So glad to hear Aunt Hazel is all settled in and I am sure she isn't the only one in the family who is "pooped" tonight! I think you will sleep well too, Suzy!
First week back is to school is over for me! (I am taking Friday off this week and making a nice long weekend!) Next week students are back. I am looking forward to the start of the new semester! For me, it is easier to diet when I have a more rigid schedule. I am hoping to start losing again, now!
So much for a good nights sleep for me...I had some of the worst leg cramps last night that I have ever had in my life! I've been doing a lot of sitting this week, so I'm not sure if it was from that or from not drinking as much water as I usually do. Either way, I plan on getting out for an easy walk today and drinking a lot of water to see if I can work the soreness out. Does anyone else get leg cramps?
Suzy, go to Walmart and pick up a potassium supplement ** I use Natures Valley. I get KILLER leg cramps on the outside of one leg, starting at the ankle and working up into the calf area. Pure agony! Since I have been popping a potassium every so often, I'm not having problems. I upped my water intake too. If potassium doesn't work, try a magnesium supplement with zinc. Maybe your having sympathy pains with Aunt Hazel. LOL!
Debbi, enjoy your long weekend! Nice to see you here posting!
Glad to hear Aunt Hazel is doing fine. She sounds spunky! Those leg cramps are a bummer--hope you find something that works for you in getting rid of them.
Debbi, a part of me wishes I were going to school again this semester. The part of me that's not sick and exhausted all the time!!! The last two times I've gone to the Dr. he's told me I should be getting over this, but I'm NOT! I've resigned myself to being sick for 9 months
Gayle, my beautiful darling, of COURSE people are going to notice that you've lost weight! And isn't it great motivation when they do? The baby ticker is back (as of now). I think the web-site was having problems yesterday.
It has been a busy week. Phew I sure had my ups and downs. Dez went back to the dr, he said that there is an 85% chance that she will become sick with TB if she was infected in the last two years, still no ct scan for her overy (sp? stressful week can't spell) her hand was probably broken a couple of weeks ago but she left it too long and she wouldn't show the sexy dr her butt ( her cyst is growing back). My neice was here and there was a screw up with picking her and dropping her off. I was suppeaned (Ahhh Sp?) to go to court yesterday for our dog's liscence expiring. This is really stressing me out. I am not sleeping well. Sheeeesh I wish it wasn't me that had to go to court. My little ticker isn't doing so well.
On the good side of things we had a wonderful family bbq sunday at mom and dad's another one last night in the country at Gail's, and Dad's surprise party is tomorrow. Larry made it safely home from Texas. Larry has the afternoon off and we are going out to have a picnic onthe beach and go out for fish for supper. I need the meditation time. It is a long weekend so I am going to try to keep my mind off the negitive. Oh yeah and there is another good thing. Larry was called into the office yesterday and they gave him an extra $2000 bonus. Now if I can concentrate on the positve I can let the stress.
Grrrrlllll.......Slow down and take a deep breath, lord knows you need it!
All that with Dez would be enough to stress a momma out, but add everything else to it and you're in need of a VACATION!!!
Why do you have to go to court for your dog's license expiring? Is it like his rabies vaccines or something? I don't get it.
I take it your neice is gone again now? Well at least that's one thing you don't have to worry about anymore. I'm sure once she got into the family gathering she wasn't too worried about the mix-up in the scheduling!
I am so sorry I have been MIA! It has been so busy for these first 2 weeks of school, and Mom and Dad moved back in while their mold problem in the condo is being fixed. Today is my mom's 84th birthday, so we are just going to barbecue some chicken and Patty is going to make her a low-fat ice cream sandwich cake. I do so enjoy having them here.
Dee-I can't believe that cyst is growing back in Dez's booty. Do they say why? Can they maybe do laser this time instead of removing it with all the discomfort involved? You have had a rough week and I hope things get better for you.
Gayle-How nice that so many people have noticed your weight loss. I'm sure you are looking wonderful! I'm so proud of you. BTW, I had one of those machines trying to suck the milk out of me too. I gave up and didn't even try with Patty.
Cheryl-I had an epidural with Patty and it was the best thing that I ever had. I had her over the weekend, so I didn't really get it until I was dilated to 7, but when I did it was wonderful!
Suzy-I am so glad your Aunt Hazel is doing well. What a relief for everyone!
Debbi-Good luck with school. Mine has been a madhouse. Things just settled down a bit on Friday.
Hi, Allison!
Sherry, I know you are out there somewhere! Jump in and say hello. Same to Janice and all the other missing Floozies (Doni, Debbie, Carol, Ramona, etc)
I figured out the leg cramp problem...my back is out. I didn't think much about it at the time, but Thursday I ran into the door as I was stepping into the house. I hit my arm hard. It really hurt and left a gigantic bruise, so was just worried about my arm. That night was when I had the leg cramps and then the next day my back and neck started hurting, so I must have twisted my back when I hit my arm on the door. I called my chiropractor's office, but they closed Friday at noon and won't reopen until Tuesday morning, so I'm just trying to take it as easy as I can until I can get an appointment.
