*** Supportive Friends -- Looking to Release 50+ Pounds ***

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  • TheRunningGuppy
    TheRunningGuppy Posts: 651 Member
    Yay Gusbert! Great loss!

    @Ron, you're great! A little background on my determination... see, I have this dad, he's about as bullheaded as they come. Yep, that's about it. Dad. I'm a lot like him. In fact, had a conversation with my pastor on Sunday, he said "3 miles huh? Are you a machine?" And I said yep! And pastor Steve said "You must take after your dad", who he knows pretty well :bigsmile: Besides, you're an inspiration to me! You travel like crazy, and still manage to lose weight. Don't know if I could do that.

    @JuniperT, glad to hear things are working again! No more falling off the wagon, if you have a way to log, do it! And move that butt! Lol, this is meant to be heard in the kindest way possible :wink:

    @Stacy, welcome! If getting the junky food out of your house works for you, do it. Gotta start somewhere. And like Ron said, get your tastes to change. I much prefer a single square of quality dark chocolate over a huge calorie loaded candy bar these day.

    @Jehan, thanks :blushing: I don't know about you, but when TOM arrives, actually working out helps me feel better, cramps subside for the most part. May want to give that a try.

    Well, today is National Ride Your Bike to School Day (in the US). So guess what my sons and I did this morning? Even thought I wanted a rest day... lol. So then I decided to run on my lunch break as well, and two days in a row my pace has been at a 12:30 mile. Yay! I've got another bike ride ahead of my in an hour or so, then I've got to make dinner, and then the whole family jets off to different places for the evening. I'll be glad when Friday rolls around, Wednesday and Thursday are both very busy days for me....
  • NAC828612
    NAC828612 Posts: 2
    Hello everyone,

    I wanted to take a minute to jump in and introduce myself. My name is Amy, I've grown up in central Illinois all my life. Last summer I met the most amazing man who has stepped up to the plate and been a father to my amazing son after a terrible relationship with his biological father following a divorce and job change. After he was born I had my gallbladder out and work let me go instead of letting me recoup...So I stayed home with my son for his first 15 months. I'm about to return to work and I have a lot of busy hobbies I've picked up on the side. I love to sew, I make everything from blankets to Civil War Ball gowns and my boyfriend and I dance at Civil War reenactment Dances/Balls all over the state. We do this on the alternate weekends (and sometimes both in the same day) as we travel and pull with our competition pulling trucks. It's a lot of hard work, were maintaining my parents home where we currently live, he works as a diesel mechanic, and we make at least one trip per week of 30+ miles to his parents farm to maintain our trucks and prepare for competitions as well as the side work he does and working on the farm occasionally. When I'm not helping with one of those, I'm typically working on a new ball gown or planting flowers and cleaning the house. Im trying to stay positive about my return to work and not let leaving my son stop me from doing whats best for us financially but its been very hard. I began a diet with my boyfriend around March 8. We started it as a challenge and he obviously took off with it! He joined a competition at work that ends July 4 and the person who lost the most wins $600 dollars. Hes doing great so Im sure he will win. I've lost 11 lbs in the last two months, I should be thrilled with that but it seems like nothing compaired to his 21 lbs. I'm wanting to lose the weight for our wedding next year and to be healthier for myself, my son and in general. Im tired of oversleeping, over eating and just feeling lousy all the time so Ive spent the last 3 days outside gardening, doing yardwork and inspiring myself to do better! I even bought two new bolts of fabric this week to make a new gown for the dance at the Springfield Old Capital one month from today....I hope you guys can help keep me on track, some days I cheat terribly and make excuses for myself like "but I worked in the yard for two hours so its ok":flowerforyou:
  • Hey everyone! My name is Lexi. I was on MFP religiously last year and lost over 50lbs. I had a really intense quarter at school (and I am a single mom of a 2 year old) so exercising and eating healthy went out the window. I did not make good choices, and ate what was available because it was quick, easy and saved time.

