Gosh saef, I really feel for you! I really hope your ear gets cleared up soon. And umm.. I agree about male swimmers. Wowza.
Jessica, I had to laugh about Christmakuh - glad you all are able to work things out with different families/faiths. It's tough enough with my folks being in a different state to try and make all the rounds around the holidays. You are exercising so much... I know I really could not lose weight the last few weeks leading up to my half. It's so counter-intuitive and counter-productive... I figure, I'm burning 1,000 calories from my long runs, why am I not dropping on the scale? Eh because I either ate back the calories because I was ravenous or I wasn't eating enough to see a loss, one of the two. I never did quite figure out the magic number to have enough fuel to continue training and lose weight at the same time. Maybe it's just not possible!
midwife, I'm right there with ya with stuffing a sock in my mouth. There are a dozen donuts in the kitchen at work and that fluffy doughy sugary goodness is calling out to me...
Good news. I bought a bike on Friday and start my duathlon training today. 2 mile run, 4.5 mile ride, 1 mile run. It's kind of backward from the actual duathlon but I'm really kind of itching to run. Also for some crazy reason I bought a 5-week boot camp package... I think I will dive into that after the duathlon is over. Apparently I'm a glutton for punishment.
saef - the wonderful views at the pool, and especially the meets, are definitely a reason I keep swimming. Not only is the scenery delightful, but I am inspired and motivated when I see how incredibly agile and strong the senior swimmers are. Swimmers are just ... happy people! The top "land-based" athletes (runners, bikers) look crabby and malnourished and weatherbeaten to me. Swimmers are sleek. Dang. Now I'm all flustered.
FatPants - It's a fine line between "glutton for punishment" and a desire to see just what the body can do, isn't it? And such an addictive thrill to do more than we imagined possible!
Well ... I'm teetering on making the mental jump to Maintenance. I've maintained a 25# loss since October, and while I could certainly (and I do want to) lose 5-10 more, I find myself pretty content with declaring where I am now as "the redline". It seems to be a good spot - no love handles, not much cellulite, reasonable 8/10 dress size. A solid medium. It could only get better from here. Who was it that said maintenance is just yo-yoing on a very short string? I could live with that, I think.
Okay, this is now day 17 of vertigo & partial deafness. But I've been going to the gym for eight days now, which beats me pacing about or lying down in my "cage." The good news is, I'm down five pounds from what I weighed in on the morning I had a temper tantrum here in the forum & cried out in despair.
The bad news is, I finally went to see an ENT specialist yesterday & after two hours of testing, they confirmed that I have 90% deafness in my left ear and have lost 70%-80% function in my inner ear on the left side.
What really bothered me is they say I have a 50/50 chance of permanent hearing loss.
In the meantime, I've got three new scripts & am under strict orders to discontinue all the others. So now I'm taking prednisone, famciclovir (more commonly used to treat herpes & shingles, which made me feel like a pariah at the prescription counter) & yes, even valium. Maybe the latter is so that I mind it all less?? And I'm to get an MRI next Tuesday & also some bloodwork done.
Again, going to the gym really helps preserve my sanity & keeps me from feeling like a helpless inhabitant of a failing body -- though using the machines is sometimes like being on an amusement park ride. But I am not a complete masochist & am selective about what I'll do. I'm not getting on the treadmill & I am not even going to try vinyasa yoga (much as I miss it). Also, I don't want to forget to acknowledge another blessing: My wrist injury seems fully healed & I can hold a plank position as firmly as I did before the car accident.
You know I'd almost be able to deal with the deafness if I didn't have vertigo or the sense of having a stuffy left ear. (Almost. In fact, it freaks me out.)
Now I want a Victorian ear trumpet. Will be on eBay searching for one. It will be a conversation starter on the coffee table in my apartment.
First of all, very good news about your wrist. Excellent news for the plank, a posture I should have another go at.
Secondly, the ear is still sounding perfectly terrible. I don't have sensitivity for the US medical system but here, I always take those percentage likelihood things with a big pinch of salt. If I can. I do try to but they are unsettling. In a way, I think they are unhelpful. Glass half empty? Or glass half full?
Thirdly, good work on getting to the gymn. It's a place of sanity and I plan to be there on Sat and Sun.
Hectic here. School prize-giving today and the DB did extremely well. He & I had a fab Chinese takeaway whilst the SO had a sit-in before picking up his bike from the menders. It's a small town with very little resto choice. And I'm often stretching on the mat at the gymn with the owner.
Lucky I fuelled up as my Christmas divorce friend came round with more stories of life in the Bonkers Zone.
Obviously no work today and no gymn. Wah! I have recommitted myself to the Beck Diet Solution. I believe a lumpy body is not the best look for me.
Good luck to all of us. Oh, especially to those of you facing those very particular food challenges this weekend brings.
Last edited by silverbirch; 07-02-2010 at 02:24 PM.
Saef, I really admire your determination to stay on plan with your ear problems. Hopefully everything will clear up soon.
SB, hope you're getting in a good workout this weekend.
My DD shared this quote with me (cause she's a runner) but I thought it particularly applies to those of us in maintenance who need to drop a few lbs.
"Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to go somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!"
-The Red Queen, Alice Through Looking Glass and What She Found There.
