Motivation

So I have seen teen, 20's, 40's, 50's and beyond, but no 30's group.  So would anybody like to get something started?  Not sure where to begin hmmmm

I guess being in our thirties our metabolism has not hit a wall just yet, but it certainly isn't what it was in the 20's.  Don't you miss those days?  Anything you want and as long as you did maybe one sport in high school, then no worries.  Ohwell on to real life where nothing seems to be on schedule.

Let hear your thoughts.

manta515, wow, a PhD in Biomedical Engineering - impressive! Sounds like a really interesting career.. and all your travelling sounds so fabulous! Thats great you can choose such a nice environment for your daughter.. I suppose Australia sounds like a small town atmosphere- stores close early, and not so many big chain stores..alot of places like that here in the US still if you get away from the cities..Thats terrible what you're paying for gas! good lord, I hope it doesnt get that high here! I think I saw about $3.80 today (still pretty terrible!)  Congrats on your 10 miles..wow! Good luck on your marathon!

lynn, you are such a little sneak you! lol.. cutting his fat, undercover workouts, what else you got up your sleeve ;)  You should change the tags on his clothes so he thinks he's wearing a 2x or something.. maybe that would set a fire under him to start wanting to work on shedding his extra lbs so you wouldnt have to be so sneaky..lol, but I suppose that wouldnt be as much fun :)

Wendy,how well do you know me... My boyfriend use to be a 32/34. NOW! He's a 38/40, and the funny thing about this is.. He thinks it's so cute.. His mom said, "he's been small all his life, let him enjoy his weight." I can't! I picked up a few pounds of muscle weight, and he said... Oh! The scales are tipping with you babe. Who are you to tell me what the scales are doing. My trainer pulled out that measurement tape and said.. NOPE we have what I call a trade out, and she will level out in a week, and I did. So.. This is my undercover war with his butt. You think I've gain... Well Mr.... Tipping.. You are losing weight undercover.. That's what I really would like to say to his behind.

My BFF told him.. What are you going to do when she gets all that weight off, are you going to catch up later... Because you better catch her now, because she is walking out the door... Fit, Hot, Trim, and Sexy... He was like.. She will never leave me over a little weight gain. No! I want.. But I will make him lose weight undercover...LOL

Hello all, looks like this thread has been busy this weekend.  Hope all had a good one.  It's getting hot again in Nor. Cal and I'm hating it. 

I took the weekend off from the gym and ate way more than I normally do in the hopes it will kick start my weight loss again.  I have decided to up my calories (as mentioned previously) on the days I weight train with my PT so hopefully by Friday the scale will cut me some slack and go down.  I feel weird eating so much.  Mind you, I don't eat like a bird, I eat plenty of protein and get at least two servings of low-fat dairy, fruit and MUFAs each day.  I do feel very satisfied.  However, it seems that when I eat more than I should and take the occasional break from the gym, I see the results I want.  I should have recognized the pattern before and saved myself some frustration.

Anyone else seem to need more food to lose weight?

Original Post by 1aprilfool:

Anyone else seem to need more food to lose weight?

I've been reading quite a bit about that lately.  I haven't gotten to that stage of my weight loss yet, so I can't say personally.  But it does all make sense. 

Original Post by lulufit:

MANTA515, Are you talking about the Westside Market? I have never been there even though I live only about 30-40 minutes from Cleveland. I will have to check it out.

 YES!  The Westside Market.  I used to get GREAT deals there on a lot of things, spices, meats, fish, fruits, veg, etc.  Plus, if you go right at the end of the day when the market is closing down, some of the sellers will sell there stuff REALLY cheap because.  I once went at closing time and got to fill an entire bad of tomatoes for some ridiculously cheap price (like $2 or  something like that).  I recal doing the same with a lot of other produce as well.  It is WELL worth the trip.  Where do you live in Cleveland?  I went to Case Western, lived on campus, then in cleveland heights for awhile, then in little italy for most of my time in grad school there. 

Wendy, yes, it is an interesting field of work, but sometimes I do get tired of research.  Not sure were I want to end up eventually, but I guess we will see. And if you think the gas is bad, you don't even WANT to know about property prices (particularly in Sydney).  You can't even get into a house of less than half a million and that would be in some crappy suburb out west, if you wanted a hosue in a nice area, then you are looking at upwards of $700,000.  Even 2 bedroom apartments run about $300,000+ here.  Absolutely overpriced!

Lynn, I absolutely LOVED Thailand, would HIGHLY recommend going back for a visit, and the food is absolutely fabulous there.

 

Anyone else seem to need more food to lose weight?

