Fresh Operation 5-10 lbs Thread
 

Hey all,
New month, how about a shiny new thread? The last one worked well! Allison's in a smaller size and we had a few people graduate and leave us!

I like August. I like back-to-school time. There's a buzz in the air, the sense of new adventure, the feeling that anything and everything is possible, success is tangible as you start on the road of the new school year.

Nice thoughts for a weight loss journey, I think!!

Hey! Good idea!

I've lost more than 5-10, but I have more than that to go. So, perhaps I'll pop in now and then! :D

Jay

I share your sentiments re: this time of year, midwife! I didn't sleep, but I ran 3 miles (with a few walking intervals, not in great shape after a couple weeks "off!") and then walked 3 more with my mom. Going to my first Zumba class tonight after an interview at Manpower for a temp job.

:wave:

Hey there new thread!

I'm still tossing around from 133-138. every time I get down to the 133 point I go a little nutty and overeat, popping right back up to 136-138. Bah.

Shannon, 133-138 is my maintenance range and I have also been bumping up around 138 lately. Got down to 136.6 last week but I'm 137 again right now. And I just ate a piece of cake. :o My coworker's wife is making a wedding cake to feed 200 for her cousin's wedding and he keeps bringing in extra cake. I resisted for so long, but the snack bar I brought today wasn't as good as I thought it would be and I caved. Oops.

My goal is to get back down to 133. I like being 133. That is actually what my original goal weight sort of was -- I set a goal of 130 and made it there, then found out later my scale was off by 3lbs so I was really 133. :lol: 130 would be nice if I could manage it. I almost feel like if I could get together the motivation to lose 8lbs I would be able to maintain at 130, but I am too lazy to do it. :shrug:

In any case I am starting on a prednisone course next week as prescribed by my rheumatologist so I'm a bit afraid I'll gain some weight. They said I might have excess hunger for the first week or so. I can't do THAT much damage in a week, right? Theoretically I should spend this week trying to lose a little to give me wiggle room but instead I kind of feel like, I'm just going to gain, so screw it, I'll eat junk now and go on a losing diet after the prednisone.

On the other hand, my vacation is coming up at the end of the month and I wanted to wear my bikini. Hmmm....Well, if the prednisone works, I should be able to exercise a lot again which would certainly help.

Ah yes Jessica, bikini time... I have a vacation coming up in October, and would really like to be able to wear mine then as well. I can exercise now, so I should really get my food butt into gear so the exercise does some good!

I'm in for this fresh goal thread. Trying to stay on track with moving, starting a big new scary job, and a new relationship. I've been doing pretty well this month, apart from a few very off-plan moments, and I'm hoping some accountability will help to fend off my stress-induced weakness.

Lots of reasons to be in shape this fall, including two upcoming weddings, a marathon, and of course the new job - I'd love to be as fit and confident as possible for that. Plus I have to buy some nice work clothes now and I want to feel good in them.

:wave: Agree with the sentiment that the fall school kickoff is a good way to start living the good life again!

I've passed my 1-year anniversary of keeping off 16-18 pounds of the original 25 I lost. It's just not a happy place for me, visually - now that I've had a taste of what slim looks like, nothing else will do! I've had a lot of stress demons in the past year related to work; the last 3 months have been the worst of my entire career because I took a new job KNOWING it was taking me further away from where I wanted to be. I'm expecting to fix that in the next month or so. :D

Lots of good indicators pointing in the right direction - all I have to do is execute. I remain ... in the 5-10 thread for now, with intent to "graduate" by Thanksgiving. There, I said it!

Just poking in to say I'm still in this thread in spirit! During the summer I'm so busy I find it difficult to post on more than the maintainers chat thread, if I even make it there. But I've been plugging along. I've lost 7 lbs since January this year and I'm still trying to work my way further down.

Life is busy but lately I've been balancing the busy with staying active and clean eating enough that the latter is sloooowly winning the scale war. I'm hoping to keep it that way, especially with lots of trips on the boat and of course long walks with the dog in the summertime. I'm sort of out of touch with the school year schedule, but here summertime lasts through September into October. Maybe I can sweat off another few lbs before summer ends.

