you know what? He eats balanced, healthful meals. :)

Terri, I know where you're coming from with your Dad. My little sister and brother and I were all pre-diabetics together, but I chose to manage my blood sugar through my low carb diet of 25 grams of net carbs (carbs less fiber) per day and they both chose to take meds and eat whatever they want. They both have full blown Type II Diabetes now and I'm still pre-diabetic. I'm not bragging, Terri--it saddens me that they weren't even willing to try. They feel like your Dad--they're not willing to make changes in their diets because they'll feel too deprived. Aw, I'm so glad to read that Shyla was a rescued dog. :) My Toto (named after the dog in The Wizard of Oz) was supposed to be a SMALL dog--they told us at the shelter he was part Toy Collie and part something else small--can't remember what. He grew and grew--the vet said he was part German Shepherd and part Golden Retriever. LOL But we didn't rename him. He was so loving and so lovable, but was one of the dumbest dogs. He used to rub his nose raw trying to bury dog biscuits in carpet fuzz. LOL I understand now about your carbs being too high from the pizza and it was just temporary. I hate wasting food, too.

Mern – summers in this part of Qld are generally around the 32-38deg range (with at least one 40deg day each year), but we haven’t really had a summer this year, what with all the rain and flooding; now it’s finally come around, it’s like a punch in the face. We didn’t get eased into it like every other year.

Erinmrystrom – I completely agree about the friend/parent situation.

Wildbeanerz – I am also glad to not be the only one saying, ‘I’m not meant to be your friend, kiddo, I’m your mother!’

Terri – holy moly, you’re right . . . your family IS musically inclined! Well done on the Chinese food restraint. That’s some strength right there! I can’t say no to sweet’n’sour chicken. Oh, and don't worry. You still trump me. I'm bad at maths AND science . . . :D The dog I had when we I was a kid, Laser, he was bought from a pet shop, but he was the runt and the shop owner was going to have him put down that afternoon. He was sold to us as a Lhasa Apso (not sure about that spelling), but he was pure mongrel, and the most wonderful dog - even when he was old, when he heard the chinking of the leash, he'd start bounding around, stand to be connected, and then he was off, taking you on a merry jaunt around the neighbourhood. I know that's not how a trained dog should act, but he just loved it. Sadly, he grew old, got arthritis and cataracts and in the end, he could barely walk and when he did, he couldn't see where he was going and kept bumping into walls, so my parents did the kindest thing they could for him. He made it to 14 years, the little trooper.

Almeeker, wow! Your experiment is definitely showing some results!
And yes, when I was a teenager, watching my boss’ little ratbag of a kid (he was four and used to slap my butt in an entirely too familiar way, not a cute way, if it could be thought of as such - obviously he'd seen his dad do it), I had all sorts of ideas about how I would discipline my potential future kids . . . ha! Although I am pleased to say, my boys don’t slap other people’s rears like sleazy old men at pubs.
I am not looking forward to my boys being teenagers. My 8yo is very close to being my height (I’m 163 cm, he’s about 157cm) and he puts away roughly the same amount of food as I currently do (and he’s got no fat on his body at all, so he’s not overeating) – how hollow are his legs going to be by the time he’s 14, 16, 18?! Argh, I can hear my bank account groaning.
Hey, good luck at the award assembly tomorrow! Good on your daughter! What did she get it for?

Jjeand – it’s been an eventful week for you, hey? Take a deep breath . . . okay. :cool:

Acameron – amazing! Well done to you. You’re not far away from your goal weight, now. Are you planning a celebration when you reach 115? A big old shopping orgy, perhaps?

It’s very surprising how many parents I talk to say, ‘Oh, I couldn’t do that . . . my little Johnny would get very upset!’ – Um, he’s a kid, he’ll get over it as quickly as he gets over being sent to his room. Cassie, may I ask if you’ve had any maladjusted adults to see you, to whom you have been able to nod with great wisdom and explain that his/her screwed-up-ness comes specifically from that time when they were a kid and their mum didn’t allow desserts?
I was brutal and cleared out every scrap of junk food (except, and I don’t know why, four bags of icing sugar that we were given. We don’t even use it – but if my boy wants to experience the type of sickness a bag of icing sugar brings, I think it would be a lesson well-learned). My 8yo still has muesli bars for his school lunch, but he doesn’t want them anymore. He wants an orange and a serve of nuts, now . . . it doesn’t take long, does it?

