Just putting 2 and 2 together here -- Mel, you say you didn't have a real wedding since you eloped -- and your 25th annniversary is right around the corner -- are you going to renew your vows? Do the whole wedding thing NOW -- cake, dress etc? Register for more china?
I've often thought how much more fun it would be to get married now than when I was 24. Now I could invite all my friends and have a big old party! Back then I was just finishing law school and left all the wedding plans and details to my stepmother (and she's not a wicked one, not by a long-shot), but consequesntly it turned into a wedding for the parents, not us.
Our 25th is next June and my dream is a trip to Hawaii.
Sorry that I have been MIA as well guys but I have had a very stressful week in which I nearly lost my Dad and I nearly quit my job. Anyway, I don't want to go over it again but needless to say it was **** week. (using a military reference)
Glad to see that all of you guys are doing great! Re: maintenance - I lost the majority of my fat last year and have been maintaining since Christmas. I am ready to lose the next chunk soon! I am starting to get that frustration swelling up in me again where I just have to do it!
It's taking a lot of strength to not jump straight into my plan now... But I know that with grad school, work, exams, my Dad and soccer finals - to implement a plan now would be too much stress and worry - I would most likely burn out before I finished it.
Well girls, once again, thanks for the support. I am done my first BFL challenge, I quit my 'helper' job at WW, and did not feel bad.
Ohhh... but hubby treated me to an hour long massage from the sports therapist at the physio he goes to (for his crap knee) and I am ADDICTED!! I feel soooo much better and will not be waiting 12 weeks to go see her again. She had to shake me twice to wake me up!!! Gave me some good stretches for my super tight hamstrings, told me to do more than 20 mins of yoga a week and said to come back and see her in 4 weeks.... you bet your bottom dollar I will be there!
AAAhhhh horsey smells!! I used to keep my tack and blankets in my room!! I loved the smell of horses as a kid growing up. Much better than picking eggs or feeding pigs, yuckky yuck yuck yuck. I still can't eat pork after growing up on a farm!! Blech. I am such a city girl now!
Well... we are off to purchase a George Foreman grill.... hubby's office has one and he is addicted to it, has a million ideas of what to cook in it...
Also going out to a local italian place for dinner tonight, to celebrate my end to BFL challenge one. I am looking forward to a week of carbs, no weight bearing exercise and walking and 2 pt treats... HEY!! Who snuck that in there?? ha ha ha
My final say before I let the WW anger go... the program works for some, I agree with that, and it worked for me. Heck, it got me to the point where I wanted to personally push myself further. I commend them on that, and I would have reached goal, and moved on happily ever after BUT I was treated poorly by one person and I took offense, and I left.
Moving onto better things... LIKE CHALLENGE TWO!!
So girls... there was mention of a LWL challenge, is this still on?
I personally think that WW was MUCH better in the 60's - right in the beginning when Jean Nieditch (sp?) was running things. (If you look at used-book sites, there's an interesting little paperback called "They Lost Three Tons" (or maybe it was two or six tons? Will have to look that up) that has stories from the old WW Magazine (here's a bit of trivia - the WW Magazine was launched by one of the three men who devised the Diners' Club Card - one of the first credit cards - back in the very early 50's...interesting story behind that one too!). WW seemed a lot friendlier...don't know if that's the word I'm looking for...back in the beginning...also, the diet was FAR more restrictive but (IMO of course) far more effective as well - very high-protein, and this was before the plethora of WW products hit the shelves...IMO again, I think that one of the main driving forces behind the change in the WW diet (to "eat whatever you want!") was due to the fact that if the program allowed virtually anything, then of course they could put out a lot more food products, right?