    I ended up gaining back almost all the weight I lost and I felt like I had failed myself as well as my daughter. When I am frustrated or upset I turn to food, and am an emotional eater. So the more weight I put back on the more depressed I became. I had to change my thinking habits and start from square one again.... So, six months later, I am back and determined to get this weight off. I lost over 100 pounds in my late teens, early 20's and put it all back on (plus some) because I did not continue to eat healthy. I know I can do this again. I would really like some friends to support me, as well as have others to support. Seeing your success is motivation in itself. Please feel free to add me!!
  • oofdieblunk
    oofdieblunk Posts: 60 Member
    Greetings everyone! I am Jane and I have been lurking around the message boards for a few months. February was a decent month. At first I lost 8 lbs. after logging my calories. Then I started 30 day Shred and got lazy logging in my foods. I never finished the entire 30 days. I got to Level 3 day 6 and then got discouraged when the scale refused to budge. I decided that I needed a workout with more cardio. I rode my stationary bike for a day or two. After that exercise pretty much ceased and the cleaner eating did as well. Now I am having such difficulty getting back on track again. I am up to 184 lbs. the lowest I weighed in several years was 154 (which was only last summer). I had been Vegan for 6 years and then stopped last January. I feel like a failure in regards to my health. I have a 3 year old so I am unable to exercise until after she goes to bed. There are so many things about my lifestyle that need to be fixed! I cannot get a handle on the eating. I am enjoying the foods that I haven't had for 6 years. I am hoping to get motivated by interacting with others on MFP. The excuses are wearing out and I'm gaining more and more weight and feeling worse every day. I even deleted my old profile and made a new one because I couldn't take looking at my progress chart (or shall I say lack of progress chart).
  • gopo101
    gopo101 Posts: 12 Member
    Hi there! I'm not sure what my exact goal is yet, but I know that I eventually do want to be down at least 50 pounds. I think any support would be beneficial...as I am seeing no results yet and am getting frustrated.

    My name is Dhara, I am 22 years old, and I will be teaching in New York come September. I am extremely excited! There is one thing holding me back: my weight! I keep thinking to myself: "How can I be a role model if I'm not in shape? What if I can't keep up with my students?" I'm hoping that the next few months will be a great kickstart to my weight loss. I want to lose at least 30 pounds by my birthday (December), and then keep it off forever.

    I have a medical issue that sometimes slows down my exercising (Accessory Navicular Syndrome). I have been in the process of healing it for 5 months now, so hopefully I see some change soon. If I do, I'd love to start running (couch to 5K would be great!).

    Besides that, I am doing p90X but have seen 0 pounds lost...I try to eat healthy but am having a difficult time. I really hope that this group helps me out! It seems like it was a great group for everyone else :)

    ALSO, thank you in advance for your support!! :)
  • yolifoli
    yolifoli Posts: 20 Member
    Awesome amount lost! I hope to be like you!!
  • yolifoli
    yolifoli Posts: 20 Member
    Great job at losing weight. I need to get on track too!
  • yolifoli
    yolifoli Posts: 20 Member
    Getting rid of the bad foods is a great start! I need to buy more veggies and fruits!
  • My mom is sometimes verbally abusive. Sometimes she tells me she'd rather be dead because no one believes that people are constantly monitoring her and stealing stuff from her house (sorry but they didn't put that kind of effort into finding Osama Bin Ladin, so it's a little out there and yes I think it's possibly a mental problem). When she says things like that I take down the treadmill and just run til I feel better. I've lost 3 pounds since starting to use this website and all the running since I moved back last week. This is a very low time for me, but I'm making progress so that keeps me going (still stoked I can have cake if I work out hard enough).
  • ron2e
    ron2e Posts: 606
    My mom is sometimes verbally abusive. Sometimes she tells me she'd rather be dead because no one believes that people are constantly monitoring her and stealing stuff from her house (sorry but they didn't put that kind of effort into finding Osama Bin Ladin, so it's a little out there and yes I think it's possibly a mental problem). When she says things like that I take down the treadmill and just run til I feel better. I've lost 3 pounds since starting to use this website and all the running since I moved back last week. This is a very low time for me, but I'm making progress so that keeps me going (still stoked I can have cake if I work out hard enough).

