silence-my husband aslo collects shot glasses-and I collect Hard Rock Cafe glasses-mostly the hurricane and tall ball glasses. Jason gets them from other states, or events, etc. His favorite one was when for his job he got to go the the Dodge Viper plant. (My husband is an engineer for an auto glass plant-and basically, the furnace and settings and all have to be changed totally for each new model of windshield or piece of glass that they make) He had a blast at the plant-since vipers are like his dream car. They only make a few at a time, and each one is pretty much babied the whole process. The glass is really thick, with a rounded base, and it squares out at the top-and it has a metal Viper Logo attached to one side. Noone is allowed to touch it!
Amy
What a great idea of the top ten lists!! It is so great to read about everyone! Notice that there was not a single 'weight history' among them!! Wooohooo!!
Silence.... I also have a confession.... I met hubby on the 'net as well... Long story made short..... we have been married for over a year, in June I will have lived in Australia for 2 years, and I don't regret a single day.... sometimes I am sad, and miss my family, friends, the single lifestyle I had.... but 99% of the time I am happy!!
Well..... this week was a major success!! I lost over 2 lbs finally and that Christmas weight gain is GONE!!!!
I also got asked to help out at the meetings and have started training to be a weight recorder!! too cool.
Last night hubby and I went out for our V-day dinner. We went to a fantastic seafood place in a funky part of the city. I had checked the points out ahead of time and did very well in my choices. One of the reasons I chose a seafood place!! I had the best Atlantic salmon...... a glass of amazing aussie chardonay, and tiramisu that I could have died for!!
The only bad part was that the tiramisu made me a bit funny in the tummy and I should have only had half....by the time I was done I was about to throw up from the sugar and sweet taste.
Oh well... next time I will learn eh??
I hope everyone else has a great weekend!! stay out of trouble and have fun!!
Hello everyone! Wow-we all must be so busy! Well...along with spring and summer coming up, my dance classes, and my stepbrothers summer wedding-I have just gotten another large motivation to get serious and get this weight off and my body in shape! I have just recieved a notice that my senior class officers are starting preparations for our class of 1993 10 year reunion!!! I really need whip this old body into shape before then!!! I have to look better than all the people I didn't like!
Aphil
I am still alive and kicking. So busy with homework. I am like dotting my I's and crossing my T's with studying and the whole nine yards. I can't risk dropping the ball and chancing that that will be the deciding vote of whether or not my GPA will fall below the Honor society allows. I was so mad the other day because I got a 98 on my math test simply because the answer was supposed to be a fraction over 3 and I failed to bring the 3 over to the area where she will check the answer, yet it was shown on my work. UGH! So I was only 2pts away from a perfect score. Now the test will consist mostly of word problems and I am so intimidated by word problems. I hope that I will be able to maintain an A in that class. After studying this weekend the word problems are becoming easier.
It sounds as if everyone is doing wonderful. Aphil, it's good to hear that you have that extra motivation. Nancy, is your arm feeling better. Nola, I love seafood and have heard great things about Tiramisu never have tasted it though. Holly, thank you for your support. Christine, I bet that bundle of love is keeping you busy. Tryinhard, wow principal that is amazing...I didn't know that about you. I really have to do those Top Ten Things about myself.
I will make a written list here at the house and then I will post here later.
You guys, I should ladies, I want to say thank you for being here. No matter how life is treating me any given day I can come here and find solitude, even if I just read through the posts. Talk to you all later.
Kina
Hi, I've been lurking for a few weeks now and just can't stay on the sidelines any longer. What a great group this is. I can't tell you how much it has helped to read through so many of the posts!
I'm 40, married and have one son. I'm a homemaker/office manager as my huband is self-employed. I've been married for 20 years and we live in Georgia.
Back in my teens and early 20's, my weight stayed in the 120's. It slowly crept up through the years and I've lost back down to 125 several times by using the Scarsdale Diet and portion control.
Well, now that I am in my 40's, dieting is much harder. Where I could usually drop 4 or 5 lbs. a week, I am now dropping a pound or two.
About 4 weeks ago I had my blood pressure checked and it was high. I ended up going to an Internist and was put on a low dosage of blood pressure medication. I realized that I had to do something and get serious about losing this weight or more trouble was going to be coming.
I purchased about 10 of the most popular diet books and read them all. So many of them conflicted with one another. I finally settled on using the "Picture Perfet" diet book by Dr. Shapiro. I am making wise food choices and counting calories. I have a little notebook in which I write everything down. I'm trying to eat an average of 1000 calories a day and exercising 5 - 6 times a week. I am lifting weights and walking.
The first 8 lbs. came off quickly and then I was stuck at 180 for over a week. I was really starting to worry and then I began losing again. I'm now at 174 and have to see the doctor tomorrow morning. I hope that I will show some improvement with the blood pressure and hopefully he will be happy about the weight loss.
I've got so far to go. I really do need all the support I can get. I sure do congratulate everyone here for trying so hard and keeping everyone's spirits up.
Hello!
Welcome K.C.! I want to start out with some basic information for you to help you out a bit. Do not be discouraged about losing an average of 1-2 pounds a week over 4 or 5-this is actually the BEST way to lose. You are only supposed to lose 1/2 to 2 pounds a week for it to be healthy, and for it to be FAT. If you are or were losing more than that, then you were experiencing some muscle loss as well from eating way too LITTLE-and you do not want that-which also brings me to the next topic-food. You say that you are eating about 1000 calories a day-you REALLY need to be eating at least 1200 a day-preferably around 1400-1500. When you consistently eat less than 1200 calories a day, you are going to actually slow down your metabolism, and lose more slowly-because our bodies have basic survival modes which help us to get through periods of famine, etc. Your body will do whatever it can to hold on to that weight. You want to keep your metabolism burning all of the time! When you eat at such a low level, you may lose quickly the first couple of weeks, but then you will experience a plateau like you are right now. Get those calories up to a healthier level and continue with your exercise and you will be fine. You may also find it helpful if you only weigh yourself once a week, rather than jumping on it every day. When you are losing at a healthy rate of 1-2 pounds a week, it can be depressing if you are jumping on that scale every day and not seeing a change every time. You will feel much better if you do it on a set day each week and see a result just about every time.
I hope these tips help you-I know it is hard to be patient, but we all have to remember that we weren't in a real hurry to get fat, so we can't be in a hurry to get fit. I don't remember jumping on the scale every day when I was eating like a hog and gaining weight!
I am not on a diet-I have made a total lifestyle change. I see people all of the time go on a diet and lose weight, and then slowly gain it all back because as soon as they got thin, they went right back to their old lifestyle. I have accepted that I am never going to be a naturally thin person-I will always have to exercise and watch my diet-that is just a fact-so I do everything I can to make it as enjoyable as possible.
I welcome you to the group-I am sometimes known as the drill seargant around here, but I love all of my friends here, and love to see them succeed in their fitness goals. These ladies are all so great.
Aphil
Thank you so much Aphil, for all the tips. I do have a problem with checking the scale every day. It is almost impossible for me to skip a day or two. I'm so anxious to see the numbers going down. I'm going to try to start checking it weekly. Maybe that will be more encouraging.
Welcome K.C.! I will raise my hand and admit that I am a avid scale weigher. But since I have been so busy I just don't even have time for that.
Anyhow...I came to knock my head against the keyboard and figured I would get a few posts in. I have so much on my plate that I just don't what to do first.
Okay I am going to get out of here now that I have spilled my yucks out. Bye.
Kina
Okay-let's see if this works. I had to shrink this thing down a zillion times, and you have to ignore the red eyes! This is me in tribal style bellydance gear and makeup-heavy eyeliner and lips, bindis on my forehead, etc. Now I just need to get a pic up here of what I look like everyday! I don't think I look TOO bad for a dancer still weighing in the 180's...
Aphil
Just checking in before getting dressed and ready for work. I have a hair appointment this morning. My perm is being weighed down with my length. But also the stylist said I was doing worst to the look by using Herbal Essences by adding buildup...well I didn't know.
Well I better get busy the bathroom is free finally. Before I go...Aphil you look AWESOME!