Don't listen to them! (Figuratively I mean.) They have to say that thing about 50/50 chance, for full disclosure, but just note it and forgetaboutit. The potent anti-viral meds are a good thing to have a go at--no need to feel like a pariah--lots of upstanding citizens get viral infections for no unsavory reason at all. The valium is to help soothe the irritated nerves--viruses often go for the nerves. And as a benefit, you get to chill out...
Take it easy, Saef. Be careful exercising with Valium on top of vertigo... Perhaps a lot of mat-based work?
Silver, Midwife, thanks for the good words & the encouragement. JayEll, thanks, you sound intimately familiar with the medical establishment. I really hated those coin-flip odds.
I'm sick of writing posts about illness or injury. Really, I am not a person who gets sick or whines about it when it happens. (Yeah, I got fat, but the cause/effect there is clear. I ate too much. I didn't move very much. It cannot be attributed to illness.) I am rather bored with these things happening to me this year (car accident, inner ear infection from ****), and always thinking, "Whew, another obstacle trying to get between me & my time in the gym."
Anyway, I did a spin class & then a Pilates class today. Came home & went on a bout of cooking against the coming heatwave (97 & 98 predicted & heat through much of the week). Made curried chicken salad (yogurt is what holds it together, and a bit of olive oil that heated the curry), roasted a big tray of veggies & made a huge cold black bean & quinoa salad. I'm also marinating some flank steak overnight.
You know I'd eat quinoa more often if I didn't have to rinse it beforehand in a fine-mesh sieve. With all the tiny grains, that part is a pain in the butt.
But I overdid it between the gym & all the cooking -- also, doing a load of laundry -- & ended up with a pounding headache, so went out on my patio in a wicker chair with my feet up & eyes closed & a citronella bucket burning nearby. The fireflies are out. Boom, boom, boom from some municipal fireworks somewhere. Happy Fourth, everybody. Cheers! I raise a bottle of Poland Spring to ya'll, wherever you may be.
I can report that I have lost 2 1/4 lbs since last Sunday. Hurray! Some of that is because my period's over but credit where credit's due. Thank you, everyone, for being around.
That 2.25lbs is the first to go as part of my 12 week assault on 12lbs. The school summer holidays (8 weeks starting on Friday) are challenging. I'd rather eat what suits me and lose weight than have to make do and put it on. Being out of routine and the safe food & exercise zone plus travelling about and needing substantial amounts of readily available energy is tricky.
Yesterday (Sat) I did distance rowing intervals plus 20 minutes yoga. I also went swimming (yes, actual swimming) in the Irish Sea which is kissing cousins with the mighty Atlantic Ocean. The North Atlantic Drift from the tropics does make it a little warmer than the same latitude in North America but it's still not really swimmable by normal mortals until August. Ahem. Yes, abnormal mortal speaking.
Do you know what it's like to get out of a cold swimming place with the wind blowing and run to get your towel? Well, when I ran up the beach, with only my costume on, I realised how well my muscles were working (and looking). Hurray! But I also realised that the excess fat just has to go if I am to be a beach babe.* Perhaps I should set a hot-pink cozzie like saef's as a reward!
* For the record, the beach babe part of this is most unlikely to happen.
I'm away for work on Monday and Tuesday. A new client! (London, I'm afraid, midwife. And, yes, I'll squeeze in a hair cut. Saef, my hairdresser is called Ben.) Fingers crossed.
Friends, I have to concentrate. My weight at left <- is ... not accurate. I am working on it. Hair is now very short: 0.5lb down would you say?
Some of you know I chill at the British Library when in London. Well, here I am, tucking into a fabulous salad. It is one of the best places I know for no fuss, read a book whilst eating, big city relaxation.
My weight is pretty stable at 137.8. I have been eating like crazy this past weekend due to all the intense workouts for my triathlon training. I must be burning enough calories to not be gaining, but the downward trend I had before is pretty much stopped.
Last week I was whiny and hormonal and did not want to let loose another misery storm on anyone.
Saef, you keep on doing what you do. I think your responses have been utterly reasonable and actually amazingly upbeat. Marvelous Resistance to the misery storm you justly deserve.
Silver, I would love to have a family visit with you and DB. And I am certain the .5lb hair loss is smashing.
Midwife, that running quote is truth in the world of maintenance! crazy truth
Jessica and FP, you girls are sounding like Real Deal athletes to me FP, what gorgeous pix you posted
Becky, I read that line and I seem to remember the OP was calling it a bad thing. For me, it's definitely an experience I've come to recognize as a good thing. Daily weighing helps keep my string shorter rather than longer!
Onward and forward in the heat wave....
Last edited by kittycat40; 07-06-2010 at 10:09 AM.
My DD shared this quote with me (cause she's a runner) but I thought it particularly applies to those of us in maintenance who need to drop a few lbs.
"Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to go somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!"
-The Red Queen, Alice Through Looking Glass and What She Found There.
Sigh. Wow... so true and yet so simple. I don't know why this is so hard for me. If I want to drop 5 lbs, then I have to DO THE WORK. Not this so-so exercise routine. It works well for maintaining. Not so well if I want to drop a few.
Today I'm fighting the ever-lasting 2 lb weekend gain!
)
crazy truth 
