Welcome, Fatpuss! Okay, you're going to have to give the origin of that name! Maybe it means you have a cat that needs to lose weight with you.
Wish there was a magic pill that we could take, but losing weight is a simple equation of letting less and exercising more. I go to aerobics classes and I lift weights. I've gotten myself in the habit of getting up and going every day even though I don't want to. If it all seems too daunting, just start out by changing one thing (e.g., drinking more water), and then work up to controlling your calorie intake, and then add exercise. I've tried a lot of different things, but this is the first time things have "clicked" for me. Not that I don't have my bad days, but definitely not as many as I used to have.
I love fitday.com! Even though I'm on Weight Watchers, I still track my activity and food and then journal the points (Weight Watcher's system).
Today I got a lot of exercise in addition to walking because I was working in the garden and digging post holes. All I can say is "Ow!" My arms and shoulders are sore from digging and shoveling, and my legs are sore from bending over and squatting so much. It will be interesting at aerobics class tomorrow.
Wishing everyone a good week, and hope to see more people here.
Off to another work week. How was your weekend? I often have difficulties sticking to my program during the weekend.
Yesterday we went to an Open House in observance of a young man's high school graduation. Naturally there were edible goodies to be sampled. I did OK and I enjoyed the party greatly.
Have you noticed that life's little celebrations mostly center around FOOD? Who has gone to a wedding or a shower or a reunion of most any type without being confronted with dishes and plates and trays of tempting food items? We are bombarded with food. It happens wherever we go.
But no one is forcing us to eat that food. No one is saying that they will never speak to us again unless we sample that beautiful chocolate cake. No one is reminding us of a new law that says we go directly to jail unless we taste that tempting treat. We each continue to control the fork.
Hi Willow, hope your first day back at work wasn't too bad. I take at least a week to settle down after time off, even after a weekend I am really tired Mondays - probably because I read too late into the night on Sunday! I agree with you, stones are better if one is watching the scales. For example if a person weighs just over , say 21 stone, a two pound loss puts them into the 20 stone something bracket which psychologically seems better. I am aiming to do that by next week. It's kiddology I know but you are right, it is a good marker whereas pounds don't seem to do that for me. My scales are in stones and pounds or I can flick a switch to get it in kilos and grams. I always know if the kids have been on the scales when they visit because they leave the scales on kilos which mean nothing to me. Like you, I used to watch Oprah a lot but we don't get her so much on TV these days. We have a new lady called Queen Latifah and. of course, Montell and Rikki Lake. Has Oprah kept her weight off? You have done really well by losing up to 50lb in the past. Did you notice any relief from your arthritis when you were losing? I think our local sports centre has something similar to Curves and the exercise stations you mentioned. Not as hi-tech as moving platforms etc but I remember my daughter going with her friends a few years ago and asking me to come. All skinny girls so I declined ha ha. I remembered what you said about drinking water this afternoon. About 3pm in work I was starving and feeling like I could just put my head on the desk and sleep. The water did help. The FitDay site is really good - few problems entering foods they don't list but keeps me out of the cake tin whilst entering my daily intake. Did you get on the scales this morning or are you going to stick to your Friday weigh in? Because of the planning yesterday, when I got in from work today I was able to microwave some shepherds pie I made instead of throwing all kinds of cake etc down my throat. Yesterday was a good day though I felt so miserable at the start ie. never been more aware that I should start a plan yet never more reluctant to. I am so glad you were there for me to help start me off - I hope you will let me help support you too and together we can commiserate/laugh at our future ups and downs. It's 11pm so I am off to have a last cup of tea - less milk needed compared to coffee ha ha, getting the hang of this a bit more. Hope your first day back was bearable, x
Hi everyone, and thanks for the welcome, Shiela. I didn't see your posting until I had sent my last one. I am not an expert on this yet. Fatpuss was the name of a cat in a book I used to read to my children when they were very young. All the other cats in the neighbourhood were lithe and thin and could do things Fatpuss couldn't but when it came to rolling down hills and having fun, skinny cats all got bruised etc and Fatpuss proved he was better at some things. Best wishes.
How is everyone doing?
It's nice to come here and see several posts.
JoJo, your obsevation about food always being part of a celebration was well taken. It must be human nature, because it seems that all cultures , back into ancient times have done it.
But, like you say, we control our fork.
I hope your week is a good one.
Puss, it sounds like today has gone well for you.
Today went well for me at work. I woke up about 10 minutes before my alarm was set to ring.
I got an interesting article from Mayo Clinic Newsletter the other day giving some tips on how to get the right amount of sleep. What you said about reading late on Sundays reminded me of it.
The article said to go to bed and get up at the same time every day, even on weekends. I'll see if I can find the article. I always have a hard time staying asleep.
Yes, Oprah has kept her weight off pretty well. She is still a little hippy but I expect that she's just built that way.
Actually, when I lost that 50 pounds, I felt relief from EVERYTHING! I had so much energy, and I was always in a good mood. I thought it was from being outdoors every morning and walking. I wasn't bothered from arthritis so much at that time. That came a few years later.
I must have said something and gave the wrong impression of the stations at CURVES. I meant that there are square platforms at every other station, (in between the hydraulic equipment stations) that we do aerobic exercises on; Things like dancing, jogging in place, walking in place etc. The platforms don't move. We move every 30 seconds to the next station though.
When I was there the other day, there was a couple of skinny women there, and there were a couple pretty heavy ones too. Probably no one as heavy as me, but, if it all works out, I'll get thinner too. That's my goal. To get healthier. And in the process I guess I can't help but get thinner too. I know I'll never be 115 pounds again, but I know I can eat healthy foods and stay active.
As for FitDay; Did you know that once you enter a food, it stays in the RECENT FOODS record? All you have to do is click on foods eaten recently, then scroll down until you come to that food, then click on GO, and it automatically puts it into your foods for that day. Then if you have only, say, 1/2 of that amount, you just change it in the days record, then click SAVE CHANGES.
Also, if you have a food that they don't have, and you have the container it was in, You can click on NEW CUSTOM FOOD, and a nutrition values chart will come up, and you can fill it in with the information off the container you have, and it is permanently in your records too. Then, the next time you have that food, if you can't find it in the RECENT FOODS chart, you will be able to find it in the CUSTOM FOODS chart.
Their chicken breast info is awful, so, I put mine in CUSTOM FOODS from a bag that my chicken breasts came in, and then I use that for chicken breasts, whether it's the same brand or not. I figure it's close enough.
No, I didn't weigh this morning. I'll wait and start with Fridays weight.
A friend at work was happy for me that I'm going to start this, and she said that if I like it and decide to stay with it, she will take out a membership too. That would be sooo nice to have someone that I know going with me to chit chat with.
I'm glad that I could take some of the yukkies out of getting started for you. It always helps if you have someone to talk to through the process.
We'll probably end up with lots of laughs before this is over with.
Let's hope it's more laughs than tears, huh?
Well, I have to go in to work 2 hours early the rest of this week, so I'm going to get all my stuff out and ready for morning, and get to bed early tonight.
More than 100 million people in the United States don't get a good night's sleep on a regular basis. And an additional 33 million Americans have occasional sleepless nights. Sleeping well is not a luxury. It is a necessity.
Sleep deprivation impairs memory, reaction time and alertness. Tired people are less productive at work, less patient with others and less interactive in relationships. Sleep deprivation also can be dangerous.
A study by the American Sleep Apnea Association and Stanford University's Sleep Disorders Clinic and Research Center found that inadequate sleep causes problems similar to drinking too much alcohol. When a tired driver takes the wheel, the results can be disastrous. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that sleepy drivers cause at least 100,000 crashes each year — 40,000 result in injuries and 1,550 are fatal.
10 tips for better sleep
"Adults need 8 full hours of sleep and teens need 9 hours and 15 minutes," says John W. Shepard Jr., M.D., medical director of the Mayo Clinic Sleep Disorders Center, Rochester, Minn. "However, the average person only gets 7 hours and 25 minutes of sleep a night."
The following tips from Dr. Shepard can help you achieve restful sleep. You don't have to use every tip on the list. "What works for one person doesn't always work for another," says Dr. Shepard.
Try one or two or a combination until you have enough quality sleep to feel alert and well rested.
1. Stick to a schedule, and don't sleep late on weekends. If you sleep late on Saturday and Sunday morning, you'll get Sunday night insomnia. Instead, go to bed and get up at about the same time every day. "You don't need to rely on an alarm clock to wake up when you get enough sleep," says Dr. Shepard.
2. Don't eat or drink a lot before bedtime. Eat a light dinner about 2 hours before sleeping. If you drink too much liquid before sleeping, you'll wake up repeatedly in the night for trips to the bathroom.
Don't eat spicy or fatty foods. They cause heartburn.
Don't have a midnight snack. If you get the munchies, eat something that triggers serotonin, which makes you sleepy. Carbohydrates (bread or cereal) or foods containing the amino acid L-tryptophan (milk, tuna, or turkey) will do the trick.
Don't drink alcohol near bedtime. It may cause you to wake up repeatedly, snore and possibly develop sleep apnea.
3. Avoid caffeine and nicotine. They are addictive stimulants and keep you awake. Smokers experience withdrawal symptoms at night, and they have a harder time both falling asleep and waking up.
4. Exercise. If you're trying to sleep better, the best time to exercise is in the afternoon. Physical activity enhances the deep, refreshing stage of sleep.
5. A slightly cool room is ideal for sleeping. This mimics your internal temperature drop during sleep, so turn off the heat and save on fuel bills.
If you tend to get cold, use blankets. Try sleeping in warmer nightclothes and wear socks. Studies show that warm hands and feet induce sleep quickly.
If you overheat at night, wear light nightclothes and sleep under a single sheet. Use an air conditioner or fan to keep the room cool.
Use a dehumidifier if you are bothered by moist air. Use a humidifier if you are bothered by dry air. Signs of dry air irritation include a sore throat, nosebleeds or a dry throat.
6. Sleep only at night. Daytime naps steal hours from nighttime slumber. Limit daytime sleep to 20-minute, power naps.
If you work nights, keep window coverings closed so that sunlight, which interferes with the body's internal clock, doesn't interrupt your sleep.
If you have a day job and sleep at night, but still have trouble waking, leave the window covering open and let the sun's light wake you up.
7. Keep it quiet. Silence is more conducive to sleep. Turn off the radio and TV. Use earplugs, a fan or some other source of constant, soothing, background noise to mask sound that you cannot control, such as a busy street, trains, airplanes or even a snoring partner. Double-pane windows and heavy curtains also muffle outside noise.
8. Make your bed. "A good bed is subjective and different for each person. Make sure you have a bed that is comfortable and offers orthopedic, correct sleep," says Dr. Shepard.
If you share your bed, make sure there is enough room for two.
Use your bed only for sleep and sex.
Go to bed when you are tired and turn out the lights. If you don't fall asleep in 15 minutes, get up and do something else. Go back to bed when you are tired.
Do not agonize about falling asleep. The stress will only prevent sleep.
9. Soak and sack out. Taking a hot shower or bath before bed helps bring on sleep because they can relax the tense muscles.
10. Don't rely on sleeping pills. Check with your doctor before using sleeping pills. Make sure the pills won't interact with other medications or with an existing medical condition.
Use the lowest dosage and never mix alcohol and sleeping pills.
If you feel sleepy or dizzy during the day, talk to your doctor about changing the dosage or discontinuing the pills.
Hi Ladies
Willow, thanks for the good sleep guide - I break rules 1,3,4,5,6 and hubby breaks 7 with his snoring. I couldn't give up my siestas at weekends, if the queen was visiting she would have to wait, such is my luxury habit. Was too tired after work to get the Richard Simmons tape out so did a quick run round with the vacuum cleaner ha ha. I bet you were tired, Willow, putting the extra hours in today at work. Thanks for the tip on customising food on FitDay but one thing puzzles me, what does NFS stand for
in the description of food? I bought myself a cheap pair of training shoes today but when - or if - I ever get round to using them is anyone's guess such is my loathing of exercising. I see by the charts that even semi-skimmed milk is quite heavy in fat/calories so I am taking every other coffee black but arn't we supposed to have milk to protect against osteoporosis? How much per day does a person need? Best wishes x
Fatpuss, do they have fat-free half-and-half in the UK? While I haven't tasted it, others have said it was really good. I get my calcium through fat-free yogurt (one a day) and calcium supplements.
I liked the sleeping guide. I follow most of those rules, but still have trouble staying asleep. I do usually get 6-7 hours, though.
I discovered the key to losing weight! Dig post holes and shovel compost. I've spent the the last three days doing that and I weighed on the gym scale this morning and had lost two pounds since Thursday and I even had a "bad eating day" on Friday. When you look up on fitday.com how many you calories you expend digging post holes and shoveling, it's incredible to see how many calories are burned with those activities.
Hi Girls!
I'm really dragging tonight, so this is going to be short.
Wow, Sheila, you really did some heavy duty work there. I bet it really feels good to have that loss though. congratulations.
I do love FitDay. You can keep track of so many things in one place.
I do the same thing you do for calcium. I have FF cheese, yogurt, skim milk in my cereals, and I take a couple calcium tablets a day. But, if you want to actually drink the milk, I guess we could just check out the food pyramid. I guess it's 2 or 3 servings a day of any of the 3 I just named.
Puss, I think most of us break the sleep rules, or at least some of them.
I'm not real sure what the NS or NSF means on FitDay, but I think it means that there isn't any specific type of the food used in the calculations. Like steak, I think, it usually doesn't specify if it's a ribeye, or sirloin, or whatever. Bacon too. Doesn't specify whether it's side bacon or belly, ....
Maybe I'm wrong, but I THINK that's what it means.
I have better luck getting up a little early and doing my exercise tapes in the mornings. If I wait till I get home from work, it's too easy to talk myself out of it.
That's why I'm hoping this works for me at Curves. If I do it with someone else I'm more likely to keep doing it. Especially at the end of the day.
Actually, I think exercise, especially standing exercises, is just as good to prevent osteoporosis as drinking milk. But, everything isn't for all of us, so I guess if we just do the best we can for OUR likes and dislikes, we'll do alright.
I should go get a pair of shoes too. I have tons of shoes, but they don't like for you to wear street shoes into the equipment area, and most of the women leave the shoes they use there right at Curves. I have a white pair of canvas shoes that i haven't worn for a year at least. I should try them on and see if they fit me and how they feel.
Well ladies, I need to get ready for bed now.
Have a good evening, and I'll look for your messages tomorrow.
Hi Ladies, Sheila - you make me feel guilty talking of digging post holes and shovelling, just reading about it made me feel like rushing for the sofa. You are right though, certainly will burn up the calories. Willow, all the worry about the fat content in the milk was due to an error in entering on FitDay. I entered the constituents correctly for semi-skimmed milk but entered the amount in fluid ounces when I thought I was entering mililitres. The difference in amounts in terrific which is why I was shocked at the amount of fat. Ha ha. It was like entering a bucket full of milk! Back to drinking milk again now. I was really good today in work, a colleague who always feeds me with dark chocolate when he returns from Germany was stunned when I couldn't be tempted. I think he feels it won't last but this is the longest I have lasted on a plan so far even though it's only been four days. I know that weekends will be worse so I hope I get enough resolve to finally get Richard Simmons out of the video cabinet. What kind of a day did you all have? Best wishes x
It shows all the different cultural food pyramids, like ours, Asian, Mediterranean, etc.
I haven't been real careful with my foods this week, but you can't go REAL wrong when you are working for 10 hours, and go to bed at 9 PM.
But, after Friday I have to be serious about it.
Sheila, how are you feeling today? I bet your muscles are still sore, huh?
You had said that you go to a health gym, and also lift weights?
Do you lift bar bells or dumb bells, and do you lift every day, changing body areas each day? I like to lift hand weights, but I don't make a steady thing of it, and I should. I think I always feel better when I'm doing it on a more regular basis.
Do you usually go to the gym every day? And do you use exercise machines or take classes? Or both?
Are you tired of me asking questions?
OK, I'll move on to the others.
Puss, how did your day go today? Did you get any kind of exercise in, or did you decide to wait on it again? That first big step is the doozey, then after that I think it kind of grows on you.
How were the foods today? I had waffles with peanut butter and peach marmalade for breakfast. A fat free yogurt for 9 AM break. A piece of chicken breast and Kashi pilaf for lunch and shrimp stirfry for supper.
Well, I guess I better get moving before I fall asleep sitting here like I did last night. I also have to throw in a load of clothes so I can wash a couple pairs of white tennis shoes.
I'll check back later to see if anyone has posted.
JoJo, where have you been? And Anagram, Bubbles, Loon2, Bandit2, Claudette, and Ceejay, how are all of you doing? I'd send an individual note to each of you, but you haven't posted since the last time I did, so I don't know what to say because I don't know what's been going on with you all.
I hope you're all doing well. Drop in and let us know.
Too funny about the milk, Puss. And congratulations on not being tempted by that chocolate. Okay, I'm sure you were tempted, but you didn't give in--yahoo!
Willow, I'm not all that sore, surprisingly. I go to the Y and use the machines and do a little bit of free weights. At my aerobics class, we do these rubber band-type things for resistance work. That give you a good muscle workout, too. I actually think I see some muscles developing--it's so cool!
Sounds like a pretty good food day for you, Willow. I had a minibagel with 6 slices of Hillshire Farms deli ham (1 pt. for Weight Watchers) and a wedge of Laughing Cow Light cheese for breakfast. Then some FF yogurt for a snack. For lunch I had veggie potstickers from Trader Joe's cooked with a little chili oil. They are so good and only 210 calories for 6 of them. I also had pita bread and eggplant hummus from Trader Joe's plus some baby carrots. Had an afternoon snack of soy nuts, and dinner was a chicken breast from a recipe in Cooking Light--was really good!--and a salad with low-fat cilantro dressing from Trader Joe's plus some beets. I love Trader Joe's! Oh, and I always have a Skinny Cow fudge bar for dessert. I realized I had no fruit today, but until berries and melons come into season more, I don't eat as much fruit as I should. My total calories were about 1250.
I'm still plugging away on a day-to-day basis. We have been having a cold spring here so my walking takes more of an effort than I like. I am still doing it, but yearn for warmer weather. Yesterday it was in the 40's when I did my walking in the afternoon, so I was wearing a sweatshirt.
I agree with everyone that weekends are more difficult. IMHO we let down our guard a bit on the weekends, which allows us to cheat a bit. But that's OK, life is to be enjoyed.
Everyne, drink that water, exercise faithfully, munch those veggies, and stay positive. And keep smiling -