We can do it everyone!

Megan, great job on 7lbs so far! :high:

Can I pop on in? I'm needing to relose these nasty 10lbs. and get back down to my goal weight of 130. I let myself get up to 135 tops, and then that became my new low weight, with a topping at 140. Now that topping just won't do. Clothes are on the verge of popping on me, and now that we're going to the beach with the family on the weekens, it's clear that my swimmingsuit fit me tons better 10lbs ago...oops.
So august, help me get back closer to my goal weight. Get me eating cleaner, ending nighttime snacking, and fit me tighter into that suit :)

Yay! Fresh new people in our fresh new thread!!!

I'm still two steps forward, one step back, etc. Must do more forward movement. Too many excuses!! Just cause life is insanely busy doesn't give me a free pass. Have a great weekend, all!

Yes, I'm back. I did not like the number I saw when I stood on the scale this morning. Or how my red capris felt around the waist yesterday.

Some of this is due to hormonal uproar -- I got my period again, just about 11 days after it stopped. And I've had an unusual amount of fluid retention, which I've noticed mostly in my feet, ankles and calves. (I'm thinking about getting a footstool at work.) I'm still trying to figure out the whys of that one, whether it's due to drinking more fluids during humidity, or sitting at my laptop at work all day, or due to the aforementioned hormonal disruptions.

But I belong here till I see if these other things sort themselves out.

Much as I like you all, I did not wish to come back.

I didn't want to have to be in this one either saef, but I recognize the need for it. I'm also not thrilled with the fit of my capris today either.

I'm all alone this week while spouse and kid are fishing in Canada. I've had a wonderful week, but yesterday I really, really, really wanted sushi for dinner. It was fabulous - but this morning, back to 156. Again. Water and more water.

Hey, there's ICU! Now that's the good thing about being back in this thread. There are some great people here, who I don't often see elsewhere.

Puffy ankles again today at the end of the work day. I've had a banana. I've drunk a lot of water. I had a fig and some almonds. I am getting potassium. What is this? The skin on my legs feels so tight and sausage-like.

Off to the gym. Nothing relieves this as well as getting moving around.

:blah: :blah: :blah: I've said all of this many, many times but I'm going to give it another go.

I too am fluctuating between 135-138 with 135 supposed to be my red line. I want to get down to 130 but will settle for 133. In fact, 130 -133 will be a nice maintenance range for me.

September always feels like the start of a "new year" for me (for a lot of reasons) and this September there will probably be at least 3 new puppies on the doggie bus.

I'm going to :kickbutt: now to give myself a head start.

Dagmar :cb:

I'm feeling puffy today, too - I know that I ate too much sodium over the weekend and am still working out some from last week, but I don't think I ate that much more. I did get stung by several fireants on Saturday, and I wonder if I'm having some allergic reaction to that. bites themselves were pretty swollen yesterday but have popped now and my entire ankle is stiff.

Back from my high school reunion without a gain which is surprising because my food choices were not great and there was great consumption of alcohol.

BUT

I'm back. 100% OP beginning today. I managed to creep up 2.5 pounds prior to my reunion (but got compliments Saturday for looking so trim!--I have to thank my new jeans!). So now I have 14.5 to lose before I leave for Costa Rica. Totally do-able. As long as I stay OP.

well i'm fluctuating at around 140. my red line was 132ish...then crept up to a solid 135. But yeah, I'm 140 and need to reloose. I did great eating last week. I hope this week will be good to me. I should get off my booty right now and do my workouts. Mondays are hard for me, especially with no sun shining through the windows today. but I must, have too many drinks with the hubby this weekend..hahaha.

How the goddang heck does anyone in America stay thin or even just "manageably sized?" It's a nonstop neverending carnival of food here. Food everywhere in huge amounts all the time. It's a good thing too - I can buy Greek yogurt everywhere, there are abundant berries which were very hard to find in my little coal mining town in Japan, and you can buy bags of sugar snap peas and "rainbow" peppers and HUGE bok choys. Grocery shopping is a wonderful joy, though I do dearly miss access to $3 sashimi grade salmon steaks.

