Jiminy's June 2015 W.I.S.H. Weight Loss Challenge!! Any and All welcome to join!!

[pjlla]

Top 10 great things about myself...oh boy now I really get to think.
1. Good listener- where I work(cracker barrel) there seems to be so much drama, that they vent to me. lol. I listen and even give advice.
2. Work ethic (stealing from finny) - I work hard to make sure all guests have a great experience. I also train new hires in my field. I must be something right, because when the managers are stuck and not sure they come to me.
3. Determined (stealing from bearybubba)- I don't give in too easily. I set a goal and work at it.
4. I'm getting stronger- I use to let things bother me. To the point I would get sick. Now as my dad says , I grew some thick skin. I don't sweat the small stuff anymore.
5. Giving- if I can I will help others. I don't just give to charities. If a family member, friend, co-worker, or even a stranger needs help I will help. (My pappy taught me this lesson). Now I'm teaching my son.
6.my smile- I've been told I have a nice smile. I use to hate smiling, but now I can't stop.
7. Baking- I love making things from scratch. I tend to make more than I should so I give it to friends or DH takes to work and shares.
8. Sense of humor- I love making others smile and laugh. I joke with the guests at work, my family, friends and co-workers. Laughter is the best medicine.
9. My DS- even though he is only going on 5 yrs old, I like to think I'm raising him to be a good person. I'm always told that he is such a nice, helpful and well mannered kid. Still have lot more yrs to go but off to a great start.
10. Crafty- I love scrapbooking and family always ask how I do it. Needle pointing (my grandmother taught me and now my DS wants to learn). Give me a birthday party theme and I can make things or come up with ideas no one might of thought of.

I'm a scrapper too!! Do you do paper or digital? I'm old school and still do paper. SO jealous of your sense of humor.... my family claims I don't have one.

It's 2/3 of my goal for this month, so 66% I guess?

Got it! Great job!

So how do you guys handle the constant counting and extra work involved in tracking without feeling like it is a burden? I was doing terrific the whole month of May and first week of June, I counted EVERYTHING, stayed on track, exercised faithfully, but then it caught up with me and I started having a feel sorry for myself attitude. We are a family of 6 and really I am the only one with a weight issue, I am married to a man who thinks about losing and weight and bam 4 pounds are gone with little or no effort and kids who can eat everything and gain nothing. I however was blessed with PCOS and if I think about a candy bar I gain three pounds. Not really, but I do need to give up extensively to lose anything and often see no progress after doing the right things. Well about 10 days ago I was thinking in a bad way about this journey and how I am always saying no to dessert with the family and always feeling like I am being punished (I know it's childish) and how much happier I was when I was just not caring (we are not talking about self image, purely mood) and I just fell off (I haven't gained, but haven't lost). I was keeping up with exercise, but just have not had the willpower to keep up the tracking and not going over and well it is bad. I keep trying to get back on track because for health reasons I really need to lose 75-100 more pounds and I thought since I was losing fairly well that it would be easy to continue, it hasn't been. I just need a mind set change, but I also need something that can be a long term change that I can keep up. So now that I have cried on your shoulder how do you guys handle it when you are the only one being held to counting, weighing and always feeling like you have to say no to everything?

Oh I should probably add that I am very overweight, and that using my fitness pal and trying for a 2 lb a week loss currently puts me at 1,270 calories. I eat healthy most of the time, it's just that those calories don't go real far; when I had it at 1.5 pounds I lost nothing (was doing it for about 2 months with no progress). We do not eat out often at all (Mother's Day, Father's Day and birthdays are about it) and we exercise by walking 3.5 to 5 miles a day as long as there is no rain except Fridays which are movie night.

My first suggestion would be to stop having the "sorry for myself" attitude..... remember, this is a CHOICE! No one is forcing you to eat healthier and exercise. You are CHOOSING to because you want the BEST, HEALTHIEST life possible! When you stop thinking of it as a SACRIFICE and start thinking of it as a CHOICE, it may turn things around in your head! Not... "I can't eat that pizza" .... but ..."I choose to have the salad and I'll be HAPPY with my healthier choice and wake up tomorrow knowing I can be PROUD of the CHOICE I made!"

Tracking is hard sometimes..... but it can become a habit. I've been doing this particular "phase" of my journey since Jan 2, 2008 and I have tracked VIRTUALLY every day (except for the occasional crazy weekend or vacation) and it is SUCH a habit. My food journal (yup, I'm old school with paper and pen) has a dedicated spot on my kitchen counter (because that is where it works best for me.... your spot may be different) and the family just KNOWS that is Mom's food journal spot. They have learned (pretty much) not to scribble phone messages and such on it! There is some extra work involved in weighing/measuring portions and tracking, but eventually things will get faster and easier! I probably look up less than 10 things a week now..... I have many of my "usual" foods memorized and for those that are newer I keep a small "cheat sheet" to double check on for a quick reference. My food journal has developed its own type of shorthand that probably only I can understand, but that is okay because I am the only person who NEEDS to understand it!

We had a 10 day food tracking/journaling challenge here in April that was REALLY helpful in starting and renewing the habit. Would you like to do something like that???

finny1981--what about giving yourself one day off a week IF you are vigilant the other 6 days. You can eat what you want, take time off from exercising if you want, and skip tracking if you want. What you mind find is that after a couple of weeks of having a cheat day that you might not need it anymore. It is hard. I totally understand. I lost 50 pounds in 2010 only to put a bunch back on. BUT I promise you that it is worth the work.

Well said and good suggestion!

JacknSally--thank you.

QOTD--right now I am into country music so here are my songs:
Luke Bryan--Country Girl Shake It For Me
Cole Swindell--You Ain't Worth the Whiskey
Joe Nichols--Sunny and 75

Not a country music fan here, so I don't think I've even heard these songs! I'll have to check them out!

I'm no pro by any means, so I may not be the best to give any advice. But I'll try! I know for me, I walk a lot every day, steps wise. But I could walk 10 miles and it doesn't do a darned thing unless I'm walking fast enough to get my heart rate up. When you take your walks every day, is it leisurely, or are you really working and getting your heart rate up to help burn those calories? Walking at 3 mph does so much more than 2mph or 2.5mph.

I use the Lose It app. I used to be much more vigilant about it than I am currently, but I'm trying to get back to that. I log my entire day in the morning so I have an idea beforehand of where I stand - that way there's no "I shouldn't have had that" surprises at the end of the day. Tracking is honestly a pain, especially homemade recipes and eating out, but the good thing about it is once you enter the info once, it's saved. I like that it has a barcode scanner, too. That helps immensely. I'm kind of competitive and I like setting and meeting goals, so I enjoy the idea of tracking. I just need to be better about actually doing it.

I have my Lose It set to lose 2lbs a week, but I think I manually lowered the daily calorie goal it set for me. I set it at 1200 calories (I'm 5'4" and when I started in January I was at 226, I'm currently at 217 after lots and lots and lots of falls off the wagon). I've put myself on a low carb/high protein diet, and I find that by eating a large amount of protein 5 times a day (breakfast around 7, snack around 10:30, lunch around 1:30 or 2, snack around 4:30, dinner around 7 or 7:30) I'm contently full pretty much all day. I usually can't even finish my dinner because I'm full. My doctor said I need to be eating 1500-1800 calories, but I'm honestly so full from the 1200 I get that I don't know where I'd fit in another 300, or what I would add to my day that isn't just more junk to get there.

