Greetings, fine feathered friends! Everyone had a very busy, and productive April, and I'm sure our year is just going to get better.

Yay! Finally the weather might be halfway decent to get back to my lunch hour walks! I work in an industrial park that has a small park and walking loop and the last two weeks have been nasty weather wise. Looking forward to walking again!!!

May looks like it's going to be a great month for me. Lots of fun things happening!

Anyone got anything excited planned for May?

Just popping in to wish the feathers a successful healthy month of May! I don't usually post here much - though I have periodically through the years... I'm a perpetual featherweight. In 6+ years of trying, I haven't ever reached my "goal" which should probably tell me something about my goal... or my willpower... I will say that my expectations have shifted greatly in the last few years. I used to maintain easily in the high 110s/low 120s, then I entered into my 30s and the weight started creeping up. Getting old suuuuuucks in this respect.

It is what it is though, so I have to deal with a different body type now.

My immediate goal is to get out of the 150s, which I may or may not have done already, depending on my scale's mood. Anyway I am close, after ~20 days on plan.
My goal for May: 145 lbs (-5)

I am committed to weight loss throughout the summer and, if my body cooperates, I hope to be at goal (aiming for 129 but would be okay with 135 again) by Sep 1. Who knows, though. With greater fitness I could rock a higher weight so I am not fixated on a scale number (except that I know for sure that I need to be less than 145ish ...).

I maintained in the 130s for about a year until I started binging, so I think as long as I keep that under control, I should be able to get back there and I can think maintenance strategies.

But first, the very not-fun part of losing what I gained. UGH it is soooo slow

No "exciting" plans yet for May other than sticking to the diet plans and starting to figure out how to be more active. I want to plan hikes on the weekends. So it's very low-key exciting.

kristip - walking is so great, especially as a break in the middle of the day - I need to get back in that habit. It's on my list!
eilidh429 - what fun things do you have going on?

Love your cheeriness, Eilidh! I am planning my first grandchild's first birthday party, with lots of family coming in from all over the country. It's going to be great!

That's a great boon to have a walking area right there!

Wecome back! Sounds like you have some really good plans. I also do some yoga - what kind of practice do you have? I would definitely classify mine as "light"!

Currently I would describe it as "nonexistent"
Part of the problem leading to my recent weight gain...

But in general, I do whatever I can. I found a gym that includes classes, which aren't the greatest, but they are fine. I have done yoga for years and I never really know what kind it is, just general Hatha, classic yogic postures and breathing exercises, often combined with Pilates. I have done Pilates as well, but always on a mat never with the machines.

I don't really like ashtanga yoga where you are moving through the poses so quickly as you can never really get proper alignment or iyengar with all the props and I have no interest in doing bikram yoga, though the people who do it love it. I get hot and dizzy enough in "regular" yoga . I like long taxing holds on the poses where form is emphasized.

I wish I was dedicated enough to do it regularly on my own! I don't know why I feel I need to be in a crowded class to do it.

Yoga is really great to combine with running. I can feel how much less flexible I become immediately after beginning to run (and by "run" I mean walk/jog).

There are also strength-training exercises that complement a yoga practice - I need to investigate this more. Most of the sites I have found so far emphasize how to add yoga to weightlifting, not the opposite. I know I have to focus on "pulling" exercises such as rows and cable pulls and lat pulldowns since yoga is all about pushing (downward dog, planks, lunges, etc).

Let's do more yoga!

Thanks for your reply! I'm not sure what the form I use is. I tore up a book called Richard Hittleman's Yoga: 28-Day Exercise Plan, copied one side of each page, and glued each page and copy of its other side, collage-style, on a board. That was a zillion years ago, and I still have it. I usually do the stretches for about 30 seconds.

The style that you're talking about - staying in poses for quite a while - I encountered at the first formal yoga class I've ever taken, about a month ago. I was just glad to be able to get into those positions! And no doubt holding them longer is super beneficial.

I do that walking/jogging thing, too, in my home, and, ideally, follow it with the yoga. Maybe 18 30-second poses in all, but I do feel that is superior to the quicker, four-basic-stretches cooldown I do when in a hurry.

