Posts by desert_rose

Original Post by merylwhite1:

I have recently been diagnosed with ADD (I'm 22) and am taking Ritalin for it, which has totally transformed my life - I can concentrate, think straight, focus on one thing, no more mind running crazy on me. Although I wasn't diagnosed as a child my diagnosis was like a lightbulb going on. Like, AHA! My weird habits and behaviour suddenly made a whole lot more sense.

I had a FREAKY experience with Ritalin, I felt like I was dying when I took it...it's like the whole world pulled a fat cord off my brain and everything went too quiet...then my pulse started racing...spooky...I asked my mom to watch me as I was falling asleep incase I ended up dead, imagine a grown woman having her mom waiting on her till she falls asleep lmao...honestly, spooky....I'm talking to my pscyh and might try Concerta or Adderall instead. I tried doing it the drug-free way, I swear, but I'm 24 and I just can't afford to mess up my life anymore just because this brain won't calm down. I do take alot of coffee, 3 cups a day, it used to work good and I feel more alert after having a cup of coffee before my lectures, for eg. Sadly it doesn't really work anymore. I just hope I won't have to stay on meds forever, I hate the thought of that as I've always been anti-drug taking for it like sarah_b.

btw merylwhite1, checked your profile and saw that you're in malaysia, who's the psychiatrist who prescribed you the ritalin? I'm in kl btw that's why I'm asking :p

dimishushi,

my scale's an Omron, and it's the only one I have so I can't really comment on other scales...it has a hand held thingy and you can measure your body fat% on it too, they also give you your BMR and BMI which is pretty cool...I'm loving my scale, I've had it for over 2 yrs now. It's pretty accurate and I get the same reading for my body fat when I use the gym's BIA scale.

I'm alot like Jpoage's hubby in that I make lists for everything too, and I keep a whole stack of notebooks and calenders...obsessed with having calenders taped up everywhere to remind me of important deadlines. I space out ALOT, as a kid teachers have always called me lazy and daydreamy eventhough I had a high IQ for my age. Some not so very nice people have called me weird to my face quite a few times in my life, so I've managed to stay away from building close friendships. I have a mad ass mind and sometimes I love it, though I'm hating the symptoms of not being able to control this beautiful, crazy-busy mind. I'm also extremely messy, I am obsessed with being organized although I'm a FAR CRY from it. My room and bag pack look like a tornado's  hit it, and I've changed majors at Uni atleast 5 times (which is why, I, at 24 am still studying) because I was so fascinated with so many things, but at the same time I get bored too easily. I've misplaced and lost various objects (3 handphones!) so far, so I tend not to take too cash with me when I go out. I haven't learnt how to drive, simply because my dad fears me losing focus on the road, then things could get really dangerous. I fear for my future alot, like I'll never be able to settle down or something. I can't say I hate having a 'busy' mind, because I love it, I 'hyper-focused' when I was writing my novel, and managed to finish over half of it in less than 48 hours...that's a whole lot of writing, I barely ate, slept and didn't even shower during that duration of time. Don't ask me where the dang book is now, after finishing half of it I just lost interest somehow. Then there's the thing with music, I can't listen to the same song for over a minute, and movies are great when it's a movie which has concepts I'm particularly interested in...otherwise I don't really do movies. And that's how the dice rolls for me. I need to get it under control. It's nice to know that I'm not the only one.

I'd say I've developed quite a talent in hiding my ADD from the public eye, I've turned 'pretending to listen' to an art...I've become so damn good at it that people can't even tell that I'm not paying attention to half of what they say. My reading is so much better than my listening though...it's almost like there are huge cottonballs stuffed between my ears and my brain, and my brain wants to stand on its own or leave my body because it's too full and heavy and busy to cooperate with the rest of me.

Welcome miso_soup...argh I was on anti-depressants 3 years ago, I wasn't taking it to treat depression, but my psych presibed it to me to treat my ADD (how weird is that??)...I noticed a slight weight gain after that too. btw..girl, get a scale, or atleast a tape measure...you have to be able to measure your progress :p

You seem to be doing great and your exercise program looks good, I agree with adding more weights sessions, 2 days is a week is the general minimum so far, and HIIT sounds great.

Which reminds me, last night I started my first HIIT session ever. I went out and brisk-walked/jogged then ran like the frickin wind, then brisk walked/jog, etc, for 10 mins...my lungs felt like they were going to burst and I was breathing hard and heavy, my mom thought I was having a heart attack..lol...But this morning I weighed myself and I'm at 128.5 pounds!!! I've been stuck at 130-132 for weeks now!! This is exciting!!

hey sabbott516...are you on any kind of medication? I've been trying to manage it myself but I just can't seem to pull it together as well as I thought I would...lately I've been thinking of getting myself on concerta...I was put on Ritalin some time back but had awful side effects with it....