I find that if folks are full on lower calories, it probably means they are eating a lot of lean protein and veggies..... which is a great choice! But remember that eating too FEW calories can set your metabolism up for failure..... so if things seem to slow down on the scale at 1200 calories or if your workouts become more intense, you probably need to revisit your limit.

UGH, my husband is the same way! He stops drinking beer for a month and loses 5 lbs. (And he usually has like, 1 beer every third night or something. It's not like he was binging.) I haaaaaaaaaaaate that, it's biologically cruel.

But it is the way the men are built..... all that muscle... so jealous!!

I have PCOS too. Honestly I despise tracking. What worked best for me with the metabolic syndrome and the PCOS was ditching the refined/processed/white stuff. White flour, white sugar, etc. It was basically low carb because the healthy grains were a bit too much work LOL - so while we'd all have chicken and veggies for dinner, I'd just skip the bread. Or while everyone else had cereal in the morning, I had a hard boiled egg, or something high in protein. It seems like deprivation but really it was pretty easy to adjust to. (Granted it is always harder with family - but it's adaptable too) What I liked about it was that I didn't have to count, worry about hitting a calorie goal and then stopping, etc. Once the refined stuff (sugar/flour) was out of my system I was amazed at how my blood sugar leveled and thus I was not as hungry as I thought I was. (Full disclosure: those first few days sucked. No joke.)

I can PM you the name of a book if you want - I don't know if there are rules about specific plans/etc so I don't want to violate anything

I will say this regarding tracking: When I did track, I tried to plan for the entire day. So in the morning I'd track what I figured I'd eat all day. It helped me see that there was no room for extra stuff, and it helped me stay on track, if that makes any sense?

My house is pretty much a low carb household as well (due to DH's low carb eating plan) and I find that DS doesn't even expect a carb with dinner most of the time (which is probably why he LOVES it when it is a pizza night for him!). If you make TWO veggies of different colors, sometimes folks aren't even looking for that carb! Great suggestions!

JacknSally - We walk in the evening and I use my heart rate monitor for calories because I think it is probably the most accurate way, but I use Endomondo to track distance and speed, usually we are at about 65 minutes for 3.25 miles (that is our default route, but a lot of the time we go a little farther).

I think I just need to lose my entitled attitude, I get to feeling sorry for myself and thinking I worked all day and I deserve (bad word) to have an ice cream sandwich for instance. I think if I could just turn it back into I don't want the "insert junk food here" then I would be ok. I am pretty competitive too and when my friend at work was working out and eating right and losing weight it was far easier then it is now that she fell off a month or so ago, but in my house there is no-one doing it solely because they have to. I just wish I could take a walk only because I enjoy it not because I have to or I will gain weight, and I would love to say I don't want the chips because I don't want them and not because I can't have them. See it's all in my head right now, I know the right answers and how to do it, but I just have this silly issue with the fact that I can't have it (or even shouldn't) and with the fact that I have to get exercise (I have a desk job so no walk means no exercise at all unfortunately). I just need to get back into the game! Thanks ladies, sometimes I just need to complain without hearing my husband say "it's what you have to do so just do it," I love him and I know he thinks he is helping, but he's not

Since your friend set an example for you in the past, maybe YOU could set the example for HER this time! LEAD BY EXAMPLE! If you think of yourself as a LEADER in regard to getting your friends and family healthier (in a subtle way, of course) you may change your mentality overnight!!

I can't recall where I read about the two day thing, but it is really helpful. I had a journal where I'd write out my plan, and it really did make a difference for me. And you often see either a loss (even a 1/4 of a pound is a loss!) or a non-gain, and then you want to try again and try doing more to see more results.

Gosh, this makes me think I best take my own advice for the rest of the month so I can finish strong!

LOVE THIS!!

My bucket list for travel...oh boy I know I'm dreaming but a girl can dream right?
Ireland, Germany, Scotland, Italy (I should say Europe in general, but those are the top of my list)
My other bucket list is with my DS. I would like to take him to different states. ( my mom and I did this)

I started taking both of my kiddos away for a "mother/child weekend" when DD was about 8 and we have done so many fun exciting things! Sometimes the budget is big and we go to Disney..... other times the budget is NIL and we go camping and fishing.... but no matter where, we have a BLAST! For years when they were younger I tried hard to make it an electronics-free time (no video games, no tv, etc), but that is harder now than it used to be since everyone has a computer (i.e. Iphone) in their pocket! Good for you for taking DS along on adventures!

For Christmas my DD made me a very colorful U.S. map with a photo in every state that she and I have visited together..... it is a TREASURE and I cannot wait to continue to fill it up with her!

I'm wondering if you could still have bread but switch to 100% whole wheat bread? I know there isn't a "one size fits all" diet so it may not be helpful for you but that's what I've done. I'm also working on switching 1 preservative full food at a time to a natural version. I'm only switching 1 at a time so that it's not such a drastic change that I can't keep up with it.

For example - I'm a reformed breakfast skipper. I rarely ate breakfast and if I did it was Pop-tarts or white bread, toasted, with fake butter and preservative loaded peanut butter. Super delicious but not healthy by any means.

Now I make sure, everyday, to have a 100% whole wheat english muffin (I found a brand that is 100 calories) with 1 tablespoon (2 tablespoons is 210 calories) of all natural peanut butter. I'm still getting bread but it's a better choice of bread, for me at least.

When I was doing a 1200 calories a day diet all I could think about was all the food I couldn't have. It was defeatist and made me want those foods all the more. My new way of thinking, I can still have the foods I want, they just have to be different versions.

Thought of another example, I love banana chips. Love them, could eat the whole bag in a sitting. That's bad. Instead I have a fresh banana (105 calories for a medium one).

I know it's hard, I've struggled for more years than I can remember. I kick myself almost everyday but I think, for me, the secret is to make 1 small change at a time. When that becomes natural then start on another small change. I get too overwhelmed and even more disappointed in myself when I try for too many changes at once.

I think a treat day is a good idea too. I have one treat day a week. I'll probably be kicking myself tomorrow but for today, I'm enjoying every little bite.

Whole grains over white is definitely a step in the right direction.... they are digested and absorbed more slowly and dont spike the blood sugar like white carbs.

I'm not at the point yet in my diet where I've built up my self control to just allow one treat. I'm still at the point where if I have just one treat, I can usually justify one or two more... It's a slippery slope, lol.

I measured myself this morning and was pleased (and surprised) to discover that I've lost 1.5 inches from my waist, hips, chest, and arms since I first started doing all this back in January! On the one hand I hate myself because if I had stuck to this 6 months ago when I started, I'd be so much better off now... But at the same time, I'm pretty excited that I've lost any inches at all!

128 days and 26lbs to go!

Just stop and celebrate the progress you HAVE made and don't kick yourself for the "woulda, shoulda, coulda" that you didn't.

Hope your week is going better, I have brownie demons chasing me as well but I am determined to outrun them. Just keep up with the healthy food and safe walking.

Run away from those brownies.... they are EVIL!

I am glad to see this comment about letting yourself have a treat. I am the same way and it is so frustrating...one small treat could easily turn into a diet nightmare. its almost as if the sugar, even so small as half a cookie, creates a total loss of willpower and control. So for now, no treats at all with the exception of 2 squares of 70% dark chocolate in the evening 4 times a week .

