THIN WANNABEES WEEKLY CHIT-CHAT (April 23 thru May 6)
 

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Hello and welcome to the Thin Wannabees! :cheer:

It’s 2007! Come join our weekly chit-chat! We look forward to meeting YOU!

We are a friendly group of ladies who have one thing in common. We are all working together toward our goal of being healthier in our daily lifestyles and to lose weight. There are all different ages and backgrounds here and we all have different ways of losing our weight. We all love to have fun and laugh, but we also give a lot of support, encouragement and motivation for one another, not just in weight loss, but in all of our daily joys and struggles.

Everyone has their ups and downs and we’ll be here with you thru both! Please feel free to post with us - just jump right in and believe me, you will be welcomed with open arms. The more the merrier!

So please join us and let's work together towards a healthier us!! :gossip:

Please feel free to check out our website and learn more about us at: The Thin Group

Good morning everyone! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. We went downstate - got to see my great-grandson, he's 3 and it's been a while since I saw him so was really happy about that! He will soon have a little sister - May 12th - how exciting is that! Yesterday I hit my 150 miles at the SportsPlex - only 100 more to go to get my name up on the "Wall of Fame" .. hopefully a few more lbs down also! We sure had some gorgeous weather over the weekend but it's gotten colder again but ... still not bad - I think this time Spring is coming soon. Hopefully, no more snow! I have to run out now but later on I will start us a new challenge thread so watch for it ... hope to hear from you all soon!

Later...
Love, CJ

Hi
 

Hi,
I'm new to the site...am back on the bandwagon and trying to get back to healthy weight.
Congrats on the 150 miles...that's awesome! I've been working on the President's challenge...I've logged alot of points, but haven't lost much weight, mainly because up 'til now I was stress eating, so the exercise couldn't make up for that. This is my turning point because my job is on the line (I'm in the Air Force). If I don't lose some points (inches), I'll get booted because 30% of our fitness test is an ab circumference/bmi measurement. So even though I passed the rest, I failed that so miserably that I failed the whole thing:( . Anyway, I'm done whining about that. I'm on a new start and am now watching what I eat along with the exercise and look forward to seeing the scale respond :) .

Anyway, just saying hi and really looking forward to your new challenge, because being a type A person, I LOVE a good challenge.

Jen

Hello all:

I finally got the bike out. I took it for a spin yesterday. My butt was so sore today. I did not go too far yesterday but still need that time to get used to that seat. Why do they make them so small and hard. I figured with all the extra padding I have on me I would be a piece of cake.....well its hard cake...lol.

I guess I must be a sucker for punishment because I decided that since I am not working until this afternoon I would do a trial run to work. It took me 25 minutes there and back and it seemed at times that I was standing still. I though I should get off and walk it would have been faster. But I did it. I am tired now and my legs feel like jelly but I hope to do this at least 3 times a week, and hopefully it will get easier.

The exercise is the only good part of my whole week. I have not been eating as well as I should be, I have been tired and irritable and just tired of the whole thing. I have zero motivation to work at it....but tomorrow is another day. And so is today really, I have posted my first days of exercise and that is something to celebrate. I will clock it in my car when I go in to work today that way I will know how many kilometers I did today. I think is somewhere in the vicinity of 15 kms.

So my thin friends thanks again for listening. Hope everyone is doing well. CJ congradutations on the new grand baby. My mom is expecting a new grandson on May 30. My children had better not be trying to make me a grandmom just yet. I am too young......even more importantly they are too young!!!!!

On to face the rest of the day.

Take care all.

Dallas

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Good afternoon ladies! I did go and work out this morning - yea! I got in 45 minutes worth. Now, I just have to keep the food portioned in the right amount. I am encouraged and ready for the battle (even though my scales were on the + side this morning).
Biking Dallas - You are an inspiration! I go to the church gym and ride a stationary bike when the rel thing is right outside my back door. Your riding has me ready to go at it again, but, ouch, I do dread that little hard seat too. My neighborhood is flat and that is a Good thing. Now Dallas, you have to many people pulling for you, for you to be irritable and tired! I am excited for you that you got out and rode the bike. Just think, one day our "seats" might just fit "that" hard, little seat! Ha,ha!
Jen - I can hardly wait to hear of yor progress. I bet you will be single minded and totally focused and will have those extra inches off/gone in no time!
CJ - Wow - 2 greats! That's neat and exciting! The 150 miles, is that for walking or maybe the total of all the machine work you do at the gym? Keep up the good work and be sure to let us celebrate with you when you reach the wall - fame! Hey, and remember, you knew us back when...!!!!
Everybody, have a great and successful day in every way!

