Posts by matty_h

Hi all - hope everyone had a good week!  I know I was missing at the end of last week - incredibly busy weekend, but fun! (and not too much junk food, although fresh bagels came home on Sunday...)

I like the new goals better than the old ones - as someone said, they're more personal.  I don't measure myself fully, but here's what I' tracking this session:
Wt:     159.5 & nbsp;   Goal: 148 (a little more than 10, but I want to break the 150's)
Hips:    43
Waist:  31
Thigh:  24
Jeans:  34

I have a terrible time being consistent on tracking food in my log - any suggestions for how to stay motivated?  Somehow, after a nice meal, I just can't bring myself to start looking up how many calories in each ingredient I threw into a salad bowl!  Or eat an apple and half a cup of yogurt in the middle of the afternoon, then spend the rest of my break time hunting down the cc entry that will let me enter yogurt by the cup and not by the serving!

Hey all!  It's been really interesting reading everyone's motivation!  Mine was very simple: after years of slowly putting on a few pounds at a time, I read "Mindless Eating" which basically said you just don't realize how many calories disappear while you're not looking.  So start out by getting rid of the calories you just won't notice not being there.  I lost 10 pounds that way, but it's been sloooooooowwwww!  Now I've got to start nibbling away at the other calories.

Right now I'm hunting for little tiny rewards I can give myself anytime anywhere - taking a break from work to surf the web or read a book, intead of heading for coffee and a cookie.  Drawing time (if I'm home) or books on tape.  

Any suggestions from you guys?

Hello all - been a while since I've checked in - mostly computer problems and work overload.  Oh yeah, and my plumbing exploded, which I discovered when my 8 year old came wandering into the kitchen and said "so how come there's all that water in the basement?"

Didn't drop down in weight at all this week, and I ate pretty well last week as well.  Hoping things will catch up this week - I've continued to be good so far!

Tanya - loved your story about the ivy stockings!  I also work in a tech firm with almost all guys.  I don't know much about fashion myself, but I can tell you they didn't notice until I was 8 months pregnant and handing off work in preparation for leaving that I was even pregnant.  "Did you think I was just getting fat?"  I asked one guy, very indignant.  "well, yeah,"  he said.  Guys - can't live with em, can't shoot em.

I probably shouldn't talk about what motivates me, since I've lost about 12 pounds in 6 months.     I'm hear to listen and learn!

Well this week have been all ups and downs, and more special events than usual: a wedding on Saturday, a work lunch (pizza and cake) on Thursday, a bakesale on friday evening, dinner (pizza) with the pee wee football club on Tuesday.  But somehow I managed to sorta hang on to the rim of the wagon.  I don't expect to see much movement on the scale tomorrow.

dutchgirl - sounds like you had a good week!  I will keep you in mind when I"m working out today.
Nillytoots - congrats on a good food week, during such a trying time.  I don't the funeral will be terrible for the kids - when my father died my son was 5, and the minister said children came through funerals just fine - they're just not wired to understand "forever".  My son is older now and all he remembers is good stuff about my dad, and how we had a big party for him when he died because he was such a great guy.
eerominn - you're right about the puppies being like babies - kittens too.  Our last little kitten used to wake us up twice a night jsut to cuddle.

As for the rest of us wagon faller offers (and barely clingers!) - better luck to us next week!  My goal for today, just one day, is to get a running start on next week by absolutely exercising today!

My goal today is to get a running start on next week.

I am so sorry to hear about your cousin, and I know how hard it is to talk to children about the death of a loved one.   My prayers are with you.  As for your goals, if you manage them, that's great, but don't beat yourself up if you fall behind - you have more important things in your heart right now.   We "should" have sensible eating/sensible exercise reactions to emotional events in our lives, but we don't always - that's just the way it is.

As for me, let's just say I had a baaaad night, woke up this morning to a small breakfast, a cup of cleansing green tea, and renewed determination.

I read a really interesting study about candy and temptation - and of course when I went back to look for it I couldn't find it.  But it said:
1.  When people smell candy, everyone is initially tempted to eat it, but thinner people kick in thoughts about how good it smells (not tastes), how good it might taste some time in the future if they eat it (which they might not) and how good it makes them feel to resist tempation.  Overweight people have a higher tendency to focus only on how much they'd enjoy the taste.
2.  People can train (hypnotize?) themselves to think "thin thoughts" when they smell candy by taking a chocolately smelling thing (not real chocolate that we'll be tempted to eat) and deliberately concentrating on how strong and thin it makes us feel.

I must say, it kinda works for me, although it's easier with lower intensity  temptations like caramel than higher tempations like barbecued ribs.

Hi all - can I join late?  I was on the road a whole lot during the summer, and when I got back my lifeline - my weekend motivation thread - had been officially 86'd.   Arggghhh!  So I tracked olivia here ... could you feel me creeping up behind you?

