The middle of July already? Where is the summer going?
I'm back from the dance competition weekend. DD16 really doesn't care if we're there or not. Not sure why I thought she would care. She goes with her dance teacher and family. She barely spoke to us and had no interest in eating with us or sleeping in our room. At one point I had to drag her out of the dressing room to say good bye to her dad. Her group did pretty well, but no really big prizes.
Like usual, my meals were O.K., but there were some unnecessary carbs in drinks and snacks. I'm not really O.P., but I'm not really way off either. I'm not losing any weight, but I'm not gaining either. This week I'm going to do better!! Honest!! I think I need a few days of induction just to make me feel right!. Still not sleeping well.
Great to see Beachie again. Sure wish I was in Cape Cod this summer!!
Aud, glad you stopped by too. Are you now going back to vacation?
Hope everyone is well and OP!! http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/imag...les/carrot.gif
Lynnar, I feel your pain. Our two 16 yr. old girls here are never home. They seem to constantly have plans with work, friends and BF's.
I am now completely OP with both LC food and with exercising daily at the gym. I hope to lose a few lbs. and tone up some.
I am considering going back to college in the fall for my degree in clinical psychology. I know that I'm OLD and hope I don't feel too silly being in class with kids less than half my age. Oh well, I can't change my age. I have sent for my transcripts from Univ. of OK. I learned that some of my core classes that were part of my nursing degree might still be transferrable. I'll just have to wait and see. My big debate is whether I should start at the local junior college or enroll at the Univ. of Ark. that is 15 min's from my home. I guess it will all depend on how many of my old classes will transfer. I know that I will need to apply for student loans since our income level is above me getting any free financial assistance. Is it completely crazy to go back to college at 48 yrs. OLD?
Two 16 year old girls would drive me crazy. I just don't have the patience for that age. They think they're adults, but act like little kids. What I can't quite get over is the total lack of concern for MY feelings- I know I should just grow up myself!! I should know that 16 y.o.'s don't care about my feelings!!
I definitely don't think you're too old to go back to school and I bet a lot of stuff will transfer. My son was talking about psychology for a while, but he couldn't quite decide what kind of actual job he wanted. He didn't want to be a counselor/psychologist. Is that what you're thinking of doing? There's a lot of need out there for good psychologists. I think I'd start at the local community college for a semester first, if I was going back to school.
We must live pretty close to each other. My oldest just graduated from U of A!
Lynnar, Yes, 16 yr. olds don't consider the feeling of Anyone else.
I live in OK, just about 10 min's from Ft. Smith , Ark where there is a branch of the Univ. Of Ark. How many of my core credits will transfer will be the determining factor in which college I go to. If most basic classes transfer, I'll go ahead and start at U of A.
DH told me to go ahead and "just do it". But, he wanted to make sure I wasn't going back to school due to financial reasons. It's not that, he is making very good money in the oilfield (more than we've ever had). I just want to do it so I have something to do that makes me feel busy and worthwhile. I am bored now since no longer working as an RN due to my liver and immune system diseases (that prevent me from ever working around sick people again). Plus, the girls are old enough now that they aren't home much and probably won't even notice that I'm not here as much.
Yes, my goal is to have my own office and work as a psychologist.
Lady Loves!!! Lily: Go for it go for it go for it. AND, in my never to be humble opinion, I think you should go to UOA and fully enjoy the full experience. You would be such the awesome therapist or psychologist. Perfect mix of common sense and "get it done". Lynnie: I'm so enjoying the fact that dd9 hasn't blown us off yet. I'm counting the days though. I know it will happen soon. I can dig back to my earlier days though and I'M SURE DD appreciates that you were there for the competition. Even if she is not expressing it now.You know, I just remembered something touching about my mother when I was about 16. I was all in the dumps (pre driver's license) and watching the rain fall and all of a sudden she said to me, "Let's make a bird bath". I was all 16 I know the world and how boring. But she made me go with her in the backyard ( a big backyard since we lived on a ranch) and dig a hole. Then after we went inside and the rain filled it with water, no birds in sight, she said, "Let's throw some orange peel in the water to attract them". So we ate oranges in the rain and threw the rinds in the dirty rain hole. Darn it if 20 minutes later that birds were in there going to town. I swear. I had one of those, "My Mom is a genius" moments...AT 16. I think I will ask her tomorrow if she was just full of hot air at the time but dang it impressed me!!!!!
