The A2K (virtual) Weight Loss Club !!

Hey Bear, that ain't all true.








A break-up will do.

Excellent point.


Noddy, I'm mostly just working on keeping my schedule. Once I have 3 days a week locked in, I'll add a fourth. Once I have 4 days a week locked in, I'll add a fifth. Once I'm working out five days a week for a good long time, I'll be about where I want to be.

Nobody asked, but after I replied to squinney about the fact that I've done this twice before, I mentally composed a post that went into that in more detail... it might not be interesting but I seem to want to put it into writing. It was interesting for me to go through it all -- illuminating in some ways -- and I'd be interested if anyone else wants to do something similar.

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OK, so I was way too skinny in high school. Also an athlete, so I didn't seem skinny -- I seemed lean but well-muscled -- but I wore size 4 or so (at 5' 6", not TALL but not petite) and stopped menstruating because of lack of body fat. Didn't really think I was too skinny at the time, got plenty of positive feedback for how I looked. Didn't have an eating disorder or anything, just a three-sport athlete. Plus was taking diuretics as we tried to figure out what was up with my hearing -- only thought of it in terms of hearing (whether it helped), not weight.

In college, stopped with the sports, started with the dorm food, slowly gained weight. First 15 pounds or so were needed -- looked better actually. Then kept going up from there -- not a LOT, but more than I was comfortable with. After a couple of years, started getting back into sports via pick-up basketball. Started out somewhat sporadic, then was doing it pretty much every day for 2-3 hours. By the second summer of that, I was FIT again. About the best shape I've been in so far I think -- very fit but not yikes-you-can-see-her-ribs thin.

Then (this takes me up to age 21 or so) that summer ended, and I was too busy the next summer. I didn't gain much though until I started student teaching (at about 24), and eating school food (it was a residential campus). Lost some before I got married (not much -- hadn't gained that much though), then when we moved to L.A., no exercise + bad lunch food + age, probably, meant that weight kept creeping up. I was EXTREMELY stressed and gaining weight only makes me more stressed so I started working out. That's my template for now pretty much. I did successfully get into a steady workout routine (every day after work), and got much more fit. Was able to wear the clothes I wanted to wear and look the way I wanted to look, plus having a lot more energy and being able to deal with ongoing high-stress situations.

Kept going until I was a few months pregnant. Then stopped working out so strenuously/ consistently. Gained a fair amount while pregnant (I mean, duh, but a bit extra), then also moved (away from gym and routine) when I was 7 months pregnant.

Gave birth, weighed more than I wanted to, but was back to pre-pregnancy weight within a year or so. The only time it's happened without me putting any particular effort into it. Breastfeeding rocks.

I categorized that as "I've lost the pregnancy weight, yay!" and didn't notice that AFTER a year or so... as the baby started weaning herself... the weight was creeping up again. Then had the whole "damn, my favorite pants are shrinking, that's too bad" kind of thing. Then finally realized that yeah, I was gaining weight again, and faster than any time in the past.

Looked at local gyms. Found one. Had a terrible experience with their childcare there. (Sozlet was mostly potty trained, there was only a guy on duty, she indicated that she had to pee and he didn't do anything -- wouldn't go with her to the bathroom [understood] but also wouldn't tell her where it was or get someone else [there were female someone elses] to go with her. So she wet her pants and was mortified.) Looked for another.

Did this and that, nothing sustained.

Decided we were going to move here. The super-fancy, state-of-the art campus rec center was slated to open about a month after we got here. Reasonable rates for faculty + family, cheap childcare, etc. Perfect. Put stuff on hold 'til then.

Infinitely delayed, and always by small amounts. Not "sorry, we totally goofed our estimation, it'll be open in a year and a half or so!" but "6 weeks!" or maybe "2 months!" To be followed by another "6 weeks!" And on and on.

Finally opened. Went. It rocked. Put together a pretty good workout routine summer of 2006.

Then got sick and didn't go, and when I tried to again school had started and there was NO parking. Ridiculous. NONE. Everyone has the same complaint.

Struggled with that for a while, then found this place, closer by. Started last spring, went pretty well. Then sozlet's school ended and it was harder to find time -- no kids allowed. (Even quietly reading kids.) Then school started this year, and I flailed around a bit, and then I told people here to whap me upside the head if I didn't go, and now I'm feeling pretty good about things.

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OK, that REALLY wasn't very interesting, sorry, thanks for indulging me though, and definitely am curious about other stories.

Good idea. Gracie is an excellent runner.

The obvious strategy to loose weight is to keep doing whatever lost you weight in the first place, when you weren't trying. Perhaps you ought to resolve to go through breakups more frequently.

EDIT: Ah, I see mushypancakes beat me to this idea.

foul, thomas.

Not at all, Bear. I think you seriously underestimate Gracie!

Oh, Yeah. I hadn't considered the leave the door open while I go to my car weight loss method! I should package that and sell it with a beagle.