Regarding pop tarts . . . I don’t know how they are a staple American breakfast (I know a pop tart discussion has been had on another thread before). Maybe I didn’t have the right flavour, but we were all very unimpressed. Toaster-Strudels . . . I assume they’re a strudel designed to go in a toaster . . . well, I’ll have to take your word for the superiority of such a delicacy. Personally, I think strudels are gross! :p

Ah, page 13. Hilarious. Thanks for the giggles, guys. :D

Wednesday and Thursday (Thursday's not quite over, but I feel confident reporting now):

Fitness Goals:

1. Keep up the water intake to 10 cups. Yes, Yes, Yes
2. Put every effort into my workouts. Yes, Yes, Yep, Ya-huh
3. Take a multi-vitamin every day. Yes, No (oops!), Yes, Yes


Non-Fitness Goals:

1. Start giving the house a thorough clean (one room per day). Ensuite done, Main bathroom, vanity and toilet done, Dining room done, Study done
2. Perform an anti-rain dance and get the rest of the washing cleaned and dried. Dance not successful, but two loads done. Got heaps done . . . still heaps to go (who'd have thought we had so many clothes?!), Got one load out, Am doing it now!
3. Get the lawnmower fixed and start on the jungle . . . I mean, 'lawn' again. No. No. No. No. :o
4. Convince my partner to remove the boxes of Christmas decorations from the laundry and store them in his workshop. No (this one will be a challenge), No. Nope. Told me it might happen next weekend. :rolleyes:

Still feeling really positive with this P90X program we're doing. Because my partner and I do it at different times of the day, we report to each other how we did that day at night, keeping ourselves motivated.

Oooh, and guess who's got guns?! Yah, I've got guns! Bam! Then the other one . . . Pow! Yeah. :D

Thanks ladies but I'm not much for a speedo.

Monday is my cheat day so I need to keep it to +729cal or less. +679

Fitness & Health
1) 65g net carbs per day (again this week) no, it was my cheat day, 65.2g :(44.7g
2) work out 3 times no yes no
3) 1000 pushups :eek: 166, 160, 140I am soooo sore, my chest and arms are killing me.
4) gallon of water a day yes 169oz, yes 128oz, yes 135.2oz
5) multi vitamin (daily) yes, yes, yes
6) fish oil (daily) yes, yes, yes
7) -2400 for the week (including my cheat:eek:) +679 -952, -766

Mike, nice job on the pushups, man. Will we see them on YouTube, lol?

Behaze, yes, the jails are filled with the depraved masses who didn't get extra desserts as children; it's a crying shame, really! Actually, not as extreme, but I often hear the other way around (not through work)...people who wish their parents had taken more interest in health and nutrition. I wish my mom had. She is an awesome person and a great mom, but we grew up on a lot of convenience food and snacks. Consequently, everyone in my family developed a weight problem from a young age on. Next time I visit there I will surely post about the House of Schizophrenic Food; always an interesting trip.

Oh, and behaze, now you need that shirt that says, "Welcome to the gun show" and the little arrows pointing to your arms ;).

Mern, I am big on not wasting food either. I found that I do much better with that now that I think about what I eat more. Food lasts a lot longer, too...things that would have disappeared in three days before now last the whole week, which is kind of cool.

Checking in...

1. Balance calories in and calories out (ahem, by the numbers, Mike). Yes, Yes, Yes
2. Drink 2-3 big blue bottles of water daily. Yes, Yes, Yes
3. Sleep 7 hours nightly (failed miserably at this last week). No 6.5, Almost-6.75, No-6.5
4. Exercise 5-6 days; 2-3 outside. Weights inside tonight, Tennis outside this morning, Treadmill inside-got too late

5. One office organizational task per day. Yes, Yes-a biggie, Nope
6. Paint one room of trim IFF no tourney next weekend and/or work doesn't spill over into weekend.

