Motivation

Hi, my name is Suzanne and I am 23 years old. I weigh 258.3 pounds(yikes) and would really like to get down to between 140 and 150. I was wondering if there was anyone else out there in their 20's who has about that much they want to lose. We could work together and stay motivated to reach our goals!!! Also, if there is anyone in their 20's who has lost that much and wants to share their success story, I would love to hear it! Thanks!

I weigh myself once a week and then have the Weight Watchers weigh-in... some say I should only weigh myself twice a month though!  I weigh myself on Mondays at 8 AM after waking up, going to the bathroom, etc.  The WW people always weigh me at 1:30 PM on Thursdays (with clothes, post-lunch) and I'm always 3-4 lbs heavier so I just disregard that number and don't let it affect me psychologically.

Today I wanted to get on more so b/c it's my period day so I wanted to get a sense of what my highs and lows are.  Have been reading whole discussions on women's hunger due to hormones around that time (similar to pregnancy hormones), sodium retention, etc.

sonini, thanks for posting the link.  i talked to star (mel) a couple of times on AIM last August and she's REALLY helpful and motivational.  and although i totally look at her profile and feel inspired, i also know that she only ate 1200 calories and told me that she only worked out if she wanted to treat herself.  i just don't think that's a diet i can do given how much i work.  what did help was how she came up with so many ideas for fitting in lots of food in 1200 calories.... 5 pieces of fruit could be like 300 calories only depending on what you chose, for instance.  as compared to say 1 donut at dunkn donuts which won't fill you up nearly as much but will also be 300 calories. 

how do you guys get those weight tickers in your profile?  i paste in the html and it never works for me!  i heard calorie count has some too but i don't know how to get to them, use them, etc.  can someone help me?  thanks =)

dalma, btw, you are pretty much the person i'm using as my motivation.  i keep telling myself that if you can keep going, then so can i!  but i so want to give up just like i did the first time around and that's not an option.  no pressure on you now, right?? :)  please routinely give me kicks in the butt like you did for ally.

 5 hours of dance between saturday and today.... not sure what else to do this week since i won't have time to go to the dance studio with family in town and a wedding to go to.  hotel gym/pool?  my "FIRM" dance video with mini weights (haven't tried it out yet -- has anyone else done it before?)

hey watchme! you can totally lean on me, it's cool. i prefer being held accountable, so no big. also, you'd better not give up! MY goal is to be a size 12 by new year's eve, also. don't you wanna make it? wouldn't you feel really pissed with yourself if you let yourself down AGAIN? i thought so.

watchme, you have to click the "HTML" button in the bar on the top of the edit window, and when the HTML text pops up, THEN you paste in the ticker info.  I know, it confused me at first too! :-)

thanks ally!  it FINALLY worked!  i've been trying to figure out that sucker for MONTHS and no one could remember how they got it to work!  yay!  it also told me my bmi went from a 58 to a 48.  48 is still no walk in the park but YAY!  that's HUGE!

dalma, yes, i want to be a size 12/14 by NYE.  Since I'm a hell of a lot shorter than you (5'3") and based on the last time I was at that size (2 inches shorter) I think I need to be about 180 lbs to get to that size comfortably.... that means 91 pounds between here and NYE or about 9 pounds a month.  feels so far off!  i saw pics of "the boy" from NYE last year and vowed that the following NYE he would be WITH ME haha.  I'm so crazy, I know!

albuch: I never thought of the face to face interview as a point for discrimination, but now that you have pointed it out, I must agree with you. It should have really occured to me!

watchme: I think alibuchs right...it's probably not good to weigh in everyday. I shouldn't talk though, when I weigh in, it's everyday. When I know I have been bad, I usually skip a few days. But I have weighed in this morning and I am down a half pound since last time, so thats something! Oh, and now I don't feel so bad for not being able to use the weight ticker in my profile! I couldn't get it either!

dalma: I have to agree that the half my weight blog girl looks incredible, and I bookmarked it too. She actually has a page on this site too! I found her by accident yesterday. I am so determined to get that thin! I also love your butt kicking ways and beg you to use them on me if you see I need them! I too want to be a 12/14 by new years eve! That will feel so great!!!

watchme - you're not crazy! Even though you are losing the weight for yourself, it's nice to have motivation like that too. Vowing that HE will be with you for new years is a good little push! I do the same sorts of things. Although mine is more dark... I want to get skinny and then kick the boy to the curb lol. He deserves it though.

dalma - I know eh! So inspirational! Although watchme made a good point, her diet is way different than what I'm doing. I don't think I could survive off of 1200 cals/day... but still, it's motivation and inspiration all the same! And I like how she posts stuff about the surgery, because I'm really interested in that process because it's pretty damn likely that I'm going to need some surgery eventually!

janal - 37 first cousins?! holy crap! and I thought I had a big family with 20 first cousins! lol

suzanne - you are doing great with keeping up! especially since your life is so crazy busy! And I know, 4 years is way too long to be waiting around.. my general rule is that if after 2 years things don't progress along the lines of "forever" (marriage, living together in sin ;), whatever) then it's time to move on. It's just different with this one for some reason. Blah.