My constipation problems are ancient history, which is awesome. I don't know what it is about the food here - but I've "gone" every single day since I've been back.

It's a big adjustment living at my parents' again. I forgot how upsetting it is to be around my dad's poor health (he has Meniere's and is always in bed feeling badly, and is quite obese) watching my mom deal with everything stoically and say things like "It sure is nice having someone to do things with" to me. At least I'm guaranteed a 3 mile walk with her every day...

Krampus, I feel for you. I moved in with my parents when my father was dying, for the last seven weeks of his life, and found it one of the hardest things I've had to endure. God help me, I was so relieved any time I left the house, and so always willing to run errands or pick up things at the grocery store or what-have-you. I found out then how much time I need to be alone every day: It's a considerable amount, like a couple hours. Or I'd try to disappear while still being physically there, by reading or becoming engaged in a jigsaw puzzle. I felt if I didn't reserve & set apart a bit of myself, I was going to be engulfed & trapped forever.

Today I'm crestfallen because the doctor pointed out at my appointment that I'd gained a little bit of weight and wanted to know why. He took an A1C test. Said it would be "interesting" to see if my levels had changed due to the slight weight gain.

I think he wanted to hear me confess to the unhealthy things I've been eating. The confounding thing is that I don't eat anything unhealthy. I overeat healthy things in large portions. (Also, I've got my period. And I've been doing some serious weight training since May, when he last saw me, such that it's made a big difference in the appearance of my arms. This accounts for some, but not all.) So I can't even enjoy having had cake or cookies or candy or fried chicken or U.S. Chinese food or whatever else.

No.

I'm the girl who accidentally bought organic Greek yogurt with cherries already in it, and, upon realizing her mistake, read the ingredients. I saw evaporated cane juice on the ingredients, and so now I'm afraid to eat it. So it sits there in my fridge while I think of donating it to the office fridge with a sign: "Please take -- Free ---"

Anyway I'm mad at him because when he took my blood, he hit something where I felt this horrible burning twinge run down the whole length of my arm, to my wrist. I yelled. He said maybe he got a nerve but that it would be all right. But it's sore now at the side of my wrist.

Saef - how well do you know your doctor? The last time I went to see mine he pulled up my file and pointed out that I had gained a little weight, asked me it I was working on my high cholesterol and asked if I ever exercised. He had not saved any notes from the last few times I went in and we had discussed my strength training, running and other exercise, nor had he bothered to look at the fact that the hypercholesterolemia diagnosis in the file was three years old and that my last few check were darn near perfect.

You haven't gained much weight - you are still in the same pants, right? I'm sure you have built some muscle, too. Don't let him get you down.

Why are you afraid of the Greek yogurt with the cane juice? Is it related to the A1C test? I have to admit that I don't know what that means.

Shannon, my pants fit almost the same as before this weight gain. One pair that was tight before is maybe a bit tighter. Hard to tell as they're new, arrived through mail order & I can't remember how they fit before they went into the wash for the first time.

My understanding is that A1C tests measure your blood sugar levels, not just on that particular day, but as an average for a period of time. That's the connection between the test & my fear of a yogurt with evaporated cane juice in it. I hardly ever eat anything with cane sugar in it anymore -- let alone high fructose corn syrup. I eat fruit or Splenda or xylitol (mostly in sugarfree gum). I know that other kinds of sugar, even those occurring naturally in fruit, can affect blood sugar levels. But yes, I think my issue is similar to what you're describing. My doctor doesn't know me. He is quick to jump to assumptions or drop into standardized admonitions without asking me questions first about my exercise and eating.

Still, I joined the 5-10-lb thread before this visit with him, so I know I have to work on dropping a few pounds.

This thread does me more good than the doctor does, sadly.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, saef. Dump the doctor. As far as I can recall, he has never done one good thing for you. There are plenty of good physicians out there.

