I don't know, I'm way too fussy about hotels (and I've had too many bad hotel experiences) to ever do the hotwire/priceline thing. DGAdDawg, you know that four stars just refers to the services the hotel offers, it's not an indication of the quality of the hotel, right? You would expect a hotel that offers a certain level of service to have certain quality standards, but this isn't always the case. I've definitely stayed in some icky four star hotels (roaches, mildew, ew ). So I always want to check out my hotel very carefully, including reading all the reviews on Tripadvisor. I have used Expedia to book several vacations and I've been very happy with it.
Michele: Congratulations on your DD's graduation and scholarship! This is a great achievement, she must be very motivated.
Glory87: That cabinet does look dangerous! It makes me glad I don't work in an office anymore.
Megan: Congrats on getting back down to 143. It's always such a relief when water you be retaining finally releases!
Lily: I hope that Lacy's surgery goes well and that she at least gets to enjoy the summer a little. I also cannot belief you re-roofed your own house! I won't even steam clean my own carpets!
I'm happy to say the scale is back to 143 this morning after expelling lots of water over the past few days. I'm a solid 10 lbs. lighter than the holidays of 2007, but I need to lose a few more lbs. to get back in my maintenance range. But I can wear over 1/2 of my pants again, which is certainly nice.
I wish I could say the same about my weight. I'm officially 6 pounds over my red line and having a tough time getting back down. How I wish I were where I was November 2006!! (15 pounds to get back down there). I really need to kick it up a notch because I'll need to wear some of my jeans at the end of July and right now I'm afraid to even try them on!
Six Months Maintaining
By taking advice/suggestions from those who have lost and maintained for a significant period of time. The most important piece of advice was.....you maintain your loss by doing the same thing you did to lose ( what a concept !)
I still count calories, plan all meals ahead , keep a food diary, weigh daily. It works ! In the past at the "end" of a diet I quit getting on the scale and just started eating, resulting in having to lose the same pounds ,plus ,over again. Many times. So much easier to take a few simple steps to keep it off. I do have an occasional treat, but always remember what will happen if I throw caution to the winds.
I know... I disappeared again, but I'm back Awhile ago, my boss lectured me on surfing the internet, so I stopped. And when I get home, the last thing I usually feel like doing is going on the computer because I'm sitting in front of it all day at work.
In other news, I am now a certified personal trainer! I'm also close to being a certified nutritional consultant. I'm still maintaining in the 125-130 range (it's funny; I'm 125 when my eating habits are perfect and I drink plenty of water, and am closer to 130 as soon as I mess up at all!). I've maintained my weight loss for almost 7 months.
I met a girl last night at a party who really made me upset. Apparently, the girlfriend and I are known around Gainesville to be the super hot lesbian couple This girl also had a girlfriend and was instantly jealous as soon as we entered the room because suddenly, they were no longer the only lesbians She told me I was beautiful and that I should consider being a stripper, THEN once someone else at the party told her that I lost 50 pounds (they're great friends and congratulate me like crazy for it, then like to go on and tell the entire world - I think it's slightly embarrassing, BUT I know they mean well), she said, "Yeah, I can tell." I asked how and she said she saw stretch marks everywhere. She said, "You look like you used to be a lot heavier." I said, "Well, hopefully other people can't tell, because I'm going for that whole fit look." She said, "Well, it's not that easy. You'll just have to try harder." I wanted to deck her and considered throwing her across the room, until I decided that I was too mature for that B.S. -- I found out a minute later that SHE GAINED 40 pounds (was wearing a skin tight shirt, too, and it definitely didn't look good!) and was awfully bitter about it, so she felt the need to attempt destroying my happiness. I HATE PEOPLE LIKE THAT!
Oh... and I'm still searching for the stretch marks... (click thumbnail to enlarge): absnew.jpg
It's been a crazy busy week for me as it has been for many of you. I was in the Cities for 8 days--spent one day in grad class, spent 3 days at basketball tournaments with my son, and spent another 5 days in grad classes. It was definitely challenging when it came to food and working out, but, according to the scale, I did ok. In my mind, I know I slipped up in lots of places. I decided on Saturday to have a cup of small chocolate chip cookies. Boy! were they good! They lasted until Monday night. Bad choice, but good tasting. Every day, since where I was staying didn't have an exercise room, I walked back and forth to class--about 1.5 miles each way. I carried my own food to class for the day and that worked well for me as it has in the past. At night, I ate out. One night, I had steak, another night, I had two tacos, a third night I had an indulgent cheese pizza and 2 slices of cheese bread, and one night I decided I'd rather have raspberry sorbet than supper, so I had a medium fat free sorbet at TCBY. I felt like I slipped up in a number of places, but I didn't totally blow it. On my way back home, I called my weight loss program about weighing in and decided to go face the music right then. Rather than going home, I went straight in and weighed. On the way,I prepared myself for a 6-7 lb gain. My clothes felt a bit tighter and I was feeling wiggly (you know like flabby) compared to previous weeks. I also was wearing my jeans which I never weigh in. Low and behold, I did gain, but I only gained 2.2 lbs. Since it was late afternoon, rather than my usual 8 am weighing time and since I was in jeans, I figured I did ok--much better than I felt about how I had done. I'm really glad to be home. I have another grad class all next week. I began today by going to a park and walking up and down the sledding hills. That was quite a work out and so much more fun that going to the fitness center and getting on a machine in doors. The really good part is that I got right back into working out. I had exercised a bit in my room along with the walking, but I need to kick it up a bit now that I'm back home as I can fit it in.
Hope all is well with everyone. I also hope that you are all enjoying sunshine and outdoor exercise. Since I live in northern Minnesota, you can bet that I'm getting outside as much as I can.
Enjoy the weekend!
P.S. Does anyone have a good recipe for homemade frozen yogurt or sorbet? Tis the season!
I have no idea where to post my question-- exercise forum, weight training? So, I'll post it here and you wonderful folks can point me in the right direction or answer it.
Now that I'm at my goal and feel in better shape than I have in forever, I'm wondering how good a shape I really am in. I hear about BMI and percent body fat. What is the difference? How or where do I find out my stats? Thanks!!
BMI, Michele, is your body mass index - it's a calculation formed solely around your weight and height. Here is an online BMI calculator: http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/
Percent body fat can be calculated by a variety of methods and has little to do with your weight, but rather your lean (muscle, organ tissue, water, etc) vs. fat mass. Here is a link to a home body fat test with some additional information: http://www.healthcentral.com/cholest...-2774-143.html
However, the most accurate ways to get your percent body fat are underwater weighing and the caliper method. Here is another link with more information on that: http://new-fitness.com/body_fat_analyzing.html
Last edited by NightengaleShane; 06-22-2008 at 11:06 AM.
BMI and body fat % are two very different measurements.
BMI is simply a height-weight correlation that doesn't take into account age, body composition, or gender. You simply plug your height and weight into a calculator and you get a number. 18 - 25 is considered to be normal weight, 26 - 30 is overweight, and anything over 30 is obese. We have a BMI calculator here at 3FC: BMI Calculator
Body fat percent measures your body composition -- how much of your body is fat and how much is lean body mass (LBM). LBM is everything in your body that isn't fat, such as hair, skin, bones, water, blood and muscle. The most important component of LBM is muscle because it's the calorie burner in our bodies, so often you hear people say "muscle mass" instead of "lean body mass", meaning the same thing. It's a much better test of health and fitness than BMI.
BF% can be measured in a variety of ways, some more accurately than others. The gold standard is considered to be a underwater testing (a "dunk tank") but those are usually only found at universities and not easily accessible to most of us. Next most reliable is calipers testing, done in the hands of an experienced person. You should be able to find someone to measure your BF% with calipers in a gym. Nine-site testing is preferable to three or four site. Then there are a variety of bioelectrical impedance devices, ranging from Tanita scales to handheld devices like the Omron. They're not very accurate but are good for tracking change over time. Least reliable would be the tape measure method that you might find on some Internet sites. It's really difficult to determine what lies under your skin by just measuring on top of it with a tape measure.
The number you get will be the percentage of your body that's made up of fat. These are the guidelines from the American Council on Exercise (ACE):
Essential Fat: 10-12 percent
Athletes: 14-20 percent
Fitness: 21-24 percent
Acceptable: 25-31 percent
Obese (or high risk): over 32 percent
Some people panic when they hear that they have 20 or 30 pounds of fat on their bodies, but you can see that we all have to have some fat on our bodies to survive.
Thank you Shane and Meg!
Both of your posts are quite helpful. I will check with my gym and see if they can do the body fat testing. I've had it done twice in the past with calipers and got VERY different results even though I weighed essentially the same (I know it isn't determined by weight, but I think I was in basically the same shape). Once it said I was overweight and the other time I was in the normal range. Now that I've lost weight and gotten in shape, I'd be very curious to see the results.
If possible, you want to have the same (experienced!) person do a calipers test each time because different people will give you different results. All the numbers are estimates, though, and to me, the bottom line is how my pants fit (hey, is that a joke? ) That's the best measure I have of the kind of shape I'm in.
). So I always want to check out my hotel very carefully, including reading all the reviews on Tripadvisor. I have used Expedia to book several vacations and I've been very happy with it. 
Wise words indeed. 
Awhile ago, my boss lectured me on surfing the internet, so I stopped. And when I get home, the last thing I usually feel like doing is going on the computer because I'm sitting in front of it all day at work.
Apparently, the girlfriend and I are known around Gainesville to be the super hot lesbian couple 
She told me I was beautiful and that I should consider being a stripper, THEN once someone else at the party told her that I lost 50 pounds (they're great friends and congratulate me like crazy for it, then like to go on and tell the entire world - I think it's slightly embarrassing, BUT I know they mean well
I HATE PEOPLE LIKE THAT!
