It's interesting that you are asking this. When I saw the show and Jillian asked her that, I really connected with Ali in a way. I feel like I've always protected myself with fat as a way of shielding myself from people. If they end up not liking me its because I'm fat, never because of who I truly am. This has always been my way of keeping people at a distance until I truly feel like I can trust them or get to know them. I had horrible childhood experiences with girl friends and I learned to turn to food to "protect" myself. Took me a very long time to admit this. When I got to within 30 lbs of my goal weight a few years back, while I loved how I felt physically, it became increasingly uncomfortable emotionally and socially. I've never been at a healthy weight since my teens and experiencing it as an adult was very strange. More attention, more demands of me (so it felt to me anyways)...all became just too much and thru the last 5 years or so I steadily put all the weight back on again. In hindsight what it really was was me coming out of my shell more, becoming more vocal and more social therefore leading to more interaction,etc.....of course had I known that then I probably wouldn't have regained 80lbs! lol

Well shoot, I am totally wiped out from all this posting! lol No, actually its because I attempted to do the new Biggest Loser dvd Cardio Max. Good golly was it hard! LOL I was breathing heavy in the warm-ups! :lol: Seriously, I barely got thru the warmup and the first 20min. bootcamp with Bob. Ugh, I am SO out of shape!!! Progress not perfection, right girls?! Tomorrow I'll work on it again and see how far I can get. That is, if I can actually move in the morning! Ha!

Have a great day RED!!! :sunny:


♥danielle

Good morning everyone

LAWL- LA weight loss.

I went for WI this morning and I was down 2.2 I wont be posting that as my WI for the week cause I go get weighed again either Friday or Saturday. So I will post that WI. I hope your all having a good day. I am home from work cause I wasnt feeling good. I have the chills, a migraine and just want to crawl into bed.

1. What do you prefer we call you? Cathy

2. What weightloss plan are you using? LA WEIGHT LOSS

3. What is your favorite exercise? walking

4. What is one area that you struggle? getting my exercises in and drinking all my water.

5. What is one area of your weightloss journey that you excel at? Following plan

6. What is your short term goal? Getting under 170

7. What will you reward yourself with when you reach that goal? I havent really made a goal. I have a total goal and thats to get my hernia operated on again. I have a tummy hernia the size of a basketball so losing weight everywherees and not seeing the results as much as I would like to is frustrating. This is my third hernia in the same place and they wont touch me till I lose weight so that has been a big motivation for me.

8. Best weight loss tip? Remember that this is not a diet it is a life journey.

9. Bob or Jillian? I would have to say Bob. Jillian is awesome but I wouldnt be able to have someone scream at me like she does.

10. Tell us about yourself! I am a mom of two teenage kids. A 16 yr old girl and a 13 yr old boy. They are my life. I am married. I work in retail and I live in SNOWY Canada lol...


Have a good day. I am going to go wrap myself in some blankets and enjoy the quietness

Cathy.

Why am I fat? Well here’s a little background on my journey that I had posted in another thread. I used to be very thin (too thin- probably). When I was about 25, I started gaining weight. At the age of 27, I started dating a guy who wasn’t right for me. He was emotionally abusive. At one point, he told me that I was fat (135 pounds at the time – I was 150 pounds when we met) because I was lazy. There were many other non-related things as well which were very damaging to my already (lifelong) unhealthy self-esteem. About the same time things ended with him 3 years later, my best friend began a healthier lifestyle and I was quick to join her. This had nothing to do with my ex – it just happened to coincide with the end of my relationship. I wasn’t losing weight for him; I was doing it for me. My friend and I were also exercising at least 3 times a week together. Within a few months, I was 115 pounds and trying desperately to stop losing weight (wish I had that problem now!)

