Posts by nbradford

Alexandramr, I'm with you.  I'm on this site with the primary goal to get my relationship with food under control because, like you, I feel like I'm constantly thinking about food, what I'm going to eat, and when I'm going to eat.  I'm concerned that this pattern could lead to a future of being overweight.  I'm at a healthy weight right now, and I feel sexy and proud of my body, but I need to address food addiction.  Losing weight is secondary.

That being said, I own a 24 hour gym in my town, and when I sign up new members of course I ask them why they are deciding to join.  The overwhelming response is, "I need to lose # pounds."  I always ask why that specific number, and usually the response is, "That's what I weighed...when I got married, before I had kids, five years ago..."  The point is, it's what they weighed when they were at what they perceive as a healthier, happier, less stressful point of their lives.  They see losing that weight as going back to that point in their lives. 

I agree with Gi-Jane that these people that are at healthy weights and still want to lose more are unhappy with themselves, and they think losing this amount or that amount will bring them to a happier, healthier, less stressful point in their lives.  As a gym owner, I try to get people motivated more by what their body can do now, such as run a mile, bench press their body weight, or even stretch and touch their toes rather than motivate them by what their body can't do right now which is drop 25 or 50 pounds.

My personal trainer has me do it, and she advises the same thing a masseuse does.  Make sure you drink a lot of water after you're done to avoid headaches and nausea.

I took a Pilates class in college, and I really enjoyed it.  It was really hard at first, but as the semester went on, I got better and better.  I'm a former dancer too, so I really noticed how it helped me keep my hips centered and low.  I still use the principles I learned from the class such as "knit your hips to your ribs," "belly button to spine," and "the string of pearls."  It's something to be conscious of as I sit at a computer all day.

I keep a mint plant in my kitchen.  A few leaves of fresh mint, a slice of lime and a slice of lemon in my water bottle every morning.  I just keep refilling it as the day goes on.  It's sweet and fruity without anything weird like splenda or aspartame.

Count me in for 10.

Hoping to get pregnant in the new year!

CW: 140

GW: 130

Week 0 = 140

Week 1 = 139 and 5.6 points with the water challenge

Week 2 = 139 and 3.55 points with the cardio challenge

Week 3 = 138.50 and 4.20 points with the fruits and veggies (6 servings a day!)

Week 4 = 138 and 3 points with the net calories challenge

Week 5 = 138 and 2.10 points with the fiber challenge (30 grams a day!)

Week 6 = this is my week to lose 2 pounds!!!

Hi everyone!  I'm sorry it took me so long to get back about that recipe.  As far as spaghetti squash goes.  It's so easy.  Just cut the squash in half, length wise, clean out the seeds, and put it cut side down in a baking dish with about a half an inch of water.  Cook for about 30 - 45 minutes.  Once it's done cooking, take it out of the oven, and flip it over. 

Now the next thing is kind of hard to believe if you've never had spaghetti squash before, but you take a fork and drag it across the flesh of the squash, you don't need to do it hard or anything.  The squash comes out like noodles.  You can serve them up with like any other pasta or cook them in a casserole..  It has the same consistency and everything.  A little bit of a veggie flavor, but if you have sauce on them, you really can't tell the difference.

My favorite sauce is a large can of diced tomatoes.  Doctor them up with some basil, Italian seasoning, and crushed red pepper or cayenne (I like spicy food).  I like to add some plain fat free yogurt too, just a couple of tablespoons.  It gives it a nice creamy consistency without the fat of half and half.  Hubby doesn't know the difference.  Sometimes, I think for him as long as it looks like its fattening, it tastes better to him.

I live in Minnesota, and I'm a gym owner, so I'm biased, but you should really check out your local gyms.  You'd be surprised how many don't have contracts now, so you're not locked into 18 months.  Many also run some great promotions where you can get free weeks, or deals if you sign up with a friend.  Especially in the winter in the Midwest. 

At our gym, I'm with everyone else, I don't want to run on a treadmill in the middle of July, when I could be out enjoying the little bit of summer we get, but in January when it's 30 below, forget it.  

I own a franchise of a nationwide gym chain, and we offer deals like, pay for 6 months, get one month free, we don't have contracts, and people can freeze their membership for $5 for the summer months and come back without having an enrollment charge.  Call ahead, work with the owner/manager.  I know YMCA's have scholarship programs where you can get a reduced rate based on income.  I checked our national website, and I know there are some of our gyms in your area, if you want more info, message me, and I can get you some more information.

