ggmugsy -- I remember that one though it's been a while. She had been in a car accident and she'd gained a couple of hundred pounds due to the disability (they carefully explained her gain several times as if it wasn't really her fault unlike all those other horribly obese people who are just lazy bums). I can't remember how'd she'd lost but she was basically stuck because the loose skin was causing her as many issues as the weight.

Hadn't heard about the flax oil but I'm willing to try. There's some exercises on the foam rollers that is supposed to help as well.

I hadn't seen a question of the day so I thought I'd propose one: since we're all Biggest Loser fans, what has been your favorite BL moment(s)? The final weigh ins are always amazing -- wouldn't it be nice if at your big moment there was a crowd of folks cheering for you with signs and ticker tape? (Not too mention a really big check!)

I was struck by one of the contestants this year, talking about not being able to run when they got there and being running by fifth or sixth week, not just for a couple of minutes but for a couple of miles. She was not as heavy as me but close and I was amazed you could train up that fast.

And Bob said, "you're only as young as your spine is flexible." And I thought, hoo, boy, am I in trouble.


Good luck,

Barb

Favorite Biggest loser moment...Ali's win was pretty great! Also Kelli coming out in that very pretty dress even tho her hair looked like a shellac creation, she just looked so proud of herself and made me proud of her. The other moment that REALLY hit home with me was the tape of Ali's retrospective when she said
"I literally got fat 5 pounds at a time..." THAT was like a BIG smack to my forehead! That is my story...every time I dared get on the scale I would rationalize...oh well, its only 4 lbs since last time....etc....etc....etc...until I weighed 218 lbs!!!!!! YIKES.

Anyway, completed my wog with the Boxer baby dog who is an EXCELLENT walker! She is doing really well on the leash, she stayed glued to my side and sat down every time I stopped. Plus she looks fierce and scary-serious even tho she is a big softie...so I went in a kind of remote area I've been too nervous to walk thru by myself, but a route I've been wanting to map out. This dog has boundless energy, she would definitely keep me in shape keeping her in shape...

Hm....I might think about getting another dog. Love walking and training big dogs. DH hates big dogs however, so we've kind of been at opposite ends on this subject.

Well wanted to stop in and say Hey!! I did get 40 min of exercise in today and am going to go walk on TM for 30 min while I watch gladiators.

My favorite BL moment was Ali winning finally a women winning.....

Well I will check back in later, take care everyone

Hi Everybody,

I know I have been scarce around here and I apologize from the bottom of my heart. Look out, I am about to unload on you... Emotionally I am drained because my sister and I are realizing that we think it's about time for our Mom to be placed in a nursing home. She has been living with my sister for the past 3 years and is beginning to fall alot, is non-compliant with her oxygen, forgets to eat and take her pills, and is very grumpy and says things which are inappropriate to my little nieces and anyone else who is near her. We've been talking with nursing home folks and her doctor. Of course Mom is not aware of this and it's killing me. We have a family conference scheduled with her primary physician on Wednesday. I don't know what's going to happen but suffice it to say that my life has been jolted from this past week's realization. Unfortunately we don't have enough money to pay for assisted living which would probably be the best thing but in Mom's case that would probably not last for very long anyway. Other things have been going on too, like trying to sell her old car which we had to take away from her a month or so ago due to her dangerous driving and Mom is not very happy about that to say the least. My husband has been an a$$ about the whole thing because he doesn't want to be "bothered" by anything that doesn't make his life peachy. He is a bit selfish as many men can be. Big sigh!

On top of all that I gained 0.8 lb this week. I suppose I should be happy it is not more considering I did not journal my foods and did not exercise at all.

I'm going to do my best and try to focus on me for a bit of each day and to try to stay calm and grounded through this process. Hopefully next week I will be able to post a weight loss. Please say a prayer for me on Wednesday at 11:30 am central time when we have our family conference with Mom's doctor. I need all the good vibes I can get to not start squalling like a baby during that time. Gosh it's hard to see my Mom getting old. Oh yes, on top of that, my Dad, who lives 1200 miles away just found out they will have to perform a heart procedure on him for a clogged right coronary artery! It looks like it will be done this month. He says the doctor said he will "ream it out" which makes me think of a baloon angioplasty and a possible stent. Prayers please, prayers!

