Posts by wildflowers83

I used to do boxing with a persona trainer, and I LOVED it.  Very invigorating not to mention empowering, and burns tons of calories!  - Among the BEST type of workouts I've ever had.  I felt like I was getting out any pent-up angry emotions.  I also liked the challenge of it, since it's like game where you have to respond quickly and personally fight back, and it was a really tough workout.  It's also great self-defense. 

Tough call to say for sure regarding your grandmother  and the Notebook without knowing her personality for sure. Does she deal well with his disease, or is it really tough and sad for her?

Maybe you could read it together.  It really is a touching book.

I'm very familiar with Alzheimer's. My grandmother had very strong dimentia, very close to Alzeimer's. She gradually started to sort of check in and out of reality. It was very interesting but moreso sad. There were times when she seemed to forget me while other times she seemed to know who I was but could not talk any more whe I visited her at the nursing home. Mostly she mumbled in her later days. Pre-mumbling though, I remember visiting her at the nursing home and she would ask me if I wanted a glass of milk from the fridge and tell me about what she and my (deceased) grandfather had done and eaten that day. Well, there was no fridge with milk or grandfather anymore, but in her mind, she was living in the past - like 15+ years ago, at her old home with my grandfather and showing hospitality to me, her grandaughter. It was so sweet, and I would just sort of go along with it, so that she didn't feel embarassed, and because it really did sound like a nice place to be - back at her and my grandfather's home with their wonderfully cooked meals.

Occasionally, I would wonder if it really made a difference that I or my father (her son) visited her. My father actually visited her several times a week. My grandmother passed away a few years ago, so here are a few thoughts from me - take it or leave it.

My family has a strong Christian heritage background (a little more liberal than conservative though for what it's worth), so my father felt like despite grandma's perplexing dimentia/sickness, she had taken great care of him and lovingly parented him. He felt like she was such a blessing in his life and although there were discouraging visits many times due to her memory loss, he unconditionally loved her and considered it an honor to care for her. He felt God wanted him to still care for her - visit her at the nursing home, take her for walks, etc. We didn't even know what she did or did not understand at one point, but interestingly even though she could not verbally communicate well any more, at moments her eyes seemed to look at me like I looked like a famililar person or simply a nice person coming to visit. (And I certainly had my share of days where she did not seem to have any interest in my visit to her nor know really who the heck I was).

Either way, we liked to try to keep a "glass half full" perspective and believed that she still appreciated whatever kind of attention/affection we could provide to her, even if it was a "connected" or coherent and meaningful visit for only 1 of 10 visits. I occasionally had a couple of meaningful visits like you had with your grandfather, so I think your grandfather in some form appreciates any act of kindness you do with him, even if there are days where he thinks you're just a nice stranger taking him for a walk. Otherwise, he could have just sat alone all day. Just making his life a little more pleasant in his final days seems meaningful on both ends (his and yours), plus in the scheme of life, you can appreciate his personality for what it was most of his life and share these memories together with your parents/familiy members.

I'm really happy that you continue to visit your grandfather even as hard as it may be at times.

You can stop. 

I have struggled with the same thing, and I have confidence that you can gradually make the change.  I'm not sure what your total caloric intake is per day, but if you need to for a while you could even do a larger breakfast and lunch and small dinner until you're more comfortable with breaking the calories into smaller meals (or if this is not an option with your schedule).  For example, if your total daily caloric intake is 1500 for the day, you could do 500 calories for each meal or 600 cal. at breakfast, 500 at lunch, and 400 at dinner.

Another idea is to measure EVERYTHING out ahead of time.  I have to do this with almost everything I eat the day before.  It really, really helps, even now, because some of us don't have a natural idea about portions/quantity.  I could easily eat a large portion and grew up in a house like this, but if I can get it out of sight, then also goes out of mind.  So I basically only buy what I'll eat for the week (literally) and have lots of little containers in the fridge, so that everything is rationed out.  It may sound annoying, but it works really well.