SC, that is such a sweet story about your mom. Last summer I had Lacy outside with me, us digging in the dirt and planting flowers in all the flower beds. We chatted non-stop as we worked. It was like some extra sweet teenage bonding time. I will never forget it and I hope she doesn't either.
Of course this yr. she only seems to thank me for taking her shopping or to dinner and the movies. (Or for letting her do these things with her friends and me supplying some money).
Would this rattle you ladies cages. I found out today that my DH's XW had liposuction, a tummy tuck and a breast lift with implants yesterday. The reason this makes me furious is that she has only seen fit to pay child support for Shelbey once in the last 13 months. I guess by not paying her court ordered support that she saved lots of money for lots of plastic surgery. To top it off, she scheduled Shelbey's 2 week summer vacation with her to conveniently be when Shelbey could be there to take care of her post surgery. Needless to say, DH is less than happy too.
Lily, glad I don't have a X-situation. I'd probably kill her. I think the worse thing is making the 16 y.o. take care of her.
My best time with DD16 is when she's just finished running. Last school year, I'd have to leave work early to go get her at the field house at 4 or 4:30, but it was worth it to hear her talk. I think it's that runners rush you hear about. She'd be all chatty and tell me stuff that I would never get out of her other times. I also drove her into school and when I dropped her off at 8 a.m. I didn't even get a "good bye" never mind a "thank you." I'd have to pull the information out of her if I wanted to know what her schedule was. But in the afternoon- a different kid all together. I'm really going to miss driving her places. It would have been very difficult this summer. She's got early morning cross country and then odd hours at her job and then dance practices in the evening. But when school starts again, it'll be the first time in years and years that I'm not driving a kid to school. When we first moved here in 99, I drove four (including one friend) kids to three different schools. Even when my older two started driving, I had youngest DD and a couple of friends for a while and then last year, just DD. I'm not doing the empty nest thing very well at all.
On a cheerier note, though - go you with the college thing! ABSOLUTELY not too old - frankly, I pretty much feel like people shouldn't be allowed to go to further education when they're fresh out of high school, because you just don't appreciate it properly then.
Lynn - man, I'm sorry about that. And I feel guilty as ****, because I know that when I was seventeen I was a total WITCH to my parents. Just awful. 'Cause on the one hand, you've got the security of knowing that these people will forgive you, so you can vent at them - and on the other hand you're in the process of becoming an adult, you've realised that they're NOT gods after all (and you sort of resent them for that disillusionment) but you haven't really taken on board the fact that, even though they're just regular people, they're regular people who you really should treasure and appreciate and be massively grateful to.
She'll get there.
So, people - I've been hovering around 200lb for several weeks now, and I'm not impressed by this whole plateau-ing business.
I've concluded that I've probably let my carbs creep up - I'm not eating bread, rice, pasta, oatmeal or obvious things, but I HAVE been cheerfully eating berries, melons, dark chocolate, nuts and nut butter and cheese. So as of today I'm back on Fitday, keeping a proper eye on the carb count (was startled to realise how many carbs were in the slice of melon I had as part of my breakfast, so I think this is definitely a good idea) AND I'm getting my arse back down to the gym.
Started this morning, and felt so much better for doing so - hopefully I'll be able to make it into a proper routine. I'm buggered with no routine, frankly - need to have markers in my day and week to work around, and now that the holiday's here I've been the slothiest sloth in slothtown - just been reading reading reading reading. Bad job me. However, my friend's coming this afternoon & staying for a fortnight, and I'm determined to get my arse down to the gym every day - and maybe drag her off to the park for a walk too.
I had all these grand notions of doing the C25k, but it's really not happened - but I'm getting back into it again, damn it. When we're back at school in September, I'm going to be going to the gym after work, and maybe we'll really go ahead and do our jogging-roung-the-park club (that 3 or 4 colleagues were talking about all this year). Either way, though, I need to bring out the big guns.
