[2frustrated]

Kickboxing class last night! Have weights planned for tonight, but it depends on what time we get back from shopping We're shopping for trousers for him indoors! There's too much choice for him to do it alone!

[2frustrated]

Oooh I forgot to say...

I can see my Delts! WOOOOO YEAH!

but I've put on 3lbs...

[Mel]

Hi Charlotte! Welcome to LWL.

SUSAN!!
Welcome back...you look wonderful

I was just thinking about you and some of our other lost LWL'ers yesterday. That was a pretty brief synopsis of the last two years. I hope for you that they were less dramatic than 2003. So good to have you back. Where are you these days? How's being an attorney versus law school? My dd starts law school next week and is very excited. She's living my dreams.

Legs for me today. I'm trying to delay. LOL. I should be very strong after a carb-up last night Then clients in the evening. Sigh....why can't they workout when I want to work?????

Mel

[tikanique]

Hi all,

I skimmed through the posts and am glad to see the progress that everyone is making. GG, I think your attitude about your gain is very good. When I get a bit more time this afternoon, I will sit down read instead of skimming, skimming misses so much stuff.

Tiki.

[susanje]

HI MEL!!!! Thanks for the welcome back!!!

I thought I had checked in back in 2003 when I was studying for the bar and exercising in the middle of the night but I'll recap.

Grueling grueling.

A brief (!...okay I'll try but it's not easy) synopsis of my history with LWL back when it was BFL....l think I started the posts and was soon joined by Karen (Mrs. Jim..where is she???) back in 2000 (oh my it was SO long ago!!!). I moved from Boston to California to go to law school in 8/00 at the ripe old age of 44!!! I had quit smoking in 97 and had gained A LOT of weight...(over 70 lbs) and the weight really affected my stamina in law school so I discovered BFL after trying so many other things. I came back to NYC (my hometown) the summer of 2001 and went back to California the weekend before 9/11. I started to interview with law firms for the summer of 2002 in NY instead of CA. I had planned to move to CA permanently but after experiencing my children being on the east coast (my 3 boys) while I was on the west coast and there was no way to get to them when the planes were not flying, I made up my mind to go back east.

I did 2.5 BFLs...I had done fairly well but struggled a lot with weight but loved loved loved the program and like a lot of BFLers tweaked the program for me and got a bit more militant about it. I was pretty active over on Lean4Life as well. I went back to live in NYC in the summer of 2002 and had a great time, belonged to a gym here and was still struggling with slow weight loss but was doing "okay".

and then in Oct 2002 my 23 yr old son was assaulted in Boston when I was in California. I flew back east after being told that he might not make it for me to get there. He was on life support. He was awake by the time I arrived after spending 5 hours on a plane crying my heart out. I brought him back to CA to recuperate and finish my last year of law school.

It was hard...I was going to law school, working a part time job and bringing him to speech therapy and dr appts 3 x a week. I ballooned up to 223 pounds!!!!! (I am 5'2). After all my hard work and all my exercise, I was a mess...a mess.... I was wearing a size 20!!! I had been holding steady in a 16-18 for a long time but now I was in a 20. It was so hard.

On 1/1/03 I said I had to put the skids on and went back to eating clean but not really working out (no time!)....my son returned to Boston on March 5, 2003 and I was very very sad and scared but he felt as if he COULD NOT let it drive him away from his life. I was very upset but my friends told me now I would have time to work out (something I CRAVED) and get MY life back and finish school....I had lost 30 lbs but hadn't been working out at all. After a few days of crying, I got back into the groove and went to the gym...the next Sunday I went to a friend's baby shower HAPPY to be out again! All my friends from school were there and we had such a good time.

On the way home someone cut me off on the highway and I slammed into the guardrail at 70 mph....I woke up in the ambulance...beaten, battered, bruised. I had broken my clavicle, had a brain injury, nerve injuries to my knees and my entire right side....I had torn my ear and had shards of glass in my head and in my face...

I was in neurological ICU for a week and then went to a nursing unit. They said that if I stayed on the nursing unit it would take a few months to recuperate but if I went to rehabilitation I might be able to leave in a few weeks. If I hadn't lost the 30 lbs there was NO way I was going to be in the rehab unit. I had to do 8 hours a day of therapy which was mostly physical.

Upon release I had a full neurological exam (took 1/2 a day) and they recommended I NOT finish school and not take the bar exam. Although I tested very high in IQ and whathaveyou, I had severe memory issues and obvious brain trauma (I have developed dyslexia and word "loss" meaning I can't remember words easily). Since I've always had a near photographic memory, this has been (and continues to be) a difficulty. I am not used to forgetting things or not being able to come up with a word...