Kina
Just got back from the Dr. BP is down to 120/70!! Still staying on medication till next visit and they'll do bloodwork again. Discussed everything I was doing and he was pleased except for the low calorie intake. You all were right...he said to take in at least 1500 a day. That's actually going to be hard as I have gotten used to the 1000 - 1200 range and I want the weight off so badly. Guess I just can't be in such a hurry.
GeorgiaLady-Good news about your blood pressure! I know how badly you want the weight off-and eating MORE may seem like it is going to make it come off slower-but it will actually make it come off quicker than if you were to continue on at 1000 calories. Trust me. My mother used to diet drastically and work out like a madwoman when I was a kid, and she always ended up staying about the same-if you are overdoing the exercise (in excess of a couple of hours a day) or continually eating less than 1200 calories a day-then your body will go into survival mode and hold onto every bit of fat that it can-because it thinks it is going through a famine, and is trying to keep you alive! (Our bodies are unaware that some of us do this to ourselves purposely!)
Now my mother exercises normally, and eats a very moderate diet of about 1800-2000 calories a day to maintain her weight-is 46 years old and a size 6. She lost her last few pounds by eating 1400-1600 calories a day, and upped that level to its current one to maintain her weight.
Everyone sees their body in the mirror, and we are so obsessed with what it looks like, that we tend to forget that our bodies were designed to function in a particular way-a perfect design. Every thing is relative to everything else. Weight loss to be healthy has to be slow and steady-because it affects so many things-your blood pressure, for instance! When you are pregnant for example-your body is designed to allow your internal organs to move around to accomidate for that baby-your heart, kidneys, and other organs actually change position in your body, and your body makes an extra pint or so of blood-and then returns back to normal over the few days after birth! This is how you can lose 15 pounds the week of having an 8 pound baby!
When you gain or lose weight, your organs, blood, spine-everything has to adjust to this. If weight is lost too quickly, then our health can suffer-so it is important not to be in too big of a hurry. This is the most important part of our journey-the changing of bad eating habits and lack of exercise into healthy ones-and the transformation of our bodies. Enjoy every day of this journey everyone.
When Holly (Vermont Mom) first started posting here about a year ago-she sounded unhappy with herself and desperate, just like you do. Now she is a different woman-and she learned to enjoy each triumph and enjoy every moment of her weight loss journey-not saving it all until she was at her goal weight.
I am done with not living because I am not yet at my goal weight. I take it one day at a time, and keep up the good habits and exercise, and know that I WILL get there eventually.
I want everyone here to be good to themselves NOW, not just when they are at their goal weight. Don't "not buy" yourself clothes or refrain from doing something you love and say "I'll do it/buy it when I get smaller." Do it now. We have to be good to ourselves the whole way.
I had debated over whether or not to start my dance lessons recently, because I had a fear of being the fattest person in the class-even though I have lost a decent amount of weight already. When I went to the open house-and saw all of these women in the fashion show strutting their stuff-some young, some middle aged, some reed thin, and others with thick middles or chubby arms-I was enchanted by these women's faces. You would have thought they were all a size 4 the way they walked through there with grace and pride. They were TRULY beautiful-and I realized that attitude has a ton to do with it.
Aphil
Thanks Aphil...you have the best advice. I'm certainly in this for the rest of my life...not just temporarily, so I'll have to learn to enjoy my new lifestyle. So far, I've been working out between 30 - 45 minutes 5 - 6 days a week. It's not as hard as it first was and I always feel much better once the workout is over. I do think I will probably keep journaling my calories from here on out -- even after the weight is lost. I believe it is so easy to underestimate the calories we are eating each day.
I think that if you are eating healthy foods, that you are actually able to eat quite a bit. For example: you can eat a ton of brocolli, lettuce, asparagus, green beans, etc., for very few calories. I'm also working on not adding margarine or butter to my veggies or toast. I'm finding that I'm adapting fairly well to my new diet.
One of my biggest problems is eating when I'm stressed or depressed. I know that's put on the weight over the years. The mid to late afternoons are the worst. I'm going to have to find something else to do when I get that urge to "snack".
I really need whip this old body into shape before then!!! I have to look better than all the people I didn't like! 
Newbie Here
