Need to Lose 100 LBS -Robins Thread !

Thursday truth: I think about all the exercise I'm going to do....a lot. About how awesome I will feel and how hard I am going to work. In fact, I'm thinking about it right now! Have not yet figured out how to turn all of this thinking into action. That may be my problem....

Aug- Your doggies sound charming...at least the weenie gave you a heads-up on the stairs situation. My chihuahua would've hidden and let me step in it.

Update on the fires....still burning.

Thursday Truths:

So today I decided that I'm throwing my scale out the window and buying another one. I seriously think something is wrong with it, because it sits at the same number EVERY DAY! It's one that you manually set to zero, and I made sure that it is exactly on zero and on a completely flat surface. However, my nurses scale tells me I've lost weight. Ugh...annoying.

Our school caught on fire yesterday (*gasp*) but nobody was injured and we were able to put the fire out quickly. The transformer that converts the energy into the school ignited down the hall from me and all of the lights down our hall went haywire. We had to unplug everything and shut off all the power to our rooms. When we got to school today, we had no air conditioning. I thank God that it was a nice cool day this morning. It was around lunch before it got fixed. The burnt smell can still be smelled down the hall and poor Ms. Vick is lucky she was in her classroom when it happened, otherwise the school might have burned down.

On top of that, my foot started swelling after my run yesterday so I've had it wrapped with an ace bandage since then. I'm hoping it is better by tomorrow, because I have 5K training and I don't plan on missing it.

I got evaluated by my assistant principal today...it's only the 3rd week of school mind you...and I think it went pretty well. I didn't put on a dog and pony show for her. I simply had my kids working in pairs on a decimal project. I walked around monitoring them like I always do and answered questions and guided them to find their own answers. I hope I get a good score.

Thursday Truth: I wish there were two of me. One to do the paperwork that comes with teaching while I actually get to teach and do the fun part. We are currently putting together these things called RDA folders and it takes up a HUGE chunk of time. We have to use our cumm folders to get the information, but can only check them out during the school day. Well I don't have time to do that AND teach. So I chose teaching over doing extra paperwork. Since my kids are working in small groups tomorrow for remediation, it looks like I'll be getting that done.

Also, I had a Diet Dr. Pepper the other day. It's been over a month since I last had a soda, but my Secret Pal left it for me and it was ICE COLD! I felt like I would be a bad pal if I didn't atleast drink it.

Hope everyone has a great day!

@Lauren, looking good! brave girl, you. i wouldn't care what i looked like i wouldn't be able to put up pics. maybe i'll get there someday :laugh:

i haven't been doing very well the last couple of weeks. not sure where my motivation went but it's gone for the moment. i know it will come back but i'm irritated at myself.

@Toots: Been there still going through it. Not sure if its an end of summer thing or kids going back to school thing but we'll get through it. I'm just as irritated as you are with myself. Just don't give up.

yeah, i'm wondering if it's just the whole changes thing. who knows. i'm determined to recommit though.

Toots - you'll find your mojo again! Right now, you have SO much on your plate - need I tell you? Say, how is your book coming? I know you're on a deadline with it......

ha. yeah. it's utter chaos over here. no joke. but also no excuse. i should finish writing it today, but it will need to be edited after that which has never been my strong suit. It's due September 4. So i'll definitely be 'done' but i don't know that it will be polished and 'done.' and i have no beta readers who read series mysteries. all my CP's write romance. and the pacing and feel is totally different. but i'm crossing my fingers it goes okay :laugh:

My Wednesday wish is simple, several large fires are currently burning in my county and I wish that they could get those under control. It isn't a threat to my home (except yesterday when some wacko tried his hand at arson and lit 5 fires in our town but those were all put out in a few hours...didn't catch him though). Last report this morning was 24,000 acres burned and 50% containment of one called the Ponderosa fire. It is roughly 20 miles from me. The smoke has the whole area encompassed and I can see and smell it. The sun takes on a bright red orange color when it rises and sets because it sits behind the wall of smoke. Its really awful.

oh man, yeah. we have this issue here all the time and it's so bad. there was one time we actually thought about evacuating just because of the smoke and not from the fire. the actual fire was almost 200 miles away! the smoke was still so thick here that there were literally traffic warnings. i hope it clears up soon.

Not really, though I find myself checking this a couple times a day since I joined. I find a lot of the other threads are full of bickering or people putting down either skinny or bigger people, which isnt motivating for me. I was looking for a group of people who know what im going through so when I need that push I have help, and this group looks perfect to me

edit - you also all inspired me to do something I hadn't before. I put my picture up here, and I also took a bunch of what I will call before shots, so when I lose more I can post some compairisons. This way maybe I will be able to see my loss too, because right now I don't see it at all.

Message Boards: So does anyone jump anywhere else? I've realized I really don't. I just go straight to this thread and that's it. I find it so much more fulfilling to follow your journeys than read through the other stuff. Plus, some of the others get hung up on trivial stuff in my opinion. I get all the tips, questions asked/answered, encouragement, etc. . . that I need right here. Just curious.

Yes, I do. I'm a regular poster on another thread for older ladies and am a member of a number of groups. I try to avoid anything where folks get nasty but the groups for those with fibromyalgia, gluten free, chronic pain etc. have all been helpful to me from time to time. I visit this thread most often but I also like the success stories as Robin mentioned.

Karen- You may find me in Chicago some day soon. I need more adventure in my life. The same is true if you every come to Maryland and Annapolis. There is plenty of adventures and things to see around here. It is horrible when admin decides they need to read everything to us during professional development. I guess they think no one will read it until it is too late. Sorry, your in-service days are being taken up with pointless meetings.

Susan- This is my main forum as well. I will check out success stories and some other quick threads if they catch my attention but I don't really follow them. I find I don't have the time to read everything.

Robin- Congrats on the loss and swimming and the wall push-ups. You are doing a wonderful job.

Doug- Good job with the run. You really are making progress.

Truth- I have been slacking in the exercise department especially this week. I mentioned that I have lost my motivation and it may be that school has started again so I am still adjusting to getting up early. It may be that I am bored with the normal routine of working out and need to spice it up. No matter the reason I need to change my thinking and turn it back into a positive experience such as me time or stress reduction time. As Robin points outs exercise is a pleasurable thing and our brain totally dictates how we handle it. Tonight I realized that I was really slacking since I barely broke a sweat, even through I was rowing I was concerned about how my feet were feeling instead of pushing it. I hope I can get it together this weekend and put my heart back into it.

Here is the next new thing that I am going to try: TAP DANCING. A coworker is rounding up people to take lessons with her and depending on the class time and day I am going to try it. It will be fun and a different type of exercise. It is safer than rock climbing but I am worried that it my trigger my plantar fasicitsis (spelling sorry). I am looking forward to it and giving it try.

Here is the next new thing that I am going to try: TAP DANCING. A coworker is rounding up people to take lessons with her and depending on the class time and day I am going to try it. It will be fun and a different type of exercise. It is safer than rock climbing but I am worried that it my trigger my plantar fasicitsis (spelling sorry). I am looking forward to it and giving it try.

ohhh awesome. i llllllllloooooooovvvvvvveeee tap dancing. i took lessons forever and it's really hard work. i mean physically. in terms of dancing it's actually fairly basic. much easier than some of the other disciplines within dance. but it's super fun. later some of the moves, like wings, can be really hard, but mostly it's pretty low key.

@laurie--I will def let you know the next time I head to the DC area--love, love, love it!! Have been there many times, most recently in 2009 with my yearbook staff. I always wanted to try tap dancing as a kid--never really considered doing it as an adult. However, I DID take belly dancing classes several years ago :laugh: --a friend got me to take the classes with her and it was a lot of fun.

@nich--love the new profile pic!

@jana--ditto on your wish--I feel the exact same way! I love being in the classroom and don't even mind the prep and grading except that I just to have enough time to do it all. Perhaps if my clone (yes, another reason to clone myself!) did all of the busy, administrative work it would free me up to grade and such.

@kellylyn--to steal a line from Nike--Just Do It! (hope I don't get sued for copyright infringement :noway: )

@sicoe & any other newlings I've neglected to address--Welcome!! :flowerforyou:

@tina--if it makes you feel any better, I wasn't even slightly concerned that you might be giving up on this. No way, no how b/s YOU are a rockstar, my friend! You've just briefly lost your mojo--it happened to me for close to 6 months. Now mine's back. Wish I could tell you HOW I reclaimed it, but really, I think it was just sticking with it day after day. I also think acknowledging that it was OK that I was just going to maintain for awhile & not pressuring myself too much actually helped as well.

@kris--glad you are on the mend after your surgery--I know you really loved your zumba, so I'm happy you will get back to it soon!

@vinsonh & lamypie--sorry you guys aren't feeling well and hope you bounce back quickly.

@andrea--"He's seriously my biggest barrier to maintaining any sort of regular eating routine int he summer. But if I say no, his feelings get hurt. He thinks if I turn down his food I am turning him down." I could have written this a year ago. My husband is not a pro, but he's a very good cook and loves to experiment with recipes and such. I used to always feel really guilty if I turned down his food (or more precisely, if I turned down second helpings of his food :blushing: ). However, the minute I started logging on MFP, I just used the line "I would love to taste the _____ you just cooked, but I really don't have enough calories left." That seemed to take the sting out of my rejection. He quickly learned to either adjust his recipes (checking with me about ingredients ahead of time), or if he really wants to make something high cal, he tells me a few days ahead of time so I can plan my workout and eating and be able to enjoy the meal. He also no longer expects me to eat huge amounts of whatever he's cooked. He still slips up all the time (and sometimes I do too), but for the most part he's learned that I just won't eat the food if I don't have the calories to spare.

@aug--I your doggies!!

@annie and doug--great running guys!! :drinker:

@robin--congrats on your 2lb loss--you were due for a scale drop!! :flowerforyou:

I know I missed people, but I'll catch you guys on the next round.

Thursday Truth:
School was really great today (even with all of the afternoon meetings). My students seem really wonderful (I know, I know--it's only the first day ) and I have quite a few less, which will lighten my grading load. Specifically I *only* have 49 students in my 2 AP courses--that's down from 60 last year! :drinker: Considering that 11 papers take me close to 3 hours to grade, that's a huge difference.

I'm also super duper pleased with myself b/c I came home from work and went to the gym! I could easily have rationalized that "I went on Tuesday and will go again on Saturday, so I'll just take the dog for a walk..." but I went! Yay me! :bigsmile: Oh, and don't worry, I still took Gunner for his walk. :laugh:

Thursday truth: I have an obsession with the scales. I weigh every day. This week I was up 2 pounds on Sunday, then down two pounds on Monday, then up 2 pounds on Wednesday, then down 2 pounds today! :huh: No kidding! My weigh-in day is Saturday, and I'm doing everything in my power not to let the scales run my life, but I absolutely cannot stand it if I don't weigh every morning! It's like a compulsive habit, and I think I know how my students with tics must feel. They can't stand it unless they do it. That's like me with the scales! I just hope I'm down 2 on Saturday, my weigh-in day! :frown:

Ok I made it before the day was over. It seems like I have been running all day. Nothing major just enough to keep me busy instead of lazy, lol. `I have been scanning the different forums especially the recipie one and was led to some great websites for recipies. My head is literally spinning. Cant make up my mind were to start. Well not true I started tonite with lasgna cupcakes and they were GOOD. Had to fight my eighteen year old for the last one that I wanted to take over so my dad could try and that was after he ate five of them, lol.

So thursday truth: I find it ironically funny that with relatively few tweaks to my eating i have gone from god knows how many calories in a day that got me to here, to having trouble getting in over 1500 leet alone the 2000 I am supposed to have. I am at a 500 plus deficit almost every nite after dinner now. So I have been trying to get creative and find good alternatives to fill that in and not give in to the junkffod monster. So far so good but I need to find a way to eat more during the day because I really dont like eating at nite like this. It is a bad habit I am trying to break. I think one of the reasons it seems somewhat simpler this time is I have developed a passion for cooking in the last few years and discovered the joy of spices and intense flavors. So less just seems a lot more filling now. If only I had discovered this 20 years ago, lol.

Thanks Robin for your support, and congrats on your loss!

I know it's after 12, but I'm still going with my Thursday truth (after all it's only 10 on the west coast!): Right now I am just counting calories, but I know I need to eat better food and less garbage. In particular, I need to stop drinking so much sweetened iced tea. So I've been reading books, and watching documentaries, and talking to friends on here... but there are so many different approaches to weight loss. A good friend of mine is doing low carb/high fat and having good success. But it just doesn't seem right to me to eat so much animal fat. Others are doing a mainly plant-based diet, which seems to make more sense, but the thought of eating kale and spinach all the time is a bit off-putting. I just need to figure out what I will and won't eat, then I can plan breakfasts, work lunches and family dinners around that. Do others get confused by such things too? Or do you just worry about counting calories?

Have a great Friday everyone!

@Robin - congrat's on the 2 lbs! Well done!

Well, I got up and was driving to work when I realized I needed to check my pager. Good thing I did, b/c my clinic was cancelled for the day! At least I was only a couple minutes down the road! So, for my free day I am going to clean and hit the gym!

SInce I didn't post last night, here is my truth a day late: I have found myself "embarrassed" to lift weights in the gym. I'm not really sure why. I got the book The New Rules of Lifting for Women and have the 2 routines for phase 1 that I am doing. I had to alter 2 of them - I do the seated row standing and I don't do the prone jack knife (I tried once and almost broke my neck...maybe once I get more balance). I don't know if it is b/c it's only 5 exercises a day or what, but I have this weird mental block once I cross from the machines to the free weights section of the gym. I should also say that everyone there is totally nice - always smiling and saying hi and such. So I don't really understand at all where this is coming from!

Less than half the calories sticky buns - from the chew - Check out these less than half calorie (half the calories than the real thing) whole wheat sticky buns on the chew. 300(?I don't remember the exact number) versus over 700 calories per serving of the real thing.
http://beta.abc.go.com/shows/the-chew/recipes/sticky-buns-blueberry-daphne-oz

Friday fitness - I made it to the gym Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, so I win Friday fitness again.

aug

@tina--if it makes you feel any better, I wasn't even slightly concerned that you might be giving up on this. No way, no how b/s YOU are a rockstar, my friend! You've just briefly lost your mojo--it happened to me for close to 6 months. Now mine's back. Wish I could tell you HOW I reclaimed it, but really, I think it was just sticking with it day after day. I also think acknowledging that it was OK that I was just going to maintain for awhile & not pressuring myself too much actually helped as well.

Thank you. I am slowly working on getting my mojo back lol that's for sure. Next week starting Monday it is ON! I am making a schedule out this week. And everyday I will have an appt to exercise. I will fit it in everyday and will make it work. Even if that means i have to get up super early to do it.
And that's one thing I'm doing is just trying my best to stick with it and do the best I can. And I will get to where I want to be.
Thank you for always being so encouraging!

I am new to MFP today and have over 100 pounds to lose. I would like to join this thread please