Kawaii So far the 'wake up at 5am' hasn't been a success. :lol: Plus, I really like showering at night vs in the morning....so I might need to rethink my plans. Good luck with all of that trash sorting! Sounds complicated.
What are some of the protein heavy breakfasts you eat?

Philana That's awesome about your day that you were on plan! Keep up the great work! :yay:

namaste what are you studying in school? Not sure if you've said and I missed it. :)

stronger count me as another in school. :) though I'm really fortunate that it's online...so I can be in my PJs while I'm in class.

Right now it is cold...and rainy...and I'm at work, doing homework, and posting on here. :) (I'm a nanny, and the babies are napping. Have to be quiet so I don't wake them sooo....I get online. Parents are fine with it.)

I felt really gross and bloated yesterday and I think it's because of having too much soda, so I'm taking a break from soda for the rest of the week. Sticking to just water....hopefully I won't get headaches.

Don't know about the rest of you, but I am looking forward to the weekend so much! It's a 3 day weekend for me!

Hi everyone!

I have lots of catching up to do in this thread...I'll post personals later :)

I've been totally MIA in the last week. I had a busy weekend and then I got sick. Not a very good start to 2012 between the knee and the virus I'm getting over.

I kind of went nuts with the eating this weekend before getting sick, then I got my period today. Haven't been to the gym once this year :lol: I went Sunday morning but was feeling so sick that my friend sent me home.

stronger - Hmm, if it works for you then that's amazing! I really don't think it works for me...and it doesn't really seem to promote healthy eating which I think is key to weight loss and just staying healthy in general.

Kawaii - I just need to start prepping for the interview now! Eep! I might be emailing you again in a panic haha. Protein is amazing like that, it just keeps you going and is really good for you! Go protein go!

sgregg - :hug: I know it was just a dream, but it sounds like it might be some hidden feelings that you have about yourself. You are a beautiful, wonderful person who is very lucky. Learn to love yourself before you try and embark on this journey, because weight loss is the biggest act of love you'll ever treat yourself to. That's right, I said treat! You can totally do it, if I've come this far then you can too, you just have to WANT this and dedicate yourself - no excuses!

philana - Is that your in your pic? If it is, you're so pretty! I've currently lost 19 lbs since he last saw me, but I'm hoping to bump that up to 24 lbs. It might not seem like a lot, but my body has made some major changes in that time. I've lost 6 inches from my stomach and 4 from my boobs, so I'm quite hopeful that he'll notice the difference!
Eep, Red Bull is TERRIBLE for you! I was drinking a LOT of energy drinks and eating a lot of junk during my third year at Uni (which is what got me to 200 lbs) so good luck kicking the awful habit! You'll be doing yourself so much good for it!

Quiet Ballerina - Yeah, soda is pretty awful for us! Definitely stick to water! I would be looking forward to the weekend if I wasn't working it =(

sgregg: lol. I’m the queen of weird dreams. maybe it just means you’re afraid to get to that point but scared that’s where you’re going? or you feel that you look that way? I think your subconscious is trying to tell you something… get on it, girl!! yeah, WHAT you eat makes a huge difference.. I wasn’t losing any weight last summer, just calorie counting, and when I switched to protein/low-carb diet… woops! pounds started melting off! I guess everybody’s body’s different. just gotta find the thing that works for you!

Philana: I eat mostly meat, eggs and beans… I’m lucky that they sell these packages of differently flavored beans at my grocery store that I REALLY like. some of them are a bit sweet so I’m sure it’s not 100% diet-perfect to eat them, but at 160 calories a pack, I don’t really care and it doesn’t seem to have hurt me so far. I eat the sweat ones with breakfast and the non-sweet ones with dinner… and yikes! poor you! I can’t even imagine trying to give up coffee (that will never happen) so big props to you. and I also sympathize with the lack of sleep this morning… *wave*

Stronger: oh I haven’t mentioned it! (in a long time anyways) it’s the 4-hour body (which is a book by Tim Ferris). It’s kinda meant for men… but I like how easy to follow it is for me, AND the fact that you get a cheat day :p (although I’m not doing the cheat day this time around… or at least not every week). I also did calorie counting most of last summer (along with exercising) and didn’t lose a pound and was soooooo frustrated! then I started 4HB in September and lost like 6lbs in a month… I went off the rails cuz of personal stuff (and I’m stupid) but if I had kept on with it, I’m pretty sure I’d be at goal by now! anyways, I’m starting again and I’ve lost 3lbs so far and am not even exercising :p

ballerina: haha, oh well :p I eat the same thing almost every single day: 2 scrambled eggs, 5 half-strips of bacon, a bit of spinach, a pack of the aforementioned beans, and coffee. I used to not eat the spinach, but started getting better results when I was trolling the 4BH boards and people were saying it was really important to have greens with your meal. honestly, when I first started the diet, I couldn’t believe I was even allowed to eat that much, but I’m still losing, so hey! ;) oh and, I’m on at work all the time too… eheh.

teamcoco: aww… feel better!

Rie: sure, email me whenever you want! ;) I hope you hear from them soon. Did you at least get the letter yet?

ok folks, how are you today? I’m soooo sleepy this morning because I stayed up really late talking to my boyfriend on skype… lol. one of my friends this morning said I was like “30 going on 13”, which is about right. lol. too old for this, but anyways. didn’t weigh-in this morning cuz I was tired and felt bloated so I figured I’d just wait til tomorrow. I was OP all day yesterday so it’s not like I have anything to worry about anyways.

