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

janetay01

@carolina - welcome! I too love to eat - it is what motivates me to workout - more calories!!

@meg - the low cal day was interesting. I didn't find it quite as hard as I thought I would but its not something I would want to do regularly. Maybe once a week/once every two weeks and see if it has any effect. Sounds like you've got a good weekend coming up - sounds like a lot of fun! Hope the race went well.

@ron - so did you get that dog walk in? Don't talk to me about root canal - been there, don't wish to do it again!

Busy weekend here - gardening and stuff around the house. Still trying to sort out installation of a wood burning stove but everything takes so long! And is so expensive as well! Made jam today - should keep us well stocked through the winter. Have a good Sunday all!

_tru_

@Jane – Have you banished the monster from you wardrobe? I started cleaning out another room and yup, more mysterious stuff! I hear you on the work thing. It is suppose to be “summer easy”, but I am busier than ever. It's a good thing, but I am getting a little worn out. Hope house stuff is going well (at least that you are getting some feedback). Sorry to hear about the filling. I have gum grafting coming up in October. I am NOT looking forward to that.

@Ron – Glad to hear Germany treated you well. I am fascinated to hear more about your couch? What other features did it come with? And, does it come in cheetah print? I can assure you that Canada IS real. Unless of course, I too am a figment of your imagination. Hmmm...

@Meg – Ah yes, essential oils. I believe Young Living has a “therapeutic” line, but VERY expensive. I do have a few myself – frankincense, lavender, rosemary, cedar, and sandalwood. I use them topically. And then I also have orange and eucalyptus for my diffuser. But, my cat is not happy when I use it. How did the 8K go?

@Superzeromambo – Welcome to the thread! Remember that this is not a race. Just take baby steps and you will get there!

@Carolina – Welcome aboard! I think what has worked best for me is to just modify one thing at a time. Ie. Work on reducing (or outright eliminating) sweets. Once you have that conquered, then move onto the fried foods... or whatever else you want to make healthier. Just for the record, I don't believe in eliminating anything completely, but sometimes a temporary ban does help me until I can get it under control.

I heard about the new doctor. Not sure how long they stick around, but there may just be yet another changing of the doctor before I actually get to view the series. I checked today and I am still in the 100s in line for a copy at the library. Oh, it will take some time!

Speaking of furniture races. Every winter here (yes Ron, in Canada!) we hold bed races on the (frozen) rideau canal. It is quite hilarious to watch! (Crazy Canucks. Yes, yes, I know!)

I don't know how you can all eat so little calories!?! I guess I just don't have enough will power. I would be gnawing my arm off by bedtime. Glad to hear that it works for you though!

Well, I am sad to say that the garden does not look good. Most of the veggies are done and the one thing I was most looking forward to – the tomatoes – have been wiped out by a blight. I had not heard of such a thing, but it only took about 1 week to wipe out our entire crop. We probably had about 700 green tomatoes, soon to ripen. Sigh. RIP tomatoes.

Your mention of zombies reminded me of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApmPQDAzYyM
I suppose the moral of the story (besides learning CPR) is to stay in shape so zombies don't have to revive you for food. We'll go with that.

Have a Super Sunday!

amyknjones

I would love to add some new friends! I have a few already, but it seems they don't like to motivate as much as I had hoped. This is a tough game we play, and I am trying to conquer it! I have about 40-50 lbs to lose (30 down from my highest, not using MFP...and about a year ago, so I am back at it.) I would love some new adds and if you help me, I will help you.

CarolinaTK50

Thank you all for the welcome
I'm now into week two of this journey and saw my first weight loss. My Yeah moment !
I work every weekend 12 hour shifts. I packed lots of healthy foods which I could grab fast. So I would not be tempted to opt for fast food. It worked. So I'm celebrating one work weekend of success. Hope you all have a wonderful Monday !

TheRunningGuppy

@Carolina, welcome! Congrats on your success so far, and great plan for packing your own food!

@Amy, welcome as well! Feel free to add me :bigsmile:

@Tru, 8K went all right, but as you know, hairy nosed guy made it interesting... :noway: So sad about your tomatoes! I seriously love tomatoes from the garden (not that I actually do gardening...) they are way better than store bought.

