Did I say I was going to start on Monday? Well, I MEANT Tuesday...
No, really, I have to get this started!!!
I love early morning too, but I love sleeping more.....
Friends for life: Ive been doing south beach since march.. and i havent reallly added much back in after phase 1, still no bread, no pasta, no tato's, no startchy veggies..no rice which makes it basically a diabetic diet..
i try to replace sugar with splenda.. the only thing i have really added back are some fruits
Starting Day 12 here. Ah, at last, the numbers start to sound like they feel, which is like I've been doing this for weeks and weeks! I feel good about myself for not having had any alcohol last night. They even asked me, "are you sure you don't want anything harder?" and "don't you drink?" and I just said, "No, I do drink, but I don't want to drink tonight." End of story. It was nice. Of course, these were sensible people I was with, runners and stuff, not the guzzling young guys I work with at the paper.
Well, today I am determined to get to the gym and start back feeling like I am athletic and fit. It makes all the difference in how one feels, I think. Start acting a certain way and the rest will follow. This is what I have to remember.
Apple -- I hear you on the not wanting to get started yet...at least you're trying! But you are on your no-beer, no-unsocial-alcohol challenge, right? You asked about racing...it's year-round here, but the big races, the top-level and ones with the biggest purses, are in the spring and fall. And some of those are open to foreign-based horses. Hong Kong is big in racing and the proximity of it means horses have a good chance of doing well even after the trip here. So, I get work sometimes from them. This past race, I was working for the Hong Kong people and then wrote up a report on the race for both the States and Britain. Yeah, with the exercise it's hard to maintain any sort of workout program when you're busy. Walking doesn't seem to do much for me but I guess if I didn't do it, I'd be even bigger so I'll just take what I'm doing and be happy with it. I am going to say, as long as I don't gain during a busy time, I will be happy. When I don't have work, that's when I'm going to try to make progress with fat-burning, muscle-building and cardio fitness.
Fish -- Sure, that's what they all say!! Damn, get a grip on the boozin' Just kidding! I think it's a good idea to wait to you have the max. three days of puase days. When you realize that that's like one free day every week (though of course you just extend the challenge) it makes it a lot easier psychologically. I would do the first two challenges with something that you DO instead of something you DON'T DO. I think that's easier to cope with. Pushups are going great, aren't they? I think you could do 21 by the end! So, are you running a second challenge parallel to the pushups? Guess so. Wow, I think for me counting calories would be the absolute hardest thing for me to do. I hate math!! What I could do would be perhaps to set a menu and just eat the same thing all the time once I had figured the calorie count. That would actually work for me better. Course it may hogtie my social life...oh, that's right, I don't have one of those! As for the getting up early, you gotta go to bed early too, at least that's the only way I can do it. Or do whatever you do half asleep and then go back to bed. You get used to it, believe me. And like chaps, the early morning is a great time really. I've gotten so I really love being out early too.
Oh, yes, and a belated Happy New Year to you! I saw that it is something like the year 5,000 and something. Wow!
friends -- You are moving right along. And I'm glad to see your challenge of posting here has gotten you rolling again. I think it was your strategy of kind of taking the pressure off you that may have worked. Kind of like when I say, I'm just going to go to the gym, I don't have to do anything and then once I'm there I do a lot. Glad to see it's working for you! And, have the headaches stopped totally now? Do you think it was the sugar you're missing or maybe caffeine. There's a lot of hidden caffeine in chocolate and so. Were you eating a lot of that or drinking soda? Oh, and sorry about the mistake in the pounds lost. I was thinking, 12 days, 12 lbs. But wow, 9 pounds is utterly fantastic. You must be psyched!
Chaps -- Hello there. Sorry I haven't been posting to anyone really individually, except for once when I started going back through the posts and only got through a few. I just do it from the latest to the oldest. Congrats on getting through Day 9. Wow, I can't believe you've come this far already. And you haven't taken any pause days, have you? I know you don't like to do them, right? Your talk about the ab workouts and how they made you feel is starting to get me psyched about working out again. I think I have had the same gut so long now that I no longer believe it is possible to lose it. This is what I need, some true inspiration, something to believe in. And yes, I know the N.Y. sky. It is beautiful and I miss it. My dad is from Queens and I still have relatives there. I find it amazing though that you get your laps done BEFORE the sun rises. Stellar!
