February Chat?
 

I know the January chat thread kind of fizzled and died half way through the month but I also feel January was a particularly difficult month for a lot of people, myself included.

I would like to get the February chart underway.

I am really hoping to get back down to 147 for Valentines day. That was my Christmas goal which I met and then promptly gained 3lbs back. I am planning on trying a new fitness program incorporating a lot more intense intervals along with eating only when I am hungry. I am having trouble buying into the whole eating 4-6 small meals I find that this actually left me feeling quite uncomfortable after lunch at work I now find I am eating around 3 meals with a pre and post work out snack and a little protein before bed. I also really need to focus on cutting out wheat and sugar this month since they are causing me a lot of digestive upset.

I am really hoping to see some great results in February and I am going to try very hard to shake of the January doldrums I have been experiencing.

What are your goals and feelings about February?

It depends on the alignment of the moons and stars in distant galaxies. I am currently in Day 5 of total abstinence from candy/cookies/cake/desserts since I noticed some scary binging behavior popping up as well as a small gain.

I am having trouble managing hunger and the knowledge that I will never be able to eat as much as I want for the rest of my life if I want to stay a certain weight and size. Also because of the sudden lack of sugar, my moods are extremely unstable and volatile, and I have no energy to run.

I don't really know if I am in any place to set weight goals. I had hoped to be at 122 a week from today, but I'm certainly not going to lose 4 lbs in one week. If it's this much of a struggle to stay below 128 (my "red line" weight) I might end up having to tweak my goal weight.

Hello! I've never taken part in these monthly chat threads, so I thought I would start this month :)
My Valentine's goal is 132...I'm not sure if this is going to happen cos it has taken me 2 weeks to drop 1lb meaning I'm now at 134. I know 2lbs in a little under 2 weeks is totally possible but it's going to take some hard work! Ideally I'd like to be 130 by 1st March.
I also want to start running regularly outside. I can run 10K on a treadmill at an incline of 0.5 but I know outside is much tougher!
Here's to a great February!
Cat x

I want a regular monthly chat spot again!

I finished my two-week diet and hit my Valentine's Day goal weight of 125 already. However, without the strictness of my meal plan, I don't know if I can keep losing, so I'm going to go back on a fixed diet again starting Sunday. Until then, it's just all about portion control, exercise, and nothing sweet that doesn't grow on a tree or a vine. ;)

My final goal weight is 115, and DH says I'm looking pretty skinny already and doesn't know where that last 10 pounds is going to come from. I told him I weighed 115 when he met me, but somehow he doesn't believe that. *heh* Personally, I think he's simply too polite to notice the increased size of my "back end," shall we say.

I'm a little discouraged with my workouts right now and may need to shake things up with some honest-to-goodness running several mornings a week rather than just my jogging. I got a couple of couch-to-5K podcasts and may try to work those in officially to my exercise regime.

I've pretty much been bouncing between 117 and 121 for the past two or three weeks, so I'd really like to see a loss sometime this month, even if it is just a pound or two. And I'd like to get back into a better exercising routine. I still walk almost everywhere that I have to go, but I haven't jogged regularly since October. I went out yesterday and only jogged 4 km, and I could tell that I'm much more out of shape now than I was three months ago, even if I am thinner. I'd like to work back up to at least 7 km in one go by the end of the month. So to that end, I promise to jog whenever it is minus 2 degrees C or warmer. And to start doing strength training again.

Veela - I noticed January was a hard month too - SO happy it is February :)

I just hit my 'low' weight of 133 - this is a number I've seen a few times over the last few years but never been able to stick at - or get below. My original VDay goal was 130 - but I knew that would be pushing it. My half-marathon and triathlon training kicks in next week so as long as I don't eat back my calories I would like to see 130 by the end of the month.

Eh. I'm feeling kind of down today, and that's put a damper on my appetite. I feel frustrated, because I really have no idea where to set my goal, honestly. I thnk I'm liking the losing process and I'm not going to know what to do with myself when I'm done. And, honestly, I don't know what finished looks like. I don't know what to be happy with size-wise, if that makes any sense.

