Cast your vote for week Eighteen!

[LittleDudesMom]

I must confess that I did not make it to WW last night. I worked in the yard for a couple hours after difficult child got home from school and left my back open and the stereo on. I ran the battery down. By the time bonehead got here with the cables, it was too late for a meeting and I just didn't feel like going and weighing in. I actually went out and ran a few errands with easy child instead.

But, I have had a great week and will do my best to get there tomrrow evening. I've been doing tons of yard work lately - just spent three hours out there after 90 minutes at the gym!

So ladies, how's it going?

Sharon

 

[Loving Abbey 2]

Way to stay active Sharon!!!!

I didn't lose or gain this week, which is frustrating. So I'm going to start taking Alli, a FDA approved weight-lose pill. It helps so that not as much of the fat you eat is absorbed. And it came with this great pocket sized book that lists the calories and fat for many many foods, as well as for popular food chains. I'll start that on Friday night. I hope it makes a difference. I'm definetly eating less fat and calories than the charts say I should be to be losing weight for my current size. I keep going forward.

I hope you all are doing well!!!


Michelle

 

[Wiped Out]

Sharon-Sounds like you are doing a great job with being active! Ninety minutes at the gym and three hours of yard work is amazing!

Michelle-Not gaining is good! I hope the Alli is helpful for you!

As for me I feel like a broken record. I'm doing fine with the exercise but not the eating. It's the emotional stuff and I have to knock it off. I was up only .8 last week but am up overall two pounds from where I was most of the winter. I know that doesn't sound like much but when I am continuing to eat it makes me worried. I know what to do I just have to do it.

On the good side, in addition to my regular workouts I have also been continuing to power walk at lunch about 2 days a week. Today I did, and call me grace, because I fell (luckily on to the grass). I think I'm o.k. but if I'm going to be sore it will be tomorrow.

 

[SearchingForRainbows]

I'm still learning to cope with my difficult children without being able to run. I think I'm doing much better at it than I was at first. I've found creative ways to keep myself calm, like making the water themed collage last week. I also make it a point to do one thing just for "me" every day. Yesterday I went for a long walk outside. It was a beautiful day!!! There were other things I needed to do, but I made it a point to enjoy as much time outside as I could. I'm trying to make myself just as much as a priority as my difficult children have always been. At times, it is difficult because I feel guilty. However, overall, mentally, I really feel much, much better.

With the exception of last night, I've been eating healthy. Although I always ate lots of fruits and veggies, I've increased the amount I eat. I've found this to be an effective way for me to keep from gaining weight. However, I have no idea how much I can eat without doing strenuous aerobic exercise to maintain my current weight. For this reason, I weigh myself daily. I know I'm always one step away from gaining unwanted weight back. I wish I didn't have to constantly think about this, but, I know, this is how it has to be.

I'm doing well with physical therapy/ultrasound therapy. At the end of next week, I think I'm due for a re-evaluation. I finally got permission to walk on uneven surfaces. This is why I was able to walk outside yesterday. Although I have much more mobility without all the pain, my ankle is still pretty swollen. I still have to wear the "boot" at night. I've been faithfully doing all the exercises my physical therapist gives me. Also, I'm very, very careful not to do too much too soon!!! After every bit of physical activity, I still use ice.

Sharon (LDM), You're doing great!!! I'm sure leading a healthy lifestyle is becoming a habit for you now. I'm impressed by all the exercise you're doing.

Michelle, Even though you're frustrated, it is great that you didn't gain any weight. I hope your new weight loss plan is just the thing you need to drop those unwanted pounds!!! Have you ever had your thyroid checked? If you're eating lots less than you need to and still not losing weight, maybe it's a good idea to make an appointment with your doctor to rule out medical reasons for this. Remember, we'll be here for you!!!

Sharon (WO), I know how hard it is to stop emotional eating!!! You've been through some really rough times with your difficult child. However, you're right - Even though two pounds doesn't sound like much, sometimes it adds up quickly!!! Remember: "A minute on the lips, a lifetime on the hips... Too many snacks, bigger slacks..., etc... " REPEAT these things to yourself when you feel the urge to do some emotional eating. And, try to stay out of the kitchen. These are two of the things I try to remember to do when the urge to eat emotionally hits. Also, I've found the most effective way is to keep a swimsuit in plain view and try it on from time to time. YOU CAN GET BACK ON TRACK!!! As I responded to someone else yesterday, Today is the first day of the rest of your life. YOU CAN DO THIS!!! I'll be thinking of you...