Oh, and yes, the race was an emotional rollercoaster. They often are. Because the non-winners usually disappear back to the stables or back to the owners' boxes immediately I usually don't get to talk to them, especially if I'm writing a story, because I'll just focus on the winner. But this last time, I had talked a lot to one of the other Hong Kong horse's people and they did poorly in the race. I would have liked to have said something at least but of course they had disappeared and I was busy out with the winners who were screaming and hugging and kissing (these are Hong Kong people, not Japanese...they would never get touchy feely... ) so it was the usual extreme contrast in things that always kind of leaves me a bit drained. Still, I am used to it now so it's okay. The real horrible thing is when a horse breaks down on the track and you have the winners celebrating and the horse out there still...that is horrible. Every race all I hope for is that everyone gets through it okay.
curly -- Good luck on your new challenge. It sounds like a real tough one. And your eating sounds fabulous, though way too restrictive for me. You must be losing weight like crazy, no? But your weight tracker doesn't seem to have changed. Is it down and you just haven't changed it yet? I hope so.
Ok, I gotta get some breakfast in me! I'll be back to talk to the rest of you!
By the way, carla, where are you?!?!?! Come in here and talk to us!
hey RED... heres an idea when they press ya to have a drink... just tell them u are taking some medication that u cant mix with booze..
sigh yes Im battling the great plateau.... up 2 lbs down 4 , but i did lose one lb last week... and i think some of the ups are due to my increased circuit training... I do see very obvious big changes in my body... slow and steady... Ive lost real fast before (120 lbs) only to have it come back when i stopped the diet...
this time its a lifetime change.. I have no intentions of ever going back to eating the things ive cut out on a regular basis... when i meet my goal i may allow myself one free day every 2 weeks to have something i am really craving...
But i have come to realize that the way we eat is just crazy.. and that you can actually remake anything into a healthy version...
Heh, curly, well, in light of you being on a major plateau, then your determination is all the more impressive! Being in Japan has no doubt had a huge effect on the way I eat and it is no longer crazy. If I were in the States it would be another story. Whenever I go back, I am in shock at the portions and the fat and everything else....for about three days....then I slowly start chowing down. If that were coupled with the drive-everywhere, walking-is-weird lifestyle I see so much of (except in cities like NY) I would soon be packing on the pounds. If I ever get back to the States I am hoping the habits I've made here can help me. I'm sure they will.
As for the excuses not to drink..I would NEVER talk about medication... If I did that, I can just imagine the rumors!! Jeez, guess what she's caught.... Nah, just kidding, actually, I have no problem saying no to people. It's the saying no to myself that is the problem. With a big night out beerin' it's not about the booze of course, it's the wild drunken fun, the arguing, the laughing, the doing crazy things...that's what I find not doing really hard, what I WANT to do because I am the one havng the most fun. Really, something like last night, which would have been a couple drinks just to keep the tears of boredom back would have made me feel horrible and that's why it was easy. Thanks though for your concern....maybe you are now even more concerned about me!
Well, good luck on keeping on keeping on. You are a rock!
Last edited by redballoon; 10-04-2005 at 09:28 PM.
Even without orders from the I was intending to post tonight. Somehow i just don't seem to have the energy to do much when I've been working, and then I can't think of anything interesting to say (unlike my usual drivel...) I'm very lucky tonight because I have my little Lily helping me type this. She's in a rambunctious mood, bouncing all over the place and trying to climb my pantleg. I've never had a little kitten before, so I had no idea how adorable they are or what a pile of doting mush they turn their owners into.
I'm on Day 13, so far so good. I haven't taken a rest day yet, but might sneak one in tomorrow or Thursday - Friday is my rhinoplasty, and I expect it will be fairly easy to finish the last few days while recovering. I almost docked myself a rest day on Sunday - I ate an incredibly sweet and not very good date square while celebrating a good friend's successful house sale. Maybe it would be a good idea for me to have a challenge involving NOT finishing food that isn't even very good. Hand in my membership in the clean plate club, so to speak. Anyway, it wasn't wine or chocolate or candy, so I gave myself a break.
Curly, I don't know how you can eat such a restricted diet! I often contemplate doing SB, but then I read the food list and realize I just can't. My hope for the future is to one day be able to eat what I want and want what I should eat, if that makes any sense. Congrats on finishing your challenge!!
Red, good for you not having drinks! It's not easy. At one point I started telling people I was on medication and couldn't have alcohol. (Of course I was on meds, but it certainly never stopped me before.) Will I ever be forgiven for introducing the whole abstention concept to this thread? Do you have other work lined up now that the race is over, or will you be "resting" and worrying about your sorry financial state? Glad to know you're planning to head back to the gym.