I misunderstood how we post this, I was just updating my old post, so here goes:

Week 0 = 140

Week 1 = 139 and 5.6 points with the water challenge

Week 2 = 139 and 3.55 points with the cardio challenge

Bring on the vegetables!

My husband I went to Curacao (Dutch Caribbean) for our honeymoon in April 2008.  It was awesome!  We were the only ones on the beach for 2 and a half days, after that it was one other couple.  Everything was really cheap and good.  Not as busy as Grand Cayman, Jamaica, or Mexico can get. 

Also, if you want to look domestically, Palm Island, Florida.  The white sand beaches that go forever without anyone to bother you.  My husband and I are in our 20s and we were the youngest people by about 45 years, but we had a really stressful winter, and we just wanted to chill on the beach.  Those retirement communities have great golfing, food, and quiet bars for you just to relax.  It was the best place to spend a long weekend, we were also coming from the Midwest (Minnesota).

Hello everyone!  I've been on CC for I think a year and a half now?!  I've always been a "lurker" on the forums, and this is the first of any real interaction with others on the sight.  My real motivation is the winter.  I'm an accountant, so that means January through April 15th is nuts for me, and I'd like to get things under control and some really good habits before I begin living at my desk again. 

I've never had trouble with the working out part.  My husband and I actually own a gym, and it's located on the first floor of my office building, so I get to be our personal trainers' guinea pig a lot of the time, and I can take classes and one on one personal training sessions anytime I want.  My struggle is eating at my desk.  I keep sweets out of the office, but there is an amazing coffee shop across the street with the best baked goods ever, and I succumb more than I should. 

I'm excited for the BL Challenge because I think it will give me an added incentive to gear up for the long winter ahead, I live in Minnesota, winter starts in October sometimes.

I agree that it was a good speech, but that's no surprise, most speeches Obama gives are good.  He is captivating and dynamic.  The part I really struggle with this whole plan is the claim that private health insurance costs too much.  I left a job that had great benefits (so I thought) to work for our family business.  They don't provide health insurance, so I sought out my own because the cost of COBRA was astronomical!

 My husband (who is a tobacco user) and I got our own plan that costs, the same that a "couple plan" would cost at my former employer, not the COBRA price, the price they charged their employees.  The deductible was lower, by $500, and once the deductible is met, I have 100% coverage where as my former plan would be 80/20 (80% covered, and 20% out of pocket).  My sister-in-law who is a teacher has her healthcare covered by the state plan, but for her to cover my brother and their toddler, it would cost her over $700 a month through the state teacher's healthcare plan (the government plan).  I told her to look into private plans, and she's paying $250 a month now.  My mom was paying over $900 a month for health insurance for she and my father, until she looked into private health insurance, and she cut her costs more than in half.

Why is it cheaper, because I don't have to cover my co-workers' healthcare needs along with my own. In fact my plan actually pays my husband and I each $20 a month to go to the gym and exercise.  Why are so many group plans being dropped?  Because they are bankrupting the companies that provide them.

Do we need healthcare reform, absolutely!  Do I agree with the plan put forth, no, but it's a start.  I'd like to see more attention paid to the cost of going to the doctor rather than this, let's get everyone covered angle.

Please count me in.  I've never done a challenge before, but I need something new to shake up my diet and fitness.  I'm excited!

Thank you ladies!  This was actually my last pack of pills, and I wasn't missing days, but I was taking them at different times of the day.  Usually sometime in the morning, but there have been some days where it was more like 5 pm when I realized I hadn't taken one.  Not like when I was in college where I quite literally set an alarm daily.  I am going to wait until after what would be the last day of my period, and take another test.  I know my husband did a little dance this morning when I told him I still didn't have my period.  I guess there's no mystery what he's hoping for! 

I had pain very similar to that in high school (feeling like it was behind my knee cap).  I had an MRI done on it, and they found torn cartilage in both my knees. 

I was also a ballet dancer, and I was dancing 5 days a week for about 3 hours a day.  The dancing was creating very strong muscles on my outer thighs and glutes.  These well defined muscles were able to "fire" faster than my inner thighs, and the result was my knee caps pulling out.

I did physical therapy and learned ways to strengthen my inner thigh muscles.  Once I started college, I stopped dancing and began bike riding and running (two things my dance instructor didn't let me do).  I don't have pain any more, and I never had to have surgery.  I'm able to run half-marathons, and I'm working towards a full marathon next year.