[saef]

The other thread hit 500 posts. I don't remember what the optimal length of a thread might be, but seems to me like we might have reached it.

[saef]

Saturday, feeling a little disoriented, just as I felt yesterday. It's a three-day weekend, I should relax into it. But the transition is so difficult, as I figure out how to apply the brakes when I've been speeding through the days, running on cortisol and caffeine and anxiety over whether I can get my work done. I worked yesterday morning from 7 AM till about 1:30 PM and then found myself restless and at a loss. My solution? I wanted to eat my head off. I had to sit with myself and these impulses and felt like an addict sweating & squirming it out.

Weigh-in: 141, not surprising, as I know my intake increased yesterday. But this is also due to ham and hummus at lunch. Still, it didn't feel good to see that number.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: Coconut mango muffin; egg bake with spinach, broccoli and sun-dried tomatoes; blueberries with cinnamon and yogurt
Snack: Cherries
Lunch: Spring mix salad, roasted vegetables, steamed asparagus, pistachios, goat cheese, lots of sun-dried tomatoes
Snack: Gala apple
Dinner: Ham, half of a sweet potato, steamed asparagus, roasted cauliflower
Dessert: S'mores Quest bar

Exercise for Today: 20 minutes Cybex arc trainer, resistance at 10, then Workout 2B of the Strong Curves advanced program.

[silverbirch]

Neurodoc wrote:

I've seen scale #s below 128 several days this week, and only one above 128, so I'm officially moving the "current" weight on my profile down. Finally. It's killing me that even a single day of overeating can set me back 1-2 pounds for a week (clearly not just water weight), so it feels like I have to fight my way back down to (a not entirely satisfactory) goal with 100% resolve.

Where is everyone? Are you all away on holiday? I'd be curious to know how many people read this thread without ever (or only rarely) posting. It feels like just 4-5 of us make up 90%+ of the posts. I miss some of the other Maintainer "voices" we had when we were just a single thread. But I also understand how demoralizing it can be to read about someone's battle to lose the last 3 pounds when you have 15 or more to go (I stopped reading the Featherweights forum for the similar reason that I couldn't stand hearing about some 5'5" woman's struggle to get down to 110 pounds when she was at 118). I should probably just read and post in more threads/forums, but I have such limited time that it's hard to justify spending more time here than I already do. Suggestions?

BillBlueEyes wrote:

Happy Fourth of July, Andrea,

I always read this thread, but post elsewhere on 3FC. I'm smarting that a three day trip to visit relatives seemed to contribute to a zero pound loss for June. Zero is a very small number of pounds for a whole month of trying.

No suggestions . . . just good wishes.

Silverbirch wrote:

Invest time, don't spend it!

Quote:
Originally Posted by neurodoc
I should probably just read and post in more threads/forums, but I have such limited time that it's hard to justify spending more time here than I already do. Suggestions?

Oh how I do understand about limited time! But investing five minutes more, say, in reading another thread(s) could pay you dividends.

You know better than me what would be a dividend for you but (I am brain storming here as time is short ...) dividends could come in the form of:

a few moments of relaxation
feeling good to be in touch with the like-minded, with this community, with people who've known you a while
information
support
confirmation of your approach (effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability)
challenges to your approach (as above).

HTH. BBL.

Mudpie wrote:

I have been losing the fight with the fluffy this year Andrea. I try to post in the chat thread and it's never about my weight, which continues to climb. I do read here and post occasionally but I'm too most of the time.

saef wrote:

Time to start a new thread? And right in the middle of a good discussion of the usefulness or threads and what we get out of them, and from the site in general.

[traveling michele]

Great thread title. Very apropos!

I am very tired of losing the same pounds over and over, but have to remind myself that, for me, that is what maintenance looks like. I'm healthy and strong and at a good weight. Do I want to be 5 pounds less? Absolutely. Will I get there and stay there? Who knows.

Weight was low yesterday. Indulged food wise. Weight up several pounds today. Lather, rinse, repeat... However, today is a holiday and we will have lots of food so I don't expect a loss tomorrow. I will attempt to reign it in....

