JulieSHelms Member

I'm not the one to get food plans from--Lol! I don't cook and pretty much ate the same thing every day because I don't have imagination either. What I can share was one strategy that I think made the whole thing work for me. There were two foods that I really would have missed--chocolate and pasta. Because of the insulin…

I have PCOS. I lost 135 lbs in 2 years. It works the same way as with other people--eat fewer calories and you will lose the weight. Add in strength training to help combat the insulin resistance. I apparently have a really bad case of PCOS (fertility drugs to get pregnant, needed a hair transplant from stage-4…

I went to Barnes and Noble today to look at the options. (My library had none of them--how pathetic!) Anyway, this is the one that looked the best to me for starting off. Also because I'm 51 and maybe shouldn't be pretending I'm 25 even though I feel great! So thanks to all for the input, and especially about this one…

8 months ago I ran for the first time in my 50 years. I made it 30 seconds before I had to call it quits. Today I ran 5 miles in 60 minutes without stopping/walking. I never would have believed it back when I started. I run slow...but this tortoise is plenty happy with the progress! :smiley:

In case anyone is interested, I just posted an update on another thread about my visit to a plastic surgeon and his thoughts on excess skin and knowing when to stop losing weight (even when the BMI chart is telling you something very different!)…

Thanks! She is a Corriedale/Cormo cross. I breed for wool for the handspinning market. Keep up the hard work--it is SO SO worth it!! I never anticipated enjoying working out, but when you find what you like it is just amazing. At 51 I'm in better shape than in any other time of my life. From your joints, to your muscles,…

Your stats are very similar to mine. I'm 51, 5'8", SW 300, GW 175. And I picked that weight randomly because it's what I weighed on my wedding day! Once I got there, I wanted a little more, so I'm currently maintaining around 166. Every one told me to lift heavy too--and I did--for one year now and it's been fantastic.…

Thanks to everyone for your encouraging words. I wanted to post an update (I recently put this in the NSV thread, but thought I should put it here, too, with the rest of my story). One of the things a number of people here on MFP told me was to combat insulin resistance by lifting heavy. I took that advice to heart. I…

I'm NOT one for selfies at the gym, but a friend snuck up on me while I was doing assisted chin-ups and snapped this. Had no idea I had back muscles! This is from one year working at the gym (joined on my 50th birthday--first time EVER working out or even stepping foot in a gym). I don't have a 'before' picture of my back…

I lost 136 lbs. My boobs evaporated. I was a 44C and now wear a 34B, but honestly the cups are mostly holding excess skin and there is still empty space. By measurement, my boobs are 1.5" bigger than my rib cage. I went to Victoria's Secret because they measure you and then stand there and hand you bra after bra until you…

I've been told I looked like a teen twice in the last two weeks. First time was at the dog park when a friend saw me from a distance. She told me she recognized the dog right away but couldn't figure out who the teenager was walking in with her! The other was at a clothing store tonight. I took a fancy dress into the…

I've been using it a few times now...but it is really minimal. I put it on the random function (so it's up and down, not steady) and level 1. Basically it's so slight I'm not even aware of it. Unfortunately I have no idea how inclined it was at the moment of 'pop' because I got distracted and never checked. But even at…

Thank you. This is very helpful. This morning my calf feels much better. Feels like a muscle pull or like when you have a really bad cramp that aches the next day. I'm still limping, but it is sore, not painful. I can flex and point, so I think it isn't nearly as bad as I feared and just needs rest. It's that distinctive…

I think your first move is to determine to stop the cycles. It's probably healthier to maintain your current weight than it is to keep yo-yo-ing. Then when you decide you are ready to lose, realize it is a lifestyle change and not a diet. Until that actually sinks in, it's just a diet, and the weight will bounce back on…

I managed an animal shelter, where grim humor is par for the course. Not sure this will translate as funny/ridiculous to other people, but they sure were to us! **The lady who called me aside to whisper a "personal question". "I sleep with my dog under the covers and I don't wear panties to bed. Will I get worms?" **The…

