Weekly Workout Thread 16th July till 22nd July

[jas]

Oops. A double post is not a workout.

 

[Skippy123]

Good news!

The doctor was so nice and said he is glad I want physical therapy instead of drugs

That wasn't even an option in my mind. He was super nice and started telling me how bad health care is in the US because of insurance co and asked if I saw the Movie Sicko. I said no; he was a real sweet man and cared deeply about helping people from our brief discussion. I start PT next week. Thanks DJ for letting me know it worked for you. He told me step is so bad for the knees; I think I will go a couple of times a month so I don't miss it too much but later when I am healed.

It did take a lot of phone calls on my part to see if I could go the PT center my friend the medical doctor recommended based on his injured ankle improvements w/this particular pt. Whooo hooo!

Hey Sevenwires, try and do some extra walking on campus at your college if you can between classes.

Rod, yay for sushi no. 2! Why don't you always go to the good sushi place no 1??? Why do you go to no. 2 and 3? Just curious. hehehe In fact when you start the sushi talk I start the sushi cravings. Dang you!!!

Shortblond kudos on biking! Go enjoy your real dinner near the dealership; hopefully your car is ready.

Lorelei, likes house cleaning too?! I only like it because I hate supervising and feel like a doof! If I was rich enough to hire someone to supervise the housekeepers then I would be okay. hehehe

Mara, bread is my achilles heel

YUM!!! Sounds super yummy! I made the bran muffins and burnt them and only saved half of them; thank goodnesss I have some more old bananas

DeeJay, you make me laugh w/the paycheck thing. My hubby always says "Working is for Suckers" when I was figuring out whether to work or not.

He was only teasing since he works. hehehe Cheers to you being happy

AlJ, yay for walking tonight. Glad you had a lovely time on your anniversary and Vaca!!!!

Jas, double post anytime; your posts are always so cute. The Booty tapes sound fun. hehehe Glad you had a good weekend!


ETA: Kimberly, enjoy your book!!! Yay, for not timing your exercise and just enjoying it!!

 

[KimberlyH]

Seven, welcome back!

Thanks for the fairy dust and kind wishes regarding the house, all! I am sure it will work out exactly as it''s supposed to; right now I''m playing the patience game, something I''m not so good at) waiting to get this place ready and on the market.

NF, I''m so glad the scale moved and I clean to relieve stress too (except since I got married, DH likes to clean every Sunday, he has this thing about schedules! So now I don''t clean much at all).

Al, your dinner at Melting Pot and weekend escape sound wonderful!

Skip, good for you for going to PT! I hope it helps.

I got in a good workout this afternoon (as you know, I''ve stopped timing, I just make sure I go 1/2 an hour and don''t look at the clock after that point anymore cuz I was getting too weird about how long I exercise). I''m making tamale pie for dinner, but now I''m going to escape to the back porch with a book for a bit.

Have a terrific afternoon all.

 

[AmberGretchen]

Wow - onto page 2 already and its only Monday!! Its so tough to get caught up - I tried on last week''s thread when we got back from vacation but eventually gave up. I do want to say welcome to the new members though - its such a great thread, and I really hope you all find it helpful!

We had a very indulgent vacation eating schedule last week - so much so the first two days that I felt really sick. I realized that I can''t eat high fat/high sugar/rich food the way I used to - I need to keep the portions small, and limit the frequency to one meal a day at the most so it doesn''t make me sick. I was terrified to come back and see the damage on the scale, but I am pleased to report that I was only up 1.5 lbs this morning, which is very respectable, I think. I''m not too worried either, as I know a lot of that is probably just water weight and even if its not it should come right back off again.

The real eye-opener for me was seeing pictures from this vacation compared with our honeymoon in October in London - it really brought it home to me how much change there has been. I''m trying to work up the guts to share the pictures with you all - I''m still very self-conscious about the fact that even though I''ve hit my original goal, I''m not skinny like Miss Mara and a lot of others on this thread.

Also, I''m still really torn about pushing hard to lose the last 8 lbs or so, vs. just letting it go a little bit and letting my body settle where it seems to be happy (and I feel good and am doing all the right, healthy things), even though that''s still a touch over my "ideal" weight (according to BMI), and as I said, is definitely not skinny.