It sounds like many feathers are having a hard month. Here's hoping you can figure things out and get on a road that works for you soon. :) I understand where so many of you are coming from. Committing to this thing long term, to by-and-large never being able to just eat whatever you want whenever you want to? It's huge. Just the other day I was trying to explain this to my forever-thin, 6' boyfriend who can eat whatever he wants. The idea of calorie counting appalls him, and he hates the fact that I measure out my cereal and am always asking him what he put in the food he makes and how much oil he used. I was trying to make him see why some people—those of us who are vertically challenged and of the female gender, for example—really pretty much have to be aware of what and how much we are eating if we don't want to gain.

In lighter (no pun intended) news, I leave for my cruise in about twelve hours!!!! I'm so excited. I did, however, learn that they opened a cupcake store on the ship one week ago. Argh!!! Like there isn't already enough food for me to avoid? *le sigh*

Krampus I can totally relate to the binging it is a constant problem for me lately. I am trying to get rid of a lot of the little bits of junk food I have in my house including some very delicious fair-trade chocolate. I also discovered a particular cookie at the deli near my office that I cannot resist. I really need to focus on bringing my lunch to work everyday and eating a healthy dinner.

Last night I had lemon pepper tillapia and steamed kale which was actually very quick to make and very tasty. I am also trying something new where I don't eat any carbs after 4:30 or 5:30. I also focusing on lowering my fruit intake and replacing the fruit with veg. I find my diet is the toughest area for me to control.

In other news I over did it at the gym the other day and am having issues with deep muscle pain in my right leg so I have been taking it easy the last couple days and I am hoping it feels better tomorrow.

Have a GREAT cruise PetitePowerhouse! May you hold strong in the face of many cupcakes.

Veela, I hope your leg heals up soon. I pretty much can't keep anything in my house aside from raw produce/uncooked things because I'll attack it. Binging/overeating always happens when I least expect it too - e.g. last night around 9 pm I was out to dinner with some friends and they broke out dried soybeans (traditional food for the Setsubun holiday). You're supposed to eat your age, but I ate a LOT more than 24.

I managed to run yesterday, still felt quite fatigued. Weight is stable around 126.1-126.3. Time to change my ticker.

My leg is still not 100% so I am currently skipping the treadmill and doing high intensity resistance training instead. I got in a very good work out last night and made myself a delicious dinner. This morning I am back down to 149 so 2 more pounds and I will be at my Christmas weight again.

I hate that I have to re-lose weight that I gained but right now I feel I may finally be back on track.

I'm been shopping weight-loss tracking sites and really love LoseIt.com (much more than Spark or FitDay) -- mostly because the others are too complicated in the detail they ask for on "custom recipes" and either over- or under- emphasize community.

Really really stressed out about my thesis -- I hope I can keep losing even with the cortisol. 3FC has become a procrastination tool, so I may have to kick myself off for a couple of days while I churn out some pages.

Happy February Feathers!

So sorry everyone seems so down...I am not doing so great myself as I have once again come down with a virus...I spent about 3 weeks of December fighting some sort of bug too.

I am beginning to wonder if my attempts at outdoor running in the snow are not good for my immune system? The week before last I made it out for some outdoor runs, and some great ones on the treadmill at the gym. Monday I was running away and then suddenly was just exhausted and stopped after 15 minutes or so...that night I started coming down with a bug and Wednesday I woke up entirely congested and have been miserable ever since.

Argggh...I finally get on track with calorie counting and running and then I get sick. I am not counting calories right now...I am not binging on junk but i've been mainly confined to my couch and just eating whatever sounds good, which is mainly broth soups, teas and carb loaded things like pasta and whole wheat toast and crackers...am trying to get in some veggies though and not eat any refined sugar. :(

Hi Fellow Feathers,

This is my first feather weight post. I'm very excited to find a "home" sub forum her a 3fc.

My Feburary goal is 8 lbs. A month ago I was very sedentary and was maintaining being about 30 lbs overweight, then my church small group decided to do a weightloss challenge. I have started doing Bootcamp with Bob from TBL DVD and restricting my calories and have seen a whoosh.

I loved reading about people running. C2k5 is something my husband and I keep talking about and hopefully will get in gear as soon as the snow melts.

Chrissy

Chrissy, welcome to the forum!!!

I did C25K last year, I started March 1. It's a really great program!!! I was never a runner before EVER! The closest I ever got was in college, I would run the trails near my dorm for maybe 15-30 minutes a few times a week. But as a child I was always begging my Doctor to give me a note for gym class saying I didn't have to run. LOL. Since I am asthmatic, he always did and I spent many a gym class sitting on the bench watching. Ha!

