Perspective:


I began at 335 pounds and a size 28/30. I am STILL wearing a size 28 after a 40 pound loss.
Even when the size doesn't reflect what we want it to, here are some questions to answer:

Do my knees hurt as much now as before?

Do I poop more regularly than before?

How is my stamina and ability to walk or climb stairs compared to before?

Am I sleeping better?


Those things matter. Yes, the smaller ass is a great residual but the goal here is health - making your body feel better!

There are days that I imagine myself going to the McDonald's drive-thru and ordering a double quarter pounder with cheese, a large fries, a large diet coke, and a pie and eating every bit of it and throwing the packages out the window all the way home. When I have days like that, I often can look around and see things that are triggering me - I'm having a shitty day at work and wanting some comfort, I haven't crapped in 3 days and am super whiney, people are getting on my nerves wanting my time and attention, the dash lights are out on the truck again and I'm tired of banging the console to make them come back on.

That frustration works it's way to my marrow and screams for grease and carbs! "SOOTHE ME", it says, "MAKE THESE FEELINGS GO AWAY!", it says.
"FILL ME WITH FOOD SO THAT I CAN FEEL SATISFIED INSTEAD OF FRUSTRATED!!"

Those feelings still happen for me but I'm learning to sit with the feelings rather than stuffing. It's super uncomfortable for me some days but I'm learning that it's not as scary as I thought.

Baby steps...

:baby: :baby: :baby: (sigh) I know...

lose
 

I hear your frustration pinkie, I know it's hard. I want to motivate you some how. Just remember, you didn't gain the weight in a month and you are not going to lose it in a month either. I know you already know that. Its easy to be motivated when everything is going your way. The thing is, when its not going your way, is when you really need to be motivated.a very wise person once said to me, if you take care of the little things, the big things will take care of themselves. Just keep chipping away. Don't stop digging. You are only 3 ft from the gold. Lots of people have done it! You can too! You are PINKIE LEE! If they can do. You know you can!

I checked the amount of calories I used going the 9 miles,it came to 593.To day I walked on the tredmill and went 1 1/2 miles for 163 calories gone..thanks for the info now I can check it whan I want to.

Well, I received my new toy pedometer (fitbit) and so far today 2:30pm my time, I've logged 22706 steps. Now if I can only figure out how to get the darn thing to sync up with my computer it might yield some useful information.

I'm sooo analog. Resisting the temptation to just do it on paper, I know I can do this.

:thinking:

WARNING: whine is coming and there is no cheese!
 

Yeah, I'm seriously considering maiming the coworker who put a huge jar of chocolates in his cube.

I would have done so already but I need him for his mainframe skills. :|

Good Evening Everyone,

Today was our potluck at work and I did very well. I treated myself to homemade cake made with apple sauce instead of oil and it was yummy. I had spaghetti for lunch<small portion> and some homemade potato salad..You cannot say no to homemade Southern potato salad..I was offered birthday cake, cookies, and brownies, and I turned them all away..Go me! I would have ate the whole container of brownies back before I started my journey..

Tonight, I am having the following: chicken tenderloins with sweet peppers diced up, mushrooms diced up, frozen sliced carrots and brown rice with a glass of chocolate soymilk. The chicken, peppers and mushrooms and carrots were cooked in EVOO with a dash of garlic salt, basil and fresh ground black pepper. After the rice cooked, I mixed it in and hot damn, is this delicious! I put some aside for lunch tomorrow...

See my previous post. I guess what I cooked up, is a healthier version of Chinese food...

Hope your day ends on a better note!!

Zimmy

Looks like lots of us are struggling a bit...guess we have good company at least, right?

Between lots of stress and first day of the monthly visitor that I wish would just GO already.....I had a bag of BBQ chips. I ate them. I enjoyed them. I don't regret it. And I also had the "lunchbox" size on purpose, so that I could at least control the portion. It was 200 calories that I really wanted....and I'm not gonna' feel bad about it for one darn minute. :)

Before taking this journey I'd have gotten the big bag of chips, eaten until I felt ill...then figured I'd blown the whole day and commenced eating everything that called my name in the kitchen.