Yum..... chocolate!

I have to be honest, I wasn't able to completely outrun the brownie demon. Last night I saw I was only at 1000 calories for the day, extremely unusual for me but that depression demon was sneaking up on me and I just wasn't feeling doing much more than take naps and watch Netflix, so I had one brownie - 300 calories. I try to stay between 1450 - 1500 calories a day so I figured it was ok. I think each one scared the other off because neither the depression demon nor the brownie demon have shown up today.

I tried a different route Tuesday night. It went okay except for when I saw this older gentleman walk out his front door, go around the side of house, and urinate in his bushes.

I tried yet another route last night and it was 100% better. It's an older neighborhood that has quite a few historic homes in it. So while I don't enjoy walking, the scenery is nicer. I've always liked old houses and old neighborhoods, they have a lot of character.

So glad you found a less "potty" route!

We all know about the health risks..... diabetes, heart disease, renal disease, ED, high blood pressure, sleep apnea. But on a PERSONAL LEVEL......what is/was the WORST thing (in your opinion) about being obese/out of shape/unhealthy?

Biggest for me was "knowing" (in my head at least) that everyone was judging me and thinking I shouldn't be eating. I already have anxiety around people I don't know so this was compounded (still often is because although I have lost 40 pounds I still have 75-100 to lose). The other thing that has been major is clothing, or lack of it and hating the way clothes look on me, even things I think look great on other overweight people I think are hideous on me.

I can so sympathize with these feelings.

Honestly for me, it was dressing in the morning. At my highest weight, I was so unhappy with how I looked that I'd just grab things in my size when I went shopping. I didn't bother taking the time to try things on and choose things that could at least try to flatter my body at that size. So I hated everything in my closet, basically. So every morning the first act of the day - getting dressed - would thrown me right into a bad mood. I felt that I looked terrible no matter what, and since self perception has a cascade affect I really found it to be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

I'm not at my goal, I'd still like to lose 40 lbs if I can. But I am far enough that dressing myself has become a pleasant thing again, and it's made a big difference in my attitude facing each day.

Woohoo!

QOTD
My biggest issuse for me is being comfortable in my own skin. Like pjlla, I'm shy and I too assume people judge me. I hate it. I suffer from anxiety and don't like eating in front of people. I lost 33lbs since I started me journey to get healthier. I need 47lbs to go to get to my goal weight.
I still hate how clothes look on me and don't like my picture to be taking. (Though today a friend talked me into doing family photos....so we'll see )

SMILE and enjoy the photos..... google some ideas on how to look your best in a photo (taken from above, leaning forward so your FACE is the biggest part of the picture, not your middle or your lap). SOMEDAY the photo will be cherished because you and your family will NEVER be at that point in life again!!

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Caught up to here but gotta dash!....................P

 

[Ellie Badge]

I sympathize with everyone's frustrations about working so hard, only to have the scale punish you for one small slip-up. It can be so defeating and feel so unfair. When I was younger my body used to be more "forgiving" of those small splurges but it seems as I get older the margin for error gets smaller and smaller. It feels like that margin has totally vanished now. I was commiserating with a friend the other day about how it sometimes feels like to look the way I want to look I have to eat practically nothing. Of course we were being hyperbolic, it's NOT actually nothing, but in a world of huge portion sizes and 24oz drinks and massive snacks, the amount of work it takes to stick to these relatively small piles of greens and lean protein every day? Well, it can be hard to keep hope.

I just have to remind myself when I'm training my body to be a machine with the food --- feeding it healthy stuff to keep my energy up, burning fat, keeping hydrated, and feeling strong --- sometimes when you throw a doughnut in there, it can be like throwing a wrench into the machine. Things get clogged, there's some bloat, and it may seem like the machine stops working. But the machine isn't broken, it's just a temporary slow-down. Not sure if I crafted the best analogy here but the basic message is, keep your eye on the big picture and don't let the small setbacks become huge defeats. One week of a reversal is nothing over months and months.

 

[SarahDisney]

Just stopping in quickly to answer the QOTD:

We all know about the health risks..... diabetes, heart disease, renal disease, ED, high blood pressure, sleep apnea. But on a PERSONAL LEVEL......what is/was the WORST thing (in your opinion) about being obese/out of shape/unhealthy?

For me, it's the feeling of not being comfortable in my own skin. I was never comfortable with how I looked or how I felt about myself, and I hated that. I hope that when I finally get to a slightly healthier weight that feeling will go away, but I'm honestly not sure that it will.
Then, a few years ago, my cholesterol was on the high end of normal ... coming from a high cholesterol family, that scared me a lot. I know that if I'm not careful I will end up with high cholesterol, which is not something I want to have to deal with.

Weighed in up a drop this morning ... puts me at 38%.

 

[Flossbolna]

I love how chatty this thread has become again!!! It gives me so much motivation. I just finished reading through the last two days. Unfortunately I still feel like I don't have the time to reply properly. So, sorry for that!! But lots of interesting talk!!

ETA: SO SO SORRY this was so long!! Oh my goodness. Definitely didn't realize that while I was typing. Guess I got a little carried away...

Don't ever worry about that!! I loved reading your post!

But on a PERSONAL LEVEL......what is/was the WORST thing (in your opinion) about being obese/out of shape/unhealthy?

For me it is the loss of mobility. I am fairly active in my daily life, I love to walk, I climb up to the fifth floor without thinking about the elevator, I love to bike, go for hikes. I live in a city and my main methods of transportation are public transport, walking and biking. When I had a knee injury last year I realized how much my lifestyle depends on being able to move myself around. And when I put on quite a bit over Christmas this year I started to notice how I was becoming sluggish and how simple things suddenly started to become more of a chore. I was an overweight teenager and always was so surprised what my friends did voluntarily, like bike here and there, play ball games (those are still an issue thanks to my eyes) and I just never could keep up. I always put it down to not being a sporty person, but really I was just out of shape and overweight.

---

Doing okish. I am tracking only halfheartedly currently. And today I have another migraine (those back pains are really good at causing migraines...) and those always make me horribly peckish. But I snacked on peaches, hummus, falafel, low fat goat cheese, so all pretty healthy stuff. And some things we proteins. I read talk about the carb cravings and I am seriously thinking of trying out another 10 day no sugar challenge to get off the carbs. I also need to sit down and do meal planning for the coming week... At least I have the weekend to catch up on groceries. Currently my fridge is still pretty empty.

The back is more or less pain free, but I notice that one side is still totally tense, which causes me to not being able to stand up properly. I feel like I have lost all my tension and nothing is connected to each other the way it should. The good thing is that I still have another 7 appointments with the physiotherapist to get it all in working order again. I am just so tired of being limited and not feeling comfortable in my body (refer to my answer to the QOTD for why it bothers me so much). I am going to do some light core exercises in order to hopefully get some more stability. And at least I did walk my 10.000 steps for the first time this week today!

 

[tsme]

First of all....... I think many of us can sympathize and say a big "been there, done that", so you are NOT alone!

Second.... a very belated WELCOME ABOARD to you! Life has been nuts these past few weeks so I missed your post the first time through and I am sincerely sorry. It is hard to put yourself out there HONESTLY like you did and I apologize that I didn't recognize it more promptly.