^^This was just amazing the first time I saw it. Two minute video here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs23CjIWMgA Comments on Guam tipping over During a House Armed Services Committee hearing on March 25, 2010 concerning the U.S. military installation on the island of Guam, Johnson said to Admiral Robert F. Willard,…

Name: Julie Age: 50 Height: 5'8" Total Weight lost: 136 lbs Time it took to lose: 2 years How long in maintenance: 7 days Maintenance weight range: 165-170 Average weight recorded from January:191.6 Average weight recorded from February:182 Average weight recorded from March:178 Average weight recorded from April:174.2…

THIS^ I had a similar discovery. I needed to shower at the gym, which I never do. So threw a regular towel in my gym bag to save room, not the usual bath sheet. I planned to just change in the showers, which are huge. About half way through the shower, I realized my error in thinking--the stall was too wet all over and I…

I think in the final analysis, PCOS makes gaining weight very easy, but I don't think losing is that much different than anyone else's effort. It's really just calories in calories out. I imagine gaining it back would be really easy, too--but I hope to never give up the fight on that.

I can't believe it took me this long to notice this (after 2+ years and -136 lbs). I leaned back against a wooden chair back and OUCH. I reached behind and felt the protruding vertebrae on my neck and between my shoulder blades, and it dawned on me---the buffalo hump is GONE!

BTW, I wanted to add, loose skin is really dependent on age, how much you have to lose and how long you've been overweight, and how fast you lose it. I wouldn't go faster than 2lb/week. I'm 50 and been overweight/obese for 30 years...so skin was gonna happen. Someone in their 20s or 30s who loses at a reasonable pace…

I totally agree with you. When I got here to MFP, I asked a lot of questions. And people very generously answered! For me my questions weren't so much about diet, but the exercise part. I had never exercised regularly, never even been in a gym before. I was literally terrified of going to a place with buff body builders…

I'm not a "clean" eater like many on MFP are, but I did try to make decent choices most of the time. A common day, at 1200 calories (plus 1/2 exercise cals.) would be Breakfast: 2 eggs (from my chickens of course :wink: ) and a piece of toast and cup of milk. Lunch would be half a ham sandwich. Dinner, maybe a salad with…

That is fantastic and you are moving at a great pace! One piece of advice I have that worked for me, is to make mini-goals. The overall big number can just be discouraging some days. I used ten pound goals, which came with rewards. And I treasured them each time I earned them. And unlike the final goal, they were never too…

The standard BMI calculator puts the max normal weight for 5'8" at 164 (range=122-164). If you use the newer Smart BMI Calculator, it is considerably more generous and the max number for normal is in the 170s. I do have some loose skin on my arms, but it isn't bad. There is absolutely no subcutaneous fat on my arms (unlike…

I lost 136 lbs. I have loose skin. BUT I lost the first 55 without exercising and my skin hung worse then, then now after the final 80 which I did strength training through (weights). In other words my skin looks better at -136 then at -55. So I can't emphasize enough how strength training will help minimize it. I just…

Fantastic transformation--you look great!

I wasn't diabetic, but insulin resistant and considered pre-diabetic. I was told years ago that I had a 50% chance of becoming diabetic. (I'm now considered at no risk for it.) My sugar never got really high--maybe 165 (normal is 80-120) was the most I had ever measured it. But I bombed the 5-hour glucose tolerance test.…

Thanks so much everybody for the kind words. Probably my biggest (unspoken) goal, if I'm honest, for weight loss was to just feel normal again. To feel like a regular person. I know being overweight doesn't make me less of a person, but being 'different' in that way is always hanging there, every time I walk into a room…

I did low carb (25g/day) for the first 30 lbs--no counting calories, no exercise--lost about 2 lbs/week. That worked really well till it didn't anymore. Then I started working on low carb and portion control and lost about another 25 lbs. Then came my 7 months of nothing happening. I found MFP, learned the importance of…