Happy Hump Day everyone! Hope everyone has a great day!
I need to start watching my sodium hard core... and I don't even like salt!! Ick!  Damn you convenient frozen dinners and soups!

http://caloriecount.about.com/profile/x17star 17x

Here is a link to that girl from half my weights cal count profile.

sonini: Thanks...I try really hard to keep up. I somehow feel that the weight I lose is directly proportionate to how active I am in the forum. I know that doesn't make sense, but it keeps me motivated to have this group of friends who are all trying to do the same thing! You sound like my friend Megan.....she was the same way with her boyfriend. Now they are living in "sin" but they are happier! I hope your boyfriend realizes what he is missing out on before you are forced to kick his blind butt to the curb!

Horseback riding starts on April 6th!!!!!  YAHOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Horseback riding? Yay! :)

I just checked on here and I can't believe how many calories it burns!
To be completely honest, I've always been afraid to ride a horse because of my weight... I don't want to put too much strain on the horse!! :(
But, my roomate is a cowboy... (tehehe)... and he's actually moving his horse closer to our house so he wants to teach me to ride.... I'm scared!

You will have to let me know how it goes watchme, and then maybe I'll take my roomate up on his offer!

I wouldn't worry about putting too much weight on the horse, sonini.  I was at the rodeo last week, and some of those guys riding horses were pretty hefty guys.  Like most of them were between 260-300lbs.  And they weren't just leisurely riding these horses, but they were sprinting them, and then launching themselves off the moving horse and onto some poor innocent calf that was just trying to run away (they call it calf wrestling... I think it's kinda sad, but then, as THE GUY likes to remind me, I'm not a native Texan.)  Anyway, point being that if the horse is healthy, you'll probably be fine.  Have fun!

Edit: Don't think about those tiny jockey dudes that ride racehorses.  That's NOT indicative of the sort of people who are generally riding horses!

sonini, i missed the surgery thing in her blog. what did she have surgery for? btw, i totally could NEVER live off 1200 cals a day. i simply refuse to even attempt it.

edit: watchme, you're starting horseback riding on my and allydan's birthday! do a special horse move for us! i wish wish wish i was doing something cool on my birthday. i've got a car to fix and a loan to pay off instead. happy friggin' birthday.

Suzanne, it makes perfect sense to me...because I find the same to be true for me too, that when I log onto CC and read or write or whatever I do well, and the days or weeks that I didn't log on I fell off the path!!  And it's so great how you keep up and address everyone and their posts!

janal and sonini...I can jump on the bandwagon of tons of first cousins too...I have a wopping 44 (not including spouses..and there are lots of those too)!! And very much a "my big fat greek wedding" kind of family that everyone is way to involved in everyones life and everyone has way too many opinions...it's completely overwhelming.

watchme, I love how you mix up your fitness routines, I kind of stick to the what I know comfort thing, maybe I should change it up a little, dancing and horseback riding sounds great.

Had my first personal training session last night, most of the hour was a consultation with the trainer, and then like 20 minutes of resistance training, and even from that I was feeling a little light headed and faint, I had to sit...does that every happen to anyone else? It's happened to me twice before that I can remember when i really pushed myself during exercise.  I'm thinking I don't eat enough, not intentionally I eat small meals and after 10 months of "dieting" or "life change" whatever you prefer to call it and down about 60 lbs I'm just not so hungry.

Today me and staircases are not getting along very well  :) !! But it's that refreshing good pain I feel!! And I'm feeling so motivated and godo about the decision to get a personal trainer for a few months, especially because my budget is really rather tight.  But I'm thinking it will be the best money spent in the last few years!!!

Also unrealistic goals were mentioned the other day, so I've been thinking that I had over 100 lbs still to loose, and yesterday the trainer told me that I have 60 to get into healthy range...everything after that is extra healthy :) so that was an awesome moment, seemed so much more atainable!