Hello all. I'm new.

(Sorry for posting to last week's thread.)

A few months ago I started the first truly successful exercise program
of my life, and after a few weeks I could feel myself becoming almost
addicted to it. Well, not exactly, because I still hate exercising, but
at least I could feel that mythological boost from it afterwards, and
"hating it" is a huge improvement from how much I used to despise
exercise.

ANYWAY.... I didn't lose any weight. I did gain some weight when I was
building muscle, and over several weeks I lost a few pounds and came back
to my starting weight, except in a healthier configuration. Sure, sure,
that's progress, but after 2 months of so much effort, I expected my pants
to fit more loosely and they didn't. (I was watching what I ate, no
unhealthy foods, but also no limit on healthy foods, and not many
restrictions during parties and special occasions.) I sacrificed a lot of
time and effort and used up a lot of will-power to do all that exercise, and
I figured it was going to transform my body. How could it not transform
my body?!?! :)

At the beginning of April I started a strict diet
(counting calories, measuring everything) and
keeping up the exercise, and suddenly I'm seeing some success. It's
such a joy to tighten my belt finally. Such a relief. I can do this!
I'm no stranger to dieting and weight loss, and I've even had some success
at keeping it off for a couple of years at a time. But this is my FIRST TIME
combining diet and exercise, and this is my first time trying to go all the
way from FAT to skinny in one big long marathon. But this is really
important to me and nobody is going to discourage me from being ambitious on this.

I've got hunger like an itchy mosquito bite every minute of the day. It's
not unbearable pangs, but it's incredibly distracting. I feel proud of myself
for every minute I resist the urge, but then I feel surprised that I've
accomplished absolutely nothing at work or at home.

That's the quick summary. I should sign off for now, but I'm looking
forward to getting to know you.

Lisa

Good morning all:

First I want to thank everyone for all the support. It is really hard for me to do this some days. I have to wonder if I am bipolar. Some days I feel so good about doing this and others I just want to give up. For me dieting is a battle, food is my enemy and it takes so much of my energy just to keep going at times. I know there is no easy way to do this, but does it have to be so hard????

I have made some good choices and changes in my life in the last few months and for some reason I am stuck at a point fluctuating between 203 and 205. I would love to step on the scales and for once have it be less than 200. 199 would be the magical number for me. No matter what I eat or what I do I have found that I cant get below 200. I hope that the exercise will kick in and help me get past that plateau. It is so frustrating to be stuck here.

The scales hold such a power over us. It can take us to some great highs but it can also take us to some lows too.

Its not all bad though, I am very fortunate to be fairly healthy and for that I am thankful. Some people are not so fortunate. I have the ability to exercise and some people are bed ridden, or suffer from debilitating diseases that keep me them from doing much of what we take for granted. For that I am thankful.

So keeping that in mind I hopped on my bike again this morning and took another ride. I stopped at a store along the way to buy a gel covering for my seat but unfortunately for me they only had ones to fit childrens seats, so off I went with my tender butt. I managed to probably get another 10 kms in. Yesterday I measured my ride and it was exatly 5 kms from my house to work. So I did 10 kms yesterday too....and 3 the day before. hopefully my behind toughens up soon. I dont know how long I can take it. Right now I have my bum on a padded seat.

Anyway once again I want to thank everyone for all the support. It does help and keeps me going.

So onward again.

Dallas


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Dallas, I used to do alot of biking (before my kids) and I found that padded bike shorts really help, as does a shock post. (You'll probably have to go to a hard core bike shop to find it, but basically it's a shock absorber seat post. I ride the back of a tandem and you feel all the bumps back there so it REALLY helps.) I also recommend one of the ergo seats. Bike seats cut off circulation to certain places and the good seats are supposed to help with that. It's kind of like getting good running shoes...it makes all the difference. Also, awesome job on getting out there!