The Gazelle I ordered is in Ottawa with UPS - they of course only deliver during working hours, and I'm working so far this week. I tried to arrange delivery for next Tues when I'll be at home recovering with my black eyes and bulbous schnozz, but somehow the message didn't get to the guy who tried to deliver again this afternoon. Once I recover from the surgery, I'm really going to stop lying around and do some moving. Spinning classes start in November, and the class I go to caters to triathletes (zero body fat, boundless energy, freakish mutant metabolisms... I have no idea how I ended up there, but I do serve as an object lesson on of what might happen to them if they ever stopped moving) so it would be a good idea to get a little work in ahead of time. I think of it as my weekly humiliation, although it's kind of a thrill to actually get thru the class, however pathetically.
Chaps, you mention watery, gooey flab around the middle. Have you got a spyhole into my house or something?
I really wish I knew how to split the screen here or something so I could refer to your posts as i write. Sometimes when I shuttle back and forth from your posts, mine disappears, and I'm not risking that tonight. So my apologies to all those I've been neglecting.
Carla - if you use the Go Advanced function instead of the Post Quick Reply, you can go back 15 entries without losing your entry. Another tip is to highlight the whole lot and copy it (Ctrl + C) every so often in case you lose it and I certainly do that before I click on Submit - I've lost too many posts not to copy. Oh and for those who don't know (Ctrl+V) will paste it back it. Don't mean to treat anyone like a dummy, it's just that this sort of thing is what I do for a living - teach people in the workplace how to use computer programs.
Hey Red, the last time I went to the States, the Cheesecake Factory served me up a meal which I had doggy bagged and which lasted me for 3 days!!! I'm used to large size meals in Australia, but that was bbbbbbbbbiiiiiiiiiiiigggggggggggggg. I now prefer the meals (similar to Chinese) where they put dishes on a lazy susan in the middle of the table and you all get to try out whatever you want.
I'm coming up to Nagoya at the end of the month (22 days but who is counting) so will no doubt get some Japanese size meals which will be nice. Last time I was up there, I broke a plateau and lost 2kg while on holiday. May the same thing happen this time.
Okay, I will get caught up here. Wow, there were so many posts from last week when I just got too busy to keep up. Like I said, thanks all for holding the fort!
Silly -- You are almost done! Great going!! That early morning walk would be tough, but I understand why it's even possible, seeing as your boyfriend just gets in then. How nice of him to walk with you. Is he supportive of your weight loss efforts? Hope the head and your knees feel better. Got any ideas yet about what your next challenge is going to be about? So, what was the story about the kids at the bus stop? Nothing bad, I hope.
Shad -- You, too, have come so far! You must be very happy with yourself! Thanks for your help with motivated on the rules and carla on the computer. Your job sounds interesting. I love teaching people who don't have a clue and feel bad about it. I taught a 70-year-old guy at work how to paginate on the computer. Lessons started with how to move the mouse! A "senior moment".... I also like the "neither use nor ornament"...! You've got some great expressions! Well, congrats on the meaurements too. Looks like you're shrinking! I have no idea what they (the measurements) all look like but I hope you're liking the changes! What is a "high day" by the way? How did the diabetes test go? I hope you proved those doctors wrong! I'm sure you're a miracle! And, thanks for the note on the wallet. I still haven't given the girl who picked it up a reward, but i think I will. Even if she didn't do anything all that great, I am sooooo thankful to have it back. Well, hang in there! and good luck on continuing your challenge! We're about neck and neck.
Heh, any chance of you coming up to Tokyo? We could meet up. Is your friend still in the hospital in Nagoya? Also, end of this month, I will be going to Kyoto for a big race (possible triple crown winner) and go through Nagoya on the train. I could stop, spend a day perhaps coming or going. We should see if we can't meet up perhaps. It'd be a shame for you to come all this way and not meet. Tell me more.
mez -- Where have you gone? You were posting like crazy there and now I haven't heard from you in a while...or at least it seems like a while. Everything okay?
Are you still on your challenge. Getting near a week down by now, no? What, by the way, is a George Forman (Foreman?). Isn't that a boxer? You got him in your kitchen?! Wow! I'd like him in my kitchen...well, maybe not the kitchen....then again...ok, sure why not?!
Is it YOUR birthday coming up? I, too, like the way you are doing the pep talk in the mirror. That sounds sweet and that's what we need...course, not the kind that comes in brightly colored wrappers....
And, speaking of bright colors, I like your colorful posts lately. Also, thanks for the words on the wallet too. I don't think there's any worry at all with the credit cards. They obviously weren't touched. All the cash (there wasn't much to begin with) was still there. Just a young girl, maybe high school age, they are honesty embodied here, really!