I don't know if this is possible either...it hasn't happened to me...but I did manage to lose fat while maintaining all my muscle mass, so I know that keeping muscle is possible if you only have a few pounds of fat to lose (say 5 to 10 pounds), but I don't know if you can gain muscle while losing fat, theoretically it's impossible since when on a weight loss program you're on a calorie deficit, and you need to be eating on a surplus to gain muscle...but I've heard that it has happened with some people (probably beginners or genetic freaks or ppl on steroids).

What you can do is lose the fat first while maintaining your muscle, then start building muscle and eating at surplus after that. Continue lifting weights on both programs (fat loss and muscle building).

Gothic_beauty, maybe you're feeling overweight because of your body fat %? Have you ever had it checked? I know that there are girls at already low weights, BMIs of 19 to 21 but with high body fat for their weight, hence they often complain about being 'fat' or 'flabby' even with their small frames...a fit and healthy body fat percent for a woman is around 20%-24%...anything over 32% is considered 'obese' or overfat...if you feel like you're, for eg., skinny fat at BMI's of 19-21, lifting weights can help tighten things up and give you a sleeker silhouette even though your weight stays the same or increases a little.

However, if you're already at a good BF% and at a good weight, then it most definately is all in your head :p Can't blame you though, we all strive for perfection...just do it the right way, and not by restricting calories :)

I think I wear size 8 pants, size 6 dress (US size), so L for the bottom, and M for the top...I'm 130lbs 5'5

Hey bairn, congrats! lol...it's not silly and I know what it feels like hehe....my measurements are crazy...I measure differently at different times of the day, I think it has to do with water retention...currently I'm 35.5-26.5-37.5...sometimes I find my hips get down to 37, sometimes my waist gets up to 27...it's frustrating.

Tips...well, I'm living off supposedly 'healthy cereal', dried fruits, skimmed milk and tuna since I hate to cook, but I know I have to if I'm going to eat clean...I'm cooking me atleast 10oz of nice lean chicken breast tonight, then I'm storing it in the fridge...it should last about 3-4 days, you just pop it in the microwave to eat it, can't beat that for simplicity. As for veges, I just steam them, or stir fry when I'm in the mood. Tofu is a convenient food too, it doesn't really need to be cooked, you just pop it in the microwave, or stir fry with a little soy sauce and some veges.

Take more veges if you're constipated, faeces actually weigh quite alot, so don't be suprised if you end up 2 pounds lighter once all the poo has left your system...a mild herbal laxative tea, should fix your constipation if you haven't gone to the bathroom in quite awhile...you don't really need to stay away from meat, just continue eating prunes (I've been told to take a few prunes with a warm glass of h20 before bedtime when I was constipated) and eat those veges...and drink loads of water ofcourse :p

jocalo, I've been slipping a little too, I haven't exercised in 4 days now though I have been managing my calories...I'm hitting the gym today though, I was hoping to exercise 5-6 times a week...ergh...don't worry about eating maintenance calories for a couple days it could even help you bust through your plateau...I'm kinda scared of losing focus too...I'm on a one week break from uni, and laziness is seeming to settle in :( I'm taking care of that today, time to pump some iron and get moving.

Welcome nire00 and lemoneko007!!

nire00, my aim was also 21% body fat...I'm at 28% now...I'm thinking of getting to 23% and see how I like it...I don't want to lose my boobs too much :( and even at 28% BF they're already starting to look 'deflated' ergh.

lemoneko007...we have exactly the same stats! I'm having trouble with my food intake too, mainly because I get lazy to cook....I need to start cooking stuff in advance...like chicken breast fillets for eg....otherwise I end up reaching for canned alternatives, and too much canned food (esp on a daily basis) has made me break out.

Anyways I'm off now, good luck everyone!

Original Post by dolphinclick:

This actually scares the crap out of me.  I'm 32 and I have another 32 pounds to lose (I'm down 8), and I'm not infrequently mistaken for a teenager.  I have a fairly round face, and so far I'm happy with the weight I've lost in my face.  The double chin is nearly gone.  But I have this fear that once all the extra fat is gone from my face, I'll start to look my age, and will therefore never look like I'm in my twenties.  Aside from a brief period when I was 17-18 after being ill, I have never been at a healthy weight, and I sometimes wonder if the reason I look so much younger than I am is because of the fat in my face.  It's not enough of a reason to stop losing weight, but it's depressing to think about.  Guess I'll just have to cross my fingers.

 lol...I know what you mean...I look more my age (twenties) when I start losing weight, but when I'm a little heavier I get asked which high school I go to, and I enjoy getting suprised looks when I tell them I'm 24...I'll miss that alot. Don't worry about about your face! I'm sure you'll look just fine :) if you're really worried about looking too different on your face, then stay in the mid-higher range of your healthy BMI.

