Sorry, but this is going to be long again. With being sick I haven’t posted that much, but I really do like to get back to people individually, and I do tend to get a case of verbal diarrhea, so please forgive me.
Well, I’m gradually improving, health wise. Today I actually felt pretty good for ‘most’ of the day. I had a nap in the car after we had been walking around two large shopping malls, and my throat kinda hurts a little this evening, after talking a bit today. But other than that, things were almost back to normal. I spent a few hours this afternoon with a lovely 11 year old girl. I taught her a couple of years ago and became good friends with her mum (you’ve probably heard me ‘talk’ about my dietitian friend) and today we went out shopping for birthday presents for her mum as well as a few other things. It was lovely to spend some time with her. She is SO sweet and really refreshing to be around. She also has good taste in clothing! She ‘convinced’ me to buy a couple of tops to start my winter wardrobe. Sadly, I will have absolutely nothing to wear this winter if I don’t start shopping soon. Mind you, I also don’t really know what size I’m going to get to, so I don’t really know what to get. I picked up a couple of size 10s today (US 8 I think) because they looked about the right size for me to wear at my target weight. Well, they actually fit well now, so that makes them REALLY roomy, as I’m sure I’m not a 10 yet. I also tried on some pyjama bottoms in a size 12 (US 10) and they fit too, so I’ve decided that pyjamas must be made to have LOTS of spare room. I have only just been able to fit into 14s, so I’m not near a 12 yet. It was flattering that they fit though. It made for an even better outing.
I bit the bullet and bought a set of kitchen scales today. I never weigh my food portions and have never had a need for scales. I truly don’t like cooking that much, but I’ve found a low GI recipe for apricot almond cookies that I want to try. The first thing that appealed to me is that they only have 5 ingredients, which is my kind of recipe. I think that’s what I don’t like about cooking, all the ingredients you have to get to perhaps only use once. I’ll let you know how they turn out. I haven’t had cookies for a long time, and don’t really ‘need’ them, but I thought that they may make a good treat now and then. I’m hoping that they will freeze.
I am looking for a few variations to what I’ve been eating because my dietitian friend looked at my food diary for a week and told me I’m not eating enough. That was kind of a relief, because I’m always worried that she’ll want to cut out food, and I LOVE my food. I have to add more protein and a couple of other bits and pieces here and there. It is great to have someone evaluate my meals like that, or I would be running on guess work most of the time, and obviously that wasn’t working when I managed to over-exercise and not give my body enough fuel.
Anyway… now for some personal replies…
Teresa – Great to see you here! I know you will get lots of good advice and support from these wonderful people. Are you on the Slim Fast for one or two meals daily? What is your plan for your other meals? I remember when I did Slim Fast a number of years ago I lost lots of weight then put it back on again (double!) because I didn’t know what to eat when I wasn’t having the powders. A colleague has been on the powders now and then recently, but seems to have some good ideas for other meals, so I think they must have more information about that with the program. Your target of 1lb by your birthday is very sensible and you may find that you surprise yourself with how you go. Good luck! Oh, and how did the job interview go? I hope you were successful. What job would you have at the school? I’m an elementary teacher – grade 2.
MsCrockett – Well done on the 3lb loss!!! A wonderful achievement! Must be all that wood packing. At least there is SOME benefit to all that work. I’m glad that your dad is better, but I’m even MORE glad that you were finding time for YOU. Good move!
Lilion – I’m SO glad that your mood improved. The thought of you assaulting someone was not a pleasant one… well, I’m sure you would have gained SOME pleasure from the deed, but we would have missed you while you were ‘away’. I can understand your frustrations with the fluctuating weights. As you say, you have to stick with it, because it is SO easy to see how quickly it could keep going up if we slackened off a little on our vigilance.
I am sorry that your eliptical is still sitting on the floor waiting to be put together. I would be TOTALLY lost if hubby didn’t put my equipment together. I can usually follow instructions really well, but not the ones that have come with those. I hope you have a great time on it once it is in working order.
