Posts by jhayann1

I personally, don't care what the scale says as much as what the tape measure does.  If I've lost inches that I can squeeze into a size 6, even though my weight hasn't changed, and I have added an inch or two on the boobs --- you won't see me complaining! LOL

This is why, each time I weigh in, I grabt eh tape measure & write those down as well.  Then I can compare it from my previous measurements/weight and see that even when I'm not losing pounds, I'm at least losing inches.  It explains why I swear my pants feel bigger even though my scale says I haven't lost weight! :-)

I have suggested this to CC, of them allowing us to enter our measurements on the site too -- the way we enter activities, food, and weight into our logs.  That way, we get an overall, well-rounded view of how we're truly doing.  I suggested this back in Aug 2007 and I haven't heard since.  If you like this idea, why not contact them and tell them you are piggybacking on jhayann1's idea & agree?  Maybe if we spam them enough, it'll happen. LOL

I'm from Asia - born and raised until I joined the US military when I was 17... after I had taken a year of college and decided I didn't know what I really wanted to study.

I was 97lbs most of my life.  My parents were slender too - mom was full blooded Asian, dad was American.  Most of my relatives are thin to average.  Although over there, average to us here was fat to them.  My sis gained a lot of weight when she was around 10yrs old and everyone couldn't figure out why because thinness was genetically bred in the family tree.  I think she was depressed, and the comments people made about her weight didn't help. 

Now, it took me 31 yrs and 2 pregnancies to no longer be bony.  And whenever I send pics home, I get comments about my weight, or how chubby I am, or I get asked, "Wow, why are you so fat??" Ouch!  It's annoying but then, they were all raised to think that way years before their great grandparents were born, so it's not like I can change their way of thinking overnight.

My response is usually something like, "Well, because unlike most women in Asia -- my husband takes care of me and the family.  He cooks for me at times, and when I was pregnant, I didn't have to lift a finger!  He helps with laundry, child rearing, and some housekeeping.  And he takes me out to dinner so I can get out of the kitchen and relax.  Tell me, when was the last time your hubby did laundry or cooked for the family - even though he was tired from putting in a day's work??"

This usually shuts them up because it's true.  I'm no one's Geisha; I'm a free woman who speaks her mind and my husband loves me for it.  They are very traditional where I'm from.  It wasn't until recent years that women were allowed/able to work full time like the guys did, and help him support the family.  But then again, the guys still don't do much of the child-rearing; the gals' had that to look forward to after work... As well as the laundry, cleaning house, cooking meals, and caring for other relatives who happen to live with them -- like in laws or grandparents.

I'm 149lbs right now and I don't see myself as huge the way they make it sound.  Of course, when you've been 97lbs most of your life -- it's hard to accept anything heavier at first, but I've learned to love what I've got.  After all, I was bony back then.  Now, I've got shape -- boobs, a butt, etc.  My hubby loves it too. LOL.

I don't know about naval ship food, but for us landlubbers who had to eat MREs in the middle of nowhere, those puppies contained about 2000 calories per meal! But then, it was necessary because of all the physical activity. I never ate more than 2 of them a day because I didn't have time to be hungry, and I really wasnt that hungry anyway.

Chow hall food's healthy for the most part, but very high in calories.  As for you navy folks, it's not like you can just leave the ship and take a hike or anything so...

dragondancer - LOL!  Throw the damn scale out the freakin' window!  I think that alone burns 150 calories...  Cursing at it is another 50 calories per curse word...

But yeah, the scale can affect your mood...  But if you measure yourself and find you've shrunk in that respect, that should be a positive thing!  Muscle is leaner than fat, so losing inches is a better sign in my opinion than losing pounds.  After all, if you can comfortably squeeze into a size 6, would you care if you weighed quite a bit?

I was 98lbs most of my life, and even after having my 1st kid, I didn't weigh more than 110lbs and wore x-small to small, sizes varying from 4-6... Most of my friends were bigger than me (not necessarily taller), but it didn't bother me. I think that sometimes though, they felt intimidated because I got attention a lot, mostly unwanted attention from jackasses who loved having me smack their stupid come-ons in their face. Whenever my friends made self-insulting comments (i.e., called themselves fat or other negative stuff), I'd always tell them that in the end, it doesn't matter. One day, it could be that they'll be thin and I won't. Or that they'll be rich and I'll be skinny - but because I'm broke and on drugs or something. But the point is that life is in part, what you make of it. The other part is what you allow others to make of it.

I turned 30 AND had my 2nd child... I was 156lbs at that point and wore size 12-14. I'm now down to 151lbs and wearing sizes 8-10, mostly 10s though. Most of my friends are either my size or bigger, so I guess that hasn't really changed. But I still believe what I said: "life is in part, what you make of it. The other part is what you allow others to make of it."

