Thank you Silver! And congrats on your weightloss! You are SO close to goal. Keep it up :)

Chelsey

Good morning, feathers!

BamaGirl, I was wondering where you were! I hope you feel better soon.

Chelsey, congrats on Day 3! Are you feeling good?

SilverLife, nice to have you posting here! A morning of gardening and a walk sounds lovely. Do you do flower gardening, vegetable gardening, or both? I inherited a perennial garden from my home's previous owner. It's pretty wild -- definitely needs to be thinned and reworked -- but we enjoy it. I planted my first veggie garden last year -- it was a little overambitious, so this year I just have one bush cucumber, one red bell pepper, a row of purple string beans and wax beans, and a cantaloupe plant (with TONS of fruit -- can't wait for the first one). I decided not to plant tomatoes, because I don't really like them, but got a "volunteer" from last year that has set some lovely fruit.

I had a great run in the rain yesterday. It really opened up and poured on me about halfway through. I was patting myself on the back for being out there in the weather, but realized it was a more pleasant alternative than being in the house with three antsy kids. :dizzy: For DH's birthday, we are making mini-cupcakes decorated to look like a box of chocolate truffles (from the Hello Cupcake cookbook) so we had a trip to the baking supply store AND the candy store yesterday. My mouth literally WATERED in the candy store. I avoided the major temptations but had some jelly bellys with the kids.

Today is kickboxing day. I haven't been for a while, but it's a good workout. Very motivational instructor. He's a 55-year-old grandfather with a SMOKIN body :o. If we chat too much he gets mad and REALLY makes us work. If you slack, he comes down and stands right in front of you until you pick it up. I don't dare slack.

Have a great day, everyone!

Good Morning everyone!

Oh, how this forum really lights up my mornings as I drink my daily green tea :coffee:

Same7lbs I do feel great! I just realized I have been eating more cheese than I thought; I brought in a measuring cup to work and boy did it make a difference. I had to go back and adjust my calories from the previous days. No more pretending I'm eating less :nono: How are you doing with maintenance? Do you find it easier than you imagined?

I normally work out on my lunch breaks but just couldnt get myself to do it yesterday. So I told myself I HAVE to run around the lake outside after work. It was extremely hot and after 2 miles I was about to give up but I kicked my butt and made sure I got in at least 3 miles (about 37 minutes). It felt good and sweating more from the heat made me feel even better! The weekend is creeping up right around the corner and this is where I always sabatoge my eating and drinking habbits. But this time I WILL stay in my allowed calorie range AND still have a good time with friends.

I never knew how much support you could really get from a forum from people who you dont even know and feel close to them at the same time! So thank you everyone for your support and kind words; they stick with me during the mental sabatoges!

Have a great Thursday everyone!

Chelsey

3FC saved me over the years in more ways than I can count, that's a fact :yes: ...

Chelsey, good for you on running further... I just don't do well with running in the heat so I go to an inside track, soooo airconditioned it's almost too cold when you start but by the end it feels good...

Down a bit on the :goodscale: this morning ...

:bravo: Ilene!! That is great! ;):carrot:;):D:dizzy:

Chelsey, I'm glad you are doing so well. I feel the same way about this forum, even though I'm still new here.


I found it took a lot of courage to post how heavy I'd been. I lost fifty pounds in 2001 and 2002 and have been fiddling around between 139 and the low 150's ever since. I realized a couple of months ago, that I deeply want to be the size I was before I gained so much weight. It still baffles me that I tried to take care of myself with hiding in food. Am finding with really working on having a plan for movement and exercises, eating, and all that goes with that, that a lot of memories and feelings are surfacing in a different way than previously. All that is taking some prayerful thought. Letting go of the fifty pounds was very easy compared to these last ones. I'm finding it's requiring much, much diligence.

I'm thankful you all are here. I so appreciate your support.

Bamagirl, hope you are feeling much better today!

Same7, your exercise in the rain sounds delightful. I do grow a few flowers and have herbs and some veggies. I have found that gardening requires a great deal and have been giving plants to neighbors. I was overly ambitious in procuring plants when I moved in. I decided to mow my own lawn, with an old-fashioned reel mower, and doing that is helping me become much stronger. (Saves some money, too.) Congratulations on avoiding the temptations!

Ilene, congratulations on your scale victory!

