Hi all,
Nice to see a singles thread! We singles do have our own challenges in this couple world. I am 41, divorced for about 3 1/2 years now after an 11 year marriage. I just graduated from college with my first four year degree. I do not have any kids, well except my dog and my cat. :P I am now trying to focus on getting healthier, particularly in the eating department. A challenge to be sure and one I'm definitely struggling with right now! UGH!

Of COURSE! It's so good to see you, Janet! Glad you found us again.

Hey, don't you worry about it. We're just glad you're well and that you've come back to see us! I understand about feeling weird about staying active on the thread when things aren't going well...that happens with a LOT of people! As you've probably seen me post, I've gone back and looked up the posting history of people who have posted here in the past (wondering "is it just us? are we that boring?") and found that most didn't just move on to another thread on this site, they completely stopped posting on the site. I've been on another healthy eating website for 2 years and you can definitely see a cycle of people going away when they fall off the wagon and coming back to the board when they get back on track. So it's a very common mindset! Just know that we support you no matter what because, Lord knows, we have ALL had times when we aren't doing our best!

WOOHOO! You go girl! That is AWESOME! 72 lbs! What an achievement!

Ditto for me! I am a couch tater by nature so if I don't get it done early in the morning before work, I will find a million excuses not to do it later! When people say "Wow, I wish I could do that." when I say I exercise 5 days a week, I say "Hey, I'm no athlete...I'm just a couch potato who happens to exercise 5 days a week."

Welcome, Annie! Congrats on that degree! I didn't even start college for the first time until I was 35, so I can relate. Good job on the focus on getting healthier. As we age, it gets even more important! I was diagnosed with hypertension when I was 42 and that was the start of my focus. Then, the summer before I turned 51, I made a commitment to healthy eating and regular exercise and I'm still going almost 2 years later. Haven't lost all the weight I want to lose (been plateauing a lot), but still living healthy. I try to never give up, even when I'm not seeing the results I want on the scale. I think that consistency is really important to long term results & health!

Good to have you here, Annie!

Thought I'd share two things FYI:

1. If you don't already know this, there is a way to add this thread to a list of favorites so you can access it (and any others you like) quickly to see if there have been any new posts since your last visit. This is a lot faster than coming through the menu system and thread list to find the thread. To add this thread to your favorites: a) Scroll up to the first post on this page and click on the box/link called "Thread Tools." b) Scroll down the Thread Tools menu and click on "Subscribe to this thread." Now, to test it, use your browser favorites to get you back to the main menu or wherever you end up when you first come to the 3FC website. Now at the top of the page, look for a link called "User CP." If there has been a new post since your last visit, you will see Singles Supporting Singles listed there. If there hasn't been a new post, you will see a "no new posts to this thread" announcement.

2. I have been a part of a great online community dedicated to healthy living for two years. There are MANY members there who, like myself, have been a member for 2 years. People tend to be very consistent there...they post when they're up and they post when they're down but most of them stay around no matter what. The potential for emotional support and for getting information about healthy cooking/eating and exercise are tremendous...all you need to do is ask (and of course to give support and information as well as get it). The members are mostly women and range in age from 20s to 70s. The majority are married women and mothers but there are some other singletons besides myself. If this sounds like a place you might like to visit, here's a link to Kathleen Daelemans' Website. Kathleen is a chef and Food Network show host who has lost over 70 pounds herself and maintained it for over a decade. When you get to the site, click on the FAN FORUM button on the menu bar and you'll get to the board. My name over there is SheriaVa also, so if you check it out (like here, you'll have to create a screen name and password), please post a hello there and let me know you're from here. I credit a lot of my being able to keep going with healthy living for two years to these people. They are like my family.

Hi all...I found this singles forum today and I think it is awesome. Was having a hard time relating to the challenges that the married mothers were facing as I was not in thier shoes....but I think this one I can relate to.

I have been excerising at home for about 3 weeks now. Started all gung ho and as it went on I found myself coming up with "very legitimate" reasons as to why I couldn't fit in the time. So I got my butt up to Curves today and signed up.