I’m slowly starting to start sorting things in my house and gonna start packing soon since I got a few boxes from work! this morning I threw away 2 huge bags of stuff (mostly magazines though :cry: I’m a hoarder…) and that felt kinda good. I also found an apartment that I’m interested in an waiting to hear back from the agency! :) I’m just worried cuz it said on the thing “must be employed in Japan” to rent the place… and though I have a job now, and will have a (new) job for sure in april, I don’t have details about said new job yet, or a proof that I’m gonna have a steady salary, so I’m worried they might turn me down cuz of that :( wish me luck!

I actually DO have classes today, so I only have a few hours to kill this morning, haha. y’all have a nice day!

Thank you, Riestrella and KawaiiCandie for your words of encouragement!

I just got back from my second night of my biggest loser program. Since the first night was mainly just measurements and so forth, it was the first real night of working out, and I am feeling it already! About 45 minutes of things like lunges and squats, interspersed with laps around the track, followed by an hour of floor hockey with the two teams competing against each other. My trainer is also having us all keep a food journal that she will review every week, and expects us to work out an additional 2-3 times a week outside of our 3 training sessions with her. It's much more intense than I expected, but that's probably the best thing for me. Now that I have a better idea of what to expect and am learning my teammates' names, I feel a lot more confident with the whole thing than I did Monday!

stronger4me: counting calories really worked for me in the past, twice.. so i'm sticking with it. Though counting calories is not done the same by people that do it. I think mine is a mix of counting calories and low carb diet. If I get the right foods in the house.

Quiet Ballerina: thank you! And enjoy your long weekend :D. I just signed up for 2 extra shifts this weekend. Ah well, the money is nice!

Riestrella: It's me, yeh. And thank you! :o - 19lbs is a LOT! How awesome. I am sure he is gonna notice. Though if he doesn't you can contribute that to the fact that it's a guy. They don't have eye for such things. Hehe. Goodluck on reaching the 24lbs!

KawaiiCandie: Ah, I am vegetarian so meat isn't an option. I dropped being veggie the last time I started to try and eat more proteine because it was so much easier, but I really am not so comfortable with eating meat so this time around I have to find a way to incorporate the proteine without meat. It's hard for sure. But I'll manage! What are you gonna do in Japan? I've missed previous conversation so if you'd want to clue me in i'd love that! hihi

Astrix: That sounds hard but also great. What kinda program is it? With a local gym or something? Goodluck!

---

Ah Girls, I am going bonkers. It's this whole balancing living at home for a while and not wanting to burden my mom with my eating habits thing. She is so NOT considerate. It's not like she means to be inconsiderate. But she can eat what she wants and has a weird sense of what is healthy food. It basically means I am gonna have to do all my own groceries and cooking because I can't rely on her buying a single thing I can eat, or cooking anything without meat. For tonigth there is fried italian patato cubes on the menu, but it being prepackeged means there's salami and other meat in it. Then she has chicken and sausage for with it. The only thing edible for me is gonna be the salad. Which consists of a few leaves of greens and tomato cubes. #whining

Yesterday I had the massive tired day and though I didn't go over my calories too badly, I spend 1/3 of my calories on junk. It's mostly because of the trying to kick my redbull habit. It is seriously hard. I've not had one for 4 days now, but I'm so near ready to go buy a tray of redbull light. Thank the gods for facebook en twitterfriends who know me as a notorious energy drink-addict and support me kicking it. Hihih.

On a more positive note: I went to the gym and am serious about c25k again. So if I stick to my calories a bit better I know i'll be losing weight soon.

Hey Quiet Ballerina, school is school!

Philana- I definitely think you're right. I think it works for me because I tend to eat super healthy and then give in to cravings, but with this I feel comfortable eating healthy most of the time and allowing myself a little of the really good stuff too.

Kawaii- I love the tagline on his site: AN UNCOMMON GUIDE TO RAPID FAT-LOSS, INCREDIBLE SEX, AND BECOMING SUPERHUMAN ... who does not want those things? Sounds really interesting.

Good morning, everyone!

Philana - yay for not giving in to the Red Bull! I tried kicking Diet Dr. Pepper, but I just couldn't do it. I'm not ready for that yet. However, I did cut way back and I upped my water intake. Did you start over with c25k or pick it up in a later week? The last time I did it, I was at week 4. I quit going to the gym because of school and family, however, and I now miss it. :(

Stronger - I actually stopped using myfitnesspal and started back with livestrong. I think myfitnesspal will come in handy when I need to keep track and I don't have something to write with, but I don't like that I'm so limited. You can't just enter how many ounces you have eaten and it's hard to modify the serving sizes. That's the only downfall about it, but other that, it's great if you are away from home and have to get snacks from a vending machine or whatever. You can just scan them and go and you know you have it all recorded. I haven't tried the livestrong app because it cost money and it had low stars.

QB - What kind of soda do you normally drink? You could have a cup of coffee in the mornings or some tea and it may help with the headaches.

Coco - Hey! Glad to see you around. How's your knee?

Rie - Thanks for the words of encouragement. :) I really appreciate it.