    Mental illness is just so difficult to deal with, been there, done that and I really sympathise. Sounds like your Mom may need help and you're probably too close to tell her so - are there family or friends or even her doctor you can discuss it with? Try not to let it get to you, whatever she says is a symptom of brain chemical imbalance, not the real her. I guess too she needs your support whatever she may say.
  • ron2e
    ron2e Posts: 606
    @yolifoli - take a deep breath babe, relax, let your thoughts think, you'll make a lot more sense :happy:

    @meg - I meant to say, but forgot, LUUUUURVE the Tardis cake!


    Well, another pound gone this morning (since Monday weigh in), I really feel I'm getting the hang of this at last!! Nice to be at home this week too. Makes eating simpler, more planned, and more accurate.

    Keep up the good work people, you're all magnificent :flowerforyou:
  • TheRunningGuppy
    TheRunningGuppy Posts: 651 Member
    Haha, thanks Ron!
  • janetay01
    janetay01 Posts: 1,299 Member
    Morning all!

    @ron - congratulations on the further loss! As you say, no doubt being at home but I'm with Meg in having so much admiration that you are achieving this set against all the travel. And on that note, do you get to be at home next week as well or are you off again?

    @meg - congrats with the running. You are doing great with it and I like your goal of wanting to do 4 miles. Let us know how it goes.

    Welcome to all the new people - keep coming back guys!

    All quiet here on the south coast. Glad it's Friday though the weather has gone again - we had howling gales last night - not fun! I have my annual performance appraisal at work this afternoon - what a delightful way to end the week:noway:

    Anyone have any exciting weekend plans? We get to relocate all the furniture to my husbands office following last weekends painting spree and going to see my parents on Sunday. And as a 'sort of fan' of Brighton football club, planning to watch their playoff match tonight on tv - good grief, I know I'm getting old when Friday evening is planned around the tv:laugh:
  • ron2e
    ron2e Posts: 606
    Another pound gone this morning! Taking fluctuations out that equates to 8 lbs lost in almost three weeks, despite being away for two of them, so I'm very happy with that!

    @janetay - currently I am down to travel Tue to Thu next week, but only in the UK so much simpler as I can drive there! However this may change come Monday as one of the people I'm meeting is away next week. I'm not planning any 'foreign' trips for the rest of May though I will travel in the UK, as my wife has a relative visiting from Canada week after next and I will be working from home most of the time so I am 'on hand'. Exciting weekend plans? Well, a bit of shopping, a long overdue visit to the tip, working on my company end of financial year stuff for the accountants............. yes, very exciting :yawn: I know what you mean about Friday night. When it becomes a relief not to feel you have to go out on a Friday night, you know you're getting old! I used to watch my son getting ready to go out and thank goodness I didn't have to do the same, I could relax with a nice meal and a bit of TV followed by an early night :drinker:
  • TheRunningGuppy
    TheRunningGuppy Posts: 651 Member
    @Ron, I see you were somewhat surprised I didn't work out yesterday :tongue: I do occasionally take rest days! Not today though. Going to attempt running with my son in the jogging stroller. Haven't done that yet, so I probably won't get as far as normal.
    Also, congrats on another pound down, definitely doing good lately! And it must be nice to not have travel plans for a while.

    @Jane, quiet weekends are a wonderful thing :happy: And you aren't the only one who plans their friday night around tv. When you've got young kids like I do, going out is a thing of the past. We'll probably watch one or two of the Indiana Jones movies (got the whole series for my hubby for his birthday on blueray).