Jay

Change of venue. I'm in Toronto today and tomorrow (Whitby, specifically) to audit a supplier. I loved the five hours of solitude in the car, one of which was spent on the 401 at a near-standstill :D, of course. Happily, I'm in the headspace that makes a traffic jam perfectly acceptable. I have a phone interview on Wednesday - the first step toward stepping back job-wise.

krampus, your post made me laugh out loud! Yup, the upside of having gobs of bad food choices is also having a huge number of good food choices. Admittedly, the cheap top-end tuna ... notgonnahappen.com! Best wishes with the parents - be sure to make time just for yourself.

saef - glad to see you again too! I lurk on the weekly thread and "hope" to be there when I finish my task on this thread. Saying I "hope" is the same as typing a novel that details my excuses for not having done it yet. I too wonder why doctors bother to take notes when the %^&* ers never read them. That being said, I can't imagine what it's like to be a doctor in today's environment. I'm guessing a lot of them are really frustrated.

Allison, totally doable on the 14.5! Costa Rica ... sighhhhhh!!!

Shannon - eek on the fireants! I'm puffing up sympathetically!

Dagmar, how'd that kick in the fanny work out? Can you send one to me if it worked? ;)

bakingchick - :wave: - welcome aboard!

I'm going back to journaling and calorie-counting tomorrow morning. Enough is enough! I was talking with the quality manager at the supplier I was auditing today, and we were discussing how futile it is to have bullet-proof processes when there's no cultural discipline to follow them. I think I might have actually blushed when my paradigm shifted.

The one good thing he has done was behave like such an autocratic jerk that, back in 2006, I decided that I was going to lose weight just to show him, dammit, that I could. Of course I needed more motivation than that. I also had a health scare in a hotel room in Las Vegas. (I still don't know if that was a blood sugar episode or a panic attack.) But that sent me to him seeking help, and he was not particularly sympathetic. ("Lose the weight.")

I have an admittedly twisted psychology when it comes to judgmental, authoritarian men. I always want to prove myself to them, to overachieve, impress, move or otherwise somehow soften them.

But he may have outlived his usefulness.

I think I've described my ideal doctor on another thread. She's a lot like Kathy Bates, only she wears her gray hair in a braid & lots of turquoise & has a second home in Santa Fe. She is a strong feminist who also believes in holistic healing. (I need to find this woman doctor even if I have to advertise for her or look on Craigslist.)

http://dc-cdn.virtacore.com/2011/02/misery-kb.jpg

Oh, Becky, I love it when you talk like this.

Like the stuff I have to write at work.

I actually understood this sentence & it also made a light bulb go on in my own head.

I could definitely hook you up with a doc or an NP who fits the criteria...mostly.

As for me and authoritative men, I send a mental #$() you their way when they try to be controlling and paternalistic. :lol:

Kathy Bates with that big old mallet though----I'd get my fiber and veggies in for sure! I bet she'd even get me to do my breast self exams, floss and kegel just like all the American Academies of XYZ recommend.

Chicks, I have read this thread thru and feel so happy to know you all :)

However, I am not so happy to report zero loss. My pants, also tight. My face, full.

Scale up, but surprisingly, not as high as I feel.

Off to work-- although I'm on vacation from one job, I am happily doing my other which I hope to grow into a full time role...keeping the first as a part time role (sort of a switch of what it is now)

My prob- as usual- lack of discipline in the exercise arena. Gots to get on that!

Yup...onward, forward, downward-- no choice.

Onward and upward, indeed, Kitty. Are you doing a half-marathon or anything to train toward this fall?

I ran last night. Well, just one mile and I felt like crapola, but it's better than nothing, right?

Absolutely! I have been running 1-2x/week. 1-3.5 miles.
Have set sights on race in oct but have done nothing in terms of training or sign up :P

crapola today, muscular tomorrow :)

Dang. I was invited to do a 5k in honor of 9/11--10th anniversary Salute to Heros. It's the day we leave for vacation. I'd have liked to have done that one as it is a fundraiser to erect a monument here in honor of 9/11.