Lisa, sounds like you're doing great! I too feel hungry alot and what seems to help is to have a bottle of water handy on my desk at work and just drink, drink, drink when I feel hungry. I tend to eat less (some eating was just out of habit) and it really helps me to drink the amount of water that you're supposed to.

I've manage to exercise at least once a day this week. Eating's been going well too, but today is my son's birthday and we are going out tonight and the party (with cake) is Saturday. Keep your fingers crossed for my willpower, please...;)

Jen,
Thanks for the reminder.
I'm definitely getting the recommended 10 cups a day of water, if not more.
I'm incredibly thirsty all the time and that feels really encouraging. I assume
the extra thirst is because I'm burning fat and it's dumping ketones in my
blood. Maybe the thirst is in my head, but I'm going to assume it's a
concrete sign of making progress. The only problem is that I sometimes
forget to keep the water coming and then my thirst makes my hunger
worse. (Which I guess is like what you said, where drinking more water
makes the hunger less.)

Dallas,
It sounds like you're commuting to work by bike, is that right? That's
really impressive. What is your routine? Do you change clothes after you
get to work? (Sorry if you explained in a previous post that I missed.)

Lisa

Today I'm going to my first ever Pilates class.
It's a matwork for beginners class, but I'm still terrified. I'm trying
it because I love (envy) the posture of people who do Pilates.

Lisa

Hi I am back home again!
 

Hi everyone,
Well I am finally back home from daughter, Tracy's house in Illinois. After spending 2 weeks there, I am happy to be home, but really miss my new little Grandson, Tyler so much. I wish we lived closer, but 4 hours is better than them living across the country, like where they could be stationed with them both being in the Air Force. I had such a great time with that little one, I helped them they tell me so much and I especially loved being able to hold him, feed him and watch him sleeping so peacefully. I hope we see them again soon, but until than we keep in touch over the phone and I get reports of how he is still mixing up his days and nights, is colicky and cries quite a bit. :cry: Well I say "Welcome to parenthood", it really does have it's moments, but there are so many rewards that come with having children. :flow2:

A great big welcome to Determined Lisa! :welcome3: Lisa I am so glad you decided to join us, this is a wonderful group and you will love it here. It really sounds like you are doing a great job on your weight loss and exercise program. I admire the way you are sticking to it and not giving up, no matter what. I too hate to exercise, but like you, I love the feeling I get when I am all done. Like I have accomplished something that is good for myself and my body. :belly: Good luck on your Pilates class, let us know how it went.

KimV-Wow look at you losing even more weight and you are really doing so well now with your weight. How was your Josh Turner concert? How nice that you and Hannah are doing these Mother/Daughter outings together. She will remember these always as will you. It seems like you are doing great Kim. Things are working out for you arn't they? You are doing such a wonderful job with your daughter. :bravo:

CJ-So glad you got to see your Great Grandson again and how wonderful that you are having a Great Grandaughter as well in May. I am finally discovering what you have, that Grandchildren are wonderful. Everyone has been telling me that when you have your Grandkids it is different from when you have your kids. Now I can enjoy them, not have to do all the work raising them and I can love them and than send them home with their Mommy and Daddy. I can't wait for Kelly's baby in October. I will have even more fun. :cp: I see you started a new Swimsuit Challenge, I will go there and join. I need all the help I can get. Thanks for starting that thread. Congrats for hitting your 150, I just know you will make your next 100 mark and get your name on the wall of fame. Keep on doing what you are doing and you will get to where you want to be. :running:

Eliz-You said you were going to go to your Mom's for her birthday end of the month, so I assume you are there now or coming back tonight. How did it go? Did you go to the fish house? I'll bet you had so much fun with your family. I had a great time with Ken's family and my MIL on her birthday. His sister had a Thanksgiving in April Birthday dinner for his Mom, turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy and everything else, that is her her favorite meal. We also acted crazy, :woo: had party hats, party bags with all kinds of silly stuff in it and we were blowing these blowie things up like it was New Years Eve. Than we went to my Dad's and took him out to lunch the next day and it was so great seeing him agin too. You are right there is nothing more important than family, especially your parents, since my Mom died about 8 years ago I really cherish my Dad so much now. :hug:

Also welcome 2 be fat no more/Jen-:welcome: I commend you for all your hard work on the Presidents Challenge. You should be proud of yourself. Wow, you are in the Air Force, like my daughter, stationed in Illinois at Scott AFB, and my son, currently stationed in Oson, South Korea. Where are you stationed? I know from my kids all about the requirements to stay in the Air Force. Tracy has just had a baby and gained some weight, maybe 35 or 40 lbs and is working on getting that weight off. She has never had a weight problem, but wants to get into her running shape. I have been with her and her unit, she works with recuiters and have walked with them, while they all ran. LOL She used to lead the pack running, but she will get there again. She is very hard on herself and I keep telling her she just had a baby. She has been going to the base gym and really making good food choices to get back to where she was before the baby. I know you will get back to where you want to be, just take things a day at a time and you will get there. :dust: We are all happy to have you in our group. ;) Hope you had a great time at your son's Birthday party. :hb:

Dallas-I sometimes have the same feelings day to day about how I am doing with my program. Sometimes I feel like I am doing great and the next day I am not sure. Sometimes it seems like it so easy and other days, it is hard. Especially when I get out of my routine, like traveling, being in Illinois for 2 1/2weeks, than going to Michigan for 3 more days. Boy I get all out of wack than. Eating on the road and not being able to exercise. I know the scale is up, but I have been working this week at getting back to where I was last month. Just hang in there my friend, it will get better. I just figure once we got our routine down and it becomes a habit, if we take it a day at a time, we will get to where we want to be. :cb:

Well better end this and get ready for bed. Glad there is so much posting in The Wannabee's. I love it!

Take care everyone and talk to you later. Love you, Sassy Sharon :grouphug:

Thanks for the welcome!
Sharon, your grandson sounds adorable. I love watching little kids sleep.

Dallas, I hear you about being thankful for good health. I've read some
amazing and inspiring stories on these forums about people who
reached horrible health crises, and I'm just so grateful for my options.

Here's a report back on that Pilates class.

The instructor was great and she gave easier and harder versions of every exercise. "For those of you with stronger backs, you can also lift your legs
with each exhale." She didn't even use negative language for the easier
versions of the exercises. Everybody in the class was either a beginner, recovering from injury, or over age 60, so the atmosphere definitely
wasn't judgmental.

Also, I was surprised at how much I was able to do. Even though I'd never
been to a Pilates class before, I had been exercising privately and it was
nice to see how much ability I had, just from being slightly stronger and
slightly fitter.

That day I felt pretty good, and the next day I wasn't too stiff.

I was more aware of my posture (one of the reasons I joined the class)
and I think I've been sitting a bit straighter recently.

Those are the good parts. The bad parts are that I felt incredibly exhausted
the next day and after the second night I woke up even stiffer than I did
after the first night, even though I didn't exercise much the second day!
Oh well, I guess I'm building lots of muscles, which is great.
I still don't know how to judge which workouts are too easy and which are
too strenuous but I guess that will come with time.

Lisa

Sharon, Thanks for the welcome. I'm stationed at Wright-Patterson in Ohio. I know just how your daughter feels. I gained 65 pounds with son #1 and had just lost it and got in enough shape to run a marathon, when I got pregnant with son #2 and gained 67 pounds. I lost it just in time to start my PhD and have gained about 35. (Well, not just the PhD...I'm a stress eater and have had almost the worst year of my life...My husband and I almost split up, and then when all that settled, our older son started having more problems at school...ended up getting diagnosed with ADHD, Asperger's disorder, and sensory itegration disorder, now I take him to 2-3 appointments a week...plus, now he's in a special school, so I have about an hour commute with taking the kids to 2 different schools, so it's not just the PhD...but I'm really telling you more than you asked, so I'll stop now....) Things are definitely looking up though. Jacob is doing really well. He's so smart, so with proper coping skills (which he's learning in all the appointments I take him to and his school), he should have a normal, wonderful life. So I really thank God for that. My husband and I are doing better. Still work in progress, but I'm not ready to leave anymore. And I'm supposed to finish my PhD in September, so that will be a big monkey off my back. Luckily, the Air Force is sponsoring my PhD, so it is my job...no night school. I wouldn't have been able to do it otherwise.