@Jane, you're right, low cal days shouldn't happen too often! I think I'll be doing about every two weeks :happy: Bet you're going to love having a wood burning stove. Hope you get that all sorted out soon.

@Ron, whether you think it's exercise or not, running up stairs is exercise! So you've been bitten by the exercise bug! :bigsmile: So I think it's time you started running! And hey, it's an excuse to eat more, so why not?

Speaking of running, looking to get in a little over 4 miles today. Going to run on my lunch, which will be about 1.25, then again after work I'll do a quick 5K. My mom is taking the boys to the beach today, and she said I'll have time to run after work, so going to take full advantage of it.
I'm getting excited for the weekend already! Driving 3 hours north to spend 4 days with my best friend. Boys are coming too, and we're going to the county fair there, but bringing in our own food, thank goodness! I don't think my tummy could handle more fair food right now. I think there will be some swimming too, and playing in the creek and at the beach. I'll be logging my food, but probably not interacting much.

janetay01

@meg - sounds like you've got a really fun weekend coming up! Just steer clear of all that fair food

@amy - welcome. Feel free to add me - I'm on here every day and I've found that real motivation from friends makes the commitment to this much easier.

@carolina - congrats on the successful week. Sounds like you have a really good plan there.

@tru - gutting about the tomatoes - I would be so disappointed. On the low cal days, I will not be making a habit of it - I like my food far too much for that! And I don't know that it does work for me anyway!

Well it's been a mad and frustrating work week so far. The project I am working on may slip by 3-6 months due to external forces beyond our control and it means all I've done over the last few months will be for nothing in the short term. So frustrating. And I'm not getting my workouts in - too tired and cross when I get home! Need to give myself a slap!
Have a good middle of the week all - keep smiling:laugh:

ron2e

Welcome Amy and Carolina (though I suspect Carolina is a location! SC sort of gives it away!), great, if currently small group here. Feel free to add me.

@Carolina - get what you mean about fried food, I used to be an addict also, but I just realised, I haven't used my deep oil fryer even once since I started on MFP at the end of January, and I used to use it at least three or four times a week, it was too easy to turn it on and throw all sorts of stuff in for a quick, tasty and unfortunately high cal meal!!

@jane - yes I'm taking one or two of the dogs for a walk more regularly, now I can, and enjoy doing stuff that would probably have killed me six months ago. I still refuse to do exercise though I have to confess I was considering asking my wife to get me an exercise bike for my upcoming birthday in a couple of months or so. Hope you've managed by now to find someone to install the wood buring stove so you can get the benefit in a few weeks when winter arrives in this part of the world It's a fact of life that projects do slip, it's the bane of my existence currently as we have to base our go live on other stuff being implemented aand when that slips, we slip. The way I look at it is it is keeping me in work and the bills paid!

@_tru_ - (the figment of my imagination from imaginary Canada) My couch is in leather, turbo of course, and will leave any wardrobe standing in a straight drag race. It also semi reclines to cut down wind resistance.

@Meg - please don't be silly, running up the stairs is not exercise, it is running up the stairs, and I did it again a couple of hours ago. I don't see myself every really taking up running, I've managed for most of my life without! Also I have a reputation to keep up, if I were to start running people would talk behind my back............ Have a great weekend and stay away from the fair food!!

I'm at home next week, got so much design and paperwork to do I really need to keep my head down with as few interruptions as possible. The biggest frustration is trying to get information out of people, you ask questions and people say, no you can't do that, then when you say why not, they say I don't fully understand what you are trying to do, can we have a telecon about it........ they're fond of telecons in my place! I'm really hoping to get a week off around end September/October to spend with a mate of mine in Ireland (and do some gigging with him!) but finding it difficult to get a good time to go. I think I'm just going to have to say to hell with it, no time will be right so I'll go when it suits me.

Everyone have a good Friday and a nice weekend :happy:

janetay01

Blimey it's quiet on here!

@ron - exercise bike????! You are in danger of getting 'the bug' - and beware, it's a tricky one to get rid of! Bet the dogs are liking the new you though.

@meg - sounds like you had a great weekend - you'll have to tell us all about it.