Within the next year I changed jobs due to layoffs where I worked. My new job consisted of 60 hour work weeks. I stopped exercising; I started eating from vending machines and the cafeteria (worked at a hospital – sad that it’s so easy to eat unhealthy at a hospital cafeteria). Within the next year I had gained 30 pounds – a year after that I had gained an additional 30 pounds. I think the weight gain was the direct result of eating due to depression, stress and anxiety.

Now, I think the key question for me is not why/how I got fat, but more so why I continue to be fat. Part of Ali’s response to Jillian’s question really struck a cord with me. I haven’t really dated much (one short relationship) since the break up with my emotionally abusive boyfriend and that was 6 years ago. I’ve been alone ever since. It’s a lot easier to convince myself that I am alone because I’m a larger girl rather than because I’m boring, unattractive or unlovable. I know in my mind that I’d be a great catch, but due to serious shyness, I don’t ever meet anyone. I’m still trying to conquer the unhealthy self-esteem that was further damaged by the unhealthy relationship I was in. I think in my mind I use the weight to hide behind.

Laura...Yoplait yogurt is 100 calories a serving (sorry thought it was 90) and Weight watchers yogurt is 70 calories a serving. Both of those brands are pretty widely distributed so you should be able to find them in your local grocery store. I think Dannon yogurt is also in that caloric range.

Utahgirl....is losing lean muscle tissue really a viable option? My understanding was that we wanted to build lean muscle tissue. And that women could only genetically build so much. Your fitness test is most interesting to me, I'm gonna have to go back to my exercise physiology books and figure that all out again.

Bear with me, trying to catch up and changing pages LOL!

Yello...indoor skydiving..how exciting!! I would love to be brave enough to try the real thing, but i doubt it'll ever happen. Indoor I could handle! Cant wait to hear how that goes when you reach your goal!

Cathy...isolation can really do a number on us cant it. I dealt with that as a SAHM before good ol internet was popular.

newme4me...have you journaled to get to the underlying reasons why you have those habits? Its not just because of those habits there are reasons in there we make bad choices for ourselves. Like Jillian pointed out you really gotta get in there and soul search for the real reasons for the weight.

Tina...did you get that exercise in??? Just checking on you! LOL! I second Danielle on the MIL stuff!!! Better you than me! LOL!

Danielle....VERY inciteful!! I can tell you journal! LOL!! Thanks so much for sharing my friend! So bob kicked your butt today...literally! LOL! Way to go!

Way to go Cathy!! 2.2 lbs is an excellent weightloss, I just realized we've got 2 cathys I'm gonna have to keep you straight! LOL! you can share your snow with me!!

Karen...thank you so much for sharing your story. I think it really helps us all realize things in our own life to (like you said) get into the WHY we are fat, not the how we got there. Great job on that!

Whew I did it!! LOL! Now to finish lunch!

That is what the guy told me that did it.......should I ask another opinion?

Weight Watchers uses Splenda (according to I Ate a Pie) and Yoplait Light, which has 100 calories, uses aspertame. Yoplait regular doesn't have the chemicals, and I eat that sometimes, but it's 170 calories. Unfortunately, I don't think are any good low cal yogurts :(

I'm thinking you should ask another opinion, it just doesnt sound right to me from what I've learned in classes, but I could be wrong.

oh I get it now, you want a full fat/low cal yogurt, sorry I read that wrong. No, I think you are gonna be hard pressed to find that. Do you have a Trader Joes or a Good Food store? I wonder about something like Tofu or Soy yogurts.

Totally forgot to add earlier today that I was spot on with my points again yesterday!! I do have to confess that I did not workout during BL like I had said that I was going to, 3 chapters was just more than I thought it was going to be and that had to be done. I could have worked out after I was finished reading but that was 1130 at night and I figure its not an excuse if i dont do it then. Just need to learn better time management.

Got my blogging done for the Million Pound matchup. Did I already ask if any other Red teammers were doing this? Sorry if I did I cant remember!