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I wasn't athletic as far as sports. Just growing up working on a farm was enough to allow me to eat anything I wanted. I'd love to know how many calories are burned from throwing a fields worth of bailed hay onto a trailer. Cleaning stalls was great for the arms and sides. I'd rather find a barn that needs help than go to a gym. Actually accomplishing something without considering it exercise, which is what I think Noddy was getting at in her post, is more agreeable for me. That way I don't notice the sweating.

Ah, that makes sense. I enjoy that, too. (Though I do get a feeling of accomplishment when I have a really good workout...) Gardening does that for me -- sounds dainty but when I'm pulling out tough honeysuckle weeds on a 45 degree slope, and raking up two cottonwood trees' worth of leaves, and lugging around heavy bags of mulch all day, I work up a pretty good sweat, too.

I'm getting unbelievably frustrated. I doesn't seem to matter what I eat or don't eat, how much I work out, or how much resolve I have -- I simply can't lose weight. In fact, unless I'm on constant guard, I gain readily. Coupled with the fact that I'm constantly starving (even when I'm not hungry, if that makes sense) and in a continuous state of agitation that wants to be soothed by food and alcohol, I'm fighting a losing (huh) battle.

I've never been overweight. I will be soon.

Are there other things going on in life or changes in your body that might account, JPB? I know that when I'm "down" or under stress it doesn't matter what I eat or don't eat. I can totally forget about eating and still gain - almost as if my metabolism goes into low gear just because my mind is.

Yeah, I'm 51.

Soz--

Common thread in your times of weight gain: Time for self limited.

Squinney--

You're partly right about my aversion to sweating. I'll sweat when I have to sweat, but I get no joy of exercising to a burnished "glow".

JPB--

I'd guess that you and Soz have the same gaining pattern. When your time for yourself is limited, you tend to hunker down and prepare for Hibernation of the Ego with extra calories, solid and liquid.

Like most Helpmeets and Mothers you deserve your very own Eliza Doolittle Days.



You don't necessarily want to draw and quarter your Near & Dear, but I'm betting your life is a little short of personal glory.

BPB--

Losing 140 pounds would inspire a lot of women to get rid of the last 30 pounds.

I had broken sleep last night, but I lost three of the four pounds of water weight that I gained from two vodka-and-tonics last weekend.

This is cheerful.

Sorry 'bout the broken sleep, though...

In the small-things-matter category:

I have one pair of exercise pants. As the weather gets cooler, it's nice to wear exercise pants as opposed to shorts, for a few reasons. If I'm exercising three times a week, though, one pair of exercise pants doesn't quite cut it.

So went back to the store where I got the one pair I have (Eddie Bauer Warehouse) and the exact pair was there for 90% off, ($60 -> $6) and others besides.

So now I have three pairs of very nice, good-quality, COMFORTABLE exercise pants, and one less barrier to exercising. (While I don't mind sweating, I DO mind smelling, and it's a hassle to wash one pair of pants three times a week...)

(And yes, I went to the gym yesterday...)

I'm now on my 6th straight week of weight lifting 5 days/week.

I have gained about 4lbs overall, I'm having a hard time knowing how much is fat and how much is muscle. My electrostatic fat scale is telling me my BF % is going up and my lean muscle is going down, but I can't believe that to be true.

Soz--

All sorts of rewards come to those who exercise diligently.

Maporsche--

I distrust gadgets. How are your clothes fitting?

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My water weight is continuing to trickle away.....

My muscles are sore. A lot. A lot of the time.

I don't think it's that I'm working too hard this time. I think it is more all my bad habits that caught up with me. My lungs hurt sometimes too after hard work outs. Probably from all those years smoking and being so hard on them.

Good regimes for taming down the aches and pains? What more can I do without simply living with it and or popping tylenols. It's getting to be a block in my progress.

Thanks.

mushyP - what cardio work are you doing, aside from being in dance class?

I've found that if I don't have some dedicated cardio work, nothing else works for me - I need to make sure the blood and oxygen can flowwwwww.

Aside from dancing, it's some time in the pool and walking.

My cardio isn't up to task. It's lagging behind and I think you nailed it. Maybe I should spend more time and focus on cardio now.

That would explain this excessive type pains. Not enough oxygen getting there.

thanks.

Oh, that makes sense. Hope that cardio helps, mushypancakes.

(I missed last Wed and Fri, sigh. Halloween craziness on Wed, then sick kid on Fri. Next week, though, back into the breach!)

I had some unsettling news this week and compensated by skimping on exercises and cycling and walking....

For years I've been a Creature of Imbalances. Because of fractures, my left leg is nearly a half an inch shorter than my right. I've broken both collarbones and both of them have healed a bit askew. My bout with breast cancer has left me with one "C" cup and one "B" cup.

Niggling aches and pains are getting to me and I've set up a schedule of visits with a low-key chiropractor. After three appointments I seem to have an assortment of resentful aches and pains which may be the results of new body alignments--or they may not.

I'm not sure about a long time prognosis, but the temporary pampering is very pleasant.