Kawaii - Oh yeah, I forgot you went to low carb. How's it going this time around? Good luck on the apartment!!

Astrix - That workout sounded awesome. I love group workouts like that. And I miss them. :( Keep it up! I feel like you are going to do very well. :)

Whew! I think I got everyone now. LOL! It's great having so many people to talk to, but it's hard keeping up. So, I'm sorry if I missed anyone.

Yesterday was the best day since I've started back tracking my calories. I still ate a little too much at dinner, but it wasn't enough to hurt me. I've been trying to figure out how I'm going to get a workout in after I start student teaching. I will have to be up at 5am every morning to start getting everyone ready to get where they need to go (DS to school, DD to the babysitter, me to work) and then I know I won't be done at the elem. school until 3:30 or later. Which that puts me getting home around 4:45 after picking up the kids. Then, I will have to start supper and eat around 6 and then DD's bath at 6:30, and get her ready for bed, and then DS's bath around 7:30, and get him ready for bed. Clean the kitchen, laundry, etc. DD and DS's bedtime at 8:30, and then collapse on the couch to work on homework, lessons, etc. Ok, yeah, I will have no time to myself...ugh! So, yeah, focusing on diet until school is out. Haha!

A short post, while I take a quick break. :)

sgregg the soda changes, depending on what I want at the store. Usually coke zero. Yesterday I had coffee (tried to drink less than normal though) and today I skipped coffee. So far it's...1.15pm and no headache. I did bring a little chocolate though, so that probably helped. :)

Also keeping track of how many times I'm filling my water bottle, so I know how much water I'm drinking.

...and the baby is up and crying. So I have to go. Poor thing has a cold so naps are just not working today.

Oh, and I know Quiet Ballerina is a lot to type, so it doesn't offend me at all if y'all refer to me as QB. :)

Just a quick pondering: I think I am gonna give up on the redbull-quitting. It's so hard and I am so tired which makes me eat more and just feel like not going to the gym. After not having it for a bunch of days, I think I can do with just one a day or one ever 2 days though. So that's an imporvement to the 3 a day I was having.

What do you guys think? I know it's unhealthy.. but I don't drink any other sode's, and I also don't drink coffee or tea. I eat clean mostly. Just one bad habit left... hehe.

Philana - so you are quitting quitting the redbull? Haha!! I think if you can limit yourself, then it should be fine. I hate having the feeling that I'm addicted to something, but I know I am. However, I feel like if I can limit myself to one or two drinks a day then I'm more in control than I was before.

Hi everyone, I hope you don’t mind if I join in :)

I was using a different support forum site, but it is nowhere near as great as 3FC, in my opinion! I am just finding that the people on here are so much nicer and supportive, which I need to finish this!!

Philana – I know red bull is a really hard habit to kick! I’ve never even had a sip of it, lol, but I have quite a few friends who are totally addicted. I think slowly going off of it will be the key, and it sounds like you’re totally on the right track

Kawaii – Where in Japan are you? I was in Okinawa for 3 years, miss it like crazy. I’m working on my masters right now so I can teach at an international school over there (current long term career goal.)

Astrix – That program sounds awesome!! I wish I could find something like that out here…maybe I’ll have to look into it.

QB – Giving up soda was the worst for me. I was a 3 a day pepsi drinker, and the withdrawal was awful. I couldn’t even do diet soda, I went cold turkey. Even now I only have like 1 a month. But I do miss it!!

Sgregg – Sounds like you are so super busy!! Reinforces my belief that moms are superheroes

Buutastic - :welcome3: I really do love this 20-somethings chat thread. Been coming here on and off for a few years now. And I'm not too busy yet, but starting the 23rd I will be..eeek!

Astrix: yeah, the biggest loser program sounds really good! I think that’d be exactly what I need too… someone to check-up on me and kick my ***! lol.

Philana: oh, I see! hmm.. then I’d say… beans! lots of beans! lol. Oh, I live in Japan already! I’ve been living here for the last 3+ years, but I live in Shizuoka prefecture, and I’ve been wanting to move to Tokyo forever, so finally, it’s happening! but it’s freaking me out a bit… and problems I hadn’t anticipated keep popping up… gaaarh! but otherwise I’m just really excited! aww… big hugs about your living situation!! have you tried having a serious talk with your mom? but you’re right, buying and cooking your own things is probably for the best. just explain it to your mom so that she doesn’t get offended that you don’t wanna eat her food… as for your redbull thing. how about just diminishing your quantities first off and eventually quitting? or switching to another, less sugary, caffeinated beverage? I know I’m never quitting coffee, so I can understand how you feel!!

stronger: the book was actually a really funny read! if that’s all you get from reading it, I’d say it’s 10$ well spent :p well, I liked it anyways. let me know if you try it! I could have a buddy! ^_^

sgregg: it’s going good this time around! I haven’t had cheat day yet though… wanna get back into the habits of things and focusing about being healthy. and thanks! I hope I can sort out everything quickly! and wow, just reading about your day makes me exhausted! congrats on the good day yesterday and hope you can keep it up! sounds like if you just make a bit of an effort on the food, as busy as you are, you could probably lose weight anyways!