Anyway, thanks for continuing to be such an inspiration everyone - I thought of you all as I pushed myself through a killer circuit training class this morning - I can already tell I''m going to be incredibly sore tomorrow, but I know it will be worth it

 

[Rod]

Skippy, the reason''s quite simple. Favorite Sushi place number #1 is closed on Mondays, so we go to Favorire #2 and on Friday''s, we go to Favorite #1 and Favorite #3 is if neither #1 or #2 are open or we''re in that part of town. See, Simple!!

Dinner tonght was terriific as usual. We had quite a thunerstorm just before dinner, which delayed us at work a bit longer, but we got there just as the thunder and lightning was winding down. Instead of coffee at Starbucks under our oak tree (it was too wet out there), we decided to have the active yogurt frozen green tea yogurt with fresh fruit for dessert (oh so yummy!!).

Tomorrow, it''s back to the gym for the next three nights as usual!!

I hope you''re having a nice evening!!

 

[monarch64]

Evening, all!

I missed two pgs. already...but good to see all the new responses so far this week!

DeeJay, you''re going to be fab at taking on real estate as your FT gig. And if you run out of clients, DH and I will be starting another house hunt soon enough, LOL!

So yesterday we went to the Nascar race at Chicagoland Speedway...we met up with some of DH''s buds in the middle of cornfields where everyone parks their RV''s and had breakfast and lunch there before the race, a couple of bloody Mary''s for us as well! I got to catch up with one of the guys'' wives who was also there, I haven''t seen her for about six months so that was nice for me--not an all-guy day. DH and I went into the race and had a great time. After the first 20 laps, I felt like I was going to fall asleep, though! Once the initial excitement of the National Anthem and start of the race is over, you''re just sitting there mesmerized by cars going around in a circle with earplugs in and everything is muffled (ok, plus I had the bloody mary''s so I was a bit sleepy from those I think!), you get kind of lulled into relaxation by all of it. It was a lot of fun, though. We left the track before the race was over and went back to the "camp" and listened to the rest of it to see who won, then we stuck around for another hour waiting for traffic to clear out. It was a long, fun, but tiring day!

DH spent the day with one of his customers and took him to a Cubs game this evening so I''ve been solo with the dogs all day. I took them both for a walk together this afternoon and they were both pretty good for me! The puppy is still a little less than smooth while walking but I always feel bad for taking one and not the other so I put up with her silliness. This morning I spent about three hours searching the job boards and came across an open interview this Wednesday at a company I really like so I think I will attend that. I just ordered a new suit from J.Crew so it won''t be here in time, but this place has a casual/contemporary dress code so I''m hoping I can get away with nice slacks and a sweater, or I may go shopping tomorrow and see if I can find another professional looking outfit to interview in while I wait for my suit to arrive. The last time I had to wear a suit to an interview was about 4 years ago and although it has classic styling I feel like it''s outdated looking anyway, plus I''ve "grown" since then and I don''t even think it fits well anymore. Argh. i will do the best I can!

 

[marcy]

Hi friends and WWT''ers.

I had cantaloupe and cheerios for breakfast. Lunch was some roast beef on a SL wheat HB bun, baked ruffles and 9 M&M’s. Supper was grilled chicken, corn on the cob and a few frozen French fries. My treat was dreyers low fat ice cream with a little choc sryup and 6 M&M;s. Good Eats for 1200 calories!
Lorelei, I am right there with you. If I can’t have something, I’m going to crave it all the more. I think getting a treat everyday has made this whole process painless for me. I truly understand the feeling of self worth is definitely related to how you feel about your body/size/weight, etc. It’s hard to like yourself when you don’t feel good about yourself.
Thanks, Ellen. I appreciate the encouragement. I’m glad your vacation was great.
DeeJay, congrats for fitting in to a size 4 pair of jeans. I’m so excited about your news about quitting your job and going full time as a real estate agent. That is awesome. I am getting tired of working 2 jobs. I’m glad you liked my sayings; I agree with you about not eating something because the calories just aren’t worth it. It is amazing how many people think only the fad diets will work. The old fashioned “eat less, do more” works really well if you stick to it.
Kimberly, I hope your favorite house stays on the market until you are ready to buy. I agree we need our wine and ice cream or we would go a little nuts.
MrsSalvo, welcome home. Enjoy your month of left before school starts.
Neatfeak, congratulations on loosing so many inches and 1.5 pounds. Yeah! I so agree if we couldn’t enjoy the foods we love, it would be so hard to do this.
Rod, I’m so glad to hear your insurance will cover your health care costs. I am sure that is a big relief for you and I know you’ll be glad to get your biopsy scheduled. Thanks for the encouragement about 110 pounds. I know I’ll bet there tomorrow or the next day.
Mara, I know what you mean about clothes. I see some old clothes of mine and I think “wow”. But when I try on something in a dressing room I’ll look at it and think no way will this fit. I’m so pleasantly surprised when it does. I find I am staying away from really loose clothes now. I think you are going about maintenance the right way. We do need to forever continue to make the right choices (most of the time) and keep active.
NYC, I am so sorry to hear about your husband getting hurt. I am very relieved he is okay. Thank you so very much for encouraging me and for being inspired by my journey. I appreciate that.
Danielle, yes I started the thread at either 100 or 101 pounds. I appreciate your kind words about my success. Enjoy supper with your friend; your menu sounds yummy.
Hi Sevenwires, it sounds like you’ve had a busy summer.
Shortblonde, I hope you have a real dinner tonight and go get some food soon.
Al, it is amazing how long it takes to eat at the melting pot. Your trip to Maine and adventures with your old roommate sounds really fun. Thank you for the congrats, I’ll take any progress I can get.
Jas, it sounds like you had a great weekend. Enjoy the Yoga Booty Ballet Go-Go.