Good luck to all the new members of the group, and of course to all the existing ones.

dalma - In one of her recent posts she talks about her consultation with a surgeon for some cosmetic surgery to get rid of the extra skin from her weight loss. I think I need to start saving NOW!! lol... but I think since I'm in Ontario that at least a portion of it will be covered by OHIP, phew!

ally - technically, I know that the horse can handle me. I've been to a few rodeos and horse shows (since my best friend/roomate is a 'cowboy' and all lol). I even went to Ohio last year with him for a few days to this HUGE horse show. But I don't know, I think I just perceive myself as being sooo much bigger than anyone I've seen on a horse (even though I've seen some pretty heavy people up there). Ah.. it's just a mental block that I need to get past.... since I know that Craig would never put his horse in any danger anyways :)
Besides, even just going to the barn and watching him ride will burn more calories than sitting at home on my couch lol. And who knows, maybe I'll meet a cowboy of my own ;) lol  Oh, other than black hair and green eyes, cowboys are my weakness......

thanks for the encouragement safa :)  Taking dance has definitely changed things a lot for me... I'm only estimating each hour as 350 calories burned (the minimum) even though it may be as much as 700 depending on the class.  It comes out to being about the same number of calories burned as I was logging on the elliptical each week but SO much more fun.  It's also nice to interact with humans considering I sit at a computer all day long for 12 hours a day and then go home to an empty place.  Before, it was ME versus the MACHINE.  Now I get to see boys.... some who are ridiculously sweet ones at that, some a little awkward.  =)

I would definitely recommend dance.  It was COMPLETELY out of my comfort zone and the first 2 or 3 classes (especially since I have never had much physical contact with guys) was kind of a culture shock for me -- talk about OUT OF MY COMFORT ZONE!!  I basically decided that the reason I fell off before was boredom with my routine, lack of a support system, not much fun with what I was doing, etc.  My unlimited dance pass is only $270 for the month of March and April and I'm taking 8 hours of class on average per week.  I really love the salsa classes the most!

Horseback riding is great too and, as sonini pointed out, burns lots of calories.  It's a little pricier though ($25 for a one-hour lesson).  But, it's a Sunday afternoon thing and my weekly treat to myself.  It's either horseback ride or get myself a manicure and I decided I can forego manicures for a few months :) 

Have you considered buying a bike?  I totally want to do that come this summer!  I'm also trying to decide if after April, I should get another 2-month dance class pass or if I should switch it up and do cardio kickboxing , belly dancing and tennis instead.  The latter classes cost the same as the one dance class pass (to get 8 hours of dance/week) but only gives me 3 hours of fitness/week but might be a nice change, especially if I buy a bike.  I really want to brush up on my tennis!  What do you guys think?

sonini, yeah, didn't she say the full body lift was like 30k?  My brother-in-law is a surgeon.  He doesn't specialize in plastics but knows about them.  He was saying that partial tummy tucks (which are okay to have pre-pregnancies as opposed to full ones) run for about 6k on average.  That's probably all I will do.  Some people get their chest and upper arms done though too depending on the sagginess -- stuff to consider, I suppose. 

My brother-in-law DOES do bariatric surgeries all the time (day-in, day-out) and says that a lot of those people have sagging skin issues because they lose weight so rapidly and generally it's only through the forced diet modification.  (If they eat beyond 2 cups of food at a time or a certain type of food, they throw up.  Gross!)  He said that exercising helps build muscle and tighten up the skin.  I don't have "hanging" skin like some people describe but I do have lots of "loose" skin in my tummy area which does not have fat underneath it anymore.  It's kind of gross but I keep thinking, there's probably 5 lbs of skin right there that will eventually be hacked away instead of my having to burn it off!  hehe

Original Post by watchmeshine82:

Have you considered buying a bike?  I totally want to do that come this summer!  I'm also trying to decide if after April, I should get another 2-month dance class pass or if I should switch it up and do cardio kickboxing , belly dancing and tennis instead.  The latter classes cost the same as the one dance class and only gives me 3 hours of fitness/week but might be a nice change, especially if I buy a bike.  I really want to brush up on my tennis!  What do you guys think?

I think buying a bike is a great idea! I just bought one last summer with my sister. I spent about $500 on my bike, compared to my sister's $1500 bike, yikes!
But we have tons of trails around here so I figured a bike would be a good way to get some exercise. Also, if I really wanted to, I could bike to work. I think it's a good investment because if you take care of it, your bike can last you forever!

Do you have any trails to bike on? I'm not sure how comfortable I would be riding my bike through the city too much just yet.
We also have some bike groups in our city who go out and bike the trails together... so I might look into that too. I definitely think it's more fun if you have a buddy to bike with.... and safer too? Lol, maybe I'm just a scaredy-cat.  

Edit: If you are thinking about buying a bike, I would definitely recommend going to an actual bike shop and getting fitted for it and finding out what bike will best fit your needs. It's not worth it to just go to Walmart and buy a cheap bike that isn't going to last.

Hey Ladies.....I just wanted to drop a line and tell you some great news!!!! I've lost 21 lbs since Jan. 7th and i have 70lbs to go... yeee haaawwww!! So far so good. My goal is to get close to my goal wieght for my birthday this year. I'll be 30 at the end of September. Anyways, hope you guys have a great day!