I've only been on CC and tracking my calories for about a week, but I think I've encountered this dilemma. I didn't see the scale budge at all, despite having 2000 calorie deficits some days (due to cycling, not undereating). Then the other day I ate more than I intended (a friend's 40th b-day), and I seem to have dropped half a pound.

But I'm also having trouble sorting out whether or not I'm losing fat and gaining muscle from the cycling and light weight training. I have a feeling I'm gaining some muscle and THAT'S why the scale's not dropping. Which I'm totally fine with. My crazy Tanita electro-magical-scale tells my I've dropped my body fat 2% and raised my water weight 3.5% -- which I assume is due to more muscle.

would HIGHLY recommend going back for a visit, and the food is absolutely fabulous there

Mmmmmm. Thailand. I'd love to go back to Thailand. If anyone happens to go, be sure to hit Chiang Mai -- everyone seems to go south to the beaches, and not north into the mountains. There used to be a slew of incredible restaurants along Suthep road, but my friends tell me that an influx of Western shops have put some of them under. Darn shame.

The night train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai is pretty cheap too. And super comfy unless you're tall like I am (you can sleep the whole way).

Hope I'm not too late to join in with you guys.  I'm 35 w/ four wonderful children (14, 12, 10 and 5) and I just re-joined this weekend after a rough year.  At least I managed to keep off the progress I had made!  5'5, 152 currently with a HW of 171 and GW of 135.

Really trying to focus on nutrition since I can't do much in the way of exercise.  I have MS and UCTD along with a chronic condition that makes my muscles cramp and twitch if I do more than 10 minutes of any type of physical exertion (well, they still do it most of the time anyway!)  I have gone through my depression stage over all of it and now just want to get as healthy as I can! 

My daughter is a dancer with a ballet company, my oldest son plays high-school football and my 10 year old son plays baseball year-round.  So, add the role of chauffer as well as my full-time job as a public defender down here in south Georgia.  My biggest challenge is planning ahead for my meals and snacks rather than just grabbing something in the car. 

Original Post by jennelaw:

My biggest challenge is planning ahead for my meals and snacks rather than just grabbing something in the car. 

It really takes work to be healthy.  I spend an average of 30 minutes each evening figuring out what I'm going to eat the next day and putting everything together.  While it is something of a drag, I never wonder what I'm going to eat during the day.  Each week we choose recipes and input everything into our nutrition tracking program.  We have a very large database of foods and recipes so that part of planning is very fast.

Best of luck to you.

 

Sigh...planning ahead is something that I'm going to have to get better at doing for myself.  I can tell you at any given minute what is going on with my children and my work, but I have a hard time giving myself the same attention.  I'm going to make myself b/c I HAVE to do it.  And the sense of accomplishment is really great!

Original Post by njmattes:

I didn't see the scale budge at all, despite having 2000 calorie deficits some days (due to cycling, not undereating). Then the other day I ate more than I intended (a friend's 40th b-day), and I seem to have dropped half a pound.

My deficits are from exercise too.  I've been feeling really down lately because I am doing everything right and not seeing the results I so desperately want.  I really wish I could lose as easily as others seem to.  At this point, I would love to see a 1/2 lb. loss!  Anything would be better than nothing at all.  My husband eats way more than I do on a daily basis and cheats all the time.  I work out hard at least 5 days per week and he barely gets in three.  Yet he is still managing to lose a minimum of 1 lb. per week.  Weeks that he tries, he loses 4 lbs.  Not fair!

manta515 ~ you have my dream job :) Well, mostly. I'm an immunologist (currently working in public health) considering a stint in molecular bio down there. I traveled OZ five years ago and loved it so much I've been trying to figure out how to get back for a longer period of time! And your description of it being like the US in the 50's is perfect. Exactly what our impressions were when we were there.

1aprilfool ~ absolutely. That seems to be my pattern, too. It drives me nuts, actually!

Oh ~ and for cheaper veg alternatives ~ how about farmers' markets and/or buying a farm share in your area? I belong to a CSA (community supported agriculture) where I have one share in a local farm and we get fresh veggies all summer into late fall. It's an amazing savings over the grocery store. If anyone is interested in looking in their area of the US, here is a great link to check out. From there, you can link to a variety of pages that are state specific.

Manta515, my sister just graduated from Grad school at Case too. She also did her undergrad there, years ago. I lived up in Coventry about 12 years ago (has it been that long?!!)  Little Italy was great. We used to go to the Euc (the Euclid Tavern) and hang out there. We would always hit Little Italy during the Feast. Good times.  Small world, huh?

Just saw this thread and thought I'd say hello. 31 year old here.