I'm off to work on homework, 2 more chapters of reading and I'm done! Yay! Whats for dinner tonight everyone?? We are having pork tenderloin, broccoli and I'm having brown rice with it. Yummy!

I will be on later to respond to you all!

Just wanted to check in real fast, lol! It's SNOWING like crazy here!

What is that and can you do it on your own?

Melissa, I totally love fat-free and low-fat yogurts; I just won't touch any of the chemicals they sometimes put in (Splenda, aspartame, Nutrasweet, etc) to make them more "diet-friendly". I absolutely hate that manufacturers do that! It's basically forcing people to make a choice between being fat or getting cancer, and it seems like a lot of people pick the short term solution. Why not offer a yogurt that just isn't as sweet and you can add your own fruit if you think it's too bitter? Makes sense to me!

Just wanted to let everyone know there's a great interview with Kim (old red team trainer) at Glamour - check it out!

AWWW!! I want snow!! I love snow!! they tell us everyday its gonna snow and we never see a flake! Snows all around us in the mountains but now here in the valley!

Laura-- Have you checked a health food store or do you have a Trader Joe's nearby? We buy Organic Non-Fat Plain Yogurt from Trader Joe's. It has 110 calories per cup and there are no additives. Our health food store also carries similar yogurt.

Barbara...had to go back and look up names LOL! The Biggest Loser Million Pound match up is where you had to get a partner and then you and your partner document your weight loss journey through msn spaces. The deadline for setting up your team and registering your space was 1/11 I believe.

Laura...unfortunately in making things lower in calorie or fat they are forced to add things to make it aesthetically pleasing to customers. Alot of the "light" products get added sugars namely high fructose corn syrup which is the devil itself! I dont so much mind Splenda I use alot of Splenda products but when it comes to buying lowfat I tend to just go with the full fat version. What about plain yogurt? I've never checked out the nutritional value on that. That doesnt have added flavoring so is it lower in sugars?

Oh well would not have had a partner to do it with anyway :( Thanks for the info though!

Laura-- I just checked. Horizon Organic makes a plain organic yogurt that is similar to the kind I buy. You can buy the Horizon Organic brand at your regular grocery store. If your store doesn't carry it, you can often ask them to special order it for you.

Here's a link to the brand: http://www.horizonorganic.com/produc...urt/index.html

If you click on "plain," it will show you the nutritional info.

Its okay Barbara you can still document your journey here with your team!

Ya I know......I am trying to post a lot this round cause I know this can help me finally be who I know that I can be! You guys are amazing support....something that I really do not have a lot of at home......so it is great to be able to come here and hear of everyone else and know that you are not in the game alone!

Hey Red Team! I'm still sick, but I'm feeling a bit better today. dh got sick this morning. What he has is different, so I'm staying away from him so I don't get another sickness. Keeping our fingers crossed that the kids stay healthy.

I'm missing today's mandatory cookie meeting for the Girl Scout Cookie sale my daughters are doing. That's probably a good thing ;) since I won't have to deal with temptation. My sister is the "Cookie Mom" so I think I can still sign all the permission stuff for the girls to participate.

I didn't exercise yesterday, but I'm going to try to do a bit today. My calories are good.

Cat-- How do like your personal trainer? I keep thinking that could make a huge difference. Maybe I'll make that a reward when I get down to the last 10-15 lbs.

Nicoya-- It sounds like you had such a fun time at the gym! Way to combine working out with fun!

Hun.e.B.-- I'm glad you got yourself some new clothes! I'm the same way with putting off buying new stuff because I'm going to lose weight. But then I feel like a frump because I don't have any cute stuff to wear. I'm glad you're making yourself a priority. I badly need a haircut but I still haven't scheduled it yet.

Emily-- Congrats on the NSV and the loss of inches!

Barbara-- I would get a second opinion or at least clarification on your fitness analysis. The results seem to go against everything I've learned about exercise and losing weight. Who did the fitness analysis? Was it at the gym, or the doctor, or somewhere else? Maybe you could just ask them to clarify it for you. Maybe there was a misunderstanding?