Love to you all,
Ann

Black Team,

Head's UP!

GO LOG YOUR WEIGHT for week 7 if you haven't!

Today's the day....I still see a lot of people missing data....!!!

Manick - while you and the DH are sorting through the dog issues, if you have a Humane Society or Shelter in your area - they are ALWAYS looking for volunteers to walk and socialize the dogs. Just a thought...

Ann - so sorry to hear about your Mom. Prayers and good wishes will be sent your way We had to make that decision with my dad. There comes a time when try and you might, the care job is sometimes more than can reasonably be handled. It's a very tough decision - particularly seeing your once vibrant parent get older. Hope things work out for both your mom and dad.

I remember Anne (RealCdn)'s post. It was probably the day of the crash. She said something to the effect that she was spending alot of time on the internet and needed to focus her efforts. I can certainly understand where she was coming from. There's only so many hours in a day and it's hard to choose which path to follow sometimes.

Call me a heretic but I lost interest in TBL tv show last season. I think most of the reality shows are scripted and as I started to hear more and more about the "tricks" that were used on TBL for weigh ins as well as completely unrealistic 30 pound weight losses between weigh ins, it just stopped being real for me. You can't fake those people losing the weight and I certainly don't mean to take away from how hard they worked, but it becomes kind of obvious that many of the methods they used won't sustain those losses in the real world. And I think it sets a less than stellar example to the viewing public. But then again, slow and steady probably makes for boring tv and cancelled series

Hey Ann Bad time for me not to refresh my page before I post!

I'm sorry about your mom, that IS really tough! I will remember you on Wed, I hope with the combined wisdom there you can address what needs to be done. DO take care of YOU so you have something to give.


Happy Humane society is an interesting thought! I will have to find out more info and check into it! Thanks!

Reda good job on the exercise!

good morning team... again sorry i haven't been on much

so who gets the flu in june? i do apparently... stupid being sick. then the power goes out last night from the storms... and we have no ac and i don't have my fan and i'm sweating to death... however the sweating helped my scale... as i was at 181.8 this morning... which is only a pound over my last weigh in

Congrats Sally on being this weeks Biggest Loser - sorry you're not feeling well tho...

Hi all!

I was gone from Sun. June 8th through Sun. June 15th to Denver to help with the care of my BIL who has ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). We had a big birthday party for him on Sat. June 14th (almost 80 people came). It was very hard for me to keep with my eating plan there, but I did the best I could. However, I was up 2 pounds...it could have been worse, so I'm thankful it wasn't. I was so busy, I kept going the whole time...I'm sure I burned many calories from running errands, cleaning house, etc.

I have to be honest, I'm kind of bummed that the exercise badge challenge isn't being continued - for some reason, it was REALLY helping to motivate me to kick my exercising up a great deal. I'm going to check out the Black Team exercise challenge and see what that is all about. Exercising at least 60-90 minutes a day is the only way that I am able to lose weight now at my age (plus I NEED to build muscle mass to help have a more efficient metabolism...plus it's just healthier to have less % body fat and more muscle mass). I know that it couldn't be helped (the badge challenge ending) and it was a lot of work.

Also, my switch to eating 100% vegetarian isn't going as well as I would like. I need to work harder on that. I'm probably eating about 90% vegetarian. I just need to plan ahead better.

I'm still looking for a job - with no luck so far, and that is extremely discouraging to me. I had no idea it would be this hard to find a job out here in the SF bay area. I've applied to approximately 34 positions and have had 0 calls for an interview. :sigh:

I think that when I'm in Denver helping with my BIL, I manage to stay upbeat and positive..which is what my BIL and sister need. They are facing a very tough next year (its already been tough enough) as I'm sure that my BIL will most likely lose his struggle with ALS within a year or so at most. I think when I get back home from being there, the sadness that I supress while I'm there hits me like a ton of bricks when I get back home. My BIL is such an awesome person (and he's only 57) and he's keeping his spirits up the best he can....not easy to do when your body is turning to cement (as he says). I do feel blessed to have good health...though I had a physical when I was out there in Denver which included a stress test (routine with these physicals), which I've never had before...and I'm wondering the results of that (I had a couple of weird sensations after being on the treadmill part of it and I'm a bit worried). I'm trying not to worry. I did talk to the doctor about my thyroid and he is running a lot of tests to see if anything is going on there.