Good Afternoon everyone!  I am new to the site, I have been tracking calories on my own excel spreadsheet for 2 months and I have lost 10 lbs.  I am now using this site to track calories and exercise.

I am 37 years old, married, 2 teenage boys ages 13 and 16.  I am 5'4" tall and weigh 142 lbs.  I am a comfortable size 8, I can squeeze into some 6's.  Dress size is 8.  At my ideal weight/size I was 122 lbs. I last saw that weight approx 6 years ago.  I am on thyroid replacement for the rest of my life as well.

I have an athletic build (narrow hips and thighs, average size chest).  My problem area is (hold onto your seats, this is a new one) my mid-section.  Since I have a "boyish" figure (narrow hips, straight waist) the extra inches in the middle make me look much bigger.  Also, I have broad shoulders and big arms.  All of this upper body bulk is making me look awful.  I used to be very active but now I have a desk job and I hate working out.  I might be ADD because working out is so boring to me that I dread the thought. I find that when I decide to exercise I spend the day thinking about how much I am not looking forward to actually doing it.  I get myself all upset and begin dreading the end of my work day. I am an avid reader, movie buff and computer nerd. My brain has to be stimulated or I am a basket case.  I need suggestions so I can kick this lifestyle and start getting active!

One of my ideas:  Books on CD-listen to a book while walking.  Pro: brain activity Con: they are expensive.

Other ideas? So far I have belonged to a gym with 2 friends (I lasted a year longer than they did); a girls walking group after work (again, all bailed after a few weeks); spinning class; step areobics.  

 

Welcome to all the new people!

Yep, I am with njmattes on going North in Thailand, but I would skip Chaing Mai and go even further like Chaing Rai or Mae Song, although Chaing Mai is VERY nice, it has started to get a bit touristy. If you want an even more authentic visit, go hit the northeast of Thailand. I loved it there and you will be hard pressed to see too many foreigners. The drawback is that not as much English is spoken there. However, having said that, the beaches are very lovely too, I would recommend Krabi and Koh Lanta over any of the more popular spots.

Lulu, it IS a small world. I did undergrad and grad at Case too.  I was there from 1994-2003, and while I would NEVER move back to Cleveland, i do have some great memories from there.  I used to frequent the Euc when I was an undergrad, had a few friends whose band  played there regularly.  And Coventry was like my second home during grad school.  Can't count how many happy hours I spent up there and how many times I had to leave my car and walk down the big hill back home to little italy!  I must say that although I loved the feast, living in little italy DURING the feast was a pain in the arse!

Daizy, thats funny because I work in the Molecular Health and Technologies division of CSIRO (australia's verson of the NIH) and our site was saying recently that an immunologist would be a great addition (unfortunately, we just had some budget cuts, so not sure if and when there would be an opening).  I would suggest having a look at the CSIRO website from time to time for jobs as they will sometimes sponser overseas applicants to get a work visa to come here and they have various sites and divisions all over Oz.  Also, you could look into the skilled migration.  Depending on what you and your husband do, you may be able to qualify for permanent residency.  Feel free to PM me if you need some ideas as I am quite familiar with how it all works here now. 

Hey there julie1366 and welcome~

Shyran - Aren't those teenagers great?  Mine are getting ready to be 13 and 15 in a couple more weeks.  Just a thought, have you tried getting the books on tape at the library?  We do that a lot when we go out of town and you can get a decent variety with no cost.  I'm still struggling with the whole activity thing.  I keep reminding myself to take baby steps!~

Original Post by 1aprilfool:

Anyone else seem to need more food to lose weight?

 Funny that you mentioned that because I am just now going through the same thing. I walk 10 miles a day for a few days a week and recently bought a HRM. Now I can understand why I need to eat more than what I was eating, but still I feel guilty eating 2,500 calories on my walk days. I just got done eating tonight and I hope I will get to see good results on my scale tomorrow morning. Still pretty new with the idea of eat more lose more though, I know someday I will be comfortable with it.

Hi everyone, I know this post is late as it can get, but hey.. I got the pics updated, and to me...... My boyfriend is not going to take another one of me. We got them done this afternoon, and I was beat for doing this.. No do that, this is going out to the world.. You can look better than that. Smile.. Come on, say cheese... You say chesse... I got them up, and I am going to have to change somethings quick.

I see we got some new people. WELCOME!

Lynn, you look fantastic!  great pictures. 

I really need to update my pics, all the ones I have up are "fat" pics. 

Right now, all I have are fat pics! I am taking the kids to get their picture taken and I will be brave and get a family picture. Life doesn't go on hold just because I am overweight. But it will sure feel good to get a picture taken next year....and hopefully there will be a huge difference.

Lynn, you look great. You are an inspiration!