Skippy, your doctor sounds really nice. I am glad you are doing PT to help your knee. They will get it straightened out for you in no time. Yeah!
Amber, that is wonderful you really noticed a difference in the pictures between October and now. Congratulations. It’s so important you feel great where you are and are living a healthy life. I’d love to see your pictures if you decide to post them.
Monarch, I am glad you had a great time at the race this weekend. Good luck at the open interview on Wednesday.
Well, take care. I must go grade papers.
Marcy

 

[Sevenwires]

Hi guys.. .thanks ~ Good to be back. Went to dinner with my parents tonight and we had Japanese. Yum! My favorite. It’s one of those meals I don’t need to feel guilty eating. I usually have the same stuff all the time… salmon sashimi, crunch roll (rice with shrimp tempura), and fish liver. Usually the roll I just have 3 or 4 piece, sashimi I can eat all 6 pieces….. So I think I eat about 600 or so calories? My other favorite roll is the Philly roll… Mmmm gotta love the cream cheese.. Hee hee..,

Marcyc… speaking of low cal ice-cream. I think I’m going to pick up some skinny cow at Albertson’s on the way home.

It’s 10:05 p.m. right now, I had a quick flicker of wanting to go to the gym. But I’m way too pooped to get myself there. I think I’m going to go rent Charlotte’s Web, watch that, and call it a night. And if I don’t waste time doing anything else, I can try to make it to the gym for 60 minutes before class. We’ll see how it goes.

Have a good evening~

Nite nite, all.

 

[Mara]

evening all!!

amber, i agree everyone here is a huge inspiration to each of us...!! it's funny you call me skinny because i don't consider myself skinny...and sometimes i swear i feel like i have put on every lb i lost. like today with tighter jeans and an indulgent weekend and i felt like such a heifer. our mind plays such tricks on us!! and you should feel really proud about what you have accomplished. i also struggle with the whole should i try to get smaller or just stay where i am at and my body seems happy with. i do like to indulge so i think i'll probably always carry those ~5 xtra lbs but at least i can kind of carry them off with my height hehee. but if i can turn more of them into muscle, then why not?!!! hehe. so that's my goal for now!

march, kudos on your amazing weight loss, and 10 lbs since starting the wwt is great! sounds like everyone had a great day for a monday hehee. i had my fage with honey and fruit for snack this afternoon and then this fiber gnu bar (12g fiber, wow!) that was really dense! after work i went to TJ's for some fresh goodies and then Target as well for some more south beach bars and some other stuff. dinner was TJ's pizzas and salad and then G and I took Portia for a 1.5m walk. for dessert i had some of my watermelonade which was super tasty...and i also did some abs and arm resistance work while watching some summer TV.

anyone heard/read about the ab diet? i was reading about it in my women's health magazine...i am already hot on the higher protein thing but reading about the ab diet was pretty interesting. basically it has mostly to do with the whole eating right kind of thing, but the jist is that your body uses up more cals to digest protein than fat, and the ab diet advocates eating as many 'super foods' as possible in your meals...which are things like nuts, beans, greens, fruits, whole wheat, etc. the book has a bunch of recipes and stuff too, the magazine gives you a few of them, and basically think higher protein and complex carbs than fat and useless stuff of course. kind of a no brainer right? anyway kind of interesting to read about it anyway, i am tempted to get the book for the recipes because they are kind of how i like to put meals together, aka a bunch of good for you things all together, like this shrimp salad that has a few thawed shrimp, avocado, corn, tomatoes, black beans and some crumbled tortilla chips. basic yet tasty! and they advocate smoothies with fresh fruit, protein powder, ice, milk...so basically what i am doing as well already. kinda fun. and it gives you ab workouts too which i am already mostly doing.