Instead, I ate healthy all day long...and had a little bag of chips. I can live with that. :rrose:

Chooch -

I <3 you. I hear you struggling and would like to offer you some chinese-food love:

When you are craving Chinese food and feel like you reallllly need it, order it...but me smart about it and eat it in proportion.

We have Chinese food about once a week. Most of the time it's out at a buffet which has historically been a minefield for me because buffet= pig the fuck OUT!
What I do is get my plate and load up on those yummy steamed string beans with garlic, the broccoli out of the beef and broccoli mixture, a few boiled shrimp, some hibachi chicken, a little pepper chicken and other stuff that I know is ok. Then, when there is very little room left on the plate, I get the stuff I'm really craving: the honey garlic chicken, the crab rangoons, and that WONDERFUL General Tso's chicken.

I might get one or two little nuggets of the honey garlic chicken and General Tso's and then one or two crab rangoons. That way, I get the taste of what I'm dying for and don't feel deprived but I've eaten it in super moderation.

It's still a heavy meal point-wise but when I compare it to a full-on binge, it's healthier for me to eat a little of what I want instead of binging for thousands of calories on bullshit that I don't really want but am cramming into my face because it's what's available.

Chinese food is your friend. Overeating it is not. :)

xo

Damn, Scorp... We had the same damn afternoon/evening! I was feeling so hungry and so angry/frustrated.....I said "F*ck it. I'm having some f*ckin' KFC." And off I go into my truck...

Once in my truck I decided to get gas and drive through the car wash. While I was doing these things, I was thinking about the KFC and my weigh-in tomorrow and how I have made such good progress and didn't want to start down a bad road with negative thinking.

As I was pulling out of the gas station, my eyes locked on the grocery store and in an instant I decided on the deli's fried chicken for the step-son and chicken salad and crunchy vegetable salad for myself. It was that fast and that clear, and I did it. I even passed on the Double Stuff Oreos that tried to lock eyes with me. Little f*ckers.

I love this post! Right on, Jo.

And, yeah, I noticed that many of us are battling some demons right now. Hope it passes soon...

Matthew,

Why not volunteer to do the shopping and cooking? It's much cheaper to make meals from scratch than to buy ready made.

It will earn you marks in your parents eyes for taking on a household task and being a productive member of the family and you will be able to help your family eat better.

There are millions of recipes online for healthy meals and tons of cook books in the library you can borrow.


Just a thought... I loved it when my son cooked for me.. He turned out to be a better cook than I am...

Sorry I missed you post Ruff.

I always start with a warm up set of 12 reps, using a lighter weight.
Then I choose a weight that I know I will hit failure at 9 or 10 reps.
I go for 3 sets of 12.

Some times I do 3 sets of 8 or 10, using a heavier weight.
Just changing it up. I only do low intensity cardio(20 to 30 mins), so I won't lose the muscle I am working so hard to build.


I eat very litte carbs, Oatmeal, sweet potato, being my main sources. Brown rice and Quinoa is good also. I just dont want the added carbs.
Egg whites...lots of egg whites.
I eat chicken, fish, lean cuts of red meat. Lots of broccoli, yellow squash, green beans, spinach. If I eat anything different, it has to be low carb.
Eating several small meals a day if possible.(my type of work prevents me from doing so all the time)
I try to take in around 1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight.

You must take supplements!!!!
This is My stack
I use good whey protein powder. I like the GNC AMP Wheybolic 60 the best. several times daily, and right after my workout.
L-Carnitine 500 mg twice daily.
Scivation Xtend, Intra workout, and through out the day added to my water.
ON Amino Energy pre workout drink (this is a great morning drink too!)
Con-Cret Creatine pre workout
ZMA before bed

Good morning peeps!!! Happy Friday to all. I am up having my brekkie, and coffee. Jumped on the scales this morning, I dropped 2.5 pounds this week!!
Then its off to the gym. I will be working legs this morning.

Back on the scale this morning...

Reminder: I had a little hissy fit sometime last week and banished the scale to the garage, so I skipped last Friday's weigh-in.

This morning's weigh-in showed a loss of 0.2 from the weigh-in two weeks ago.