Third.....THERE IS HELP...... but it is going to be up to you to seek it (as you did here) and PERSIST with the journey of getting healthier. IGNORE your DH and his eating/dieting/weight. That isn't you and you CANNOT compare yourself and your weight loss journey to him or to anyone else~!

When you stated that you "tried and made it thru a week"..... what does that trying look like? Weight Watchers? Calorie counting? Regular exercise? Low carb? Hard for us to offer help, suggestions, ideas unless we know where you are coming from.

And FOURTH.... you are ALLOWED to have a pity party!! I"ll bring the balloons..... But sooner or later you need to move past the pity and onto the "I CAN DO THIS" attitude! And we can help you with that! No matter what you tell us, I can assure you that one or more of us has been in your shoes!

Can't wait to get to know you better!!



Don't give up! It may disappear as quickly as it appeared!




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Out of time AGAIN (story of my life, right?). Hopefully I can BBL to catch up!........................P

To lose weight before I've reduced my calorie intake to 1000-1200 per day which I know may seem low but I'm very short with a low metabolism, counted every calorie, & did weights and cardio every day. I'm a stay at home mom that homeschools (schools where we leave are really bad), so I have to make 2-3 meals a day for my family. And to be honest it became old really quick making meals for them and separate ones for me, they would never eat what I would have to eat. Plus going to gym, then coming home starting school while trying to work in cooking and cleaning wasn't easy either. But honestly, I think I defeat myself. I become overwhelmed by how much I need to lose, by how much work I have to put out for a little return. I did go to the gym today, so that was good. Reading the boards make me feel less alone.

 

[PTownGirls]

Good morning my friends! Welcome to your QOTD for FRIDAY, June 19,2015:

Since I posted a "fun" QOTD earlier this week, today's will keep us on topic.


We all know about the health risks..... diabetes, heart disease, renal disease, ED, high blood pressure, sleep apnea. But on a PERSONAL LEVEL......what is/was the WORST thing (in your opinion) about being obese/out of shape/unhealthy?


I'll throw my answer out there to get us started......

The thing I remember being the hardest was NEVER, EVER being happy in my own skin. I am naturally shy, but being overweight and ASSUMING I was being judged (probably mostly in my head) I became even more of an introvert. And I always felt like I was an embarrassment to my kids..... not that THEY ever said anything.... but again, being unhappy with myself made me ASSUME that other kids (and parents) were being judgmental. I hated feeling like I NEVER had CONTROL of my eating.... that the food was controlling me. EVERY DAY I would get up and and tell myself that TODAY would be different.... and when I would go off plan by the end of the day, I felt like a FAILURE for having NO CONTROL!

I was too young to worry about the diabetes, HPB, etc that I might get later in life.... I just wanted to be HAPPIER in my own skin.... and the first time I took REAL CONTROL of my life/eating I was happier.... even without losing a pound!

Off to make breakfast and lunch for myself......... DS is done with school but I still have to work 2-3 more days! ........................P

The thing that is the worst for me is feeling so bad about myself whenever I need to try on clothes. I will see something that I think will look nice on and alone in the dressing room I am face to face with the reality that the clothing industries idea of a large and my idea of my body are light years apart. I feel so discouraged after clothes shopping.

 

[Keithsmomma]

Congratulations on your 33lb loss! That's huge!! Good look on the remaining weight - you're off to an amazing start, now just keep going!

I suffer from horrible anxiety, too. So bad that I've missed out on a couple of jobs that I would've really liked because I couldn't bring myself to go to the interview, or the first day. When my anxiety gets really bad, I have panic attacks and just shut down, sometimes I can't get out of bed for a couple of days. I don't like not knowing what's going to happen, so new situations are really difficult for me. If I go someplace new, I have to find out all the details I can beforehand. Where to park, where to enter, where things are located, etc. Otherwise I panic and don't go, or go but am incredibly stressed out the whole time. I also frequently cancel plans with people because I get weirdly anxious and nervous and talk myself out of them. It's absolutely awful. I'm afraid something will happen, or I'll go to the wrong place, or I'll say something wrong, and I'll be weird and awkward and people will judge me, or I won't dress right and people will judge me... I spend a lot of time getting dressed trying to find clothes that "don't make me look fat", when I logically know that it doesn't matter - I'm going to work, not trying to impress or flirt with anyone, and so what if I look heavy. But I don't want someone to look at me and judge me for being big. I'm horrible at small talk so I don't really speak to anyone at work, and if anyone tries to make small talk with me, I come off really rude and b-itchy, but really I just can't think of what to say in response fast enough, so my answers are really awkward or I just don't say anything. It was really bad when I worked the front desk at a hotel and was expected to make small talk with people all day long. Most days I could do it, but I was really stressed out about it all the time. Sigh.

I know how you feel. I'm a cashier at cracker barrel. So I need to make small talk to all the guests. The regulars are great cause now it doesn't bother me, but new people I fear I'll say something wrong. I know my anxiety will never go away but I'm trying to take control of it. When we go on vacation, forget it. I'm normally sick the first day or 2. My mind comes up with everything that could ever go wrong. It sucks. I'm just glad my DH understands and tries to help ease my mind. If DH takes me out , I'm spending hours trying to find something that I feel good in. Today we had family photos done at a lake....finding an outfit I felt good in took a little. Surprised I didn't cancel.

 

[Keithsmomma]

Pjlla, I'm kinda both when it comes to scrapbooking. More old school, but some digital. As for my sense of humor. It came later in life for me. Most people who knew me as a kid/teenager are shocked .

 

[JacknSally]

I know how you feel. I'm a cashier at cracker barrel. So I need to make small talk to all the guests. The regulars are great cause now it doesn't bother me, but new people I fear I'll say something wrong. I know my anxiety will never go away but I'm trying to take control of it. When we go on vacation, forget it. I'm normally sick the first day or 2. My mind comes up with everything that could ever go wrong. It sucks. I'm just glad my DH understands and tries to help ease my mind. If DH takes me out , I'm spending hours trying to find something that I feel good in. Today we had family photos done at a lake....finding an outfit I felt good in took a little. Surprised I didn't cancel.

I totally understand! It literally took weeks for me to find something to wear for my engagement photos, and I seriously considered rescheduling them. And, after all was said and done, and I thought I found something I liked, I saw how the outfits looked in photos and absolutely hated them. Our trip isn't until October and I'm already having anxiety attacks at the though of leaving my dog for a week. He's my child, and we're only leaving him with my parents, who adore him, and he adores them. He'll be fine, I know. But I can't help but think what if he thinks we abandoned him?! (He's been abandoned before and he has separation anxiety.. Going to work in the mornings is a process because he gets really pathetic and clingy.) DH2B is already expecting me to cry for the first hour or so we're on the road, and to check in on the dog several times a day during the trip. What can I say, I'm a mess.

 

[JacknSally]

Coming to check in and give my update for the weekend! I just weighed and I'm down another 2lbs!!! That's 6lbs, so 60% of my goal!! I'm so so so excited! Now I just have to be sure to avoid the cookies and cupcakes at the shower tonight. Fingers crossed!

