firedoor78's Friends

Hello All! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Mine was fabulous. I had an absolute amazing time seeing family and old friends and I can't wait until Christmas.  I figure I'd start with the happy stuff before I got down and dirty with the eating/working out stuff.

Eating - I've been eating like I haven't struggled with weight my entire life. I've been eating like calories don't matter. I've been eating like it's impossible for me to gain weight. *sigh* And it has absolutely nothing to do with the holidays...it has everything to do with me being weak and lazy about calorie counting.

Weight - 1'm holding steady at 165lbs, but I have no idea why. I should easily be 170lbs with the way that I've been eating. I've been making an effort to hydrate and workout which I think may be the only thing slowing down my weight gain. Bust trust me...if I stay on the path I am now it's only a matter of time before I'm 'Big Tiffy' again...

Fitness/workout/running - I've been pretty steady as far as all of this is concerned. I ran the Cleveland Turkey Trot 8 MINUTES FASTER than I ran it last year so I'm ridiculously happy about that.  It's a 5 miler and last year I ran it in 53 min and this year I ran it a little over 44 min - woohoo! Running has been great, but my strength training has been next to non-existent. I NEED to go to the gym at least 3 times a week and for the past few weeks I've been going once on the weekends. Everytime I lift I feel like I'm starting over. *Sigh* I've GOT to stop doing this to myself...

I'm going to say what you guys have been saying since I joined this site in January - I know what I need to do...it's just a matter of doing it. I have no excuse. I really don't. Yeah, I have other shit going on in my life, but who doesn't? My health needs to come FIRST and what would be healthy is if I took off a few more pounds.

This morning I had a nice run and lifting session. I officially started my half marathon training this morning and I WILL stick with it. I can't afford not to! Running 13 miles with no training is NOT an option.  I took off of work today to recover from the holiday weekend and I thank God I did. It's nice to just have a day to myself to regroup.

Ok, I've got some homework to do before class tonight and then I'm going to make up my schedule for the rest of the week.

Peace & Love,

Tiffany

Four months and a 9.5kg loss! I'm hovering at just over 85kg and it feels great - my new nutrition lifestyle is working out really well. I've stopped calorie counting every day because it's a lot easier to look at my breakfast now and say "350 calories, plenty of protein, lots of fiber, lots of energy!" and checking myself I'm hardly ever off by too much. I still love cc for finding nutrition information in recipes, though, and that's been a huuuge help.

The holidays are coming up, though, and it's a little scary. My boyfriend and I are having a bit of an orphan's Thanksgiving in Boston with some family and friends and we're doing almost all of the cooking, so I know I'll be making healthy and delicious decisions... but Christmas is in the hometown this year and my family is not exactly known for throwing a healthy party. Guess I'll have to step in and do some shopping and cooking! At least I'll have my brother home with me, who's lost an amazing 50 pounds since June, and he's definitely interested in keeping things under control.

It's difficult to go home to relatives who praise how great you look but are so stuck in their own unhealthy eating habits that they think I must just be eating salads and that I want to feed them tofu and steamed vegetables every night for dinner. That's so very far from the truth and I wish there were people out there talking about healthy, balanced eating outside the context of 'diets'. Oh well...

Well, 85kg is right on track, and I've lost quite a few inches throughout my body. Next up is incorporating a good exercise plan into our lives, especially since winter will be here soon and all of the walking I did in the warmer months will be necessarily cut down. On a related note, I finally went to an orthopedist to check out some long-standing shoulder issues and I'm in desperate need of physical therapy, which I'll be starting on Monday. At 7:30am. Before work. Oof. This means no upper-body work for quite a while, alas, but I'll make it work.

See you at 80kg!

...I-O!

(Anyone from Ohio knows exactly how the O-H-I-O cheer goes - let's go BUCKEYES! )

 Tomorrow is the Ohio State v. Michigan game so you already know my friends and are going to get ridiculously rowdy (READ drink and eat WAY too much).  I already know it's a wrap when it comes to alcohol, but I've decided that I'm going to stay clear of heavy caloric beer and sip on my specialty Belvedere vodka sodas with lime.  The only problem with that is that I'll get drunk WAY quicker than everybody else if I don't pace myself.  I also have a tendacy of NOT eating when I drink.  And it's not because I'm counting calories...it's because I literally lose all appetite when I drink. Lucky me, huh? I know some people are the exact opposite. My buddy Malcolm is make us brunch and since he's in culinary school...you know it's going to be crazy good. Plus, I'm sure they'll be plenty of snacks during the course of the game that could prove to be VERY tempting. With that said here's my game plan for tomorrow:

• 7AM - Get my long run in (6-7 miles)
• 8:30AM - Eat a light breakfast and get ready for game time
• 10AM - Let the fun begin!
  • Food: 1 plate of the healthiest foods that are available. Do  NOT go back for seconds!!!
  • Alcohol: Do NOT start drinking until game time!
• 11AM - Game time!
  • Food: Pass on snacks for at least the first half of the game. Wait until half time and see how I feel.
  • Alcohol: Take at least a 5 min break between drinks and do NOT get another one until the one I have in my hand is empty!