I did a lot of reading on the Maintenance Forum the last couple of days, which helped clarify the mysterious BMI. I found some posts which confirmed my hunch that the online calculators which ask height, weight, activity level and measurements, can't really "know" what my metabolism rate is. It was a relief to read posts of other women who have to eat many fewer calories and exercise more than those calculators "say".

I never intended to find out about all these things, but I want to know what effects and consequences my choices have.

Sorry for the long post. It's one of those times.

Sending you all best wishes for a very lovely day! :)

SilverLife, long posts can be good sometimes. I'm a forum novelist, haha. And on the calculator thing, you are so right. Everyone is different. I have really been thinking about going to the nutritionist at my university and letting her do a BMR analysis thing on me. You sit in a closed up little room for a certain amount of time and it does some kind of crazy calculations to figure out what you are burning. I'm not quite sure how it works, but it sounds interesting, and I'm always kind of curious how much I have thrown off my metabolism with all the years of crash diets and eating disorders. It takes a while for your body to "bounce back" from that.

Congrats on your awesomeness, Ilene! :)

same7, I am so jealous of your rainy workout! I LOVE running in the rain when the weather is warm! I'm so glad you are doing so well!

I'm feeling much, much better. Still not 100%, but I'm hoping to get back to my workouts in a few days. I can eat again, hooray!

Bamagirl This metabolism analyzing thing your nutritionist has is interesting! Can you get it at any doctor? I would be SO curious to find out how much my metabolism burns!

I agree that metabolism analisis sounds very interesting :yes:

It is pretty interesting. I'm not sure who has it, but it's called the Bod Pod if you want to look it up. Apparently it's just a really, really accurate body composition measurement which they then use to manipulate the numbers for your BMR.

My gym has something where you breathe into a mask/hose/machine contraption while resting and it give you a BMR. They also have it where you wear the mask while running on a treadmill and it helps calculate your max VO2 and, I think, find your actual target heart rates/training zones (as opposed to using a generic formula). I'm doing that next week.

I bet a university would be a good place to do the BMR measurement b/c they probably have very good equipment if they use it for research. The kind you find at a gym I would imagine is less accurate.

It's an early day today. I'm delighted that I revised my plan. Am feeling healthier and am glad to be making progress.

I saw a beautiful butterfly yesterday, lots of blue on the wings. I was pruning a bush and enjoyed watching the butterfly.

Hope you all have a lovely beginning this Friday morning! :)

I'm not sure I had a lovely beginning -- I was woken up by an EARTHQUAKE! No kidding. We don't get many of those here in the Maryland suburbs. It scared the heck out of me! We used to live in San Diego and they scared me to death, there, too, even just the tiny trembles. My neighbors (SoCal natives) used to make fun of me because I'd run over to their house all freaked out and they'd say, "We didn't even feel anything!" :o

We are approaching high season for butterflies here, though! We have a couple large butterfly bushes that attract tons, particularly tiger swallowtails. I also plant lots of dill and parsley to encourage black swallowtails to lay their eggs, and we bring the caterpillars inside and raise them through metamorphosis. I love it! The kids take it for granted. They think everyone has caterpillars living in their kitchens. :)

I have a very big, important day planned... namely, meeting friends for lunch at Nordstrom and shopping the Anniversary sale. I'm thinking about celebrating goal with a new pair of jeans and some leggings for fall. I've never worn leggings b/c I'm pear-shaped and a lot of my weight is in my thighs -- but this year I'm going to rock them! I found my measurements from the day I started calorie counting, and I've lost about 2 inches from each thigh, and just over 2 from my hips! :carrot::cb::broc:

Happy Friday, everyone!

Same7, congratulations on your victories! I'm glad the earthquake was a small one. I wouldn't have expected one in Maryland. When I lived in San Francisco, they were rather common.

Hope you have a wonderful day at lunch and Nordstrom's.

Callanetics were easier today. I thought I would have to go easier today as I did so much yesterday, but I added a few more. Have got my gardening done, and am off for a walk.

Hope you all have a lovely Friday morning! :)

Good Morning everyone!

So, not very happy today; though not as dissapointed as I thought I would be (I think 3fc has kept me motivated no matter what). Stepped on the scale today and I am up .4 pounds; 138.4. I have only been living this healthy lifestyle since Monday but I thought I would have lost weight not gained. I have never been a runner but I have been running all this week. Is it possible my gain is from running? My leg muscles (esp. my calves) have felt tight and sore.

