Pookie !!! Your post cracked me uP! You have such an uplifting spirit! I have been lurking at the other forum and admire you all so much for sticking with it... ABSOLUTELY, YES, we all started with the PINK dumbells... and you have to start somewhere where you wont get hurt, but in no time you'll be up there with the big HEALTHY girls!!!! so WELCOME... We LUVS NEWBIES and we DO NOT THROW sand in their faces! Pookie is a term of endearment I use for our cat Bob!
Had a great leg workout today... no cardio and no lunges because my left knee was a bit sore, and thought of Meg's advise... So I was good and gave it a break... but TOMORROW is another day!
So here I am, jumping in the Daily Thread. It's great to be able to take these little breaks from my work throughout the day.
Today, I did great on the exercise (40 minute walk with hill work) and the water (96 ounces already, I've spent a lot of time peeing, LOL). My diet though, has been too high in carbs, I think. It is now 3:30pm left coast time and I've burned through 1200 calories already! Not good.
I believe my problem started with my pre-workout snack of 1/2 cinnamon raisin bagel with 1TBSP peanut butter. Then I had the other half with another TBSP. of PB two hours later. An hour later, I got the shakes so I ate a Luna lo-carb bar. Had five salad rolls for lunch (chicken and veggies wrapped in rice paper), then another Luna Glow bar and now an apple. Sheesh. And I'm starving. I haven't eaten bagels in ages, and I know better--they are high in calories and I feel hungry a half hour after I eat them! Guess I had to remind myself why I stopped eating them.
Tonight I'll probably have chicken teriyaki breast with steamed veggies in an attempt at damage control. And tomorrow morning, it's weight training! Any ideas for a better pre-workout snack that won't leave me gnawing at my arm a half hour after I eat it?
I hate those shakes but any kind of whole food is good ...
Sabrina - WOOHOO !! You're on the MAIN tread! WELCOME!! Here is my opinion about the bars...they are JUNK!... In an absolute pinch I will grab a bar like that but I much prefer REAL/CLEAN foods... the more UNprocessed the better... I practically live on oatmeal! I love a bowl of oatmeal and either an eggwhite omellette or whey about 60-90 minutes before a workout... or oatmeal and cottage cheese... OR 3/4 c. cottage cheese and 1c. frozen strawberries , now that's a great meal I love the taste of gound flax and I find it very filling so I often add a table spoon to my oatmeal...... Another thing that I have changed is my mind set about snacks vs. meals, food is food is food, so sometimes I've seen myself have 4 oz chicken and 1/2 c. rice and veggies in the middle of the afternoon, then another meal ... "supper" ...
Another suggestion... plan, plan, plan, then when you finish planning, plan your meals again... AT FIRST you just have to make a conscious effort for all this but it becomes second nature...As Dip! Hey, where is the Dipster?? Alot of us here make meals on Sunday and Wednesday for a few days to just be able to grab and go... Don't despair this all takes time and practice and it becomes second nature and "fun" I guess after a while...
Guess I cant blame ya for not saying Hi. I never stick around long enough to get to know, and Im sure you all sense by now my lack of commitment. The fact that I never seem to stick with a program or exercise plan is painfully obvious to me, at 300 pounds, I too doubt I will ever make anything work. I always come up with a new plan, a fresh start, then I fail. Every time I let me and family down, over and over again for 11 years. I have considered optifast, but I doubt I would stick with that either. I have considered the surgery, and no doubt should go through with it, I am just too darn afraid of dying, maybe one day.
BabySteps-- Wow, sounds like you don't give yourself a chance, like you've decided to fail the second you've decided to try. your post makes me sad and i wish i had some great, life changing advice for you, but i don't really know what to say except that i will pray for you. I think that you've excepted yourself as nothing but a failure and i don't know how you would begin to talk/think yourself out of that so i pray that God will show you.
I hope you don't take offense at that
Well i think i speak for everyone here when i say, WE BELIEVE IN YOU, that you can do it. i hope you will stay with us
I don't know about the rest of you, but I STILL have a pink 2-pound dumbbell, not to mention purple 3-pounders and green 5-pounders. I like 'em. They look so, ahem, bright next to all those black weights marching up and down my guestroom floor. I guess I'll just never be macho.
