<3 support group for women eating 2000+ calories per day <3

psych101

Morning you gorgeous ladies!!

Well, its a lovely day here in NZ, but windy but about to head out for my run so that I can be all done and watch my omnibus of Come Dine with Me UK....oh, its the small things!!
Exam went well yesterday - I felt like the oldest person in the room, so many little first-years! I know that I will have passed, am hoping for a B+ to A- but we'll see. Feels so good to be able to just chill now over the summer before starting another paper in Feb - I have a huge pile of Womens Health mags to get through yay!

Feeling a little bit sore from yesterdays lifting, was peeved off about something and really took it out on my body - pushing it further and harder....really feeling it today. Hopefully a nice long run will shake things out a wee bit! Must remember to drop my attitude at the door to the weight room. Otherwise, OUCHIES!

Ah, well DOMS is good for ya!

I missed yesterdays question, but favourite cheese for me would be Goats cheese or a really strong sharp blue cheese - yummo! Was quite under my calories yesterday so decided it was either a glass of wine, or some white chocolate. You know, I chose the chocolate! So good!

So, question for you all: if you were invited to a Kitchen Tea/Hens night for someone that you really did not like, someone who made your life hell for a number of years but seems to think that everyone should forgive her for that - would you go? Have you ever been invited to something that you really did.not.want to go to?

I'm out
xx

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

I got in an hour on the arc trainer. I am suppose to eat around 2500 calories today.

I bow before you! That thing is brutal!

I have 1027 calories left for dinner and evening snack. And that's why I don't get the "1200 and under" eaters, because I get twitchy if I have any less than 1000 by this time of day. I can't imagine how anyone eats only 1000 or less a day. I can't believe there was a time that I ate around 700-800 a day. And I'm so happy I didn't (permanently) mess up my metabolism doing that!

Ditto..I'm freaking starving..I've already eaten about 1100-1200 calories and it's only 3:30 in the afternoon. Still hungry. sheesh.I might have to get a run in before my next meal so that I can squeeze in some more calories. LOL...10 minutes of running is painless but that extra 75 calories feels pretty good!

fimm

My boyfriend and I are cooking sausages and mash with onion gravy. Not perhaps as totally unhealthy as it sounds as the sausages are good ones from the Farmers' Market. I'm still going to be way over calories for the day. I need to be better with the snacks I have during the day at work, I'm not doing well at having healthy stuff there.

caiconCristi

I got in an hour on the arc trainer. I am suppose to eat around 2500 calories today.

I bow before you! That thing is brutal!

I have 1027 calories left for dinner and evening snack. And that's why I don't get the "1200 and under" eaters, because I get twitchy if I have any less than 1000 by this time of day. I can't imagine how anyone eats only 1000 or less a day. I can't believe there was a time that I ate around 700-800 a day. And I'm so happy I didn't (permanently) mess up my metabolism doing that!

That's so funny. If I have anything less than 1000 by this time of day I start to feel a bit uncomfortable too. I do remember eating less than 1200 and I was miserable. Although I also thought it was temporary and could lose the weight and then eat crazy and it would never come back on.
This way is so much saner. I really wanted peace of mind and a sense of control. It feels good to exercise and know I can eat and do it again the next day.

la_flaca

Hi all -

Glad to see this group....I've been using MFP as a handy way to track calories and especially protein on my phone, and I wasn't into the social aspect as much initially, but I couldn't help but notice all the threads with variations on the "It's OK if I eat 800 calories, right?" theme.

I'm a small-framed person trying to gain about four pounds of muscle, which is turning out to be surprisingly difficult. I've increased my lean mass by a couple pounds over the last 12-18 months, at about 20% body fat now. Since mid-summer I've increased my protein intake from about 12% of calories to around 25%, increased my calories to 2000/day, started lifting twice a week (trying to get up to three, but this is brand new for me), and kept my running to around 25 miles/week (I like distance running, but figure it's not going to be possible to add muscle mass with high mileage - I trained for a marathon last year and ended up looking like a Grover-armed stick).

But it's slow going...I'm still intimidated by the whole weight-room world, but trying to get over it. If anyone has similar goals and/or advice, I'd love to hear about it - I swear, one day I will no longer have Grover arms!

lucyhoneychurch

So, question for you all: if you were invited to a Kitchen Tea/Hens night for someone that you really did not like, someone who made your life hell for a number of years but seems to think that everyone should forgive her for that - would you go? Have you ever been invited to something that you really did.not.want to go to?