Hope to hear from you real soon!
vanessa -- You are doing so well. I am really proud of you! 4 lbs down! Wow! Where do you weigh in, by the way? Just at home or are you a member of some group? Yeah, I hear you on the eating days. The body is just always adjusting for us and looking out for us. Changes in hormonal balances affect appetite and all that. Just go with the flow. The female body is like the moon, going through phases of waning and waxing. It'll take care of the little fluctuations. We gotta take care not to go hog wild!! ah, I would love to be in my 40s, other than my age...I will get there, you bet!
Sweet -- Congrats on making it through Day 10! Your exercise level is an impressive one!! I'll bet you're feeling yourself tone up! That soreness you feel is "good pain." I miss it. Gonna get me some today! Great save on not eating that candy! It helps when the calories are right there...of course, that is, if you read it. I've gotten good at looking the other way, allowing my eyes to unfocus if the numbers unexpectedly come into view. It's kind of like how I was with store windows and mirrors! Because I live alone (the cats aren't in to sweets) I don't have a problem with temptation. If it's sitting in the room, it's very hard not to reach out and ..well, you know the rest of the story.
marble -- Oh, no! Back to Day 1. Not taking a pause day? I think you were pretty early on though, ( 4 days?) so maybe it's better not to. Or did you force yourself to exercise that evening? You really sound to be having a hard time of it with the poison ivy. Itchy! Hope things get better real soon. Hope things get better at work, too!
Where, by the way, does 30 miles south of NYC put you? Out somewhere in the Atlantic? or in Joizey? Hmm, I should get into the yoga again. It's such a wonderful feeling when you start to get a little more flexible. Your body can just relax so much more. Marb, I'm sure you have functioning ab muscles! If you didn't you'd probably be walking with your nose to your knees. I hear you on the hearing loss from too much (is that possible) rock and roll! How's the rebounder going. That is great for your balance. Cat on the rebounder... Heh, what has happened to your coach, by the way?!? I am 46 and yes, the sugar and white flour seem to stay on more easily the older I get. Then again, it could just be that I don't exercise as much. I find that I am more able to just move more slowly. I think that's a mental thing that is actually good in a way but it means I am not expending as much physical energy as before either. I guess the two are really one. If you're getting your heartrate up on the gazelle, you should start sweating eventually. Either that, or your place is an icebox? Do you gazelle in the buff?
carla -- Heh, good to see you again! So glad you came back. Your post had been laughing quite a few times! Ah, the cute kitten, yes, I do know how adorable they are. I have had plenty. So, doting mush is it? I can remember back when I had four kittens racing to the sink when I was getting their food and the feel of 16 little paws climbing my legs (thankfully clothed)! Oh, and the way they leap with their paws stretched out and wide...stop, stop! I cannot get another cat! Well, I'm surprised to hear you are still sticking to your challenge! Good for you! I thought the silence meant you had chickened out. So glad to be wrong.
The challenge idea of not eating what you don't really want really speaks to me. It would be hard to determine though. But, yes! I do that a lot and I've been noticing it recently. It's strange, first to be doing it and moreso to be noticing it. It's definitely a throwback to childhood, when my parents made me clean up everything. I would stubbornly sit there at the table, food packed in my cheek, refusing to swallow, until the dreaded trip to the bottom of the cellar stairs, where I sit in the dark until some noise in the corner made me swallow and go racing back to safety. WhenI got older I learned from my older brother about how to make food disappear down the toilet or into the outside garbage cans. Unfortunately, by that time, I was very good at finishing everything and then some, whether I hated it or not. Old habits die hard, don't they?
Yes, you have really pulled the drinkers out into the open here, haven't you? It's a good thing you didn't come out with..."My challenge is to cut back to only rolling two joints a day cause they give me the munchies.."
You got it, race is over, worrying about where the next work is to come from. I am mega ticked off about the lack of work and how the companies that are supposed to be providing me with translation work just don't come through. Then, perhaps one night, about 11 p.m. they'll wake me from my slumber and say, we got something that needs to be done by 4 a.m. Can you do it? And me, ready to leap at any scrap....nah! I won't do it! Not unless it had a huge fee attached. I just need regular work is what I need, measly pay perhaps but enough to cover the bills...hmm...actually, measly wouldn't cut it..