oh the other thing it said which was pretty interesting is that they have run various studies where they had test groups eat higher protein diets, same amount of fat and carbs just higher protein and those on higher protein diets ended up losing more weight than the other group AND they lost more of their weight faster from the abdominal area. since that is where i carry my bloating and weight for sure, i am really intrigued. so i'll keep up with this higher protein thing and see what happens. hehee.

hope everyone had a great day!!!

 

[Lorelei]

Morning all!

Forgot to mention yesterday as the rain stopped for 5 minutes, instead of taking the car and having to unlock the gate, manouver the car out of the yard etc which is a PITA, especially when I only wanted to post a letter, I decided to walk to the post box and back, which took 20 mins total at a brisk pace. Then I did half an hour on the treadmill later, but it was nice to take it outside for once.

 

[phoenixgirl]

DeeJay, congrats on the job change . . . sounds like a good decision!

Mara, I was thinking, the Ab diet, sounds silly, then you listed basically my whole approach to eating. So I guess I'm basically on the Ab diet already! I did lose abdominal fat first but I also put it on there last, so I was expecting that.


Well blah, I woke up 45 minutes ago totally awake. So I'm just going with it and hanging out online. It's not like I have to wake up tomorrow to do anything!

I did a new Firm video yesterday and it kicked my, well, upper body. It's called Upper Body Sculpt. I thought I was in good shape but I'm not used to 30 minutes of pumping the same muscles straight. Then I did the lower body and abs sections of Super Body Sculpt (I know, who names these things?), so all in all my workout was over an hour but I also had to warm up and cool down three times. I was afraid of skipping any of the stretching since the workout was tougher than usual.

DH and I had dinner out last night. We probably eat out too much, but I guess if we can afford it and don't get fat, what's the harm, right? The local online magazine has this great list of "cheap date nights" which are all weeknights of course, so we tried to go to this place that serves half off burgers and quiche Monday night. DH was really hungry and wanted to drive but it's 0.6 miles away so I objected. We got there at 6:45 and it was packed and a 40 minute wait. So we grumbled about how we don't even like it that much so why was it so popular? (It's one of those city restaurants that everyone from the suburbs frequents to the exclusion of other great restaurants).

So we walked a couple of blocks to a cute bar/restaurant that serves a shared salad, bowl of pasta, bottle of wine, and dessert for $35 on Mondays. It's really good. I let DH pick whatever he wanted so we got Caesar salad and linguine with meat sauce. Dessert is always bread pudding, and it's really good. Since we were sharing all the dishes it was easy for me to give myself a smallish portion and then not eat any more. Perhaps that's why I'm so hungry right now? I think I'm going to eat a granola bar . . .

With the wandering around between restaurants and a trip to the drycleaners I walked almost three miles yesterday in addition to my tough workout.

 

[NYCsparkle]

wow...its hard to keep up with all of these posts.......yay to everyones progress!
thanks for all of your well wishes on hubbys recovery.

amber your post hit me because i do the same thing. i sometimes compare myself to others and then feel blah about myself. i think the fact that you noticed a big change is great, because we usually don''t see it in ourselves. i was out in the hamptons w/friends last weekend and they were all commenting on how great i looked and i felt really good and confident in my bikini, especially since my abs have finally stopped hiding under the inner tube that used to be there---until SHE showed up, yanno the "perfect" body girl we wish we could have for a day. then i felt as if i were the size of jabba the hut. SHE came up to me and told me how wonderful i looked and that she couldn''t believe how toned and flat my stomach was and she said she was jealous

--i was like have YOU looked in a mirror. she said she has been working out so hard, but still feels her abs need work! the girl could model bathing suits for the love of christ! then i realized we all want what someone else has body part wise....suddenly the clouds lifted and jabba left and i realized girls will never be happy with themselves for one reason or another. and amber miss mara is looking fab these days, but i bet you are too. if you finally post your pics i''m sure some of us girls will feel as if we have to up our game to get your results

.