Birthday cake update. I didn't have a piece but did have some frosting when I moved it from the store box to tupperware. I haven't had any since though and Brad and the kids have been eating it in front of me since Saturday. Today at work, someone left brownies and then cookies on a table 3 feet from my cubicle. :tantrum: I am so excited to say that I didn't even touch them! :carrot:

Anyway, I've rambled quite a bit, so I'll stop now and leave some stuff to chat about later.

Jen

Hi all,
I am finally starting to get back on track. I have been eating healthier, making better choices and drinking my water. Tomorrow I will start back to Curves again. I have not been there for about a month, with going to Illinois and Michigan I just got out of the routine I had talked about earlier. So I just love being back in control again. I hate the feeling I always have when I am not doing things like I did before when I was right on my program. I just am feeling so much better. :flow2:

Lisa-Your Pilate's class sounds great. I know Pilate's tends to scare some people. Thinking that it is all difficult, but it sounds like your instructor is great and let's you do what is right for your situation. I guess you will be able to tell eventually what is too strenuous for you by how you feel. Right now it is natural to feel somewhat stiff if you are not used to the Pilate's. That is great that you have been exercising privately for a while and it has paid off with what you are able to do and tolerate. Good going. Pretty soon you will be a pro and building up your resistance and you will surprise yourself with how good you will do. Keep up the good work! :bravo:

Jen-Gosh, Wright Pat AFB, that is where my daughter and her husband have been trying to get to. Right now Scott AFB is 4 hrs away, but if they were at Wright Pat they would only be 2 hours away. Tracy's husband, Brett's parents live in Springfield, Ohio, which is pretty close. They have it all planned out and even plan to live in Beaver Creek, Ohio, which is near I guess. It sounds like a neat place to live, just by the cute name. So what do you do in the Air Force? Or where do you work rather? I am interested in all the different occupations they have. Like my daughter is in the office taking care of leaves, sick pay and vacation's for the recuiters and my son in law works at the Comand Post. How wonderful that you almost have you PHD, I am sure you are very proud of yourself for all you have accomplished. :congrat: Don't worry that is fine whatever you want to tell me about youself is great. I love getting to know you more and I am sure I speak for the rest of The Wannabee's too. You sound like a Super Mom too, with all you do for your kids and I am very happy that Jacob will have a wonderful life too. Isn't that great what they can do to help with his skills. I am so glad that you are working things out with your husband, Best of luck to you both!


Well better get going now, will talk at you later. Sassy Sharon :dancer:

Hello everyone! Sounds like you all are doing great! Sorry I haven't been in but it's been such a busy week - I can't believe it's over already! Well, I'm up to 175 miles now at the Sportsplex! I'm averaging about 4-5 miles a day - but today did only 2 1/2 miles - got a late start and had to take time out to have my hair done. The weight is still not dropping much at all but hopefully some day with all this walking it will just let go and the scale will show a nice loss! I can be patient as I know what I am doing is healthy for me anyway.

2befatnomore/Jen:
WELCOME! to our group! Hope you like it here - everyone is very friendly and encouraging! Good luck with your Presiden'ts challenge and I'm sure you will get your weight back down where you need to be. Just take one day at a time. Sorry to hear about your problems with hubby and your son but so glad that everything is now working out!

Determined Lisa:
WELCOME! also to our group! Sounds like you are well on your way to success - Doing the exercise and diet together is awesome! I'm not an exercise person myself but since I joined Curves and am doing the walking at our Sportsplex I feel so much better. If I miss a day of either one I actually feel bad! Good luck on your Pilates class!

Dallas:
I commend you for continuing your riding your bike! I get discouraged some days too because no matter how hard I try that scale just isn't moving - but I know that if I keep on keep on - it will eventually! Keep working at what you are doing - you'll get to where you want to be - WE ALL WILL !!!

Eliz:
The miles I am logging at the Sportsplex are separate from my workout at Curves. The Sportsplex is a really neat place for residents to go. They have an ice rink and where I walk is around the rink - 8 laps around equals 1 mile.

Sharon:
Glad to see you are back home and are now able to get yourself back on track. Sounds like you had a wonderful time with Ken's mom and your papa too! Oh yes and especiall the time you spent with Tyler! Yes, grandchildren are truly a gift! I wish mine lived closer to us!

Well girls ... I'm off to bed ... I'll try to get in here again tomorrow. Hope everyone's week is a great one!

Later....
Love, CJ