The Great Bhuz Weigh In Competition

mish_mish · 07-01-2007, 11:49 PM

You are all looking great. I am having a rough time but things have been really crazy so I'm trying to be kind to myself about not being perfect right now.

danidance · 07-02-2007, 01:16 AM

Rachel,
Stress is a killer. I think it's totally why (at least in part) the scale hasn't moved more than 4 or 8 ounces at a time for me. Lack of sleep totally stalls weight loss and well, let's face it - sleeplessness goes with stress. The body just gets into survival protection mode and hangs onto some fat!

Quote:

Originally Posted by mish_mish

You are all looking great. I am having a rough time but things have been really crazy so I'm trying to be kind to myself about not being perfect right now.

kina · 07-02-2007, 08:50 AM

I haven't had a chance to weigh myself, jam packed full weekend, but I'll get to the gym tomorrow.

I can't have a scale inteh house, depresses me too much, can't resist the temptation to jump on it daily.

mish_mish · 07-02-2007, 09:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by danidance

Rachel,
Stress is a killer. I think it's totally why (at least in part) the scale hasn't moved more than 4 or 8 ounces at a time for me. Lack of sleep totally stalls weight loss and well, let's face it - sleeplessness goes with stress. The body just gets into survival protection mode and hangs onto some fat!

Yes. I am happy that I haven't gained it all back, really. This week I am going to focus on what I am doing right, rather than what I did wrong. My sleeping is erratic. My moods are erratic.

1) I really wanted to buy wine this weekend when we had people over, but I didn't. I only had one glass at another party on saturday and then I had water.

2) I only had one piece of the fruit tart my friends brought and I wanted a bigger piece and I wanted more pieces!

3) I made some yummy fresh salsa with anaheim chilis from my garden that I can use on my salad today.

4) I have been good about squeezing in some brisk walks on my breaks and lunch.

Lilladancer · 07-02-2007, 12:19 PM

Mish, those are all really good things to feel good about. Maintaining a healthy diet and weight isn't about total denial, but moderation. I had a stressful night on Saturday and suddenly gave in to an ice cream bar, but I'm working really hard to just think of that as a treat and move on, rather than focus on how I "failed". At least I didn't have two! The way I was feeling, I easily could have. LOL

Dani, you are looking really great - it doesn't look like you even need to lose 15 more pounds, but you know best!

I wish I could just drop this five that I thought I would have easily done by now...but I'm sticking with the goal, and it has to happen eventually. It's always been this way for me - I can pretty much eat as I like most of the time, but if I do gain a few pounds, my body hangs on for dear life until I wrestle those pounds out of it's desparate little hands!

sumayasaahir · 07-02-2007, 01:35 PM

Mish those are all really good things. I can completely commiserate on how hard #1 and #2 must have been. I laugh sometimes over internal struggle when I really want one more piece of chocolate, when I shouldnt have had that one to begin with.

Sigh...I logged onto fiday today. at a 1400 calorie max, Im already at half and its noon. I made some not so good choices so far. :(

Quote:

Originally Posted by mish_mish

Yes. I am happy that I haven't gained it all back, really. This week I am going to focus on what I am doing right, rather than what I did wrong. My sleeping is erratic. My moods are erratic.

1) I really wanted to buy wine this weekend when we had people over, but I didn't. I only had one glass at another party on saturday and then I had water.

2) I only had one piece of the fruit tart my friends brought and I wanted a bigger piece and I wanted more pieces!

3) I made some yummy fresh salsa with anaheim chilis from my garden that I can use on my salad today.

4) I have been good about squeezing in some brisk walks on my breaks and lunch.

CFerhat · 07-03-2007, 10:38 AM

Has anyone had good luck with the South Beach diet? I know - I'm about three years late on this one :) but a friend's doctor just put her on it and I picked up the book myself and it looked - not unreasonable...
Anyone?

danidance · 07-03-2007, 11:02 AM

South Beach is good. I like it - basically it's similar to Jenny Craig in that it's low-glycemic. JC's diet is based on Volumetrics though - but seriously, as far as the kind of food you can eat - very similar.

jmc · 07-03-2007, 05:25 PM

You can do it - embrace going slowly and making real changes instead of quick fixes. I've lost more weight than an elephant in my life - I'm really interested now in making permanent livable changes![/quote]

Hi,
Thanks for the words of support. I have been making small lifestyle changes...trying to eat small meals more frequently during the day, watching serving sizes and making going to the gym a part of my day. I've been restricted to doing upper body weights and riding the exercise bike lately because I got a terrible case of plantar faciatis over the spring and have not been able to do a lot of walking or weight bearing stuff. After a session of teaching dance, I could hardly walk. But that's starting to heal now, thank goodness and I've been able to go out for short walks in the evenings again. Eventually I'll work my back to the lovely long walks I used to take. I know that the changes have to be permanent life style changes but I still am very shy of the "diet" word because it's come to mean "weight gain" in my case! I have put on more weight since the plantar faciatis and am now at my all time high. This has made a huge negative impact on my self-image and self-confidence. So today I went shopping on my lunch hour and bought 2 really cute skirts that are fun and flirty and I felt instantly good as soon as I put them on (didn't hurt that they were 2 for $15 so I got 2 in different colours!) Note that I didn't buy a candy bar! I haven't lost any pounds so far, but am lifting considerably heavier weights than when I started so that's more muscle.