The way C25K works is amazing...the first few days I wanted to quit before the 90 second runs were up...but I stuck with it and saw it through until the end and then kept running regularly into fall. I slacked off a bit right before I started dieting because running just made me so hungry, it was hard to keep my calories down. But the transformation I saw was amazing - I went from running at 4.5 on the treadmill to running at 6 or 6.5 and at the end I was also running outside up to 5 miles a few times a week.

Since I took a few months off, I am not at that level anymore, but I am starting back up running slowly for 20-30 minutes and I am sure I'll see my pace pick up again soon. I am actually looking forward to running outside this summer.

Definatly take the plunge!!! There is a very active C25K sub forum on www.active.com if you want to check it out. Groups start the program there together every week!

Hello everyone! Thanks to the OP for starting this thread. i was thinking of doing it myself but felt too chicken for some reason.

My update is that I am wavering between 126 and 129, totally depending on what I ate that day. I am losing verrrry slowly, but that is normal for us feathers. I had some pretty major body image freak-outs around Christmas because I was comparing myself negatively to my 110 lb. sister-in-law. It was crazy how I got myself worked up, but I hid away my insecurities and ended up just being very emotional and grumpy. It is funny because when I look in the mirror, I see myself as a skinny girl, but when someone skinnier comes along I feel enormous. Goes to show why we should not get hung up on numbers. I also made a bit of an identity for myself when I was younger that relied on being the skinniest one in the room. I am trying to push past this.
SO...my goal for February is to feel great, let go of the craziness, and continue to focus on health rather than numbers.

Hello everyone! Has everyone had a good weekend?
I've had such a hectic week but have still managed to fit the gym in 4 days out of 7 which isn't too bad I guess. I'm starting to get frustrated as my Valentine's goal was 132, and I'm still sitting around 134.4. I've been losing so slowly that it looks unlikely that I'll lose another 2lbs by next Monday! But I'm not too disappointed because at the same time, I'm 11lbs lighter than I was before Christmas! So that's something to celebrate!
I have a killer eye infection right now and it's making me feel rubbish. My job involves performing infront of lots of people a lot of the time and my eye currently look similar to Natalie Portman's red eyes in Black Swan. Which I also just went to see tonight and LOVED it!! I look rather funny... Hoping it gets better soon!
I hope everyone has a good coming week :D
Cat

My weekend has not been good so far. I am having a very hard time getting things done because I can't get motivated to do them. I have a massive file folder full of student essays and I can't even bring myself to open it. My list of things I need to accomplish is long and I haven't even made a dent in it. I would like to know why I keep doing this to myself. It send my stress level through the roof and then I just want to nap and binge.

I'm about ready to hang myself. Had a stress-related chocolate binge right before bed and like EVERY binge at no point did I feel any better than before I binged. Now it's Monday morning and I'm crashing after all the sugar and left with nothing but guilt, paranoia and a stomachache.

Today HAS to be better. No more f#cking desserts. I can't handle it.

Krampus, I'm sorry to hear that... chocolate hangovers are the worst. Do you have chocolate around your apartment? The best idea might be to just keep it away from yourself for as long as you can (simply not buying it works for me) and find other sweets instead. I like dried fruit (peaches, persimmons, etc).

I went to dim sum today. I thought I was doing so well, eating only little pieces of everything -- added it up and found I'd eaten about 300 calories of dimsum plus what turned out to 280 in congee. Sigh. Was then responsible all day, even through Super Bowl -- but finished off my day eating two slices of toast with Nutella at midnight. Ugh.

I'm rationalizing it with the 4 hrs of shopping/walking I did this afternoon. And my falling-apart thesis. And the Steelers coming so close but still losing the Super Bowl. :( But it's okay, girls... we're still champs. We'll push through.

Originally Posted by krampus:
I'm about ready to hang myself. Had a stress-related chocolate binge right before bed and like EVERY binge at no point did I feel any better than before I binged. Now it's Monday morning and I'm crashing after all the sugar and left with nothing but guilt, paranoia and a stomachache.

Today HAS to be better. No more f#cking desserts. I can't handle it.

:hug:

Every day is another chance to start over...don't let yesterday get into your head, it ended.

Maybe drink lots of water/green tea and taking something for your stomach will help you feel better faster? Or eating high protein to balance it out?

