Weight Loss Motivation

Hi all! I'd like to join in here, too. I was doing really well last year up until about mid-November (Aka, the holidays!). I'd only lost about two pounds but there was already a noticeable difference in how I looked and I was just about down a pant size. I'm almost 30 and around 220, but most people are surprised to find out I weigh that much. I guess I either carry it well or it's dense. Anyways, I kind of temporarily gave up during the holiday season because I have a weakness for the abundance of goodies available. I'm pretty sure I undid most of what I accomplished last fall and I feel awful, I can tell I'm heavier again. But anyway!

Today I got back on the treadmill and I'll restart weights tomorrow or the next day. Last year I was up to three or four miles on the treadmill daily and training with ten pound dumbbells. On nice days I'd go out on the roads and run a bit - my butterball dog also got exercise these days. Back on track now and I hope to get back to progress. I'd be happy to get back into a size ten. An eight would thrill me to bits but I haven't been that since I was 16, so I'm not sure I'll ever be quite that small again.

I had a cookie binge today. Sigh. Back on the horse tomorrow. On December 20th, I weighed 124. I'm trying to get back down to 118.

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"I have found little that is 'good' about human beings on the whole. In my experience most of them are trash, no matter whether they publicly subscribe to this or that ethical doctrine or to none at all."
~Sigmund Freud

I like the pizza idea, navi8orgirl. I used to make little pizzas with pita bread in a similar manner. I'm all bummed because I succumbed to the cold Mr. Cosmic has been fighting for a few days. I feel like ass, so I plan to take it easy today. At least I got in some super awesome workouts over the weekend and also yesterday (after taking Monday off for recovery). I actually love my workouts so I plan to get right back into it as soon as I'm feeling better again.

I really wanted to have sex with this guy, so I lost a lot of weight trying to attract him. It didn't work out but I did meet someone else, so hey. I guess boning is my motivation, that and avoiding Diabeetus.

Anyway, what worked for me was lots of walking, some running and cardio, and music. I need good music because working out is insufferably dull. And I ate a lot of raw vegetables, like carrots, celery and bell peppers every two hours so I wasn't hungry throughout the day. Lots of low fat soups and Subway sandwiches too.

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"[GFG's pregnancy is] kind of like at the stables where that one dumb, ugly-ass mare broke out of her corral one day and got herself screwed by the equally fugly colt that was due to be gelded the same afternoon."- Shiny

I have been sticking with it! In a half assed kind of way. I do feel like I've lost a few lbs. and toned up a bit. I too have been shoveling snow and just trying to be more active. And eat somewhat healthier.

I can't complain and almost feel like I shouldn't gripe because I don't have all that much to lose. I'm going to guess that I probably wear around a US size 8 -10, I'm not really sure because -

My "work clothes" are suits, which are from slightly better stores. Not super high end stuff, but just enough to where that's all vanity sized and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't normally take a 4.

Other clothes are either old, tags are faded, or from resale shops. Which would include anything from 6 - 12.

I'm trying not to ruminate about it too much, for me - I would agree that over thinking it - I'll get frustrated and give up.

I *do have* a fairly good metabolism, also. I do sedentary / desk work though. I try to get up and move through out the day. And in free time do physical work or at least take a walk.

Speaking of clothes - all my closets need to be cleaned out. In the winter or when stuck inside - I try to find chores to do which involve physical work. And cleaning. Cleaning is hard work!

My goal / motivation is this pair of low rise / hip hugger bell bottom jeans I found at the Goodwill store. They *almost* fit! IMO I have about 10 lbs of Muffin Top that has to GO!

I'm drinking beer right now. Uh oh. Hey, I only have a few at a time. And I got alot accomplished today. I'll burn it off. I also made a Quiche - not exactly a low fat food. And probably not the way I make it, either. But, if you eat a reasonably sized slice + salad or veges or fruit - that's OK.

I actually made two - one I gave to my neighbor. That's a way to keep your intake down - don't have it hangin around!

There's all sorts of simple tips and tricks you can follow. Put reasonable portions on a plate and sit down and eat like a civilized person. On the above - I have to go slice that up and put *most* of it in the freezer. Put it away. I already had a small piece, I'm sick of looking at the damned thing! LOL I lose patience with cooking.

