Hi Anne, Do you travel for your events? A couple tennis friends decided to run a marathon in Paris this last year. Though it was grueling, they had so much fun (is fun the right word, LOL?) preparing for it, traveling to it, then running thru the Parisian streets past the sites, and coming home exhausted. It was a life-list event for them both.

Is your 'bike century' 100 miles? Or? I am sorry if I missed the info elsewhere.

Jan

I have traveled for events--long weekends mostly. It can be a lot of fun, and there are a lot of 'destination' events out there, where you can make a vacation of it. These days I look for an event to plan a vacation around--then I won't come back fatter for sure. There was a triathlon in French Polynesia I was convinced I needed to do! If only I had enough time off work to actually do it! This century, El Tour de Tucson, is actually a little longer, 109 miles. And it's local for me. Probably on my bike for 7-8 hours on Saturday.

Have a great ride, Anne :sunny:

My method for losing was probably the most restrictive, from what I've read here. I started SugarBusters, (but really did an extreme version of it) in mid-July of 2001. By mid-Nov 2001, I'd lost about 50 pounds. I cut all "white" products, most wheat, ate only lean meats and egg whites for protein, low-GI vegies and fruit, and occaisional nuts and nut butters. During my losing phase, I didn't even use artificial sweeteners. I initially started losing weight because I was petrified that I had the symptoms of type II diabetes. I'd had gestational diabetes during my last pregnancy and knew it was a good possibility. I wanted the weight off FAST. I didn't care WHY I over-ate, and felt I had no time to examine the deeply buried or not so deeply buried secrets of my psyche, that fat just had to come off. I had always been active. I was "fat-fit". I played tennis 2-3 times a week, walked or ran daily. But I was fat. I increased my exercise to add about 45 minutes of daily stationary bike intervals or hill running, and 3 days a week weight circuit training.

When I reached my goal weight, I still wasn't happy with my squishy body. I switched to the "Body for Life" program, and although I lost no scale weight, I lost 8% body fat and 2 pants sizes. I was definitely less squishy.

3 years later, my weight is today about 2 pounds less than my original goal. It varies by about 4 pounds. My body fat is down to between 17-18% based on a 9 point caliper measure. I eat a fairly rigid daily "bodybuilder's" diet, but I make the food taste good with food I like, seasonings, flavorings, truckloads of vegetables. I taste what I want on special occasions, but I know how awful certain foods are going to make me feel. I can honestly say that I would have no problem whatsoever in a room full of Krispy Kremes or other store bought pastries, because they just don't taste good to me and I know they'd make me sick.

For several years, I planned and tracked every bit of food that went into my mouth. I've stopped doing that in the last few months, because I know what I'm eating at this point. I still measure almost everything except vegetables, but because I always have a huge number of clean choices available, I don't need to plan quite so much any more. Actually, I plan just as much, but my planning is longer range than it used to be,

Exercise wise- I lift HEAVY 4-5 days a week and do moderate cardio 3 times a week. I hurt a ligament in my knee about 5 weeks ago which doesn't seem to be improving on it's own, so running or sprinting on the cross-trainer is out for a while. As long as my eating stays 99% clean, it's not a problem.

Mel

I too am currently following a bodybuilder's diet (formerly BFL), although I skip the creatine :) :). After the huge bowl of oatmeal and whey I have for breakfast, I have no problem skipping the doughnuts (Actually I prefer the oatmeal).. And since I eat six times a day, even on maintenance, I'm never hungry.
I'm still logging my food, but that's because I am still finding my maintenance calorie level.
Forgot to mention that when I started, I lost a large percentage of my weight doing the 'tv dinner' diet - lean cuisine (etc) twice a day for dinner and lunch. I slowly shifted into a more BFL style life when I started lifting and reading food labels.

Sides, I LOVE protein shakes and oatmeal. :)

Mmmmm .... oatmeal and chocolate PP .... :T

I should add that I lost my weight eating 'bodybuilder style' too, and still do (very similiar to BFL). It was the first diet that ever worked for me for the long-term. :)

Thinking about what you said about losing the weight fast, Mel. I did too, I guess, since it took me less than a year to lose 122 pounds. Once I got going, the momentum kept me fired up and I was determined to get it off ASAP. I asked my doctor if there was a problem losing at the rate that I was (about 2.5 pounds/week) and she looked at me and said - why would you want to stay overweight longer than necessary? - and she assured me that it was a safe rate of weight loss. She said that the health risks of remaining overweight were of much more concern than how fast the weight was coming off. She said that the only concern would be if I was losing muscle instead of fat, and I knew that I wasn't since my body fat % was being checked every four weeks.

One thing I've learned here at 3FC (and from the NWCR) is that there are many different and equally valid ways to lose weight. I know that for me, it was sudden and dramatic and life-changing. I think it HAD to be that way to overcome so many years of diet failure and yo-yo'ing. I can look back on June 1, 2001 as the day that the old Meg died and the new one was born; it was literally like death and rebirth. It makes for a very bright line between my old life and my new one and I hope that will keep me from ever sliding back. :)

Meg, well put, as always. :) I do that, too. That was the old me pre-March 18, 2002. I don't even know who that person is anymore. Don't want to either - she was miserable and didn't have much to offer to the people around her. :(

I eat BFL style, as well. It works for me because I eat so often I don't feel deprived. I just bought Eating for Life and I'm having so much fun going through the food ideas.

