100+ lbs to lose support group

thanks for the help! Just another quick question... how do you all feel about lots of fruit in the diet? I know they are high in sugar, but because they are natural sugar is this really a bad thing? One thing I do have lot's of easy access to is fruit, so just wantin some more input on this. Thanks!

You really can't eat enough fruit (because it's naturally bulky) to do much damage with that fructose. Fruit tends to be very high in happy vitamins and nutrients, and often has a good bit of fiber, too. I eat fruit. Some days (like today, which has been awful), I only get in a banana or a nectarine, but I do try to get in at least three servings of fruit and three of veggies. Even with my blood sugar issues (and I have news on that!), I think fruit is a perfect food for snacks and desserts. Not fruit juice, but just plain, happy fruit.

And my A1c? Down from 6.9% to 5.7 in just a couple of months! Yay!

Kris

YAY Kris!!! That is great news!! What have you been doing differently?

The biggest things? Old fashioned watching carbs for the blood sugar (no more than fifty per meal, usually, and no more than 30 per snack) and watching calories for the weight loss (which becomes easier when you're limited on the carbs you can have). I've found all sorts of ways that I can still enjoy what I eat and have varied meals without blowing the carbs or calories. Though I do have a short (four day) trip coming up and I know that keeping my carbs limited in restaurant settings will be more difficult, though I am confident I can--I've done it before and my blood sugar's been good afterwards.

Oh, and exercise, which doesn't really do too much for my weight loss, but it really lowers my blood sugar dramatically--I drop 30-40 points when I work out for an hour.

Having to watch those carbs has made me super-aware of everything I eat and drink. And that's been the key, I think.

:-)

Kris

I could never do 50 grams of carbs per meal! Oh my gosh! I am diabetic and I have to keep my carbs under 100 a day but I never get that high or I have huge spikes!

We all have different bodies--under fifty carbs tends to be the standard for diabetics in my boat. You're in a different boat, and you know your body and your sugar levels better than anyone. For me, 50 carbs or so for dinner usually leaves me in the 120s. Two nights ago I had 1/6 of a pound cake, with unsweetened mixed berries and whipped cream, and my blood sugar was 112 two hours later. Understand that three months ago, that wasn't the case. Three months ago, a few slices of bread put me up to 200. So things are changing for me. You do what works for you--you need to be healthy!

Kris

I spent an hour in my parents' basement today (or should I say yesterday) due to really bad storms in our area and there was a tornado warning. I live in a part of michigan that very rarely sees tornado warnings. I was at the gym working out and since my phone was dead before leaving I left it on the charger at home. Therefore my husband called the front desk of the gym and had them come get me and he told me to come home and we were going to my mom's because there was a tornado warning. I am terrified of tornadoes so I ran back to the elliptical, grabbed my stuff and hightailed it out of there, telling everybody I saw that there was a tornado warning. Some were like "I just got here, I'm not leaving." and others said " thanks for the information." sorry for caring about your safety! There was a sighting about 3 miles from my parents' house so we stayed in the basement for quite a while after they cancelled the warning. I am very thankful that nothing bad happened and that it all passed over. As for my workout, I got in 34 of the 38 minutes I was going to do, so I didn't lose many calories burned. I ended up going over on sodium but was golden on calories. Hope all had a great day.

I'm glad you're safe! I don't get people who don't pay attention to tornado warnings, especially after the hell those poor people went through just a couple of months ago. Better to hang out in a storm cellar for a few hours and have no tornado hit than stick around at the gym and wind up dead, right?

Kris

Suzy - Thanks so much for getting your friend's feedback. I'd love to hear how it goes for her. I think I may try it out. But like I said before, I'm a little hesitant.

Last night, I did a double strength workout. I did the regular beginner's strength & sculpt on my BL DVD. I wanted to watch the next step in the strength training bc at the end of it, I'd barely broken a sweat and felt like maybe I could move to the next one. The plan was to sit in the recliner and watch the Boot Camp workout. And as they started, I thought to myself - let me just try this one, too. So I got up and did the second one - the whole way through! (Well, with the exception of jumping jacks and jumping - I modify those actions because my knees will definitely give out if I try to jump like that!) So, I did a total of 40 minutes of strength training, plus 15 minutes warm up & cool down! I was definitely proud of myself last night. My arms feel rather jello-like today, so I'm sure I did something right. :laugh: Unfortunately, the stupid scale didn't agree with me. It went up a pound this morning. I'm still down almost 4 lbs this week, which is nothing to sneeze at. But the last three days, the scale hasn't been kind. Oh well. Tomorrow is another day. Tonight is cardio night...Might try the high impact again. I tried it a few days ago and got about 7 minutes in and thought I was going to die. Had to switch back to the low impact. Maybe today will be better. :-)

I'm going out for dinner tonight. To one of my all time favorite restaurants - BD's Mongolian BBQ. It's basically a stirfry buffet where you pick out your proteins, veggies & sauce and then they fry it up in front on you. I've already checked out the nutrition info on their website and have decided what I'm going to eat. Normally, I do a couple bowls - one with shrimp, scallops & krab and one with shrimp & steak. But seeing the amount of sodium in the krab & shrimp, I decided to go with salmon & steak and only ONE bowl. I'll load up on veggies and get my regular sauce - teriyaki. There's a ton of sodium in the sauce, too. So, I definitely feel better about eliminating 500mg with the switch from shrimp to salmon.

I've signed up for two different challenges here on MFP. One is kind of a solo mission where the weekly "challenges" are more reflection and thought based. But with that one, you set weight goals for yourself. I'm right on track and definitely proud of the progress I've made - though I'd REALLY like to be one of the biggest losers one of these weeks. That would be fantastical. :-) The second challenge group that I signed up for is broken into teams of three. No real weight goals, other than to be the biggest losers. The challenges for the week are a couple of small tasks per day. For example, today's challenges are:

Thursday:
30 minutes of exercise
9 cups of water

And then you weigh in once a week and the teams compete to be biggest losers. I'm having a lot of fun with these challenges. They keep me motivated and make me want to work harder. Yesterday's double strength workout was definitely related to wanting to succeed in these challenges.

SBrown (sorry...I don't know your name!) - You are welcome for the posts. If you give it a try before I do, I'll be anxious to hear how you do.

Jen - The ladies who provided me with the feedback are experienced runners but remember how they started (hence the tips). They have both completed many 5ks and one is currently training for a 15k! Both struggle with weight loss and are such an inspiration because they have fought through, pushed themselves and now run like 3 - 7 miles at a time! HA! I can only wish...:happy:

Good job on the double workout! Impressive!! It is so much easier to sit and watch then to get up and do so you should be VERY proud of yourself for getting up even after you had already worked out! I'm with ya on the jumping jacks vs. knees. That's one thing I'm really worried about with the running but I'll give it a try. Don't you love that muscle tiredness feeling? Really lets you know you have worked 'em! Don't be down on the 1 lb. 4 lbs in a week is amazing! It sounds like you suffer from the daily (or if as bad as me - multiple times a day) weighing. I was really bad so I put both (yes...2!) scales in my spare bathroom where I won't see them. I'm much less tempted to weigh in everyday then. It's so silly how we let that number determine our mood for the day. If it doesn't say what we want it to or what we think it should, our day is ruined. I'm saying "we" and "our" in hopes that I'm not the only crazy one who does this!!

I've been wanting to join a challenge too. Thanks for the info on the ones you are doing. I really like the sound of the reflection one. What is the name of it?

SBrown (sorry...I don't know your name!) - You are welcome for the posts. If you give it a try before I do, I'll be anxious to hear how you do.

Hi there! Stephanie is my name! Glad to meet you all.

Thanks Jen. I sent Vic a message...we'll see what she says. I also told her I'm out of town and without internet access for the weekend so not to take my lack of response/posting negatively.

BTW....tomorrow morning I'm going out of town camping for the weekend and won't be back online until Monday. I don't want my MFP buddies to think I've abandoned you! I'll be back!!

Hi Jaimee, nice to meet you.

Jen - I'm in! Meat you at the beach on Monday!

i'm in.

Just stopping by to say hello to everyone. Been a CRAZY hectic day and more to come tomorrow. Hoping to drop by for some quality time with my keyboard tomorrow. Sunday, at the very latest! Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

hello everyone! ahh i wish wish i would have seen this sooner. but, would you all be interested in a new person? (: i'm kaitlyn, i'm 20 ( 21 in two weeks!) and i started my journey at 270 back at the end of march. i have about 100 lbs left to go to my goal and i would love some more support from people that have about that much to go, too. so feel free to send me a friend request! 100 is a big number but i'm determined! and i'm a big believer in if you have the right support system you'll get it done. we'll get there! even if it is one pound at a time.

Hi, I'm 20 and have a lot to lose.(Around 165lbs) :frown: Oh well, I've been working over 3 weeks and I feel more energized throughout the day. Nice to meet you all!

I think I have the same to lose as you :flowerforyou: feel free to add as a friend

same goes to everyone - do feel free to add

Hi

I'm in (PLease!!) Have over 100lb to loose and need all the support i can get! I hope to learn to set small goals, be happy with those goals and not be scared and upset by how much i have to loose :-(

I am on the road to loosing the weight now though and have lost 20lb so far. hope I can be of support to others here too :-) Please feel free to add me as a friend. my food diary is open to friends too.

good luck all, and take care x

Soooooooooooooooooooooo, I just made my food diary public to friends ..............