Couple questions: How do you find the motivation to get up at 4:30am to go to excerise? I was told at Curves today "we open at 6am" and my response was "Well I do NOT open at 6am"

And how long should one be awake before they go and do excerise? Is there a length of time that you should allow your body to wake up and let your heart come out of the resting state before you start to pump it mercifully?

I know myself well enough to know that I need to do the excerise in the morning..just need to find a way to get myself out of bed....I am soooo not a morning person.

Looking forward to this forum and all the great support I have seen in it.

Welcome Tazia!! I'm not the one who gets up at 4:30 a.m., but I do get up between 5 and 5:30 a.m. to exercise, so I thought I'd put my two cents in! When I first started losing weight, I was working out after work. Now, I work a 10-11 hour day, so there isn't a lot left for me to give at 6:30-7 p.m. when I'm rolling into the driveway from work. So the folks on another board kept at me to try morning exercise. I was resistant...I said I CAN'T GET UP ANY EARLIER! and they said YES YOU CAN! So I did. And I promised them I'd try for a few weeks to see if I could build the habit. And I did. And I am still doing it over a year later. And I wouldn't have it ANY other way.

I used to spend the day GRUMPING about having to work out after work. I'd DREAD it driving home. I'd MAKE EXCUSES once I was home NOT to do it. Now, by 6 a.m., it's over. It's done. And I can go to work and not think about it again until the next morning.

As for motivation. I just do it. The alarm goes off and I roll out of bed and into my exercise clothes. I just do it...in that second that the alarm goes off, or it will be too late. I can't lay there and think...not even for 5 seconds. Like Nike says I "just do it." Give it a try...at least 3 weeks, which is as long as it takes to build a habit. And see if you can hack it. Maybe you can't...and that's okay. But do try!

Well, I don't know what a doctor would say, or an exercise physiologist, but I've been rolling out of bed and going right to it (within 3-5 minutes anyway--gotta hit the bathroom first and get the clothes on LOL) for over a year now with no ill effects that I am aware of. I'm not always doing high energy cardio stuff, though. Generally, I go to the gym twice a week (when I'm not working) for high energy cardio and weight training and then the stuff I do in the mornings before work is abs, balance ball, leg/bun and arm toning, stuff like that...I do maybe one day of cardio a week straight out of bed.

I would strongly suggest that you put at least a third or a half of your focus into weight training and/or toning/conditioning not only because muscle burns fat faster but because you will be more toned as you lose the weight. The first thing that my guy friends have commented on is my thighs/behind because, as I've lost weight, I've worked out a LOT and have tightened things up considerably muscularly as well as shrinking fat-wise.

Hi all!

Welcome to FlannelAnnie & Tazia! Stick with us and we'll get this thread going yet!

Today was not a stellar day in the diet and exercise department. I am the head of a department of 4 people and one was on vacation and another called in, so that left me trying to juggle the duties of three people. Of course, I allowed the stress to get to me and started reaching for the chocolate. I don't keep any close at hand, but I know where to find it in the building... that inherent chocolate homing device never seems to fade, does it? So I ended up indulging, more than I should. Feeling a little guilty, but I'm trying to get over that. Guilt over little slip ups is such a wasted emotion. Tomorrow is a brand new, clean, mistake-free day. If I've learned anything this time around on this weight loss see-saw, is that perfection isn't as important as perseverence.

Tazia, in response to your question about how I stay committed to getting up at 4:30am. Simply put, I hate exercizing in the evening more than I hate getting up in the morning. In the morning, there is not as much competition for the equiptment at the Y (although the "eye candy" is better in the afternoon for some reason...). And I'm with SheriaVa. If I don't exercize in the morning, I spend most of the day thinking of excuses not to go after work (I have a headache, my feet are tired, I'm hungry, I had a hard day, I'm too tired, I deserved a day off...the possibilities are endless, and believe me, I've come up with the most creative excuses). If I get it out of the way in the morning, then it's done and over with. I almost always leave the gym singing "I'm done! I'm done! I'm done, I'm done, I'm done, I'm done, done, done!" to the tune of "When love comes in". Sad but true. It helps that my three cats are now on the 4:30 wake up schedule so if I am tempted to stay in bed a cat climbing on my head looking for breakfast helps persuade me that it's easier to get up. I still don't make it every day though. I have been known to get up, get in my gym clothes and then crawl back into bed. Also sad, but true. Just try it for a week or two. If you still hate it after that time, at least you tried.