Well last day of work for me this week. Have a day of study leave tomorrow (which admittedly is just work just dressed up differently) - writing about training design - what joy! Then dentist on Thursday (eeek) then up to visits father in law Thursday through Saturday. He's about 260 miles away so always a bit of a trip. Long weekend here with a bank holiday then back to work on Tuesday to start delivering all the training courses - design of which have been driving me loopy over the last few months. So it will be good to finally actually deliver on the first phase of the project.

Have a good week all.

OliviaDeFranzia

@janetay01 Is there something wrong with exercise bikes that I need to know about? That's my biggest source of cardio!

Hi everyone. I'm new to this thread, new to this website really, but I need to loose 55 pounds to get back into the dresses that are in my closet. I'm having kind of a hard time staying on task, as I've just moved, and now am in a kind of bad neighborhood where running isn't the safest thing to do around here. Also, I hate running.
Dieting is difficult for me, because my mom and I both share an adoration for delicious, albeit fatty, foods, and I always associate lasagna for comfort (Garfield has nothing on me...). In face, I generally associate all foods with comfort, except vegetables, which I associate with the "jerk who couldn't be bothered to make a real dish for the potluck and instead bought a vegetable platter." (No offense to the veggie lovers out there)
I've been seriously dieting and exercising for about three weeks now, and I have only 2 pounds lost to show for it. I'm sincerely losing faith in my ability to lose the weight.

ron2e

Welcome Olive, and Jane was only warning me, because I have a well known aversion to exercise (If I feel like exercising I usually lie down in a darkened room till the feeling passes!), that I would become addicted. Stick with us though, we're a supportive group when we're around! I sympathise over the delicious food, I'm the same, though I've learned to make better choices and smaller helpings while still eating basically what I want. I have avoided refined carbs like bread and pasta though as much as possible, mainly because it means I have to give up something else to fit them in my daily calorie allowance. I'm also not particularly a vegetable person thanks to a Scottish upbringing where veg was potatoes onions and carrots, and anything green apart from cabbage and peas was treated with suspicion and known generically as 'rabbit food'.I'm not so bad now though for a number of years and my tastes are changing thanks to this weight loss process. Seriously 2 lbs in three weeks is not so bad though I (and I'm extreme in MFP terms) try to lose that in a week. As people keep saying this is a marathon not a sprint, and if you wish to maintain the low weight you will eventually achieve for the rest of your life you have to change your mindset and your lifestyle. Just make sure you are logging as accurately as possible everything that you put in your mouth. I think it's a good idea to set yourself up on MFP as sedentary and then log your exercise, it's difficult to judge how active is active and how much to add for additional exercise. I'm sedentary anyway so didn't have to worry about this bit!!

@Jane - yes indeed the dogs like the new me, they don't think I'm such a fat b*st*rd any more :bigsmile: Sounds like you have a fun week ahead, particularly the dentist...........:sad: I had forgotten about the Bank Holiday until yesterday, though I'll probably work it as rest of Europe will still be open for business and I can do a minimum of support for a lot of money!

Where is everybody? Steph's in Canada, Meg will be running and _Tru_ probably gardening....................

111grace

Hi everyone, I joined about a week ago, i am struggling to even make a dent in my weight loss59 pounds, to balance my calories, I am sick of even thinking about dieting!:(. I hate soups, don't like meats (so this keto diet is proving difficult, [ although i now understand the need for fats - are important], i like more vegetables, exercise is difficult, to do alone. I have failed myself, yoyo for 15years. how do I get out of this stupid cycle? & get rid of the cravings! weak willpower!

TheRunningGuppy

@111grace, the trick is to not think of it as a diet. You're just changing the way you do thing in regards to food. And motivation is not a stable thing. It has to be determination. So if you stick around this thread very long, you'll see we're very supportive!

@Ron, you're right about me running. Just created a calendar with my running plan for the rest of the month. My goal for August is 60 miles, and I'm short by about 20 right now, so I wanted to plan out the rest of the month to make sure I get there. Someday Ron, you're going to admit that you're actually exercising! :bigsmile: And I think all of us will faint from the shock when you do.

@Olive, welcome, and see above what I said to grace :happy: When people diet, they think of it as a temporary thing. I want my life to be permanently changed, so I don't diet!