 

[Lorelei]

NYC, don't feel bad, I think we ALL have Jabba the Hut days - even skinny swimsuit modelly women as your experience showed! Having scoliosis, I always envy women with nice backs, which I will never ever have - but I try to make the best of things!

By the way Jabba is pants and misleading and I am glad you got him to push off!!

 

[KimberlyH]

One of the most difficult but important lessons I''ve learned about weight loss is that we cannot compare ourselves to others. It''s the same concept as those LIWs who are jealous when their friends get engaged, it''s senseless as we are all meant to be exactly the shape and person we are, but it''s hard to keep that in perspective sometimes. I weigh what I did in HS for the first time in 13 years, but I am by no means living in the same body. I have saggy arms and a tummy that makes me unhappy due to weight gain and then loss as well as having grown into my adult form. Does it suck sometimes? Absolutely, but I force myself not to be disappointed about those aspects of my figure that I don''t like because when I''m 60 I''ll be looking back and wishing I was 30. So, I''m working on finding parts of me that I like. Holy cow, have I mentioned my calves are looking amazing? I put on a pair of heels to go to a play last week and couldn''t believe the definition! So, what do all of you love about your bodies?

We have tickets to see Measure for Measure tonight, we''ll be going out to dinner beforehand...should be fun! I''m not sure if I''ll get in a workout this afternoon or not. It depends on what''s going on with school.

Have a great day all!

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 7/17/2007 9:41:24 AM
Author: KimberlyH
One of the most difficult but important lessons I''ve learned about weight loss is that we cannot compare ourselves to others. It''s the same concept as those LIWs who are jealous when their friends get engaged, it''s senseless as we are all meant to be exactly the shape and person we are, but it''s hard to keep that in perspective sometimes.

Wow, that is a great way to look at it!!! thanks Kimberly!

 

[phoenixgirl]

Amber, you''ve mentioned before that the BMI indicates you should weigh less to be in the "normal" range, but I think that sometimes it''s not accurate . . . could be bones, natural muscle mass, etc. I wouldn''t be too hung up on it. I''m of the opinion that you should eat right and work out and let your body figure out where it wants to be from there.

I know what you mean about seeing other pictures and thinking, gosh, she''s looking better than me. I posted some pictures of my foot in the Show Me the Ring folder, and I''ve always been annoyed that my fourth toe is a "curly toe" (congenital defect where the tendon is too tight so the toe couldn''t grow straight). I literally sit around wearing these hilarious toe stretchers from Japan because they feel good. Anyway, the point of my long toe ramble is that all these people complimented me on my cute feet in the thread and said they would never show pictures of their feet. I''ve always thought that being like, "Sorry my pedicure is growing out" or "Ignore my gross curly toe" just makes people notice things that most of them wouldn''t have, and the ones who do, well, it''s a foot for goodness'' sake. I took the fact that people were complimenting my OK but not foot model worthy feet as evidence that if you don''t say anything, most people will just notice the positives.

 

[Rod]

Date: 7/17/2007 9:41:24 AM
Author: KimberlyH
One of the most difficult but important lessons I've learned about weight loss is that we cannot compare ourselves to others. It's the same concept as those LIWs who are jealous when their friends get engaged, it's senseless as we are all meant to be exactly the shape and person we are, but it's hard to keep that in perspective sometimes. I weigh what I did in HS for the first time in 13 years, but I am by no means living in the same body. I have saggy arms and a tummy that makes me unhappy due to weight gain and then loss as well as having grown into my adult form. Does it suck sometimes? Absolutely, but I force myself not to be disappointed about those aspects of my figure that I don't like because when I'm 60 I'll be looking back and wishing I was 30. So, I'm working on finding parts of me that I like. Holy cow, have I mentioned my calves are looking amazing? I put on a pair of heels to go to a play last week and couldn't believe the definition! So, what do all of you love about your bodies?

We have tickets to see Measure for Measure tonight, we'll be going out to dinner beforehand...should be fun! I'm not sure if I'll get in a workout this afternoon or not. It depends on what's going on with school.

Have a great day all!

Kimberly, you're so right about not comparing ourselves to others, but that's so so difficult to do.