I am happy with my looks for the most part, and although I'm now 151lbs and wearing size 8 to 10, it doesn't bother me. I'll still wear a swimsuit and go to the beach. I still go on water rides with the kids. I can still skateboard and do what I did when I was in my teens... My weight hasn't slowed me down a bit. My kids don't think I'm big - they think I'm "cool" because I can do things they do, I know the tv shows/episodes they watch, I know their music, and I basically can keep up with them. My hubby says I am sexy... I KNOW I am! :-) I know how to get him going, I know how to tease and turn him on... my weight never played a part in that. :-)

It's all about attitude, how you carry yourself.   Surround yourself with positive people; it's contagious and they will have you looking at yourself in a positive way. 

Of course, you can look pretty but then be so annoying, where sure - you may get guys, but nothing more than a 1-night stand because they can't stand being around you when you talk or do anything else.  Or you can be big and love yourself for who you are, and attract people with what you say, how you act, how you handle life. If someone makes comments about your weight, I'm sure you can snap back with a comment about them. Don't be nice. Be blunt! I am. I don't tolerate people talking smack to me or my friends; whether I'm 98lbs or 151lbs. People usually talk smack when you have made them think about their insecurities or shortcomings. Use it against them!

I love it when people talk smack; it gives me reason to get in their face. Most people don't dare to though because they're afraid of what I'll expose about them. But some people are nicer than me and aren't as quick to respond to smack talkers, and that happens too. In that case, you can just freak them out by staring at them and smiling, as if you know something about them that they don't. Hell, just fake-whispering to friends if you're not alone usually makes them self-conscious and they'll leave you alone while they look themselves over to make sure nothing's wrong. LOL. Most of that crap is a mind-game.

Negative people feel like shit and like dragging others down... Those same people are usually wondering why the hell are you having fun and put out an aura of being successful or happy, when they, the prettier/skinnier/richer/whatever person, don't feel like they're on top of the world.  The think to themselves, "Why should you have all the fun?"and try to piss in your Cheerios to ruin your day.

Test this theory out. Go to a gas station, be fun, be happy. Giggle, laugh, look approachable, etc.  I bet someone will try to rain on your parade. Now go to a different gas station and be grumpy, be sad, be aloof and insecure, and see if you get as much negative attention as you did earlier when you were being positive.

People can't hurt you unless you allow them to. Don't let them get to you; you know you're better than them already because of the way they are acting and how you are handling it. You've already proven you're better than them. :-) Piss them off some more by not letting them get to you. :-)

And remember, image and appearance are 2 different things: appearance is what you physically look like. Image is what you portray - like confidence, intelligence, sexiness, etc.

The total estimate on the burn meter is what CC figures you burn from being alive (breathing, heart beat, blinking, etc.) and what you put in your profile -- if you are sedentary, light, active, etc., if you live in a warmer region (FL) or cooler one (PA).  This is what CC estimates you should burn for the day.

The burn meter (big number) shows you how much you've actually burned for the day.  This basically includes what you burn just by being alive (heartbeat, etc) PLUS any activities you've entered on your log - working out, etc.

If you'll notice throughout the day, the burn meter adds up as the day goes on.  In the AM, it's not as much as in the PM, even if you don't enter any activities for the day.  Basically, it's the "actual" meter, not an estimate. 

Also, if you'll notice with both the food and burn meter... they're 2 shades of color each, and they've got a dotted white line near the top.  Think of it as a glass.  As the meter gets full, it gets filled in a darker shade of blue or green.  It's considered full once it reaches the dotted line.  And yes, you can definitely pass the freakin' line like I have. LOL. 

So if you don't understand the meters, you can at least figure it out by comparing them to an empty glass that's slowly filling up, right?  Hope this helps!

As often as I feel like it; sometimes I'll go a whole month, other times I'll measure weekly.

Like this week, I had measured myself because I was frustrated that I gained a pound overall in the last week. But according to my measurements, I've lost an inch everywhere else, which was VERY comforting to know... :-)

Stupid scale...

Anyways, as my hubby has said, your weight can go up from gaining muscle, not necessarily from overeating... So I don't rely on the scale entirely or I'd lose my sanity. I use both and try to do so weekly. That way, I can see the difference in either pounds or inches, or both. :-)

Personally, I just bookmarked the link to add food to the log so that I can get to it quick, before I forget what I ate! Here it is:

http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/account/flog .php?nav=addmanual&process=submit

I pretty much enter the nutrition label info... I've had a few items that didn't have a label on it; you can usually go to their website and get the nutrition facts/label online as well. 