Dee, go to your pharmacy and ask for a black drawing salve, it can go by several names, just make sure it is Ichthammol (around 20%). We grew up calling it black salve. It should be called miracle salve. Cover Dez's boil area with the stuff, then cover with a bandage. Do this for a week or so and it SHOULD draw all the yucky stuff out! This will sound gross but one time a friend of mine had a huge abcess on his back, we pin pricked the top just to have an escape route then we covered the abcess for a few days. When I removed the bandage, most of the gunk just flowed from the spot. I could lightly apply pressure around the area and gunk continued to come out. After covering and doing that for about another week, the spot was empty! Gross, huh? But it works! It is dirt cheap too!
I hope life gets better! When it rains, it pours!
Suzy, get well sweetie!!! I hope you can get into the doc soon!
Thanks Gayle I will check it out. It sure beats surgery!
Suzy take care of that back. Rest up.
Shelley Happy Birthday to mom. I hope that your family had a wonderful time today.
Yesterday was Dad's party. It was awesome. We had about 55 people for the pig roast. The weather was perfect. I had so many compliments my head is about to busrt....hehe
Cheryl we are heading back to mom and dad's now. My brother's family leaves tomorrow. It sure had been a busy last 10 days.
Being that today is labour day I told Larry that he better do labour. Summer is over and there are lots of projects that needs doing. He is working on taking down one side of an old fence and rebuilding it today. He won't be able to finish it but hopefully by next weekend it will be done. We have to get started on renovating the bathroom. Yesterday we filled up the hot tub. The evenings are getting cooler so I am looking forward to using it. Just about time to close our pool too.
My brother and his family left this morning. It is sad because it will be a couple of years before we see them again. I was just getting to know the kids again. They are 18 and 16.
I am still in my jamies....I better go get changed.
Our labor day has been full of labor so far!! DH and I got up at 6 AM and spent 2 hours cleaning our patio, furniture and BBQ. It's so nice and clean now, but still too hot to eat out there.
I'm going shopping this afternoon. I cleaned out my closet and my dresser yesterday (I even cleaned out my cosmetics!). I got rid of so much old, icky stuff, so I have room for more!! I wish I had lost weight rather than gained 4 pounds so that clothes shopping would be more fun. Oh, well.
I found this great article about fat cells, water retention and weightloss and I thought everyone else might find it interesting too.
WHY THE SCALES CAN LIE:
We ve been told over an over again that daily weighing is unnecessary, yet many of us can t resist peeking at that number every morning. If you just can t bring yourself to toss the scale in the trash, you should definitely familiarize yourself with the factors that influence it s readings. From water retention to glycogen storage and changes in lean body mass, daily weight fluctuations are normal. They are not indicators of your success or failure. Once you understand how these mechanisms work, you can free yourself from the daily battle with the bathroom scale.
Water makes up about 60% of total body mass. Normal fluctuations in the body s water content can send scale-watchers into a tailspin if they don t understand what s happening. Two factors influencing water retention are water consumption and salt intake. Strange as it sounds, the less water you drink, the more of it your body retains. If you are even slightly dehydrated your body will hang onto it s water supplies with a vengeance, possibly causing the number on the scale to inch upward. The solution is to drink plenty of water.
A biologist at Berkeley shared something very revealing on the low-carb BBS system about 4 years ago that helps us all through the erratic weight fluctuations you invariably encounter:
"Fat cells are resilient, stubborn little creatures that do not want to give up their actual cell volume. Over a period of weeks, maybe months of "proper dieting", each of your fat cells may have actually lost a good percentage of the actual fat contained in those cells. But the fat cells themselves, stubborn little guys, replace that lost fat with water to retain their size. That is, instead of shrinking to match the reduced amount of fat in the cell, they stay the same size! Result - you weigh the same, look the same, maybe even gained some scale weight, even though you have actually lost some serious fat."
This is what we have been telling folks. You lose inches but not pounds because your body plumps the fat cells. I tell them it is a complicated biochemical process that your body replaces the fat molecules with water and fluids until you exceed your bodies predetermined fluid level. Then your body will release a chemical that releases all this stored water and you get a sudden overnight loss of several pounds. Then the cycle starts over again with inches gone and the scales lag behind.
The good news is that this water replacement is temporary. It's a defensive measure to keep your body from changing too rapidly. It allows the fat cell to counter the rapid change in cell composition, allowing for a slow, gradual reduction in cell size. The problem is, most people are frustrated with their apparent lack of success, assume they have lost nothing, and stop dieting. However, if you give those fat cells some time, like 4-6 months, and ignore the scale weight fluctuations, your real weight/shape will slowly begin to show.