That is still, technically, *up* from the weigh-in three weeks ago though. It's a drastic improvement to what was going on when I had the hissy fit, so I'm not complaining!!

My belly measurement dropped 1/4 inch, and my chest (new measurement since starting weights) is up 1/4 inch. That's exactly the plan: increase mass in chest and slim down belly.

So that helps... My head already feels in a little bit better place.

As always, thanks for all the pats and supportive comments. This sh*t can get pretty frustrating.

Yes it was!!!! Thanks! I wish I could have all my BFP freinds to celebrate with!!

Deal !!!!! I will meet you @ the Peabody!!!

Warning, yucky subject.
 

Ok now that we al are on this get healthy program and yes its working for us in many diffrent ways,but I noticed the other day that even tho im definatly firming u as wellas loseing weight...there are parts that are going south..as in baggy hanging lose skin..not something I like to see.I told u all it wasnt a fun subject..I dont see how ppl can lose a lot of weight and not have this happen,no mattr how much I work those places it dosent seem to change any.

No personal experience on this, but a friend who lost a great deal of weight had this problem and said that, over time, her loose skin did firm up some. Evidently it happens slower than the weight loss...

Having a lot of loose skin removed surgically is very expensive....a co-worker who lost over 100 lbs was told it would cost about $10K....ouch. :seeingstars:

Scoote and I walked the beach for over 2 hours this morning shell-hunting, with lots of stooping and bending, then carrying bags of shells back to the car (we got lots :) ) It was a nice way to get a workout and make a little vitamin D all at the same time.

Hello and Happy Friday everybody!

Zimmy and Thinker good job on the control! Sometimes I do this and other times it just goes out the window like yesterday when I went to Texas Roadhouse. I've allowed myself to be a bit bad since I'm moving and been spending time with my friends out. I may step away from bad things then eat something else that's not such a good choice anyway.. Those rolls with honey butter! Oh well. I'll get back on track. I know what's good and what is not. I can make healthier choices when I eat out. I'm not gonna obsess on it.

Cowboi thanks for addressing my question. . I like the way you think in terms of diet. 1.5grams of protein per pound of body weight makes sense. I know I must stay from carbs and sugars in order for weight loss to make a difference. I also tend to eat lots of chicken, fish, lean meats, fresh fruits and fresh vegetables. I started with egg whites also recently. I used to take whey protein. I will definitely look at more of the supplements you talk about once I get back into the gym on a regular basis. Good job on the weight loss. I'm sure you have to be gaining muscle!

Matthew, so what do you think about cooking a healthy meal for your family once a week?

Warning: What follows is graphic and probably waaaaay too much information.

This is really hard, please be kind.

I thought I would pop in here on this skin issue as I am currently and for the last several months or so dealing with this very situation.

Right up front, I can only speak for myself and my own individual experience.

There is a lot of information/propaganda out there about the loose skin issue, how and what exacerbates it and what can or cannot be done to “fix” it. From my fairly surface level examination of this information it seems like the vast majority of it comes from surgeons, surgical centers, and people who have had surgery for it.

There are some dissenting voices that assert that surgery is not needed if you lose all of the excess body fat. Fine line there, between normal needed body fat levels and excess.

Looking at images of “loose skin” (pretty gross, don’t go there unless you need to); it seems to me that there is still excess fat in there. Skin is thin and I think would look more like an empty envelope than the deflated rolls look that I have seen.

I say this from the position of someone who has been and still is watching this process in a mirror.

There I said it, I’m not proud of it but reality strikes.

The general consensus seems to be that losing a large amount of weight fast, and/or aging persons not producing much collagen anymore are at the greatest risk for this.

Great, I’m 50 years old and so far have lost 145 lbs in 11 months.

The first 50 didn’t do much but make me a smaller version of round; most noticeable was in my face and neck, the wrinkles deflated a bit and I started to look older. Yippee.

The next 50 sent me into deflating rolls territory. Okay, be patient.

The next 30 and gravity kicked in full force. Well, at least I know I am healthier. And I will wear sleeves to the elbow and knee length shorts for the rest of my natural life. Naked? Um no, never, not for any reason.