Emma and Hunger,

To chime in on the yoga practice; I do it at home with a DVD and my preferred routines come from a company called Element. They also have a few routines based around ballet and barre as well.
But Element has what you're describing, Emma. The poses are repeated throughout the routine and they even suggest way to make them more challenging as you get better. The Yoga for Weight Loss routine makes me sweat every time still, even with a fan going.

I love yoga

It's wonderful. I also just bought a new DVD at the Goodwill, that was meant for my dad, as he has been having some back issues. But I'm afraid he might get hurt doing it, just 'cause YOGA. So I'm keeping it for myself, and once again encouraging him to check out yoga for himself. That way he will be invested.

It's called "Yoga for the Rest of Us," a three-DVD set for $3.99, and it's by Peggy Cappy. Love it so far. The first set is done sitting in a chair - yay!! Slow and stretchy, it's just so enjoyable to stretch these muscles in ways they normally don't go, but gently. Shoulder swirls, leg lifts, and twisty arm things (like your forearms are two snakes, twisting together). Doable to the max.

AND I have, where I exercise, two old TVs side by side, so I can watch a show and do these yoga things with the sound turned down. Paradise!

HW ~ Thanks again for all your support!!! Looks like you're doing really well on your weigh-ins. Great idea for the "yoga charts"

crunchy ~ Hurray for yoga routines that make you sweat!

EmmaD ~ Have you ever heard of Yin Yoga? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yin_yoga
What you're describing sounds exactly like that.

~~~
I'm mostly hanging on out here....

Trying not to be too focused on number goals -- just aiming to practice the habits that will get me to the next weight loss level. If I want a BMI of 18, I'm going to have to do what a BMI of 18 requires, which includes saying "no" to some things in order to say "yes" to better things...

I have never really gotten into video yoga. No idea why - it sure would be more convenient! I need to revisit this idea... thanks for the suggestions.

Alexis - a BMI of 18 sounds like a lot of work! My super-amazing ultimate goal would put me at 20.2 (just checked!) and I am about 98% sure that is unattainable for me in a healthy way. Ugggh I just haven't been able to go below 135 pounds/BMI 21.8 in the last few years.

Honestly, I being around 118 pounds/BMI 19 ... that looked fantastic on me, probably because I always had higher body fat so I didn't look scrawny or bony at that weight. So I totally understand wanting to be at the lower end, some bodies just do better there. I spent most of college at a BMI of 18ish and I was never too thin, just slender.

Anyway good luck to you and I hope you have success in your goal.

---

This is from yesterday:
I SHOULD be happy today, I have lost more than 7 pounds in less than a month which is record-breaking in my recent history. I feel like I am really sacrificing every day, I am dedicated to this cause (finally! took me long enough) and I am making a lot of good choices now ...

I WAS happy until I saw a photo taken of me today. I look twice as wide as the girls I am standing next to. Granted they were slender but not dramatically so. I am not giving up, of course - in some ways that just pushes me more - but a part of me just feels so demoralized ...also I wonder about how I looked 7 pounds ago!(ugh don't go there!!) I feel like my weight is not so high that I should look THAT BIG. Somehow it's how my excess weight distributes on me, my body fat etc.

I think I have been in denial about how big I got so it's a shock to see a photo (avoided being photographed for a while now).

I have a pair of "fat pants" I bought when I first started putting on weight up to 142 pounds. I tried to wear them a few weeks ago and they wouldn't even close to button no matter how hard I sucked in! That's actually what kicked my butt in gear to get back on track on the random date of April 13.

It just sickens me that I let this happen (it's because of binge eating and a completely sedentary existence over the last few months). I let this photo derail me and embarked on a mini-binge last night. Luckily I had eaten quite well up until that point so overall it didn't do too much damage.

OK. Whatever. It is what it is, and I'm just venting. I figure some featherweights might understand this craziness.

For now I'm just truckin' along.... trying to stay slightly sane through this process... I keep reminding myself that I've made some steps in the right direction and it's not going to all turn around overnight (I wiiiish...)

What's going on in the world of featherweights? Any good stories to share?