Well, I've got to go. I'm running a bit late. WFEN

 

[Marguerite]

Sharon/LDM, sorry to hear about the flat battery in the car. Was it the tape player? I've found that anything with moving parts flattens batteries a lot faster. We've been very happy since switching to using an iPod with an in car cable.

Michelle, good luck with the Alli. Do watch out though, if you've not already been in the habit of eating a low-fat diet. It's amazing hoe sneaky fats can be, but with a product like this too much fat in your diet will go straight through you and will remind you to avoid that food again. From the "CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet" book, here is a formula to calculate not only how many calories you burn each day, but from there how many calories you need to cut back to, in order to lose weight. It's based on the amount of calories you bur just by being alive, followed by what you burn for your weight and height, then an amount subtracted based on your age (as we get older, we burn fewer calories).
For women: 655.1 + (9.56 x weight in kilograms) + (1.85 x height in cm) - (4.68 x age in years). This gives you a number in calories. For kiojoules, multiply that number by 4.2.
But that's not the final figure - you now need to change it according to how active you are. You have to multiply that number by 1.2 if you're getting little or no exercise; 1.375 if you do light exercise or sport 1 - 3 days a week; 1.725 if you're doing hard exercise or sports 6 - 7 days a week and 1.9 if you're in serious athletic training.

Now you should have the number you need. This is the number of calories you burn each day. If you want to lose weight you need to eat less and/or exercise more. To lose weight you need to eat about 1000 - 2000 fewer calories a day, to lose 1 - 2 pounds a week. There's no point cutting back harder than that because there's not enough evidence you will lose weight faster in any permanent way.

I doubt this book would be available to you, which is a pity because it's really good. And because it's from a government department, it's not connected to the weight loss industry with commercial interests. It's more like the sort of diet book that might be produced by FDA.

Sharon/Wiped, you need to find out why you are eating. Then maybe you can have more success with finding a substitute activity, or what will work for you.

WFEN, it's really difficult when you can't exercise. Can you do some upper body stuff? Something like sitting on a swivel chair and, well, swivelling? Holding a tin of soup in each outstretched hand?

I posted yesterday about my calculations. I really wish I'd done the maths before I saw the doctor. Now I have to wait to talk to her about it.
I mentioned it to mother in law tonight and I think she was in one of her "denial" moods, when she is feeling off-balance and in response tries to organise the universe to her own specifications. She began telling me I'm crazy to cut back my food so much and that I'm making myself ill with this starvation diet. She had mentioned on Sunday that I was looking very pale in the cheeks - I do get paler in autumn. Besides, I'm 52, well past the bloom of youth. I've been looking middle-aged wan for much longer than I've been on this diet.
Every time I visit, she offers me biscuits and cake. She bakes a fruit cake and sends half of it up to our place because it's too much for her to eat. husband likes fruit cake but I suspect he's eating it mainly to get rid of it, then she bakes another one. Fruit cake keeps; we've frozen excess leftover Christmas cake in the past.
Hmm... do you think she's trying to sabotage me?

I mean, this diet isn't a whim with me, this is necessary for my health. I knew I would have to cut calorie intake to a ridiculously low level and I told my doctors this. I am being supervised medically. I am taking vitamins and calcium to compensate for what I'm not getting in my diet.
mother in law was again complaining that I've been told to wait for another four months before I can have blood tests again to see how my liver is doing. I suspect that if I did have earlier tests and they showed my liver enzymes improved, she'd be working on me to stop the diet early. "You don't need to worry any more, it's better now."

Really annoying. I can't do anything about it, I just have to be aware of it and ratchet my willpower up another few notches.

I have done things in the past she didn't approve of and I have had to live with the consequences of the ongoing criticism. This is just another one. Maybe it will blow over by the next time I see her, maybe it won't. But I've managed before, I will manage again.

At an op-shop today I finally managed to acquire a belt I can use to hitch up my jeans. I had borrowed a belt from mother in law which is elastic, and so was not going to be useful for me for long. I'll gauge her mood when I give her belt back to her, tomorrow or over the weekend.

Marg

 

[Loving Abbey 2]

Marg,

I tried your math steps a few times and each time came up with 9520.16853. Now I know that is way too many calories!! I even used an online tool to do the conversions to metric. I really want to try to figure it out and check against what the Alli book says. Is there a step missing? Or am I really losing brain cells from dealing with difficult child?