Now I don't know what we're going to be up to after the game, but I'm guessing I'll be feeling pretty good at this point. Knowing us (me and my girlfriend) we'll probably go home and pass out. LOL

Oh, and I do plan on reigning it in today foodwise. I didn't go running this morning, but so my eating has been pretty good. I'm going to have some soup for lunch and take a nice long walk this afternoon and then when I get home I'm going to have a nice healthy dinner and work on my homework most of the evening. I'll probably even hit the sack early.

Sunday will be recovery day, but I do plan on eating healthy (I hope) and getting a good run AND workout in before I tackle the rest of my homework.

Ok, that's it for now. I hope you all are enjoying your Friday. Stay blessed and have an AMAZING weekend! Oh, and don't forget to cheer on THE Ohio State LOL

Peace & Love,

Tiffany

Just 29 days till my first anniversary here at CC. I had lost over 100 lbs...101.6 to be exact, but now am sitting around 80 lbs lost. I've gained some back, but not so much that I am totally freaking out.

I fell off the wagon this fall. Big time. I've been binging, and making up the same old excuses. I think part of the problem was I was setting unrealistic goals, and trying to maintain an unrealistic weight. I do believe in set points, and I was trying very hard to stay at a weight I just can't live in and still be me.

So....I'll say it. I want to weigh 165. That's 10 lbs OVERWEIGHT, but it's my sweet spot. I can maintain that.

To make that happen I've cut back from 45 mins a day, at night on my elliptical, and added a 30-40 min walk at night. I can handle that a bit better. So, I get more excersise.

That means I can eat more. I hope to inch back to 165...that's just five pounds....this year. Some time. In the mean time, I can eat 'round 2800 calories a day and still lose a bit every day.

Am I back? I'm here. Will I be tomorrow? Who knows. But today was a good day.

LOL I'm laughing because I already know what you're all thinking...WTF!? But hear me out, ok? Have any of you tried her workouts?  I did her ab workout this morning and it was TOUGH! It was only 15 min, but homegirl was doing her thing! Now granted I'm sure they stopped a million times during the filming of it, but still...she did it.  And I should tell you that she's not actually the person who instructs the DVD. It's another lady who does it and Kim's her sidekick.  I just love it because it seems like the instructor is secretly annoyed, but has to keep a smile on her face. Kim has on a CORSET in the ab workout (she has a butt and thigh one as well) and it cracks me up!  She says she wore a corset so it reminds her to focus on her core and keep her abs tight LOL.  Honestly it was like having a double ab workout because I was laughing AND doing crunches...that's hard to do! Anyway, for those of you who get a chance PLEASE try one of her DVDs. Not only is she hilarious, but she's not bad to look at either

And on a not so funny note - my eating today.  Here's what I've had:

1. A bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios with blueberries and soy milk
2. A piece of strawberry cheese cake
3. A piece of pumpkin pie
4. A venti green tea with honey from Starbucks

I'm in no way hungry right now and could see myself not eating for the rest of the evening.  I should though, huh? What would be a good dinner to counter all that - something with veggies and some protein probably. Anyway, I'm not going to make a habit of eating like this. The cheesecake and pumpkin pie are left over from our potluck yesterday and I literally couldn't help myself! I'm not typically into sweets, but man...I basically sprinted in the office this morning jonesin' for some cheesecake and pie! Something tells me Mother Nature will be paying me a visit soon...

...and speaking of Mother Nature - how about this weather? Boo. The cold, rainy, win is NOT my favorite. I can handle snow, but wind and rain? Forget about it. However, I'm not too upset about the rain because it's what kept me indoors this morning so I could discover my new found love of Kim Kardashian workout tapes LOL

Ok, it's almost the end of the day and I'm soooo ready to get out of here. I hope you all are having (or had) a productive Hump Day! I'm going home to relax on the couch and watch Glee - love that show! Please tell me someone else loves it too!

Peace & Love,

Tiffany

PS - dplatzer...Gossip Girl is insane this season!The Serena/Tripp thing is obnoxious. Chuck and Blair make me happy. Lil Jenny's going to get into some serious trouble by the end of the season. Nate is lame. And if Dan and Vanessa end up together I'm going to claw my eyes out. What happened Lily and Rufus' long lost son? Where the hell did Georgina go? Thoughts?