Thanks for the support dudes. Feels like I just make the same post over and over again, haha. Hope that will be the last one I make for a long time.

lackadaisy I never, ever keep chocolate around for that reason...these were gourmet souvenir chocolates I was planning on giving a friend later in the week. Self control, what's that? That's like one step above throwing food out and then eating it out of the trash.

my ticker is such a lie! i have refused to weigh myself for about a week, it's just so heartbreaking that i've gone up maybe 6 pounds from eating junk. i'm not at a healthy weight anymore, and i'm just so disappointed with myself! I have terrible cycles of binging, and i'm not sure why. I stay on board for about 2 weeks, then just give up. (despite loosing weight and seeing changes) i suck :(

Good morning Feathers!

Wow has it been awhile since I have actively posted on here. And just like with any part of your life, when you know you arent doing what your supposed to, you avoid the places and people that have to do with it! lol So naturally, I have been avoiding posting because I have been off so bad!

Like you Krampus, I have been having too many binges and have gained back some of the weight I lost - which wasnt that much from the start. I got down to about 129 and am up to 132.5. I have made all new goals and plan on sticking to them. I cant stand the way I feel/look when I fall off so bad!!

Veela - I SO admire that you can still make it to the gym after binging. I have that stupid mentality, oh i already messed up, whats a 30 minute run going to do. So good for you!!

Krampus - I feel like you and I live such similar lives. The partying, drinking and binging. Its whats making this weight loss process so freaking hard! But we CAN do this. WE are in control!

lackadaisy - dont leave 3fc!! We are a tool not an impairment!!

Wildflower - I'd say you are doing relatively well given the circumstances. Anytime I get sick, everything goes out the window. I start to eat anything and everything and obviously no exercise. So kudos for still eating relatively healthy! I notice when I run in the cold weather, I feel much more exhausted. Its becuase your body is spending energy trying to heat itself. Its actually burning more calories!!

Chrissy - Whats C2k5?? I like to run and i keep seeing that around here..what is it?

Cat - that is AWESOME you are down 11 lbs before Christmas. I am so envious. I blame the holidays for my continuing down spiral of this journey!

Krampus - Oh the binges. But girl, my most recent binge (thurs night) puts yours to shame!! 6 debbie cakes, finished off a bag of sugar donuts, 4 big chocolate chip cookies and ritz cheese crackers. Yes, all of this in a matter of sayyy 10 minutes maybe? What is WRONG WITH ME?! If i could seriously just go 6 weeks without binging or going out drinking i could freaking get so close to goal!! I must have emotional/mental issues with food.. We can do this Krampus!

Therex - you are so funny. My weight is such a lie to. I have also been afraid to weigh myself and change it to the right weight lol it just makes me too depressed. But i sucked it up this morning and I am ready to get back on track. You can too !!

Ok so new goals. By March 19th (Kenney Chesney concert) I plan to be 124. By May 5th I plan to be 118. I REALLY want this and know I can do it if I stay focused and dont get the inevitable "ive lost 8 pounds" mindset I always get, "Oh, I feel good and dont look so bad anymore, I can indulge occasionaly now". Yea that occasionaly becomes binges frequently.

Lets do this Feathers!!!

Hi, everybody. I got really disappointed last week: I started eating clean and went to the gym every day, and weighed on Thurs morning and was down 3 lbs!! I was so excited! Something was working, right? But....i got BACK on the scales Sat, and I was back where I started! HOW?? Im doing everything right and still no change. UGH!! I'm trying not to let it get me down, but I admit I'm very discouraged.

Powerhouse I hope you have a great time on your cruise!!!

Therex, Dianne It must be something about this time of year...sorry to hear you girls are struggling too, though we all know misery loves company. I have a terrible time balancing my social life with eating reasonable amounts of food. If I were a more disciplined person I'd say "okay, overeat a bit on the weekends but rein it in during the week" but it's all too easy to take bad habits (sweets, giant snacks etc) home with you. I've stopped drinking alcohol because my tolerance has gotten so bad and it elicits binges almost invariably...

I am considering taking a break from the "dieting" mentality because thinking about planning food, calorie counting everything, etc is making me feel obsessive-compulsive. Everywhere around me are people who eat what I consider "normally" and are either maintaining or losing weight. Maybe if I try to change my mindset I will find success or at least return to what I consider a "manageable" weight...but ANYTHING is better than junk binges, ughhh. I probably had 20 cookies at a boring 2-hour meeting yesterday.