 

[pjlla]

We all know about the health risks..... diabetes, heart disease, renal disease, ED, high blood pressure, sleep apnea. But on a PERSONAL LEVEL......what is/was the WORST thing (in your opinion) about being obese/out of shape/unhealthy?

Biggest for me was "knowing" (in my head at least) that everyone was judging me and thinking I shouldn't be eating. I already have anxiety around people I don't know so this was compounded (still often is because although I have lost 40 pounds I still have 75-100 to lose). The other thing that has been major is clothing, or lack of it and hating the way clothes look on me, even things I think look great on other overweight people I think are hideous on me.

Honestly for me, it was dressing in the morning. At my highest weight, I was so unhappy with how I looked that I'd just grab things in my size when I went shopping. I didn't bother taking the time to try things on and choose things that could at least try to flatter my body at that size. So I hated everything in my closet, basically. So every morning the first act of the day - getting dressed - would thrown me right into a bad mood. I felt that I looked terrible no matter what, and since self perception has a cascade affect I really found it to be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

I'm not at my goal, I'd still like to lose 40 lbs if I can. But I am far enough that dressing myself has become a pleasant thing again, and it's made a big difference in my attitude facing each day.

QOTD
My biggest issuse for me is being comfortable in my own skin. Like pjlla, I'm shy and I too assume people judge me. I hate it. I suffer from anxiety and don't like eating in front of people. I lost 33lbs since I started me journey to get healthier. I need 47lbs to go to get to my goal weight.
I still hate how clothes look on me and don't like my picture to be taking. (Though today a friend talked me into doing family photos....so we'll see )

This one is easy! Mine is CLOTHES. I hate clothes shopping, and I have maybe 6 items in my wardrobe that I really feel comfortable wearing. I wear a 16-18 (or a 1x-2x depending on the clothing) and it's impossible to find things in my sizes that don't just look like tents. Memphis is one of the unhealthiest cities in the country, and we have one of the highest numbers of overweight people per capita, but our stores sure don't stock for it. And when I am able to find plus size clothing, more often than not it's designed for older women - there's nothing wrong with that, but I'm 26, and I'd like to look 26. Some stores have started to carry "plus size" juniors/misses clothing, but it's really not designed for plus size girls. You can tell they just took skinny clothes and added extra fabric to make it wider, but it makes it lose all shape and you end up wearing a tent.

I order a lot online but most of it gets returned because it's really hard to get a good idea of something from the picture on the internet. Plus money is tight so I can't ever justify buying clothes, especially when I want to lose weight and get into the smaller sizes - I don't want to build a wardrobe of 16-18s that I (hopefully) won't be able to wear a couple of months from now.

Wedding dress shopping was the WORST because most places don't carry samples in bigger sizes, and if they do, in my experience the plus size dresses they have look like they were made in the 80s - lots of satin and fluff and poof and awkward sleeves and just nothing flattering at all. And the consultants at all of these places obviously just wanted to make sales, so they'd keep telling me not to worry about the size, just find a dress I like and even if the sample is a 6, they can order it in my size. UM NO?! I am not even kind of about to spend all this money on a dress that isn't returnable when I can't even try it on and see how it fits. No. No. NO. Lost your mind. We exhausted every store in town that sells bridal gowns (they all pride themselves on being "boutique", which means the stores are small, the selection is small, and the dresses are small, but the prices sure aren't!) and had to drive to Arkansas to look for dresses at Low's... I think I found maybe 4 there to try on? Being plus size AND having a budget made it really difficult, because they don't have many options for both. I ended up finding one that I like that I could actually try on so that's the one I got - it's not exactly what I went in looking for, and I don't feel 100% like it's *the* dress, but when it's the only one close to what you had in mind that you can actually put on... It's just sad when you have to settle for a wedding dress because it's the one you can fit into. Dress shopping was very emotional, and not in a good way.

So yeah. That's what I hate about being big. Clothes.

It seems like MANY of us have/had a similar complaint..... being unhappy in our clothes, no matter how hard to we tried. I remember shopping for a wedding when I was at my max weight..... it was a nightmare! I ended up wearing dressy capris and a shirt sleeved jersey and KNOWING (whether it was true or in my head) that I looked like a BLOB. I wasn't happy to be there, I was fixated on how I looked (I know, I know...... I should have been fixated on the bride and groom!). Fortunately my kiddos were young and ADORABLE and I was able to focus the attention on them!

When I started back to work as a sub in 2004, I had TWO pairs of decent dress pants, 3-4 tops and a few scarves...... I pretty much wore a combo of these items for almost 5 years until I lost weight! I think at some point I added a few more pieces, but VERY FEW. Shopping for clothes was such a disaster and made me feel like SUCH a failure, that I would rather have had almost NOTHING to wear! I always dressed up my outfits with my Disney pins (I'm one of the few people I know that WEARS their pins and doesn't save them for trading!) in the hopes that folks would forget that they saw that outfit last week!

Hopefully everyone's morning is off to a better start than mine! I made a tutu for the little girl of a friend of mine last night, and stayed up WAY too late doing it... I did it a different way than I usually do, and I will definitely never do it that way again. It was much more difficult and took much more time. I was up til midnight, so needless to say, I did NOT make it up at 4:30 to hit the treadmill and weights before work.

I'm going after work to get my hair cut, so I made sure I took time to wash and dry and straighten it (I have wavy hair - not pretty curly hair, and not naturally straight hair, wavy. Which means it's always messy and frizzy unless I spend a long time on it, and I usually don't in the summer because if there's any humidity or rain at all, it's a waste... and it's Memphis, so there's ALWAYS humidity) even though I overslept and was running pretty late... Well, I didn't realize it was raining, so I go out to get in my car (carrying my purse, my lunch, my water bottle, my phone, and the tutu) and voila! Rain. I grab an umbrella, had DH2B stand in the garage holding the tutu, and made 1 trip to the car to drop off all my stuff... Ran back to the garage, grabbed the tutu, took one step outside, and the sky OPENED. It just started pouring, and a huge gust of wind blew, and the umbrella flipped inside out. Seriously. I got drenched, which means all the time I spent drying and straightening my hair was a waste (and that's what made me late in the first place, so it's doubly frustrating) ...

Oh, and did I mention I decided to wear a white top today? Sigh.

So I leave for work, hit the construction-zone-battle-field that is the interstate I have to take to work every day, and can't see 5 ft. in front of me because of the rain. Of course, I only make it a couple of miles when the whole interstate becomes a parking lot. Come to find out there's a stalled car in the right lane, and it just shuts everything down when that happens. This morning was a mess. It was one of those mornings where I was convinced I have hidden cameras recording my life for a TV show.

OH MY!! What a morning!! That sounds like a scene from a movie!

On the bright side -
1) I made it to work safe.
2) DH2B made it to work safe.
3) It stopped raining (or hadn't started yet?) at my office before I got here, so I didn't have to race from the car to the building in the rain.
4) The tutu is cute.
5) I weighed in this morning still down the 4lbs, so while no losses, no gains either! Yay.
6) IT'S FRIDAYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
7) It's the last day of one of the really really negative people in my office, and I couldn't be happier. That's awful, I know. But really. She and the other really negative person just feed off each other, so I'm really hoping that with her gone, it'll be a lot quieter here. Plus one of my friends is replacing her, so that's exciting! I know she'll bring some positivity and cheer into the office, and it is so, so needed. Sigh.
8) Did I mention it's Friday? That is pretty much the only thing getting me through the day right now. LOL

ETA: SO SO SORRY this was so long!! Oh my goodness. Definitely didn't realize that while I was typing. Guess I got a little carried away...