Buutastic: welcome! I’ve been in Shizuoka for 3 years now! but I’m moving to Tokyo in March!! ooh, I had a friend who got placed in Okinawa, but I never went there to visit her. She loved it too though!

okay, so happy Friday guys!! I’m so glad the weekend is here! Even though this week was only 4 days, it felt so long for me… lol. I weighed in this morning and the scale had gone up .2 kg… but trying to keep it in stride… also I finished a (small) bag of nuts that I’d told myself I would only eat half of last night… which I know wasn’t the brightest move ever… but then I had a salad for dinner, which I think was a nice save! lol. I have to learn not to even BUY nuts! dammit…

oh and I figured I’d share, since everyone is talking about their cola addiction, that I’m obsessed with Pepsi NEX. I dunno if you guys have it in the States, but in Japan, it’s the only kind of pepsi available. there’s no regular or diet pepsi! (which is weird if you ask me since they do have regular coke… oh well) anyways, and I think it tastes much better than Coca Cola Zero! :p

one thing that happened that is not-so-cool is that the apartment rental company mailed me back, and they are basically saying that if I have no job in Tokyo (which I don’t. yet) I can’t rent an apartment with them. it SUCKS, and after a bit of googleage, I think a lot of companies have the same requirements… I really hope the guy I interviewed with can come through real quick, cuz otherwise, I’m gonna have to first move into a guesthouse for a month, and then move again to an apartment once I have a job. and I REALLY don’t want to live in a guest house…. meh. but anyways. all is well!!

Sorry it took me so long ro reply ive been at my mother house for the week helping my little sister study for exams :S

I looked into the white noise machines and i think they carry them at Sears so im going to go check it out... if not i can always keep his swing running it has the oceans sounds on it.... :)

sgregg: that sounds like an impossible schedule to keep. I am SO never having kids. Haha. Though with being so busy I don't think you really need a gym. You are moving around a ton. Or you could add in some walking, like parking your car a bit further from your work or the kids school. I bet they'd not mind walking 10 minutes with you, and you'd have a 20minute walk everytime you pick them up. Something creative I'd think. Also wondering if there's a dad involved? Cant he bathe one of them? So you can use that time for a run? Goodluck on figuring it out. I think everyone needs a bit of 'me' time.

Buutastic: welcome to the thread! Hope you'll enjoy your stay ;). This and the Feathers chat are the only two places I really post on this board. The rest I just lurk for ideas and such. ;)

Kawaii: Why'd you move to Japan? And how do you like it? It sounds so cool! Goodluck on the move then, it's always a hassle moving. Especially not in a country you grew up in. Hope it works out with the jobthing so you won't have to stay in aguesthouse. Though it's really not the end of the world so you'll be fine either way! ;)

---
Yesterday was a total failure. I was at a study-day for my job and the lunch was so high carbs and no other options and I was hungry. So I went overboard. I was planning on fixing that later on. In the store I saw these really nice rice-crispies that were only 90calories a piece. I thought they'd be prepackaged and rather big. When I opened it they were tiny and a lot of them. So... I ended up eating the whole pack. And felt really sick with nauseau and headache the rest of the day. So.. epic fail. Won't be doing that again. Hahah.

The redbull thing is settled, I am back to drinking the light versions again. It's such chemical nasty stuff for the body, but everything else I try and eat clean so I think I am gonna just deal with it. It's like those people that drink coffee that can't go without it. I drink nothing other than water and redbull. Will try and keep it at max 2 a day.

My mom has decided to just not count me in on her mealplans anymore. Which is for the better. I can feel less guilty about eating my own stuff. So now it's just taking the time to cook a bit better.

I am gonna set up a rather strict regiment for myself because this half-half thing this week is not working. I know I did well in the summer on a strict schedule and I can do it again, it mostly takes effort in the planning department. If I plan my food I don't feel like starving and I will get the right amount of proteine. I am also gonna strictly plan my workouts because that works best. I want to loose atleast 1kg/2lbs a week for the next month.

Update: much appreciated side effect to drinking energy drinks again is that my appetite isn't as big as when I was off it. Yay!

Good morning.

Well, I decided to move back in with my parents again and try to work things out. My boyfriend was real understanding, thank goodness, he said that what mattered was whether or not I was happy and if I was happy, that I had his full blessing. I was sad to leave him and his mum but I reckon if I can work things out with Mom and Dad that that would be even better. :)

I have tried to manage my weight and I have done okay, but yesterday seemed to be a crash day. I ate fast food and soda in I don't know how long and I'm feeling it today, just feeling gross. I think today I will go grocery shopping and clean things up around here just a touch, so I don't have to rely on fast food or use the excuse that the kitchen or microwave is not clean. (Which is true, unfortunately.)

Philana- I feel you on the quitting caffenated drinks, I recently tried to cut out drinking soda and it feels much better than drinking all soda all the time. tea drinks a day. It seems to work for me for now. :)

Coco- Hope you feel better soon! :)

To anyone who asked- I am getting my Associate's degree in Health Information Management. It's somewhat like Medical Billing and Coding except it encompasses a little bit more than that. I want to go into the data analysis part of it, cause I'm a big math geek and also a big medical geek so it all worked out. :)

Hey everyone, have to make this a quickie but it's great seeing this chat pick up! Today I reached 160 lbs!! Wow, can't believe it, 40 lbs lost - gone forever! Just 10 lbs away from healthy...never thought I'd see the day!

Rie congrats!!!

