We are the Turtle Group here at 3fatchicks.com. We welcome you to join us as we work toward good health and fitness in a persistent manner. As our inspiration we use the race between the turtle and the hare where the turtle was the victor because he didn't give up. We believe in keepin' on even when the odds are against us. We believe in giving each other support. Good luck to us all!
Judy
Itryharder
(for Lin and Lauren)
Hi Turtles,
I started a new thread because we were overdue. Please check out the last page on our thread #159 because there are some nice comments there and I also posted a long thread there.
Love,
Judy
Martha -- thank you! 12/14 is awesome, I will unabashedly agree. You will get there Martha, it's often a matter of time, strategy and behavioral changes (as tired of hearing that as you may be. I remember how much they reiterated that at meetings.) Absolutely. Focus on the ups. Regarding your mother in law: I'm sorry. That is very stressful. Was she perhaps dehydrated? I know that severe dehydration can cause dementia. I'm glad she wasn't hurt. When it comes to stress eating, try to find something that destresses you and do that instead. I know that sounds dumb -- how could a non-eating activity make you feel better when what you crave is food? But it's funny, the more you do your stress relieving activity when you're stressed, the more your body comes to associate stress relief with that activity instead of food, and you start to crave the replacement activity instead. Before I started WW, I used to eat when I was stressed and shop when I was stressed. I ended up racking $8k in credit card debt and about 60-65 pounds over the course of four years. I'm not going to tell you that my strategies for coping with stress changed over night -- it was a gradual, and concerted effort for a while, but now I only crave junk food when I'm REALLY stressed, and then I can usually tell my mind to SHUT UP about the junk food, and promise myself my other stress relief activity in the near future. My last job was horribly stressful, a soul-grinding, defeating sales job where I spent all day every day being pressed to do more and being told I was failing. I spent nearly two years there, and you know what? I lost 25 lbs in those two years. That's not a lot, granted, but to have lost it and kept it off...when in the past I would have satiated myself with junk food and gained! Now I have a better job, I've lost 18 more pounds in the last few months, and my credit card will be paid off around February of 2006. The truth is, Martha, that everyone can change stress eating habits, and it is easier to lose weight once you do. But I will step down off my motivational soap box. I just want to let you know that I've been there, and it is doable.
Judy -- thank you, I am thrilled! Congrats on your virtuous ways in this holiday season!
Princess -- hello to you too! Thank you, I am grinning from ear to ear after hearing all this wonderful feedback from you wonderful ladies!
Wondering if I could join in? I'm trying to find some online support while I do WW at home but some of the other WW threads I've tried haven't been overly receptive.
Absolutely, Chris! We Turtles always love to have new members, jump on in and tell us about yourself.
Ariana, you're almost at my GOAL! I'm shooting for a 10/12--I'm tall and big boned and have lifted weights since I was 15 so I have LOTS of muscle. I don't think I could get any smaller, and I don't think I'd look right if I did. You must be dancing your way through your days right now...good for you.
I'm still dealing with pain, though not NEARLY as bad as it was. I can actually sit up! And I can go out for an hour or two at a time, too, if someone else is driving. I have a new appreciation for what chronic pain patients have to deal with--I'll certainly put this experience to good use in my future career.
My weight is up, but I think that's because...well, um, oxycodone has side effects, and one is that it...severely backs up the internal plumbing, so to speak. So I'm in pain from that, too. But I'm making every effort to get fiber supplements and water, and I'm certain I'll get better once I can be up and more active. I just have to keep looking at the positive side.
One nice little positive thing is that my [almost] two weeks on painkillers has gotten me OFF caffeine! Honestly, it didn't even occur to me to drink the stuff, and I had no headaches because I was pretty much unconscious the whole time. So My caffeine habit is gone...now what do I drink?? They don't really make caffeine-free diet sodas, and I'm SO not going to drink sugary drinks...let's just say that my water consumption is definitely okay!
And as for a second bit of the positive side, another friend of mine used to rollerblade 10 miles a day to get ready for a rollerblading trip in Ecuador. I told her what happened, and she said it really sounded like a freak thing, as she's never heard of someone falling on that spot in that way. I essentially had my feet go up and forward, and my spine went straight *down*. No backward fall to it at all--not even my hands went backward to catch me, I just went straight down. Something like 98% of rollerblading accident are forward falls, and the other 2% tend to involve actually going backward, instead of just straight down. So I'm comforted by the thought that this really honestly was a freak thing, and it won't happen again.