MrsMerch Sounds like a fluke, did you eat anything salty or go a couple days without going to the bathroom? Don't let it discourage you - maybe weighing daily is a good option for you so you can get more attuned to fluctuations etc.

Krampus- I totally relate to so much of what you just said. It's so exhausting to have to obsess over every tiny bit of food that goes into my mouth (and yes, it's exhausting to be overweight, but I (personally) think it's a close match).

I almost created a post about this yesterday...I feel like I am 100% obsessed with weight loss, like it's become my hobby or my past time to talk/read about it her, work out, count calories, look up calories, measure food, research food, cook food. I don't even like cooking anymore because I don't feel like I can make what I want to. If I am not working or at school/doing homework, chances are I am spending my free time obsessing about weight loss. It's become my ONLY past time!

It's so tiring to have to plan everything that I eat...a few months ago my fiancee and I stopped in a bar after we saw a movie to have a drink. I just sat there forever trying to figure out what was the lowest calorie thing to order. I knew in my mind it was to stick with water or diet coke...but I don't even like diet coke, and that's no fun when you are going out for a drink. I was sitting there wondering if anyone else was going through this, and if the waitress obsessed over her calories like this to maintain her weight.

Sometimes it just doesn't seem worth it for some vanity pounds. Sometimes I feel like I would rather weigh 139 forever if it means eating pizza whenever I want. *Sigh*

Oh, and that day at the bar, I ended up ordering sangria, which was meant to be red wine, fruit, ice and a splash of OJ. It came with some type of thick flavored syrup in it (maybe grenadine?), I could taste it. And I drank it anyway. Sometimes you just can't win!!!

I think breaks are healthy. I've been on a "break" from dieting for the past few months and despite my rather depressing above post I am actually feeling motivated again FINALLY.

Wildflower and Krampus I can definitely relate about how exhausting this whole process is. I have a question for both of you related to that. I have never counted calories on paper/with a program, but just sort of mentally have a rough idea in my head of what I've eaten and what I still have 'room' for in my daily allowance. For me it's more about what I've eaten (mostly veggies today? OK i can have a small amount of pasta for dinner) or how hungry I am (had a big lunch, so i get a fruit and veggie smoothie for dinner and that's all) rather than the actual calorie count. That plus eating very clean- only fresh foods with whole grains is all I do diet-wise.

My "common sense" method generally works, but if it worked perfectly I wouldn't be here! I wonder then if counting calories is better and more effective, even though it's more exhausting. Is it sustainable in the long-run? Wildflower, I agree with your statement about trade-offs. Is it better to be a little more relaxed about counting calories/being aware or weighing fewer pounds? I've never really tried counting calories- do you recommend it? Is it worth it mentally/emotionally?

I don't measure or weigh my food and there is a lot of guesstimation going on, but even that I find extremely stressful. I can relate so well to what Wildflower said about going to a restaurant/bar and instead of kicking back and enjoying a night out with people, my mind races and I just feel nervous and freaked out because I'm worrying about calories. I have so many evenings where I stop at the 7-11 to pick out a snack and I'm in there for at least 20 minutes reading all the labels trying to figure out how I can get the most satisfaction out of the lowest number of calories. The clerks must think I'm insane.

On "good" days I pat myself on the back for eating a low number of calories and go to bed hungry. Without fail, on a low calorie day I'm probably daydreaming about food in my last thoughts before falling asleep. I tell myself that it's great that I'm not full because my body will eat its own fat while I sleep. On "bad" days I obsess about it all day, mess up, think "oh now I've REALLY screwed things up, I think I'll eat more" and go to bed feeling sick and stuffed just to wake up feeling the same.

That said, a lot of people happily lose weight counting calories and weighing/measuring portions. I have my moments when I find it fulfilling and I feel proud of myself for working at it and loving the feeling. As it stands today though I just think of it as a monstrous tragedy that I will have to be hungry for the rest of my entire life if I want to look a certain way. I love eating, I always have, and I have a very real jealous loathing for/distrust of people who claim they actually enjoy giving up unhealthy/high calorie treat type foods in favor for low-carb nuggets of wellness.