Very bad news yesterday regarding my uncle, who is my only living older relative, and like a father to me. Looks like I will be planning a trip to Rhode Island asap. Have to remind myself that food isn't the answer to stress and sadness.

[alinnell]

Sorry about your uncle, Michele. Sounds like my situation with my Dad. My SIL wants me to visit him soon as he is in such a decline. Is it bad for me to want to remember him when he was here last November? Granted he wasn't in the best health then, but I really don't want the memories I have of my Mom on her death bed. My sister is going to go up and visit toward the end of July and we may go at the same time, but I'm kind of thinking that might be too late.

And yeah, I lurk here and post on occasion. I belong to the other thread as I need to re-lose more than just 5 pounds. But there isn't as much participation there.

[silverbirch]

Allison, I'm going out to an induction session at a new gymn now but I'll come back and go over to the Losing a Lot thread. We have to focus!

[Shannon in ATL]

I lurk in this thread, too. And in the more than 5 pound thread. I have been sporadic in my chat.

[Sheila53]

I have to admit to being a major lurker, although I do pop in now and again. Sometimes I find myself nodding my head in agreement with what's being posted, but then I never jump in myself.

So my gym is closed for a few weeks because it's moving down the street. I have a set of weights, a bosu, resistance bands, and a stability ball. What I don't have is the wherewithal to use them. I can feel my muscles atrophying. At least I'm walking every day--16 miles on Thursday.

[neurodoc]

Silverbirch, congrats on the new gym(n - what the heck is that n for, anyway?). I too joined a new gym a month ago, and the novelty hasn't worn off yet. I LOVE it, especially the interesting new group class options, though it's hard to be available at the start time for some of them, and walking in late appears to be frowned upon by the instructors and members alike.
And, yes, I would get more of a feeling of inclusion if I read/posted in more threads. It is definitely a trade-off, and some weeks I need the added reinforcement from reading and posting, while other weekss I simply can't afford the time.

Michele, is your "body pump" class one where you use a modestly weighted barbell and then do repetitive low platform step-ups, or small dumbbells to do like 20 arm curls together with step-ups? Because they have such a class here, though it's called "workout with weights," but it seems to be much more about the cardio aspect than the weight lifting aspect. Just wondering.

Saef, thanks for starting the new thread. Did you name it, or did Bill? In either case, it is a little depressing though all too accurate. Michele, I really like the "lather, rinse, repeat" phrase. Also "yo-yo dieting with a very short string."

Sheila- 16 miles???? WOW, I think that's worth as much as a little Bosu ball work any day.

HAPPY 4th of JULY EVERYONE.

[Mudpie]

Andrea gymnasium I think? Birchie?

I am currently not "losing those 5 lbs. over & over" but I will post. My stress levels went through the roof today and I maintained whatever composure I could. Without "eating my head off"- as saef said - to compensate.

My contractor emailed this morning. The kitchen reno was supposed to start Monday. He asked if I had picked up the flooring materials as that had to go in first. According to our discussions and the contract my understanding was that he'd do all the shopping. Now I have been waiting several hours to find out whether I should pack up my kitchen tomorrow. At least I only got a good start on the non-essentials so if the reno is delayed it's not that bad.

Then this afternoon the people I'm using for pet sitting when we go away at the end of the month called to tell me their person coming to stay had quit. And they had no one else available. I was able to contact the person directly and she will honour the commitment.

Now DH is freaking out because he wants to go visit his buddy up north next Thursday and I don't know at this point whether I need him here for the reno.

AAAAARRRRRGGGGH!!!!!

Thank goodness for Trixie. My two peaceful moments today have been the long walks I've taken with her. Poor girl is pretty anxious. I think the last time packing went on in her life she lost her whole family.

I'm going to a movie tonite. DH and his band are practicing in our basement so I'm clearing out. Trixie really liked the last practice apparently so she'll be OK. Natalie is immune to the sh*tstorm that today has been.

I will try to follow her lead.

