Motivation

This thread is being locked .... we've started a new thread!

GO HERE!

QUESTION OF THE DAY....WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25, 2008:

Do you vary either your food selections or your activity selections by the time of year?

I tend to eat mostly the same foods year round, except that in the winter I tend to want hot foods like soups and during the summer I tend to prefer cold things like pasta salad.

My exercise routine does vary by the time of year.  Mostly because I work for a school so when classes are in session I tend to need to be on campus, but when classes aren't in session I can flex my schedule around.  This summer I'm planning on doing more swimming and then hopefully learning to surf.

Original Post by smwhipple:

QUESTION OF THE DAY....WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25, 2008:

Do you vary either your food selections or your activity selections by the time of year?

I can eat salad every day unless it is cold weather. So I will have to get more creative this next winter. That is the the time of year that I tend to fall off the wagon and regain my weight. I am determined not to let that happen this year.

I'm doing water aerobics this summer. Unless I decide to continue by taking them at an indoor pool, I will probably find another activity to replace the water aerobics next winter (probably pilates). I walk year round. I just go to the mall if the weather is wet or super cold. It does rain a lot here but it only gets below freezing a couple of times a year.

~ Beth

Do you vary either your food selections or your activity selections by the time of year?

Not on purpose.  Activity I try to keep around the same - 3 days of working out and 4 days working "on my feet" for four or more hours.  Food changes only because of where I am.  My university only serves fast food in the summer, so I'm forced into Chick Fil-A most of the time.  Good news is that they have a chargrilled chicken sandwich with only 3.5 grams of fat.  So usually I get that with ketchup for lunch.  I also cook more in the summer (hey - it's not MY kitchen) so I have plenty of leftovers to microwave.

I just got back from another mini work/vacation trip  in Portland, so it's time to get back to business on losing weight.  I've been hovering around the low 240s for about 2 weeks now, and I'm really ready to get into the 230s.  

I'm behind on the QODs again, so I'll just cover the last two:

In terms of exercise goals, I try to vary my exercise a bit.  I use a heart rate monitor, and I usually just focus on trying to burn an extra 500 calories every day.  I do  mix of aerobics, yoga, walking, and dancing to meet that goal.

My diet and exercise do change with the seasons.  I live in Seattle, where it rains all winter, so I tend to focus more on aerobics and other indoor exercise when it's cruddy outside.  In summer, I walk a lot more, and go hiking and backpacking whenever I can.  I eat as much local food as I can, so I end up eating different produce as the weather changes.  There's a lot more fruit in my diet in the summertime, especially in berry season.  

I hope everybody's enjoying the first real week of summer.  Drink some water!

QUESTION OF THE DAY ... JUN 26

What is your favorite weight loss tool? (I'm thinking things like - heart rate monitor, stair stepper, tennis shoes, calorie calculator, pedometer - but whatever has worked the best for you) Why do you feel this is so effective for you?

Original Post by smwhipple:

QUESTION OF THE DAY ... JUN 26

What is your favorite weight loss tool?  (I'm thinking things like  - heart rate monitor, stair stepper, tennis shoes, calorie calculator, pedometer - but whatever has worked the best for you) Why do you feel this thing is so effective for you?
 

I love my heart rate monitor.  I'm kind of a nerd, and I love to quantify things.  It's not only exciting to see how many calories I have burned, but also I'm really happy to see that me resting heart rate is going down, which is a good sign for my cardiovascular health.  I find having a monitor on, I tend to do a little extra exercise to get up to an even number of calories burned, too, which is also nice.  Now I just wish they'd make ones with prettier watches so I wouldn't have to change my watch when I get to school.

My favorite is the thrift store and ebay.  For the most part I've been able to track calories and exercise and have a reasonable success with the built in tools from CC (okay, so maybe the tools are the best but that's not how I'm viewing it right now), but it's the jeans (cheap at the thrift store) in the next size down and the sparkly slinky red dress that I want to be able to wear that are really the most motivating for me.  Having that dress hanging on my bedroom door just keeps me a bit more on track and it's an absolute thrill to fit into a pair of jeans that were too small.

QUESTION OF THE DAY....WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25, 2008:

Do you vary either your food selections or your activity selections by the time of year?

I definitely add more fresh fruit & veggies in the summer, and I eat more soups in the winter.  In the summer my activities include walking since it is nice to be outside, my chest hurts from breathing the cold air if I walk too long in the winter outside.

 

QUESTION OF THE DAY ... JUN 26

What is your favorite weight loss tool? (I'm thinking things like - heart rate monitor, stair stepper, tennis shoes, calorie calculator, pedometer - but whatever has worked the best for you) Why do you feel this is so effective for you?
I love my gazelle!  It is so easy to use & it doesn't bother my back like some machines do.  Since it doesn't hurt my back I can go longer and use it more often. 

We're back from vacation ... and I must admit that the cool, foggy, ocean breezes were just what I needed to restore my parched little self! Of course, coming back to sizzling heat and atrocious air quality was a bit of a letdown! (It seems that there are over 1,000 fires burning in California right now!)  The biggest news since I took off Tuesday morning is that my very own alma mater and hometown team, the Fresno State Bulldogs, shocked the heck outta everybody (including me) and -- despite being ranked 89th before the NCAA tournament began -- WON THE COLLEGE WORLD SERIES!!! 