I'm with you on celebrating FRIDAY! And for me, it was the last FRIDAY of the school year!

I suffer from horrible anxiety, too. So bad that I've missed out on a couple of jobs that I would've really liked because I couldn't bring myself to go to the interview, or the first day. When my anxiety gets really bad, I have panic attacks and just shut down, sometimes I can't get out of bed for a couple of days. I don't like not knowing what's going to happen, so new situations are really difficult for me. If I go someplace new, I have to find out all the details I can beforehand. Where to park, where to enter, where things are located, etc. Otherwise I panic and don't go, or go but am incredibly stressed out the whole time. I also frequently cancel plans with people because I get weirdly anxious and nervous and talk myself out of them. It's absolutely awful. I'm afraid something will happen, or I'll go to the wrong place, or I'll say something wrong, and I'll be weird and awkward and people will judge me, or I won't dress right and people will judge me... I spend a lot of time getting dressed trying to find clothes that "don't make me look fat", when I logically know that it doesn't matter - I'm going to work, not trying to impress or flirt with anyone, and so what if I look heavy. But I don't want someone to look at me and judge me for being big. I'm horrible at small talk so I don't really speak to anyone at work, and if anyone tries to make small talk with me, I come off really rude and b-itchy, but really I just can't think of what to say in response fast enough, so my answers are really awkward or I just don't say anything. It was really bad when I worked the front desk at a hotel and was expected to make small talk with people all day long. Most days I could do it, but I was really stressed out about it all the time. Sigh.

Everything you described sounds like a ramped up version of me! So I can, on some level, totally relate. Small talk/cocktail party talk is a NIGHTMARE for me! I went to DH's class reunion with him last fall and thought I would throw up from anxiety on the way there! He wasn't delighted with me for talking to virtually NO ONE all night, but what can I say? I didn't KNOW anyone so how was I supposed to talk???????? Here's a hug for all of us anxious folks out there!!

Haha, no worries! No margaritas here - tequila and I are NOT friends by any means. Sangria, though...

MMMMMM..... sangria! But I prefer a good margarita and I had intended to make SURE I got one last week during my birthday celebration..... but as it turns out we haven't even celebrated yet because we've been so busy!

I have to say even though I have not shown a loss in two weeks and I have been having food struggles I do have something I am proud of, I looked at my Endomondo last night and saw that we had walked 42 miles so far in June (added another 3 last night). This is huge for me who just a month ago did not walk at all for exercise (I did use an exercise bike) and that 6 months ago was a slug that did not exercise...in May we started walking on the 17th and did 32.21 miles in 11 walks, June has now been 45.94 miles in 13 walks...that's progress in my opinion.

Also tomorrow will be step one for me getting back on the right track, no more white. No bread, white rice or white potatoes, really the only issue here is bread for me. Then in a couple days or next week I will add sugar to that list and then get back to truly tracking a few days or a week after that. I was tempted to do all at once, but I am hoping that by breaking them up I will not be hit so hard, but I plan to add them as I can so even though I am thinking that by July 4th I will be back to 100% it may be sooner than that.

That is a great plan. DO you have an ALTERNATIVE to add in place of these items? Brown or black rice? Sweet potatoes? Flaxseed wraps?? Just wondering. WOOHOO on all those miles!

Today is grocery shopping day which is my favorite because it's always a fresh start! And I've got a lot of ideas this week to help boost my weight loss for next week. I weighed this morning and maintained again. So I obviously need to mix things up. Which is exactly what I'm doing next week.

I don't love grocery shopping, but I do love the WORLD of possibilities it seems to open up in the kitchen! What are your "mix it up" plans?

***********************

Almost caught up!........................P

 

[ThistleMae]

I'm at a loss. I use to be so active, loved to workout, watched and wrote down everything I ate, and was 40lbs lighter. Now I can't even seem to start. I know what I should do, but instead I hide in my room most of the time, I'm embarrassed to go back to the gym, I hate going anywhere because I can see the look of "OMG, look how much weight she gained" on people's faces, and I look horrible in clothes. I have no desire to workout at home either, guess I've become lazy. And every night, I say to myself tomorrow I'll do better. The next day I make until 10ish, then I break and eat junk. The funny part (no so much) is I won't even eat a meal, just junk. Also, I've hit that age where things start to slow down & I'm very short, so every pound shows. Plus, when I have tried and made it thru a week, I'd barely lose a pound. Oh and I also have a husband who sneezes and loses 10lbs. He has now loss some weight from not mowing down ice cream at night, but still eats large plates of food & chips. He saying look I'm getting rid of my tummy (which was never existing anyway). So depressing, I want to hit him (kidding, sort of). I know this is one big pity party paragraph. I'm sorry. I just don't know how to motivate myself to follow thru & do something, without giving up or sinking into a depression. I love disboards, everyone is always so nice and helpful, I thought maybe someone would be able to say something that would snap me out of this.

Getting started is the hardest part. I've been there...more than once....on my weight loss journey. What I've found is that I just have to pick a date and do it. There is no easing in. Be ready to feel hunger and learn to sit through it. There is a radio station I've been listening to....the American Latino radio with Tara Marie. She has many doctors on who believe in nutrition as one of the great healers of many issues, including that feeling of never being full....all related to what we eat or don't eat. It is helping me think more about nutrition. And....keep busy doing other things besides eating. Anything else....any activity besides sitting down and watching TV. These are some of the things that help me get started. Just pick a date. This Monday after the weekend. Whatever date you want and be prepared to sit with your feelings and cravings....power through. Let me know how you make out. I support your efforts 100 percent. I know how hard it is.

 

[pjlla]

I sympathize with everyone's frustrations about working so hard, only to have the scale punish you for one small slip-up. It can be so defeating and feel so unfair. When I was younger my body used to be more "forgiving" of those small splurges but it seems as I get older the margin for error gets smaller and smaller. It feels like that margin has totally vanished now. I was commiserating with a friend the other day about how it sometimes feels like to look the way I want to look I have to eat practically nothing. Of course we were being hyperbolic, it's NOT actually nothing, but in a world of huge portion sizes and 24oz drinks and massive snacks, the amount of work it takes to stick to these relatively small piles of greens and lean protein every day? Well, it can be hard to keep hope.

I just have to remind myself when I'm training my body to be a machine with the food --- feeding it healthy stuff to keep my energy up, burning fat, keeping hydrated, and feeling strong --- sometimes when you throw a doughnut in there, it can be like throwing a wrench into the machine. Things get clogged, there's some bloat, and it may seem like the machine stops working. But the machine isn't broken, it's just a temporary slow-down. Not sure if I crafted the best analogy here but the basic message is, keep your eye on the big picture and don't let the small setbacks become huge defeats. One week of a reversal is nothing over months and months.

I couldn't have said it better myself!!!! I agree with EVERY POINT!!

Just stopping in quickly to answer the QOTD:
For me, it's the feeling of not being comfortable in my own skin. I was never comfortable with how I looked or how I felt about myself, and I hated that. I hope that when I finally get to a slightly healthier weight that feeling will go away, but I'm honestly not sure that it will.
Then, a few years ago, my cholesterol was on the high end of normal ... coming from a high cholesterol family, that scared me a lot. I know that if I'm not careful I will end up with high cholesterol, which is not something I want to have to deal with.

