The Great Bhuz Weigh In Competition

[danidance]

yippee! I hope I'm right behind you this weekend. no loss for me this week. just a bump up of a pound so far.

Originally Posted by Lauren_

Thanks to everyone here and all the wonderful advice I've gotten on Bhuz, I've now lost a couple more pounds! I love you guys.

[damiena]

I am down to 143!!! I have had a very, very stressful week - my 16 year old son, who is okay (the most important thing!!!), got hit by a car while riding his bike and then I had to pull an all-nighter at work when my voice mail system blew-up. I went to the gym last night and just crashed after an hour - I did the leg and ab machines and was going to do arms, but just could not.

[sumayasaahir]

Thanks, I needed that

Originally Posted by sunshine

What a bitch! Sending hate waves their way

[bintbeled]

Originally Posted by damiena

I am down to 143!!! I have had a very, very stressful week - my 16 year old son, who is okay (the most important thing!!!), got hit by a car while riding his bike and then I had to pull an all-nighter at work when my voice mail system blew-up. I went to the gym last night and just crashed after an hour - I did the leg and ab machines and was going to do arms, but just could not.

Congrats! Glad your son and your voicemail system (in that order!) are OK.

[danidance]

On the news this a.m.:

Researchers found that a person's chance of becoming obese increased by 57 percent if that person's close friend became obese. If it was a sibling or a spouse, the person's risk went up by more than one-third. Next-door neighbors, however, had no influence at all.

The results appear in the current issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Weight Gain and Weight Loss: Same Phenomenon

If the scope of this social influence is impressive, Christakis says the beauty is that it seems to work in both directions.

"The same kinds of phenomenon that contribute to an obesity epidemic could potentially be harnessed to the reversal of it," he says.

That's because researchers also saw that when one person loses weight, it contributes to other people around them losing weight, too.

Linky:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...oryId=12237644

[damiena]

Originally Posted by bintbeled

Congrats! Glad your son and your voicemail system (in that order!) are OK.

Thank you, dance Mommy!

[danidance]

So after my indulgence last Friday of a nice dinner out and plenty of wine, it took me a full week to get back to my last Friday record low weight on this present diet. One Week!!

Now, I had a commitment tonight to go out to dinner again and I've cancelled (sorry Roxxanne). I have got to turn down invitations out that involve food until I get to my goal. Once I'm there, then it's okay if it takes me a week to "recover" from a treat out - as long as I stay stable.

However, while losing - the bumps up are too demoralizing when you have momentum going.

So, I'm officially crawling into my anti-social cave for another month or two.
Don't invite me out anywhere okay?

[sumayasaahir]

Dani I totally hear you. I'm going to visit my cousin today and have to be careful not to drink too much wine, but Ive been saving this damn bottle for her until she moved back home from San Diego. :(

Ive eaten so well in the last three days, and you know what my reward is? Gaining another pound. WTF?!?!?!?!?! I counted every calorie, made smarter decisions and for what I ask you? Maybe I need to eat super duper clean so I can finally see some results. Woo hoo 1200 calories here I come :(

[Lilladancer]

Originally Posted by danidance

So after my indulgence last Friday of a nice dinner out and plenty of wine, it took me a full week to get back to my last Friday record low weight on this present diet. One Week!!

Now, I had a commitment tonight to go out to dinner again and I've cancelled (sorry Roxxanne). I have got to turn down invitations out that involve food until I get to my goal. Once I'm there, then it's okay if it takes me a week to "recover" from a treat out - as long as I stay stable.

However, while losing - the bumps up are too demoralizing when you have momentum going.

So, I'm officially crawling into my anti-social cave for another month or two.
Don't invite me out anywhere okay?

What about asking friends to meet you for a brisk walk instead? I love walking and shooting the breeze with a friend. Pick a nice area to walk in, lace up your sneaks and go! Kinda goes along with the cool article you found about harnessing the power of group support....

[danidance]

Lilla,

that's a good idea for quality time. I just have to keep away from food-based events and that doesn't necessarily mean staying away from people. However, right now I'm working about 10-12 hours a day and I just feel so drained that the most I can socialize is online.

I just don't have the energy for going out, getting together, or anything. It's the stress I imagine.

[CharlotteDesorgher]

Originally Posted by danidance

So after my indulgence last Friday of a nice dinner out and plenty of wine, it took me a full week to get back to my last Friday record low weight on this present diet. One Week!!

Oh, it's just soooo dispiriting isn't it? When that happens I almost feel like there's no point in dieting at all if just one day of indulgence takes you right back where you started

(sunshine who had a dinner party last night for friends and ate and drank waaay to much)

[danidance]

Sunshine,

It is demoralizing! But - I'm trying to look at it this way: as long as the week out indulgence is followed by not repeating the same thing the next week - then it's all good.

I think figuring out the patterns and accommodating them is what will help those of us who battle weight issues lose weight and then maintain our goal weights when we achieve them.

One week is really nothing in the grand scheme of things - seriously - it's just piling on the behavior so that it's 3 weeks of eating out and letting all hell break loose that will cause the major problems with progress.

This weekend, I'm being very good and plan to engage in some heavy duty house cleaning to get some calories burned!