I wasn't yet walking when I returned to school and was very depressed. Trying to commute with a backpack full of law books and a cane was really horrible....I did graduate and managed to walk across the stage on graduation day.

I studied for the bar at home using audio tapes. It was an extremely difficult task. I had MOUNDS of books and tapes and yet was physically exhausted. I studied two hours and slept two hours at a time. I would get up at 2 am and go to the gym to get some physical exercise in. Because I was self-conscious about both my weight and my limitations, I would go swimming at night and work out in the pool with pool weights. I did "some" weights but very very light weights and not very strenuous...but I kept working out. It was a very hazy and surreal time. I think I was posting on here at the time...I know I've been in and out with all these EVENTS.

Sitting for the bar was hard. Texas is a 3 day bar with 12 essays on the last day. Because I had back injuries and a broken shoulder, I could not write for the whole time. I barely finished 10 essays and couldn't write any more. I briefly outlined the last 2 essays and had to leave. I had searing, burning pain all on my right side. I was not prepared for that. I went home and cried for 2 days, convinced I'd failed.

I started law practice in sept of 2003 and moved to Dallas. I took a job with a firm that has offices in NYC (my hometown) and Dallas. I wanted to go to NY but was told that I would get more interesting work in Dallas so I went there. The drawback was that I had to take the Texas bar and then if I wanted to go to NY, take the NY bar (one of the hardest in the country!) And this was after being told by my neurologist that I would not be able to retain all that information! People WITHOUT head injuries fail the bar every time it's given....she said I might be able to take it in a year or so but not in the same year.

I tried to put the whole stupid year before behind me. I started working out when I got to Dallas and have never gotten back to where I was with weights while doing BFL.

In November, bar results came out and I passed the Texas bar and last summer I took the NY bar and passed that as well. Yeah.... I am admitted in Texas, New York and the District of Columbia.

I belonged to a wonderful gym in Texas...Lifetime Fitness and had a gym partner and did work out frequently....I am now in a size 10...I gained 10 lbs when I came back to NY and stopped working out but have recently lost 2. I am a slooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow loser.

My grandson CJ was born in 6/04 and I came up about once a month to see him...I knew I wanted to be back in NY (where my grandson is) and so I put in for a transfer in April and then changed jobs in July. I'm loving being back in my hometown of NYC and love seeing my grandson every 2 weeks or so.

I'm just getting back to the gym and wanted to check in with my old group. I have always found this to be a phenomenol place to share and post.

In October I'm moving to a building next to Riverside Park and will be running in the park (I hope). Riverside Park is GREAT and will be lovely in the fall. Anyway, my goal is to lose 10-14 more pounds and maybe get to a size 8. However, my FIRST goal is a regular workout schedule and try to continue my recovery and get to heavier weights.

Thanks for listening to this looooooooooooooooooooooooooong history!

Sorry for the length of this post!!!! It's been a while. but I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack.

[Ilene]

Susan -- You are a phenominal woman beating all those odds ... That was a long post but oh so very interesting, as I was reading it I remembered almost all those events, gosh it shows how long I've been here! I'm glad you're back...

[LKTS]

Susan - what a story; very inspirational! Welcome back to LWL and glad to 'meet' you.

Pat, glad your conference and vacation went well, and welcome back. Sasha, congrats on the bike ride, that sounds wonderful! Zinnia and @ Julia - doggy style circuits, indeed.

I've figured out that I have enough time to train for the half marathon on the day that I had wanted to do the marathon - October 30. After I get back from my trip next week I'll start training seriously. Because of the walking time I'm going to combine my splits and have just 2 lifting days a week.

[ellenuw]

Wow, Susan. I am honored to meet you - you have a wonderful story of inspiration and courage.

Welcome to Newbies.

Laura, we are in this together, though a country apart I am going to keep at 10 - 14 miles until the weather breaks - 90 degress is just not fun.

I am feeling energized after "not" running Mon and Tues, looking forward to a 25 min "tempo" run today, then 8-10 miles on Sat and back to my regular running schedule on Mon. Off to try a short run and yoga - "talk" to you all Sat or Sun.

[susanje]

Thanks everyone! Glad to be back...would love to hear detailed training logs for marathons. I'm not sure, with my knees and history of shin splints I will ever get there, but I'd love to "consider" it and would love to listen to what goes into training for a half marathon or a full marathon!!!

[2frustrated]

Wow Susan WTG! You are a truly strong woman in every sense of the word!