I have never stuck to a calorie counting way of eating EVER for longer than a week. So I really dont know how it all works. Did you all see more weightloss the first two weeks? Or did it at first, not come off and then fell off towards the end of your journey? I am not terribly worried becuase you all here have truly inspired me and shown me that it CAN be done and have convinced me that no matter what; stick with plan, it will come off. I also dont think it is my metabolism becuase with my bad eating habits and lack of exercise, my weight has not changed since I graduated highschool 5 years ago. I do however think I lost muscle and gained fat (did cheerleading for 7 years and stopped exercise altogether after graduating). Anywhoo, my point of this is I am not going to give up but it would be nice to see the scale moving. Is it possible I am doing something wrong? According to FitDay, I have a calorie deficit of 1000 almost every day this week (mon-thurs) between my workouts and my diet. So shouldnt the scale have gone down?

Same7lbs :bravo: on your inches lost! That is awesome. I bet you will have a fabulous day shopping and lunch with friends :)

Silver I have always seen butterflies as a direct gift from God. You are going to have a special day today :)

Have a happy Friday everyone!

Chelsey, congratulations on your exercise. I'm sorry that the scales don't reflect all your hard work. I'm still fairly new at using the online calorie calculators, but I have found that they all show that I use more calories than I actually do. I'll see if I can find the thread I read in the Maintenance section which explains how the online calculators work.

I, too, think butterflies are gifts from God and I am having a special day. Thanks very much for the kind thoughts.

Will add the link when I find it.

Silver,

I journal everything I put in my mouth on FitDay. I dont think I am eating more than I think, and even if I am eating lets say 200 calories more than I think, its still a significant differene in calories. Oh well; no need to analyze it to the bone, I will just be patient and learn to make this my new lifestyle :) YOu all rock!!

Chelsey, I'm no expert on this, but I found this thread very helpful:

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/livi...lculators.html

I'm working on making my plan my new lifestyle, too.

Am sending you lots of good thoughts! :)

Thanks for sharing that Silver. Ive always been skeptical of those calculators. I really want to go to my nutritonist and see if he has any machines that can tell me my BMR. In all honestly, I feel I have an average one. He does have this special machine that tells you your weight in fat, bone, and muscle. Apparently I put on muscle easily. All I can do is be patient and see what happens..

Thank you for the good thoughts; have a great weekend and good luck!!!

Hi, I'm new! Working on losing 10 vanity pounds, but I know I need to exercise to lose the new mommy pooch and jiggles. Yuck!

They say that when your sore the muscles retain water to recuperate, that's why you see the scale go up or not change when you start exercising. When your body gets used to it the 'whoosh' fairy visits your scale. So stick with it I guess.

Is Fitday better than Sparkpeople?

Awww thanks Ainsley, that made me feel much better! I cant wait for the "whoosh". Current goal is to by at 128 by Sept. 20 (curretly 138.4). And then 118-120 by Thanksgiving. Fingers crossed!

I have used Sparkpeople before but I like Fitday. Its very resourceful!

Oh, and Welcome!!

Welcome, Ainsley'sMom! :)

I've been reading posts and threads in the Maintenance Forum about how folks use the different calorie calculators, BMR, BMI, and all those things that are based on averages. It seems that many use the calorie charts and journal aspects of the sites but do not depend on those sites for accurate calculation of their own calorie needs.

I use a fountain pen and a pad of paper to keep track, making all sorts of notes about my research, on those pages.

I guess it depends on what kind of records you'd like to keep.

Sending you best wishes for success! :)

Thanks for the welcome guys!

Chelsey, here's the thread about the calorie calculator websites I was looking for earlier.

I put in my info at the freedieting website, and noticed that the calories given for the activity level I chose, were the same for ages 55 and 80. It would be a wonder if someone at 80 could lose or maintain weight at the same level of ease as someone at 55. I do wonder how the data is collected and used in the computer programs.

Wishing you all a lovely evening! :)

:welcome2: Ainsleysmom! What a beautiful little girl you have!

Chelsey, while in theory the 1000x4 should yield you a pound, it's entirely possible that the new exercise routine is causing some body changes. If you can keep on plan I bet you'll see results soon. I started counting cals when my running routine was pretty established so my experience was different. Make sure you stretch after you run! I always do at least these, but that is really the minimum! Work in a few of these, too.

I had a fantastic day having lunch and shopping with my friends. Bought way too much :fr: and will have to make returns when the dust settles.