So what do I love about my body........Not Much....but I am beginning to be "IN LIKE" with certain aspects/parts of my body. For example, I always had really skinny legs (Charlie used to make fun of my Chicken legs

), so when you combine scrawny legs on an overweight body, it's not a great combination. Now, my legs are completely muscular and have great definition. I'm liking my shoulders these days and I'm definitely liking my chest more. I also feel much better about my arms, but they still have a long way to go before I might be feeling the Love!! LOL

Morning everyone. I got an email this morning that my prostate procedure will be covered by insurance, so now I can get this scheduled and over with. I've got a call into the doctor to see when, but the last time we looked, we were looking at the second week of August, which is just around the corner anyway. Just getting it on the calendar will be somewhat of a relief.

Have a great day everyone!!

 

[phoenixgirl]

Date: 7/17/2007 9:54:07 AM
Author: Rod


Morning everyone. I got an email this morning that my prostate procedure will be covered by insurance, so now I can get this scheduled and over with. I''ve got a call into the doctor to see when, but the last time we looked, we were looking at the second week of August, which is just around the corner anyway. Just getting it on the calendar will be somewhat of a relief.

Rod, I''m so glad the insurance was finally worked out! I''m so glad that that part of being in limbo is over and now you can get the procedure on the calendar. I''ll be thinking about you!

 

[KimberlyH]

Rod, Like is just one step away from love...you''ll get there! Hooray for the email!!

Skip, it''s hard to remember, but so true, that we are meant to be different, I''m not supposed to have the same body as you (although I wouldn''t mind if I did, you''ve got a great shape!).

 

[Lorelei]

Very wise words Kim!! Ok to be postive - So, what do all of you love about your bodies?

Lets see...I like that I have long slim legs, being short bodied normally gives this advantage ( silver lining!)

I like my bust, long neck, the curve of my hips, I also have dainty ankles and long arms.

Not bad for someone who used to have such a poor body image!

Great news on the insurance Rod.

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 7/17/2007 10:13:35 AM
Author: Lorelei
Very wise words Kim!! Ok to be postive - So, what do all of you love about your bodies?

Lets see...I like that I have long slim legs, being short bodied normally gives this advantage ( silver lining!)

I like my bust, long neck, the curve of my hips, I also have dainty ankles and long arms.

Not bad for someone who used to have such a poor body image!

Great news on the insurance Rod.

Good idea Lorelei!!!

I like that I look good in A line skirts. I like that I have strong legs. I like that I have a happy big smile; it is contagious.

Great news Rod

 

[jas]

Hmm. This is hitting on some tough areas for me. My mom was a model to earn money in college. She is stunning. STUNNING. Stop-traffic stunning. Perfect body. Perfect face. And brilliant, which is mercifully what she focuses on. Not that she doesn''t take pride in her appearance, but she prefers to be taken seriously, you know?

Not a week went by growing up that I didn''t hear how gorgeous my mom is. And it was a source of pride for me, for the most part, that my mom turned (and still turns) a lot of heads. Again, not something we focus on though. I don''t want to give the impression that we sit around at Thanksgiving and look at ourselves in the mirror.

However, although I am not hideous, I ain''t my mom. Which is fine. I''m not supposed to be my mom. But sometimes, on those really bad days, I am aware that people do not gasp at me the way they did/do my mom. I''m not jealous, it''s just...I don''t know...weird. About one day a month (usually a glorious PMS day) I am acutely aware of my "flaws." But I HATE getting my picture taken because I start to create a mental picture in my mind of what I look like, and then the camera tells a different story.

We just got the CD of pictures and our album back from our wedding photog, and I swear about 95% of them I look, well, goofy. And if not goofy, I notice that my hair looks not-quite-as-good as I remembered, or my makeup looks off or my arms look gigantic. I''m happy with 5% of the pictures, which is all we could stuff in the album anyway, so that works.

It''s not rational, and quite honestly, I worry more about developing my character than anything else, but a healthy body and mindset will help develop my character.

The irony is that as I have grown older, my mom has confided that (a) she always felt like the ugly duckling trying to get her father''s approval because her sister is more of a classic beauty and (b) she abused diet drugs for many many years.

Hey -- look over there -- green grass.

This is not a "please pity me" entry or a "hey, tell me I''m pretty" entry. We''ve all got demons, which is comforting and sad. I see some of your pictures and I''m like are you nuts? You are gorgeous!

So, what do I love? I''ve got a really small waist and a classic "hourglass" figure. My job is to let about 5 more pounds of sand out of it so I can live a healthier life.

Lots to think about today...interesting thread.