Are your friends going? Is the food good? :laugh: Unless she totally did you wrong, like reprehensibly wrong, or you don't agree with her belief system, or you've got something better to do, then I'd go. If I truly didn't want to go to something, then I would know and wouldn't have to rationalize myself out of it. :flowerforyou:



Good midday, everyone!
I couldn't work out this morning because I was chauffeuring the kiddos around, but I finally got one in and ate lunch. Next week is my 6th week of the 6 Week 6 Pack, and then I'm going to start the Blast Fat Boost Metabolism DVD as well as lift, while I evaluate what I'm going to work on throughout the holidays. I mentioned before that I want to get a real barbell before committing to the NROLFW, because I don't have a gym membership. My husband also signed me up for a 10-week self-defense class starting next Wednesday. It's at a martial arts gym, so maybe after that ends I might look into their class offerings, like jiu-jitsu. I've taken a self-defense class maybe 7 years ago, but I need a refresher. Lately, I've been thinking about how I can protect myself with my kids in tow. One of my kids has autism, while the other two are spirited and lively, but also light enough to be carried off in a crowd. The thought really scares me that I'd be at a park with all three, and then someone comes and either attacks me in front of my kids OR tries to take one of them. I want to know how to defend myself and protect them, too. I'm sure whistles will have something to do with alerting people around me, but what if no one is around? :frown:

Ok, shaking off depressing thoughts for now..... it's Friday! :drinker:

Going to have dinner at the in-laws tonight, as we do every other Friday night, and I never know what's going to be for dinner. They are mostly vegetarian/some chicken, and many dishes end up with lentils. Not my favorite food, sorry. But my MIL is not a bad cook, so I have to budget with an open mind. There should be some birthday cake at the end of dinner, so that's a bonus. My goal is 2000+ calories today so I'm very happy about that!

Have a great day, ladies!

Soccer_Chick

I love this thread! I am 5'9" and weigh 155. In mid-May I weighed 183. I cut calories and fat and worked my *kitten* off...literally! I got down to my goal weight and now I am in the process of building lean muscle.

My base calorie number is set at 2000 per day and I DO EAT my exercise calories which range from 350-800 extra per day.

If any of you muscle-building, fuel-eating athletes want to be friends, feel free to send me a request!!

tameko2

So, question for you all: if you were invited to a Kitchen Tea/Hens night for someone that you really did not like, someone who made your life hell for a number of years but seems to think that everyone should forgive her for that - would you go? Have you ever been invited to something that you really did.not.want to go to?

It would depend on a lot of things - if I cared to keep up the relationship with that person or for some reason felt like social norms required me to go and be polite (like all my other friends really cared if I went or not). I do try to force myself to go to social gatherings as they are really NOT my thing.

But otherwise I'd make an excuse.

I realized recently I am probably NOT building muscle anymore. I think I was in the beginning when I was very overweight and my body had plenty of fat to burn to fuel a deficit + some muscle but now even with my increased eating its probably not happening. That might explain why some of my strength progress is kind of stalled out right? I still have a lot of fat to lose though so I'm just going to have to suffer it out. I don't think I could stand to gain weight right now, the slow loss is hard enough.

Also if this little flap of flab on my arms isn't gone when I am done losing weight (or well, a year afterwards I guess) I WILL be seeing a surgeon. I *HATE* doing lateral lifts and seeing that skin hanging off there - its so icky.

UrbanRunner81

We are going out to eat tonight. We have a groupon for a local restaurant so that will take care of these 1000+ calories I have left! Mmmmm beer!

I have sagging skin on my belly. I lost most of my weight almost a year ago, my goal was 150. I got there and still had a pouch. I lost 8 more pounds (throughout this year) I started lifting weights and inches are coming off so slowly. My arms and legs look great, but my stomach still sags. I know part of it is loose skin, but I know there is still belly fat there. Maybe I had more belly fat then I thought. I really let myself go after having my daughter. So it has been a very slow progress in getting all the fat off even though I have reached my goal.

Rae6503

So I think I've decided to up my base calories to 2300 for the next week and gradually work my way up to 2500 net. I think I've decided my maintenance is about 2250 net. I haven't gained anything yet on my "bulk".