Anyway, my girlfriend Heather and I really did have a delightful time in Carmel, visiting some of my favorite restaurants, shopping in some of my favorite stores, walking along my favorite beaches, and staying in our favorite hotel. (Did I mention Carmel is our favorite city?)  Eating wise, my primary goal was to keep my blood sugars in check, and I was reasonably successful for the 3-day period.  Some of the best things that I ate? Shepherd's Pie at my favorite french bistro, grilled Monterey Sand Dabs (that's a fish), Argentinean grilled steak, steamed artichokes, fresh gazpacho, fresh hummus, and some really tasty bruchetta.  OK, these were "best" from a taste perspective, not necessarily a health perspective, lol! But I was good and brought my own fiber-filled breakfast from home: Fiber One Cereal and some of my low carb, high protein, high fiber Western Bagels.  And we walked a lot!!!!

MOLLY

QUESTION OF THE DAY -- FRIDAY JUNE 27

Did you miss me?

:: giggle ::

(I'm back from vacation!)

Original Post by mollymouser:

QUESTION OF THE DAY -- FRIDAY JUNE 27

Did you miss me?

:: giggle ::

(I'm back from vacation!)

Of course we did!

I sure did!  It's hard work coming up with questions!  Looks like you had a blast which is as it should be.

Original Post by mollymouser:

QUESTION OF THE DAY -- FRIDAY JUNE 27

Did you miss me?

:: giggle ::

(I'm back from vacation!)

Of course we missed you!  We love to read your insight on everything around you.
Sounds like you had a great vacation!

I got on the scale this morning ..... after 2+ weeks of eating out and enjoying myself and "maintenance" and vacation and ...... (drumroll) ..... the scale showed that I've STILL lost exactly 100 pounds! Wooo hoooo!!!!  I was sooo scared before I got on the scale .... and soooo relieved afterward!  I know, I know, it may seem silly to be happy about not having lost weight in 2+ weeks, but I am actually just thrilled not to have GAINED in 2+ weeks!!!! After all, I am "practicing" maintenance until August 22!

I do think that I am making wiser choices when we do go out to eat, both in terms of which restaurants we choose as well as what foods I order when we do go out.  I've found that I can make some reasonably healthy choices at Thai restaurants -- as long as I avoid the rice, noodles, and things with coconut milk. One of my favorite local Thai restaurants makes a great spicy beef salad (beef, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, spicy chili dressing), and a great lettuce wrap (chicken, veggies, green curry), and a yummy green bean and tofu dish with lots of veggies, too. 

There is absolutely no exercising occurring here .... the air quality is "unhealthy for all groups" 24/7 ... so with my asthma I can't even exercise INDOORS. I am still walking around as much as possible (malls, shopping, even around the house), and dancing a wee bit to the radio, but mainly I just need to watch my portions and my carbs and make the best choices, possible.

Oh, and drink more water. (Better go do that now!)

MOLLY

Hi All,

I've been out of the loop for the past week or so and seem to have regressed to some old habits.  It's so strange because I thought I had things in control.  I've been eating better and moving more for the past year and a half so I find this frustrating. A month ago I would not believe that I would be facing this problem.

 I can't say that I'm eating mindlessly because I seem to be making deliberate choices to eat too much.  I think I'm fully beginning to understand that food addiction is like alcohol and drug addiction- in that I will always need to be vigilent about watching my behavior.  For the past week I've been waking with the intention to make good choices but by the end of the day I've thrown caution to the wind and end up eating 2500+ calories. 

As was discussed in this thread several weeks ago- I need to take action and change the behavior despite the "why" I'm doing what I'm doing. 

I'd love to hear back from someone who has gone through this.  Have a great day All- and try to stay cool Molly.

luzd: I seem to go through healthy phases and I don't care phases.  More and more I find that the I don't care phases are shorter and most often I don't go over or much over my maintenance calories so I don't gain weight which is good.  I'm not losing weight which isn't so good, but then again I still haven't completely committed to that effort.  I know that if I can maintain for a while that when I'm ready I'll kick into the effort to lose and that in the interim I just need to keep doing good things for my body and my health and not beat myself up for those times when I do decide to splurge.  Hope that helps.

QUESTION OF THE WEEKEND JUNE 28-29

What five pieces of advice would you give to someone just starting out on a new diet / healthy eating plan?

MOLLY

What five pieces of advice would you give to someone just starting out on a new diet / healthy eating plan?

1.  Stick to it.

2.  If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got.

3.  Fiber, fiber, fiber.

4.  A binge once in awhile is no big deal.  A binge everyday is an unhealthy lifestyle.

5.  It's diet AND exercise that will help.  Not dieting alone.

Original Post by mollymouser:

QUESTION OF THE WEEKEND JUNE 28-29

What five pieces of advice would you give to someone just starting out on a new diet / healthy eating plan?

MOLLY

1. You have to decide that you really want to do this.  If you see your "diet" as some evil, outside force that is keeping you from eating what you want, you'll have a pretty miserable time.

2. Question your food choices.  When you walk into the kitchen at night craving something not-so-healthy, stop and ask yourself whether you really want it, or whether you're just eating out of habit or boredom.  (It makes me feel so good when I actually put back a cookie, realizing that I don't want it.)

3. When you feel crappy and want to turn to junk food for comfort, go for a walk first.  Getting a little exercise and fresh air will make you feel better than any snack. 

4. Learn to analyze your cravings.  I try to think about the foods I'm craving and what kinds of qualities they have.  Then I choose healthier foods that have those same qualities.

5. Eat yummy food.  Just because food isn't drenched in fat and sugar doesn't mean it shouldn't taste good.  Use spices.  Use fresh herbs.  Use good produce.  Use vinegars and other flavorful condiments.