Location: Home of the Pirates, Steelers and Penguins
Posts: 12,397
S/C/G: 217/179/142
Height: 5'2
Riestrella, I'm responding to your request for help on this, the 20-something thread rather than Chicks Up For A Challenge because what I have to say is meant for the younger crowd, mostly, hoping to scare you during this Halloween challenge. I am 70 years old. I was at my fighting weight all through my 20s and 30s. I wasn't naturally thin, but I worked at it. Somewhere around my 40s it started to get harder, and I was getting tired of all the work. I seemed to just give up and let it all go. After gaining about 80 lbs, I developed heart disease and had to have open heart surgery, 4 bypasses. At that time they checked my blood sugar and diagnosed type 2 diabetes. Now I also have sleep apnea. I don't believe any of this would have happened if I would have stayed strong, fought the weight gain with every fiber of my being. So I'm telling you younger girls, do it now. I don't know what the answer is, or I wouldn't still weigh 200 lbs. Each of you need to find what works for you and quit playing around. Your health is too important and nothing you are putting in your mouth is worth it. Don't wait til it's too late, like I did. I wish all of you the best, and I will be rooting for you!!
Last edited by Wannabehealthy; 10-01-2016 at 07:36 PM.
Hi All,
I hope it is okay I just joined. I really could use the motivation right now, and this seems lots of fun! I am also hoping it will inspire me to give up alcohol until Halloween. I only drink once a week (don't want to come across as a lush, but aspiring), but I know those calories are empty and not nourishing.
I am only four or five pounds away from weighing less than my husband--a great, never seen before, goal. You ladies are just what is needed!
Glad to meet you all!
Last edited by Ollieandedith; 10-02-2016 at 03:44 PM.
Welcome ollieandedith!
My goal is to reach "Franklin weight" (my husbands) to start too! I haven't weighed less than him since we married. I can't wait to reach that goal!
I weighed myself earlier and weighed in at 220! I'm glad to see the scale finally moving down a bit. Hopefully I can keep that going.
This is wishful thinking I'm sure, but if my son Wakes up at 4 and I'm up from 4am to 10pm will I burn more calories? I ate 1400 cals instead of my normal 1200... 🙄
Rie I'm gonna give you some tough love.Every challenge for the past year you say your gonna lose the weight make all these promises to yourself and then within the first few weeks you end up sabotaging yourself or making up excuses.If you go back through your posts just for this challenge there are several examples of where you could have worked out but didn't or shouldn't have eaten bad but did.You seriously need to get real with yourself or this is gonna keep going on.You can either keep making crappy food choices and exuses and stay fat or start doing the work it takes to lose weight.It's not easy to lose weight but if it's what you want you need to make sure it takes priority in your life.I meal prep every week and sometimes I have to say no to really yummy food but to me the end result is worth it.I hate seeing you repeat the same cycle over and over.You really need to sit down and decide if you truly want to lose weight or not.i really hope this time you do it.
Thank you so much for your kind words, I'll reply directly to you after this post. It was so uplifting to see you all come to my aid and help, I truly appreciate it! I've been doing a lot better, a few little hiccups along the way in the last couple of days. I was doing fantastic on Saturday with my food intake, only to get insanely hungry in the evening so I had a small bowl of chips and salsa. Oops. Baby steps...baby steps. Yesterday I did much better with food, we did have home made burgers (end of the month tradition for us) but this morning I weighed 172 lbs which is 1.2 lbs down from yesterdays weigh in! I'm happy to see a downward trend even if it has only been a couple of days.
Today I'm going to go on my first run since...woah, I don't even know how long it's been! Let me check...May 7th, which was the FroYo 10K I did. Wow, 5 months, that's insane. Well, I'm definitely starting anew with this running plan, usually I jump into 10K training but I know that I'm not as limber as I once was and if I push myself too hard I'll injure myself. I'm actually looking forward to the run/walk plan that I have, usually if I'm faced with running x miles then I'll hesitate. I've never run in my new area, I will definitely miss the Colorado scenery. I've planned a route that'll hopefully take me to a little nature reserve path but I've no idea how it'll be since I'm basing it off Google maps! I'm just waiting for my breakfast to digest before I head out .
Off topic, don't you just love Autumn?! It's my favourite season by far. I love the bright sunny weather, but with cool temperatures. I love the feel of Christmas being around the corner. I bought a new scent for our air freshener, apples and cinnamon, and I love the way our apartment smells!