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

So I think I've decided to up my base calories to 2300 for the next week and gradually work my way up to 2500 net. I think I've decided my maintenance is about 2250 net. I haven't gained anything yet on my "bulk".

you are so inspirational. it's crazy that you're not GAINING at least slowly on 2200 net. My net is a full 1000 less than yours...I am maintaining and it's great...I wish I could net more but i MUST workout to eat 2200 calories a day!

Rae6503

So I think I've decided to up my base calories to 2300 for the next week and gradually work my way up to 2500 net. I think I've decided my maintenance is about 2250 net. I haven't gained anything yet on my "bulk".

you are so inspirational. it's crazy that you're not GAINING at least slowly on 2200 net. My net is a full 1000 less than yours...I am maintaining and it's great...I wish I could net more but i MUST workout to eat 2200 calories a day!

But I'm like a foot taller than you. It's not that surprising that I have to eat more..... at least you get to date short men...

tameko2

Rachel, you COULD date short men. You'd just be one of those couples that everyone looks at awkwardly ALL THE TIME.

I'm jealous of you tall ladies - you just plain get to eat more and always will. But i'm pretty happy at 5'6" - I wouldn't mind being just an inch taller but I think right around 5'6" 5'7" is where they normalize a lot of clothing sizes. Not that it matters because with my super short legs nad super long torso nothing fits anyway. My boyfriend finds this very attractive for reason - his last 2 girlfriends were also short legged with dark hair. Meanwhile he is tall and blond with super long legs. The jerk.

I am hungry ALL the time lately and I can't tell if its my body genuinely telling me to eat more because I've got too much of a deficit (doubtful but my favorite option) or if its because that super hunger you get after losing a few pounds has finally kicked in. I was bracing myself for it for MONTHS and it didn't happen for some reason (you know the thing I mean, you lose some weight and your body goes "holy **** we're not supposed to be this thin, EAT EAT EAT").

I'm pretty sure its the latter and it SUCKS because I'm hungry. Constantly. I had a HUGE bowl of beef and bean chili for lunch and barely 3 hours later I'm starving.

I wonder if its because I was SO overweight - last time I dieted I was like 155 (HA!) so I had some weight to lose but not as much as what I started with this time (210). So maybe now that i'm approaching what I would guess is a pretty similar body composition to back then my body thinks its good at this weight and wants to stop.

ltki

So, question for you all: if you were invited to a Kitchen Tea/Hens night for someone that you really did not like, someone who made your life hell for a number of years but seems to think that everyone should forgive her for that - would you go? Have you ever been invited to something that you really did.not.want to go to?

Ummm that is a hard one, I'd be partial to say I had something else on and skip it, but I think it would depend on who the person was, what their relationship to you was and whether you really want to have anything to do with them in the future. If there was a big group of friends going you could keep clear of the person you really didnt like and enjoy the party - based on the kitchen tea parties I have been to, there is always yummy food to enjoy :-)

Did a boxing class at my gym this morning, I used to box 3-4 times a week until I did a bit of damage to my pec mnior. Tt felt great to get back to it after a few months off.
The sun is shining today in Melbourne and everyone is out exercising, I'm stuck at work now but happy I got my workout for the day in.
Happy weekend!

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

I'm pretty sure its the latter and it SUCKS because I'm hungry. Constantly. I had a HUGE bowl of beef and bean chili for lunch and barely 3 hours later I'm starving.

I'm starving at every 3 hour interval no matter what..."barely" for me is 1 hour. lol.

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

2242 calories for me today. I had to do a couple extra minutes of strength training and 7 minutes of jogging to fit in another snack. I HATE going over on my calorie target. I am vowing to go the entire month without going over my target....okay, maybe 1 overage since it is turkey month. lol

jomatho

Went out with some friends tonight and found out another friend went through with lap band surgery recently and has already dropped 60 pounds. Made me kind of mad, I have been working my *kitten* off since December of last year, hours spent planning, logging, exercising, motivating myself, struggling through plateaus, etc. It just sounds so easy to have a little surgery and be done with it. I would never choose that for myself, but still found myself being a little jealous. And I still have to make it to maintenance and figure that whole system out too. And then when I think I have it figured out, I am sure I will still have struggles.
Pretty stupid, but it makes me mad that it was so "easy" for her.
I do sort of feel like it lit a fire under my butt though, I haven't seen her yet, but when I do, I want her to see all my muscles! Haha.
You guys can tell me I am being shallow or stupid, I can take it. I just wanted to get my feelings out here so it doesn't fester inside me for too long.