Hi Ainsleymom :wave: and :welcome:

Same7, how nice to have such a fun outing. Those pages of stretches are lovely. I do many of those and they are grand.

It's tea time, I'll post more later. :)

Hi girls, been chugging along with various degrees of commitment here. Looking back on the past few months, I would say I have at least arrested my weight gain, stopped the compulsive overeating I did that resulted in 30 pounds over a two-year period.

However, I continue to be frustrated at how HARD it is to take off, especially in (ugh) middle age. The scale is so harsh and unforgiving. It allows no indulgence or cheating whatsoever, and the rewards are slow and grudging.

Also, is anyone else experiencing a lot of water retention in the summer heat?

Joan,

Congrats on conquering overeating and preventing weight gain! Youve made the first steps to losing weight! Once you get the hang of things and truly make it a lifestyle, the weight will come off. Exercise really helps with pushing the weight loss along also!

Have a great weekend!

Hi, Joan! I agree with Chelsey. Maintaining is a very good victory, congratulations!

I've been reading many of the threads in the Living Maintenance section of the Maintenance forum. They have helped me keep several things in the back of my mind and given me a good frame of reference.

I went out to eat today, which I rarely do, and ate things I wouldn't have eaten at home. It was nice to have an outing, and I splurged a bit. I came home, did some chores, took a wee stroll to unwind, drank a lovely glass of cold water. It's a relief to know that one unusual meal isn't going to throw off my plan. I find it more and more delightful to realize that I choose what I eat, how I eat, how much I eat, and I get to choose when I eat, too. Having choices is so very nice.

Hope you all have a lovely evening!

Forgot to throw in my $.02 --- I have been using fitday for three months but just switched to livestrong (daily plate). I find it has a lot more foods in the database and I think it's just plain easier.

For me sparkpeople was a little overwhelming. There seemed to be so much going on! And they flooded my inbox. But I think you can opt out of a lot of the extras.

I had an outing on Saturday and ate at a restaurant, and then ate more than I usually do yesterday. I was pleasantly surprised this morning to see that my extra exercise and keeping my records as accurately as I can is paying off. The scales showed no difference.

I'm glad that I can adjust for small splurges. It's nice to see that I can make progress and not have to live so that I feel deprived.

We had some much needed rain yesterday and all the trees and plants are much softer today, instead of being dry and crunchy.

Hope you all have a lovely beginning this morning! :)

Happy Monday Morning, Feathers!

I hope everyone had a good weekend! I overindulged last night. It was my husband's birthday, and I ate sparingly all day so I could enjoy the special dinner I'd be making. Unfortunately, I enjoyed it a little too much.

One of my favorite tips from successful losers and maintainers is that if something is just going to tempt you too much, just get rid of it! Throw it away! We made these beautiful mini-cupcakes for dessert, which meant three cans of leftover frosting in the fridge. Well, that leftover frosting is now in the garbage after inflicting only minor damage (hopefully). In general, I'm not a fan of wasting food. But really, of what value is frosting after you've used what you needed for your project? It is of no nutritional benefit to anyone. Just bad for teeth, blood sugar and hips. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

I'm easing into maintenance but I'm having trouble believing that I can eat well over 2000 calories per day (that includes exercise). I think Daily Plate really overestimates calories burned during exercise, so I will enter those manually. I realized yesterday a challenge of maintenance is that you don't have a lot of "wiggle room." While losing, if you are on-plan but forget to enter something, or if you eyeball a portion and you're off by 200 calories, it will slow your loss, but unless you are really sloppy, you should still be at a deficit. At maintenance, if you are over, you are over. You are in surplus. ACK!!! So of course to compensate for that I try to stay on the low side. I guess you just figure it out through trial and error.

My husband has the week (mostly) off -- he's off from his main job, but still working one of his side jobs, but fewer hours than usual. I'm hoping for some family time -- wishing it was cool enough for the zoo. I miss the San Diego Zoo! Rarely too hot, nice and shady, ample parking. ~sigh~ Maybe next year.

I realized yesterday a challenge of maintenance is that you don't have a lot of "wiggle room." While losing, if you are on-plan but forget to enter something, or if you eyeball a portion and you're off by 200 calories, it will slow your loss, but unless you are really sloppy, you should still be at a deficit. At maintenance, if you are over, you are over. You are in surplus. ACK!!! So of course to compensate for that I try to stay on the low side. I guess you just figure it out through trial and error.