I'm delighted to have lost 3 stone, but I still have a very long way to go before I'm healthy. And I WANT that, I want to keep getting fitter and feeling better and looking better. Don't want to get accustomed to being at this point - I'm so very used to being fat, and now that I'm LESS fat, now that I'm no longer feeling arthritic and wheezy, now that I'm back around what I sort of consider normal, it would be easy to just let things slide.
I SO don't want to do that, though. I want to keep on digging my way out of this pit. This is good, but it's not good enough. I wanted to be down to 180 by my birthday (August 20th) - now that's not going to happen, damn it, more likely than not, but at least I want to get down to 190. It's okay if I'm losing more slowly...so long as I keep on losing.
Anyone got any other advice for dealing with plateaus?
Lynnar: I too feel your pain, but can tell you it is just a 'phase' most teens seem to go through. My two oldest (16 & almost 19) want very little to do with me or the X unless we're doing something FOR them. It's just that we're so OLD, NOT COOL & ANNOY THEM (caps seems like a good thing there because that's how it verbally comes across to me from the 18 yr old). Friends are the most important thing in their life right now.
Based on my own years I know by the time they reach 25 (hopefully maybe before that) they'll start to feel differently but right now it's all about being hip. Luckily I have a 13 year old who isn't quite there yet and a 5 year old who is still mommy material.
Lilybelle: I've been considering going back to school too but have been hesitant for the very reasons you named. Feeling awkward with people half my age, along with the gigantic hassle it will take to get my transcripts to Japan...ugh. I wish you the best of luck and know you can do anything you really set your mind to.
The XW situation sounds like she's 1) jealous of your weight loss and 2) ego-centric enough to care about her own looks more than her children's needs.
As an "XW" though I can tell you it is in the kid's best interests that you keep those thoughts to yourself and let the children develop their own relationship with the parent. They are smart - they can figure it out, and it only hurts your own relationship with them to badtalk the other parent (deserved or not). Well...like I need to tell that to you, you sound pretty d-smart and heading to be a psychologist anyway!
Fay! I was wondering where you'd gotten yourself off to. I've been kind of plateauing myself for a couple of weeks as far as the weight, so I have felt a bit of your frustration. However I make it a point to measure myself too on my "weigh days" and there's where I've seen the biggest change. I think I'm still losing just as fast as I was before but I'm building muscle now too so the weight really isn't changing. When I lost 20 right off the bat it was part water loss and part fat...but my exercise consisted of a half hour semi-brisk walk. Now I'm doing weight training, sculpting and fairly heavy cardio (for me at least, who couldn't walk for a mile without being out of breath before).
I'd do exactly what you said, take a look at what you've been eating and cut down on the items you think are sabotaging. Maybe if you're having alcohol cut it for a few weeks. I haven't had any wine in 3 weeks and I know that was stalling me. Up your exercise routine? As for the frustration, what I do is look in the mirror and tell myself, out loud, YES my body is looking better but I need to BUST my BUNS to keep improving.
Hello Fay and Suzanne! I was hoping you'd both be back. Now we need Aud and Petra and all the others. We need a big group!!
I didn't really mean to complain quite so much about the 16 y.o. She's actually much much easier than her older sister. When older DD was 16 and 17, I still drove her to school a lot because DH was constantly "grounding" her from the car. Naturally she hated that, so those trips were not fun at all. In fact, there were lots of times when I'd have to drop her off and pull over to side of the road and cry before I could start my day. But she did a complete about face during her college years and has apologized to me several times for her teen years. She's only 23, but has really grown up. So I am prepared to handle the 16 y.o., but sometimes I get sad when I think about how sweet she was at 9 and ten.
Fay, Plateau's are the worst, but I think you're doing exactly the right thing. I like to remind myself that exercise has it's own built in benefits, even if I'm not losing tons of weight, I know I feel better. I know I have more energy, less aches and pains, and I sleep better when I exercise! So go for it, and if you're also stopping the dreaded "carb creep" I bet you'll lose tons of weight.
