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Hi there.
I've been in India for 6 weeks so I haven't posted but I'm back and hoping to revive this group.
I'm a yoga instructor, btw, and though it's great for flexibility, stability, awareness and feeling good, yoga's not actually the kind of activity that helps most people lose weight. Before my India trip I'd been doing an hour on the elliptical machine just about every day. Now THAT works.
I don't seem to have gained any weight in India even though I basically ate my way across that incredible, amazing country. I love Indian food and I enjoyed every single minute of all of it.
Glad to have a new person in the group!
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Hi Aliza-
WOW, that was an amazing trip! I've never gone anywhere longer than 2 weeks, so can barely imagine a 6 week journey. I've only eaten Indian food a few times but I did enjoy it a lot. You must've been doing a lot of walking to not gain while on vacation.
I've pretty much been maintaining between 156 and 158 the past month or more. I know that if I want to lose that last 10 pounds (my goal) I'm going to have to get a bit more strict with myself. My exercise is stellar, but my nutrition not so much. Too much wine and too often eating out. Hoping to do better in the coming month.0 -
Hey everybody,
I haven't been posting. You can usually figure that's a sign that I'm eating all sorts of stuff I shouldn't and in way too big portions. I have this thing sometimes where I get to a weight that makes me happy (yet still far from my goal) and stop eating well. That's where I've been. 154 was quite nice. But my goal is 135.
So after a serious binge last night, here I am, back where I should've been as soon as I got back from India.
Just off the elliptical machine. Time for a shower.
What's up with everyone?0 -
Hi Aliza- (and anyone else who might still be around)
I'm just like you. I've gotten to a comfortable weight, I'm happy, my clothes fit, my butt looks pretty good, but I'm still 10-15 lbs from my goal. Lately, I'm just eating at maintenance even though I've still been exercising. BTW, love you new picture!
I've been trying to do my yoga 4-5 days a week. I really enjoy it, but if I don't do it first thing in the morning, then I never seem to fit it in. I'm also at a bit of a loss for April. I do a lot of aquasize, also 3-4 days a week. My local pool is closed the whole month for maintenance and painting, and to take the cover off. I know I can do other things, but I'm in a bit of a funk over it. The weather's been nice, so I've been doing a bit of gardening (between 1-2 hours a day), so I guess that's something. Hubby and I played disc golf last night for about an hour. It was fun!
I was really tired after the late disc golfing, so was looking for a good night's sleep but then I had an interesting turn of events last night. Phone call at 3:00 am from my son ended that lovely sleep intention. He called to let us know he, wife and toddler were on their way to the hospital with potential new baby girl on the way. My daughter-in-law wasn't sure, but thought maybe her water was breaking (leaking). We drug ourselves out of bed and drove an hour to meet them to pick up grandson, who is not allowed in the hospital. Found out she is leaking amniotic fluid, but baby is not due for 6 more weeks. Now she is on IV antibiotics and complete bed rest in the hospital for the next 3 weeks, unless baby comes sooner. If she makes it that long they will probably do a C Section at about 37 weeks. Grandma never did get any more sleep, so I'm feeling pretty spent. I was able to get my grandson down for a nap and tried for one myself, but then the electrician showed up with a bulb for my barn light (barking dogs and all). Then my husband called. Then my son called. Then my husband came home for lunch (barking dogs again). It's been a day! Now I can hear grandson starting to wake up. I think we'll be having him quite a bit over the next couple weeks, so that's a bonus (as long as I can get some rest to have the energy to play with him).
Not sure how much intentional exercise I may be able to fit in these next few days. I know we'll have him at least over night, and perhaps a bit longer, until my son can figure out a plan. He's funny, he said they've basically checked into the $10,000 a night hotel, meals and free wi-fi included. SO glad they have good insurance!0 -
Wow! That's a lot going on! Are you (they?) nervous/worried about the pregnancy/baby or does it seem like it's under control and everything will be fine?
I actually gained almost 3 pounds by pretending that I can eat whatever I like and still be at 154. I went up to 157.6 but couldn't bring myself to list that in here. I'm on the way down now, I hope. Today I weighed in at 156.2. I'm struggling.
The thing is that I could really eat anything in India and not gain weight. It was all vegetables and, you know how it is when you're traveling, there were no in between meal munchies. No kitchen handy. We ate breakfast. Didn't eat lunch usually because breakfast was SO much and SO filling. Ate dinner. That was about it. So even though I was eating whatever I wanted, including lots of breads (mostly fried), I didn't gain.