Hello All!

I haven't gone through all the posts, but wanted to say Hi for the first time this week! :o My work schedule is crazy, this working 60 hour work weeks is starting to get a little old, to say the least.

I am also looking to start P90X soon so I really need to figure out my time management to make sure I'm going to have enough time to Sleep, Eat Properly, Workout AND Relax outside of work!

I'm doing pretty good, I'm up another pound this week at 209 but that could have been my weekend...I ate out one too many times. I said twice, and I ended up going out to eat 3 times, 4 if you count the time that I got an ice cream cone (I told myself I would count even the little things!)

Nonetheless...Doing pretty well this week:

Health Goals:
1. Drink 100oz of H2O - Yes, Yes, Yes :)
2. Keep calories between 1300-1500 - Yes, Yes, Eeked over at 1525 today!
3. Complete Body Measurements this week & log them into Fitday - Not yet!
4. Try to keep a more balanced Pie Chart (40% Carbs, 30% Prot, 30% Fat) - No, No, Yes
5. Get at least 7 hours of sleep - Yes, No

Personal Goals:
1. Stop at Pier1 sometime this week to look at Lanterns for Wedding Decor
2. Stop at Post office to send things out
3. Work on getting my Hostas planted
4. Purchase Worms and Composter Box, and Nematodes

I'm sitting here laughing at my personal goals because it seems more of a To Do list than goals for everyday, but lately if I don't write these down somewhere and have them as a "goal" to do, then I most likely will let them fall by the wayside. So this is hopefully going to keep me a little accountable!

Hope everyone is having a great week so far! I will hopefully be able to stop in tomorrow :D

Hi all,

just wanted to check in in order to stay on track. Will hopefully find the time to read all of your posts this afternoon.

Molly

Wednesday Report Card

Fitness/ Diet goals
- up protein intake yes yes yes
- go running at least twice this week (at least 6 ks each) yes (if only 5 ks)
- go swimming once
- drink at least 1.5 litres of water every day!! yes no no
- try to do a bit of stretching/ yoga 5 days this week yes
- log in all food eaten* yes, for the first time in months. And boy, was it an eye-opener! Had forgotten what an afternoon/ evening/ late night eater I am. I can easily consume an extra 1000 calories afer 5 pm without batting an eye. Should probably try to consume my proteins in the evening rather than at lunch. That might keep me going longer. Also, I need to stay away from those candies!

Non-fitness goals
- get spring cleaning done this week At least I got started... Did another room
- get some work done on my dissertation (at least do some research five times this week) no, not yet. Damn it!!
- finish at the very least one book

hey guys, yesterday was a really lazy day for me, doesn't help that it was snowing allll day yesterday, so i just stayed in my room all day.

on the lighter side of things i didn't get the full co-op that i wanted, but the studio did offer me something. it'd be 3 days a week starting in June. my Co-op corrnator says that they're a great studio and even tho it wouldn't cover the 420 hour i'm pose to do, that he'll make it work for me. i'm going to talk with him today to get some more info and i'm probably going to take this.

onto my horrible fit day yesterday

Fitness Goals:

1. Drink 3 of my blue water bottle a day yes!no (only 2), no
2. do my workout 6/7 days Yes!yes!no
3. 10,000 steps a day yes (10,017)no 5500 apox, no (didn't even count)
4. start cal counting again, limit 1900 no 2,136, no 1936, no didn't count (so close)
5. no fast food yes,yes, yes
6. (forgot to add before) go swimming once a week no, no, no

Non-Fitness Goals:

1. finish my current homework do to list finished one thing but it was pose to be done long agono,no
2. put away clean laundry done about time
3. put away dirty laundry easy once clean laundry is put away
4. clean off floor and vaccum it. picked up a few things still have some things to clean up, and still need to vaccumno, no

This week I'm still making an attempt to hold up to at least some of my goals, but was inhibited from doing my new jump rope regime due to health reasons. Hopefully next week.