The spinning class (I take it these are bicycles, not yarn, right?) had me laughing again. I know the triathlete types. Around me they are the competing bodybuilders. At least most of the big contests are over now and they are all porking out again. I am sure they are all obsessed, unable to stop for fear of blowing up...yes, all very pathetic. Be glad you're not there. As far as I'm concerned, you gotta work hard AND play hard! Well, hope your gazelle gets there soon. Think your cats will get along with it? Predator and prey and all that......okay, don't mind me. I am enjoying my first real day of no work and despite the fear of no money, am feeling punchy.
Good luck and write often! I think I speak for everyone when I say, "We miss you!"
Okay, that about does it! I am caught up! Hurrah!
Last edited by redballoon; 10-05-2005 at 07:09 AM.
Red, my friend is out of hospital and moseying along with the aid of a stick. She says she is feeling better every day. But she also says that she has big problems with the tingling in the hands and feet - it drives her crazy!
We will be in Mizunami and travelling to and from Nagoya - we are not going too far afield because of her problems. She certainly can't cope with the amount of exercise I do - so I'll be running in the early am and slowing down for the rest of the day.
We have plans to do the Toyota Factory (you get to see the cars being built and then get to sit in the expensive show room varieties - look out for Shad in a top model Toyota), a pottery place where we get to create and decorate something, a shrine, garden, castle and possibly the Noritake place if it is still there. Oh and she has a pupil going to a speech competition one day so we will be there to cheer him on.
I think I still have your phone numbers from where happy2bme sent them, so I will definitely give you a ring. Ah yes and the dates are 27th October evening arrival. Leave 8th November evening flight. If we can meet up I'd love it. If not well phone call will have to suffice.
Ok didn't get a chance to post last night but i finished day 10 I went on my gazelle for 35 mins, did some weigt lifting, sit-ups, and stayed within my points, drank lots of water and write in my food journal. I weigh in at home red, i try not to weigh in during the week because i find when i do that then i end up not eating good if theres a slight increase during the week. Everybody keep up the good work!
Day 13 done - just. Very nearly had to take a pause day there. But I've scraped through on portions and carbs. Exercise is done for the week - it was a great workout tonight. Water - have to finish this glass in front of me and that is just done too.
catchup part 1......
Just kidding! I think it's a good idea to wait to you have the max. three days of puase days. When you realize that that's like one free day every week (though of course you just extend the challenge) it makes it a lot easier psychologically. I would do the first two challenges with something that you DO instead of something you DON'T DO. I think that's easier to cope with. Pushups are going great, aren't they? I think you could do 21 by the end! So, are you running a second challenge parallel to the pushups? Guess so. Wow, I think for me counting calories would be the absolute hardest thing for me to do. I hate math!! What I could do would be perhaps to set a menu and just eat the same thing all the time once I had figured the calorie count. That would actually work for me better. Course it may hogtie my social life...oh, that's right, I don't have one of those! 
As for the getting up early, you gotta go to bed early too, at least that's the only way I can do it. Or do whatever you do half asleep and then go back to bed. You get used to it, believe me. And like chaps, the early morning is a great time really. I've gotten so I really love being out early too.
And, have the headaches stopped totally now? Do you think it was the sugar you're missing or maybe caffeine. There's a lot of hidden caffeine in chocolate and so. Were you eating a lot of that or drinking soda? Oh, and sorry about the mistake in the pounds lost. I was thinking, 12 days, 12 lbs. But wow, 9 pounds is utterly fantastic. You must be psyched! 
Come in here and talk to us! 
If I did that, I can just imagine the rumors!! 
I was intending to post tonight. Somehow i just don't seem to have the energy to do much when I've been working, and then I can't think of anything interesting to say (unlike my usual drivel...) I'm very lucky tonight because I have my little Lily helping me type this. She's in a rambunctious mood, bouncing all over the place and trying to climb my pantleg. I've never had a little kitten before, so I had no idea how adorable they are or what a pile of doting mush they turn their owners into.
catchup part 2.....
That early morning walk would be tough, but I understand why it's even possible, seeing as your boyfriend just gets in then. How nice of him to walk with you. Is he supportive of your weight loss efforts? Hope the head and your knees feel better. Got any ideas yet about what your next challenge is going to be about? So, what was the story about the kids at the bus stop? Nothing bad, I hope.
That soreness you feel is "good pain." I miss it. Gonna get me some today! 
I went on my gazelle for 35 mins, did some weigt lifting, sit-ups, and stayed within my points, drank lots of water and write in my food journal. I weigh in at home red, i try not to weigh in during the week because i find when i do that then i end up not eating good if theres a slight increase during the week. Everybody keep up the good work!
Day 14 down!