    Only lost .4 lb this week. But I'm not surprised, as TOM is about to show up (sorry guys!) Today I'm gathering info about refinancing our mortgage. Yay, so fun... lol. NOT. But as we bought a new car a couple months ago, the added payment & insurance are making things tight, and it's possible to get our rate down by almost 2%. Who knows though, I hate doing this kind of stuff, but I'm the money person in my marriage.
    Sunday is Mother's Day, and I'm hoping (please please please please!!!) for a Polar F7 heart rate monitor. I've only told my husband about 7 times that's what I want. Think he'll get the hint?
  • ron2e
    ron2e Posts: 606
    @meg - I wasn't 'somewhat surprised', I was shocked rigid!! It appears that the 'machine' actually has a live being inside. Now I know what you are, you're an evolved Dalek and you've taken on human form................:laugh: Exterminate the fat................ 4 lbs in the week is good. I aim for around 3-4 but am happy with 2-3 (or whatever I can get!) when I am travelling. Mind you, I do very little exercise compared with you but then I am a leeeetle older :wink:

    I think you deserve the HRM after that Tardis cake!
  • TheRunningGuppy
    TheRunningGuppy Posts: 651 Member
    It's only half a pound. Not 4, I wish it was 4! And LOL about being a dalek!
  • ron2e
    ron2e Posts: 606
    It's only half a pound. Not 4, I wish it was 4! And LOL about being a dalek!

    Oops, didn't see the decimal point............ (It's the thing I hate most about getting old, my eyesight used to be well nigh perfect, now my arms are nowhere near long enough) even so half a pound is better than no loss. And it's not only about weight, you must be very fit now, and therefore healthier, with all the exercise you do and you must have built your muscles up.
  • rdcphone572
    rdcphone572 Posts: 75 Member
    Hello everyone!

    Glad to be back to this positive place! So, has anyone else had a non scale victory this week? Please share. Nothing beats success whether its on the scale or off.

    @sjo68 - hope you are back on track with the c25K; that sounds like a fun goal and I am thinking I may try to walk a 5K this fall too

    @megblackburn - the TARDIS cake was so cool! I like Dr. Who myself. I probably would have tried just a sliver.

    @ron2e - okay, fess up! how do you lose weight on travel? That is seriously one of my personal pitfalls. When I travel on business, I spend a lot of time avoiding food and worrying about not getting my walking in. All the meetings have food and we meet early to late. It is a stressor and that leads to bad places...LOL! so please share tips...

    @gopo101 - welcome! please know that a role model is someone who overcomes...so keep pushing forward and share the win with your students

    @jehan - working out may help with that time; I found low impact movement and stretching to be a relief


    As for me, this week was fine. Work was work and I let the past issue go. That put me in a good place. Home was good. The weight loss has stalled again but that seems to be my pattern. Don't know why but my weight stalls and then drops in one day with no change in my plan. I try not to let that discourage me but sometimes those stalls are scary. I have found measuring my waist is helpful. It seems to be going down in steady increments. I think that is why I like NSVs since non scale has kept me going when the scale was holding me back. I am still averaging 1600 calories, holding my carbs to 125 g, and doing 30 minutes of movement (usually walking on treadmill and hand-weights) most days before work. I am trying to make this my life pattern so it is going slow but it is mostly working for me so far!

    I wish everyone a positive and healthy week!
  • TheRunningGuppy
    TheRunningGuppy Posts: 651 Member
    I definitely have an NSV!!!! Today I ran, intending to go 4.2 miles. When I got home and looked at my running app, it showed 4.78 miles. I was SHOCKED! But even more than that, I was able to run a very hilly route without stopping or walking. I think that shocked my husband, who will now probably go out and try to run the same route without stopping. :bigsmile: He's competitive like that, heaven forbid that his wife be able to run that long without resting!! LOL!
    One thing I thought of as I was running, and turning on to the most hilly section of the run, was remembering about two months ago, walking that same road and being passed by a runner and thinking, "I'll never be able to run this road, the hills are just too much!" So what I did today defeated my negative thinking. Right now I'm feeling like I can do just about anything!

    @rdcphone, I know how you feel about weight loss stalling. I have discovered that if I work out every single day, my body retains water, and then it seems like my weight won't go down. So rest days are important. And thanks about the cake :happy:

    @Ron, yes, I definitely am more fit now! And it feels so good. Life in general is just better because of it.
  • ron2e
    ron2e Posts: 606
    @Meg - congratulations on your run, 4.78 miles is just awesome, and yes, you can do just about anything! You are one amazing and inspiring lady. You are also a 16 chip enigma! I feel a definite affinity with you as I had about the same amount to lose as you and am around the same stage, but our methods are different (I would probably die if I ran, or even walked nonstop, 4.78 miles!). I have to agree with you about life being better, since the first 20 lbs came off I have noticed a great difference. I love your profile pic by the way, very artistic,and I find it totally rivetting.