Mel, you may find it helpful to have LOTS of finger foods, that you can grab and run. On nutso days, I try to take celery with peanut butter; half chicken breasts, which don't require a fork; apples; that sort of thing. On more normal days, I usually have a plastic container with cut up chicken, brown rice and spinach. I can consume an entire meal and carry on a phone conversation while checking email and signing invoices, all because I only need a fork, rather than a knife and fork. This, incidentally, will never qualify as "dining," but it keeps me going, and strangely enough, because it's real food, and solid nutrition, I usually feel great as compared to the dreadful way I felt when I was loading up on bagels and white stuff.
JC, are you OK?
Baby, Not say hi? Us? WELCOME. We're so glad you're here!!!! And now that you're here, why not stay? You can do this, you know, and if you can't do it alone, you can do it with us. In fact, on many a day, most of us check in for moral support, advice, guidance, and just a strong shoulder to lean on. So come on in ... the water's just fine! Congratulations on joining the gym. We all have to start somewhere, and you've done exactly that. Instead of asking, "We'll see how long this lasts," why not say, "This is forever." If "forever" seems too daunting, then let me ask you this: Can you do it today? That's all you have to do. Do it today.
All right you guys, what did you do with Dip? I'm not kidding. Where did you hide her?
Ah Piper, we've all been there, done that. Tomorrow will go much more smoothly, you'll see.
Jen, I'm glad you're back. I don't think I ever said how sorry I was about the loss of your aunt. It will take time to heal, but you will. Sending you loving and supportive hugs and best wishes.
Ilene, my fellow cardio Thank you for beating that flax seed drum. I've got some, but I keep forgetting to grind it up. Note to self: get it done tomorrow.
Good grief ... it's 9 o'clock. For a morning person, that's the middle of the night. So to Meg, Elasky, Jacobs Mom, Karen (where's Karen?), Ledom, Tiki, and everybody yet to post.
Baby !! I must say that sometimes ALL the posts here get overwhelming for me and I, forgive me, FORGET , to give the official LWL WELCOME!! But it was oversight, probably not my first OR last... soooooooooooooo without further ado....WELCOME TO LWL!!! WE LUVS NEWBIES~~ So stick with us girl and you will get all the support and advise you need! (or possibly want )
Robin -- grind your flax in advance and keep it in the freezer... I buy mine already ground and freeze it...
Later ALL!! It's 10:10PM after all and this cardio needs all the beauty sleep she can get!!
P.S. Robin: I use my first pink dumbell as a necklace, what will you do with yours? hehehe.....
BabySteps - just wanted to jump and say hi. I am very very good at starting diets and exercise programs and not finishing them, so I know how you feel. However, I hope you'll stick around so maybe we can achieve our goals together!
In other news, went to the grocery store and stocked up on healthy stuff. I too believe that the bars are crap and I keep them on hand for when I am desperate, like today. I figure a Luna bar is much better than the peanut M&M's I would have had.
Anyway, I bought a huge piece of salmon, asparagus, apples, lowfat yogurt, strawberries, almonds, among other things. I have leftover chicken terikayi for tomorrow's lunch and will grill that salmon for dinner with a little Peri Peri sauce. Mmmmm.
Looking forward to starting with the weight tomorrow. I will report back on how it goes.
BabySteps, I am very guilty of making most of my posts about me. That is not to say I don't read and think and care about the other people that post here. Hey, going to the gym for a month is a great start. We all start somehwere. (Yes, I still USE my 2 lb. dumbells to warm up my shoulders-never lift too heavy for shoulders because mine are so easily injured.) Anyway, it is hard to lose weight but if you give yourself time you can accomplish your goals - please don't beat yourself up - allow yourself to find your own way.
And sabrina, please tell me about your avatar. Does that cat really have ears that big or is it the camera angle? Looks like ears to grow into. Just curious and I don't mean to be impolite. A vey sweet looking kitty. And while on the subject of cats - which I adore - lately I have been thinking about how I love cats and think they are all beautiful and wonderful even thouh they all look so different. And then I think how people are like that too - we are all so different. Some tall, some short, all different colors of hair and skin and texture. We should be so accepting of ourselves as we are of cats - don't you think?
LOL! The kitty picture is of my cat, Callie, when she was just a baby kitten. She's a purebred Ocicat and had really big ears when she was tiny. Although, I do think the angle of that photo made her ears look bigger. Anyway, she's grown into a lovely slinky cat now and while her ears are still rather prominent, they are proportional to her face.