But that's *why* I make these things up ahead of time, and freeze most of it - that's dinner ready to go, just chop up a salad and micro wave a piece.

Can be done with many foods, too.

I do eat reasonably healthy, I don't eat alot of snack foods. I trained myself not to. I do not over eat with regular meals, either. I do sometimes cave and eat junk. I ate some Taco Bell the other day. 1 "Mexican Pizza". Probably not too bad.

I will get "Garbage Gut" from eating too much crap also. I get sick of it, the bod starts to "crave" healthy food. My self assessment is that I need to tune that up a bit, and get more exercise. Working on both. Do feel some improvement. I started taking vitamins, also.

Keep going everybody! wink

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Miss H
Anyway, what worked for me was lots of walking, some running and cardio, and music. I need good music because working out is insufferably dull.

I find working out insufferably dull, also. That's why I like to find "chores" to do - because I can see some *other* purpose to doing something, and this motivates me.

This idea may be a tip for others, too. Especially those who like to make things. I personally like to do *physical work*. This is one of my reasons why I am interested in rehabbing RE. I *like to do* stuff like that! Remodel, make it how you want.

Hey - a simple can of paint can be a huge motivator

Even raking leaves or shoveling snow is kinda fun. I like to do physical work myself.

Might be a tip for the easily bored, looking for alternatives.

As for music - I like *complete silence*

I have to concentrate and think all the time. I'm also pretty much on the phone constantly. I spend most of my time staring at several monitors 'watching things'. Numbers. And off and on the phone, and paperwork. It's rather mentally taxing. So I like to go outside, and even if it's just walking in my neighborhood, I like *dead silence*. And something easy on the eyes. Trees and sky. Even grey skies are OK. If I am feeling ambitious I will drive elsewhere, to a "Forest Preserve" or hiking area. For the scenery. And *silence*.

But that's me.

Might be another tip, - find things you *like* to do.

Just thinking of the locals, everyone should probably watch out though - I saw a HUGE Coyote the other day! Hinsdale, IL. I also saw a news story about Wolves, now more here (and everywhere) too. And it might have been one. Story said that they are bigger than Coyotes. Whatever I saw was pretty big.

I'm just trying to add more 'walking around the block' at this point. I do keep trying to add on more to do more outdoor things soon. (Saw the Coyote from the car, ha. Lazy me.)

And I do not use public transport at all, drive everywhere. Yes, I probably should. It sucks though. But I don't drive all that much / waste gas.

Anyway, finding things you like to do is a big plus.

End Note: My feet hurt!

I really want to ramp up the New Year's exercising but unfortunately I have pneumonia. I've had some crud since December 27th, and went to the doctor Monday. I insisted on a chest x-ray because my chest and back hurt so much. The x-ray showed nothing, but I got some antibiotics. Tuesday night I went to urgent care because I couldn't catch my breath and my chest hurt like Hell. Go into the ER with chest pains and watch everyone snap to attention. One of my blood factors was elevated and they thought i had a pulmonary embolism, so I got a chest scan, which showed the pneumonia. Thankfully no blood clot.

I got some Levaquin, and supposedly one of the side effects is torn tendons while exercising when you take it.

So it looks like I'm limited to healthy eating for now and the exercising will have to wait a week or two.

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bell_flower
I really want to ramp up the New Year's exercising but unfortunately I have pneumonia. I've had some crud since December 27th, and went to the doctor Monday. I insisted on a chest x-ray because my chest and back hurt so much. The x-ray showed nothing, but I got some antibiotics. Tuesday night I went to urgent care because I couldn't catch my breath and my chest hurt like Hell. Go into the ER with chest pains and watch everyone snap to attention. One of my blood factors was elevated and they thought i had a pulmonary embolism, so I got a chest scan, which showed the pneumonia. Thankfully no blood clot.

I got some Levaquin, and supposedly one of the side effects is torn tendons while exercising when you take it.

So it looks like I'm limited to healthy eating for now and the exercising will have to wait a week or two.

I put some thoughts on this class of drugs on Dorisan's thread about being sick. Which I don't mean as alarmist or anything, I just think it's best to get all the info you can.

This is some bad shit. Watch yourself.

I had sim drugs *four years ago* - and I still do not feel right. I was deathly ill though, and Jah only knows what they hit me with in the hospital, I got some of these FQ drugs - for the 'take home'. God only knows what they hit me with at the outset. Anthrax medicine (I was infected with e.coli).