This Weeks Goals:

1- Start my new Jump Rope exercise regime 4/5 days a week (no snow no excuses) No Unfortunately though I tried:(
2- Add more green vegies to my diet through green smoothies. No No Yes Yes:D
3- Start Calorie counting and weighing food again Yes
4- Avoid breads and sugary sweets which have gluten Yes No:( No Yes
5- Start logging food and activity again Yes

Non-Fitness Goals:

1- Finish my needle lace project for class Almost
2- Clean Home & finish laundry for Spring Cleaning
3- Hang New Curtains I got yesterday Yes :D
4- Re-Organize Closet
5- File for Husbands Passport

Behaze- Haha shopping orgy sounds great but most of the money is going towards the wedding... though maybe a few nice new pieces :o

This week's goals:
1) Min 62oz of water each day M: yes T: yes W: yes
2) Limit to 2 coffees all week: M: 2 coffees already T: no W: pepermint herbal tea
3) Keep a 1000 cal deficite: M: close T: yes W: even better!
4) Get in 2 runs (min 10Km): M: no T: no W: no
5) No carb Wednesday and Friday T: almost except for the all bran bar W: yes!

Random goals:
1) Get 2 essays finished: worked on 1 but no where near finished
2) Print out "before" picture and post it on the fridge: I NEED to do this... ice cream is haunting me in freezer!
3) Put a dent in the laundry pile : DONE!... now to put it all away

I was kind of thinking of a "Girls of Fitday Gone Wild- Spring Break Edition"...

Unfortunately, it would probably involve eating really bad foods rather than doing really bad things... LOL :D:D:D

My son, who works in CIS, just emailed me "340 Restaurant Recipes"...
Pretty much every bad for you restaurant recipe in existance... sigh.....

Thanks, son... now all I can think about is "Applebee's Spinach Dip"... UGH!!!

I'm a daily reader of this thread, though I rarely comment on the forums, but I did want to respond to this discussion. At 5'4 and 30 years old I've never weighed more than 126lbs. I started Fitday again in January weighing 122 with a goal of 105 (a healthy weight for my small frame). So far I've managed to lose 10lbs.

I know that people with more weight to lose probably think I have no idea about their struggles and personal food demons, but that couldn't be further from the truth. I grew up with a morbidly obese father and began internalizing his issues from the age of 10. Somehow I thought that if I could control my eating I could help him, and I spent many years obsessively restricting food. As an adult, I've increasingly struggled with binge eating. It's cyclical, but more often than not it rules my life. I watch a lot of documentaries about morbidly obese people because everything they say about their relationship with food resonates with me. Psychologically, I'm no different; only circumstances and perhaps genes have kept me from going down that road yet, but it is not an improbable future.

Weight aside, many of us on these boards understand that disordered eating is symptomatic of deeper psychological issues. Ultimately, I think we all share the same goal of addressing those root causes.

lnbrock: Welcome! Good luck with your goals!

almeeker: "I choose not to have this" -- it's an interesting mental set, and there is a lot of power in the words "I choose." I'll keep those wise words in check whenever I feel like slacking - especially today, I totally CHOOSE to work out, because I must! And UGH, I am jealous of your math brain, haha. I have a tendency to do these quick rounding-off steps that are totally wrong, but for some reason I keep thinking I have to do it/ can do it. I'm glad you use the skill practically though! You've found out what works for your brain, just go with it. I try to just tell myself that I'm like Einstein. They say he was bad at math too...(Though he sort've wasn't...oh well, I choose ignorance in this case, lol!). And when I am a parent, I hope to follow the example of you and others on here who so obviously care about their little ones :)

jj - AAAAAAAACK! Oh my goodness, just don't rip your hair out and call it a success!!!