I'm a strong proponent of weight/strength training too. I've noticed increased definition in those muscles that aren't still covered by a layer of fat. Boy are my abs going to be cut when I finally get rid of this belly fat! I have no proof of that, I can just feel it. My endurance is so much better than it was, and I know only part of that is the weight loss. And most reliable sources about weight loss supports keeping the metabolism up by building lean muscle which makes alot of sense if you think about it.

Anyway, I ramble on and need to do some laundry (fun!fun!). Hope all is going well with everyone and I'll check in tomorrow.

Hello all…..

I am so happy that all of you are here! I feel so good to know that I am not the only singleton in this battle….I knew I wasn’t but it is hard to wade through all the problems of those with kids and hubbies to find someone who knows what being single and trying to lose weight is like! In some ways easier…no one else to feed, don’t have to buy kid food or unhealthy snacks…..and in some ways harder….no “encouragers”, no one to cook for, therefore…graze the kitchen, no on to see you eat, so go for it sweetie, hard to cook for one, and midnight binges are easy! It is not necessarily harder to diet being single, just different challenges!

Anyway…good to see everyone…….I had a blood draw for work today…all very good news! YEAH!!!! Blood pressure: 128/2, Triglycerides: 58, Cholesterol: 144, Blood sugar: 90, HDL: 64, LDL: 68…all very good numbers for a 43 year old…….I laughed though…with good numbers like that, I have little incentive to improve my diet……but part of the Wellness plan at work is to get emails from a health counselor to follow up on goals. I set my goal to lose weight of course…..so that may help…..the counselor did talk to me about calorie intake and exercise too…so for a free screening…all good info!

Janet…..I am so impressed you get up early! I am an after work exerciser….first of all I just choose not to get up early and second of all…..after work is my hardest time…..I want to eat the most then so a brisk walk or bike ride or trip to the Y helps me eat up that time between work and dinner, helps me plan to eat something healthy, and takes the edge off……we all do what works best for us! I am not that far from you…just down interstate 35 in Mason City across the border!

Welcome Tazia!!!

Sheri….thanks for being there and responding!!!


Have a good one everyone!!!

Lilybutt

I hear you about the chocolate--I am a lifelong chocoholic myself. In fact, when I started eating healthy, I said to myself "You KNOW that as soon as you try to deny yourself chocolate, your new eating plan is going right down the toilet because you WILL rebel." So I bring 1 bite-size dark chocolate Dove Promise to work in my lunch cooler every day and that is my "dessert." Allowing myself good chocolate on a regular basis almost always keeps me from going overboard--though there was that weekend in Delaware at Easter with the chocolate truffles so it's not foolproof. LOL

As for going for a "mistake-free day," I would caution against setting yourself up for perfection. I hear you saying that perfection isn't as important as perseverence, and I agree with that...but I wonder if you really believe it in your heart because we're all human and expecting a mistake-free day may just set us up to have quite the opposite experience. Just a thought!

I have said that to myself too...about what a body I'm going to have if I can ever get all the fat off. Cuz man I can feel the muscles under there and I think I'm gonna be one buff chick...for a woman in her 50s anyhow. <G>

WOOHOOOO! Look at those numbers! Congrats, lilybutt! I'm envious, cuz it took me some kickin'-butt hard work with eating and exercise to get my cholesterol and triglycerides down and mine still aren't as low as yours! Then again, I have massive family history for high cholesterol so my doctor is just happy that my numbers have come down and that I'm losing weight, eating right and exercising regularly.


P.S. Re blood pressure of 128 over 2--is that a typo? That bottom number is generally somewhere in the 70s or low 80s. Maybe 72 or 82?

Hi, I'm back off holiday. Yes she did notice, and I'm sure what was more impressive was how much fitter I was than last time we went on holiday together. We used to puff up hills slowly together, this time I was leaving her far behind, racing back down for her and then racing up again.