Can you tell that Callie is one spoiled little kitty?
Wow you ladies are inspiring. I feel like I landed in a episode of Xena!
Thanks Mel & Meg & Tiki for the warm welcome. Mel I like the expression you used in an earlier post "clean eats". Tiki thanks for the welcome and for letting me know you won't be kicking sand in my face afterall.
Meg, I think Peach is starting to dip her toe in the water. I am very grateful to both Jiff & Peach they are so helpful to us on the WLS forum. I hope they are both happy & healthy.
Ilene (I just discovered page 2 of this thread) Ilene thanks for the welcome. I had to laugh when you spoke about the "pink" dumbells. Mine aren't pink but they do have spongey stuff around them to cushion your hands. The big muscular guy did chuckle a little about the spongey stuff. All the other weights he was selling were very big & gray/black and looked really heavy to me. Airegrrl I love your food tips for the healthy finger foods etc. Pink and Purple and Green do sound very colorful.
Thanks ladies I don't expect any great strides overnight but I will stop in sometimes to let you know about my progress.
pookie... you can post anywhere you want, as often as you want. and these ladies ARE fabulous... i just feel like a weak little wimp around them...
but the constant reminder of the CLEAN EATS is important to me as my hands have been wandering into the pretzel bin one of my colleagues keeps just inside her office door!!!!!
and ladies... i've been working with a new trainer the past couple of weeks [i count on them to help me not get hurt, to challenge me, and to keep me interested]. he's ok. not terribly creative. i miss the other one terribly. she was creative and smart. and a former olympic sprinter and bodybuilder. a real inspiration. but she went to another gym and i can't follow her because the hours don't work out for me.
oh well. enough whining.
and yes. today was a weight day. i did it all...
and please PLEASE feel free to stop by the WLS board to share wisdom. peachie will get annoyed, but i'm used to that... [we are real life sisters-annoying each other is our job!!!!]
and babysteps.. your name says it all. and like robin said.. just for today., that's all ya gotta do. and before you know it, you'll be doing things you'd never EVER thought possible.
Babysteps - Guess what? We all have eaten things not on our diet, yo-yoed some pounds, skipped some gym time, been discouraged or doubtful that we could succeed and none of us are smarter, better or more able to succed than you are.
To paraphrase a great mind - Yoda, from Empire Strikes Back - when Luke's ship sank in the swamp, he told Luke 'there is no trying. You do... or you don't" You can do this, but the first step is to believe you can, just for one day, then the next, then the next. None of our successes were accomlished in just one day, but in many days where we started off believing we could do it for just this one day.
Welcome to our thread. Remember that today and then the next day and then the next day, you can do it.
Your post cracked me uP! You have such an uplifting spirit! I have been lurking at the other forum and admire you all so much for sticking with it... ABSOLUTELY, YES, we all started with the PINK dumbells... and you have to start somewhere where you wont get hurt, but in no time you'll be up there with the big HEALTHY girls!!!! so WELCOME... We LUVS NEWBIES and we DO NOT THROW sand in their faces! Pookie is a term of endearment I use for our cat Bob! 
is another day! 
Here is my opinion about the bars...they are JUNK!... In an absolute pinch I will grab a bar like that but I much prefer REAL/CLEAN foods... the more UNprocessed the better... I practically live on oatmeal! I love a bowl of oatmeal and either an eggwhite omellette or whey about 60-90 minutes before a workout... or oatmeal and cottage cheese... OR 3/4 c. cottage cheese and 1c. frozen strawberries 
, now that's a great meal I love the taste of gound flax and I find it very filling so I often add a table spoon to my oatmeal...... Another thing that I have changed is my mind set about snacks vs. meals, food is food is food, so sometimes I've seen myself have 4 oz chicken and 1/2 c. rice and veggies in the middle of the afternoon, then another meal ... "supper" ...
on stickin' with it while away!
This, incidentally, will never qualify as "dining," but it keeps me going, and strangely enough, because it's real food, and solid nutrition, I usually feel great as compared to the dreadful way I felt when I was loading up on bagels and white stuff.
Thank you for beating that flax seed drum. I've got some, but I keep forgetting to grind it up. Note to self: get it done tomorrow. 
hehehe..... 