Quiet Ballerina and anyone interested in tracking their water intake, if you have an Iphone (might also be available for other phones), you should get the Water Lite app. I love it. Tells me how much water I need to drink based on my weight and grades me each day on my water intake (not that i want another grade in my life right now lol). You just open up the app and tap the screen and it adds however many ounces you've preset it to be. There's a graph that keeps track of your water intake over time. And a number pops up on the app icon so you can keep track of how much more you need to drink without opening the app itself. You get a little congratulations note whenever you hit 100%.

It's been a great motivator to push me to drink more water. Today was the first day I finally reached (and exceeded!) 100% intake, I've been at around 50% (60 oz.) for the last few days. But I've lost more weight drinking more water than when I was just shooting for 8 glasses a day so I'm pretty stoked about that.

But all this water also makes me hungrier so now I have to figure out what to do about that.

Went to thai boxing class today and had a great time. Afterwards I walked the 10 blocks to run errands and then another 30 blocks to grocery shop near my place and then home. My legs were killing me but I loved the walk. It's starting to make me groan at the thought of going to the gym and getting on the ellitipical, but alas, once classes start I won't be able to make it to boxing as often as I would like so I have to learn to like it.

Hope you all are having a good weekend!

philana: i moved to japan cuz i came on a (3 month) trip here back in 2004, just before i started uni, and i just fell in love with the place and KNEW i had to come back. even though it's challenging, i really do love living here. thanks for the well-wishes! aww, sorry to hear about the food fail yesterday, but just get back on track today! and yay for mom deciding to let you do your own thing!

namaste: good luck with moving back in with the folks! and try no to let the mistakes you did yesterday deter you from doing good today!

Rie: congrats!!!



well don't have too much to say today, but i've been good all weekend, and this morning the scale said 181.6! joy!

oh and that lady from the rental agency got back to me and said that if i was really interested in the place, she could try to talk to the landlord to negotiate letting me move in without a job. score! that would be sooooo good!

Just a quick update: I stayed a bit under my rather high calorie limit yesterday. I had to push up the limit because I constantly failed due to hunger. But yesterday it was easy. I also cleaned house and organized my stuff. I feel much better today. About everything. Haha.

My mom is gonna quit smoking tomorrow, which will mean she is soon going to understand my issue with quitting carbs a bit better. So yay for that.

Goodluck to you ladies and have a nice sunday!

woah! no posts! i guess it's all still sunday for most of you :p already monday here for me and back to the grind.

nothing much to report except that i'm still doing good. scale was showing a little increase this morning but i'm choosing to ignore it! lol.

Philana: congrats with finding something that works for you! hope you can stick with it!

Kawaii! Exact same here. Monday morning. Dentist visit in 10 mins. And the scale was up by half a pound. Which I am also gonna ignore.

I've been doing good on the calorie counting. Am contemplating calorie cycling though, because on the days I work my half-night shifts (from 10pm till 2 am) I just worry all day about leaving enough calories for the evening because it's such a logn day and I don't wanna get hungry.


OMG, so my grandma used to make oatmeal for me when I was a kid but it was gross. Was just with milk and a bit of sugar. Ew. But I just made it myself with water, raisins and brown sugar and it's a great brunch.

Hey ladies! :)

Monday night here, and I've got my fridge stocked with all the healthy groceries I need to do Phase I of the Fat Smash Diet. Phase I is a detox phase that you do for 9 days. You are basically getting your body away from caffeine, sugar, unhealthy, processed foods, and getting used to eating small frequent meals of veggies, fruits, and whole grains like brown rice and oatmeal. You get your proteins from beans and lentils. You can also have so much milk and yogurt per day, and up to 4 egg whites (yuck!..lol). Anyway, it's not too terribly limiting, but it's going to be tough those first few days. I've done it before and felt really great. So, I'm doing it again to kind of "start over" and get back on track with healthy eating. It really makes you appreciate the sweetness of sweet veggies like carrots and sweet potatoes and fruits aren't so tart anymore. Phase II starts after the 9 days and I'll add a few things. If anyone's interested in trying it with me it's The Fat Smash Diet by Ian Smith. :)

Kawaii - I really hope you can get the place that you want! Fingers crossed for you!!

Rie - That's awesome!! I know you are so excited to be so close to the 150's!!

Stronger - Thanks for the mention of the app...I'll have to check it out.

Namaste - We all have our bad days. ((hugs)) Pick yourself back up and keep going. :) Let us know how it goes with the parents. I'm glad your bf is understanding.

Hey everyone!

I'm back from the dead! So happy to be over whatever virus I had last week. My eating has been awful in the last week...I did manage to lose just under a pound last week, but me being impatient doesn't help.

Rie - Congrats on the 40lbs loss! That's awesome.

Namaste - Thank you! How is the gym going?

Shauna - My knee *was* doing somewhat better, but I accidentally hit it in the car door on Friday. It's still really sensitive, but I was able to do spinning yesterday! I've heard a lot about the Smash Diet...let me know how it goes!

Philana - :lol: my grandfather used to make us oatmeal too...all I remember, is it tasting/looking like paper mache. We used to poor our oatmeal in my grandparents' bowls while they were't looking. Ahh memories.