Yello-- Indoor Skydiving? I've never heard of that! I've always wanted to try skydiving, but I plan to wait until my kids grow up (just in case something happens to me). My brother had a very close call with an electric wire when he went skydiving. Is Indoor Skydiving safer?

Tina-- It's great that you have such a wonderful relationship with your MIL.

Cathy-- Moving can be so hard. When dh and I were newlyweds, we moved to Virginia where we didn't know a soul. I was so lonely at first. It was a hard adjustment for me. Eventually it got better. When we moved away a couple years later, I was sad because I had come to know and love many friends there.

Danielle-- It's so hard to exercise when we're out of shape. But we all have to start somewhere. Keep doing Cardio Max and working that booty off! Make Bob proud!

Cathy in Canada-- I hope you feel better soon! :hug: It stinks to be sick.

Everyone else-- I know I'm missing a bunch of you. I hope you're having a great day today. I'm glad we're working through this challenge together. A support system can make all the difference. Thanks everyone!

Barbara....having a strong support group is going to take you so far in this weightloss battle. Its something that I wish everyone would take advantage of. I'm a huge poster for that reason. Plus the afternoons are my "trouble" time where I tend to want to snack, so keeping myself busy with my paperwork, PTA and homework really helps, so I tend to check in here everytime I break LOL! Whatever it takes to keep us out of trouble right!

Jen....Ugh girl, I'm so sorry you still arent feeling well! And you manage to workout, you are just amazing..I'm healthy and i cant seem to make myself do it!! I need to follow your lead! Speaking of haircuts do you have a Great Clips? They are having a big sale right now...new hair, no guilt! LOL! Feel better soon! Tell dh to keep his sicky germs to himself, no need to share!

nice to meet you all! I initially lost 20 pounds in the past month but i`m having a hard time keeping up my workout routine. Anyone else having a hard time getting to the gym on a regular basis?

Yes I do right now mostly cause I am currently looking for a job and and short on money for gas and stuff to get there and back so i go when I can but would like it to be everyday! I was also born in 82 like you! Pretty Awesome! :hug:

me me me!! I have all kinds of good intentions but I've not gotten that first workout in yet! Perhaps we need to come up with a way to challenge each other to start that habit!

Hmmm challenges work pretty good.....i know black team wanted to start a challenge for themselves

Hi Red Team!

Stayed POP again today. Hope you all had a wonderful day!

Laura - POP=perfect on plan. Same as OP I guess. :cool:

Peace Everyone,
Nicole

Good evening ladies~ Well today has not gone as planned, but I'm still heading to the gym today. I have been doing homework with my oldest, and I'm about to pull every hair out of my head. He was wanting to use a homework pass for his math homework. I told him no because he has a math test coming up and his homework would be good practice...I wish I would've let him use the homework pass!LOL:) I swear out of 20 problems the kids only got 10 of them right...they are silly mistakes. If the kid would write neater maybe he wouldn't make such goofy errors. So now I get to have him do the 10 over and I can re-check them...UGHHH! Going to the gym is going to be like a vacation tonight:) I had a really nice lunch though with my MIL and SIL and I'm looking forward to a nice relaxing night.

Emily- When your pants are falling off that is always a good sign:)

Melissa- I love, love, love shopping...to my husbands dismay!LOL! Enjoy your new stuff girl, you deserve it:)

Cathy/Canada- I hear ya about being glad the holidays are over. I don't work retail, but I am glad to have my house decoration free;)

Barbara- I had a fitness anaylsis done at my gym awhile back, but I need to have it redone. I did it after a pretty hardcore cardio workout and I've been told you not supposed to do it after working out. This is a great place for support...I agree:)

Danielle- I am very lucky to have such a wonderful MIL...I have to say she is one of my best friends!