I'm going to Toronto to take the 2-week intensive Pro Course at Arabesque Academy and leave on Saturday. (woo hoo!) I'll be living in a hotel for 2 weeks but I think it will be a good chance to get a kick start on the whole weight loss process because I'll be out of my usual routine - I'll be able to use the gym & pool in the hotel first thing in the morning, take extra dance classes in the evenings and really monitor what I'm eating without all the distractions of my husband's chips & cookie habit. I'll have a fridge in my room so can keep cereal & milk, fruit etc.

Wish me luck!

danidance · 07-03-2007, 05:47 PM

Nita, good luck and I'm very envious of your Arabesque Dance Academy excursion which appeals to me greatly despite my dread of performing!

jmc · 07-03-2007, 06:58 PM

Thanks! This is my second time...I did it in 2003 also. It's a big time and $$ commitment: 2 weeks of holidays from work plus the expense of the course and getting there from here and living there for 2 weeks. But it's so worth it...I got so much out of it the first time, I can't wait to fill in all the gaps this time around, especially now that I know what to expect. It's a very well-rounded program that touches on everything from music & history to language & folklore. And as a perennial student & teacher, I look for courses like this that go beyond performance stuff.

kina · 07-03-2007, 08:30 PM

woohoo! i lost 4 lbs! yay!

it's still within the natural fluctuations of my body, but it's progress, nonetheless.

danidance · 07-03-2007, 09:02 PM

That's great - pick up a 5 pound bag of sugar and remind yourself how heavy 5 pounds is!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by kina

woohoo! i lost 4 lbs! yay!

it's still within the natural fluctuations of my body, but it's progress, nonetheless.

kina · 07-03-2007, 09:35 PM

thanks! I celebrated by buying a couple of cute t-shirts that I can wear to work and hang out, and a couple of shorts.

It's funny, I was terribly torn up by having to pay 10 - 12 bucks for actual clothes, but won't blink at spending $700 on a costume.

I guess we have to have our priorities!

I'm no one to really give advice, (which is why I haven't been a huge contributor on this thread) but in terms of SB diet, it's the most reasonable that I have seen. Nothing that is "forbidden" ( I dunno about the rest of you, but forbidding anything makes me crave it incessantly) and really easy to floow. Eat more vegetables, less bread, some protein dairy and fruit. Shopping the walls in the supermarket, really. That's how I mainly eat.

I think that getting older, higher stress levels and less time to exercise is what's getting to me. Including more exercise and being somewhat more mindful of what I'm putting into my mouth is helping.

Still 12 pounds to go.

danidance · 07-03-2007, 09:38 PM

Stress sucks and yep - for me too.

Apparently there's a new study out that shows that stress makes you gain belly fat. Did anyone see this anywhere? Someone at work mentioned it to me. They stressed out rats who got fat as a result (poor things).

mish_mish · 07-03-2007, 10:11 PM

I saw that. The mice who were made to endure stressful events (standing in cold water for an hour a day or sharing the cage with a more aggressive mouse for part of the day) made the mice gain more weight than mice with the same diet w/o the stress.

It is pretty interesting! Given my stress level and my tighter pants!

danidance · 07-03-2007, 10:23 PM

heh - for me too given, most days, I feel like a rat in a cubicle running around a maze of cubicles with a wheel in the corner to exhaust myself.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mish_mish

I saw that. The mice who were made to endure stressful events (standing in cold water for an hour a day or sharing the cage with a more aggressive mouse for part of the day) made the mice gain more weight than mice with the same diet w/o the stress.

It is pretty interesting! Given my stress level and my tighter pants!

CharlotteDesorgher · 07-04-2007, 07:59 AM

Hi guys - can anyone join this thread or is it strictly for those who signed up for the two month challenge??

I really, really want to lose 7 pounds by the end of July when I've got a pro photo session. The trouble I have is that I'm not that much overweight and everyone thinks I look fine so I find it really hard to motivate myself.

And although people say I don't need to lose weight, they don't have to look at themselves in a bedlah day in and day out with just too many squishy bits hanging over the belt

But because I don't look THAT bad, it's soooo easy to say 'what the heck' when I'm tired, or at the end of the day when my husband says 'do you want a glass of wine?' So I keep breaking my resolutions all the time

danidance · 07-04-2007, 09:03 AM

Sunshine,

Join in! It's for everyone - the challenge is beside the point really. This is just group support and shared frustrations and shared successes. 7 pounds seems like nothing until you have only that to lose and it won't budge!

As Lilla was saying earlier, and it's so true, the last pounds are so hard! I know for my last 15, they do not want to leave. They seem to be happy where they are, damn them.

mish_mish · 07-04-2007, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sunshine

Hi guys - can anyone join this thread or is it strictly for those who signed up for the two month challenge??

I really, really want to lose 7 pounds by the end of July when I've got a pro photo session. The trouble I have is that I'm not that much overweight and everyone thinks I look fine so I find it really hard to motivate myself.

And although people say I don't need to lose weight, they don't have to