The first time I went to WW, my mom took me...I believe I was 11 or 12 at the time - easily the youngest in the room! They were still pretty much on the 'old' program at the time...with the famous mandatory liver meal once a week (my sisters loved that one - NOT...actually my dad LOVES liver and onions so he was thrilled...which is more than I could say for myself!) and still high protein. Shortly thereafter WW introduced (with much fanfare) air-popped popcorn and peanut butter to the 'legal' foods, and so it all began...now it seems they feel they have to completely change the diet every other year (the last time I did it, they were on Fat and Fiber - hardly anyone lost weight on that just counting fat and fiber grams, because of course you can eat a box of Snackwells' and follow it up with some bran cereal, right? )
I dunno if you gals have ever read an interesting little book called Diary of a Fat Housewife by Rosemary Green...but thinking about WW brought to mind her entry of 30 June 1990 (when she weighed 218 pounds...Rosemary noted that day's weight at the top of each day's entry) about her sister Rebecca who was also fat (all her brothers and sisters, along with her parents, also had eating control problems - Rebecca had gotten down to 117 pounds a few years before - the diary starts in 1983 and ends around 1992 - but by then had zoomed back up to her heaviest weight) and WW products:
Quote:
When Rebecca stopped by a few days ago, she stepped out of her car with a box of Weight Watchers ice cream bars. Okay, now I will tell you one of the things about Weight Watchers desserts that just kills me. The Weight Watchers name has given many fat people the green light to eat. If it says Weight Watchers, cram it in. Rebecca is a perfect example.
With a box of Weight Watchers ice cream bars tucked neatly under one arm, Rebecca sat down by me on my front porch. She offered me one. She said, "They're only 110 calories." I reached for one, thinking, "That's not too bad. I eat fudge bars that are 100 calories." Then the question came to me. How many grams of fat? My fudge bars have no fat, but these Weight Watchers bars? 7 grams per 1.7 ounce bar! Forget it. I've learned enough about fat that those 7 grams made the ice cream lose its appeal for me. I felt wholesome sitting there refusing foods that were bad for me and my diet. It was such a refreshing change for me!
Then Rebecca opened another of those slim, little Weight Watchers ice cream bars...and another. She offered one to Tiffany and Jeremy, who were talking with us. As she ate her fourth and fifth Weight Watchers bars, I had to struggle to choke down a laugh. Think about the contradiction here; a person worrying about her weight, eating 5 ice cream bars in a row. Rebecca offered Jeremy and Tiffany one more and also Matthew, who popped his head out to say hi.
I must admit, it was almost impossible to keep a straight face when Rebecca opened her 6th ice cream bar. Yikes! We were now up to 660 calories and 42 grams of fat! But she didn't stop there. She finished off that box by eating her seventh Weight Watchers ice cream bar. Weight Watchers! It just kills me. It almost screams out, "If you want to watch yourself put on some real weight, eat me!"
Then Rebecca said, "Today, I only ate seven bars. I'll be okay. When I eat all twelve, it does get a little too rich." Oh, crazy, crazy world. Can you believe it? I've talked with many people who buy Weight Watchers food products and practice the following philosophy: As long as it says Weight Watchers, you can eat all you want. My friend Emily, who lost over 100 pounds on a liquid diet, but is dangerously obese again, keeps her freezer crammed full of Weight Watchers, Lean Cuisine, and Jenny Craig foods. She eats some of those foods...and the regular dinner everyone else in her family eats, too.
Hey! There's no magic in the stuff. If you want to lose weight, you have to cut down your caloric intake. It's that simple. If Weight Watchers, Lean Cuisine, or Jenny Craig foods motivate you to be disciplined, great. Buy all you want. But believe me, when you buy a package of twelve Weight Watchers ice cream bars and then eat them all at once, you're only making Weight Watchers richer and yourself fatter. They're taking money off of you, not pounds!
God, I love that passage...a MOST interesting book indeed. (it's out of print now, but if you go to half.com there are TONS of copies available...make sure to get the paperback as it has the 'special bonus section' that isn't in the hardcover version). Actually I'm guilty of that myself - buying a ton of WW goodies (along with the ice-cream products, I used to like those little apple snacks in the pouch...do they still make 'em?) and while I didn't sit and eat the whole box all at once (not that I can recall anyway) they certainly didn't last long!
Mel...it's your anniversary huh?? Have a good one!!! Woo hoo! (isn't the 25th one of those JEWELRY anniversaries??? Hmm...)