Mike: Toaster Strudels are totally food porn, I agree. And oddly enough, they have become a romantic gesture between BF and myself (long story) so sometimes he makes them - and I have to eat one, for romance's sake! lol

Mern: We're very much on the same page. I love my father. That whole side of his family has diabetes and/or heart disease, and I take after them in a lot of ways (except for low blood pressure, that I get from my mom's side). Seeing it growing up has forced me to realize that I have to be accountable for myself - no one else can do it, and a pill can't do it either. What I hope my dad sees one day is that the junky food he so "needs" is potentially depriving him of his life and time with people who love him. That switch has to get flipped, and I hope it's not too late. On a happier note, though, awwww Toto!! I have to tell you, I love dumb dogs, lol. Shyla was very smart, but there's something about those goofy ones that makes my heart melt. I'm glad you have so many good memories of him!

behaze: lol, sweet and sour chicken is not allowed in this house!!!! It's my downfall too. I can avoid noodles and sometimes rice, but that sweet and sour chicken and that sauce they give you with it- ugh. Laser is a fantastic name for a dog, and he sounds whip-smart. Shyla was like that too. She learned SO MANY words (squirrel, walk, car, food, treat, snack, vet...) that we started to spell them. And then she learned how to spell, nutty dog. We couldn't say "S-Q" or "W-A" or she'd be off like a shot to the back door, patiently waiting to be let out to walk or chase squirrels. And "V-E" meant she'd run upstairs and we had to haul her out from under the bed, since she thought she was going to the vet. She was a mutt too, some sort of terrier/lab mix. I miss her and love her still - and she was much the same. She hit 15 and couldn't walk, had fatty tumors over her body and terrible arthritis. When she could no longer climb the little stairs in our house without sounds of pain, my Dad took her in and gave her kindness.

yuna: Congrats on the opportunity! Sometimes the doors we think we want to go through are closed - but you can find that behind them are the doors you need to open. Maybe having less time at one studio will present you with the ability to try more than one sort of job in the extra time!

Wednesday Report Card

Fitness, Exercise and Lifestyle Goals:
1) Under 1400 cals every day and log EVERYTHING. M: yes, 1200 on the nose T: yes, 1120 W: yes, 992 :eek:
2) Average 30% daily protein for the week. M: 23% T: 30% W: 32% (weekly average 28%)
3) 96 oz. of water EVERY day. M: 104 T: 72 W: 96
4) No weighing until Friday! M: N/A T: No weighing! W: No scale
5) Work out 5-6 hours, split between weights and hard cardio. M: Day off T: No exercise W: No exercise. Again. Sigh.
6) In bed by 11:30 every night M: Yes, I promise I will! T: Close, but no cigar W: No
7) Buy a heart rate monitor this weekend. M-F: N/A

Non-Fitness Goals:
1) Finish edits to my scientific manuscript (this manuscript is the culmination to my dissertation, I want it out in the world!) M: No T: Good chunk of it done! W: Slightly more progress
2) Make efforts on my appearence every day - hair, makeup, clothing. M: Yes T: Not really... W: No
3) Get every scrap of laundry hiding in the closet cleaned. M: No T: BF took care of it! W-Sun: N/A
4) One hour of needlework every day. M: Yes T: No W: No
5) Have an "outside date" this weekend (the weather is SO beautiful). M-F: N/A
6) Buy new makeup. M: No T: No W: No

Another unexpectedly long work day yesterday - and my trend of not eating when zealously focused continues. Only 992? Wow. That's very low for me. I think the most substantial thing I ate yesterday was some leftover meatball soup. Other than that it was snacks - some greek yogurt, an apple, etc. You get the idea, and I had only a light salad for dinner as I got home late. And, as usual, after a few days of 1200 or less calories, the hunger monster is out to play today. I've tried to ward it off with my "high protein" breakfast (eggs, a couple strips of "lean" bacon and milk) but I'm already hungry only an hour after eating. Need to stick to my guns. Hopefully, water will be my savior today!

Also need to work out. Yes, I'm at work a lot so at least my time is productive, but I hate getting out of my routine, and I hate getting home late and basically eating, showering, catching up with BF and doing nightly chores. When I don't work out now, I get this annoying "second wind" around 11:00 at night that makes sleeping difficult. (Normally Mondays and Thursdays are planned "days off" from the gym, and my body is used to that). I'm trying to tell myself that shaking it up and making myself work out for the next four days in a row will be good for me, but not looking forward to it.