OH ladies, its this very topic that always sends me back to my old ways. We are featherweights which means we arent in serious health danger. And frankly, sometimes all this stress/counting/worrying isnt worth the vanity pounds. But what I've learned is I dont like the irritability, unhappiness and general depression I feel when I dont feel good in my own skin because of my weight. Not to mention if I keep it up, how much worse it will get on my health and body image. That being said, its worth it to me to get to where I want. I understand that eating healthy is a lifestyle. But to me the difference between "dieting" and the lifestyle is, once at goal, your body can tolerate mess ups and binges every now and then. The girls at the bar who have their little bodies and are drinking a beer, CAN afford it. They arent trying to lose, they are maintaining. Two days off plan, enjoying (not binging) on yummy foods and drinking alcohol, can be made up with two solid days on plan. Maintenance! Its just hard to have those days off when trying to lose. I think if we stop thinking that this will be the rest of our life forever, it would be a lot easier. Taking it day by day helps.

This is all of course my opinion. After so long of calorie counting, you eventually know what you can and cannot eat calorie wise. I fully plan on enjoying drinks and nice meals once I enter maintenance because I know how to get right back on plan the next day. This, coupled with the idea of having my ideal body, is what keeps me going! YOu can too ladies! Dont forget what brought you to a weightloss forum in the first place :)

Originally Posted by Dianne042425:
To me the difference between "dieting" and the lifestyle is, once at goal, your body can tolerate mess ups and binges every now and then. The girls at the bar who have their little bodies and are drinking a beer, CAN afford it. They arent trying to lose, they are maintaining. Two days off plan, enjoying (not binging) on yummy foods and drinking alcohol, can be made up with two solid days on plan. Maintenance!

This is SO true. I've never been "overweight" but have always had tons of vanity pounds to lose -- and terrible fitness habits. I'm tired of yo-yo-ing and determined to put a stop to it, to be fit for the rest of my twenties, and if possible as long as I can into mid-life. That means good habits and a support group like 3FC so I can lose weight healthily without anorexic crash-diet neuroses or self-loathing. It's harder to be healthy about weight loss as a featherweight, I think, than even as someone seriously overweight/obese. You have to reality-check yourself all the time.

My NSV of the day: just now, getting lunch, I turned down (1) brownies, my major weakness, that were SITTING RIGHT THERE, (2) the second half of my grilled pesto chicken (which was DELICIOUS) because I noticed that I was feeling full. I went back to my room and looked up the calories... and was amazed to find they were twice what I'd assumed. I'm so proud of myself for listening to my body and being able to say no because I was full, and "naturally" eating the right number of calories for lunch even though I didn't portion the right amount into my bowl. It's so heartening that I've apparently become less hungry after starting this new lifestyle just over two weeks ago.

Day 2 of "mission: chill the F out" completed successfully. No binges or urges to binge. Great run. Ate when I wanted to eat, calories ended up around 1340.

krampus - that's awesome! WAY TO GO!!

I've been eating more than I wanted to for the last few days -- about 1300-1400. Burned through 450 on breakfast alone today: oatmeal plus turkey plus beans plus melon plus a banana, so much healthy food but SO MUCH food. It's my first time eating breakfast in a week, I think, so it'll be interesting to see how long it keeps me full and whether it means I'm able to stay on-plan better for the rest of the day.

No scale movement today, but that's expected after yesterday's whoosh. I'm just hoping TOM (tomorrow or so) doesn't kill my efforts.

ETA: Had a fantastic day in matters not related to weight loss -- finally meeting with my academic dean and working through a plan to finish my thesis in the next month. But then I decided to use my American Apparel Groupon... wow. It was SO dispiriting to realize I still don't even fit properly in a size M. I was so disheartened by how I looked in comparison to the sexy thin models that I couldn't even convince myself to buy leggings. Only ten more days before the Groupon expires... :/

Thanks lackadaisy! :D

I am freaking out a little about going to Korea. I've been in the airport and on plenty of Korean Air/flights to and from Korea and I know that not everyone looks like Jessica Jung, but I am pretty concerned that I will get there and just feel hideous and whale-like, in the same way a lot of people see models and go "agh what's the point" - like lackadaisy's experience in AA.

It's good for me to get out of my comfort zone I guess. In the West I am petite compared to everyone and wear small sizes so I hardly think about it. I don't compare myself to Japanese women much because I'm taller than everyone, but since Korea is my birthplace I feel like I'll wind up taking it very personally every time I see someone who is my height and 20-30 pounds lighter.