Karyn - that's exactly how I feel too! When you look at photos of yourself from before, is it like looking at a stranger? I look at old pictures of fat, unhappy Meg and what I feel is such a sense of sadness for her - but it's like looking at someone else. I can't even identify with her anymore. :?: Wow! Weight loss - what an incredible journey!

Ditto on the BFL / bodybuilder style of eating ... I love this way of eating, like was previously said I love my oatmeal and eggwhites in the morning... I love to eat every 2-3 hours, I'm never ravenous anymore... I keep clean foods on hand all the time...

Oatmeal is my saviour/hero lately ... For example last night I had a hankering for sweets from the moment I left the table after supper. I had SF Jello, still didn't help... DD gave me two gummy candies, OMG I wanted more!!!! NOT, I said to :devil:self ... I made myself some oatmeal with a scoop of vanilla PP with a teaspoon of coco powder, Splenda... I was so relieved, my carb/sweet craving was fixed. I do this often with oatmeal when I get a craving for carb/sweets... It's to *think* of this concoction when these moments happens that is difficult... I've discovered that these moments happen when I haven't had enough protein throughout the day...

That's a GREAT summing up, Megster :)

I get the same feeling looking at my before photos like this one...with my niece taken around 1990...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...tKaren1989.jpg

This one from 1991...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1.../Karen1991.jpg

Then I look in the mirror or at more recent photos (this is from our department picnic this past September - it was around 90 degrees out...whew!!!)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...pt04picnic.jpg

Definitely an INCREDIBLE journey...ya got that right!

Great pics Karen, UNFREAKIN' BELIEVABLE really! :eek:

Wish I had THAT tummy! Great pics and very inspiring. :)

Wish I still had boobs. :o

Mel

I am just totally enjoying reading all your stories. They are very inspirational and motivating. And thats why I am here - to get to where you all are. My own story is different, not better nor worse. Different. I had to do it the way I did because I had become so freaking eating disordered I was driving myself crazy with food 24/7, either with too much or too little. For me dieting was the opposite dysfunctional swing of the same pendulum as overeating. And that just had to be fixed first.

My way worked for me the way I wanted, and more. But now I am ready, more than ready, to move on. I too think back at that poor girl who was me years ago. Shy, shamed, and afraid of her own shadow for more reasons than being fat. I know she is now gone, but her memory I keep close to my heart for she was the one who sought help and brought me here, and I am grateful. Thank you sweetie.

I do intend to lose more weight for many many reasons - this is not a frivolous wish. But I also know if for some reason it doesnt happen (though I know it will) I will still be just fine as I am. Once a callous thin woman said to a good gentle fat friend of mine that she would rather be dead than fat. I frankly do not feel that way, although I do feel being thin would be much healthier and better in all the ways you all say. And then there are all those clothes out there just waiting to be found......

Jan

The 'feeling like a new person' experience was one I didn't have. There are obvious and major differences between before and after, like my activity level, how I look, what I choose to do with my free time. But I feel like the same person--the same things make me happy, sad, and angry, I love the same people, and have the same basic tastes in everything from food to fashion. I feel so much the same that if I'm not mentally prepared and I catch a glimpse of myself in a mirror, I will still be absolutely shocked, and then have to remember "Oh yeah, that's me now."

I feel like I could not have done what I did if my core being changed much. I have an extreme ability to focus (some might say obsess), a relatively high tolerance for pain, a very strong drive to meet personal goals, a certain amount of insensitivity to what other people say I should or shouldn't do, and the ability to both hate and revel in high levels of stress. What was different, and this is crucial for me, is that I figured out that I could use these existing personality traits (quirks) to work on myself instead of putting it all into school, work, family, hobbies, etc. I figured out how to work with them, and be successful.

I also liked myself before, and I was proud of myself and what I had achieved with my life. Fat wasn't new to me, it simply was, from early childhood on, and I had found a way to make peace with that over the years. I was happy. I understood very clearly that there was room for improvement, and there were some specific aspects of my self and my life I was not thrilled with (still true BTW), but I'm not sure I would have gone through all that effort if I hadn't thought I was worth it. I believe that my weight is and was only one aspect of who I am as a person, and not the most important one (by far) at that. Having said that, I've been fat and I've been thin, and thin is better, better enough to be worth the sacrifices.

Once again, we're all different and we do what works for us!

MrsJim, your pictures have just bought me one week of easy maintenance. I am so inspired. You look awesome!

Isn't that the marvel of it all? That we're exactly the same people inside even though the outside is SO very different? :) What I meant by the 'feel like I'm looking at a stranger' comment when I look at old photos is purely external - people don't recognize me and I don't even recognize myself because I don't look like those old photos any more. Like what you said about catching a glimpse of yourself in a mirror and being shocked. But I've had the same experience as you - I'm still the same person who I was 122 pounds ago. But I like being the same person in a really different package now. :D