To chime in gently on the subject of weight loss - everyone's journey is personal. I don't care if it's 50 or 500 lbs. As long as you're doing it for the right reasons, we're all in this together. Maybe someone was never obese, but that doesn't mean that they don't have body image issues. My sister is tiny - 5'2", maybe 100 lbs. soaking wet - but I know that she looks in the mirror every day, wondering how to make her body better. I told her she should start by cutting out the cheeseburgers ;) but...in the end, we all just want to be healthy, right? Whatever number that is, and wherever you start from - high fives on that goal!

I hope everyone has a lovely Thursday :)

~Terri

You probably put that much better than I ever could have and thank you. I am not in any way trying to say that every person who feels that they have weight to lose is not justified in what they think. I was only trying to say that I was happy to have a place to come to and talk about it with people who understand because nobody in my daily "real" life understands as they are all people who are already small and most of them have been that way their whole life. Again, I apologize for the way that it came out.

An interesting issue. I just finished advising a friend who has only 5 pounds to lose to join fitday as she would find the support she needs here. She is doing great with maintaining a 25 pound loss. She belongs to a local group but the rest of us have much larger amounts to lose. When you would love to be anywhere near her size it's hard to understand her battle.

Mary

Progress Update...

This Week's Goals:

1- Exercise every day - Monday & Tuesday: gym session yes and yes, Wednesday: gym and hot yoga yes and yes, Thursday: gym and ballet class, Friday: gym. Saturday: day off to prep and rest up for Sunday auditions!
2- Use green smoothies to fill up before dinner and/or in exchange for evening snacks. M T W smoothies with 30g spinach each: yes
3- Use kitchen scale religiously. yes - couldn't live without it
4- Keep under 30 g fat per day. Monday: 48g great big NO. Ugh, why did we have to go out for wing nite? Tuesday: 24.7g Wednesday: 14.4g

Non-Fitness Goals:

1- Use my self-tanner daily to mitigate my apple-white winter skin! - yuck! M T W: yes
2- Teeth whitening 4 consecutive days pre-tryouts (W, T, F, S). W: no. But I really should, if only because it keeps my mouth foodless for an hour or two....
3- Mystic Tan on Saturday for an extra boost of bronze! scheduled for 10am!
4- Clean bedroom, master bath, closet. No...in fact, negative progress made - dumped more clean laundry all over the floor in an effort to find my hot yoga shorts....
5- Keep kitchen clean! Definitely no...

Quinn, you are the healthy modification recipe queen...go to it! :D
(then post results)!

cassie, no vids this time.

almeeker, 3 day update... I had a cup a day for 3 days. I guess I got use to the taste b/c it's really pretty good, BUT I started having cramping today and the results were a little less subtle. So 3 days is the max for me. Oh they sell it at Target, probably Walmart too.

I appreciate everyone sharing their views on the weight loss journey. I feel that it's the same for all of us, and it's different for all of us. In other words, some things we have in common, and some things we will never understand. For example, I would never presume to post in the 100 pounds to lose thread, because I've never been there.

That doesn't mean I've never been 50+ pounds heavier than I am now, which I have. It doesn't mean that I haven't had the meltdowns in dressing rooms, haven't had the agony of nothing in my closet fitting (and by that I mean, literally nothing I can put on, not "nothing looks good."). It doesn't mean that I don't fight daily to not stuff snacks in my mouth from an hour after dinner till the time I fall asleep. It doesn't mean that I don't go through the self-loathing and disgust whenever I've eaten three times the calories I should have in a day. It doesn't mean that I wasn't an overweight child who was made fun of and always painfully self-conscious. It doesn't mean that I don't worry about my health, because before I lost my weight I was in the ER with heart issues on two occasions before the age of 40.