Now if I could just get better so I could get back out there! This enforced lack of activity is driving me batty--it's really hard to go from being so active to laying in bed all day. And we don't even want to talk about what the house looks like after I've spent two weeks in bed and hubby has been "in charge" of keeping things running. All I can say is GOD BLESS MY FRIENDS!
Hope everyone is doing well, my meds are making me sleepy again so I'll be off. Take care of yourselves, and again to Chris!
Hi TUrtles, Chris!!!! I think you're gonna love it here. We all love new members and quite a few of us are doing great! Chime in all the time: tell us your ups and downs and we'll encourage you and learn from you. Nice to have you here.
Mousie, I am so glad you had a chance to talk to another roller blading expert.
My goodness, this really does sound like a freak thing to have happened. Glad you're feeling better and very glad you're off caffeine. My goodness--what a funny thing to happen while you're recuperating.
Ariana, thanks for all the good motivation. It's great to hear you talk this way and to be so clear as to how you've been successful in dealing with your stress in ways other than eating.
Hey everybody=-gotta run but just wanted to chime in for a minute.
Love,
Judy
Welcome Chris - I am sure you will enjoy this group.
Hi to everyone else. I have my w/i tonight & know I will be up, but am going anyway. Also, I am planning on staying for meeting which I have not done lately due to busy schedule.
Long weekend coming up & will be having company at trailer for some of it.
Il will be able to make some ww friendly dishes for us all.
I'll do a little post after awhile or maybe tomorrow morning and let you know a bit about myself. Right now I have to hustle out the door to get my daughter to dance practice on time. Ahhh...the life of a mom.
Morning Turtles!
I'm assuming that means that slow and steady wins the race.
Anyhow, here's a bit about me. My name is Chris. I am a 35 yr old. mom of 3 daughters...one almost 13, a 7 yr old, and my almost 4 yr old. I live in Montana. I work part time for my dad, am a sahm the rest of the time, and attend MSU as a full-time student working toward my BS in Business Administration. I like to read, walk, and play on the 'puter.
Now for the diet history:
My lowest weight was in high school at 119 lbs (yes, that was way too skinny). My highest was 3 yrs ago at 223. I've done WW before, tried South Beach, went to a weight loss clinic, and here I am back on WW again. I had the most success with it and out of 2 1/2 yrs, I only gained back 1.5-2.0 lbs. My main issue isn't so much food anymore...it's with exercise. I don't like it, can't seem to get motivated to do it, and I always feel guilty when I do because I'm taking time from the family. I do have to be somewhat careful about overdoing it when I exercise too. After DD#2 I became the "proud" (severe sarcasm) of rheumatoid arthritis. That is partly why I ballooned up to 223. I was on prednisone for a year. On my meds, I can pretty much lead a normal life but if I carry my daughter or lift weights that are too heavy for too many reps, my arms will hurt for a few days. Or if I put too much stress on my knees, they swell up and hurt for a few days too. I do get occasional flares in my hands, knees, and feet that I sometimes have to baby for a bit but other than that...I'm doing great!
That's me in a nutshell. The mom living in a nut house. Glad to meet you all and hope to get to know you.
Thanks for telling us some of your story, Chris. We have it all, here--moms and childless-by-choice, exercise nuts and non-exercise nuts, even WWs and non WWs (I used to be a WW, which is why I'm a Turtle, but I've had to step away from that program for a variety of reasons and now I just follow my own version of sensible eating). Bandit is our Social Butterfly Turtle, Princess is our Speedy Turtle, Judy is our Mama Turtle, Ariana is our Insanely Busy Turtle, and I'm...well, I don't know what Turtle I am. We're happy to have you!
Princess, I'm sure your weigh-in was just a fluke, and next week will be marvelous for you. After all, you're Speedy Turtle, right?
Bandit, good luck with your weigh-in, and have fun this long weekend!
As for me, Turtles, it turns out that last week was not a fluke with the fall and medicines and everything, and I'm down another pound! That's 6 pounds in the 2 weeks since I fell on my rear end and had to confine myself to bed...I don't want to explore the implications there. So I've lost 35 total, yay me! People are starting to comment, too. Don't you love it when people finally NOTICE???