Original Post by feedmeair:

hey im 5ft 6". i platued at 130 and it took ages to drop from 131 to 130.
then i eventually got it to 126, then down to 124. but now its back up to 126. itsa getting REAAAAAALLY hard to get it down and keep it down, its like my body dont want me to :@

Hey feedmeair...start a good weight lifting if you're not already on it, that'll help raise your metabolism so you can maintain your weight more easily, and eat balanced and clean, no starving, otherwise you'll just gain fat and lose muscle, and all hell breaks loose from there on, I've been through it :(...what did you do to be able to get down to 124? I'd love to get there in the next couple of months...I'm currently fluctuating between 131 and 130, it's really frustrating...I can't wait to bust through this stupid plateau.

Meh...I think it's more likely that we attract and get attracted to people who look like us, rather than people who look like our parents, my brother's skinny and he mostly goes for delicate looking skinny girls (mom's curvy), though he wouldn't mind curvier girls as long as their hot...lol...btw, I knew a guy once who was so freakishly similar to me, people would mistake us for siblings because we had similar eyes, face structure, hair...he didn't have boobs and he was taller and skinner, but he did have a nice goatee...we even share the same birthday date (though he was a couple years older)!!! we also had the same interests (and I have some weird ass interests let me tell you), same tastes in music, movies and even food, and yeah we both love to write songs and draw silly caricatures of random people...it was creepy!! freaking creepy, eventhough I'd be lying if I said I didn't find him attractive. Funny thing is, we were so much alike that it just ended up too weird and we just remained friends...I mean, what if he turns out to be my long lost brother or something...haha.

Original Post by blondiecath:

When my mum started losing weight she said she didn't want to lose too much for that precise reason. And I absolutely agree with her. Once you hit a certain age your face needs a bit of plumpness to remain looking youthful. And you can't have it all (even Madonna looks awful without all the help, like a piece of grizzle!).

And remember, guys won't be looking at your hips or slight muffin top when they first speak to you, they'll be looking at your face, and I know they'd rather tolerate a gorgeous bird on their arm with a little more curvature than an old, scrawny hag!

That's true...although I do see it on young women in their twenties too, my sister and mom are like that, they have delicate, oval faces and actually look beautiful when they're heavier, and their faces start too look skinny when they lose weight...I don't get gaunt though I have enough fat on my face to last me awhile lol....I prefer my face fuller for some reason...when I lose weight, my cheekbones and jawline take on a sharper, more angular look, it's supposed to be a stronger, more sophisticated kind of look I suppose...but then people start comparing me to sandra bullock (I do think she's gorgeous though)...and that's when I'd really start missing my chubby cheeks, they've sorta been a trademark of mine....hehe....

Original Post by gi-jane:

Original Post by gothic_beauty:

gi-jane: What if a person was willing to sacrifice calories to maintain a lower weight? Is it really so unhealthy?

 Yes.... it is.  Because the effort to be an artificially low weight involves chronic malnutrition which has medical implications.  This article about actress Britt Ekland is a case in point... http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/5004992.stm   her willingness to 'sacrifice a few calories' to keep a low weight left her with a diagnosis of osteoporosis (a condition that usually affects old ladies) at 53.  

 I checked out the link...wow...aside from eating too little calories, definately never cut out dairy products like the woman did when she was younger, atleast she could have taken calcium supplements or something...I can imagine vegans are more prone to osteoporosis than ovo-lacto vegetarians or us regular omnivores. I don't think I can live without milk, I drink 3 glasses a day (low fat ofcourse :p)...some ppl tell me milk isn't good because of...I don't exactly remember what it was...oh well whatever it is...I love my milk.

Original Post by blondiecath:

Original Post by desert_rose:

The guys I've been attracted to could pass off as my brothers

 Actually I was just saying to my friend yesterday there was some theory that quite a few women were attracted to partners who had similar facial structures and features (applies to me). Also, this could be related to the fact that subconsciously some women find men who mildly resemble their father aesthetically pleasing (sounds very weird and a little gross to hear but if you look closely you might find that has happened!)

Yep! I've read that somewhere too...I don't look like my dad though and he's more on the short side...but he does have the most amazing bassy voice (had his own band back in his hey days), probably the reason why I go for guys with masculine voices...I mean, a guy could look like Brad Pitt for all I care, but if he speaks in a high pitched or wimpy tone of voice, that's a serious turn off for me, on the other hand, a guy could be fat or skinny or average looking, but if he's got a good deep voice on him and says the right stuff, I'd find him pretty sexy.

I think we girls associate our dads (or any dominant male figure that's been present in our childhood) with masculinity, it's somewhere in our subconcious mind that 'this is how a man is supposed to look/sound/act like' before we even had a clue as to what sexuality or attraction is.