Originally Posted by ma26:
Just finished that article. Wow. A good reminder why healthy needs to be part of the goal.

Exactly. I want to be at a size that feels comfortable for me for the health benefits: I want alertness, energy, stamina, good mood, strength, confidence, cardiovascular health, low cholesterol, longevity, memory improvement, flexibility, coordination, and decreased risks for disease. My desire to also fit into smaller clothes is, these days, the least of my goals.

I truly cannot tell that much visual difference in my body now versus 12 pounds ago. But do I *feel* better? Good heavens, yes. And that's what matters. If you can achieve aesthetic improvement WITH good health, then great. But if you have to choose only one? Oh, my. Good health is so much more important. With health will come confidence, and then the number on your clothing tag will hardly matter.

I think these industries are so dangerous and damaging to young women, treating them like commodities instead of human beings and pushing them to dangerous extremes. It makes me very sad and makes me worry for my 10-year-old niece as she grows up. She's active in sports, so I hope she continues to participate in that for the right reasons and keeps her confidence.

Krampus, that article is both interesting and completely unsurprising to anyone who looks at tabloids or "celebrity glossies" at the supermarket checkout (which, sadly, I do on a regular basis :>)). I think that 2006 was the peak year for celebs like Lindsay Lohan (it was about her last year before she started to check in and out of rehab and jail I believe) Nicole Ritchie and the ex-Posh Spice girl. It's -slightly- better now, at least judging by the current crop of celeb bikini shots (still absurdly toned and taut, but not emaciated). Of course, I live worlds away from LA, or even NYC.

What scares me is that "wannarexics" are still a dime-a-dozen all over the U.S. and that 3/4 of them probably think they are healthy right up until the minute they collapse, or develop binge-purge syndromes, depression, kidney problems and infertility. Unlike the author of the article, I don't believe for a minute that most people who diet that aggressively are aware that they are underweight and jeopardizing their health. I'm pretty sure that if they were told by their BFF that they were too skinny, the only thought running through the woman's head would be "boy, she's jealous."

Have a good day ladies.

Hi Feathers,

This morning I was finally below 9 stone (126 lbs), have been skimming 126.2 for 4 days.

I had a busy day at work today because I am going to be off for 4 days so I needed to prepare for people to cover. I had such a bad headache and my glands were all up. I felt all feverish and after a while I just burst into tears and seeing that most of my department is male was a little embarrassing.

I went home to my 'mummy' lol and she went out and got me a big bowl of chicken noodles. We were a bit worried that I was sticking to plan 'too' much and missed out some essential nutrients.

It didn't make that much difference so although I would love to feel better, I also hope that I've been looking after myself and not putting myself in danger. Hopefully it is just a bug and it'll pass.

Going to get an early night, speak to you soon xx

DoraUK, congrats on getting below 9 st - hope you feel better soon, though!

About the article - I too agree that 2006 was the year of the skeletor. It's not surprising given LA's nature as a completely image-obsessed cutthroat city of people who all want to be the best. I just can't imagine being in ketosis ALL THE TIME like that (or ever, really).

Yesterday was the first day of my special time and I was a mess all day. I went from wanting to cry to wanting to make other people cry to ecstatic grinning and back. When I got home from work I was craving chocolate and I had just bought 4 big bags of Halloween candy for my students, so I went to the kitchen and had 1 tbsp of peanut butter to try and keep the chocolate craving at bay. Well, the chocolate craving went away but I ate 4 or 5 tbsp of peanut butter and felt awful. A mini-binge, probably almost 500 calories' worth.

So I went on my run that I was planning, and for whatever reason (anger? determination? fueled by the peanut butter?) I maintained a pretty good pace and ran for an hour and five minutes without walking or slow jogging. By far the best run I've ever had. I felt perfect afterward - legs were a little sore, and I felt the most incredible endorphins rush. For dinner I just had spinach, a couple prunes and kimchi because I wasted my dinner calories on peanut butter.

This morning I weighed 58.8 kg or 129.4 lbs!

I can't even run for more than 5 minutes! You're amazing! And 129 is awesome!

Today is my birthday. I'm making cupcakes and I'm going to enjoy them. :)

Oneoftwelve - I am very curious to see what you look like. Ok that sounded creepy. I say this because my sister who is also 5'8 weighs 138 and is very thin. I was surprised to hear she even weighed that. So I am really curious to know what you look like because I couldnt imagine my sister being 20 pounds less; not even 5 pounds less. She simply is just so tiny - NO fat to lose. Are you really small -framed?


