Posts by rasmom

I joined CC in March '08 and in June I started to notice my hair falling out.  It lasted several months (~4 months) and after I noticed it happening, I upped my calories.  The hair loss slowed down in the fall but then I just started noticing more coming out again this month and I eat ~1800-2000+ cal's/day.  I'm wondering if it's a "time of the year" thing with me now.  I also take a multi-vitamin daily specifically for hair, skin, and nails.  Keep eating a balanced diet and the hair loss should slow down soon.  Good luck.

I've been trying to have salmon at least once a week and my three kids aren't that fond of it (ages 5, 3, & 2) so I'll cook up the salmon for myself and my husband and throw some fish sticks in the oven for the kids - they think they're chicken fingers so they eat them.  We all eat whatever else I'm serving with the salmon, be it rice or pasta with veggies.  My kids don't usually like the rice, I don't know why, I think it's delicious.  I used to mix the veggies in with the rice but because they don't like the rice they wouldn't eat the veggies either so now I don't mix them anymore.  They will usually eat the veggies and if I'm lucky, they'll take a few bites of the rice.

Also, my kids love salad, strange, I know, but it's a great thing.  Sometimes, we'll have make your own salad night and I'll put all the fixin's on the table and they love it.  Lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, cheese, grilled chicken strips, chopped ham or turkey, etc.  They love it and it's healthy too.

Haven't done it lately but my kids also like wraps so we'll do the same sort of thing with wraps and salad with chicken or tuna.

Holy cow Nikebowler!  What a transformation - you should be proud!!!  Great work!

Welcome to CC!  I've been here almost a year and as of yesterday, have lost 84 lbs.  Most of that I lost in the first 6-8 months.  My weight loss has slowed down a bit as I've gotten closer to my goal - I only have 2 more lbs. to lose to reach my goal weight of 131!

Everyone here is giving you some really great advice.  I also can't emphasize enough the need to get active and stay active.  Make it a part of your life.  Even if it's walking at a park or the mall while pushing a stroller.  Or make time during the day for an exercise video.  Find a way to fit it in.  It will help you burn calories and allow you to eat more (which I love to do).  Also, the exercise will help you feel much better about yourself.

I workout 6 days a week and I push myself pretty hard with my workouts - running on the treadmill, running outside (I'm running my first half marathon in June), strength training, elliptical, circuit training, etc.  But all this working out allows me to eat more during the day.  Lately, I've been eating 1800-2000 cals/day and am still losing weight.  I rarely feel deprived.  I eat a healthy breakfast of Uncle Sam Cereal (high fiber/low fat/low sugar cereal), blueberries, and a banana on most mornings.  Have a delicious protein bar after my morning workout (Luna bars, South Beach Diet High Protein Cereal Bars, Special K bars, etc. - I love them all).  I have a salad or sandwich for lunch.  Afternoon snack of 1/2 grapefruit and either a rice cake or a bowl of cheerios - or sometimes I'll have nonfat greek yogurt with strawberry preserves and fruit mixed in.  I eat a regular dinner with my family and have a skinny cow ice cream sandwich for dessert.  We go out for dinner at least 1-2 times/week and I order whatever entree I'd like, sometimes healthy, sometimes not.  But I always, always, always log my food to keep myself honest about what I am eating.  I am in control of what I eat.  Some days I eat better than others and I just make sure I have more good days than bad.

I also have some good motivational quotes that keep my moving forward:

- "Never give up what you want most for what you want at the moment."

- "Far too often, our progress is limited by our minds, not by our bodies."

- "Never let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do."

Good luck with your journey - you can do it!!!

Congrats on signing up for your first 5K!  My advice to you is to just have fun.  Don't worry about your time or speed, just enjoy your run.  I seriously doubt you'll be the slowest and even if you are, you'll still be faster than those people just watching the race.  Be confident in your abilities.  Racing is a bit addictive and there's a good chance once you complete this race, you'll be motivated to sign up for another one and then you can work on increasing your speed, if you want to.  Have a great time and lots of luck!

I don't know if you're already doing this or not, but stay away from prepackaged sweetened yogurts.  They are loaded with added sugar.  Instead, try greek yogurt (Fage or Chobani 0%) don't have any added sugar.  You can add your own fruit for a much healthier option.  Sometimes I'll mash up halfa  banana into it, add blueberries or strawberries - delicious and loaded with good calcium and protein.

I was also going to say it's likely the alcohol you had last night.  Try weighing yourself again in a few days and see what the scale says.  Also, it doesn't sound like you're eating that many calories so you may have actually lost weight, especially if you're working out more.

I always eat more on the weekend too because we usually go out for dinner on Friday and Saturday nights.  What I try to do though to keep it under control is to eat healthy during the day and then have what I'd like for the dinner meal when we go out to eat.  I limit my drinking to one drink only then switch to water.  I also try to get as much exercise in over the weekend as well which helps to balance out the overeating at dinnertime.

If you include some aerobic exercise between some of the strengthening exercises, you can log it as circuit training.  Otherwise, I'd go with light weight lifting or calisthenics.  You might consider purchasing her 30 Day Shred workout DVD if you like her workouts.  The DVD consists of 3 ~20 minute workouts consisting of 3 minute segments of strengthening, 2 minutes cardio, and 1 minute of abs, repeated 3 times, with a 2 minute warm-up and cool down.  I bought it on Amazon a couple of weeks ago and I love it.  It was less than $10 but with shipping it may have been more like $14 or so, but it was worth it.  Good luck!

I signed up for my first half marathon in June.  Still have a bit of training to do but I am able to run 10 miles in about 105 minutes.  When I started running last April I could barely run for 3 minutes.

I agree with trhawley - add some cardio to your routine.  It doesn't have to be a lot to begin with but I would definitely shoot for at least 20 minutes 2 or 3 times a week - it can be as simple as going for a walk and building up from there.  Maybe you bit off more than you could chew by starting with Turbo Kick - that sounds tough!  Good luck!

I am so sorry for your loss.  I also had a miscarriage before I had my three children and I was devastated by it.  It's a very difficult thing to go through and I was depressed for a long time afterwards.  It took us about 8 months to get pregnant again which was frustrating because I wanted it to happen immediately.  I would just recommend that you maintain a healthy exercise routine and healthy diet and the belly should return to normal soon.

Again, my sympathies on your loss and good luck with CC and your family.

This site is great.  It helped me to lose 80 lbs. since March of last year but you do have to stick with it and be honest with yourself about what you are eating and how much exercise you do.  Be committed to it.  You and your family are worth it!  Lots of luck to you!

Oh, I fall off the wagon like that all the time.  I don't even call it falling off the wagon.  That's just what I eat when I go out almost every weekend.  You have to indulge yourself or you'll never stick with it.  Besides, Amish Cinnamon bread... Mmmmm - who can resist? 

You do sound like me though with trying to make up for all that I eat by exercising extra hard.  If I didn't love food so much there's no way I'd be exercising as hard as I do.  Today I burned 781 calories between doing level 2 of the Shred, lifting weights at the gym and running 4 miles uphill on the treadmill.  Now I won't feel so bad eating my Friday night pizza, garlic bread, wine and dessert tomorrow.  Plus, I take Fridays off from working out so I always push my Thursday workouts extra hard.

Have a great weekend everyone!

"Never give up what you want most for what you want at the moment".

Stick with it girls, I have every confidence that you can do it!!!