So there was a mixed bag of weird 'black box' drugs I was hit with. I don't mean to be alarmist. Everyone's experiences do vary.

I would read up on these things though, the side effects can and do linger. I'm not going to mention the potential of RA or MS ~
Ooops, think I just did. Read.

I mean this as a *positive* too - because you *can* cleanse your body of these weird things and 'healthy living' and or 'healthy eating' are positive steps to be done.

This is MY motivation too - I just want my health back!

Really do not mean to be alarmist. Hang in there!

I saw it and I'm not sure what to do. I definitely have pneumonia and the other drugs weren't working. I've taken it for about five days now and I may just stop.

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Miss_Hannigan
I really wanted to have sex with this guy, so I lost a lot of weight trying to attract him. It didn't work out but I did meet someone else, so hey. I guess boning is my motivation, that and avoiding Diabeetus.

Both strong motivations.

Now, if only the boning actually did keep you in shape, you could ride that virtuous cycle to health.

Helpful Tip -

Do not weigh self when you suspect you might have 'period bloat' or may be retaining water.

I thought I had *lost weight* but I'm actually 15 lbs. heavier than I thought I was!



I hope it's just water. I decided that I'm not weighing myself again until March.

GAH.

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Zzelda
Helpful Tip -

Do not weigh self when you suspect you might have 'period bloat' or may be retaining water.

I thought I had *lost weight* but I'm actually 15 lbs. heavier than I thought I was!



I hope it's just water. I decided that I'm not weighing myself again until March.

GAH.

Zzelda, it sounds as if you've been doing a lot of physical work. Is it possible you are gaining muscle mass? I wouldn't be one bit surprised if that isn't what it is.

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mumofsixbirds

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Zzelda
Helpful Tip -

Do not weigh self when you suspect you might have 'period bloat' or may be retaining water.

I thought I had *lost weight* but I'm actually 15 lbs. heavier than I thought I was!



I hope it's just water. I decided that I'm not weighing myself again until March.

GAH.

Zzelda, it sounds as if you've been doing a lot of physical work. Is it possible you are gaining muscle mass? I wouldn't be one bit surprised if that isn't what it is.

I certainly hope so!

OK, throw stuff at me or laugh if you will, but I decided to quit dieting. I found a great book called Intuitive Eating written by two nutritionists. So I was initially resistant to the idea of just learning to eat when I'm hungry and stop when I'm satisfied, but I decided to give it a go, and so far it's working. Part of my resistance was wanting to have total control at all times, and also I didn't think I could trust myself with food.

Of course part of the idea behind it is to trust that you'll eventually end up at a weight that's good for your body even if it's not society's ideal. So you kind of have to let go of the idea of being THIN. I just kind of thought about these general ideas:

1.) I LOVE working out and being physically active. I miss my workouts when I can't get to them. So in that aspect, I'm fine.

2.) running to my phone every time I put something in my mouth is tiresome and unsustainable.

3.) When I feel deprived of things I tend to crave them really bad and then go on binges, and then I end up experiencing "last supper style eating," where I try to cram all the junk food in my hole that I can before I've vowed to eat CLEAN again FROM NOW ON. This sounds really disordered, of course, and it is. Therefore, I feel like if I give myself unconditional permission to eat the foods I'm craving, the appeal of less healthy things will go down over time. Once it's not forbidden anymore, the taboo factor goes away.

I'm also finding that as I allow myself to eat whatever I want, I'm learning that a lot of the junk food I thought I loved isn't actually all that wonderful afterall, and I find myself not finishing a lot of it. I'm learning what my real preferences are as opposed to what's "good" and "bad."

4.) With unconditional permission to eat is coming unconditional permission not to eat if I don't feel like it, and to leave food behind on my plate. I was raised by parents who's parents grew up during the Great Depression, so they are members of the clean plate club, and tried to make me a member of that club as well. Their intentions were pure, but I'm beginning to learn that I don't have to clean my plate if I've had enough to eat, and I've been able to proverbially turn in my membership card to that club.