Your NSVs were a great inspiration and I can see that you are a lot more positive about how things are going than you were earlier.
Oh, funny you mentioned crossing your legs. That was something I was SO pleased I could do and I didn’t even realize that it bothered me that I COULDN’T do it. I feel SO lady-like when I cross my legs now. It’s not really comfortable yet, as I’m still not used to it, but I do it anyway, just to feel good.
Heather – The feedback on hubby’s interview sounds REALLY positive. I can’t wait to hear what the result is.
Catherine – It is good to hear of someone else who has decided to avoid a ‘poisonous’ person, even if it is a close family member. I have been avoiding visiting my parents because every visit just seems to bring me down for some reason or other. They are now VERY happy with how I am going, which shows me just how UNhappy they were with me before. And now they just put down other overweight people when they are talking to me, which shows me what they thought about me being overweight before. Funny thing is that they are both obese. It just doesn’t make sense to me. Are they that totally blind? Anyway, I’m not sure how many more excuses I can come up with. I wish I just had the courage to tell them how I feel, but I don’t want to hurt them as much as they have hurt me. Silly or what?
I hope you manage to survive the night without hubby. I am hopeless when hubby has to be away. It only happened for one week very early in our relationship and we both cried every night on the phone. We haven’t been apart since and I’d be a wreck if we were I think.
It was interesting that you mentioned about the person in the checkout near you. I have noticed myself being SO much more aware of nutritional values of foods and I am constantly wanting to let people know that they should be making better choices. I know that I would have been extremely insulted if someone had ever said anything to me before, so I manage to keep my mouth closed. I truly just want to help, but I know it wouldn’t help in the least. I wonder now if that’s what people were trying to do when they were looking at my shopping cart before. I know some would have just been snickering, but others may have been wanting to educate me. You’ve got me wondering now.
Julee – I’ve forgotten when your birthday is. I hope I haven’t missed it. It sounds as though you had a lovely early birthday dinner. I’m hoping that by ‘early’ you mean a few days early and I will still be able to wish you a happy birthday. I’m glad that your eye problem just ended up being an infection. Still not good, but better than pinkeye. I LOVE your new avatar. What a great pic! I want hubby and I to get remarried some time after I get to my target weight, just to get a new wedding photo done! Isn’t that vain!!!???LOL We didn’t have any earlier pics that look as good as yours, and I miss that.
Dogpal – The way you talk about your new job tells me that you are SO suited to that work. I’m sure you will be perfect for the position and you will just love it. I’m glad that they ‘saw the light’ and recognized your potential. I look forward to hearing how your first week goes. Huge congratulations on the 10lb loss! I could year you cheering from here!
Luan – I’m going to assume that you are going to be using the $1200 worth of makeup and supplies AT school and not be wearing that much TO school. That must be quite the collection. Is that all you will need for the year, or will you need to add things as you go along? It sounds like it is going to be so much fun!
Have fun ‘shooting’ tomorrow. Wow! It sounds exciting just saying that. What a great experience it must be to take part in ‘shooting’. Will you still fit that in with school? I’m not sure if you’ve said.
Kayley – I have been REALLY impressed with the amount of exercise you are getting in lately. You have made such a great commitment to this and I just know that you are going to do well. I’m really glad that you have worked out your travel plans for your trip to Chicago. How exciting! I wish I was able to make trips away like that. Where I live, on the west coast of Australia, has been said to be the city furthest away from any other major city in the world. We basically have to FLY to get to any other capital city in Australia, unless we want to be driving for days. I can imagine the fun you will have at the concert. Oh… and your pic looks great. You look quite ‘sweet’ in it, but that is kinda a ‘cheeky’ smile. It is a good pose. Did Andrew take it? It looks like the way you would look at him.
Heather – Please don’t feel bad about not noticing too much with the first 100lb loss. I’m sure I had lost that much and people were only just beginning to notice and I was only just noticing things that were different in my life. Most of my changes have been with this 2nd 100lbs. I’m almost there now, but I see changes almost weekly, which is SO exciting. So just be patient (easier said than done I know – I am the LEAST patient person I know, so I really shouldn’t give this advice) and you will soon see some dramatic changes.