I think I may have found the answer to this...  I was uploading some photos here and noticed that there was a link on the upload page that said, "Settings".  Curious, I clicked on it - and realized that I could create groups and give them different access/security levels.  The default group is "friends", but I guess they can only see journal and forum posts, as well as pics you upload.

Once I created a different group, I was able to move some people from the friends list to my new group.  I was then able to go back to my photos and make some viewable only to this group, while the rest was viewable to my standard friends group.

I'm just waiting to hear from someone now who's on this group I made, and see if they can view my logs and stuff and verify that what I did worked.

I don't know how else to get to those settings other than going to the upload photo page... but at least, it's a start in the right direction!

Hope this helps! 

vklamorick - I tried what you mentioned, but my searches always come up empty. Even when I search for my own email address, it says "no users found". I'm RIGHT HERE!! How can I not be found?!? And if I can't be found, how the heck can I find anyone else??? LOL

I wouldn't mind not finding all this extra weight... Now that's something that I'd like to have "not be found". ;-)

coach_k - I thought the same thing! They should change it from "see more members" to "search for members" or "find friends" or something...

I just ended up making a post in The Lounge forum entitled "Scooby Doo, er, uh, Megan, where are you?" LOL. Then my friend can access my profile from there and add me to her friends list, and then I'll be able to do the same. Of course, I had to email her at first so she'd know where to look and what the posted subject was. :-)

LOL! You go girls! Those are definitely new ones to add to the list...

I too, would like to NOT die of a heart attack... from being overweight or from overdoing the attempts at losing the weight. :-) 

Ah, who am I kidding?  I'm a lazy-ass.  Should we add that one to the category?  Nah, I guess it's not really that motivating, is it?  ;-) 

Actually, the amount of reps isn't as important as the effort you're doing. If you can do 20 reps fast, it's way too easy and you're not getting much of a workout from it. So more resistance/weight and less reps is better than less resistance/less weight and more reps.

You should lift weights that are heavy enough so you can't hold a conversation, but not so heavy that you're panting like crazy breaking your back!

For me, I went out and bought the interchangeable dumbells... you know, so you can buy different weights for it. The stick itself is usually 2lbs alone. Start with something small, like a total of 10-12 lbs and see if you can do 10 reps of arm curls without breaking a sweat. If it was too easy, add to the weight. If you couldn't finish, use lighter weights. And if you felt like quitting because it was hard and ended up finishing anyway, then you've got the right amount of weights on it. :-)

The above should be your middle-ground or standard weights. You should also get some that are about 2-3 lbs lighter, and then 2-3 lbs heavier. The lighter ones can be used while you're walking, jumping jacks, and other fast-paced or aerobic/cardio stuff. The heavier ones can be used with exercises that require minimal arm movements and when you've gotten used to your standard weights. For instance, you can hold it during leg lunges. You can also lay on your tummy, hold a weight between your feet/shoes, and lift your legs up from the knees at no more than 90 degrees, then back down without resting it on the floor, until you've done at least 10 reps.

As far as what you eat, the minimum amount of calories to safely cut down to is 1200, no less! You shouldn't have to consume more than what you're doing now, but once you get a routine going, you may have to consume more calories.  Remember too that by then, you'll have some muscle -- and muscle burns calories more efficiently. You don't want your body to not have energy or to burn the muscle you've worked hard at creating.

Plus, if you eat several small meals throughout the day, your body won't hoard the fat and think you're starving. It'll burn your food/fat/calories better. You shouldn't go less than 4 hours without eating, and believe me -- that's really hard to do, especially if you've got a hectic schedule. :-)

Good luck!

Hmmm...

Well technically, I've sort of found my twin in real life... except there's about a 9yr difference in age (I'm older) and trying to keep up with her will eventually give me a stroke! :-)

I could use twins, triplets, etc. as long as I don't have to try and birth them! LOL. Anyways, here it goes!

• Age: 31 (will be 32yrs old in 3mos)
• Weight: 152 lbs (154-155 lbs after pigging out on dinner)
• Height: 5ft 3in (or 63 inches tall)
• Gender: F
• Main problem areas: waist (abdomen), thighs. My butt's a bit big but I can live with "junk in the trunk", as long as my waist doesn't measure the same as my butt/hips, and my boobs don't shrink! LOL.

** Above stats accurate as of 8/31/2007

Right now, my short-term goal is to NOT be "slightly overweight" by BMI standards, which equates to a weight of around 141 lbs. The generic ideal weight for my age/weight/height/gender is around 127 lbs, which I hope to reach six months later.