Since I'm only going by my biological signals rather than prescribed amounts of food and eating times, I'm getting far more relaxed around food. I'm also finding that my thoughts of food in general are far less. I'm beginning to forget that there are potato chips and chocolate in the house and my desire to mindlessly munch is also becoming less and less with time. I guess since I know I can have it any time I want, there's no "urgency" to eat it, if that makes sense.

5.) I searched my heart and mind and realized that I'm not all that interested in being thin, having visible abs, etc. To boot, I'm married to a dude who prefers women on the thick side anyway. His only concern would be if I were to develop serious health problems or have serious issues with mobility. I figure if I'm working out and when left to my own devices I tend to gravitate towards choosing at least 90% healthy foods, my weight will eventually fall into something fairly healthy and normal, even if it doesn't mean I look "cut." It may also take awhile, but I'm willing to have patience for that.

So for me, this is working out well. It's nice not to have to count calories anymore. I'm sorry to those I got kind of defensive with who offered a non-diet approach to eating. It really came from me not feeling I could be trusted with food. I also mean no offense to those who are still preferring to diet or count cals. If it works for you and you still have a healthy relationship with food, then absolutely go for it so long as you're still eating enough to fuel your body and be healthy. I'm just saying that after some soul-searching and critical thinking and doing a fair amount of research for myself, I've decided to forego dieting. I actually find myself craving very healthful foods of late, and I like that. The other day, I just wanted a big salad with tons of veggies and a lemon vinaigrette with tuna. I've also visited Taco Hell and had a little fun with recreational eating, but I found I wanted to eat much less than I used to when it was a "cheat day." I figure a 90-10% balance of healthful with some "play food" is fine for me.

And I'm keeping up with my exercise. I'm not weighing myself anymore, at least for the time being, because I don't like how obsessive it makes me. I've decided that part of being happy includes no longer hating my body and no longer being so focused on my weight. I figure if my clothes still fit and I feel well and my body works, then all is good. Just thought I'd offer this perspective as it's not a very popular one, and we CF people know how it feels not to be very popular for how we feel about things.

I've been doing reasonably well with really paying attention to my emotional (boredom) eating. I already only eat when hungry, but I need to pay attention to only eating as much as I need to satisfy that, and not eating when I'm not hungry. I do check on the scale, but only once a week.

Congratulations, cosmictraveler, it sounds as if you've found a way to end dieting and live healthy! I have always had an unhealthy relationship with food myself, with my weight going up and down, eating disorders and the guilt that comes with eating.

I'm slowly learning to eat only when I'm hungry, and not feel so bad if I have the occasional slip. I've discovered that my weight is stable and I'm not climbing back up the scale. I lost a few pounds while moving, because moving always stresses me out quite a bit.

I would love to lose a few more pounds (maybe 5-10) but I'm not going to push myself back into another eating disorder to do it. I value my health and happiness far over being thin, and learning to love my body the way it is.

It's awesome your hubby loves thick gals! Nothing beats being with a partner who finds you attractive the way you are and doesn't want to change you.

I found Intuitive Eating too complicated. I preferred a book called Normal Eating for Normal Weight. There is also a pay forum for NEFNW that I find quite helpful.

I could solve 90% of my problems if I followed the NEFNW rules, which are basically to eat when you are hungry, stop when you are full and log your meals. Logging keeps me honest. I resisted it at first but it doesn't have to be fancy adn I really don't have to count calories --the main reason for me to log is that I can check in with my emotional state. I tend to shove food in mindlessly when I'm feeling depleted or under stress.

I'm not too sure about My Fitness Pal. I signed up earlier, hoping a food journal might help me not eat as much. I put in my current weight, weight goal, and how much exercise I intend to do per week, which is none (because I have found exercise does jack shit for me). It's claiming that I should eat 1960 calories per day.

Whut. That is WAY too much for someone my size wanting to lose 70+ pounds and without exercise involved. I have to cut back to 1000 or less to lose anything noticeable. I don't think you can manually set a calorie limit on there either. I already have very little faith in that site, but I'll still give it a try.

It's not as popular as My Fitness Pal, but there's a web site/app called My Net Diary that I think is pretty good. The problem with MFP is that a lot of the nutrition data is incorrect, I think because they allow users to enter foods themselves into the database. IIRC, My Net Diary verifies the nutrition data of all of their database foods. Also you can set up goals for calories, weight, etc. They also have a forum moderated by a dietitian.