Weighed in up a drop this morning ... puts me at 38%.

Sorry you are up a bit, but don't stress about it! Good for you for taking care of the cholesterol problem before it becomes a big issue!!

I love how chatty this thread has become again!!! It gives me so much motivation. I just finished reading through the last two days. Unfortunately I still feel like I don't have the time to reply properly. So, sorry for that!! But lots of interesting talk!!


That's okay! It has been hard to keep up for me as well! Plus I think the boards are doing some weird stuff sometimes and it seems I either double quote something or miss something all together!

For me it is the loss of mobility. I am fairly active in my daily life, I love to walk, I climb up to the fifth floor without thinking about the elevator, I love to bike, go for hikes. I live in a city and my main methods of transportation are public transport, walking and biking. When I had a knee injury last year I realized how much my lifestyle depends on being able to move myself around. And when I put on quite a bit over Christmas this year I started to notice how I was becoming sluggish and how simple things suddenly started to become more of a chore. I was an overweight teenager and always was so surprised what my friends did voluntarily, like bike here and there, play ball games (those are still an issue thanks to my eyes) and I just never could keep up. I always put it down to not being a sporty person, but really I was just out of shape and overweight.

I became SO MUCH MORE mobile when I started losing weight. I was always busy, but not terribly active. I was the mom who WATCHED her kiddos play without actively participating. Good for you for being so VERY active in your everyday life!

---

Doing okish. I am tracking only halfheartedly currently. And today I have another migraine (those back pains are really good at causing migraines...) and those always make me horribly peckish. But I snacked on peaches, hummus, falafel, low fat goat cheese, so all pretty healthy stuff. And some things we proteins. I read talk about the carb cravings and I am seriously thinking of trying out another 10 day no sugar challenge to get off the carbs. I also need to sit down and do meal planning for the coming week... At least I have the weekend to catch up on groceries. Currently my fridge is still pretty empty.

The back is more or less pain free, but I notice that one side is still totally tense, which causes me to not being able to stand up properly. I feel like I have lost all my tension and nothing is connected to each other the way it should. The good thing is that I still have another 7 appointments with the physiotherapist to get it all in working order again. I am just so tired of being limited and not feeling comfortable in my body (refer to my answer to the QOTD for why it bothers me so much). I am going to do some light core exercises in order to hopefully get some more stability. And at least I did walk my 10.000 steps for the first time this week today!

Good for you for getting your steps done! Hopefully the back can be FULLY RESTORED within your next 7 appointments!

To lose weight before I've reduced my calorie intake to 1000-1200 per day which I know may seem low but I'm very short with a low metabolism, counted every calorie, & did weights and cardio every day. I'm a stay at home mom that homeschools (schools where we leave are really bad), so I have to make 2-3 meals a day for my family. And to be honest it became old really quick making meals for them and separate ones for me, they would never eat what I would have to eat. Plus going to gym, then coming home starting school while trying to work in cooking and cleaning wasn't easy either. But honestly, I think I defeat myself. I become overwhelmed by how much I need to lose, by how much work I have to put out for a little return. I did go to the gym today, so that was good. Reading the boards make me feel less alone.

First of all.... GLAD YOU ARE STILL HERE! As a former (and still sometimes) SAHM with multiple "food issues" in the house, I can totally sympathize needing to be a short-order cook. DH eats low carb/Atkins style, DS has food allergies, DD refuses to eat beans in any way/shape/form, I follow WW, and as a household we have vowed to not eat ANYTHING from the ocean any more (DD is getting her BS in Marine Biology and as such we know too well what overfishing is doing to our oceans!). And we try VERY HARD to eat a super healthy diet here with as many organics as my budget can afford. PLUS we live 30+ miles from the nearest market, so there is no such thing as "dashing out to grab what we forgot" sort of thing! Anyhow.... after rambling here I just want you to know that you are NOT ALONE in your struggles and that it can be done!!!

Set a SMALL GOAL with yourself (like 5-10 pounds) with a REWARD (non-food of course) when you get there.... new nail polish, a cute pair of sunglasses, even a massage! When you've reached that goal, set another SMALL GOAL! Stop looking at the entire amount to be lost because it CAN be overwhelming!

The thing that is the worst for me is feeling so bad about myself whenever I need to try on clothes. I will see something that I think will look nice on and alone in the dressing room I am face to face with the reality that the clothing industries idea of a large and my idea of my body are light years apart. I feel so discouraged after clothes shopping.

And ANOTHER ONE who hates clothes shopping..... maybe we all need to work together on a cute, affordable clothing line for folks who AREN'T a size 4 and who don't have celebrity stylists and who have a small budget!

I know how you feel. I'm a cashier at cracker barrel. So I need to make small talk to all the guests. The regulars are great cause now it doesn't bother me, but new people I fear I'll say something wrong. I know my anxiety will never go away but I'm trying to take control of it. When we go on vacation, forget it. I'm normally sick the first day or 2. My mind comes up with everything that could ever go wrong. It sucks. I'm just glad my DH understands and tries to help ease my mind. If DH takes me out , I'm spending hours trying to find something that I feel good in. Today we had family photos done at a lake....finding an outfit I felt good in took a little. Surprised I didn't cancel.

Family photos were ALWAYS a huge struggle..... and even though I hated myself on the day of, I can look back at the pictures now and SMILE because I did it (and in hindsight I didn't look as bad as I always thought I did). SO GLAD I sucked it up the day we had a four generation photo taken with my Grandmother because she is gone now and those photos are PRICELESS, no matter how chubby I felt!

I totally understand! It literally took weeks for me to find something to wear for my engagement photos, and I seriously considered rescheduling them. And, after all was said and done, and I thought I found something I liked, I saw how the outfits looked in photos and absolutely hated them. Our trip isn't until October and I'm already having anxiety attacks at the though of leaving my dog for a week. He's my child, and we're only leaving him with my parents, who adore him, and he adores them. He'll be fine, I know. But I can't help but think what if he thinks we abandoned him?! (He's been abandoned before and he has separation anxiety.. Going to work in the mornings is a process because he gets really pathetic and clingy.) DH2B is already expecting me to cry for the first hour or so we're on the road, and to check in on the dog several times a day during the trip. What can I say, I'm a mess.

That's what love does to you!!

Coming to check in and give my update for the weekend! I just weighed and I'm down another 2lbs!!! That's 6lbs, so 60% of my goal!! I'm so so so excited! Now I just have to be sure to avoid the cookies and cupcakes at the shower tonight. Fingers crossed!

WOOHOO On the TWO!! Enjoy your shower!!!

*************************

I think I"m caught up!!..............P

 

[ThistleMae]

I don't know what to say to help you "snap out of it" but, I can tell you that I know EXACTLY the feelings that you're talking about.

My suggestion... take it however you want because I can't tell you that it's magic or whether it even works for me because I am still struggling with food and such, too... Pick one thing and do that one thing every day. Don't try to change everything all at once and don't let the scale decide if you're successful or not. Focus on one behavior. My one thing is getting 10k steps a day. If 10k is too much of a change, you could pick 6k or 8k or anything. Do you have a fitbit? We could be friends on fitbit and help cheer each other along. (Did you know that if you have an iPhone5s or later, all you need is the free fitbit app to take advantage of step counting?? You don't even have to buy a fitbit gadget!)