I'm also an early morning exerciser. My alarm goes off at 6, and in winter it can be tough. In summer I'm usually awake at 5 and doing other stuff (surfing the net, reading) waiting for the alarm so that I can go to the gym. No point getting up any earlier as the gym only opens at 6.30.

Now it's my routine. I park somewhere free that fills up by about 8am. If I go straight into work, to park there means I have to get into work early. If I go to the gym I can leave a bit earlier, miss the traffic, get a free parking space instead of paying a fortune later, have a shower at the gym instead of at home and eat my breakfast when I get to work. It works for me. It's so much routine I even get to the gym if I feel ill. On one memorable occasion I managed to get to the gym and dragged myself round the pool for an hour or so before work, on getting to work I was informed I looked terrible and got sent home. I did feel terrible, but the habit of going to the gym was so ingrained I didn't realise til I got there! I hurt my foot recently and couldn't work out. The lie in felt so unnatural, and I was tired all day because the workout really wakes me up.

Hi all!

Things were quieter today and I felt a little more in control. We even had a birthday patry potluck at work and I resisted the cake which was from my favorite bakery. I knew I could have a piece and still stay on plan, but I have such issues with sugar, that I didn't even want to get started down that road. So I thought about it, then passed. There will be other days when I just have to have a piece, but I'll wait until then.

SheriaVa - I hear what you're saying about perfectionism. I have had problems with this most of my life and I think I have gotten much better about this in the last few years. What I meant was that mistakes, slip ups, whatever happen and you have to look at tomorrow as a new day. Believe me, I have very few "mistake-free" days and have found that if I am good most the time, the weight still comes off. That is a very liberating discovery for me because I have quit diet after diet because I slipped up. So yesterday was a "bad" diet day and I found myself slipping into bad habits, but I can regroup today and move on. Make sense? My question, though, is how do you keep from eating the whole bag of Dove Chocolates?? I'm just not that strong - yet!

Lillibutt - We'll be your encouragers! Congrats on the good bloodwork results! I haven't had my bloodwork done since I started dieting last fall. My labs were in normal range, but high normal. Don't let your good health take away your incentive though. The blood work shows is that you are healthy at a cellular level, but the big picture can't be overlooked. I'm not going to recite the litany of reasons that being even a little overweight can negatively affect your health (sorry, I'm a nurse...). It sounds like you're on your way though. And I think you have a good strategy in working out in the evenings. If that is your "weak" times it makes sense to keep busy during these times. Good thinking.

Helen - I'm glad for you that your Mom noticed your weight loss. It can be frustrating to work so hard and then no one notices. And good job of running circles around her! You must really be an early bird. I can't imagine getting up at 5:00 unless I had a compelling reason (like exercise). Your routine sounds great. I haven't reached the level of dedication though to work out when I am sick. That is one of the few excuses I come up with that I actually don't feel guilty about!

Well went to Curves for the first time tonight. It was AWESOME ! It is somewhere I am going to enjoy going to. I couldn't believe how fast the 30 minutes went. Going to go in the evenings for the first week then committing to giving the early mornings a try for a week - going to find that motivation inside to get out of bed.

ahhhh yes.....I see that now.....blood pressure was 128/82. I am very happy with my numbers! I does show that my hard work has paid off in ways other than losing weight! Another piece of info theye gave me was a weight range that would work for my body....thye said 199-179 given my height and body composition.....this made me feel good because that is what I would say I want to be too! I have been down as low as 140 and had a terrible time maintaining it and being healthy....at 170-190 I was healthiest.....so NOT that far away! I can do it!!!!

I leave tomorrow am for an overnight trip for work....so all have a good few days!

Lilybutt

hi singles! not much new to report here. i had a nice holiday weekend. i had a friend from CT come to visit. that is where i grew up. it was nice to visit with my friend.

sheri-i hope you have a nice vacation in florida.my mom says it's very hot down there. still working on getting the new house in shape. i have to get it all done before my mom comes to visit in july. i have to prove i can handle it all so she doesn't worry.

i will keep us to the top while you are gone.
kathy