I did well last night! I made a low fat chicken fettucini alfredo and didn't overeat the pasta part. I still need to tweak the recipe, so if anyone can offer help, please do. The sauce was too thin. I'm trying to duplicate the white sauce in the Weight Watchers Smart Ones frozen entrees. It is SO good! The recipe I followed was 1 T butter, 1/4 c flour, 3 c ff milk and some salt, pepper and nutmeg. Oh, and a little parmesan. Even simmering it for some time before adding the parmesan didn't thicken it up enough.

midwife~anything is better than nothing!

kitty~yes, onward and upward...oh, wait, shouldn't that be onward and downward?!?!

saef~I had a doctor kind of like that once, only she was Indian. She scared the bejeebers out of me! My current doctor, well he takes REALLY good notes. To the point where he admonished me for not bringing him photos of my trip to Italy the year after I had gone! I wonder if he'll bring it up this year?

Saef - I like both images of your ideal doctor. Kathy Bates with the mallet could scare me in line and the kinder, gentler more holistic version could help with things my judgmental, male doctor brushes off as immaterial.

Kitty & Midwife - good job getting back on the running! Keep it up. :)

I have done well with the food and the exercise the last two days, weight is down a little bit. I'm feeling alright today. I expect to do well today and tomorrow, then to swing back into a bad weekend again. I also need to shift my paradigm a little. All the tracking sheets and calorie systems in the world don't help me if I don't use them.

:wave: Still here, unfortunately. You know what I mean.

Today, the DB and I have moved two cats across "riot-torn London" for friends. It was calmer last night and today was exciting rather than stressful. But we weren't able to buy a second cat carrier (stores ransacked and closed) so one cat had to travel in a laundry basket. A traditional piece of improvisation.

Saef wrote about her need for time on her own in the chat thread, I think. I am notorious for needing this and I think the lack of enough explains why I do so badly in the summer.

:hug: all round. I'll try to be here tomorrow.

How long of a drive is it for you from your home in Wales to London, Birchie?

I was worried about you with everything going on, Birchie. Thanks for popping in!

Thanks for thinking of me, Shannon. People today have been remarkably kind and almost gentle. Considerate and thoughtful. Everyone seems shocked, bruised. And angry, of course, at the stupidity.

Midwife, I never drive to London as the traffic is unpleasant. The train is much quicker: about 3.5 hours. Our mission today involved an overground train, a bus and a black cab (to transport the moggies to their new home).

I have eaten too much but my friends' new house has a kind of exercise room so I've lain around on the floor in there. I hope I sleep better tonight as DB and I were in the same bed last night (to allay anxiety).

Hair cuts tomorrow. -0.5lb if I'm lucky!

SB! Very happy to hear you're outside of the turmoil - I also have been thinking about you and hoping that the uncivilized behaviors stop soon. I simply can't imagine what the thought process must be in order to justify the sort of things being done. :hug:

midwife - bravo on the mile!

saef - Every now and then, the fog lifts and I get a little clarity. :D I am merely trying to point myself more in the direction of the thinner fogs. My doctor is a gaunt version of Gregory House; a "black sheep" in his profession for his willingness to ignore most lab results and treat thyroid issues based on symptoms.

shannon - totally with you; the toolbox is full but the drawer is awfully sticky. :D

allison - I truly can't remember the last time I had Alfredo. :drool: I have had some luck with thickening sauces using a small amount of cream cheese. It needs to be whisked with some of the hot liquid before you add it, much like a slurry. More parmesan makes a big difference, too.

kitty! :wave: I can relate to the full look. For some reason, the extra 6-8 pounds that were supposed to be above my eventual-but-never-achieved red line have far overstayed their visit and are becoming exponentially more unwelcome.

I've logged every single bite, lick and taste since Tuesday morning. DS12 plans to re-up for the swim team this fall and requested last night that we begin going to the pool twice a week, beginning next week. I think this is the fanny-boot back into the water for me as well.