I was reading about alcohol and weight loss on the "Low Carb Confidential" blog. I think those guys decided that it did cause a stall or at least a slower weight loss, but for some people it might be worth it. I really like that blog. They seem so real.
Well, that's two days in a row that I've managed to immediately put on my gym kit when I got up, and headed down for half an hour on the treadmill before starting my day. Once I've made it into a routine, I'll be golden! (Over the holidays - can't do this during term-time, but that's why I've joined the gym over in Siam Paragon. Should be able to just go to the gym after school every day before I come home, insh'allah...)
I do feel SO much better, just for that little bit of exercise - this is the crazy thing, because intellectually I know that it makes me feel good as well as helping with the weight thing, but I've got 30+ years of programming to think that exercise = humiliation and badness, and that's on a gut level. No pun intended!
Well, that's two days in a row that I've managed to immediately put on my gym kit when I got up, and headed down for half an hour on the treadmill before starting my day. Once I've made it into a routine, I'll be golden! (Over the holidays - can't do this during term-time, but that's why I've joined the gym over in Siam Paragon. Should be able to just go to the gym after school every day before I come home, insh'allah...)
Good for you! I've also found it MUCH easier to go to the gym when I do it first thing in the morning. If I put it off I wind up putting it off all day. There are some people who prefer afternoon or night, but I think it's all a matter of preference and getting into a routine (and staying with the routine!).
Glad to hear things are getting better for you. Keep up the excellent efforts!
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Originally Posted by broadabroad
I do feel SO much better, just for that little bit of exercise - this is the crazy thing, because intellectually I know that it makes me feel good as well as helping with the weight thing, but I've got 30+ years of programming to think that exercise = humiliation and badness, and that's on a gut level. No pun intended!
Isn't it wierd how we get stuck with the blinders on like that?
I confess. I actually like starting my day at the gym. I'm not huge into exercise, but it just feels right to do something and to do it early. I'm only doing 25 mins on the eliptical at level 3 (of 10) and I don't rack up the mileage. I used to do about 3 miles in 30 mins, but that was several years ago. I'm trying to add some of the machines for arms because I know that my arms need work and I always do a bunch crunches and stretches. I really truly believe that without the crunches and stretches I would be half crippled by back and leg pains. Every time I quit for a while, I get some kind of ache or pain.
I was going to a step class for about 2 years. I found (much to my own surprise) that I liked the social aspect and the teacher is just a great person. But the class starts at 8:30, so I'd be pretty late for work and have to make up the hours in the evening or something. Last summer when DD needed a ride to early morning cross country, I switched to working out early at the gym. This summer, I'm not driving her, but I like getting off work at 4, so I switched anyway. The gym at 7 a.m. is kind of nice, but maybe I'm just crazy.
Fay, I don't know exactly when I got past the "exercise=humilation." I remember that feeling, but it did eventually go away and yet, I never did lose the weight. Sometimes it's a little awkward to be the older, fat woman when the gym is filled with young men (about DS' age!), but I don't think they pay much attention to me anyway. After all I am the older, fat woman who could be their mother and sometimes that works in my favor! It'll be different for you though because you're obviously not their mother!!
Hi All: I have been woefully inadequate with my posting this week. I can't even seem to remember most of the week though. It really flew by (probably not in a good way as I don't feel like I pushed enough paper out the door at work!).
I just got home to a terribly messy house BUT DH left a note and has dinner in the oven (smells like corned beef) AND had a bottle of wine the the fridge, of which, I am now enjoying a glass. Yummy. Went out to lunch today with a couple of the managers that work with me. Since I never go to lunch I really enjoyed it. Sizzler had an 8oz grilled steak with salad special so I ate well. Though I still feel a bit on the full side.
Lily: That EX sounds like the most selfish pig on the planet. How dare she? How must that child feel also to know that she comes second (actually third?) after boobs and a tummy tuck. OUTRAGEOUS.
Fay: I think you are doing wonderfully. You look gorgeous.