I'm so glad things are going well for you now

[Greekgirl]

Hello everyone,

ALMOST Vacation time, just another day and I'm off for 2 weeks. DBF cannot go with me, but I'll be going to see my family in Greece and especially my pregnant sister (baby's due in september) and my 92-year old granny who, although we have long telephone conversations almost every day, I miss a lot!
This will mean I have to watch out for:
food and drink
and DO:
Swimming
relaxing
family visits

After that, which I consider a fuelling session for the coming year it's:
1. Losing that damn fat and get into shape
2. Find a really interesting job
3. Get the house into gear: wallpapering, cleaning, get storage space etc.

It's weird what a real shock can do! I feel like I'm running on rocket fuel!

Foodwise: Ok considering still being horrified by the scales earlier this week.
BTW, I still have the blueprints of the LWL cookbook which I never seem to be able to finish for one reason or another, I WILL do this too!

Welcome Susan! Really good to see you again, you have been through a lot these past few years, incredible!

Hi Tiki, thank you for your support!

Everyone, hugs

Lieke

[2frustrated]

Ah, just one more workout before my weekend of rest! I have been like an for 3 or 4 weeks now and am still not seeing results apart from the fact that I can lift more... which is GOOD. But no super tight skinny butt or anything like that. The scales are plotting against me.. recently the tape measure has got in on the act too! I don't want to go much lower on the calories - aiming for 1800 but getting somewhere around 1600-1700. Did anyone else have "teething troubles" when they first started weights?

[Ilene]

2F -- If you are doing everything right, be patient it takes time you may drop lbs suddenly... if not tweak your cardio, training or food a bit for a week or two... Maybe by upping your cardio or intensity of, zig-zag your food calories - low cal one day, higher another for an average of 1600-1700 or bring it down to 1400-1500 for a couple of weeks....Just my 02¢ ...

Heading out for the gym doing back, bis, and shoulder... It's gonna be a long one but I want to do my long run tomorrow morning, there will be no time for the gym on Sat and Sunday, we have a wedding to go to...

[Mel]

2F- Do you know your current weight? How much and what kind of cardio do you do? What are you eating to make up those calories? I don't lose unless I'm eating less than 1400. When I lost the major chunk of my weight, I was cycling between 950-1400 calories. I was hungry sometimes, but the weight came off. At 1800 calories, I'd be gaining about a pound a week.

Mel

[diphthong]

>>"I was just thinking about you and some of our other lost LWL'ers yesterday."<<

Well, I was thinking about you all yesterday myself, and logged on, updated and renewed my 3FC subscription just a bit ago. However, after reading Susan's story, I feel like a real weenie.

Susan, congratulations on your awesome successes! Your achievements in spite of the "stop sticks" thrown out in front of you are totally amazing. Bless your heart!

I can't believe a year has passed, and how quickly it flew and the many changes I've experienced. Including turning into "white bread" and gaining back 20+#! In fact, I hit 200# a few weeks ago and re-decided enough is enough. But most importantly, I REALIZED how much I need you all. Without your support and camaraderie , I am dogmeat.

In brief - After I injured my finger last Spring and the subsequent surgery, I stopped lifting and cardio. I lived on our sailboat pretty much through the summer while searching for a second home down here in Kentucky. I was able to maintain my weight for awhile because I walked all over while I was down here. Well, we found a house we could afford in July but didn't close until October 15 due to complications. I spent the time in between paring down all the 10 years of accumulation, and sorting out what was going, and preparing to move. I was trying to study my PT course, but found with so much on my mind, or because I'm getting too old, I couldn't retain much of it. So I put the PT course on the back burner.

When we closed on the house, I decided to stay down here. Since I am a spoiled brat my husband agreed, and I have been living here alone for 10 months while Dave still works and lives in "the big house" near Indy. He comes down for 4-5 days every month and spends his vacations here. We talk on the phone 2-3 times a day. The marriage is still very much intact (many people wonder.) I have a job in the yacht sales department as the office manager at the largest resort on the lakes. It's pretty cool. I'm trying to pay the expenses for this house on my own, and just recently got DSL, so I can be more Net active. Dial-up stinks.

I have my treadmill, some weights and a bench, and my rowing machine down here. But motivation is at an all time low, bad habits have re-entered my life, binges are numerous, and I have no support system in place. I have spent 6 months trying to motivate my 467 pound boss who started going to the gym but continued to eat out of control. The tables were turned, and in reality, he's had a negative effect on me. I had to make a conscious decision to get back to what works for me - and you guys are a very big part of that.

I've set a small goal for myself, and starting all over again, I know I will have to take it slow to build myself up again. My knees are bothering me a bit, especially on stairs, and I don't know if it's because of the weight gain or if they're just degenerating - we'll see.

With my hat in hand, I beg your assistance and I will report in every single day - I have to. My life depends on it.

Glad to see some old friends, and hope to get to know the newer ones. I'm off to read some threads, and get brain-washed again. (And get re-acquainted with 3FC.)

See you tomorrow!

dip