I just checked out this site.  Great resource; thanks for sharing!

Good job, amethystgirl, on your weightloss and increased strength/tone; seeing your weight loss with stats similar to mine gives me hope that I can keep losing down to my goal weight which is 135.  I'm not there yet but I have lost 12 lbs. so far.

My mom said that in nursing school they recommended this acronym for eating while sick; it's BRAT

B - Bananas

R - Rice

A - Applesauce

T - Toast

Pants/shorts - As for pants/shorts, while I know most runners like wearing light, airy running shorts, I don't because I still have kissing thighs, so the friction in my thighs causes skin soresness/rash; I love wearing biker shorts - no skin sorenes.

Headsets - Put your hair in a pony tail, get the headset that wraps around the back of your head, and tuck the headset over your ponytail - secures it in place no matter how much you sweat, doesn't fall or anything.

HIP AND LOWER BACK SORENESS - Are your flat feet doing okay?  Are flat arches sore?  The hip and low back sore could possibly be related to the flat feet - throwing your hips and back out of line.  I HAVE THE WORST FLAT FEET IN THE WHOLE WORLD, ALMOST NO ARCH AND BAD ARCH PAIN, but I have orthotics - doctor-presribed foot inserts. 

One other thought - I'm not sure where you're at with this, but you can consider wearing 2 sports bras if you need extra support in the chest area.  My dr. had recommended and it has help relieve chest strain while running.

Happy running!  (Just did my first 8K today!)

Thanks, gi-jane.  Your response is very helpful.  No matter what I'll keep eating vegetables, both fresh and frozen.  I think I'll also buy a steamer soon.  I've always thought they were great but hadn't purchased one myself yet, but I think I need to.  Even though I live in the city, thankfully, we're able to have a very small garden in our back yard which is great.  It should yield a number fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, and zuchinni this summer, which is great!

I want to date.  I feel ugly right now which affects my self-confidence. 

Thanks, mkculs.  I just read that post you mentioned, and it had some very good ideas.  I really like celery, apples with pb, and bananas. 

rnjt, I have not been thinking intentionally about what I eat pre and post workout, but at least in the last few days, I've been eating eggs, grapes, lentil soup.  Yesterday I had protein (turkey and roast beef) after I had biked and ran, and I that may have helped a little as opposed to eating less calorie dense carbs.  One thing I keep in mind is that if I run, I usually have to eat 3+ hours before I run so that I don't get sideaches while running.  I'm thinking I should be getting more and more proteins and fresh veggies; what do you eat pre and post workouts?

I know you said that you don't eat before you run, but I have been sort of experimenting with this issue with my own body (sideaches/abdominal cramps) and find that I have to have not eaten for at least 3-5 hours before I can run.  If I eat light meals, that helps also.  Otherwise, it's as almost if my body is partially still digesting.  (And I cannot have eaten high fats and high quantity the day prior, or there's no way I can run).  One other trick I read somewhere that I was surprised helped decrease the sidecramps was to raise my arms in the air apparently to stretch out and "relieve" the abdominal area.  I know it sounds silly but it worked after doing it four or five times in a row for a few seconds.  I know you can't do this on the treadmill at the gym, but it's just another idea to try, or doing outside running.

I've actually picked up several helpful plateau-breaking points from all of you while reading this forum; this is just what I needed today.  Thank you (seriously).

Has anyone tried Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches or bars?  Mmm...so good and very low in calories - only 140 calories compared to regular ice cream (200-450 calories per serving).  Check it out if you're insterested.

I agree with mrsdagle with all points made.  I miss marilyn beauty and am tired of victoria secret pressure/idealism.

Should've, could've, would've, right?  Nice creative writing about what happens to all of us.  I know I shouldn't say this, but I'm curious why you didn't just eat the banana (plain), not that I have room to talk, because I saw in your bio that you have lost more weight than I have.  (We have similar goals - I started at 167 and am aiming for 135).