Eating like that when there's a kitchen handy? Doesn't work out so well.
All the research says that people who don't get enough sleep tend to gain weight (and have more trouble losing weight). So between no pool and no sleep, you might want to figure this is a good time to be happy with maintenance.
Our younger son and his pregnant wife and two small sons moved to the San Francisco area for his job. They'll be there for 2-3 years (he's in hi-tech law). Their medical insurance costs $1400/month! OMG! His firm picks up the cost but still!! We have national health insurance here so I'm totally clueless about what people in the US pay but that seems like a crazy amount. No?
I got bit by a monkey during the 2nd week of our trip and had to get a series of 5 anti-rabies shots. The injection itself cost about $7.50 and the doctor who injected it cost between 90 cents to $7 (each time, inexplicably, it was a different amount). At one place we saw a list of prices on the wall and it listed a day in intensive care as $7.50.
Thanks for the compliment about the new profile photo. It's actually from before I left for India but I like it so I posted it. I like yours, too, btw.
About to hop on the elliptical machine. Aside from losing weight, my butt has never looked better since I started on the elliptical trainer!
Seems like everyone's bailed on this group. It'd be nice to find another few people. Hmm.
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Hi gals, I joined on a recommendation. I will try to go back and read some of the posts over the days ahead.0
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Hi there,
Glad to see someone new in here. We've been lapsing...a lot.
I've been re-committing to log in my food diary just about every day and then not finishing the day.
Today I did...yay!
Still hovering between 154 and 156. Not a great way to get down to 135, right?
I'm pretty comfy at this weight so it's hard to get serious.
What's up with everybody?0 -
I've been doing similar with my food diary. Start out strong and then fizzle out by end of day. I'm also at a pretty comfortable weight and fitting into the size medium yoga pants now, LOL. I've been hovering around 156-158 for months. Maybe that's where I'm supposed to be? You know I'd love to lose another 10, but it just doesn't seem like I'm seeing any movement on the scale even when I'm being really good and exercising.
In other news, we have baby!! My new granddaughter was born on Monday, April 11th. Almost exactly a month early, but she weighed 5.2 and everything was fully developed so she didn't have to go into the Neonatal ICU. They were still in the hospital for a few more days and went home yesterday. We had my grandson, Rivers, for 5 days while all that was going on. That was a ton of fun, but also exhausting. We played a lot of disc golf. Hilarious trying to do yoga with a 3 year old doing "yog" with me, climbing on top of me, under me and sticking his head between my legs. He's full of the dickens (as my grandma used to say) but so loving and sweet, too. After 5 days, his other Grandma took him up to my son's house in Washington to stay with him until new baby came home. Our house was eerily quiet after he left. I managed to sleep 7 hours straight the night he went home, which is not my norm. Talked to my son today and he said all is well. Rivers loves new baby sister! Her name is Emerald Rose. Sunday is my birthday, so we are planning to drive (about 2 hours) to their house for the day.
So lucky to have national health care. I worked in the health care policy for years and still cannot believe we don't have a national health care system - at least as an option. I'd take it in a heartbeat if it was available. After I retired I had the option to continue my heath insurance from the state. Even with a subsidy for me (about $300), it still would have cost me about $1300 a month for me and my husband. His company is covering us now and paying the full premium, but the deductible is $4,000! So, all our medical costs this past year were out of pocket. I think the insurance covered my annual exam and mammogram, though. So that's something anyway. That's terrible about the monkey bite, but the prices for the services are unbelievably low! We are totally doing something wrong here in the US.
Welcome @lori415m! Glad you decided to join us!
Oh, Aliza - I was also going to mention that I went to a restorative yoga class last night. That was quite interesting and different than what I have experienced with yoga in the past. We only did about 5 poses in the course of an hour. Most of them were relaxed, on the floor positions, with blocks, cushions and blankets. For example, one was a bridge pose with the block under your bum/lower back with head/shoulders on the floor. It was definitely NOT a workout, but more about just releasing tension and very meditative (without any guidance on the meditation part). Have you ever heard of this?0 -
Huge congrats on Emerald Rose's arrival. And many kudos for have the ball of energy (and enjoying him) for 5 days. I know what that's like...both the exhaustion and the enjoyment!
