PurpleEpiphany

OMG the belly button thing! I was in the shower recently and realized that the reason my belly button felt weird...is becase it's shallower! I carry a lot of my weight in my stomach region, and thankfully the belly has finally begun to slim, but it was such a weird moment to realize something like that. Thanks to everyone…

Awesome! Lol.

Me too on the rings! My wedding ring is now perilously loose, and I've only lost 20 lbs since my wedding two years ago. Money is tight so I haven't been able to resize it and I already lost it once in the snow this past winter and (miraculously) found it a week later when things thawed out. I'm thinking of wraping it in…

I have a shirt that crosses over in the front, and apparently I don't have the um...substance I need to be wearing it. I wore it to work the other day and was walking from my car to the door and it flapped open, like...way open. Good thing I have a sweater at work that I wore over it the rest of the day. Good thing nobody…

Also understand that sometimes weight loss is a study in contrasts. Many (not all) of the people you see losing so much weight so quickly started out eating way too many calories, not exercising at all, etc. In some cases someone who's extremly overweight can drop weight faster at the start. They have more fat stores to…

Hm, makes sense. I tend to put the resistance high enough that it helps steady my stride, if that makes sense. I have a bad knee, so if it's TOO low I can sometimes step funny and put too much strain on it. However, I don't put it so high that it tires me out quickly. I generally do 25 minutes including the 'cool down'…

My best advice is don't try to lose the weight too quickly. If in the past you've severely restricted calories or exercised like absolute crazy, then it's no surprise you end up slacking off and losing motivation. Don't think of this as a chore, or a goal to be reached, think of it (and I know, it's such a popular term) as…

I was going to say, to me that's a big NSV :) Nicely done!

Yeah I wonder where she got that idea :D Seriously though, you look great! I always thought people were silly when they would say they saw such a difference in the face, but definitely you can tell.

It's good to hear that you want to be cautious. Going about weight loss in a more controlled, careful manner makes you more likely to keep the weight off in the end. Keep in mind, though, that at first some of what you're losing might be water weight. If you're normally a junk food junkie with a high processed food and…

Post on a thread about criticism, criticizing the person who posted it. I think the irony of this might make the world implode.

I don't know if it counts as sabotage (it probably does), but I used to chicken out. I didn't WANT to step on the scale, because I didn't want to know what it said. I didn't WANT to count calories (the past few months have been the first time I've ever done this) because I didn't really want to know how many calories I was…

I LOVE yoga! I'm a bit sad since the only kind my gym offers is hot yoga and I'm really not into that. However, I used to do yoga all the time on my own and nothing else I've tried has given me the same feeling of having worked and stretched every muscle, as well as relaxing mentally and physically. If you feel…

I agree with the thought that bullying doesn't need an excuse, but it's a statistical fact that overweight kids tend to get picked on more than other kids. Again, I'm not saying that non-overweight kids can't be bullied horribly, because of course they can, it's just that a higher percentage of overweight kids have to deal…

I've always been overweight. I think that being chubby as a kid, combined with developing early, I ended up extremly self-conscious (didn't hurt that I was always very, very shy). I definitely turned to food as a comfort, as sad as that sounds. Even when I was riding horses every day, I didn't lose much weight. I always…

I agree that the weighing thing definitely depends on the personality of the person. I weigh myself every day, but it's actually taught me how much weight fluctuates naturally, and not to panic when it goes back up a little bit, or even a lot (I find this happens to me if I've had an abnormally high salt intake the day…

To me, forgiving and forgetting are two entirely different things. You should forgive people for your own good (I believe the Dalai Lama is the one who said that hating someone is like swallowing poison and expecting the other person to die), but that doesn't mean you need to forget what they've done and put yourself into…

It depends a lot on what type of bellydancing you do. Most videos out there are the 'traditional' cabaret or Egyptian style. I'm a tribal bellydancer, which is stylistically a little different although the muscles worked are pretty much the same. For tribal (specifically tribal fusion), Rachel Brice has some excellent DVDs…

I've had trainers quote the 'fat burning zone' to me, and many machines at the gym show you right where that is. I know this is one of those things that's open to opinion, but personally I'm not a big believer in this one. This article has some good information on how the body actually works.…

It will probably take some time to adjust. My other thought is that a lot of us who have weight issues (though not all) have body image issues as well. It may be embarrassing to be fat, but fat can also be something of a shield to hide behind, where you don't have to feel like you're going to get a certain kind of…

A great deal depends on the intent behind the staring, which is something we can't really tell just by what the OP said. Some people DO stare, zone out, etc at the gym and it's no biggie. However, telling someone to 'get over themselves' because they're seeing something as unwanted sexual attention is just beyond stupid.…

It really comes down to exfoliating (I'm with the people who do the baking soda thing, just mix it with water and apply) and moisturizing. If your skin isn't exfoliated it's easier for pores to clog, and if you don't moisturize enough your skin gets dry and over-produces oil to replace the moisture, which can cause acne as…

I always figure that yes, as long as you're operating on a deficit you can lose weight. However, there are a couple of problems with that. 1. Adequate nutrition and 2. Blood sugar In other words...yes, I could lose weight on an all-twinkie (ew) diet if I ate few enough of them. I would possibly die of some horrible vitamin…

Your post reminded me of this: I love, love, LOVE what she says. http://www.dressaday.com/2006/10/20/you-dont-have-to-be-pretty/

How this impacts my life, or theirs? If you meant mine, I'm a bit confused why several people are acting like posting an idle question on a forum specifically intended for such is a capital offense. I was curious about something I saw (wondering whether certain people work out with flip flops the way some people run…

I'm so glad I'm not the only person who needs to do this! It's so bizarre how our brians are programmed to 1. fill the plate and 2. clean the plate. I use the smaller plates all the time for dinner, and it's much more accurate portion-wise. I'm also trying to drill into my head that it's OKAY to throw food away. Yes, it's…

And yet you both had time in your day to click this thread, read it, and comment on it. I'm sorry, but there's a reason this board is called "Chit-chat, fun, and games". I never said that flip flops on an elliptical were a threat to national security, I was just curious if anyone had an idea why people do this, or if it's…

Maybe it's just that I'm enough of a spaz to know that if I wore flip flops on the elliptical, I would likely manage to injure myself and possibly some hapless bystander in the process :)

Lol yeah, if it didn't add up most of us wouldn't be on this site in the first place :D I was just wondering if it's adding calories or adding protein that makes the difference, you know? It sucks that there are so many studies out there with conflicting statements. Makes it tough to weed through it all and find what works…

True. And I can see where it's important to caution against dangerously restricting calories, which people do even if they know it isn't healthy. I do have a question though. For those of you who've boosted calories and found that it helped weight loss. Or a couple of questions. 1. Did you find that you were more active…