Lilmisspope - I have to say thank you to you because everytime I think of this whole "plan" of mine and get discouraged, I think of your's and Amy's success and encouraging words. So thank you! I feel like I have my own personal weight loss cheerleader :lol::cheer2:

Welcome NYCskinny!!! I love NY!!! I have never seen it during the holidays though - one of my agends on my to do list :D

Amy - SO glad your reunion went well. I love that you partied like a rockstar!! Bet you dont miss those hangovers though :stars: Did anyone mention your weight loss?

Changed - Im glad you are finding some results with your thryoid issue. I dont think people realize just how important the thyroid is. When thats not functioning properly, everything seems to be effected!

Dora - Congrats on your recent weight loss!! Thanks for the motivation :carrot:

Krampus - OVER AN HOUR of running nonstop?!?! Oh.my.gosh. I WISH I could do that!! I can only imagine how amazing that feels afterwards. Good job!

Changed - :bday2you::bday2::celebrate::woo: WOOOOOOO!! Happy Birthday!!! My sister's a scorpio also!! Love my little scorpians :D

Ok off to go refill my coffee cup! :coffee::woohoo:

Talk to you all soon!

Back to 134 this morning! Woo hoo! I had gotten here before but then it was the TOM and boom, I went up to 137. Now it's all gone again, proving to myself that it was my usual water retention. But I predicted that I'd feel a quasi-victory when I got back to 134, even though I technically haven't lost any NEW weight. *heh* Oh well! ;)

Halloween party tonight with all the requisite food temptations! Wish me luck for not being TOO bad, though I'm sure I'll indulge a little. :)

I'd be more than willing to put a picture up, Diane, but right now my camera is broken :(. I'll see if I can find another picture of me that someone else took that is recent enough.

I am new to this section :) I weighed in at 144.6 this morning and am looking forward to being in the 130's, although I do think I may try for even 125. I've been posting sporadically in the 20's "getting out of the 140's," but I'm 30, so I feel kinda funny. No one else is active in the 30's support board in that weight range, so I hope I fit in here!

I had to order new pants because all of mine are too big, and I had to order a 6!! It's just vanity sizing because I think I"m an 8 or maybe a 10 in most other brands, but I'd love to be a genuine size 4.

Anyway, I'm kinda rambling :) But I just started New Rules of Weigh training, Lift like a Man, Look like a Goddess. I'm used to working out for 45-60 minutes at a time, so I can't believe this short little 20 minute work out has me sore from head to toe! Can't wait to continue the program!

Happy Halloween!

Last night I went to the big annual shindig my friends throw every year, and I randomly did not eat ANYTHING while I was there. I ate a nice dinner at home beforehand, drank diet soda only since I was our designated driver (and even though I usually don't drink soda at all, that was my one little treat to myself), and woke up feeling awesome. Did some yoga and might go jogging later.

Hooray for resisting the lure of candy and cupcakes and pizza! Kept a clear head and had an awesome time with the spouse and all our pals. :)

kat999 - good job with the party! those can be really tempting, but you did great!

krampus - you're still doing awesome. hopefully in a few weeks i can follow you into the 120s. endorphin rushes are awesome, eh? p.s. - how did you get your screenname? where i live, krampus is the name of santa's (well, st. nikolas's) evil sidekick, lol)

DoraUK: you are doing great, too! i'm jealous of all you 120s ladies! I also like your rewards, especially the maintenance one. That's a goal I never even considered!

Hey, everbody else! :wave: Looks like you're all doing so well. Can I just say how much I really like this forum? I feel much more comfortable posting in Featherweights than anywhere else. I don't mean to sound like I'm fat bashing or something, but I don't get why people get so offended when articles/blog posts/etc. point out that morbid obesity isn't exactly healthy, and that it's sometimes just as painful to look at as when looking at someone anorexic -- you hate to see someone being destructive to themselves in any form, you know?

Sorry -- I know that was random. I just saw a thread in another forum that really, really confused me. Anyway. I'm still stuck on the 132, and actually I'm going to stay here for a while, even though I'd love to aim for the 120s. The hubster asked me to please maintain for a little bit, just to see how I like this weight, in hopes that I'll like it OK and not want to go any lower. He's feeling a little weird about me being this size, and, granted, ever since he's known me, I've been larger.

I'm not thrilled about the idea of maintaining here, but I figure it couldn't hurt to stick with it for 2-3 weeks, just to see. If I don't like it, it's not like I can't go back to losing more. So I'm keeping my calories about the same, although I've slacked up a little on exercise. I may get a little more hardcore if I feel my weight creeping up.

It feels weird to be in "maintenance" but I keep telling myself it's only temporary -- whatever it takes to make it through! :D

Hello my lovely Feathers!