JC - I think you're doing the right thing, totally...I am a big believer in losing weight slowly - losing a percentage and then HOLDING that weight for awhile before attempting to lose more. (that book I'm reading "Fed Up!" has a whole chapter on it advising "don't be in a hurry" - I actually went ahead and bought a copy of the book, it's THAT good IMO - Mike Fumento's book "Fat of the Land" advocates slow weight-loss as well - I've quoted that a few times here.) My personal opinion is that it's kind of like the setpoint theory...your body gets accustomed to being at a certain level if it's allowed to remain there for awhile...I don't know if this is valid scientifically though, but it makes sense to me - if a setpoint exists and it can be raised, why shouldn't it be able to be lowered as well?
Well...gotta run for now...going to do a bit of moderate cardio, come home, eat something, and then hoof it on over to the stable! (Jim and I are watching my 7 year old nephew this morning so we're taking him along with us - with a 5-pound bag of carrots... )
Wow Karen that was an eye-opening passage!! As a past WW follower, I can relate. I started doing WW back in 1988, and have been on and off it since. Back then, they had the exchange system. Week 1 was very limited in food and "optional" calories. It was definitely more high protein then, plus they did not limit things like cheese During the 90's is when it went to a more low-protein format. I also remember in the early nineties that they had the choice of the regular exchange program or the fat and fiber diet, where you counted fat and fiber grams. During the that time I did the Susan Powter diet - mega high carb/low lowfat diet. She did not do any meat, but did not teach her followers how to get their protein in.
From 1995-99 I did not do any diet, but when I came out to VA I went back to WW several times, and by then it was on the point system. The thing I remember most from my meetings was how many times the leader would have members share what goodies they could eat and for what points, mainly to let members know they could truly eat whatever they wanted!!
In August they are tweaking the program again. I guess the point system stays but they are doing a few changes in how they are used. Maybe make the members use them for more healthy foods? NAAAA!!!
I am glad I finally checked into BFL/BRx. I kept thinking the only other option besides the WW style high carb/low fat diet was Atkins. What I really needed was just a good healthy balanced diet.
I was browsing the web, and I ran across physiquetransformation.com. I was curious if anyone was doing this and what it was all about? I beleive Audrey is? It sounds like a more detailed version of BFL.
Robin, you've brought me out of lurkdom. I fell behind in my reading/posting when my future in-laws were visiting (they stayed in my office, where the computer is) and then it seems like it's been one thing after another keeping us crazy.
Yes, I'm on Physique Transformation. I'm just finishing my 4th week of fatburning and I'm down 3#'s right now. I started very slowly, losing .5# a week for 3 weeks, but I think my PTS has hit on a good spot for me, as last week 1.5#'s came off.
Because I really wanted to lose 20#'s for the wedding (Nov 1), and then continue in a rotation to take another 20 off, I decided to make the investment to work with a PTS. My program is a bit different from the computerized one on the site because nadine is constantly changing things on me, as we find things working/not working. Also the fat/sugar ratios are a bit lower with a consultant than on the computer plan. In conditioning, fat was 15% of daily calories, and I maxed out at 2400 calories. We got my protein up to 186 grams. (I was a mostly carb girl before the program, my analysis phase showed I was eating too LITTLE in calories, and the ratio was 20/60/20 (P/C/F) at the time. For fat burning, the fat dropped to 8% and we kept the protein the same. The carbs rotate depending the calories for the day. Nadine was aggressive with dropping my calories on account of the wedding. If I weren't trying to be smaller by a specific date, I think she would have left me at a higher level for another week or two.
It's a bit of a challenge to plan food every day, and to find new tastes that are interesting and fit the parameters, but I'm finding that I can stick to it. Perhaps it is my motivation to be smaller for the wedding that is helping, but I've had only 1-2 non A days since starting in the end of March. For Fat Burning, I've managed to stay in A+ range. Restaurants are ok (not great) in conditioning, and not advised for fat burning. Mostly cause you don't know how things are prepared, and when you are watching fat, sugar and sodium, its hard to control everything if you're not in the kitchen. <g>.