Kawaii - Good luck with the apartment!

hey guys! tuesday morning here and scale is back to normal. quite happy.

i am extremely sleepy and dead at the moment cuz i just had classes back to back all morning. i bet whoever concocted my schedule last year was just laughing maniacally to themselves... it's really evil. none of the other teachers ever have 5 classes a day! gah! but anyways... one more to go this afternoon, and i intend to spend my one short break sitting on my *** and guzzling coffee.

i also think that part of my sleepiness is that i keep going to bed way later than normal, cuz i wait for the bf to come home from his part-time job (round 11-ish) and then we either talk on the phone or skype. i mean, being so stupidly in love is good fun... but this poor body of mine is too old to handle it! lol.



philana: lol. i love oatmeal! but it's so fatty... eheh... haven't eaten it in ages. also kinda expensive in japan cuz you gotta get it at the import store...

sgregg: thanks! going to tokyo on saturday to check it out! good luck with that new diet! let us know how it goes!

teamcoco: glad you're better! welcome back!

Y'all talking about that oatmeal makes me laugh. That's one of the things I'll be eating every day for the next 9 days!! And I can't add sugar or butter, so it's going to look just like what you are talking about! LOL!!! I'll be okay, but just thought it was funny.

Oh I love oatmeal now! Especially the irish oatmeal, you could totally have it plain. I add raisins to mine, and a bit of cinnamon.

Kawaii: Here it's one of the cheapest breakfast foods ever. How is it fatty? So, how is dieting in Japan? Are people there as slim as most of the japanese I encounter here?

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I feel like I need a new plan or a bit more discipline. I just can't get motivated to stick to it. Haven't done my excersise and I go over my calories everyday. Not by much. So it's not like I am messing it up completely. But at this rate I won't lose any weight, or so slowly it's christmas before the first pound is gone. It's hard to motivate myself because I am in a range where I can live with this weight the rest of my life and not be worried. I also know I am not so happy with the flab and the jeanssize. But it's more vanity than anything else. And I am not really a vain person. So no REAL motivation there either.

Health. I guess I have to focus on the health part. But you can be healthy and not lose weight.

Sooo. Lot's of soulsearching to do. I am considering IF, just because -not- eating for a whole day seams easier than allowing myself the small bites of this and that and constantly being pre-occupied with food. Any of you have any experience with IF?

(This all sounds worse than it is, I eat maybe 1500 calories a day. But that's not gonna get me anywhere unfortunately.)

Hey everyone! Sorry for the lack of posting recently! But I'm back with more good news! I reached 159 lbs! And if you look below in my signature you will notice a nice new ticker since I finally reached my last mini goal of reaching the weight I was when I was 17! This is now the lightest I've been in 6 years!! I can't believe it! And to think when I was 17 I thought I was a hippo, now I feel sexy!

I also have some great personal news - I got a JET interview! I am now so incredibly nervous, but as they say getting the interview means they liked my application and want to meet me. I've been researching all the questions people have been asked and I've been practising some answers while I'm alone in the house! It's 2 weeks away, on the 31st, so I've got lots of time to brush up on what's happening in Japan and fingers crossed my interview goes well. Once that's out of the way I can get super excited for my America trip since on the 31st it will be 9 days to go! I'm sure the time is going to fly by now that an interview is coming up.

I went out last night for my friends birthday, ended up over indulging for lunch - had a baguette with cajun chicken and salsa tomato sauce with fries and a giant slice of a swiss roll cake that I shared with her. It was DELICIOUS, so for dinner I had 2 pieces of toast and hey, it seemed to be ok since I hit 159 lbs this morning! I also went out that evening and danced a lot, I'm sure that helped!

So life is pretty dandy right now, 9 lbs away from being healthy, I can't believe it! It seriously feels like yesterday I worked out my BMI and saw I was obese!

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philana - If you don't truly want this, in all honesty, you won't get anywhere. It does seem like you have to ask yourself some serious questions that you appear to be answering already, like the fact you could live at your weight for the rest of your life. Either way you need to learn to be HAPPY with who you are. I was terribly unhappy with being 200 lbs, and right now I want to get to a weight where I have a flat stomach. But that means exercising a lot and eating well, and having been doing this for almost a year now I can honestly say it's changed my life. I know for the rest of my life I will be exercising and watching what I eat. But make sure at the end of it all that you are happy, that should be your biggest motivator.

Kawaii - I'm so sorry hun, but I might be bombarding you with panicked questions now I've got this interview! I think the biggest problem I'll face is dealing with the "what would you do if a student was misbehaving" because I don't have any formal teaching experience. If you don't have the time I completely understand though!
Glad to hear your weight is back to normal! You could be getting tired from the coffee you drink? Caffeine has that crash and burn effect, especially sugary drinks too. When I was hooked on energy drinks in my final year at Uni I would be sleepy all the time, I would actually nap every day. Something to think about. Cutting out caffeine is HARD but it can be done and now I rarely nap and I get up fine in the mornings and tend to sleep later in the evening.

coco - Glad you feel better! If you were sick then I totally wouldn't worry about over eating!

sgregg - Thank you, I'm now in the 150s!! How did it happen?! Haha. Your diet plan sounds good, personally I would go insane with something like that! But I have cut out sugars and caffeine before...from my experience I felt good to begin with then turned into a devil! So expect an angry phase!! But I definitely know what you mean when food tastes better without the cr@p in your diet.

stronger - Well done on all that exercise! I went to a few thai boxing lessons, they were intense! At the time I was obese so I was paranoid and stopped going, but my boyfriend carried on a loved it.

namaste - That's great that your boyfriend was so understanding, it must be difficult but you made the right decision. There's simply no point in living in a situation where you feel unhappy or uneasy. Just work things out one step at a time and move forward when you feel ready to take the risk. Because change in life always comes with uncertainties but you need to feel ready for it.