Cassie- UGHHH snow, I'm so over it. I'm ready for springtime:)

Jen- I hope you start to feel better soon.

Miss 1982- It was hard for me to get back to working out after the holidays, but after a week of going to the gym I'm back into the swing of things:) Give yourself a few days of working out and see how you feel then.

Well I suppose I should go and finish helping Joey with his homework...if you guys hear a really loud thunk, that will just be me banging my head off the wall:)LOL! Have a great night ladies~

Enjoy that gym Tina, it sounds like you need it LOL!! I am right there with you on that homework struggle! Dont hurt yourself! LOL!

Way to go sticking to plan today Nicole!! you are doing GREAT!! Keep it up!

So how about this...those of us struggling to get to they gym or get in a workout lets all post up....how much we currently (regularly) exercise. and what is our goal for this week. For instance, I currently do NONE, my goal is to make it to the gym 2 times before this week is over.

We'll start with our goals then I'll make up a list and we are going to hold ourselves accountable and get those workouts in! Your goal will be on display and everyone is gonna be watching so that will give you that much more incentive to get to the gym!

Tina- how old is your son? I was helping mine with Math the other day and thought the same thing!! He is in grade 4 and they are working on multiplication...stupid mistakes!!!

I'm pretty proud of myself today- I woke up at 5:45 and did one of my cleaning jobs- then came home and ran on the treadmill before getting the kids fed and off to school! I have never done that before! I loved getting it done first thing. I do prefer running mid-morning or after lunch, but I had to be out and about today so it worked perfect. But man, am I tired now! I finished week 2, day 2 of C25K.

Melissa, when are you going to start?!!! ;)

Melissa that is a GREAT IDEA!!!! Mark me down for 5 times either going to the gym or walking for 30 min if I cant go to the gym!

Emily- He is 11 and in 5th grade and working on multiplication also, but with decimals and what not...I can't stand sloppiness, and that is what his major problem is. I told him I'm going to start getting him that 1st grade paper again so he can write neater:) That really made him start paying attention. Like I have nothing else to do though, but correct homework all night, and all for very silly reasons! Ughhh I could go on and on...LOL!

Melissa- I've been trying to make the gym 5 times a week, so my goal will be to finish out January with 5 days a week. Speaking of which I'm off to get my gym stuff on...I have to get the heck out of this house before I loose my mind:)

Okay I got you guys beat because mine is in the 7th grade and I've got to help her with probability, you know the stuff where if there are 23 red balls and 9 black balls and 4 blue balls in a bag what is the probablility that Margaret will pull out a red ball and a blue ball. or solve P(4,6)....NOT FUN!

Emily...oh ya got me! So how bout I start something tonight! Wont be the gym but it'll be something! Just for you!

Diva - thanks for the info! My cats have been shut in some interesting places too! I think it is the nature of the beast :lol:

Jen - glad you are feeling better. Is it Girl Scout cookie time again? I always feel so guilty not buying cookies. I sold gazillions of boxes when I was a scout! Sigh...

Nicole - great job with your eating :)

Emily - great NSV - woohoo! Great job with your exercise too! Way to go!

Melissa - hope the presentation went well! I would be happy to give you some of our snow - we have plenty to share http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/2950/yesac7.gif

Hi to everyone else - I love that our team is so chatty :) But, I'm having a hard time catching up since I can't log on during the day. I'll do the best I can :)

Just got back from a kick butt cardio workout....60 min. of intervals on the precore machine...let me tell ya I'm feelin' it:) Going to log my min. in the exercise challenge~

My day just keeps getting better everyone. The good news is I walked 2.5 miles.

When my sister brought my girls home from Girl Scouts, I asked if her if she would go on a walk with me. So I took all my kids to her house, and she and I headed off for our walk. The exercise really seemed to help and made me feel better.