I am glad that folks have chimed in and acknowledged that you can't compare. It really is true that you can't know what it's like until you walk in someone's shoes. But sometimes if you've had those shoes on before, or if you've had similar shoes, some of your experience can be useful, and that is why these boards are so helpful for all of us.

I had never been able to reach my goal, not before FitDay. And wouldn't have this time, if it weren't for the help of the folks here. Thank you all for being here and keeping the boards alive.

well yesterday i was home with a migraine & totally didn't stick to my food plan in any way. i'm not sure why i can do well for like two weeks & then get off track. i'm THINKING that i'm going to pick up a small notebook & EVERYTIME i go to eat something i have to write down why i'm going to eat. 'like i'm eating as it's lunch time & eating stuff that will get me to my goal. or i'm bored & craving something sweet. or i'm in a bad mood & want popcorn.' i'm hoping that if i take a few mins & jot down a thought or two it might make me think before i put something in my mouth that won't get me to my goal.

Maintenance is really hard. At my highest, I was around 160 (non-pregnancy weight). At that weight, people encouraged my weight loss efforts, or at least understood. At 118, people almost want to see me fail. They encourage poor eating choices (...you're thin, what difference does it make?) They analyze what I eat to see if I've "given up" on my healthy eating habits. They constantly ask me what I weigh. (I was raised to believe that that was rude.)
Believe me, there's no encouragement when you reach your goal... quite the opposite. You have to rely solely on yourself.

I've lost 20-40 lbs. 4 times in my life and never once kept it off. When I reached my goal, I basically said, "Whew! I'm glad that's over!" and resumed my poor eating habits, almost immediately. Within 6 months, the weight always came back.

Like I've said before, if maintaining a weight loss were easy, we'd all be swim suit models. It's not easy. You have to maintain new lower calorie amounts, consistently. You have to ignore friends and family members who encourage you to fail. Everything I say and do at family gatherings is analyzed. (I'm shocked they haven't started to weigh my food. ;))

When I gain 5 lbs., I work really hard to get it off because once you get close to your goal, it gets even harder to get the weight to come down.

Like Cassie, my original goal when I started in January of 2010 was 125. When I got there, I was disappointed that I didn't have the body that I thought I had at 25. :o So, I dropped a little further, within healthy BMI levels of course.

Richard Simmons use to have a great line that went something like, "...throw out your scale, and stand naked in front of a full length mirror. Do you like what you see or are there areas that could use a little improvement?" Unless you have an eating disorder, which I do not, that can be brutally honest. Especially at 48! :eek: I'm never going to have the body of a 25 year old again, but I can be the healthiest 48 year old that I am capable of.

The next time you see your friend, encourage her and hold her up. Someday, she'll remember your kindness and help you maintain your weight goal, too. :)

very well put & i totally agree with you.

Terri, you have an excellent point about "choosing." That right there is a word that puts you in control. And responsible for the choice...:eek:

One word can carry a lot of weight and be a privilege and a curse. I'm going to try to be mindful of the word "choice" today. Taking my son out to eat after jazz band, and we all know what happens when it's their turn to pick the restaurant. Hopefully I can choose well when we get there. Thanks.

Is this a hint to me?:confused: Should I not be posting here?:p

BTW maintaining can be difficult but what I find harder is making up my damn mind. My original goal was 192#, once I hit it I wanted 185#, hit it and wanted 180#, so on and so on. I now have my goal of 165# by May 9th. This morning I was 166#!! I swear this is it, I think 165# is low enough. I don't want to be a "skinny" guy. If in the future y'all see me post something stupid about going below 165#, kick me in the ass (watch out for my head) and remind me that skinny is not attractive on a guy.

Not at all! This verifies your posting here. Even if you've never been a woman, you've had weight to lose, and struggles to deal with, and something in common with all of us, just not everything. You have motivation and goals and you have 7 days. So this thread is perfectly appropriate for you and I would be heartbroken if you left :D

I claim first on the kicking, if it becomes necessary!