ltki

Don’t worry @jomatho by losing weight the "traditional" way you are more likely to keep it off for life. Making a change to your lifestyle through healthy eating and exercise will give you lasting power. Lap banding does work and for some people it’s the only option. My mother-in-law had it done a few years back due to some serious health issues and she lost a huge amount of weight. Over the past few months she has been putting back on heaps of weight because her diet is horrible (!!!!) and she never learnt the skills she needed to maintain a healthy lifestyle. And really, who would want to live off a few bites of food per day with fear of throwing it all back up if you eat just one mouthful more...not me! I think we all have something in common on this thread, we like to workout hard and eat well!!!

Just take this a motivation to keep going and working hard towards your goals!!!

agthorn

2555 for me today! Had weight lifting and a yoga class, plus eating up some of my 'leftover' cals from earlier in the week. We went to Longhorn Steakhouse with a friend and I had nearly 1500 calories of bread, cheese fries, salad, steak and sweet potato with butter and cinnamon sugar. Yum :-)

psych101

Went out with some friends tonight and found out another friend went through with lap band surgery recently and has already dropped 60 pounds. Made me kind of mad, I have been working my *kitten* off since December of last year, hours spent planning, logging, exercising, motivating myself, struggling through plateaus, etc. It just sounds so easy to have a little surgery and be done with it. I would never choose that for myself, but still found myself being a little jealous. And I still have to make it to maintenance and figure that whole system out too. And then when I think I have it figured out, I am sure I will still have struggles.
Pretty stupid, but it makes me mad that it was so "easy" for her.
I do sort of feel like it lit a fire under my butt though, I haven't seen her yet, but when I do, I want her to see all my muscles! Haha.
You guys can tell me I am being shallow or stupid, I can take it. I just wanted to get my feelings out here so it doesn't fester inside me for too long.

lol to be honest, I would feel exactly like you do!! Having been morbidly obese myself, I am one of those people who just refuses to believe that surgery is the only option. I read online the other day about a procedure where the doctor sews a piece of mesh to your tongue for months at a time in order to making eating painful....so that you don't eat.

Seriously, the things that people will do to get out of having to eat a little less and shake their *kitten* a little more.

I'm going to have to go through my current friends list on MFP and unfriend some folks - I feel really bad about it, but theres only so many times that I can encourage someone to eat more and not net negative amounts of calories.
Honestly, today my breakfast (crumpets with almond butter and later a pimped out protein shake) came it at 700 calories - thats just for breakfast!! Thats what some folks are eating all day!! ALL DAY!!!
I just don't know what to say anymore.

caveats

2555 for me today! Had weight lifting and a yoga class, plus eating up some of my 'leftover' cals from earlier in the week. We went to Longhorn Steakhouse with a friend and I had nearly 1500 calories of bread, cheese fries, salad, steak and sweet potato with butter and cinnamon sugar. Yum :-)

Aaahhh, that sounds so good. I had a bad week last week when I underate (got too busy to think about eating), so I think I'm overcompensating this week, lol. Second day this week where I've hit 3k calories. I'll feel it tomorrow!

We're finally getting a good storm this weekend, so I think we're holing up the rest of the weekend and cleaning out the fridge of leftovers. May have to venture to the store when the storm breaks to find me some steak.

stubbysticks

So, question for you all: if you were invited to a Kitchen Tea/Hens night for someone that you really did not like, someone who made your life hell for a number of years but seems to think that everyone should forgive her for that - would you go? Have you ever been invited to something that you really did.not.want to go to?

If I really didn't want to go, I wouldn't. Period. But if I wanted to, & was only hesitating because of some skank, I'd DEFINITELY go. Let her eat her heart out because you're doing so awesome fitnesswise.

But it's slow going...I'm still intimidated by the whole weight-room world, but trying to get over it. If anyone has similar goals and/or advice, I'd love to hear about it - I swear, one day I will no longer have Grover arms!

LOL @ the Grover arms! I felt weird going into the weight room at first too, but I had a routine & just focused on executing it every week. The more I did it, the more my form improved & the more progress I made from week to week. Now that I'm a fixture in the Man Zone I get a lot of respect from the guys...even though I still have more weight to lose, I lift heavier than a lot of them & they know I take my shyt seriously!