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Clay - Sounds like we both need to make a change and give ourselves the biggest gift of all - a healthy lifestyle. If eating healthy was easy, we wouldn't need to have a forum like this one. It's so easy to gain weight, to pull out those snacks that are instant relievers in stressful times. When faced with the task of changing our lives it's truly intimidating, but I just close my eyes and think about how amazing it must feel to be healthy and comfortable in my body. All the niggling insecurities will hopefully vanish, I can't wait for that day!
Something else that's far too easy is blaming ourselves and worrying about time lost. I am there with you, I feel like I've wasted my youth (as dramatic as it sounds) being overweight and feeling uncomfortable. At the same time I'm a firm believer in you're as old as you feel, I still have so many years ahead of me to wear cute clothes, to experiment with my style, to be active and experience the world feeling at ease with my body. Even though I'm sure it would've been amazing to feel these things 10 years ago, I'm glad for everything that I have right now and the path I have walked so far. We both need to learn to forgive ourselves and to move forward in the right direction.
Thank you so much for your support, it is an amazing feeling to have a cheer leading squad!
I'm so sorry you have issues with meeting new people because of your past, but let me tell you, no one will dismiss you because of your weight!! I know it's easy for me to say it and it won't just fix you, but don't let your appearance be the reason that you hide away. Meeting new people is scary for some people, when I got here I wanted to make all the excuses to not go to events and meet people. If I didn't have my boyfriend as support (we both get a bit nervous so we tried to push each other), then I probably would have hid away and not have many friends! But I've been so a few events and now I'm happy to say I've got a nice little group of friends now. It makes life here a lot easier! You can do it, I'm sure having some other Mum friends will really help too!
Congrats on the loss!! Woop woop!
Scotsgal - Thank you and you're right! You can make your goal if you focus and commit, I'm sure of it. If you don't, then any progress is progress and you should be thrilled to be heading in the right direction.
Wannabehealthy - Wow, thank you so much for sharing your story. I know it must be hard for you, but you have inspired me to focus on my health now before I let it get out of hand. This is definitely a huge wake up call to focus and stay focused. Even though you've been through so much, I hope you know that there's always time to make a change and be healthy. You have to find what works for you too!
Ollie - Welcome! That's a great goal, I have something similar! My boyfriend weighs 150 lbs, I've got 22 lbs to go but gosh darnit I will be lighter than him some day!! Giving up alcohol will work wonders I'm sure!
Skittles - You're absolutely right, I needed that. It hurt to read it, but it's true. I think that's what made me so embarrassed to come onto the forum and say I failed yet again because I have made so many grand promises to you all that I'll do it this time, but fail. This isn't easy, I have to prioritise a healthy lifestyle or I'll stay fat forever. I don't want that. I don't want to be obese again, I don't want to be overweight anymore. I can do it. Thank you.
Last edited by Riestrella; 10-03-2016 at 12:36 PM.
Just poking my head in, last week I had my indian take out, I also had a wedding last night, yet this morning I was pleasently surprised to see that I was 290.8, only .4 over my lowest. I have high hopes for this week as long as I can actually see the 280's fingers crossed.
Location: Home of the Pirates, Steelers and Penguins
Posts: 12,397
S/C/G: 217/179/142
Height: 5'2
Quote:
Originally Posted by Riestrella
Hey guys!
Wannabehealthy - Wow, thank you so much for sharing your story. I know it must be hard for you, but you have inspired me to focus on my health now before I let it get out of hand. This is definitely a huge wake up call to focus and stay focused. Even though you've been through so much, I hope you know that there's always time to make a change and be healthy. You have to find what works for you too!
Thank you for your response, Riestrella. You have made me realize that although there are some things I cannot change, there are many that I can. Losing weight can still help with my diabetes, exercising can help strengthen my heart and lungs and keep me from becoming immobile. I can be at my best for the rest of my life!
We can do this!
Last edited by Wannabehealthy; 10-04-2016 at 10:11 AM.
Location: Home of the Pirates, Steelers and Penguins
Posts: 12,397
S/C/G: 217/179/142
Height: 5'2
Skittlesfirehawk, I needed that "kick in the pants" as much as Riestrella. I have only participated in a few of the challenges, but have done poorly in them, due to my own lack of committment. I have copied your post to my "Diet and Fitness File" where I keep all the posts and quotes that speak to me, so I can refer back to them when I need it!
Yesterday I started my 5K training, I scouted the area for a running route and even though the local nature reserve was a bit too sketchy looking for my liking (lots of enclosed trees and not really a well defined pathway) I did find that the local neighborhoods seem perfectly adequate for me to run through. I definitely felt out of shape though, that's for sure! I was only running for 2 minutes at a time but I was definitely looking at my watch during those 2 minutes waiting for it to be over! Despite that, it felt great to be outside and exercising again. I'm actually looking forward to the run tomorrow.
Today I had a physical, which went fine except for the blood test! I'm a bit squeamish and at one point a tube brushed against my arm and it felt like a trickle of blood. I knew it wasn't, but it really freaked me out so I had to take some deep breaths to remain calm. The nurse was fantastic though, I felt no pain at all other than the tiny prick the needle made. I had a quick chat with the doctor and I said that I knew I was overweight and I'm taking steps towards losing weight. We had a great chat about weight loss, her views very much matched my own which is to be healthy most of the time and have a few treats here and there to stay sane. Her ratio was 80/20 but I think it's more 90/10. She recommended a book called "The Wheat Belly" has anyone read it? It might help me to read it to understand the science behind all the grains I consume. Watching things like "Supersize Me" definitely put me off big chain fast food.
I ended up walking home, which took about 30 minutes, I honestly love walking so much! It always lifts my spirits.
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Scot - I just read your signature, so many weddings to look forward to! I definitely have said that when I have a wedding ceremony I will most definitely want to be at my goal weight and wow all my guests!
Wannabe - YES, absolutely! Don't see your past as a reason to give up for good, you can take control and do so much to help your heart and your body's strength.
Last edited by Riestrella; 10-04-2016 at 06:31 PM.
Location: Home of the Pirates, Steelers and Penguins
Posts: 12,397
S/C/G: 217/179/142
Height: 5'2
Riestrella, I've read Wheat Belly, along with every other "diet book" ever written. It's contraversial. Basically, you give up any foods made with wheat, like a low carb diet. You might want to research it online, or see if it's available at the local library before you invest money into it. That's what I did.
Hello everyone.
Weighed in this morning at 288.8 which is just over 5lbs lost since starting the challenge but stil 8.8lbs away from my goal for halloween. I think I would of been really close if I wasn't going away on monday. Just need to keep motivated and on track, even if it means that I hit the 280 the week after.
hope everyone is well. This place has been quite quiet lately.
I've unfortunately seen a gain on the scale 🙁. We celebrated my MIL's birthday and I weighed 1.2 lbs heavier the next morning. Who knew a slice of pie equals 1.2 lbs? I sure didn't. I also started taking a magnesium supplement (apparently I'm deficient) and I've been feeling crampy. Hopefully I'll get used to it soon!
This week has been ok. I'm definitely more aware of my eating habits and what times of the day I need to work hard on. Lunch time I think is my biggest hurdle, since I was brought up on lunch = a sandwich. Cracking that habit will help, but today we had a blessing in disguise since our bread went moldy from the humidity we got hit with from Hurricane Matthew. I'm not going to go out and get bread so it'll be a nice test for me.
Exercise: I'm doing well, taking it nice and easy by just running 3 times a week to get myself started. I've done 2 runs this week and just need to do 1 more. Yesterday was a bit gloomy and humid and today it's hot and humid so I'll definitely make time tomorrow.
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Wannabe - Thanks for the input! That does sound drastic, maybe I will just borrow it from the library.
Scots - I get the sense you're not proud of yourself for the weight you've lost because you're far away from the goal you set? If I'm right, then my advice to you is to always always focus on your achievements and not your goals. Where are you off to on Monday?
Clay - The pie didn't equal 1.2 lbs for sure, it's probably just the sugar that was in it that's causing the scale to reflect such a gain. Drink lots of water, get back on track and I'm sure it'll come off soon!
So I found this great youtube channel called the health nerd (tips and tricks based on science). I'm learning a ton! It's also inspiring me to work harder. Anyone else watched these videos before? I'm just excited about my discovery 😋.
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Sounds like we both need to make a change and give ourselves the biggest gift of all - a healthy lifestyle. If eating healthy was easy, we wouldn't need to have a forum like this one. It's so easy to gain weight, to pull out those snacks that are instant relievers in stressful times. When faced with the task of changing our lives it's truly intimidating, but I just close my eyes and think about how amazing it must feel to be healthy and comfortable in my body. All the niggling insecurities will hopefully vanish, I can't wait for that day! 