We were on our last 1/2 mile when my BIL drives up and tells me that my 8 year old just threw up. He drove us back to their house where I got to clean up the whole hallway and bathroom of their house. Evidently, my daughter exploded Girl Scout cookies all over when she barfed. :fr: Yeah, that will keep you from wanting to eat any of them. :barf:

My sister wins the good friend award because she helped me clean it up. I guess it's good that I can laugh about it. Kids make life so fun! I'll trade with one of you and help someone with math homework instead. Any takers?

Anyhoo . . . thanks for all the well wishes. Hope all of you stay healthy.

I like the idea of making our exercise goals here to encourage us to meet them. Once I am completely well, I will jump in with my goals. I really need to push myself in the intensity of my exercise.

I know how i'll reward myself for meeting my goals for this challenge. I'm going to buy tickets to GIGANTOUR 2008!!! Yeaaaaaaaaa!!!

Hey red team.....I am so happy to be hear. This is my third week doing WW and in my zone. I have been perfectly on program for 19 days now and working out EVERY DAY. So i'm sure to have a GREAT weightloss this Saturday for our team!

1. What do you prefer we call you? melissa

2. What weightloss plan are you using? WW

3. What is your favorite exercise? I like to switch it up because i get bored easily, I like walking outside, hiking and riding my bike when it's nice out. In the winter i'm a walker and a gym girl. treadmill, elliptical, bike and weights! I am also a crunch queen. I can do situps for days....I do at least 100 a day!

4. What is one area that you struggle? It used to be myportions, but now that i'm in week three i'm not struggling much at all. I'd have to say making sure I get in all 5 of my fruit and veggie servings every day.

5. What is one area of your weightloss journey that you excel at? Exercise, making my plans for exercise and meals and sticking to it!

6. What is your short term goal? To reach my 10% goal for weight watcher which is to lose 24lbs. Once I do that I will work towards my long term goal in small blocks!

7. What will you reward yourself with when you reach that goal? my 10% goal will be a new pair of sneakers. I made a wish list and each goal I meet, things such as a pedicure, new work out clothes, massage, etc. i'll just start treating myself and knocking things off my list. When I reach my ultimate goal weight I want to go on a cruise!

8. Best weight loss tip? I put quotes up on my refrigerator every day. Drink your water, journal everything you eat and exercise, exercise, exercise. It works if you work it!!

9. Bob or Jillian? Hmmm...that's a tough one! I love them BOTH for different reasons!

10. Tell us about yourself! I'm a 34 year old single mother from Massachsetts. I have one son who is 11 years old and my life is spent taking him to practices and games for soccer, basketball, baseball and BMX racing. I have no life! I have a wonderful boyfriend of 3 years and he has 2 boys 11 and 5. I am a special education teacher, teaching a 5th grade, social emotional and behavioral support classroom. My job is very challenging yet very rewarding. I am in school part time getting my special education license ( may 2008) and my Masters in Special Education (May 2009) I can't wait to be finished with school. My own free time, which i have little of, is spent in the arts. I sing/dance/act/choreograph. I love the theater and have performed in over 20 musicals. I do choreography for local community theater groups and my summer job is choregrapher at a theater camp for kids ages 7 - 15. I also sing back up for an Elvis impersonator. That's about all I have to share!

Funny story to share! I have been working out big time the past two weeks. I haven't taken a break at all. if I can't make it to the gym I walk outside. Well after shoveling for 90 minutes on Monday and working out for 2 hours STRAIGHT at the gym yesterday during biggest loser...I just wanted to come home from work today, eat dinner and crash. Well my son calls me into his room and I'm like "What do you want?" and he points to the TV. He put my DAnce yOUrself Thin DVD that i got in the mail yesterday into his DVD and told me I needed to get mywork out in. I can't just sit at the computer. LMAO....is that funny or what. My cute, 11 year old drill sergeant of a son made sure I got a workout in. So on my day I was supposed to rest, I got 45 min of cardio in and 100 crunches. :carrot: Thanks Torre, I felt great, it was just want mom needed! XOXO