My advice? Find a routine you'd like to start with & get used to the free weights. The more time you spend in there, the less self-conscious you'll be. And lift HEAVY...so heavy that by the time you get to that 8th rep you're shaking & can barely complete it. That's what will force muscle growth. Read up on progressive overload.

Also if this little flap of flab on my arms isn't gone when I am done losing weight (or well, a year afterwards I guess) I WILL be seeing a surgeon. I *HATE* doing lateral lifts and seeing that skin hanging off there - its so icky.

I considered that too, because I've got the bingo wings goin on. Just for kicks I did some Google searching & came across a blog post from a woman who'd had that extra skin removed. The scar ran all the way from her armpit to her elbow & it looked AWFUL, even after healing. I would NEVER raise my arms EVER with scars like that. I'll take my bingo wings any day, thank you very much.

Went out with some friends tonight and found out another friend went through with lap band surgery recently and has already dropped 60 pounds. Made me kind of mad, I have been working my *kitten* off since December of last year, hours spent planning, logging, exercising, motivating myself, struggling through plateaus, etc. It just sounds so easy to have a little surgery and be done with it. I would never choose that for myself, but still found myself being a little jealous. And I still have to make it to maintenance and figure that whole system out too. And then when I think I have it figured out, I am sure I will still have struggles.
Pretty stupid, but it makes me mad that it was so "easy" for her.

There's a lot I could say about this but I'll try to keep it short. A major factor in me deciding to commit to weight loss when I did was my husband's decision to have gastric band surgery. He had started going through the big long pre-op process & I knew I didn't want to have surgery myself, but I also didn't want to be his fat wife especially after he lost the weight. So off I went, & by the time he had his surgery in January I'd lost around 55 lbs, & had begun lifting heavy about a month before that.

My husband lost about 90 lbs within the first 3 months post-op & I can totally relate to the jealousy. Like WTF I had to work HARD to get this weight off & he gets to drop 90 just like that?? But I gritted my teeth & kept doin my thing anyway, & he kinda sorta paid attention to his diet, but it didn't really matter what he ate because the sheer volume of it was so small he'd still lose.

As with many people who have similar surgeries, the slacking off on watching what he ate caught up with him & he has put some weight back on. It's a work in progress. I'm not his mother, but as his friend I do speak up when I see things getting out of hand & that's all I can do.

I am no longer jealous because he does not have the muscle definition, strength & endurance I have worked hard for, & he is not as well-informed about nutrition as I am since his weight loss was not contingent on WHAT he ate, just how much. I make conscious decisions to eat absolutely everything that I put in my mouth. Because I have not had my stomach surgically altered, if I want to gorge myself on delicious food one day a week or on vacations or holidays, I can do that with little to no impact. There are some foods he can't eat at all now without paying dearly for them, & he can't have large quantities of anything.

Losing weight quickly is nothing to be jealous of. Having seen up close & personal how easily the weight comes back on even for someone with a band, I don't regret for one second losing weight the way I've done it. And next time I meet someone who has had surgery & lost more than I have in less time, I won't be jealous then either, because my level of fitness isn't something anyone can have without working for it.

Speaking of which, gotta share a NSV, today I progressed the weight in my barbell squats to 135 lbs. I have been waiting for the day I can finally load those damn 45 lbs plates on the bar, & today was the day!! And I got 3 sets in. I was super psyched. I was also amused a short time later when a young guy loaded up the bar with the same weight to do squats, & he did a bunch but barely even bent his knees! I wanted to go over & tell him he needed to squat deeper but it probably would have embarrased him, lol.

tameko2

Soooo I did my friday weighin and I came in at -1.8lbs. That's neat and all but WTH? Earlier this week and all last week I was showing fluctuations high or in the middle. Last week I didn't log my weight because of all the fluctuation. The week before I had a 2lb loss. the week before that I didn't log my weight because of the exact same kind of fluctuation.

I'm not really going to complain about that loss but it makes me nervous.

Of course - I just gained it all back (and more probably) in pheasant pot pie (tastes like turkey) with a puff pastry crust, half a cheese plate (oh my god there was this one cheese that tasted like BUTTER but better), half a black truffle mac&cheese (with gruyere) and a cocktail.