Has anyone else done any of the workouts on Fit TV? This morning after my quick run I wanted to do a little something extra, but the wind was just too cold. I went in the house and with my running gear still on I turned to Fit TV to see if they had any quick 15 min workouts I could do before I hopped in the shower and they did! It was this great ab workout with a medicine ball (I don't own one, but it was still hard as hell!) and I loved it! I think I'm going to make an effort to do it every morning.

Has anyone else discovered this lovely channel? It's On-Demand for those who have Comcast.

Anyway, my weekend was good. I completely overindulged Friday night, but I think I did a pretty good job of making up for it with a long run on Saturday. I started off this morning with a good run and ab workout and so far I haven't gone nuts when it comes to my eating. It's still early though so pray for me!

Overall, things are good and I am blessed.

Peace & Love,

Tiffany

AMAZINGLY SIMPLE HOME REMEDIES (That Really Work!)

1. AVOID CUTTING YOURSELF WHEN SLICING VEGETABLES BY GETTING SOMEONE ELSE TO HOLD THE VEGETABLES WHILE YOU SLICE.

2. AVOID ARGUMENTS WITH THE FEMALES ABOUT LIFTING THE TOILET SEAT BY USING THE SINK.

3. FOR HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE SUFFERERS ~ SIMPLY CUT YOURSELF AND BLEED FOR A FEW MINUTES, THUS REDUCING THE PRESSURE ON YOUR VEINS. REMEMBER TO USE A TIMER.

4. A MOUSE TRAP PLACED ON TOP OF YOUR ALARM CLOCK   WILL PREVENT YOU FROM ROLLING OVER AND GOING BACK TO SLEEP AFTER YOU HIT THE SNOOZE BUTTON.
 
5. IF YOU HAVE A BAD COUGH, TAKE A LARGE DOSE OF LAXATIVES. THEN YOU'LL BE AFRAID TO COUGH.

6. YOU ONLY NEED TWO TOOLS IN LIFE - WD-40 AND DUCT TAPE. IF IT DOESN'T MOVE AND SHOULD, USE THE WD-40. IF IT SHOULDN'T MOVE AND DOES, USE THE DUCT TAPE..

7. IF YOU CAN'T FIX IT WITH A HAMMER, YOU'VE GOT AN ELECTRICAL PROBLEM.

DAILY THOUGHT: SOME PEOPLE ARE LIKE SLINKIES - NOT REALLY GOOD FOR ANYTHING BUT THEY BRING A SMILE TO YOUR FACE WHEN PUSHED DOWN THE STAIRS.

FROM CLAIRE'S WALL ON FACEBOOK (please pass this on to all Claire's friends you know):

"Sarah Acuna

I hope all Claire's friends see this message; I have posted and sent messages to as many people as I could.

Today's goal: Go the entire day without eating until I'm uncomfortably full.

Why is it that I let food have so much power over me? I mean, honestly...I've been thinking about this a lot lately and it completely envelopes all aspects of my life. If I could just get a handled on this whole eating thing then I'd have been at my goal weight MONTHS ago. I don't eat poorly...I just eat A LOT. It's like once I'm hungry it's a wrap...I'm not going to stop eating until I'm uncomfortable. If something tastes good I find it impossible to just simply stop eating it because I'm full. At lunch yesterday...I ate until I was uncomfortable. At dinner last night...I ate until I was uncomfortable.  Today I promised myself that I would eat any meal to the point where I actually can't stand sitting still afterwards. Breakfast went well. I had a bowl of raisin bran crunch (and added some blueberries for fun) with soy milk and then for my 10AM snack I had an apple, a string cheese, and some pretzel sticks. All I brought for lunch is a can of soup which I know is just not enough to get me through to 5:30PM.  I typically bust out my celery, carrot stick, and hummus snack in the afternoon but for some reason I forgot the veggies - doh! I'm definitely going to need to invest in a sandwich or salad in addition to the soup or I'll do something dumb at 3PM like get some sort of ridiculously large treat at the Starbucks attached to our building. *sigh* I know what to do and I continually just don't do it. WHY!? It's maddening really.  Like I've said 1 million times before I have the phyiscal movement thing on lock. I workout or run pretty much every morning and take at least a 45 minute walk during the work day. Even though I have an office job I'm still pretty active and make it a point to always take the stairs. People say they envy me for being so active, but if they knew how much I friggin' EAT they'd be singing a whole different tune.

I just need to start over and take this one step at a time. Wish me luck...