Posts by brtaylor

I have a 4 year old Ragdoll named Harley (my avatar).  I've had her for almost a year- a friend from work gave her to me after she got two additional pets.  She's the boss of the entire household and has my husband and I completely under her thumb.  She's very sweet and always has to be around one of us, usually me.   

Congrats!  That is such a healthy and fun way to measure your progress.  What a great accomplishment!

I'm a size 14 and have been almost hovering around a 12 for weeks now (12 is still a bit too tight).  Thanks for posting this, because it's going to help keep me motivated!

I also have noticed that most people's perception of "normal" weight-wise is actually a little chubby or slightly overweight.  That makes it rather annoying to try to get to a true healthy weight, because people think you are then "skinny."

In all honesty, I am very sensitive to people's comments about my weight, so I understand the OP's frustration.  I fail to see how my body is anyone's business but my own, so I tend to resent people thinking they have the right to just make comments to me about it.

Example- one of my coworkers stopped by my desk recently and said (in this frantic tone of voice), "Bri, what kind of diet are you on???"  I told her I'm not on a diet (again, because it's none of her business, and technically I don't consider calorie counting a "diet" per se), and she replied, "Oh, it's just you're losing weight way too fast and I was wondering what kind of crazy diet you were on."  WTF? 

Hmmm... if it were me, I wouldn't necessarily have a problem with my guy having lunch with an ex, as long as I were invited to go too.  Now, would I go?  Probably not.  But it's the principle- if he's with me now, then he shouldn't have a problem with me hanging out with anyone in his life.

However, the fact that he thinks it would be too hard to hang out with both her and her boyfriend is a major red flag.  If he has moved on and genuinely wants JUST a friendship with her, then he should be happy that she's found someone, not jealous.  So while I do think that exes can become friends after breaking up, I would definitely be wary of this situation- because it sounds like he's not at that point yet.

Just my $0.02.

I have learned some good things from HG, such as butternut squash fries, and that egg in a mug thing (honestly, I never would have thought to make scrambled eggs in a mug in the microwave, but it's kinda cool), but I don't even want to try most of those recipes.  I don't think some of them could even be considered food...

Your best bet is to stick with the basic recipes, as you mentioned in your OP.  Those aren't too bad.  The more complex recipes are wonderful proof that a little bit of the real thing is much more satisfying than a huge quantity of a low-cal version.

Original Post by ccassidy81:

I think it's extremely encouraging. I mean how else are we going to know that what we are doing will actually produce results? It's refreshing to read posts from the successful losers out there who have reached their goals by doing the right thing instead of struggling with pills or some crazy fad diet. It makes it seem all the more attainable.

^This!  I can think of no one better to listen to and take advice from than someone who has done exactly what I am trying to do!  The community on this website is phenomenal. 

I always feel my hottest when I leave the salon after a trim.  I don't do much in the way of coloring or styling my hair, but I always have the stylist do a blow-out, and it always looks awesome.

Aside from that, and the occasional girly day, I don't really do much with myself, but I do feel it's important to at least make yourself presentable.  I feel naked without some form of eye makeup- just a little liner, a sweep of brown shadow, and a coat of mascara. 

I don't understand the women I see in the grocery store with their pajama bottoms on and their hair looking as though they didn't even brush it.  Not judging, or trying to suggest people need to dress up to go to the store... just saying it doesn't take much effort to pull on a nice-fitting outfit and run a comb through your hair before leaving the house.  

My weight loss stalled when I became vegetarian a few months ago.  Lean meats like chicken and tuna always filled me up with minimal calories.  After I stopped eating those, it was a bit of a challenge to find a filling protein source that was also low calorie.  Also, my town isn't very veggie friendly, so if I went out to eat, it was either salad, which gets old VERY quickly, or some sort of pasta or pizza dish. 

I'm losing again now that I've found my footing and sorted myself out, but the transition was a little iffy.

See, post #14 makes me interpret this as a control issue.  I would be highly pissed off if my husband teased me about my weight loss, indicated (however jokingly) that he liked me better fat, and then hid my scale as the cherry on top.  To me, that doesn't sound like concern for you, just petty jealousy and childish insecurity.   

Only going by post #14, obviously you know him better than I do.