Dagmar

[traveling michele]

Allison... I'm sorry about your dad's decline. I'm unhappy that my aunt and uncle didn't fill us in when he started declining. I think it's their generation to not tell us things. I haven't seen him in six years though dh has seen him more recently. He used to be 6' 3" before shrinking and my aunt said he was down to 120 pounds. I can't imagine. It looks like a serious malpractice suit is in the works as well. Dh is traveling for several weeks so I'm hoping we can go after, assuming he doesn't decline further. My girls want to go too so travel arrangements, pet sitting, etc. get complicated.

Andrea... Body pump sounds somewhat similar. You have a barbell and hand weights. To music, you work different muscle groups and adjust your weights accordingly. So one song will be shoulders, another back, another biceps, etc. it's a great all around workout in my opinion.

Sorry for the kitchen stress, Dagmar! Hope it all works out well!

[saef]

Andrea, yes, I named the thread, inspired by repeated references to this phrase in our discussions.

In my case, it's about three pounds, from 138 to 141.

Sunday, still benefiting from going downtown yesterday and seeing "Fun Home" at Circle in the Square, a theater in the round. "Fun Home" won the Tony for best musical, and deservedly so: It's funny, sensitive & heartbreaking, and it's about the cartoonist Alison Bechdel coming of age and coming out as a lesbian, and discovering that her father, an English teacher, old-home restorer and funeral home director (thus the title) was also gay. One incidental pleasure was its evocation of a 1970s childhood, with a couple numbers that sounded like old Jackson 5 songs or echoed the Osmonds or the Partridge Family, the kind of music we heard then as kids.

Weigh in: 141.9, and since I was walking around the city yesterday, and wasn't snacking, I'm attributing this to sodium retention. Enjoying ham comes at a price.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast: Coconut mango muffin; egg bake with broccoli, mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes; blueberries with cinnamon and yogurt
Snack: Cherries
Lunch: Spring mix, roasted vegetables including cauliflower, half an avocado, goat cheese, pecans, sun-dried tomatoes and goji berries
Snack: Raw cauliflower (I was cooking) and a quarter of a mango (making those addictive muffins again, as overripe mangoes were once again on special at the market)
Dinner: Miso-glazed salmon, roasted cauliflower, steamed French green beans
Dessert: S'mores Quest bar

Exercise for Today:

20 minutes recumbent bike, then Workout 2B of Strong Curves. The high step-ups carrying 10-lb dumbbells are exhausting because of the weakness of my left leg -- which nevertheless is much stronger, as I couldn't have performed this maneuver about eight or 10 weeks ago.

[silverbirch]

Andrea, gymn is short for gymnasium, as Dagmar said. It was always abbreviated like this in British English before the internet came along. I like the way it looks back to Ancient Greece and over to the rest of Europe.

Wikipedia: The gymnasium in Ancient Greece functioned as a training facility for competitors in public games. It was also a place for socializing and engaging in intellectual pursuits. The name comes from the Ancient Greek term gymnós meaning "naked".

Wikipedia: A gymnasium is a type of school with a strong emphasis on academic learning, and providing advanced secondary education in some parts of Europe and the CIS, comparable to British grammar schools, sixth form colleges and U.S. preparatory high schools.

[Mudpie]

Birchie I dimly recall my grandmother speaking of her kids graduating from the gymnasium and my mom also talked about going to the "French Lyceum" (sp?). Interesting.

Dagmar

[neurodoc]

I feel a bit stupid, considering I know the word "gymnasium" quite well (and, as a native Hungarian, I even know the European meaning of upper-level education).

Dagmar, there are few things in life more stressful than a remodeling effort (well, ok, losing your job, getting a divorce, preparing for your wedding ...) and I don't envy you the minutia of preparation, but just think how great it will be when it's done.

DS#2 has been at sleep-away camp for a week, and DS#3 is leaving for his on Tuesday. That leaves only DS#1, who is deep into his "leave me alone, I am completely independent" phase (nearly 17). DH and I should have a fairly quiet, relaxed week assuming my job stress doesn't interfere too much.