Eesh. Need to get my eating slightly under control.

lucyhoneychurch

Tonight was dinner at the in-law's house. I arrived with about 700 calories to use up, and I never know what's on the menu because my FIL is vegetarian and my MIL eats chicken, but both are heavy on lentils and veggie stuff. They also don't mind frying their food. When I got there, they had squash & green beans, a spicy tofu patty thing, some mushrooms in mixed stringy/leafy things, and a vegetarian loaf. This vegetarian loaf is made of gluten and is in essence "fake meat" and really wasn't appetizing. It also came from a box. The best part of dinner was the red velvet birthday cake for my niece and daughter. But I seriously didn't eat a fulfilling dinner, and couldn't complain about it either. On my way home with 350 calories left, I developed a headache and wondered if it was from not eating enough, so I ended this night with a late bowl of Kashi cereal. I haven't had a food headache in such a long time, probably since I've been on 1200 calories. I'm looking forward to working out hard tomorrow so I can eat more.

Re: lap band surgery, I don't have personal experience with this, but I had a girlfriend who moved away have the surgery done. I didn't know it when I saw her Facebook pictures of an uber-skinny version of herself, so when I asked her what she did to lose the weight, she mentioned the lap band surgery. The feeling I had (but didn't tell her) was similar to jealousy, like "I am busting my *kitten* to work out hard to lose my weight, and here you've lost the weight so quickly. It's like cheating!" I understand the surgery can be medically necessary to some, and I don't envy the restricted diet one would have to be on for the rest of their life. I have never considered it for myself. I just wanted to agree that my initial reaction was probably a jealous one as well. But as the weeks roll onward and I have still managed to maintain my weight, I am very proud that I did it the hard way, and have learned/am still learning so much throughout the process.

poisongirl6485

This is a group that I can get on board with!!! Right now MFP has my daily cals at 1770 (I have quite a bit to lose), but I burn between 300-400 working out, so that typically bumps me up to over 2000 regularly. I've been sick this week and haven't eaten the greatest, so I'm looking forward to getting back to it!

psych101

@kat: thanks for the info about your hubby, I have to admit that I've only ever known two people who had the band and they both eventually started to gain weight sometime after. Apparently there are things that you can slip past the band, or something to that effect. You're right, I wouldn't give up my fitness, muscles or nutrition knowledge for some quick weight loss. Thanks for the perspective xx

Welcome PoisonGirl!! You're amongst friends here! We love to eat, love to workout and we' re basically just awesome...

Love and lollipops xx

tameko2

Re: Jo and weight loss surgery -- honestly I've had several friends get the lapband or similar and I do not yet know ANYONE it has been wildly successful for. The three girls I talked to the most dropped 40-60 pounds right away -- and then their weight loss completely stalled or they went up a few pounds. And all of them had more to lose - not vanity-more but just MORE more. And they had a serious life altering (and threatening) surgery just to lose 1/3-1/2 of the extra weight and then completely stall out.

So don't even think about jealousy. Maybe 1 in 20 is successful but the vast majority gain the weight back or only lose a portion of the weight they need to lose and then can't loose anymore. My friend just had it too - I really encouraged her not too but there was nothing I could say that would make her change her mind - she'd tried 'everything' and nothing 'worked'. So far as I could see her 'everything' consisted of a few months of sugar free jello and crystal light and grilled chicken breasts followed by returning a few weeks or months later to the old days of 2 gigantic strawberry daquiris and sliders.


Re: Stubby and the arms - mine aren't so bad - its mostly a little tiny pouch under the upper arms. I could live with a scar there. But maybe they have to do the whole arm for proportion or something? That probably wouldn't work for me. I dunno, I dont' need it to be perfect but its SO disturbing to me, I think a scar would bother me less. Hopefully it will tighten up and won't be too big of an issue.

poisongirl6485

My mom got the lap band. She actually needed it medically---she's had knee surgeries that has turned into her losing cartilage and now has arthritis. And she's also had lung surgery so lung function isn't 100%. She still walks nearly daily, but still has issues with the lap band. She often tries to eat too much too fast, or tries to take too big of bites and food gets stuck and she has to purge.

She has lost 100 lbs on it though, so all in all she's seen some success.

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

Welcome poisongirl...how old are you? Married? Do you have anyone on board with your weight loss goals?

Morning everyone happy Saturday. I am going to bake some more today! Yay

caiconCristi

So, question for you all: if you were invited to a Kitchen Tea/Hens night for someone that you really did not like, someone who made your life hell for a number of years but seems to think that everyone should forgive her for that - would you go? Have you ever been invited to something that you really did.not.want to go to?