Rie congrats!

Kawaii your schedule sounds brutal. How long are those classes?

I've realized I need to start counting calories too. I weighed myself early this week (Weigh in is normally Thursdays), but I had a feeling I was gaining weight and didn't want to get to weigh-in and realize I've been going full force in the wrong direction. Which I was. I gained 1.5lbs. So I'm going to try calorie counting for the next week and see where that gets me. I'm also going to make an appointment with a nutritionist and see if I can get some insight on my diet and why I tend to gain muscle rather than lose fat.

Hope everyone else's week is going well!

Stronger - I think seeing a nutritionist is a great idea! Let us know if you get any good tips/ideas!

Rie - The detox is very tough, but it's ONLY 9 days...that's what I have to keep telling myself. Ha! I think I can actually have a 10oz. cup of coffee in the next phase, so it isn't like I can't have caffeine OR sugar forever, but I'll appreciate it more after this phase. And yay for hitting the 150s!!!!!! I'm so excited for you!! Keep us update about your JET interview.

Philana - I'm with Riestrella. If you are comfortable where you are, then you won't find that motivation. (((hugs))) I hope you figure something out soon!

Coco - I've never heard of Irish Oatmeal. Sounds interesting.

Well, today is Day 1 of Phase I (detox). I've only had breakfast so far, but I had a bowl of oatmeal (made with skim milk) with strawberries, blueberries, and sliced banana. It was tasty. I'm definitely missing the butter and sugar, but I'll get over it. I already feel good because I know I ate a good healthy breakfast. :) Now, I just have to plan something for lunch! I'm really excited about doing this. I know it's going to work and make me feel great. I just have to stick through it and get past the caffeine and sugar cravings that will come later. Hope everyone has a great day! I'll be checking in later. :)

stronger4me Ohmygosh what a great app! Thanks for sharing!! I just downloaded it.

sgregg putting salsa on egg whites is pretty yummy. And if you make your own salsa from veggies, you can watch what you put in it to make it healthy. Is that allowed on your plan?

So last week I really tried to watch what I ate. Limited my carbs, ate tons of veggies...I was so excited about the weekend that the week was kind of a blur. :) But I was also trying to drink close to 70oz of water a day.
Over the weekend, I really just ate when I was hungry and stopped when I was satisfied. Guess I was having so much fun that I wasn't bored, and didn't feel like munching. :)
Anyway...huge weight loss for me since the 9th. 6 pounds! :woohoo:
I weighed myself 3 times because I didn't believe the scale. And I weighed myself at work too. I thought for sure my scale's batteries were dying and it was lying to me. Nope. I'm 148.

Oooo! That means I get to pick something from my list of rewards! I'm either getting a new laptop bag or a pedicure. I just got a pedicure last week though before my trip...so maybe I'll start checking out laptop bags! :) manicures are no good for me. I got a manicure when I got my pedicure (on Sunday) and by Tuesday the manicure was already chipping. Boo.

QB - Thanks for the salsa and egg whites idea!! I bought veggies to make salsa and didn't even think about that. Congrats on your big loss!! That's great!

Hi guys!

It's my first day of school, and I'm just sitting around my parents' house patiently waiting for class to start. It'll be some time now, as my classes are in the evening. I have done that for awhile since I'm kind of a late afternoon-early evening type of person and the parking is better in the evening anyhoo.

I've been kind of slacking off, I think as my residual depression from leaving my boyfriend's house subsides. I did go to exercise yesterday, just for a little walk and a ride on the stationary bike. I was shocked to discover though that I had a huge jump down on the scale, possibly as much as 3 lbs. After breakfast and lunch, I weighed just for the heck of it and found out that I was at 210.8! Normally by the time I've eaten breakfast and lunch it ends up being a water gain of 2-3 lbs, so possibly I'm somewhere around 208. We will see tomorrow. :)

Rie- Yaaaaaayyy! :hat: I know how hard you've been working on those last 4 lbs and I'm glad it finally paid off for you. You're getting closer and closer to your goal and that's great. As for leaving my boyfriend's house, yeah it was a very difficult decision and we miss each other like crazy, but we decided that this was the best thing for us right now. :)

Coco- Glad you're feeling better. I am still going to the gym and working out. I decided to stick with the one on my mom's end of town cause I moved back there, and I go with her two days a week and whenever I feel like going.

sgregg- ((hugs)) Thanks for the encouragement. I am still a little sad from the move back but I am picking myself up and dusting myself off, as usual. My boyfriend is still a major part of my life and we spend whatever time we can together. My mom is doing marginally better and I think that's all I can really hope for at this point. It's kind of something that goes deeper than one incident and will take time to figure out. :)

Quiet Ballerina glad you liked it! I'm realizing that water intake will be a huge challenge now that classes have started up again.

But I'm also excited because today was my first day counting/really cutting calories (down to 1,300) and I feel good. I was really worried about headaches and brain fog and not getting through classes, but overall I feel great. I'll have to up my calories when I go to boxing tomorrow but I think I'll be able to maintain 1,300-1,500 for a little while.