I can understand that.  You want to only think of yourself as (and be seen by others as) the person you are today, and not in comparison to how you used to be.  Nothing wrong with that.  I think a big part of weight loss or any lifestyle change is letting go of the person you were before, the habits you had before, etc.  It's kind of a packaged deal.   So by extension, I think it's only natural to want to concentrate on the present, not dwell on the past.

There's also nothing unnatural about being embarrassed at the person you used to be.  As chrissy said, you just have to accept that and move past it.  Once others have seen you at this weight long enough, they'll let go of it too, and I'll bet they stop comparing.

Original Post by dkenworthy:

I lived in France for about a year in 1979, and saw very few obese individuals.  Older women were a little plumper than younger women, but not really overweight.

I attributed it to a bunch of factors:

• Public transportation forces people to walk a lot, most houses have more than one floor and no elevator.
• People have tiny kitchens and refrigerators, so shop every day for fresh food.
• Everyone smoked (this is less true today).
• Portions were much smaller than in the US then (and would be considered minuscule by today's standards).
• Food was an event that happened 3 times a day, at a sit down meal.  Snacking of any kind was quite rare.
• Desserts were common, but tended to be fruit on "ordinary days" rather than something higher calorie.
• "Style" is really important, and women want to be able to wear clothes well, so exercise some self-restraint about food.

 I bolded the parts that are stressed in the book.

Her whole philosophy is "eat less, move more" which is something I've seen advocated a hundred times over on this very website.  The only difference is, she claims that French women do this intuitively and do not count calories per se.

Eat smaller portions of high quality food, use fresh ingredients, enjoy all aspects of food (preparation, setting, etc.), and in my favorite chapter, she talks about how growing up as a child, they had fresh strawberries in season every day for dessert- they grew on their property.  Her mother would prepare the strawberries a different way each day. 

It is logic that you can apply here, it just takes more work.  It's not easy to do in our culture--which is, of course, why we are the obesity capitol of the universe.

I'm the same way.   Despite the stereotypes about women and chocolate, I can take chocolate or leave it.  Put me next to ANYTHING gummy or chewy though (worms, bears, jujubes, swedish fish, airheads, starburst, jelly beans... I could go on but I won't) and I'm a lost woman. 

Back before I joined CC and thought anything that was low in fat was ok to consume in large quantities, these seemed like the go-to snack!  I was soooo disappointed the first time I logged a pack of starburst... 

I agree with prisma!  There is no such thing as dressing too professionally!  Don't worry about making your coworkers look bad, and don't sink to their level.  The way a person dresses can say a lot about how they feel about themselves.

IMO, it's very closely related to self-care, hygiene and grooming.  If none of your coworkers ever showered, would you worry about making them look bad with your cleanliness?  It's an extreme example but it proves my point.

Hey tree,

I feel your pain!  I struggle with similar problems.  My husband is a huge drinker, and I was too for the longest time.  It's been really hard to turn myself around and not join him in glass after glass of wine every night!  My younger sister also became legal recently, so that's even more pressure to drink!

He also likes his junk, and while I do encourage him to eat healthier (and sometimes he listens), I also don't think it's fair to make him give up the junk just because I'm trying to avoid it.  I have to try hard not to help myself to it.  One thing that has helped is thinking of it as HIS food, and convincing myself I don't have a right to eat it (he would gladly share anything with me, but it's a mental game I play with myself). 

Most people I love aren't negative towards me, they just don't realize the work I have to put into a healthier lifestyle.  I don't think they quite realize how unhealthy THEY are, honestly.

Sometimes people will think you've become holier-than-thou even if you don't act that way, so I wouldn't worry too much about their opinion if I were you.  I just mind my own business and if someone asks why I'm eating a certain food, I'll tell them.  Otherwise, I don't comment on anyone else's food and I don't preach about mine.

I think you'll find a lot of support here, so when you don't get it from your bf or family, just log onto CC.  You'll almost always find someone that knows what you are going through.

Good luck with your goals!

My weight is really the only part of me that I'm not happy with at the moment.  If I reach my ideal weight (I'm a big self-saboteur, so it really is "if"), I hope I would just enjoy being me and being happy with myself.  But it's entirely possible that I'd have to find something else to be neurotic about.