If I really didn't want to go, I wouldn't. Period. But if I wanted to, & was only hesitating because of some skank, I'd DEFINITELY go. Let her eat her heart out because you're doing so awesome fitnesswise.

But it's slow going...I'm still intimidated by the whole weight-room world, but trying to get over it. If anyone has similar goals and/or advice, I'd love to hear about it - I swear, one day I will no longer have Grover arms!

LOL @ the Grover arms! I felt weird going into the weight room at first too, but I had a routine & just focused on executing it every week. The more I did it, the more my form improved & the more progress I made from week to week. Now that I'm a fixture in the Man Zone I get a lot of respect from the guys...even though I still have more weight to lose, I lift heavier than a lot of them & they know I take my shyt seriously!

My advice? Find a routine you'd like to start with & get used to the free weights. The more time you spend in there, the less self-conscious you'll be. And lift HEAVY...so heavy that by the time you get to that 8th rep you're shaking & can barely complete it. That's what will force muscle growth. Read up on progressive overload.

Also if this little flap of flab on my arms isn't gone when I am done losing weight (or well, a year afterwards I guess) I WILL be seeing a surgeon. I *HATE* doing lateral lifts and seeing that skin hanging off there - its so icky.

I considered that too, because I've got the bingo wings goin on. Just for kicks I did some Google searching & came across a blog post from a woman who'd had that extra skin removed. The scar ran all the way from her armpit to her elbow & it looked AWFUL, even after healing. I would NEVER raise my arms EVER with scars like that. I'll take my bingo wings any day, thank you very much.

Went out with some friends tonight and found out another friend went through with lap band surgery recently and has already dropped 60 pounds. Made me kind of mad, I have been working my *kitten* off since December of last year, hours spent planning, logging, exercising, motivating myself, struggling through plateaus, etc. It just sounds so easy to have a little surgery and be done with it. I would never choose that for myself, but still found myself being a little jealous. And I still have to make it to maintenance and figure that whole system out too. And then when I think I have it figured out, I am sure I will still have struggles.
Pretty stupid, but it makes me mad that it was so "easy" for her.

There's a lot I could say about this but I'll try to keep it short. A major factor in me deciding to commit to weight loss when I did was my husband's decision to have gastric band surgery. He had started going through the big long pre-op process & I knew I didn't want to have surgery myself, but I also didn't want to be his fat wife especially after he lost the weight. So off I went, & by the time he had his surgery in January I'd lost around 55 lbs, & had begun lifting heavy about a month before that.

My husband lost about 90 lbs within the first 3 months post-op & I can totally relate to the jealousy. Like WTF I had to work HARD to get this weight off & he gets to drop 90 just like that?? But I gritted my teeth & kept doin my thing anyway, & he kinda sorta paid attention to his diet, but it didn't really matter what he ate because the sheer volume of it was so small he'd still lose.

As with many people who have similar surgeries, the slacking off on watching what he ate caught up with him & he has put some weight back on. It's a work in progress. I'm not his mother, but as his friend I do speak up when I see things getting out of hand & that's all I can do.

I am no longer jealous because he does not have the muscle definition, strength & endurance I have worked hard for, & he is not as well-informed about nutrition as I am since his weight loss was not contingent on WHAT he ate, just how much. I make conscious decisions to eat absolutely everything that I put in my mouth. Because I have not had my stomach surgically altered, if I want to gorge myself on delicious food one day a week or on vacations or holidays, I can do that with little to no impact. There are some foods he can't eat at all now without paying dearly for them, & he can't have large quantities of anything.

Losing weight quickly is nothing to be jealous of. Having seen up close & personal how easily the weight comes back on even for someone with a band, I don't regret for one second losing weight the way I've done it. And next time I meet someone who has had surgery & lost more than I have in less time, I won't be jealous then either, because my level of fitness isn't something anyone can have without working for it.

Speaking of which, gotta share a NSV, today I progressed the weight in my barbell squats to 135 lbs. I have been waiting for the day I can finally load those damn 45 lbs plates on the bar, & today was the day!! And I got 3 sets in. I was super psyched. I was also amused a short time later when a young guy loaded up the bar with the same weight to do squats, & he did a bunch but barely even bent his knees! I wanted to go over & tell him he needed to squat deeper but it probably would have embarrased him, lol.

Congrats to you!!!!!