Sure I've heard of restorative yoga. I also include some of that in my classes but a whole class of it isn't something I'd personally enjoy teaching. Certainly not on a regular basis. I can see wanting to attend a class like that if I had lots of aches and pains from something I'd (over)done and maybe even giving a class like that as a one time thing from time to time. Just too slow for me to be fully engaged in it on a regular basis.
I've gone back to Saturday night bingeing. A very VERY bad habit. I've done it two weeks in a row now and need to cut it out. I'm not even getting on a scale until Friday. When I say binge I mean BINGE! Big time.
It starts around 10 p.m. when my husband goes down to his office to do some paperwork every Sat. p.m. and it goes on for a couple of hours. Too late to go do something really.
Any suggestions?0 -
I wish I had a good suggestion for the binge attack. I've been hitting the chips and wine pretty hard lately. My rough time is late afternoon before dinner. My husband takes a late lunch so he never wants dinner before about 7:30 and sometimes 8:00. I find myself scrounging around in the kitchen looking for snacks between lunch and that late dinner, and it's usually chips. Plus the wine.
I think I will skip my weigh-in this coming Friday. We will be on the road anyway. Hubby and I are going on a little 4 day road trip down to the redwood coast in California. We're planning to play a lot of disc golf, so that should be fun. I'm hoping for nice weather. It's been crazy warm here for April - today was nearly 90 when the average is about 65. Too hot for April.
Re: the restorative yoga. It was interesting, but not really my cup of tea. My friend who goes regularly has a lot of pain issues, so I believe it's really helpful for her. I just found it a little too slow for my taste. Back to my old regular morning routine with the "spa" music channel playing in the background.
Busy day today doing housework, laundry and a bit of yard stuff (in the cooler morning) while waiting for the electrician again. We finally replaced our broken (for 5 years) hot tub with a new one. It may be an extravagance, but something I enjoy immensely. When the old one finally broke for good, I was very sad but really couldn't afford a replacement for quite awhile. I still have sticker shock, but I'll get over it. It's currently heating up, so hope to be able to hot tub sometime tomorrow! Hoping the weather cools off a bit so I can enjoy the 100 degree tubbing. I will use it daily and sometimes more than once a day. I do my own version of aquasize in the tub, so made sure to get a large one with plenty of foot space. Can't wait!!0 -
So I haven't logged in to MFP in several days but I'm here now reading your posts. It's early morning and I got off the chair to get a cup of freshly brewed coffee and my kitty stole the chair! Of course she looks so darn cute that I can't move her so I went and got my stability ball to sit on and it's actually the right height. I'm currently working on posture because how else do you balance on these - haha!
Aliza: I know the binge thing well. It happens to me on Sunday's but not lately. I think that's because I feel I deserve whatever I want or I'm simply bored and still don't feel like doing a darn thing, hence the eating begins. Sometimes I feel I worked hard all week and that's my reward. Not good thinking I know. I think the reason I haven't been lately is because I may be adding change to my life in a big way and so I'm thinking about what I all may be able to do. I think that's key for me; keep changing or moving forward differently. Does that make any sense?
Monkey bite - those cute creatures have a mean streak in them? Yikes! I'm glad you were able to seek the medical attention you needed and yes, so inexpensive. Wow!
Rae: Congrats on the new grand baby! I'm so glad everything turned out healthy. Awesome news! Hot tubbin and aquasizing? Nope, those two words don't go together. lol I picture hot tubbin as relaxing with a beverage on the side, eyes closed. Yup, aquasizing doesn't fit. lol Good for you on being able to enjoy a new one. I'm sure it's heavenly!
Looks like we're all hovering in the 150's and wanting to move that scale. I kind of wonder sometimes if this isn't my "new normal" as people tell me. I remember when I weighed 140 and held that for years, then 150 and held that and now it's over 155??? Well, this just can't be right. lol I feel the same way as you gals about feeling "comfortable" plus it doesn't seem hard if you're not continually focused on what your eating and how much. Sometimes all this tracking and seeing what I did and didn't do gives me more anxiety and with that comes over-eating. My worst time is always evening when I'm tired from the day.
I truly believe in myself and know I can lose weight if I really want to. The questions I now put into my head are: "am I pretty healthy where I'm at?, do I feel pretty good most of the time?"
I do know that 160 is too much for me to carry because I'm feeling the "rolls" and that doesn't sit well with me (a good thing). Conclusion: as long as I can stay active, eat pretty good most of the time and stay below 160, I should be OK.
Just for giggles (or not) I'm going to weigh myself this morning. Stay tuned for results!