I have a feeling that people would take a number to get in line to kick me.:D

Mike,

It is hard to settle on a "correct" weight. It's kind of like buying something on line and not knowing exactly what it's going to look like until you see it in person. Try 165 out for a month and see if it's easy for you to maintain... take it for a "test drive". ;)

I get what you're saying about "the skinny guy" thing. My husband is 6'3" and got down to 180 and I hated it. He was at a healthy BMI of 22.5 but he looked like a cross between a string bean and a giraffe. Ask those around you that will give you an honest opinion. My mother told my husband that he looked "gaunt" and "old"!!! :eek: (You have to love 85 year old women!) Now that was honest! But it made him put a few pounds back on.

Terri ~ that word 'choose' is awesome i'm going to keep it at the front of my mind...lol.

I love that some of you are so close to your weight goals. That is super impressive and one day I hope to be there. I can't believe that nobody offers support for you when you are so close. That is just rude. They supported you all the way there, why not help you to 'win'!!.... This is still not what I meant when I said only 5 lbs to lose either, but I don't think that anyone is going to understand my true meaning so I will just say that it is the naturally thin person who always is a size 2 or 3 and eats a dozen doughnuts and a bag of chips throughout the day and has no effect then decides one day to lose 5 lbs to get down to the next lower size of clothes. Why? I don't know. Maybe that is their issue. And I guess that is why my comment came out so wrong, because I understand my end of it and not theirs.

I just want to be here to offer support and receive it back. I'm sorry to have upset so many of you by not wording something more thoughtfully. :o

Bhaze, is your humidity worse than usual due to all the rain and flooding?

Mike, sorry 'bout your sore chest and arms. Lordy, that's a lot of pushups. You'll have muscles like The Incredible Hulk by the time you're done! LOL Kudos on your food and fitness achievements this week! "kick me in the ass (watch out for my head) " LOL LOL LOL


Cassie, you're doing an admirable job on your goals again this week. I sent a comment to Sunny Anderson of the Food Network a few months ago about a recipe she made where she said the onion and celery in the recipe should be discarded after cooking because it was used just for flavor. I cordially suggested in the future she tell the viewers to put unserved veggies in the fridge and add it to their next casserole, veggie dish, or pot of soup. I don't even throw out crockpot juices from roasts or from nuking chicken cutlets--I put them in the freezer until I have enough to use as or add to a soup stock.

binatangmerah, wishing you health and happiness.

Stacey, so sorry 'bout your migraine! Three of my grandkids suffer with those--including the vomitting and dizziness that accompanies an attack. Hmm, good idea on the notebook. Let us know if you followed through and if it helped.

Terri, we certainly are on the same page with our loved ones who need their switches flipped to see the light on how to take better care of themselves so they can share longer lives with us. Smart like Shyla or goofy like Toto, we were so lucky to have those dogs in our lives. :)

Quinn, LOL on "Girls of Fitday Gone Wild- Spring Break Edition"...

Wednesday's achievements:

Calorie limit 1600, actual 1599
Carbs less fiber limit 25g, actual 20.7
Protein target 120g, actual 153g
Got in my omega-3 from food sources
No sugar free candy, no low carb tortilla or soft taco (I think I' ve got that under control now)

Water goal 64 oz. achieved
Exercise: 2 miles aerobic walking DVD

staceyalberta: I definitely think we should be buddies! - we're in the same geographic vicinity, so we can complain about the same crappy weather together, and our current weights and goals are close together too!

Mern,

Congratulations on holding that calorie count under budget! Whew! I have a question for you and if you've answered it before, I apologize. But what tripped the switch for you to become healthy by natural means? Due to multiple drug allergies, I'm really holistic, too. The reason I ask is that I have a relative who is an insulin dependent, type II diabetic who still refuses to do anything for her health. She's overweight and uses diabetes as an excuse for why she can't diet. As long as she has a pill for cholesterol and a syringe for insulin, she's fine with it. We're so worried about her. We just don't know what to do anymore. Every year, the health issues keep multiplying. I know that she has to flip that switch herself, and that's why I'm curious. We're beyond worried and heading toward scared.

What did it for you?