 

[Mara]

hehe such a good point kimberly about what do we love and PG i agree about not mentioning or ''leading'' with flaws, most of the time what people notice about you is stuff you never think about and USUALLY they are quietly envious OR like something you in fact don''t like. i always get so many compliments from PS''ers on my lovely hands and in person too...one of my friends from PS who lives locally and is a good friend in real life now told me recently ''oh i don''t have long slender fingers like yours, mine are stubs''. and i was honestly like are you KIDDING me? my hands are one of the things i really don''t like about myself as i have a wide hand base and sure the fingers are longish i guess but i have seen way better looking hands and fingers...and my skin can get really dry etc. so it just cracks me up when people on here and off here seem to just love my hands.

anyway...what do i love about my body. my legs for sure, i have always had thinner legs so i don''t have to do much to them to get them to look good. however i always had kind of sticky calves and lately all this hiking is making them more shapely and greg commented recently about how he thinks they look nicer. so that was good to hear!! i also like my long arms, monkey arms i call them but they are kind of unique and give me more of a willowy look than i think i''d otherwise have. however, not so fabulous when trying on cute smal jackets that fit everywhere but the arms. hehee. my feet aren''t so bad but not the most attractive though i have seen worse. i do like my ears as well, greg calls them elf ears, they are very small which is good for diamond earrings, i can spend less! hehee. and on and off i love my shoulders, sometimes i wish for small shoulders so i could be more petite looking but i think overall my shoulders balance me out and i have had other people who do have small shoulders tell me they envy my frame. so go figure.

on that note morning all!! i only have a few minutes before i have to go get ready...but hope everyone is doing well today. oh and yes amber, please post some pictures woman. this is a place for progress and results and you definitely have some we want to see.

breakfast was kashi go land TJ''s corn flakes mixed together for volume with strawberries and blueberries and regular ff milk for some added protein. coffee. i''m going to blend up a protein smoothie right now and take it to work with me, i got this new rubbermaid travel container that i hope will work for taking them to and from work kinda thing. it will either be a 10am snack or a 2pm snack, we''ll see. and i''m all loaded up with new SB bars, both in 140 and 210 cal ones, though the 210 cal ones are better bang for the buck with most protein.

pg...so funny about the whole abs diet being a sensible thing, that is totally what i thought as well. but it''s an interesting perspective on it, i''m still looking for some good recipes online as i am curious. i might try their egg sandwich thing one of these mornings for breakfast.

have a great morning all!!!

 

[royalasscherlover]

hmmm. interesting ruminations on body image. i too get down about it sometimes and compare myself to others, which i know is bad but so hard not to do! i remind myself that i wear a pretty small size (4), so i must not really be as big as i sometimes feel in the mirror. sunday, i wore a pair of shorts that i bought last summer and were snug, and they are now loose. our minds can play silly tricks on us sometimes, but it''s important to remember how far we''ve come!

i also have to thank you all for pushing me to workout last night - i was sitting on the sofa reading, and i really didn''t want to get up and go bike. but then i thought, well, i really, really don''t want to have to go back to the WWT and report that i didn''t bike even though i said i would! i told myself i just had to do 20 minutes, and then i could stop if i was really hating it, but i manged to do the full 45 minutes without a problem.

today for breakfast i had fage with fresh raspberries, and lunch will be a black bean burger on a WW english muffin with about a tablespoon of guacamole. dinner will probably be morningstar fake buffalo wings and broccoli slaw, with some fresh fruit and slow churned mint chocolate chip for dessert. i am also planning to go to the gym after work to ellipticize.

have a good one!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Well the evil scale took back 3 of the 4 pounds it gave me yesterday morning so I'm back at only 1 pound off my low. (Whew--I was horrified there for a little while!)

Last night I had an moment of abject panic!!! I stopped in my office to drop off a contract and my mailbox was GONE. I was like, WTF?!? It turns out they were in the process of redoing the labels since we have so many new agents that needed to be added and stopped in mid-stream, but I just stood there in front of the mailboxs having a bit of a meltdown. (Thank god no one else was in the office at midnight--and what other crazy agent but ME would be, LOL?!) I sent my managing broker an e-mail and was like TODAY I quite my stable well paying executive job and you take away my frickin' mailbox? TODAY?! She responded that she loves getting e-mails from me becuase I'm so funny. Ha ha. Career meltdown. Ha ha. (That's either my problem or my saving grace--eveyone always thinks I'm kidding... ) Let's just say as of 8:00 this morning I have my mailbox back!