    @rdcphone572 - I can't offer tips on how to lose weight while travelling on business, I can only tell you how it works for me - Firstly, breakfast, I try for two boiled eggs, but one fried/poached with either a slice of bacon or a small pork sausage keeps my breakfast around 200 - 300 cals or less. If I'm lucky I can have only fruit and black coffee, even lower cals. Lunch I try to have only soup, the lighter the better, a consomme is best, 100 to 200 cals. I drink black coffee, no cals. This leaves me around 1000 cals for the evening. I will not have more than one glass of wine, or will drink spirits (around 70 cals a measure) then I switch to water, no one seems to notice. I try to pick from the menu carefully, shellfish preferably, very low cals, fish as a second choice, chicken third, steak fourth, with a salad if possible. ~Stews can often be a good choice also. I avoid potato/rice/pasta or if not possible, eat only a very small amount. Starters I stick to salad/prawns/smoked salmon/carpaccio, etc, and avoid the bread and butter like the plague! I do not have desserts......... Oh, and if possible and I know in advance where I am going, I try to check the menu online and make informed choices. I keep carbs, in any form other than vegetables, as low as possible. If I can get some walking exercise in, so much the better. I have my limits set based on a sedentary lifestyle (I'm basically a computer programmer though I now do more project management and work at a screen most of the day) and log any exercise I have from my pedometer mainly. It is very difficult sometimes to estimate the calories in restaurant meals but I must be doing something right as I do seem to keep losing despite everything. My biggest issue is water retention and I either don't drink enough while I'm away, it's not as readily to hand as when working from home, or have high sodium meals (restaurants tend to load the salt for flavour reasons) so it takes two or three days to stabilise when I get home before I can get a proper reading of how much I have lost. I do recommend weighing every day in this event, you can see the water go and the weight come off. This also helps to avoid the 'stall' scenario. When I returned from two weeks away last Friday and weighed myself Saturday morning, I had lost nothing from two weeks previous. I could have been demotivated totally. However, weighing daily over the next four or five days I lost six pounds, that was just the water coming off. Tuesday I had a high sodium meal, Wednesday I was up on Tuesday, Thursday/Friday I lost again, that is my standard pattern which I think I now fully understand.
  • TheRunningGuppy
    TheRunningGuppy Posts: 651 Member
    Am I crazy or what? In addition to the 4.78 mile run, I had the bright idea of riding bikes with my boys (little one on my bike with me) to a park at the river that's not too far from our house. Turns out it's not too far when you're in a car. It's 9.5 miles round trip. Ugh. I'm tired, so off to bed I go now.
  • ron2e
    ron2e Posts: 606
    Am I crazy or what? In addition to the 4.78 mile run, I had the bright idea of riding bikes with my boys (little one on my bike with me) to a park at the river that's not too far from our house. Turns out it's not too far when you're in a car. It's 9.5 miles round trip. Ugh. I'm tired, so off to bed I go now.

    Yes totally crazy, but an awesome kind of crazy :wink:
  • TheRunningGuppy
    TheRunningGuppy Posts: 651 Member
    My new heart rate monitor is en route! Should be here on Tuesday, but probably not early enough in the day for me to use it on my run.
  • janetay01
    janetay01 Posts: 1,299 Member
    @meg - yep definitely crazy - but in a good way! Your new HRM may now motivate you even further - which is a worrying thought!

    Had a very quiet weekend - a pleasant change! Just did housework and stuff then visited my parents yesterday. Can't quite believe its Monday again already - where do the weekends go? Damp and grey here this morning - the lovely weather of the bank holiday seems a long time ago!