I am down to half-doses of oxycodone and still 800mg of Motrin, and stopped taking the Valium about a week ago. I've got an email in to one of my instructors (Chris, I'm in Physical Therapy school) as to what I should be doing for myself, since the doctors I have seen after the ER doctors just said "keep taking your medicine, you'll be down for 3 weeks but then you'll be okay." I've got enough education in me to know that may be true, but it's certainly not ideal! I don't want to just be "okay", I want to be strong and trouble-free again. So I'll wait to see what my instructor has to say.
guess I'll have to see what kind of Turtle I am. Right now, maybe I'd be the Laundry Turtle. Seems like that's ALL I do anymore. Laundry, Laundry, Laundry. LOL.
So what does everyone do for exercise? Anything that might get me moving????
I pretty much do whatever strikes my fancy for exercise. I have a treadmill and a Spinning bike at home, I belong to a gym, I have taken lifting/spinning/yoga/pilates classes, I rollerblade (hence my most recent injury), I bike outside, I go for long walks by myself and with friends, I go hiking, I have this dream involving hang gliding...I'm actually very athletic (which is why this enforced inactivity is getting to me, I'm not used to being so STILL all the time!). My theory is, our bodies were designed to get up and move. So I'll get up and move mine!
What do you enjoy, Chris? Do you like to dance? Ballroom and swing are fantastic. Long walks? Bikes? Hiking?
I like to walk just about anywhere. Everyone tells me to take the family for evening walks but I like to go at my own pace which is usually alot faster than the kids can go. I also go to the gym...not as frequently as I should and walk on the treadmill and the elliptical. I do strength training there too with the lifecircuit machines. I am not what I'd call athletically inclined..so I guess that's where the aversion to exercise comes in. Heck, I'm 35 and don't even know how to swim. My brother doesn't either. He told me if we could find a class to take, he would do it with me. I get panicky in water. THat's from having the worst eyesight in the world. I'm just a activity reject...LOL! Anyhow, I do like exercise videos but they get rather tedious if you don't have someone to share the "pain" with.
Right now walking is great! Everyone doesn't have to be the next SuperAthlete...just get out, get your heart working, see the world, have some time to think and get some "you" time. It sounds good to me!
Turtles Looking Up! #160
We are the Turtle Group here at 3fatchicks.com. We welcome you to join us as we work toward good health and fitness in a persistent manner. As our inspiration we use the race between the turtle and the hare where the turtle was the victor because he didn't give up. We believe in keepin' on even when the odds are against us. We believe in giving each other support. Good luck to us all!
12/14 is awesome, I will unabashedly agree. 
You will get there Martha, it's often a matter of time, strategy and behavioral changes (as tired of hearing that as you may be. I remember how much they reiterated that at meetings.) Absolutely. Focus on the ups. Regarding your mother in law: I'm sorry. That is very stressful. Was she perhaps dehydrated? I know that severe dehydration can cause dementia. I'm glad she wasn't hurt. When it comes to stress eating, try to find something that destresses you and do that instead. I know that sounds dumb -- how could a non-eating activity make you feel better when what you crave is food? But it's funny, the more you do your stress relieving activity when you're stressed, the more your body comes to associate stress relief with that activity instead of food, and you start to crave the replacement activity instead. Before I started WW, I used to eat when I was stressed and shop when I was stressed. I ended up racking $8k in credit card debt and about 60-65 pounds over the course of four years. I'm not going to tell you that my strategies for coping with stress changed over night -- it was a gradual, and concerted effort for a while, but now I only crave junk food when I'm REALLY stressed, and then I can usually tell my mind to SHUT UP about the junk food, and promise myself my other stress relief activity in the near future. My last job was horribly stressful, a soul-grinding, defeating sales job where I spent all day every day being pressed to do more and being told I was failing. I spent nearly two years there, and you know what? I lost 25 lbs in those two years. That's not a lot, granted, but to have lost it and kept it off...when in the past I would have satiated myself with junk food and gained! Now I have a better job, I've lost 18 more pounds in the last few months, and my credit card will be paid off around February of 2006. 
I just want to let you know that I've been there, and it is doable. 
We Turtles always love to have new members, jump on in and tell us about yourself. 
I'm shooting for a 10/12--I'm tall and big boned and have lifted weights since I was 15 so I have LOTS of muscle. I don't think I could get any smaller, and I don't think I'd look right if I did. 
You must be dancing your way through your days right now...good for you. 
And we don't even want to talk about what the house looks like after I've spent two weeks in bed and hubby has been "in charge" of keeping things running. 
All I can say is GOD BLESS MY FRIENDS! 
again to Chris!