Al, your dinner sounds MARVELOUS! I don't exactly know what a Maine Blueberry Martini is but I'd like one (or THREE) please!

Jas, TOO FUNNY about the cupcake, especially the part about *not* putting it back!

Skippy, good for you on getting the OK for PT, and here's my knee PT story. A couple of years ago we moved to an area of the city where I started to walk to work. I was about a mile in each direction and after a year or so it was incredibly painful to go up stairs, and going down stairs was literally excruiciating (sp?). I finally went to "The Knee Doctor" here in Chicago. He spent about 1/10 of a second looking at one X-ray, and without even touching me asked when I wanted to schedule the surgery. I was like -- WOAH! -- and asked about PT as an option first. He LITERALLY rolled his eyes at me and said, sure, give it a try. Well, I went to the physical therapist and within 5 minutes she figured out that my problem was not my knee all all; my arch had fallen and it was pulling everything else out of alignment. I got a pair of orthodics and within (I'm not kidding) a week I was as good as new. PT in my mind is magic!!! You'll be honkey dorey so fast you won't even know what hit you!

Kimberly, I'm going to have to think about that "what do you like about your body" question and get back to you, LOL. I do have good skin--does that count?

AmberGretchen, LOL, not many of us are skinny minny's like Mara (

) but progress is progress! If you do decide to share the pics with us we would love to see them.

Rod, why not try the real estate business? If you ever find yourself looking at other options you should definitely check it out. I bet you'd be GREAT at it!

Monnie, when I was little (like 12-13) my mom and step-dad sponsored a sprint car racer on the east coast. We would travel all over (in our motor home no less!) to watch the car go 'round and 'round and 'round... It was exciting in the beginning but after a while I started to take a book with me to the races. Man did my mom get mad--but hey, how interested an you expect a 13 year old city girl to be in something like that long term?!

Marcy, I am always so impressed by your posts! BTW, forgive me if I missed this in the beginning, but did you ever tell us what your motivation was to start losing weight? Was it an "ah ha!" moment or some other thing?

Shortblond, I have also gone to work out just so I don't have to report on the WWT that I didn't do it! Amazing what a little guilt (even if it is on-line) will do!

Sevenwires, sushi... mmmm... Not so sure about the fish liver thing though, LOL.

Mara, I got one of my girlfriends at the office (who is always trying to drop 10 lbs... ) to consider substituting "better" ingredients in certain things. The latest is that she's using fage in lieu of sour cream for dips (she entertains a lot) and really likes it. I keep thinking about that when I read about your fage and I forgot to tell you that you're helping my co-worker too!

Lorelei, good for you for walking to the post! I am making more of an effort to do things that burn cals even a little bit at a time, like walking more places (at least that was the case before my surgery and it's going to be the case again real soon!).

PG, I like the idea of sharing a meal with your DH. Too bad my own HH always picks such weird things (like at this French place we go to he always gets the *sausage plate* -- ???) or I would try it with him becuase we never finish our meals.

NYC, I am trying to learn the same thing about not comparing myself to others. It's hard, but I think I'm making progress...

 

[AmberGretchen]

nyc, Kim, Rod, Mara, Lorelei, PG - you guys make such good points about this stuff. Reading your responses totally made me feel better. Like Kim and the rest of you said, I''m really trying to focus on looking at where I am right now in relation to ME, not to someone else. I did realize that I''m only about 15 lbs heavier than I was the day I started high school, and I think at least 5 lbs of that is in my chest, which has...umm...grown quite a bit since then (like 3 cup sizes, but band size is the same)

I think you all have finally given me the courage to take the plunge and post these pictures, because I honestly am happier with how I look in them than I am with how I look in any of my previous pictures over the last couple of years. The first one, below, was taken on our honeymoon in London, and its my heaviest weight - this was really a huge motivator for change for me...

 

[AmberGretchen]

And here is one from our recent trip to Northern California Wine Country, 40 lbs lighter (at least) than the previous one and with much lower bodyfat...

 

[AmberGretchen]

Another one from the same wine country trip.

 

[AmberGretchen]

And the last one, that got cut off on the bottom for some reason - I swear my legs aren't really that short!!

Like I said, I'm definitely not skinny, but at least now I can look at these pictures of myself, and in my less judgmental moments I don't see a "fat person."

 

[Dee*Jay]

AG you look GREAT! What a wonderful difference--you should be so proud of yourself!