    Have a good Monday all.
  • JuniperT
    JuniperT Posts: 394 Member
    I'm back again, when we go visit the mother in law there's no wifi so there's not much I can do about any of that. I had a decent weekend, was spoiled with a sleep-in on mothers day :smile: I appreciate all the get it together comments, I'm not easily offended so no worries there :wink: New week, fresh start. I'm still doing my challenges and Turbo Jam but I'm a fan of running. I always have been and I think I'm going to start again. I was just wondering if any of you could recommend a hrm? I think it's time I take the plunge and get one but I have no clue where to start.

    Have a great Monday everyone
  • TheRunningGuppy
    TheRunningGuppy Posts: 651 Member
    @JuniperT, I have heard lots of good things about the Polar brand of HRM's, so that is what my husband ordered for me for Mother's Day. It's not here yet, should be tomorrow (love Amazon prime!) so I'll let you know what I think of it.
    Sucks that there's no wifi at your in-laws, but glad to hear you had a good weekend :happy:

    @Jane, sounds like you also had a nice weekend. I like the quiet ones too. Sounds like we're having similar weather. Managed to get my run in before it started raining too hard. Lovely part is, I have to ride my bike to school this afternoon to get my son, as that is the mode of transportation he chose today. Guess I'll be wearing my poncho :bigsmile:

    @Ron, thanks for the compliments on my profile pic, and calling me "awesome crazy" :blushing:

    Well yesterday was Mother's day, and in true Pacific Northwesterner fashion, we chose a trip to the beach. In the rain, and wind. And then we came home, my husband went out for a run, and I took a nap! And the boys just played.

    [img][/img]8735778042_a2b3e1b811.jpg
    Me & Boys by aguppymama, on Flickr

    [img][/img]8735777904_a400f1cb70.jpg
    Me & Bry by aguppymama, on Flickr
  • ron2e
    ron2e Posts: 606
    @meg - you're looking great in those photos, that 36 lbs has made a big difference! I just know you're going to reach your goal, you crazy thing you :laugh:

    @jane - I'd love to have a quiet weekend but it never seems to happen like that, there's always something that needs to be done. I did get time to watch the F1 Spanish Grand Prix though, which didn't disappoint.

    Well, travelling again this week, but in the UK, so much easier. I'm off tomorrow morning early, about a three hour drive depending on M25/M1 traffic, back Thursday afternoon. Just have to watch out for Mr Hilton's 'Welcome baskets' though it should be relatively easy to keep within my MFP limits, goodness knows I've had plenty of practice! I might take my pink swimshorts and give the fit young things in the Wellness Centre something to talk about :noway: Or maybe not. I'm probably not at that stage yet, though it will come in due course. Are we ever going to see a spring/summer in UK this year? The dogs seem to take great delight in running around in the rain (and mud at the bottom of the garden) then jumping on me. I swear they do it on purpose, though when questioned they deny this. I blame global warming myself, but they deny that also. Come to think of it they deny everything as a matter of course. Cyprus spoiled me, I'd forgotten just how nice it was to have clear skies, sun and high temperatures.
  • rdcphone572
    rdcphone572 Posts: 75 Member
    Hello!

    @ron2e - those were great tips. Maybe it's water retention due to sodium for me also...nah, it's the bread basket and after dinner fancy chocolate things that make you wonder where to insert your fork but somehow you get it in there and next thing you know 500 calories have landed on the watch out or keep it forever pile! Yikes! Any who, I'm going to try to do better on travel...that is my first challenge area. Hope you enjoy this travel week!

    @megblackburn - you and your family look so cute! That looks like a memory day to me.

    @juniper - glad you are back. I don't have a HRM. I just have that thing on my treadmill for now. Good luck with finding the right one for you.

    @janetay01 - I agree...some days are just so wonderful!

    Have a good week everyone! I'm going to do my part!
  • TheRunningGuppy
    TheRunningGuppy Posts: 651 Member
    Ok, since the thread moved to part 3, we seem to have lost a lot of people. :ohwell:

    Keeping up my running, got 3.14 this morning before work, with the stroller. Going to do a short run tomorrow, then take a couple days off to rest up for the 5K race on Saturday. Keep up the good work everyone!