Excess salt (sodium) can also play a big role in water retention. A single teaspoon of salt contains over 2,000 mg of sodium. Generally, we should only eat between 1,000 and 3,000 mg of sodium a day, so it s easy to go overboard. Sodium is a sneaky substance. You would expect it to be most highly concentrated in salty chips, nuts, and crackers. However, a food doesn t have to taste salty to be loaded with sodium. A half cup of instant pudding actually contains nearly four times as much sodium as an ounce of salted nuts, 460 mg in the pudding versus 123 mg in the nuts. The more highly processed a food is, the more likely it is to have a high sodium content. That s why, when it comes to eating, it s wise to stick mainly to the basics: fruits, vegetables, lean meat, beans, and whole grains. Be sure to read the labels on canned foods, boxed mixes, and frozen dinners.
Women may also retain several pounds of water prior to menstruation. This is very common and the weight will likely disappear as quickly as it arrives. Pre-menstrual water-weight gain can be minimized by drinking plenty of water, maintaining an exercise program, and keeping high-sodium processed foods to a minimum.
Another factor that can influence the scale is glycogen. Think of glycogen as a fuel tank full of stored carbohydrate. Some glycogen is stored in the liver and some is stored the muscles themselves. This energy reserve weighs more than a pound and it s packaged with 3-4 pounds of water when it s stored. Your glycogen supply will shrink during the day if you fail to take in enough carbohydrates. As the glycogen supply shrinks you will experience a small imperceptible increase in appetite and your body will restore this fuel reserve along with it s associated water. It s normal to experience glycogen and water weight shifts of up to 2 pounds per day even with no changes in your calorie intake or activity level. These fluctuations have nothing to do with fat loss, although they can make for some unnecessarily dramatic weigh-ins if you re prone to obsessing over the number on the scale.
Otherwise rational people also tend to forget about the actual weight of the food they eat. For this reason, it s wise to weigh yourself first thing in the morning before you ve had anything to eat or drink. Swallowing a bunch of food before you step on the scale is no different than putting a bunch of rocks in your pocket. The 5 pounds that you gain right after a huge dinner is not fat. It s the actual weight of everything you ve had to eat and drink. The added weight of the meal will be gone several hours later when you ve finished digesting it.
Exercise physiologists tell us that in order to store one pound of fat, you need to eat 3,500 calories more than your body is able to burn. In other words, to actually store the above dinner as 5 pounds of fat, it would have to contain a whopping 17,500 calories. This is not likely, in fact it s not humanly possible. So when the scale goes up 3 or 4 pounds overnight, rest easy, it s likely to be water, glycogen, and the weight of your dinner. Keep in mind that the 3,500 calorie rule works in reverse also. In order to lose one pound of fat you need to burn 3,500 calories more than you take in. Generally, it s only possible to lose 1-2 pounds of fat per week. When you follow a very low calorie diet that causes your weight to drop 10 pounds in 7 days, it s physically impossible for all of that to be fat. What you re really losing is water, glycogen, and muscle.
This brings us to the scale s sneakiest attribute. It doesn t just weigh fat. It weighs muscle, bone, water, internal organs and all. When you lose "weight," that doesn t necessarily mean that you ve lost fat. In fact, the scale has no way of telling you what you ve lost (or gained). Losing muscle is nothing to celebrate. Muscle is a metabolically active tissue. The more muscle you have the more calories your body burns, even when you re just sitting around. That s one reason why a fit, active person is able to eat considerably more food than the dieter who is unwittingly destroying muscle tissue.
Robin Landis, author of "Body Fueling," compares fat and muscles to feathers and gold. One pound of fat is like a big fluffy, lumpy bunch of feathers, and one pound of muscle is small and valuable like a piece of gold. Obviously, you want to lose the dumpy, bulky feathers and keep the sleek beautiful gold. The problem with the scale is that it doesn t differentiate between the two. It can t tell you how much of your total body weight is lean tissue and how much is fat. There are several other measuring techniques that can accomplish this, although they vary in convenience, accuracy, and cost. Skin-fold calipers pinch and measure fat folds at various locations on the body, hydrostatic (or underwater) weighing involves exhaling all of the air from your lungs before being lowered into a tank of water, and bioelectrical impedance measures the degree to which your body fat impedes a mild electrical current.
If the thought of being pinched, dunked, or gently zapped just doesn t appeal to you, don t worry. The best measurement tool of all turns out to be your very own eyes. How do you look? How do you feel? How do your clothes fit? Are your rings looser? Do your muscles feel firmer? These are the true measurements of success. If you are exercising and eating right, don t be discouraged by a small gain on the scale. Fluctuations are perfectly normal. Expect them to happen and take them in stride. It s a matter of mind over scale.
DOWN 2 MORE POUNDS!