It's silly because it's not a contest to see who is the thinnest. Yet getting out of that mentality is harder than it would seem...

Lackadaisy, American Apparel is an awful un-motivator! Not only are their clothes designed to fit lanky skinny chicks, but their whole attitude towards healthy body image is downright mean. Once I was in a shop looking at an item when a salesperson came over and said snidely (and very deliberately) "Oh, are you looking to buy something for your little sister?" and then walked away. Awful!

Anyway all that to say I hope you are able to stay motivated and proud of your body in the face of some of the crappy expectations of womens' bodies out there!

Haha, a friend of mine who wears a UK 8-10 (US 4-6) went into an AA in Japan and the clerk said "MEDIUM? REALLY?" to her.

If I had a lot of money, I'd burn down all the AA stores in the world.

I can totally relate to the mentality that dieting is taking over your life. I have felt this way for the past few weeks so I have stopped tracking and I am trying to ease up on my slips-ups. I figure if I don't feel quite so guilty about skipping the gym or eating a cookie (or 4) then it may make them less tempting. The idea that I am doing something bad and secretive is part of my problem.

I have struggled with secret eating for years and I find that it happens more often and the binges are a lot worse when I am also dieting. I really just wish I could get back the will power and drive I had before Christmas. I did briefly see 149lbs on the scale this week but between stress, tons of work, and seasonal depression it has gone back up. I think I need to stop focusing on weight loss and start focusing on making myself feel better over all. I think for anyone feeling this way this is perhaps the best method.

For me to feel healthier, happy and improve my mood I need to... eat clean, get more sleep, cut out dairy, wheat and processed soy (allergies and in tolerances lead to bloating and all around unpleasantness) and go to the gym.

Strangely enough the same things I need to do to lose weight so really if I can just focus on my health and well-being I think weight loss will come along with it. I think this is my only goal for February!

indiblue and krampus, thanks, that made me laugh and feel a ton better. :) Rational me knows AA is both unrealistic and also just an antifeminist hot mess (you know what I'm talking about with those ridiculous advertisements), but sad/may-be-PMS me just wants to be a hot toothpick in a bandage dress. Time to stare at sportswear ads instead... so I can dream of muscles instead of unattainable legs.

Veela, I hate the feeling that dieting is taking over so much. When I'm eating, now, I start thinking about how I'll log it. What's the carb/protein ratio in this? Is it one portion or 1.25? :dizzy: I've been trying to find other goals, like being as close to the Zone ratio as possible -- and running a 10k in 10 weeks. Tips on getting in shape definitely welcome. I ran three miles today (not at once! ha) and felt so exhausted... this is going to be quite a project.

Originally Posted by lackadaisy:
Rational me knows AA is both unrealistic and also just an antifeminist hot mess (you know what I'm talking about with those ridiculous advertisements), but sad/may-be-PMS me just wants to be a hot toothpick in a bandage dress. Time to stare at sportswear ads instead... so I can dream of muscles instead of unattainable legs.

THIS SO MUCH! AA is just awful. Here's how I feel better when clothes shopping somewhere a little less-than-female-friendly: try on things at Old Navy. Their sizes are vanity-ied out the wazoo, but try to forget that when you're there. I would never be able to fit into anything at AA just because my muscles and skeleton alone just don't fit their supposed "ideal," but at ON, mediums are XS, their 8s are more like 12s or 14s in the real world, and I could walk out with a bunch of inexpensive, cute weekend casual stuff that FITS and makes me feel GOOD. Granted, it'll all fall apart in about six months, but hey! In that one brief moment, I am a goddess. :)

As I've been losing weight, I've been gauging a lot of my progress by how this one pair of ON pants fit. They're listed as 8, they were snug but comfortable when I was in the 140s, and now that I'm in the 120s I just can't even wear them anymore and had to get the same pants in a 4 instead. I kind of love their messed up sizing. *hee*

I track my weight with a pair of size 4 ON skinny jeans -- if they fit tightly, I know I'm a bloated mess and about a size 8. If they fit loosely, I know I have to get them washed. :p

Serious note, though: Just weighed in at 124.6, a 0.6 lb gain overnight. I've been super clean the last few days, so I know this is just water weight from running a lot yesterday and/or because it's about time for my menses.