Michelle

 

[Fran]

I have had a horrible week. Just horrible. Rushing to my mom's on 6hrs notice and dealing with all the chaos at the hospital has had me eating poorly. I seem to need a ham salad sandwich on white bread with tomato and swiss cheese everytime I go to my little hometown. Lady locks that are enormous. They make the best. Fortunately, everyone thought I looked good in my skinny jeans. Now I have to get back to healthy eating. Sunday is a good day to start with easy child leaving home for Florida.

 

[Marguerite]

Ooops! Sorry, I made a mistake. I got calories and kilojoules backwards. I have now gone back and edited that.

I plugged in your numbers - I suspect you had your answer in kilojoules, so I switched it back, divided by 4.2 and get 2266.707, which should be your calorie burn-off per day, just as you are.

So from here - it should now be safe to use that calculation. I double-checked it ext to the book. All I can say is, I was very tired when I typed that last night!

Marg

 

[trinityroyal]

Hello everyone,
I'm coming in a bit late to the thread, after a silly-crazy week.

Sharon (LDM)--sorry about the dead car battery. Great to hear that your week went well, even without the WW meeting

Michelle--Plateaus come along on this journey. Not gaining is a great achievement. Now that you have a calorie count from Marg's calculations, you might want to make sure that you're eating enough. If you cut back too far, sometimes you can put your body into starvation mode which slows down your metabolism.

Sharon (WO)--Good for you for keeping up with the exercise and adding power walks. Sometimes the eating is a tougher nut, especially when you're stressed.

WFEN--It's good to hear that your recovery from injury is progressing and that you're doing all of the physio exercises etc. Taking time to do things just for you is a wonderful way to rejuvenate your spirit.

Marg--thanks for the calorie calculation. I had been wondering how to figure that out. Sounds like you are making great progress. Sorry that you're having to deal with your mother in law's undermining. Sometimes people find any change, even a positive change, hard to take. Don't let her derail your progress.

Fran--Looking good in skinny jeans is a great motivator. Hope things settle down in the stress department, so that you can get back to healthy eating.

I am SO VERY TIRED. Fall asleep at the drop of a hat. Last night husband and I made a "date" to watch one of our favourite shows, as soon as he finished a little chore. Next thing I knew, my alarm was going off. husband must have put me to bed, because the last thing I remember was sitting down in front of the TV. This sort of thing has been happening more often lately. Normally I'm a bundle of energy, so I'm not sure what's sapping my strength.

I wonder if I've just been pushing myself too hard. Doubling up my dance class schedule, all the overtime at work, meetings with difficult child's Residential Treatment Center (RTC) staff, exercising with Little easy child. I guess I've just put too many things into my schedule.

husband is still doing really well on his diet. He looks so much healthier, and he can move around much more easily. His arthritis doesn't seem to bother him nearly as much. Yay!

I guess I need to try and find a good work-life balance. It's hard to know what to cut out when everything is a priority and I'm in the thick of all of it.

Great work everyone!

Trinity

 

[ScentofCedar]

Well, I'm doing alright.

I have been smoking, again. I am sure I could have made it through that last visit home with my mother after my father passed away without cigarettes, but I did smoke most of those days. Things were a little chaotic in the beginning, but the extended family has come together now around and for my mom in a beautiful way. husband and I are back home again now, and I have continued to smoke, except for a day or maybe two.

I will start using the patches and gum again tomorrow or the next day.

On the asthma thing, I am still so unsure of what I can eat that I am continuing to lose weight. I still tire so easily that my activity levels are down to almost nothing. I did take a (remedial, believe me!) karate class when I was home. Very difficult, as breathing is still so hard for me.


But I did exercise just a little this morning.

And I did meditate for ten minutes ~ which is better than no minutes.

I hope that I will be able to report in with better news on week nineteen.

It was a very nice idea to make these weekly progress reports, Sharon ~ thanks so much!

Barbara

 

[LittleDudesMom]

Barbara,

I can't say anything about the backslide on the smoking since I smoke! You want to do it - you are making strides since you've cut back - and you have a plan.

I would be more concerned about that energy level. Are you eating plenty of nutrient/protein-rich foods? Sometimes that is an issue with me. If I am really lagging in the afternoon, I could grap an apple or a little popcorn, but I have found my energy level goes up if I eat 6/7 almonds, a boiled egg, or a piece of cheese. It instantly helps that energy level. Perhaps you should look closer regarding the protein/nutirents.

Thanks for checking in Barbara.

Sharon