Other than that, I'm still struggling, too, but, I'm starting out by giving myself credit for doing SOMETHING! So, pick your one thing and pat yourself on the back for doing that one thing. After a couple weeks or even a month, maybe add one more thing.

Hang in there, hun!

Good advice. Picking one thing and sticking to it is a great start!

 

[pjlla]

Good morning all! Welcome to your weekend QOTD!!



Today is "SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS SATURDAY!!" (or Sunday, if you are seeing this tomorrow!)

Today is the day..... to make your plans, prep your foods, write a schedule..... to set yourself up for a SUCCESSFUL on-plan week ahead!! What will you do today/tomorrow to insure a successful week?

Grocery shopping to fill your fridge with healthy options? An extra workout so that you can sleep in one morning this week? Make a batch of soup or stew to pack up for easy brown-bag lunches? Put a chore schedule on the fridge so the family can help out?? Call your best walking buddy and make a solid plan to meet at 6 am every day???

If you work weekends perhaps you move this idea to your week-day off!

Share with us what YOU are doing this weekend to guarantee a successful week!!

 

[PTownGirls]

I totally understand! It literally took weeks for me to find something to wear for my engagement photos, and I seriously considered rescheduling them. And, after all was said and done, and I thought I found something I liked, I saw how the outfits looked in photos and absolutely hated them. Our trip isn't until October and I'm already having anxiety attacks at the though of leaving my dog for a week. He's my child, and we're only leaving him with my parents, who adore him, and he adores them. He'll be fine, I know. But I can't help but think what if he thinks we abandoned him?! (He's been abandoned before and he has separation anxiety.. Going to work in the mornings is a process because he gets really pathetic and clingy.) DH2B is already expecting me to cry for the first hour or so we're on the road, and to check in on the dog several times a day during the trip. What can I say, I'm a mess.

 

[PTownGirls]

I totally understand! It literally took weeks for me to find something to wear for my engagement photos, and I seriously considered rescheduling them. And, after all was said and done, and I thought I found something I liked, I saw how the outfits looked in photos and absolutely hated them. Our trip isn't until October and I'm already having anxiety attacks at the though of leaving my dog for a week. He's my child, and we're only leaving him with my parents, who adore him, and he adores them. He'll be fine, I know. But I can't help but think what if he thinks we abandoned him?! (He's been abandoned before and he has separation anxiety.. Going to work in the mornings is a process because he gets really pathetic and clingy.) DH2B is already expecting me to cry for the first hour or so we're on the road, and to check in on the dog several times a day during the trip. What can I say, I'm a mess.

I am the family/friend official animal sitter ( I dont know how that happened) but as the one staying with the nervous animals I can tell you that surprisingly they do very well. A cat I sit for had a similar back history as your dog and I was anticipating the worst, but this little fur pet did great. If your dog is staying with someone he loves( and it sounds like thats the case) he will do just fine. Animals are very intuitive and I believe he will feel safe and secure !!!

 

[ThistleMae]

I us

So how do you guys handle the constant counting and extra work involved in tracking without feeling like it is a burden? I was doing terrific the whole month of May and first week of June, I counted EVERYTHING, stayed on track, exercised faithfully, but then it caught up with me and I started having a feel sorry for myself attitude. We are a family of 6 and really I am the only one with a weight issue, I am married to a man who thinks about losing and weight and bam 4 pounds are gone with little or no effort and kids who can eat everything and gain nothing. I however was blessed with PCOS and if I think about a candy bar I gain three pounds. Not really, but I do need to give up extensively to lose anything and often see no progress after doing the right things. Well about 10 days ago I was thinking in a bad way about this journey and how I am always saying no to dessert with the family and always feeling like I am being punished (I know it's childish) and how much happier I was when I was just not caring (we are not talking about self image, purely mood) and I just fell off (I haven't gained, but haven't lost). I was keeping up with exercise, but just have not had the willpower to keep up the tracking and not going over and well it is bad. I keep trying to get back on track because for health reasons I really need to lose 75-100 more pounds and I thought since I was losing fairly well that it would be easy to continue, it hasn't been. I just need a mind set change, but I also need something that can be a long term change that I can keep up. So now that I have cried on your shoulder how do you guys handle it when you are the only one being held to counting, weighing and always feeling like you have to say no to everything?

Oh I should probably add that I am very overweight, and that using my fitness pal and trying for a 2 lb a week loss currently puts me at 1,270 calories. I eat healthy most of the time, it's just that those calories don't go real far; when I had it at 1.5 pounds I lost nothing (was doing it for about 2 months with no progress). We do not eat out often at all (Mother's Day, Father's Day and birthdays are about it) and we exercise by walking 3.5 to 5 miles a day as long as there is no rain except Fridays which are movie night.[/QUOT

I use my fitness pal. I cannot eat 1200 calories a day and loose anything. Also...I'm not exercising at all...so that may be part of it. I had to eat 800 to 950 calories a day. And yes...hungry all of the time. I've lost 50 pounds since last November 1st. I have about 30 more to go...seems like a whole lot more and it is coming off slower. I have bad days....but one thing I have done is get right back on track....instead of like in the old days when a binge turned into years of binging instead of getting back on the horse. I have gotten a tad lazy with tracking also....that may be one of the other issues. But...I have learned what I can and cannot eat in a day. If I've had grain that day, I think...you need to eat more veges or yogurt with fruit, not more grain. So I'm better at portion sizes for sure. I was measuring everything....so I know how much almond butter I can have on a piece of whole grain bread, or what a meat portion looks like or a cup of yogurt. So....eventually, I think I'll know portions without having to measure everything....although my sweetheart thinks this can be a slippery slope...lol....maybe it is. Stick with the fitness pal and chart your progress. It does work, if you figure out how many calories you need to eat to loose a pound a week. I know it's tough. But feeling and looking better is worth the pain. And yes....some days you will feel like it isn't worth it. But....you know in reality that it is! Hang in there!

 

[ThistleMae]

I'm not at the point yet in my diet where I've built up my self control to just allow one treat. I'm still at the point where if I have just one treat, I can usually justify one or two more... It's a slippery slope, lol.

I measured myself this morning and was pleased (and surprised) to discover that I've lost 1.5 inches from my waist, hips, chest, and arms since I first started doing all this back in January! On the one hand I hate myself because if I had stuck to this 6 months ago when I started, I'd be so much better off now... But at the same time, I'm pretty excited that I've lost any inches at all!

128 days and 26lbs to go!

Congratulations! I get the slippery slope all too well. But...I keep sugar free jello and pudding in the fridge...just in case I get the urge to have something. So even if I eat two Jello's....I'm doing better than two brownies. Keep up the good work!

 

[PTownGirls]

After a 2 week period on a weight plateau I finally have lost 3 pounds, sticking to my plan this week was so hard because I felt like I was standing still despite my hard work. I will make Trader Joe chicken breast tenderloins in a little coconut oil and add to sauteed squash and broccoli on Sunday to bring to work each day so I am not tempted by the fabulous cafe food we have at work!!! I am motivated after my date with the scale to push my walking distance a little farther each day.