The only problem is that I'm being a horrible friend, and I feel really really badly about it. I'm having to be selfish and think only about my needs and that makes me feel like such a chump. But, that's probably good too and part of the whole emotional eating disorder (in my case, not saying it's a disorder for all).

In fact, it may be good to have this kind of thing surfacing. I had to stand up to someone in the past few days who challenged my abilities in a particular area where I think I'm very strong. Unfortunately they only see me using those skills with 5 seconds to deliver a product so the quality isn't what it ought to be. So rather than accept the "Well, that's not really your strong suit you know," which I normally would have done, I said, "actually, I am strong at that, but I need time in which to do a good job and that's never available to us since we're short staffed and cover so many bases."

Okay, that's my pep talk for the weekend, and my soapbox. :)

Originally Posted by sunshine

Oh, it's just soooo dispiriting isn't it? When that happens I almost feel like there's no point in dieting at all if just one day of indulgence takes you right back where you started

(sunshine who had a dinner party last night for friends and ate and drank waaay to much)

[Lauren_]

Originally Posted by danidance

The only problem is that I'm being a horrible friend, and I feel really really badly about it. I'm having to be selfish and think only about my needs and that makes me feel like such a chump. But, that's probably good too and part of the whole emotional eating disorder (in my case, not saying it's a disorder for all).

I think the disordered part, for all of us, as a society even, is that we can't seem to gather/have fun without food. If you can't gather/have fun without alcohol, that's considered a problem...

We should all work on learning to respond to invites like this "Oh, I'd love to see you, but I'm watching my weight right now. Want to just come over and talk, or meet at the park/botanical garden/mall/etc to relax/walk for a while?"

In your case, though, it sounds like your social avoidance has as much to do with being overstressed/overstretched as with food.

I said, "actually, I am strong at that, but I need time in which to do a good job and that's never available to us since we're short staffed and cover so many bases."

Wow, good for you! That's a great response.

[CharlotteDesorgher]

Originally Posted by danidance

Sunshine,

It is demoralizing! But - I'm trying to look at it this way: as long as the week out indulgence is followed by not repeating the same thing the next week - then it's all good.

You're right - it's all part of the learning process and understanding ourselves and our weaknesses more.

As for having to avoid friends - it's a difficult one that. The time I lost loads of weight was when I was due to get married (six years ago) and I'd been on anti-depressents which made me put on 40 pounds which I wanted to lose fast. The wedding thing really foccused my mind but it did mean avoiding social situations like the plague. I tell you, it was the most boring couple of months of my life!

Like Lauren, I wish that social situations didn't revolve around food and alcohol - but they so often do! Even in countries where they don't drink alcohol, serious socialising involves food and loads of sweet goodies.

So maybe we should acknowledge that those of us who struggle with our weight are just very, very popular

[danidance]

Sunshine,

that we're popular is cute! I think it's some weird cosmic thing that goes out from us when we're dieting and says "here, come challenge me!"

I do try to do things without food or alcohol and I can turn down both at an event, as long as it's not every week. I just don't have the willpower to go out night after night and resist.

My job requires me to be social. I have two after work events next week so far and it's really really hard.

I think what I've learned is that I have to protect my weekends - from Friday to Sunday - for down time. it's the only chance I really have to catch up on things for myself. I am now officially in the "no" mode to commitments. I think what I have to do is just be honest up front, with "sounds fun, I might join you, but if it's okay, I need to be able to say yes at the last minute."

Somehow I have to figure this all out.

[suzyq52]

I went on vacation for a month and now I've gained weight instead of losing it!!! I was visiting family and just didn't walk or exercise or dance at all!!!! Now, I'm starting all over again and at a weight heavier than I logged in at!!! Plus, I'm into menopause, haven't had a period in four or five months and here I am having one!!! HATE IT!!!! At my age, I should be all done with this stuff!! lol Anyway, congratulations to all who have stuck with their eating program - I'm on mine now - down four pounds since being back home so that's a good start!

[danidance]

Be kind to yourself as you enter this phase. It's a challenge and not terribly pleasant - but you do get through it. It's been a year now that I've been officially menopausal due to surgery, and I can say that I've had some horrible fights with my body on this new course its on. On the other hand, the upside is, you can lose weight - I'm proof of that - your mid section will require more effort, no question the weight goes there; and the best? no more monthly cramping, bloating, and period associated nonsense!

Originally Posted by suzyq52

I went on vacation for a month and now I've gained weight instead of losing it!!! I was visiting family and just didn't walk or exercise or dance at all!!!! Now, I'm starting all over again and at a weight heavier than I logged in at!!! Plus, I'm into menopause, haven't had a period in four or five months and here I am having one!!! HATE IT!!!! At my age, I should be all done with this stuff!! lol Anyway, congratulations to all who have stuck with their eating program - I'm on mine now - down four pounds since being back home so that's a good start!

I just weighed myself for the last three days, and I think I've lost the 5 lbs I gained while in NYC, in which I ate my way through Manhattan and Queens. I'm also PMS right now, so after that, I will weigh myself again, and hopefully will have dropped at least 3 lbs. of PMS bloat weight, which is typical for me,
3-5 lbs of PMS bloat EVERY single stinkin' month!
Anyway, I have 10 more lbs to go...