Snappy and Lynnie: I confess...the recumbent bike has been sitting, unused, in front of the TV in my master bedroom for about three months now. I MUST get back to it. It's not like it's hard. Especially when I get to watch television while I'm cycling. Here is what I need to do: 1) Scan Comcast.net in my area for favorite shows that are starting new seasons in August; 2) Make a list of at least 3 a week that I would enjoy 3)Schedule time on the bike or at the very least DVR the shows using my on demand feature and then watch them while on the bike. I must be the laziest person on the planet.
Love to all!!!!! Missing Petra and Auddie. Loved hearing from BB!!!! SSSSSOOOOOO glad to have Lily (goddess of wry humor) back.
Fay: I think you are doing wonderfully. You look gorgeous.
Aw, bless you! Thanks, love!
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Sometimes it's a little awkward to be the older, fat woman when the gym is filled with young men (about DS' age!), but I don't think they pay much attention to me anyway. After all I am the older, fat woman who could be their mother and sometimes that works in my favor! It'll be different for you though because you're obviously not their mother!!
Well, I don't know about the mother-son thing, but I definitely know how you feel! Ack! It really is quite rubbish having other people working out at the same time. But I've become used to it now. I prefer not to have company, but I don't have to cringe and want to flee any more.
I know I look a lot less dreadful than I did before, and also it's nice that I know I can run better than I used to be able to (I mean, I'm still an unhealthy fat lass, but I know that I'm better at this than I was. Lots better.) Plus I have NO excuse for not using the gym, because in addition to the one I've joined, we have a tiny wee gym here in my apartment block - so that's what I'm doing at the minute. And so far that's been four days in a row now of getting dressed and going down for half an hour on the treadmill (alternating 60 seconds at 10k with 90 seconds at 5k) first thing in the morning. My friend coming to visit really has kickstarted me into getting off my arse (although it's been great so far, 'cause I've managed to get up before she wakes & nip downstairs to the gym, then come upstairs, shower and start doing breakfasty things. Fabulous.)
Tomorrow we're flying to the island of Koh Samui to stay here for 3 nights:
We're doing a lot of wining and dining whilst she's here, 'cause - Thailand, baby! And much of the pleasure of visiting a place is sitting around eating yummy food and talking, imho. But the majority of my choices have been very on-plan. This evening, I confess, I strayed a bit - decided to have a glass of red wine with my meal, and also decided to have icecream.
This is only the second time I've had dessert (other than stuff I've made myself) since January, so I'm not feeling guilty. Home made icecream - one scoop (not American-size scoop - I actually do mean a single scoop) of coconut icecream, and one scoop of custard apple icecream.
And I can't find it in my heart to regret ordering it, even if I find that I don't lose this week either - because it was the perfect conclusion to an absolutely exquisite meal, and my lips were tingling from all the chili, and the thought of icecream at that point was just magical.
It's one of my favourite restaurants - gorgeous old Colonial-style house, lovely decor, wonderful service and FANTASTIC food. They greet you with a complimentary welcome drink (a shotglass of fresh exotic juice of one kind or another) and you also get a complimentary little mini taster plate before your meal - 3 bite-size morsels of examples of the dishes in the kitchen. Nom nom nom! Everything was scrumptious, but of particular note was the spicy salad of fresh tuna steak, finely chopped ginger and spring onions, lime juice, chili and cashews - you spoon some into a betel leaf, roll it up and munch gleefully.
(This would totally work with a lettuce leaf, and would be just as lovely with any different fish. Think I may have a crack at making it myself.)
Low Carb Lolitas 7/14
I've been kind of plateauing myself for a couple of weeks as far as the weight, so I have felt a bit of your frustration. However I make it a point to measure myself too on my "weigh days" and there's where I've seen the biggest change. I think I'm still losing just as fast as I was before but I'm building muscle now too so the weight really isn't changing. When I lost 20 right off the bat it was part water loss and part fat...but my exercise consisted of a half hour semi-brisk walk. Now I'm doing weight training, sculpting and fairly heavy cardio (for me at least, who couldn't walk for a mile without being out of breath before).
There are some people who prefer afternoon or night, but I think it's all a matter of preference and getting into a routine (and staying with the routine!).