I had a crazy busy week and haven't gotten to post in a while. Lots to catch up on!

Krampus, that article was so interesting. LA sounds a little scary! I'm not surprised, though. Here in the plain old DC suburbs, there are women at my gym who go to three classes in a row. The only thing that hasn't trickled down is the boob reductions. ;) And congrats on your awesome run! Isn't the runner's high just marvelous? I've really tapped into it and can get there on most of my long runs these days. What a motivator. Oh, and been there on the peanut butter binge. The stuff is like crack and I'm exposed to it almost every day making PBJs for the kids. Has the price of kimchi gone up a lot in Japan? Apparently there's been a huge spike in S. Korea and people are going crazy. Swiping cabbage from fields and everything.

Dora, congrats on breaking through 126! Take care of yourself and get well soon!

Happy Birthday, Changed! Enjoy that cupcake!

Chelsey, amazingly, I was not hungover after my all-nighter. I'm so proud of myself because at big events like that I have to take care not to over-indulge (especially since we started with wine at about 6 or 6:30 while getting dressed). I hadn't seen many of the people at the reunion in almost 20 years. I'm basically back at my high school weight, so a lot of people just said I looked great, couldn't believe I had three young children, etc. The people who I have seen over the years were very complimentary, especially my BFFs who know I struggle with my weight. And one old boyfriend who was incredibly sweet. :o

Kat, good work on resisting party temptations! I hope I do half as well tonight...

Fivestone, practicing maintenance never hurts. A lot of people advocate giving your body a rest from calorie deficits and eating at maintenance from time to time. It sounds like a sensible compromise if your husband is concerned.

I am up early and looking at a looooonnnng day. Halloween with little kids is fun but exhausting! We are having breakfast at some friends', then home to carve pumpkins, then friends coming for dinner before trick-or-treating. A block of our neighborhood is closed off for a street party -- lots of fun and no worries about cars. I have been resisting candy all month -- normally by now I would have burned through a couple bags of candy corn and some holiday m&ms, too. I just may sneak a few pieces today, though!

Try not to run into these guys tonight: :spid::witch2::sklol::dracula::frank::badbat:

Changed - Happy birthday! I've heard from friends stateside that cupcakes are extremely trendy desserts in the U.S. Are they pulling my leg?

kat999 - GOOD JOB resisting all that temptation. Seems like for that kind of willpower we should be able to instantly lose five pounds.

pinkflower - welcome! I've heard many good things about that lifting book, looking forward to hearing more of your progress.

fivestone - I am in fact named after that same Krampus, hehe. I went to Salzburg last summer and ran around the city asking shopkeepers in my atrociously bad German if they knew where I could get Krampus-related souvenirs, and they just stared at me blankly.

You're not fat bashing in acknowledging that morbid obesity is unhealthy and sad to see. I feel the same way when I see someone who is so big he or she can't fit into a restaurant booth as when I see someone so skeletal that he or she obviously has an eating disorder or terminal illness.

Good luck with maintenance - never a bad thing to stop for a while and collect your thoughts and get used to your new body. If you find you're still not 100% satisfied, you know what to do! ;)

thesame7lbs - That sounds like a PACKED but really fun day! I wish I could teleport to my parents' house and wait for trick or treaters in their costumes. I love seeing little kids all dressed up!

***

As for me, I had a busy weekend celebrating Halloween. I visited the special ed school and had a little party with them on Friday, went to a big party with lots of English teachers and locals last night at a "Shining"-esque resort hotel, and today I sadly decided fighting off a hangover with a buffet breakfast at the hotel was the only way to get through the morning. I haven't weighed myself yet but I imagine it will be a day or two before I see 129 again.

Well, I'm 45 today. Yikes. Never been this old before ;)
Still stuck at 129 (+/- 1 pound), even though I've been eating clean and exercising. I really wish I could get a "whoosh" right about now, since I got to this weight back in the beginning of October (and then went up 3 pounds and back down), and it's starting to feel a little unexciting. I plan to stay away from the Halloween candy, but since it's also my birthday, I will have a piece of my own birthday cake.

Wishing all Feathers a very fun Halloween. Enjoy the fruit of your dieting labors by wearing an awesome costume, and enjoy the spirit of the day.

Andrea

Pinkflower, I meant to say :welcome: to you! I started NRLW last week, but I messed up and did 4 sets of everything instead of 2-3 (got confused by the training log) and I was sore for days!

Neuro, :bday2:

It is safe to say I will not be avoiding the Halloween candy -- I've already opened the candy corn! :o