Jill – I think the thing with the clothes is that we wear such big and baggy clothes when we are 350lbs or more that we don’t really have to get anything smaller, as we are used to them being baggy. That was my problem anyway. I dropped a few sizes before I bothered to buy anything new, and I think that was only because my pants were going to fall down on me. I think that is also why people don’t notice the weight loss either. When I finally bit the bullet and bought some new clothes I got SO many comments.
Erin – Great to see you here! I have NO idea what LA Weight Loss is, but I hope you have great success with it and I look forward to hearing more from you. You have had a good loss so far, so something must certainly be working well for you. You have definitely come to the right place for encouragement, support and great advice. Isn’t it wonderful to find somewhere where people know exactly where you are coming from, where you want to get to, and why you want to get there?
Nancy – I think it is great that you can have a more ‘relaxed’ weekend and still maintain. I am SO looking forward to being able to do that. I don’t think I can at the moment though. It seems as though I can’t get too slack with my routine or the scales let me know about it. I should be able to some time though. I just have to work out WHAT I can have that won’t do that to me. I may have to start experimenting when I get to my target weight.
It is interesting that you talk about the pains in your side. For a while there that was happening to me. It was like a ‘stitch’, but they just started one day, out of the blue. I tried the slowing down and deep breathing too, but that didn’t always work. I would just exercise through them as best I could, which probably wasn’t the best thing to do. I never thought to ask anyone about them, but now I think about it, they just stopped as quickly as they started. I probably got them for a couple of weeks, then nothing. It wasn’t until you mentioned them that I realized that I don’t get them any more. Strange. I wonder if I was lacking in something nutritionally and just fixed them up by catering for that. Not sure what it could have been. This is why I have to journal more, so I know what is happening, when it is happening and hopefully WHY it is happening. If I work anything out, I’ll run it by you to see if you are doing something similar.
I breathed a sigh of relief when you posted that you had sorted out the checks. I am HOPELESS at bookkeeping of any kind and your problem would have had me in a major ‘tizz’. And I have to disagree with you on one point – I think you look GREAT in your photo. It really is a lovely photo. I think that it is wonderful to have all these pics of people to look at while we read what they are ‘saying’.
The ipod is a great reward for exercising! Something to move to and keep you even more motivated. I’ve been seriously trying to think of a reward for reaching my target weight, but I haven’t come up with anything yet. It should be a winter wardrobe, but I will probably have to buy that in installments. We don’t really have the finances for anything too big, so I’ll have to wrack my brains a little more I think.
Teahoney – Welcome back! As people will tell you, it’s not the ‘falling off’ that is the problem, it’s the never getting back up again. You have come back up and that is the first step to a wonderful new life. We will help you in any way we can.
Wyllen – I LOVE your photo! I thought your dogs were cute, but I much prefer looking at you. I love your hair, please tell me that the body and wave came out of a bottle. My hair has absolutely NO body and is VERY fine and straight. YUCK!
Brandnewme – Well done on focusing on the things you CAN change at the moment. The other things can be sorted out gradually as you come to them, but at least you know you can do something now. And I’m sure the horses will return sometime to help you get your ‘wagon’ into order. I would imagine that working a 60 hour week would tempt even me to jump from the wagon. I’d beat the horses to wherever they were heading! You have done well to stay in one piece after all that work. I hope you manage to get some well-earned rest.
Amber – I was SO sorry to hear about the death of your cousin. I’m sure you have been such a wonderful asset to the family at this time, but I hope that you also find some YOU time soon, as you sound as though you deserve and need it.
Well, if you’ve managed to ‘wade’ through all this, I hope you all have a fantastic weekend.
Take care,
Zelma
But yeah, an iPod is just a brand-name mp3 player--you don't have to sign up for their services or anything 
Plus I can store photos and stuff on mine--it has a color screen 
I'm such a contradiction to myself). 