Same7, that's the part the will be the challenge. I'm discovering a bit of that juggling now, but have really been thinking through the things I've read in the Maintenance Forum. I have a couple of neighbors who like to eat sweets and when I have leftovers from making things for family, I take the extras to the neighbors. I keep a no-white-or-brown-sugar rule for myself. I just feel tremendously better if I never eat it.

Am putting a little more variety into my movement and food plans. It's helping.

Hope you all have a lovely morning! :)

Good Morning Featherweights!


Today, I am feeling more of the weight part in featherweights rather than the feather part :lol:

But thats okay, today is a new day!

Same7 Looks like we both had a little too much fun yesterday :)

Is it weird I actually look forward to the WEEKDAYS rather than the WEEKENDS now, becuase it is so much easier to stay on plan? Oh sheesh, who have I become?? :devil: Just another typical Monday morning, sipping my tea, checking 3fc, and preparing to start my work for the day. Then off to the gym for lunch, home to make dinner, and off to church! I just can't wait for this stress swelling in my throat to go down. When does the exercising and eating healthy feel like a lifestyle rather than a strict diet?


Remember, nothing tastes as good as healthy feels ;) Hope you all have a FABULOUS Monday!!

Chelsey

Same7, I'm starting to learn the same things about transitioning into maintenance as well. Even though a lot of the mentalities are the same and I am using what I've learned on the weight loss journey, it's still very different as far as how food and calories function now.

I'm starting to wonder if I will ever be able to eat now without thinking about calories and nutritional info-- if that's what "normal" people do.

I'm still feeling a bit under the weather right now. I'm not deathly ill anymore, but I'm still coughing a LOT and not feeling up to strenuous exercise. I'm guessing my body is just going to take its time to heal. I wish it would hurry, though!

I splurged today and had a caramel frappe for breakfast at McDonald's. It was 550 calories for a medium, and normally I would be flipping out, but I enjoyed it and adjusted my meal plan to remain within my calories for the day, so I don't feel guilty. It was tasty!

I weighed in at 127.0 this morning. It's the lowest my weight has been since high school (although that's been true since I hit 150. :)) and I'm still just amazed that I've gotten here. I'm 7 pounds from goal, but I'm starting to consider stopping at 125. Who knows?

Sorry for the novel... Haha. I hope everyone is doing awesomely today!

I actually went to the gym this weekend! DH stayed with DD (alhtough she was napping so it's not like he had to do anything!) and I ran on the treadmill and did leg and ab training. I used to be able to do 3 miles in half an hour and boy am I nowhere near there. I was hoping to do a half marthon this fall, but I think I'm aways away. I was really sore yesterday, but today not so much. I'm going to try to do a pilates tape today and mabye try to go to the gym again tomorrow. I've used the gym daycare before, but it makes me nervous. Last time we used it she came down with a cold. Which means we ALL came down with a cold - boo!

We also went out to eat twice this weekend and I had 1 1/2 mixed drinks on Friday and then a beer and a glass of wine on Saturday. This is not good I'm sure. Although on Friday I stuck to appetizers for dinner and on Saturday DH and I shared an entree. It feels I ate less than normal, but I'm sure I still had at least 1,000 calories each time. I'm thinking after our vacation at the beginning of August I might try going off of alcohol for a month. I don't know what DH will think of this...

Good Morning Featherweights ! I don't post so much anymore but read the new postings everyday. This forum was a great help to me when I was nearing goal. those last ten pounds were sooo stubborn and I almost settled for a higher goal, but I was encouraged by what others were able to do and persisted and it finally came off. I have been at goal for abut 18 months, now. The maintainers forum as also a big help.

Whenever I think of "normal" people (when it comes to food, that is) I think of my in-laws. They are all slim, all healthy, and NEVER would THINK of counting calories, etc. They just eat when they're hungry. Stop before they're full. Occasionally have an indulgent dessert. Normal people.

I have accepted the fact that I am not normal when it comes to food. It is simply an area of my life where I need more structure. Maybe, through the structure I am learning now, I will one day be able to eat to hunger, drink to thirst, indulge in moderation and maintain my weight where I want it. Doubt it! For now, I plan on counting calories for the long haul. :comp: (that's me at the computer, logging calories for the rest of my life).

I do hope that over time I learn how manage indulgences -- I do love dessert. :devil: