Need to Lose 100 LBS -Robins Thread !

Wow everyone, what a great day some of you had. Congrats to all you running enthusiasts. I applaud all of you in your continued efforts to better your times and go farther distances. I can't tell you how many years at has been since I've been able to run. Its 5 years since I had my knee replacements done and many years of pain and swelling before the replacements. I enjoy walking but speed and distance is not something I think about.

For those of you who mentioned Glucosamine, I am on it. I take a combination of Glucosamine, Chondroitin and MSM twice a day for my arthritis and it does help a little but I also take daily anti-inflammatory meds as well as long acting pain meds for the arthritis and the neuropathy that has plagued me for years.

Kaye - I'm with you. When the weather is cold or wet, there's no way you'd get me outside walking or anything. My joints feel the changes in the weather and I'm crippled up when the weather gets bad. Good for you for sending the cake home with the grands. I do the same thing as I've got too big a sweet tooth to keep that kind of thing around and the grand kids love the treat as my daughter is very health conscious and doesn't bake a lot except around the holidays.

Robin - Good for you for getting out there and doing a mile in support of the others. Way to go.

Skinny - I keep shaking my head when I read about the amount of time you have to spend grading papers. Do you ever get a day when you don't have to spend time on work? I would go crazy. My shifts are crazy long (12 hours on my feet) but at least I know when my shift is over, I go home and my time is my own. I applaud all of the teachers for the amount of personal time they have to commit to their jobs that are not always personally satisfying.

Laurie - I agree with you, you are crazy. But, its a good crazy and very motivating for the rest of us who can't do all the stuff you can do. I read your exercise goals and think okay, what can I do..

Hope everyone is having a great w/e. I'm on my last night of 3 and have a new grad working with me tonight and she's doing most of the work on our assignment and I get to do the health teaching with the patients which I love and then help her with stuff she hasn't done before. Its a nice break from a heavy couple of nights. Looking forward to my days off as my daughter is coming to stay with me over night tomorrow and then I take her to the airport as she's flying out to spend a well deserved week with her brother and his family. He's lived in Alberta for about 7 years and she's never been able to make the trip out there to visit him. My son just moved in to his new home this week and she'll be his first visitor to the new house. He's so excited to have her coming out and spending time with him and his family. My sil's mom is going to go stay with him to help with the kids while my daughter is away. I'm glad because I had originally offered to go stay but then couldn't juggle my days off to help out. Just as well after the week I spent up there after my daughters surgery. If he's as lazy with his mom around as he was when I was there, hopefully she'll kick his butt. Better her than me.
Good luck with weigh ins this week everyone. I'll weigh in on Tuesday as it'll be my full day off. Hopeing for at least a pound or two loss after maintaining for a week or so. Charlotte

@ Kooky: I didn't mean to leave you out, but WELCOME!! I started MFP in August of last year and this is the only thread I've followed. Everyone is very positive with no negativity. We've really got some amazing folks in this group. You've lost it before so you know what you need to do, but as you've also learned it's not just about eating better and exercising more, BUT the mental side is just as important. I gained back 35 lbs so fast and was so mad at myself. I worked so hard and to gain back those pounds made me so mad. The important thing is you're back and stay with this thread. These folks will support you as much as you want supported.

I've been keeping up with you all but I'm too tired for personals -- I'll try to catch up tomorrow (today). Although right now it is 12:15 as I type so HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAREN!! Have a great day!

Sunday Share: My name is Tracy and I live in Bismarck, ND. My husband works nights and weekends and I am basically a single mother of my two kids -- Jacob, 12 and Emma, 7. While I signed up for MFP last summer, I didn't start getting serious about it until January 7, 2013. So far I have lost 27 pounds, gained 7 back over the summer and am now working at it again. I love to read and travel and just try to keep my head above water. I do quality improvement for a life insurance company based out of Sioux Falls. I work out of my home during regular business hours so love the interaction and support I get through MFP and Facebook with old and new friends alike. I haven't been very faithful about working out, but hoping to change that. My sisters and I are starting the PowerLifts 5X5 program and am excited to have some workout partners that will help keep me accountable.

My legs still hurt, from lifting on Friday, but I ended up pushing through and had a very full/productive day. Church and then lunch with my mom and my daughter. After that, I watched the Vikings win!! (although can't brag too much, we beat the Steelers who have no wins either). Then I started some laundry and cleaned the kitchen. Took Emma to ice skating. Normally I go down to the rink and help her with her skates, go back up to watch her lesson and then back down to help her take her skates off. Too many steps for these sore legs, so I didn't actually watch her lessons today. :blushing:

After supper, we wandered into Emma's room and we sorted through all her clothes. We have two bags of clothes for my neice to take home with her when the come to visit. We found a handful of clothes that will fit her this winter (hand me downs from a dear friend) and she decided to give about 20 stuffed animals to kids that don't have any. We washed her bedding and remade the bed and then headed to my room.

Got through my closet (OMG huge job!) and it's all nice and organized. Got all my clean clothes put away and all that stuff that I just "had" to save that I never used has been thrown away or put in a donate bag. I even was able to get down on my hands and knees and clean out the corners -- slow to get back up, but....:sad:

Alright, off to bed. See you tomorrow!

@Robin- sorry it took me so long to reply. I've been trying to log everything as I eat it but when I'm at work it's really difficult for me. I'm not allowed to have my cell phone out so I have to wait until I get off and by that time logging is far from my mind. Honestly it's made it difficult but diet-wise I've been doing pretty good regardless. At work I stick to salads and the like so there's not a lot of calories going in lol. The only real upside is that I drink a lot of water there too.

Honestly I guess I just have to knuckle down and at least make a note of everything I ate during the day and add it after my shift.

Sunday share: Not all that much to tell really. I work at a gas station so I'm on my feet quite a bit. I've been trying to lose weight (and have been pretty successful here recently). I'm trying to get into running and I've been trying to do the couch to 5k program as best I can. It's been beating me up pretty hard though and I think it's because I don't have the right shoes. Honestly stress is probably got a lot to do with it as well though. There's a lot going on in my home that's making it difficult on so many levels, and with work, I can barely walk by the time I get home. I have been trying to stay more active though, regardless. On my days off I go to the park or to the gym (I really love treadmills), I swim a lot and I love doing things like bowling or playing pool (they're very good stress relievers.)

I've also been considering joining Nutrisystems but I'm not sure how good of an idea that would actually be or even if I could afford it.

Well the run went really well... other then having to get there SO early. Run started at 9:30 but had to catch a ferry at 7! which meant I had to leave my house basically at 5:20. When I meet my sister at the train station she yelled at me about making her get up so early...

Here are some pics
https://tunneltotowers13.shutterfly.com/

I did get to see some of my friends from work prerace which was nice... got pretty far up in the pack of runners which is key with 35k runners/walkers

The run was slow which is harder if you ask me.. 38 minutes was my time for the run.. a bit of walking involved and a lot of weaving in and out of people. My legs were cramping up from the very start of the race and annoyed me the whole time and my ankle even started to hurt a bit. I finished strong though and am looking forward to doing it again next year.

Good Morning.

@Karen~Wishing you the happiest of birthday's today, I hope you have a fabulous day! :flowerforyou:

@Kaye~Texas Sheet Cake brings back some really fond memories of my granny - she was an amazing cook and every time we visited we could always count on her having Texas Sheet Cake around. I'm really sensitive to the cold, so can relate to not wanting to walk outdoors when its rainy and cold - I would much rather be outside when its 100+ than in the 50s!

@Tom~Oh dear, I hope they get that CPAP to you soon - going 20 days is NOT good!

@Meister~I'm not a huge advocate for Jenny Craig or Nutrisystem type programs. It is expensive but more than that is that most of their foods are really carby and full of preservatives. More often than not people gain back most if not all of their weight after they stop eating their foods. Its convenient, but its just best to cook for yourself. Everyone needs to find what works for them, though.

Exercise Goals this week:

Monday~Gym, Ellip/Row
Tuesday~Rest Day
Wednesday~Gym, training session
Thursday~Rest Day
Friday~Gym, Arc trainer/weights
Saturday~Gym, running drills or run/walk outside
Sunday~Gym, training session

Hello! Happy to see this thread - I am aiming for 150 lbs down sometime next year. I had never seen the show "Extreme Weight Loss" but I heard someone else mention it on another thread. Saw it while channel surfing yesterday so decided to watch. It was inspiring - twins (a brother and sister) who needed to lose A LOT of weight. I believe the sister was at 398 when they did the initial weight in. She lost 150 lbs in the first 6 months, which was AMAZING -- I found her story quite intriguing; until they highlighted how she works out for 4 hours per day. REALLY? Like who has time to do THAT?? I certainly don't! Oh, well...

I agree with a previous poster - my struggle has always been with portion control. Really, you can eat whatever the heck you want as long as you watch your calories and portion control - and I've never been very good at either! Hoping MFP can help me - and I'm already seeing that it has. :-D

Working out is a whole 'nother story...I have a heart murmur, so I need to be very careful when doing anything aerobic. Really, my exercise of choice is walking and/or an elliptical. I tried to teach my self how to hula hoop yesterday and was incredibly unsuccessful (it just dropped to the floor after a couple revolutions - and I'm trying!!!), but I did break out in a sweat trying to master it over and over and over again!

I also have carpal (wrists) and cubital (elbows) tunnel syndromes in BOTH arms, so lifting anything more than 10 lbs is a problem. I use resistance bands instead of weights; I'm hoping that when I drop some more weight maybe my wrists and elbows will be able to handle more because I know weights are an integral process of tightening things up along the way.

Thanks for sharing on this thread - I find reading everyone's story, tips, and helpful words incredibly motivating.

Thank Robin. I'm actually under my GP's care as well as my cardiologist. He had wanted me to go to cardio rehab, but they only offered it twice a week at 11 am and well, I work. I go the the gym right next to the cardio rehap. They are both located in the hospital and I'm able to go as much as I want. I went tonight for the first time in a month and did much better than I thought I would. Yay!

Welcome to the newlings!!! :flowerforyou:

@laurie--I love the idea for the october challenge--it's the personal commitment I just made to myself (with robin's gentle nudging :laugh: ). Case in point, DH bought me some candy for my b-day (from a fancy chocolate shop in town). I just logged the 2 chocolate covered strawberries and small piece of dark chocolate covered toffee and I'm over by a little bit for the day. However, I will be doing some core work tonight to put my numbers back in the green. I haven't done my push ups and planks in a long time so it will be interesting to see how I do now that I've started lifting.

@robin--thanks for the link to that woman's post--THAT is exactly why I'm moving to heavy lifting. I won't ever give up my cardio--I love running way too much--but the lifting is definitely taking on a bigger role in my workouts. No, I don't have any big plans tonight. Running from zombies was my b-day treat to myself, and the octoberfest party saturday night extended the celebration. Tonight it's really just another school night.

@kaye--I have "slivered to death" all kinds of treats. I used to do that when people brought donuts to work. I've learned that I'm better off just taking a whole donut--at least that way I stop at just one.

@meister--to add to what kelley said, Nutrisystem isn't even that convenient. I tried it years ago b/c I thought it would make eating the right amount of calories easy, but I actually found it to be a lot of work. You have to buy and portion out your own fruits, veggies, and often even meats and cheeses to supplement the prepackaged meals they send you. If you are going to do all of that work, it makes more sense to just buy and prepare all of your own food. And as kaye mentioned, you eventually have to learn to do that anyways, so why waste the money like I did? Ultimately, you will have to figure out what works for you since we're all different, but if I had it to do over--well, I wouldn't.

@tom--I will try to remember your t-shirt story the next time I have the urge to clean out my husband's dresser. :laugh:

@gorilla--love the pictures--the race looks so incredible!!

Monday Check-in:
Finished all but 2 papers and that's only b/c those 2 students didn't give me their papers in the right format (I won't grade it until they do so). Also, had a nice day at work with lots of nice b-day wishes from you folks and friends on fb as well as folks in the real world.

As I mentioned above, my husband bought me some yummy chocolates, so now I will do some more exercise to make up for the indulgence. The good news is that even with some sugary treats, I still managed to eat over 100g of protein and am still under on carbs for the day.

Exercise goals:
Mon-walk gunner DONE + cardio (at gym HIIT) DONE
Tues--walk gunner + gym (lifting and HIIT)
Wed--walk gunner
Thurs--walk gunner + gym (lifting and HIIT)
Fri--walk gunner
Sat--walk gunner + gym (lift + HIIT)
Sun--walk gunner + gym (lift + run 5k)

Grading Goals:
1. 71/73 AP essays

@Meister – I tried NutriSystem (along with so many other trends) in the past and the food was so nasty to my taste buds that I quit it pretty early. I agree with others, it would be hard to sustain (and expensive). I’ve done better by eating what I like and just watching my calories in.

@Gorilla – I’m with your sister…that is too darn early!!:noway: Sounds like a successful day and what a great cause!

@Tom – I didn’t get rid of any of the t-shirts because my husband would have the same reaction. The problem is he doesn’t have just 2 Dale Earnhardt shirts – he has 5. And then he has 7-8 Saints shirts. I guess I have to love him t-shirts and all, but it’s terrible that he takes up more hangers/space than I do.

@FrauHaas – slow and steady does win the race. I use those types of shows as motivation, but not as an expectation.

@Robin – love the timer idea. Everybody has to start somewhere and 1.2 miles is a good walk.

@Laurie – sounds like you are learning so much from your trainer. Glad you got one you like. Great job on the 5K. I also really like your challenge.

Monday Check In. I’ve had a successful September (after a summer of no success). I made the 4 pound challenge for September (7.2 pounds to be exact). :flowerforyou: I was a bit over in my calories today but still under maintenance. My thighs still hurt just a bit, but I was able to lift through it today. We are going to stick with just the 45 pound bar for the remainder of this week and then start adding weight next Monday.

Jacob and Michael got back from their trip. Jacob loved it but is so tired that he’s pretty crabby. :ohwell: Tomorrow, we can visit more about the game/his thoughts. He was excited that his team won. :glasses:

Exercise Goals:
Monday – 5X5 DONE
Tuesday – rest
Wednesday – 5X5
Thursday – Walk
Friday – 5X5
Saturday – Swim
Sunday – rest

October goal for me is to make sure I drink a minimum of 8 glasses of water each day. :drinker: :drinker: This has always been a struggle for me and I get better and then worse. Right now, I know it’s super important with lifting heavy so my goal is to have the 8 done by the time I lift. Anything after that is going to be considered bonus. Along with that, pop (soda for some of you) is a downfall. I’m going to work on making it a once a week treat. :sad:

I'm just plain tired. I just read through the posts, but just can't pull personals out tonight. I need to still help Cyrus get a bit reorganized with his school notebooks, then we need to read a bit before bed. I'm going to try and get up at 4:30 to hit the gym in the AM. I really need to do it then because the afternoons wipe me out. I will say one personal:

Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday Beautiful Karen aka Skinny,
Happy Birthday to you!!!

Thank you for your continued support. It means so much to me.

For the rest of you, I'll try to respond tomorrow. Have a peaceful rest especially Tom without his CPAP.