Argh, meant to just edit this post and ended up creating a second post. My bad. Tis what I get for posting when I first wake up.

IE may not be everyone's cup of tea, and I was initially pretty resistant to it, but I'm finding that I really find it's working for me. I find it really helpful to have a framework to deal with my complicated relationship with food. I have to undo essentially 20 years of damage (even though I was nowhere near being overweight, I put myself on my first diet at 11, and have been on and off diets all the time since), and I find Ellen Tribole's work to be very helpful in my own journey.

I do feel lucky to have a husband who's into thicker women. When I say he finds thickness or plumpness attractive, I'm not saying he's into morbid obesity. But I've never been anywhere close to morbidly obese even at my heaviest. To think of all the times I was so hard on myself about my weight, and how much joy it robbed me of in life. I think he's just relieved that I'm no longer going on diets and we can lighten up and have some more fun in life if I'm not needing to crunch numbers every time we have a meal. He's told me, "I love the way you look," and I'm finally starting to believe him. I just want to believe it myself, for myself. That's the hard part, self love and self acceptance.

Of course I want to be healthy. But I do take care of myself. I do all the things they say you should do to be healthy (drinking in moderation, working out almost every day, a diet rich in fruits and veggies - not soaked in oil like the Horta and Dummy eat them - and now I don't over-eat nearly as much as I did while on diets). I'm still overweight. If that's how it's going to be, so be it. I will not waste another precious second of my life obsessing about my size. I'm over it.

I still drink a lot of hot tea and hot coffee but I quit sodas accidentally when I was laid off from a job I hated.

I have had success with calorie counting and also with exercising. I was a size 10 & great figure with a weight that did not match that for a long while just by working out regularly (maybe twice a week).

I like the idea of keeping a thread going as I cannot add a promise to post daily but I too intend to lose weight again.

I joined this group several years ago and hadn't been in in years and so I had to reregister, am curious which date it will say I joined.

I have been keeping up with the 'half assed' attempts at the 'health program' here.

Bad Winter too and I've shoveled enough snow to where my upper bod must be half way into body builder range.

I decided that I'm going to *take advantage of* all this inadvertent exercise.

Since I'm doing all this work, I may as well try to 'maximize the potential' and stick to healthy eating with it.

I only have 10 lbs left.

I'm getting there.

I would have a bit of difficulty if I tried intuitive eating, as I am one of the strange people who don't feel strong hunger, and thus would 'forget' to eat. When I do feel hunger it's light and it's mainly for a short time, then that goes away until I suddenly find myself very tired and sleepy from low blood sugar. With this a person would think that I'd be thin, but I do get non-hunger cravings for salt and starch, and rote 'habit eating' which do end up being the things that keep me ballooned. But knowing this, I might have to try the stuff from 'Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead' as that might get rid of the low blood sugar problem and possibly the extra weight.

I've been looking at this thread for awhile, but hadn't read it because I figured it would just make me feel bad about myself. Then I figured what the hell, it couldn't be worse.

I'm 5'5" and weigh about 160. I've been saying to myself about every five pounds or so I put on, "I need to lose this before I'm any heavier." Started that mantra at 140. I finally started feeling really bad about it when I was organizing some vacation photos by year and could SEE myself growing larger and larger. I was at 165 and decided to start a diet and exercise before my next vacation, and lost about 15 lbs. Then I got the pictures back from that vacation, and I looked absolutely no different. That was pretty much when I gave up, and the only change I kept was that I had switched to a 0 calorie soda (I figured I was taking in over 1000 calories a day in soda-- I'm addicted to caffeine, obviously). So far I've kept that first 5 lbs. off-- yeah, big deal, right?-- and I attribute that to the soda change.

Just to make things more complicated, I'm disabled. I'm in a certain amount of pain every day, and it takes very little to raise that pain level. Exercise is really draining and painful. I've just started trying to exercise again (one session so far) and I got in about 5 minutes before I had to stop. But I figure I'll just keep doing that 5 minutes, maybe once a week to start, and try to build up a tolerance so I can do it longer and more than once a week.

I think my smallest adult weight was 125. I'd like to get down to 135 and see how that looks.

I can't guarantee being online often enough or regularly enough to support someone through PMs or anything, but I am going to keep an eye on this thread. Thanks for all the people who've posted to it with advice and encouragement.