I'm not a huge sweet tooth (can't even taste chocolate - it's a genetic thing) but on the other hand, roll out the potato chips, cheese, and sausage stuffing with gravy!  Did I mention I live in the middle of tomato country, and it's harvest time - let's hear it for homemade lasagna!  And a fridge full of leftovers and presents from neighbors!

I've got weddings and parties galore coming up - the holiday season seems to be starting early.  As of this morning I've lost 14 lbs in about 6 months, and I'll be damned if I'm going to give half of it back.  I've been inspired by the book Mindless Eating, so my goals are: stick to walking around parties holding club soda and celery, keep my meal portions under control, and *try* to motivate myself to exercise.

1.5 mi for me today, short but good.

Hey all - I was away from running for a while in work locations that weren't too safe, but I've washed ashore in a hotel with a treadmill.  I ran about 1 mile each night for the last 3 nights, so I can add 3 miles to my total!

Hi all!  This question about motivation really caught my eye, because for so many years I just couldn't get started, let alone lose more than a pound or two.  Then I read a book about making changes (for work) which said that successful change is not a question of intangible "motivation" but a) the skills to do something and b) the beilef that you can do it.  And I realized "aha - that's my problem, I just don't believe I can lose weight and keep it off for the rest of my life, exercse every day, only eat ice cream in tiny amounts once a week for the rest of my life... blah blah blah."  Of course, the followon to that is "so why even start..."

Then I read "mindless eating", which talks about all the studies showing how much we eat without thinking about it.  And I realized, I might not be able to lose 50 pounds (and keep it off forever, and never eat ice cream ...) but I bet I can find 100 calories to cut out and lose 10 pounds.  And that's just what I did - I usually have a (pretty big) mid-afternoon snack, now I make it a little smaller.  Like if I make a bagel with butter, I throw away 1/4.  That's it.   Took me about 2 months to lose 10 pounds, then I leveled off for a while.  Now I'm after the next 100 calories - after dinner I leave half of my dessert on the plate. 

So that's my "motivation" - I keep telling myself "I can't do the whole thing, but I can do this one little thing, and that's good enough for now."  In Mindless Eating, one of the things they said is "the best diet is the one you don't know you're on."   I can't claim to be a success story, but so far this is working for me.

Out of town for a couple days so I didn't log last week: 1.9mi.   Hope everyone had a great holiday!

As for running/jogging - I say the same thing: I say "running" when I'm talking to runners because it implies dedication and intent, I say "jogging" when I'm talking to non-runners because to say anything else implies things about my speed and stamina that just aren't true.  When I'm alone with my sneakers and body, I say "gettting out there and getting going!"

sped - sorry to hear about the rain - doesn't it just kill when you're all set up for a challenge that gets  pulled out from under you?  But batting cages instead - what a great idea - maybe I'll pull my guys out there, now that little league is officially finished.

olivia, ka - great to hear you got the challenges done - I did not!  I walked, gardened and played par 3 golf on Saturday, walked/ran 2 mi on Sunday, but I ate practically nothing but cookies, ice cream and fruit all weekend.  Not what you'd call high nutrition, even if I did get my 2 fruit serving challenge covered!  And didn't even come close to the water target.

My challenge for next weekend is to write down my plan beforehand - say Friday morning (oh yeah, and stick to it...)

Olivia - I am so sorry to hear the terrible news about your stepsister!  It is a shame when such tragedies occur in our life.  DO NOT waste a single minute thinking about your weight at this time- it is of no importance.  If you choose to eat nothing but celery, that's fine, and if you choose to eat nothing but chocolate ice cream, that's fine too, let your heart lead the way.  God willing, there will be plenty of time for all of us to reach our goals when you've come through this period of  turmoil.

hi guys!  I've been off the grid for about two weeks now - work sent me out of town and I was in locations with firewalls and hotels with no access.  But I'm home now (yaaaa!) and trying to get back on track.  YOu know how when you're tired that pot of ice cream just looks like the only thing in the house worth eating!  I put on a couple pounds over that time, but I was in places where I didn't want to drink the water or eat any unpeelable fruits and veg, so I'm not surprized, and trying to forgive myself.

Shann - I've never been thought of as a sponsor before - thank you so much for that wonderful compliment!  But more than that, if anything I've said has helped, I'm glad.  Just keep remembering that there are folks out here who know exactly what you're going through!

Nikki - we're here (sort of).  Looks like we had a bit of a lull - good to see us all back.  How have you been doing?  Share the good news!

I should add one more thing - weekends!  I was going through this cycle for months where I'd lose a pound or so during the week, put it back on the weekend.  I've started treating weekends like regular weekdays now, and I just make sure to eat the same things I normally do.   That made a huge difference for me.