All I was thinking was that % is another way to look at it. ya know? pounds, inches, pant sizes, %'s ... sometimes we need a little alternate encouragement.

Susan, that is true. If anybody else wants to calculate your percentage of weight lost take the number of pounds you lost, divide by your starting weight, and multiply by 100. It isn't any new info beyond pounds lost relative to your starting weight, but it is a different way of looking at it.

Truly different measures of success are inches lost from a body part or set of body parts (usually chest, waist, hips) or change in body fat percentage.

Anne

Ya know how some ads say .... I lost 19 inches ... how many places do they measure?

That's what I always wonder too! :lol: I'm sure I could come up with at least 20 sites to measure, if not more, and end up with some truly astounding number of inches lost. :faint:

I don't think there's anything standardized - just be consistent all the way through with what and where you measure. :)

I agree with Anne about changes in BF% - to me that's a more significant number than pounds lost.

Saturday is my day for measuring BF%. I have measured inches in 7 places but I never added them together. I should do that again.

Today I feel like I have my act together. Together enough to post here :) even tho' I'm up about five over max. I did cardio, I lifted, my percentages are good. I still can have a healthy sized snack before bed.
I never had a snoozy woozy spell. It's been a good day!

That is awesome, Susan! Congratulations, and I hope tomorrow's just as good!

Wow, there's alot of math so far in this thread! I'm still not quite believing that it's November! *acckkk* I was reading in another thread that someone started turning off their TV during the week and turned it on only for the weekend. I'm tempted to do the same. I'm half-watching TV now, and in the last 10 minutes I've seen four (!) commercials for fast-food restaurants. No wonder people overeat in the evening! Plus, time is better spent doing other things, IMO. I'll let you know how it goes, I'm expecting fierce resistance from my kids. I'll try and make fun alternatives for them. Wish me luck.

Have a happy November everyone.

Hi everyone, I have been cleaning house like crazy, since my MIL called yesterday to say she is coming to spend the night tonite. (It's my DH's birthday). I have cleaned the kitchen, living room, laundry room, 3 bathrooms, guest bedroom, masterbedroom, computer room, daughter's bedroom, formal dining room, vacuumed the whole house. Mopped all tile floors, swept off ceilings, cleaned ceiling fans, taken trash out, did dishes, did several loads of laundry, changed out all bed linens,cleaned mirrors and sliding glass doors, and even cleaned the fireplace. This huge place is spotless. Her house is always immaculate and it drives me crazy. Anytime she comes to visit, I feel like I am second-class if my house doesn't look perfect. The only thing I haven't done is sweep the outside deck, I'm sure she'll mention that it is messy. Does anyone else go nuts with cleaning if the in-laws are coming? I'm sure I have had my exercise for yesterday and today. The bad thing is, my step-daughter will be here at 2PM with her 2 young children and the house will be messed up by the time, MIL gets here at 3PM. Maybe I should take pictures and show her that it was clean before she got here. LOL. Seriously, I am so stressed that I am having stomach cramps. Sometimes, she has made remarks about my house being messy and how I should "bust my kid's butt's" and make them help clean it. I badly would like to say, that her son causes a lot of the mess. Maybe she should have taught him to help clean when he was growing up and we wouldn't have this problem. I might mention that she lives alone and her house doesn't usually get messy.

After reading all that work you've done, Lilly, I'm sure glad I have a housekeeper!!! She only comes every other week, and I do the basic on the off weeks (mainly sweeping and vacuuming and keeping the kitchen clean). But it's my DD's room that drives me crazy!!! She makes her bed, but that's where it stops. She has piles of clothes everywhere and piles of stuff everywhere else. Frankly, I can't wait until she moves out (1 1/2 years till she starts college). But, back to the subject. I used to fret when MIL came to visit, otherwise she'd start cleaning for me! Once, she even cleaned my washer and dryer (impossible to keep clean because they were located in the garage). It sure made me feel like a 2nd class citizen!

Just relax, Lily. After 10 kids, messy and otherwise, you just do what you can and forget the rest. Surely she shows up sometimes unexpected!!!

Hey Lily, I know it doesn't work for all family situations, but my life sure got a lot easier after I figured out how to tell DD's grandparents to back off when they needed to be told that. I tell them politely of course, but firmly.

Theorizing here: it could also be something like you make her feel like a neat freak and she is uncomfortable about that, and projects her anxiety onto you and yours.

Either way, you swept the ceilings! Geez. I have NEVER in my entire life done that. I didn't know that needed to be done. Of course she'd pass out at my house, with dog hair and baby stuff everywhere, and that is after I clean up all the really nasty stuff. I think you've paid your dues.

Anne

Just have to chime in as a MIL myself. When I visit, I sometimes get bored so I will clean just because it's something to do--not as a reflection of anyone's housekeeping abilities. I'm wondering if that's what your MIL was doing, Allison? My grandmother used to visit a couple of times a year when I was a kid, and wash the windows, take down the curtains, etc. My mother loved it because she worked full-time and it was such a help to her. So I guess I never thought of a MIL cleaning as anything but helpful.

Rude comments certainly are never acceptable. Can't believe that someone would walk into someone else's house and say stuff like Lilly's MIL said.

OMG, I have now taken down the curtains and washed and rehung them. Now, she calls and has a niece that unexpectedly showed up to stay with her for the weekend, so she isn't coming. I even went outside in the cold and washed the windows. This place is so darn clean now.
Allison, I know what you mean about the DD's room. This was my hardest room today that I cleaned. She's at school and will be shocked when she sees it. I must have gotten 5 loads of laundry from her room and tons of towels. She just cleaned that room last week. She uses 3 towels to bathe every single time..
Anne, my MIL freaks that I let our Labrador stay inside. I do clean up a lot of dog hair. But, it's my home and my dog and I like her inside.
Sheila, last summer she said she was going to come "clean and get my house organized and then my kids better darn well keep it that way". I told my DH to tell her that this wasn't happening. She never came.
Anyway, we aren't filthy slobs here. I clean the kitchen , do the dishes, clean the living room ,do laundry and make beds daily. She's just too picky. She gripes that my cabinets aren't organized. I shut the doors on them and could care less if my dishes, towels and silverware junk are in perfect order.
Anyway, I'm done cleaning. I bet I lost a lb. or two. LOL

I wanted to say that I was contacted by Quick and Simple Magazine to tell my Wt. Loss Story. I noticed that Glory, Callystia, RVVMM, and Tani had gotten the same message. Do you ladies know if this is on the up and up? If so, did you agree to do the story?

Lily, I'm not familiar with that magazine and just want to urge you to be cautious. We have a moderator here at 3FC who was contacted by a magazine to tell her weight loss story. She agreed and in the interview, she told them about her healthy eating and exercise plans and all her hard work. She also told them that - as part of her healthy eating plan - she occasionally ate Breakfast Cookies.

Well, I bet you can guess what the article looked like when it came out:

So-and-So Lost XX Pounds On The Cookie Diet! And You Can Lose Weight Eating Cookies Too!

The whole article was about eating cookies, not her healthy diet or exercising. Needless to say, she was furious but there wasn't anything that she could do.

Typically a publisher will ask you to sign a form giving them the right to use your photos and story however they choose to - you wouldn't be able to read the story before it's published and make changes and corrections. Remember that they're in the business to sell magazines and that healthy weight loss usually isn't what sells.

I'm not saying not to do it -- just please be cautious and read everything over very carefully before you sign anything. You've worked so hard and your story is so inspirational that I know it would break your heart if it got distorted. :hug: