Sure! Come and join us. Doesn’t matter that March is almost over, you can carry right on over into April’s thread when one gets started!
You, my friend, are an outrageous flirt! I like that about you.
Come on in Elza, the more the merrier.
People are welcome to join in at any time, Elza B! Glad to have you on board.
I’m still holding steady at 179. I did have a nice compliment over the weekend from someone I hadn’t seen since October. She said she couldn’t believe how good I looked and thought I’d lost over 20 pounds (in reality only 11). She tried to tell me I was the hottest girl in the club. 
I also got told I had a nice ass (by someone else). Hey, I’ll take any compliment I can get.
No I’m not!
So… How you doin’?
You are bad, tdn! That made me giggle.
Well I have been absent quite a while. I fell off the wagon in December and never came back. The last week in Feb and first in March I was particularly bad. I had gained weight.
On March 8th I went under the knife to correct a very severe hernia caused by a previous operation. The doc was quite stern with me telling me that if I didn’t stop gaining weight I highly elevated my chances for recurrence. Indeed, he said I need to lose.
That was a huge motivator. I am more than a little bored with these constant operations and I want no part of a future one.
And so, partly due to the operation, partly due to a post-op virus, partly due to actively attempting to lose, I am back to the weight I was at last October. That is down nearly 12 lbs. That is a lot of weight since March 8th, but I don’t expect to continue at that pace.
Yesterday I was bad, but today I am back again and expect I will stay there - although my sweet cravings have returned.
I will probably not be reporting weekly, but I will check in once in a while.
Well, I slept later than I expected to, which wasn’t such a bad thing. My wife suggested we take our son for a stroll and go have lunch together (his first time in a restaurant, and he was just fine). After lunch I grabbed my bike and started riding.
Bit of a mistake. We had lunch at an Indian restaurant, and curry (which I love) always leaves me feeling bloated, dehydrated and sleepy. Luckily there are drinking fountains along the bike path, so I made frequent use of them. All together, I did 25km yesterday and got comfortable enough with it that I decided to ride to work today, which is another 25km+ round-trip. Right now my shoulders, forearms and calves are all aching, but its a satisfying kind of ache.
No immediate weight changes of course, but I’ll keep up with the bike commuting and post the results when April starts.
About 11 months ago I took a weight loss class, which was enormously helpful. One thing that the instructor said repeatedly – in fact an entire session was devoted to this – is not to use the word “bad.” There are no “bad” foods. Food is not a moral issue. And just because you slipped up for a day, or a week, or 20 years, does not make you “bad.” Look at it as a chance to be more positive and make better choices today.
Yes, it’s pop psychology feel-good 12-step self-help-aisle-in-the-bookstore stuff, but research has born out a positive correlation to weight loss. No cite, sorry.
I often wonder how much of fat=emotional issues comes down along gender lines. I’m sure that it plays a big part in men, but honestly, we’re not that complex. In that class, we were asked why we overeat. My answer? Me like food. Me eat. Drag wooley mammoth to cave and grill. Every other person in the class – women, all of them – cited stress, loneliness, loss, poor self image, etc. They self-medicated their woes away by reaching for the Twinkies. Which made them feel worse, which made them self-medicate again, etcetera.
It’s sad, but the subject fascinates me.
Ah, thanks, everyone. It’s good to have a place to hang out that’s not a weight-loss board (I always feel way too pressured on WL boards).
I don’t think my appetite’s really returned since having strep this weekend - I made chicken tenders for myself and my husband last night, and ended up giving him half of mine. I guess that’s a good thing if it hasn’t returned, but then I worry it’ll return with a vengeance and I’ll want to eat everything in site.
Any tips for eating on the road? We’re heading out of town this weekend, and I seriously worry when I get around my family. Plus, I hate trying to eat when we’re on the highway - you’re at the mercy of whatever restaurants are on the side of the road.
E.
I suggest packing a cooler with some ice packs and things that are easy to eat/snack on but still better for you than fast food - lowfat string cheese, cut-up fruit and veggies, pieces of marinated grilled chicken breast, drinkable yogurt. Bring air-popped popcorn and some raw nuts (almonds, walnuts, etc.). I’m not familiar enough with Atkins or South Beach to be able to advise you on specific foods - pack things that you can eat, prepared ahead of time, that are easy and fit into your diet. You can also get salads at a lot of fast food places these days - just make sure to pick ones with better greens (spinach, romaine) and fewer high-calorie toppings (anything fried, bacon, high-fat cheese - taco salad is usually pretty bad for you), and either skip or bring your own dressing. Or just premake some salads and stick them in your cooler.
Also, try to get some exercise every day while you’re on the road - even if it’s just walking around the block at your hotel/motel or relative’s house. I always end up miserable when I’m on a road trip and can’t exercise, because fast food plus no exercise plus hours in the car equals bloat and lethargy for me.
It occurred to me that I have data on this. 1204 men and women who considered themselves to be candidates for bariatric surgery filled out a questionaire. 997 of them were women, 207 were men. There were asked to self-identify as self-medicating with food when they were nervous or upset.
393 of the women said yes, 86 men said yes. That’s 39% of women, 42% of men. That surprised me.
They were also asked if they were depressed. This included being on medication for depression, currently or recently seeing a therapist, having suicidal tendencies, or havng been hospitalized for depression.
248 women answered yes, 15 men said yes. That’s 25% of women, 15% of men.
I have no idea what this info means.
I wonder if the percentages would change if the actual number of men were closer to the number of women.
I keeping with your statement about food not being bad and us not being bad people when we eat it. My affirmation-a-day desk calendar (which my mom gave me for christmas) tells me today:
“I keep my mind healthy and happy, and my body follows suit”.
I like that. It makes sense in so many ways. I think therefore I am.
I managed to get my 20000 steps in yesterday but today I’m only at 14000 or so and I don’t know how I’m going to get an additional 6000 steps in tonight as I have quite a busy evening. Maybe I’ll walk in place while I’m dying my hair…yeah…that’s it…aerobic hair dying.
Walking’s kind of rough right now (getting over a very sprained ankle, so I’m still limping), but I’m trying to take short walks every day. We’re not planning on taking the stroller for the kid, so I may just throw him in my mei-tai carrier and walk my cousin’s neighborhood with her.
Thanks for the tips. This whole changing-mindset thing is harder than I thought, but if I keep it up, I know I can do it. It just means no Bob Evans binges on the road (our favorite place to eat on road trips).
E.
Yeah, the sample size is pretty small. I’m always a little shocked at how disparate the numbers are by gender. I wonder why.
What about doing yoga or other stretches while you’re visiting? Or just trying to recreate whatever exercise you get when you’re at home?
Once you’ve not had fast food in a long time, you don’t want to eat it anymore. At least, I don’t, and the times I haven’t had a choice I’ve always felt terrible afterward. I think the only time I voluntarily ate fast food (not counting a Subway sandwich) in the last five years was our layover in the Portland airport on our way back from China in November 2005, since we’d been up for 30+ hours and it was the only restaurant open that early in the morning.
You also might order one meal to share rather than two meals at a restaurant - you’re still eating the food you like, just a more reasonable portion than most restaurants serve. Though with South Beach or Atkins, I don’t know how to advise. I think your best bet is to bring your own food that is easy to eat and that you like for the car portion of your trip.
Exactly. It does take some time, but once you’re not used to it anymore it becomes truly physically unpleasant to eat it. My stomach can still handle it (there is little my cast-iron stomach cannot handle), but I get very painfully bloated - it hurts to be touched.
So, um…do I look thinner this morning? I should, I got to my Weight Watchers goal this morning!
172/135/135. According to calculations, it took a total of 76 weeks for a 37 lb loss - for an average of slightly less than half a pound per week.
But hey, I got there!
Congratulations to you badbadrubberpiggy! I love saying your name by the way, but that’s another thread!
Congratulations on making your goal weight!
We need an applauding smilie for this moment…
That’s so awesome, badbadrubberpiggy! Congratulations.
I seem to be in one of those frustrating stages where I’m not losing but I’m getting smaller 'cuz a lot of my clothes are getting too big, especially my pants. Well, I guess I was 178 this morning which is down a pound. Just on a whim, I tried on a pair of pants last night that I haven’t been able to wear in two years. They fit (and they’re an 11/12)! I am kind of dreading getting rid of some of my favorite clothes but I’ll sell them on ebay and use the money to buy new ones so that will be fun. I’m really starting to look forward to summer in my new body. Dare I start wearing shorts again? Well, maybe not. 
Not fair! I’m 176 and in a size 16 in the pants! Stupid loose skin. Where’s the plastic surgery fairy when you need him?