@Jane, it was a great weekend! But I'm kind of paying for it now... way too much food on Sunday! Hope your study day went well. Have a fun weekend (after the dentist of course!).


Drove up to my friends house on Friday mid morning, arrived around 2:30 p.m. after making several stops. Just hung out and didn't do much that day. Saturday morning's run was absolutely beautiful. My lucky friend lives literally across the road from the beach, and 1 mile from the Discovery Trail, which is a 26 mile mostly paved former railroad track. So for my run, I ran the mile up to the trail, then along the trail for another mile, and then turned around and came back. Had a hard time making myself turn around, I just wanted to keep running! After my run, my family and my friends family went to the county fair, which was oddly smaller than my local fair even though they live in a more populated county than I do. Took the kids to see all the animals, and the boys got to pick one ride to do, and they all chose a bungee trampoline thing, and my 4 year old was the bravest, he went so high! Also saw a free comedian/juggler show. The kids thought it was hilarious. We packed our dinner in, but did splurge on an elephant ear, which I ate about 1/3 of. Then Sunday we all went to church, and afterward my friends awesome husband kept all 5 kids, while my friend and I went out to lunch, then shopping, for a walk on another section of the Discovery Trail, then out to dinner, and then to the movie The Wolverine. It was a great day out with her. Monday we took the kids swimming in the morning at the community pool for an hour, then had some lunch, packed up, and came home. The drive took about 3 hours with stops, and as soon as I unpacked the car and hubby got home from work, I was out running 4.23 miles.

The scale went up from my indulgences on Sunday... and probably a heck of a lot of sodium. So yesterday I did a low cal day, and today I'll be back to normal for eating and running. Like I mentioned to Ron, I'm creating a calendar of my running schedule so I know how far I should run each day to get to my goal. Finished out this month (60 miles), and all of next month (70 miles). I think I'll create October's as well, and then look at my half marathon training plan starting in November.

OliviaDeFranzia

Hi everyone! I just started the insanity workouts and am on my third day. It's tough, to say the least, and a 45 minute video generally takes me about an hour and a half from all the breaks I have to take. It's worth it, though, the results are nearly instantaneous. It gave me the kick I needed to really start losing weight. Plus it comes with a pretty delicious diet plan.
I always used to make fun of my husband's friends, the serious athletes who would always bring over their own meals instead of allowing me to make them something to eat. Now I kind of understand...I don't even want to eat at healthy food places, because I've begun to only want to eat things that I myself make. It's weird.
I start my school again tomorrow (I go to University) so I pre-made five small meals for the day. I feel like I'm back in gradeschool, making lunch the night before.
I'll fill you all in on the results of Insanity as I go. It may have been the best investment I ever made in myself, if you'll excuse the corniness.

stephaniezoundi

Hello All!
Need to do some reading to catch up but see there are some new faces, hope you stick around. Well it's 330 in the morning and I'm siting with a sleeping baby who has had a fever for 12hrs now and thought I might as well use the time!

My trip home was great and once again leaving was the hardest thing ever. It was wonderful to meet my niece and the two cousins seemed taken with each other right away. I got lucky on the flights in that Kenzie slept most of the way. As it always is, food was a challenge at home. Being there is always an opportunity to have things I don't get in the UK. and so there was indulgence. Disappointed in myself for only getting in one run. The reality is I was a bit lazy and secondly wanted to spend every minute with family, even when they were driving me nuts. This trip to Canada (Ron, it's a magical place like Narnia!) as I didn't have to rush around anywhere and generally hung out in my parents backyard. Did have an excellent time doing swimming lessons with little miss.

I had been weighing in at my parents who assured me their scales were correct. I've come home to find they were not. I've dropped 4 lbs since getting back (good old salt) so going to give it another week before recording especially as that *kitten* Tom will visit sink enough.

School starts Monday. While parents cheer like most teachers I hide my head under the duvet in denial. Results weren't great so going to be along first day with the head ranting! Well little miss us feeling cooler so I think I may return her and I to bed!!

janetay01

@meg - how's the running plan coming along? All sounds very serious!

@olive - good luck with the insanity workouts - they aren't a set that I've tried before but I always hear fearsome stories about them! Hope the meal planning for lunch goes ok - what do you study at uni?

@steph - welcome back! Sorry to hear about the little one with her fever - hope that clears up soon. Sounds like a great time at home and being lazy is no crime - relaxing and chilling out with the family is a good thing (even though they drive you nuts!!). My best friend is a teacher and he already has his head under the duvet in denial!

Not sure where that weekend went! Visited my father in law Thursday and Friday - lots of driving and horrible bank holiday traffic on the M6 ( a nasty, very busy motorway for those out of the UK) and then Saturday/ Sunday were quiet. Friends round to lunch yesterday which was lovely but back to work today. My month long huge training programme kicks off today so am sat on the 6:23 train into London - not much fun but need to be in early to start things off. I need to refind my motivation at the moment - not quite inspired on the logging front and I've not exercised as much as I should. So the new motivation starts here, today! Have a good day all!

ron2e

Seems like ages since I posted on here, and it is! Last week was just chaos. However this week I'm working from home so it will be a little less chaos! This year just seems to get crazier, looks like I am off to India again within the next two or three weeks, just waiting for the authorisation to come through, I've had another project dropped in my lap on Friday and it is looking like I will have to treble my UK team from 2 to 6 and increase the Indian team or buy in resources from another Indian IT company. I had planned, well thought about, no plans were actually made, a small vacation in October, but that is looking impossible now. Oh well, no point in complaining, I'll get that break in eventually, even if it has to wait until Christmas......... and in any case I love all the chaos really!

I'm still in a stall, my weight hasn't dropped below that taken on the 21st September. I'm not entirely sure why, and it's complicated by the travel/eating out scenario and water retention, but I've also been more active and my skeletal muscle percentage has increased, don't know it that has anything to do with it. I'm not concerned as my weight has hovered around up to 3lbs above the last weigh in. I'm not concerned as I feel I am eating enough and not too much and I feel if anything healthier and I have lost another inch or so off my belly. This morning for the first time since last weigh in I am the same weight, so maybe it's looking more positive.

This is probably too much information but I ordered some new knickers yesterday in a smaller size as my current ones are a bit loose (an NSV!!). Do Amazon do absolutely everything?? I can order the ones I favour direct from Jockey, or I can order them from Amazon, supplied by Jockey, cheaper! Go figure!

TheRunningGuppy

Oh gosh, it's been forever. We must all be really busy or something! I miss our daily postings here. But also, since we're all on each others friends lists now, it's easier to keep up with each other.

Ron, I know you've lost weight since your last post, bet you're glad to be past the stall! They are very frustrating, as I just broke through a week long one myself, and had a two week long one before that. I know the losses slow down as your weight gets lower, but it's still frustrating, considering I still have so far to go.
And new knickers! That's a great NSV. And I love Amazon, especially since I have a prime membership :bigsmile: And I live 2 hours from Seattle, meaning that even when I order something not prime, it gets here quickly still.

Jane, running is coming along nicely! First week of September is about up and I am right on target to meet my goal of 70 miles this month. Running 5 today. Have run 12 already, so after my run today it will be 17+ this week. It's weird to say that! Sounds like work is getting a bit crazy for you, having to get in to London. At least it's a temporary thing right?

Steph, welcome back from Canada! From what I saw, sounds like you had a fun visit :happy: Glad your little girl was sleepy for your flights, makes it so much easier. I am with the cheering parents this year, although I've got a few teacher friends who are like you, hiding from it under the covers! I'm friends with the principal of my son's school, he's starting year 33 in education... wow!

Olive, how is Insanity going? From what I hear, people either love or hate it.

Well, here's about me. I run. And I work. And I take care of my family. Seems like that's all I do lately.... With school starting this week for my kids, it seems like it's settled down a bit around here, but with my work schedule changing next week, I'm praying it goes well! 5:30 a.m. is waaaayyyy too early. But I also really like the idea of being done with my work day at 11 a.m. So we're trying it out on a trial basis.
In about a month, I'm going to be doing "The Great Columbia Crossing" http://farm1.staticflickr.com/49/144366050_9ff9a59976_z.jpg This is a pic of the bridge.... Getting a little nervous!