Exercise on the PFA plan puts a heavy emphasis on lifting. There's no set routine, as long as you have your own plan and you follow it, that works. So if you prefer to do the exercise from BrX, that would do. Cardio is out during conditioning as you try to rev up your metabolism with food. Believe me, when you get to fat burning that cardio really helps so you want to "save" those guns till you need them. Nadine had me on 4 cardios a week (from none) and was threatening 2 for today if I didn't lose at least a # this week. Luckily I dropped 1.5# and I even lost a cardio on thursday, which made me a happy camper. I'd rather know that I can add more cardio in a month or two than be up to 8 sessions now and dread adding lots of double/triple days.
Looks like you found the pfa support board. They are a very helpful friendly bunch, so feel free to ask lots of questions. And if I can answer anythiing, let me know.
Waving hi to everyone... I have to go back and start reading.
I used the PFA at the start of the year but didn't have much success, sure I wasn't consistent, but I actually gained weight over this time (and not just water). Even when I wasn't very consistent with BFL I stayed a constant size and weight (sometimes i even got smaller).
PFA is a very high Carb very low fat diet. To get in all the protein I had to have, I had to resort to either 10 or more egg whites a day or lots of powders. Also, even when I was having 2600 cals I was constantly hungry. But while I've had a bad experience with it, many others wouldn't eat any other way. I've learned from it, so I guess that's the main thing.
Audrey : How do you get all the protein in that you are supposed to while being so low in fat? Just curious.
Jayne, my protein is at 175 right now. My current rotation is 1200-1800. Fat is 8% cause I'm working with a PTS and they like to go lower than the 10% on the computerized version.
Today's protein was 2 cups of liquid egg whites, 4 oz of cooked chicken strips (from Trader Joes), 4 oz of raw chicken breasts (boneless, skinless, and eventually cooked before eaten <g>), 2 scoops of their precision protein powder and whatever protein grams are in the carbs that I eat.
That's typical for me. I don't like to have any more than 2 scoops of the protein powder and on my higher carb days I can usually get away with just a single scoop. Somedays we'll have shrimp/scallops for dinner instead of chicken.. on a higher carb day, I might even make tofu. For "lunch", I'll sometimes have low sodium tuna instead of chicken.
For the eggwhites, I make those into a pancake with splenda, cinnamon and oatmeal. If it's a low carb day, I use .25C of oats with 1 C of the eggwhites and make 2 of them. One for breakfast, one for later in the day. If it's a higher carb day, I'll use .5C with 1C of the eggwhites.
My PTS told me from the start that dairy, protein bars, red meat (I don't eat this anyhow) and fruit were out for fat burning. Some people found that these items hindered weight loss.. My thinking is that FB is temporary, those foods come back in maintenance, I don't need to experiment to see how they effect me.
I'm just trying to:
Eat only when I'm actually hungry
Only eat until I'm not hungry (rather than stuffed)
Drink 60 oz h2O/day
Work out 5 or more times/week.... 45 min/session lifting heavy enough that I'm "shakey" by the 15th rep.
Be patient
Eliminate refined sugars/refined flours
Only eat carbs if I have protein at the same time.
So far, so good.
BTW: Does anybody have any suggestions about how to squat so your knees don't explode? I don't even care if I'm lifting.. We went looking for subwoofers the other night and the salesman just squatted down to read the fine print... My only option was to bend over and leave my butt in the air, because thee was NO WAY I could hunker down.
Painter - I find it helps if I spread my legs a little wider than shoulder width, and point my toes out a bit. I'm getting better at the squats, but they're awkward for me, too. Krista's site has pictures and text description of exactly how to do a squat right. I don't have the knee issues, though, so I'm not sure I'm any help to you. My problem is my hips, but they're getting better as I keep going.
Mel's 25th!
we're on at the same time...
During the 90's is when it went to a more low-protein format. I also remember in the early nineties that they had the choice of the regular exchange program or the fat and fiber diet, where you counted fat and fiber grams. During the that time I did the Susan Powter diet - mega high carb/low lowfat diet. She did not do any meat, but did not teach her followers how to get their protein in. 