Recently, as in the last 6 weeks or so, things have started getting a tiny bit better.

The flesh flags, formerly known as my upper arms, are getting smaller and less saggy.

The “apron” (how disgusting is that?) if you haven’t heard that one yet is the big belly fold that hangs down in front just like the name implies; that is pulling up and pretty much holding its own and flattening out, I have hope here.

The bag-o-thigh areas on the inner thighs are shrinking up pretty well.

This is a work in progress. I will absolutely not have surgery. I think that if I do (and I will)go ahead and lose the rest of what I consider to be excess fat and then give my skin 2 years to get over itself I should end up alright. My health is the most important thing. I am starting to see visible evidence that things are getting better on the visual front. By the way, I look pretty okay in clothes now; but this is a skin conversation.

My understanding is that the skin is our largest organ and regenerates itself every 18 months or so.

I don’t expect to end up looking 30. I know that I have done hugely damaging things to my body. But things are looking up, and I think it will be okay in the not too distant future.

I know this is a huge overshare, I just hope not a mistake.

I think sugar is the hardest thing for me.I can eat just chicken and veggies or fish and veggies.I don't miss carbs or salty things.I miss ice cream and candy.Once I stop eating it for a while I am ok but as soon as I have some it is like crack to me.I am so frustrated and I am in one of those cycles of going up and down with my weight.I do good for a couple of weeks then I fall of the sugar wagon and it the cycle starts again.

Totally get it Lizzy. I have found for me it takes about 6-8 days off of any sugar-added item to break the craving. Eating fruit does not kick-start my craving.

So strange that when I get through those jonesing days- I do not miss it.

Hang in there, one day at a time or one hour at a time or even, one minute at a time and be kind to yourself if you fall off the wagon. We always get another chance for a do-over and a fresh start.

Hugs,

Kelt, it is a brave and couragous share.

Will send very positive and caring vibes your way for your continued journey.

Kelt
 

No my friend, what you posted is what I needed to hear,as I lose this weight I am developing some places that jiggle a lot to much.My arme are doing really good cause even tho they carried some fat I have always had strong arms,bulky shoulders so they are ok for now.What im haveing probs with is my thighs...no more explanation needed,my belly is sliming down well so far not a lot of it is swinging south.Today I went to Acadamy sports,while there I was cruising the sports uniforms for football and base ball.What I found was slideing shorts they will suport the belly and thighs very well as they fit from belly to nearly the knees..now im on a quest for somthing to work for the upper body. what im useing now is working fine its is spandex t-shirts,I get them to fit goiod and snug then pull them down to the hips and pull the slideing shorts up over it all..works fine for now,the t-shirt even works good for a binder if the wearer isnt to big.

Actually its funny you should say that buddy cuz I've been thinking of doing that for awhile now. I have been clipping out various recipes from the newspaper as well as looking through My Weight Watchers magazines from the last year or two and am thinking of making one new meal a week ~ Sunday's are best since everyone is home and its My parents one day in the week they get off from work. I'm gonna look through alot of them again tonight and pick one ~ I can't do it this sunday cuz I can't afford it but I will choose one that I will share with the thread here and will make it next weekend :-)

Sugar is unfortunately like crack for Me too & so its certainly kryptonite :|

Thank you for sharing that Kelt. :rrose: I know it's a bit scary to be that personal....but I really do think it helps us to be real with each other.

I've heard the "two years" to regenerate figure a few places and it makes sense...the skin is our biggest organ; it isn't just a covering...so it takes time for cells to change over.

I've also heard that losing weight slowly helps (yay us for doing it the sensible way! :cheer: ), drinking lots of water to stay hydrated, eating lots of lean protein and working out to keep and build muscle (which helps keep the skin supported and filled out somewhat).

And, yes, I've heard that those of us who are older, or who have been overweight for a long time, have it harder when it comes to the loose skin situation. I know it has to be incredibly hard to deal with...but I also congratulate you for losing 145 lbs...that's an amazing and wonderful thing to do for your health and well-being - regardless of the skin issue.

Hugs.

Thank you, that's why I put that out there, so that others could have some advance information although everyone is different. I'm glad you are having good luck with the workout gear. Keep it up!