I need to catch up with everyone's posts and see what is going on with my fellow Black Team members. I wanted to check in real quick though since I haven't been able to post during the past week.

GO BLACK TEAM!!

Hi Teamies!

Manick - so true abou the five at a time....I used to think, ah, it's only 5, I can lose that easy. Then it became 10, 15, 20, 25 and all of a sudden it was like omg, I CAN'T lose that easy! That is going to take alot of work! Then it was all a mental mind f*ck. And it did take alot of work, but when I finally got down to it and saw the scale move, it was great. I really want to get motivated again to lose, and not just be stuck here!

Ann - so sorry you are going through that.

sally - feel better! Call me sick (no pun intended) but the one bright spot for me when I'm sick is getting on the scale afterwards, lol. I know it is temporary, but it still is fun!

Way to go to our kick a$$ exercisers!!!!GGmugsy, Julia, Terri, BlzMax, Manick and Tara are really doing a great job sticking with it and recording their progress!!!!!!!!! Keep at it girls!!!!!!!

DangerousCurves - A loss is a loss and it is GREAT!! Be happy for your achievement!

Ann - You and your family are in my thoughts. When you start feeling out of control, focus on your breathing. Think of nothing else, just feel yourself breathing and it will pull you into the moment. Even if it's a bad moment, you'll be more calm if you are living it.

Sea Monkey - Feel better soon!!!

Cheree - I was so sorry to read about your brother. I know what you mean about repressing your feelings during an event and then being hit with them when you get home. I recommend a long walk and a good cry!! I also agree with you about the Beach Hopping challenge. I started a Numbers challenge in the "chicks up for a challenge" forum. I need that push to keep me on track DAILY.

Happy - I'm with you about reality tv. American Idol lost me during the Sanjaya fiasco. Howard Stern and his "vote for the worst" made me crazy, too. I'm sure I'll be sick of TBL very soon.

I'm going to go see if I can find a clip of that woman in the swimming pool!!!

Okay, this is day 3 on my Dr. Oz plan...and I feel so GOOD, it's actually amazing. I had so much energy yesterday and just felt good all over. It's probably mostly the vitamins, but I know it's the food as well. He said red pepper and cinnamon in the AM can kill afternoon cravings and he is right...that is the time of day I always want to munch and snack and eating the cinnamon and red pepper in the morning has kept me feeling FULL at that time, I don't even want to eat...it's quite amazing. I was skeptical, but I feel so good I think this might actually work for me, with the modifications I have set for myself. It's so nice to feel this good, the scale already moving down, and i haven't counted a single calorie, and have done about half the daily exercise I was doing before.

Cheree, I understand that crash of pent-up emotion so well and it is draining. take care of yourself, give your body a rest to catch up if it needs...and maybe some exercise can help blow off some steam, it does release something in the body that boosts your mood. I sent up a prayer for BIL and your sister.

happy, Their results are what is possible if you make your entire life getting the weight off, and most of us cannot do that. There are people on this site that have lost over 100 lbs. extremely quick and they have kept it off...and at least a few of the BL contestants have kept it off. But if you think about it...how many people that lose the weight slow actually keep it off? So many gain it back whether they do it alone or on TV, so I do think it is realistic, for the circumstances they are put under it is. I firmly believe there has to be a change that happens in the mind, a mental transformation, in order to keep a weight loss off. You have to completely change your lifestyle and the way you think about food, and so many don't make that connection in real life and on the show.

Thank you ggmugsy and Purplefirefly for your kind words and support, it means a lot.

Purplefirefly, I love Dr. Oz and I'm curious as to what Dr. Oz plan you are following. Is it from one of his books or a website? I think I need a new plan, and I'd be interested in finding out what you're doing. Thank you!

Whooo, congrats Oolong on being the biggest Black Team loser this week! Way to Go!