This got waayy too long!! Later gals...0 -
If I could afford it I think I'd go with a dry sauna instead of a hot tub. Mmm. I love dry saunas. But a hot tub doesn't sound too shabby either. Enjoy!
Just finished creating a trip for friends which includes Seattle, Portland, Cape Falcon, Eureka, Coos Bay, San Francisco and Carmel Valley. Found them amazing, gorgeous places to stay through airbnb. Now I'm just wishing I could go along.
I create trips for people from time to time. It takes hours and hours but my reward is hearing about their great trips when they get back.
Where are you going, Rae, on your 4 day trip? Any of those places?
How tall are you, Lori? I'm 5'2" and can't even pretend to myself that 155 is a healthy weight for me. I feel good and think I look pretty good but I also know that I feel better and look better at 140. I vaguely remember being 138 for a minute about 15 years ago. It felt INCREDIBLE. And I look at photos of me at that weight on a trip to Key West and...wow! Of course, I was also 15 years younger and 148 is WAY different in every way from 63,
It's been hard getting myself to journal my food lately. Some days it's because I've eaten things that are hard to figure out. Some days it's because I've eaten things that I just don't want to see in black and white.
Some days it's because I just can't be bothered. But I lost weight steadily when I was logging in everything every day.
I've been teaching some new flow yoga that I've seen on yogajournal.com There's a circular flow that's fun. In case you can't find it, here it is...
Mountain
Salutation
Forward Fold
Step back to downward dog
Roll forward on the balls of your feet and down to plank pose
Come into Upward Facing Dog
Step back into downward dog
Raise right leg into 3-legged dog
Bring it forward to low lunge
Turn around to the left - wide legged folded forward pose
Bring your head to the mat
Turn around to the left
Step back into down dog
Repeat from "Roll forward on the balls of your feet and down to plank pose"
When you turn to the left this time you'll be back at the front of your mat.
Repeat with left leg raised in 3-legged dog and turns to the right until you're back at the front of your mat
If that sound confusing to follow, try finding it on yogajournal.com It's really fun and a nice workout.
Bye for now
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Aliza: I'm 5'9-1/2" (gotta get that 1/2" in there, lol) and closer to 51 than 50
I agree with you; if you feel good and you look good to yourself, then it's all good.
You sound so much like me on the eating scenario especially the not seeing it in black and white. You already know it's the wrong thing to be doing and to also see it just adds to the misery. I did that one day when I was eating out of control. I wrote down everything on a piece of paper for the whole day and was amazed I could eat all of that. The question I have to ask myself is WHY?
It's definitely true if you track your meals/snacks it does make you more aware and therefore you tend to tell yourself "I'm done for the day or I did good today". Those are great rewards. I tend to eat similar foods everyday and have a hard time trying to "allow" myself to go out to eat because I don't want to screw things up. But that mentality is not real life living.
One thing I notice for myself is if I give up a lot of sugar items (I'm talking candy, candy bars, bakery, that sort of stuff) for several days and then have it again, it seems to jump start my metabolism. I go from feeling kind of sluggish from lowering calorie intake to WOW! let's go! Doesn't make sense or does it? So that being said, here's a suggestion: try eating right and good foods for lets say 3-4 days then have a day where you have that "other" food (just not over the top) and see what it does for you.
So, I don't do yoga but really think it would do wonders for me. I just don't know where to begin because I have lost so much flexibility (hence it would do wonders for me). So would the aforementioned yoga workout work for a pre-beginner? lol
I am trying to work with my stability ball. I just seem to start laughing and then I just roll off and laugh even more!!! Too funny! Laughter is good exercise, right?
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yeah, disregard last post on giving up sugar items for 3-4 days then have a little some again. Just read an article or 2 or 3 from a site that was sent to me by a friend. Have you heard of dietdoctor.com? Interesting stuff and I have a different perspective (once again) on food and eating. It's amazing how you can see things in a different light when it's presented well.
Later...0 -
For binge eaters like me, the idea of having a day where I can eat that "other" food but not go over the top - not so much.