Well hi, some might remember me, some might not... I'm not going to make any promises about posting regularly because I always seem to fail those - I used to be super regular and then life got in the way as it does!

I've been maintaining now for too long, and while I'm not one for New Year's resolutions, now seemed like a good time to sort myself out and get back on the track I was doing so well on.

Food is becoming my main difficulty at the moment, and it's mainly giving into cravings. Today I had this guy at work installing and teaching me new software, but I was basically teaching him because he seemed so incompetent. It stressed me out and afterward I just wanted sugary, carby cake. So I got a piece of cake. It wasn't even that good and I regretted those hugely unneeded calories!

I've just been for a jog/walk - I do it in intervals of walking and jogging because my breathing sucks and I always get stupid stitch/cramps/whatever, but I forgot just how good it makes me feel.

So right now I'm going to update my ticker and info and stuff and hopefully I can post a little more regularly again.

Philana: dieting in Japan is SO frustrating! people are naturally slim here cuz they have really fast metabolism… but you should see the crap they eat! they even have this completely warped food pyramid (I swear to God, a doctor gave me this little pamphlet once) with carbs as the biggest/most important food group, and you should eat 7 portions of carbs a day!!!!!! also Japanese girls are built on a much tinier frame, so it’s not uncommon for them to weigh around 40g, which is like 90lbs… there’s ads at the back of magazines for dieting pills that are like “look at me! I went from weighing 55kg to 43!!” and I’m just thinking that I WISH I could weigh 55kg… lol. and there’s like no diet-worthy food here. plenty of diet gimmicks, but nothing like whole wheat bread or diet ice cream… and there’s rice/carbs in everything… it’s really hard to diet :/
Man, I need discipline too! I’m just using my moving as an excuse to not work out, when honestly, last night, all I did was watch tv and read my book… I could’ve totally worked out but I just hate it so much. :p let’s try to motivate each other!! as for the rest, you know, sometimes it’s better to just do really radical changes, instead of baby steps… it depends on each individual. anyways. good luck!

Rie: congrats!! that is SO awesome! I’m doing a little dance right there with you! (both for the weight and the JET interview!) oh and I’m glad to help! pummel away! though you should probably do it in a pm, or by mail, or facebook so we don’t annoy everyone else in here :p oh no, I’m pretty sure my being tired has to do with my going to bed late. and I don’t drink sugar drinks either, since sugar is the evil bane of my current diet! I just don’t sleep well/enough. story of my life!

stronger: one class is 50 minutes. there’s 10 minutes between each but I don’t really have time to do anything other than run from class to class or go to the toilet in those breaks, so it’s pretty much teaching back to back. meh. thank god it’s not every day! going to the nutritionist sounds like a good plan! I’m sure she can help you out!

sgregg: good luck on starting this new thing! I’m sure you’ll make it through day 1 with flying colors!

ballerina: that’s awesome!! I’m so happy for you! :)

Namaste: aww… feel better hun! how was class? and look at you! 3lbs down! (and maybe more!) go you!

rainbow: rainbow!!!!!! how are you? welcome back! sorry about the cake… but forget about it, and move on!

well hello all! that was a lot of personals…

I’m at the end of my work day now, and today has been a good day! I’m also hyper on coffee! lol. but all is well… meeting a friend for dinner tonight, and am a bit worried since my diet is not that forgiving, but I’ll do my best! hope y’all have a good hump day! :p

kawaii:Hey!! Glad to see a familiar face, and glad you're still going! Cake is totally forgotten because I'm sure I worked it off with my exercise - it was freaking hot when I went out, the sun was shining so brightly for 6pm! We've had a crap summer so far...
Hope that you dinner goes ok, I'm sure you'll be fine - you know the good choices ^_^

Hey everyone!

Not much else is new with me, just starting my interview prep and working. I've got 2 days off which will be nice, I have a friend coming over today to meet the new puppy and then tomorrow I should be doing something with an old high school friend who I meet up with from time to time.

23 days to go until I see the boyfriend in America! I can't wait! Gotta keep attacking my body to lose as much weight as possible!

stronger - I found that once I was exercising more (6 times a week) I had to bump up my calories to fuel my body so I could lose weight. It sounds crazy, eating more to lose weight, but as long as it's all healthy food then it does wonders for weight loss.

sgregg - Thank you! I hope you find some success in this new diet, but be sure to think that weight loss has to be a complete 180 lifestyle change that you have to maintain for the rest of your life. If this can teach you how to eat healthy so you can carry on afterwards then it'll be great =).

QB - Woohoo, congrats on the loss! Just goes to show what healthy eating can do! Have fun shopping for that laptop bag, you've earned it!

namaste - Thank you, and congrats on the loss! I love it when you lose weight but you don't quite believe it yourself! Hope you enjoy your first day back at school! As for your boyfriend, I know it might be hard and you miss each other but you still love each other very much and that's the most important part of your relationship.

rainbowstripe - Welcome back! Hope to see you posting more again =)

Kawaii - Thank you!! Yesterday I was doing the happy dance too, weight loss and an interview! Then the nerves set in and I went into quiet contemplation mode of what would happen if I balls up the interview, haha. Thank you so much for helping me, I really appreciate any help. Maybe when I get to Japan we can have a meet up! And eat lots of cr@p haha.