So - nope - that yoga flow that I sent is definitely not for a pre-beginner. You might take a look on youtube for Yoga with Adrienne. She's one of my favorite online teachers. She has a gazillion clips and many are for beginners. Flexibility comes back. Little by little. If you keep to a steady yoga routine you'll realize one day that you can do all sorts of stuff you couldn't do when you started. My husband is a gym and tennis kind of guy. He went to a couple of my yoga lessons in India with a very sweet youngish yogi and couldn't touch his toes. He learned a warm up yoga series that he's been doing ever since and, guess what?!, after about 5 or 6 times he could touch his toes. Yay! He's pretty inflexible and not into yoga (or any other "new age" stuff - not that yoga's really new age) but has had to admit that the yoga he learned has cured his knee stiffness and the ayurvedic massages he did also helped with the knee cure.
I eat when I'm bored. Or am in between tasks. Or am procrastinating before beginning a task. I enjoy food. The way it looks. The way it smells. The way it feels in my mouth. I love to cook. I love to experiment with cooking. I love to bake. I just love food. So, given all that, my goal isn't to stop eating good food. It's to eat it in MUCH smaller portions and primarily when I'm hungry.
The thing is - I feel bummed when I've eaten too much. It wrecks my life buzz. I feel like if I could only remind myself of that...in time...it would be great.
Back to my yogurt.
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Aliza, thanks for the yoga info - it's nice to hear that maybe I could get rid of some of the "ouchies" in my body.
Re: the binge: maybe try waking up every morning and say a phrase to yourself about food and portion. Make it positive but also a reminder. Before you eat your meals, repeat that phrase, then eat. I bet after doing this for several days, you just may have "trained" your mind differently so that the next time you think a binge is going to hit, you will see it differently. Hey, maybe I should listen to my own advice. Yes, I think I'm going to do that starting tomorrow. Now, what is the phrase going to be??
Have a good night!0 -
Sounds like a good idea. Have you thought of a phrase?
Mine could be - I feel happiest when I eat small portions.
I'm on a (small) roll. This is my second day (it's 6 p.m. here) of eating wisely and getting enough exercise.1 -
Since my biggest issue is with sweets (candy/chocolate), my phrase will be: "My body works hard for me so it is only right that I treat it with good sweets of fruits".
I've been doing well (in my book) since Sunday. Last night was a little tough because I was mentally stressed with the day and was still in thinking mode. However, I didn't have anything "bad" in the house so my good choices were berries w/cream, greek yogurt, nuts. It's working because I weighed in at 154 today. I weigh in randomly - when the thought crosses my mind.
Hope you had a good day!0 -
Hi Everyone,
I've been down for the count for nearly a month (pretty much all of April) due to a serious bout of chronic bronchitis that required 2 rounds of antibiotics, shots, prescription cough meds and 3 different inhalers (and a visit to the pulmonologist). Thankfully, I'm at nearly 100% and feeling better. The down side is that I didn't exercise at all because I had trouble breathing and ate whatever seemed appealing -- prior to getting sick, I was faithfully exercising at the gym for 45-60 minutes 5 days a week. Oh well, I can build back up to that, right?
I also managed to put weight back on while I was sick . . ugh. I was so hoping to be in better shape before warmer weather, but now I'm starting back at square one. I'm 5'4" and clock in at 156, which puts me in the overweight category (and generally feeling yucky, clothes don't fit, low energy, etc.). My goal is to lose 30 lbs in the next 2 months. I've been doing better the last few days on more mindful eating and I'm trying to work back up on the exercise, but don't want to just dive right in and overdo it. I telecommute and for years I've used a standing desk to help me get steps in (Fitbit!), but because I've been so exhausted, I've been relegated to sitting 8-10 hours at my desk which is great for work, but not so great for moving around (I guess I could send a reminder to get up and move . . . .hmmmmm . . . ).
On eating, I can be pretty disciplined and typically eat yogurt, healthy salads (low-fat dressing, nothing fried, few nuts, lots fruit/veg), high fiber drinks, low-fat proteins .. the whole lot. Thankfully I don't have much of a sweet tooth, but I love all kinds of protein and, as a natural-born Southerner, loooooove me some fried foods (so I have to practically eliminate that). I drink water and zero calorie cokes and coffee, typically with Splenda, but was cutting back on that before I got sick.
If you ladies have any suggestions, tips or ideas, I'd love to hear them! I'll all ears and ready to be a healthier, slimmer version of me!
Best,
~Marla0 -
And I want to give a shout-out to folks still in the group:
Aliza, your trip to India sounds amazing -- I'd love to see some pics! (is there a way to share those here? maybe as URL, I guess).
Rae, a new grandbaby sounds so wonderful. I hope mother and baby are doing great!
Lori, welcome to the group; so nice to meet you!
Hugs to all,
~Marla0
