Healthy Livin' support group, March 3-March 9, 2008

Good Monday to all! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and is rested and ready to go this week. We had a nice weekend. The boys and I even doubled our walk with the dog last night because we were busy talking! Of course, when we came inside we all had to thaw out! We took about a 40 minute walk in 37* weather!

So, for you gals that have lost some weight already- any advice to the others? What helped you change some of your habits? I like the baby steps idea, although there are others who do better by radically changing something and sticking to it.

Welcome to the new gals! Please join in again this week.

Prairie Home, are you back by a computer?

Patty- when is your doctor's appointment? We'll keep thinking of you!

I'm off for now- I'll check back in later.

Drink your water and kiss your kids! MT3

 

Honestly, if I hadn't joined Weight Watchers I would probably still be getting heavier. I know that not everything works for everyone and that not everyone can afford a program like that, but it really has been the easiest thing I've ever tried.

Probably the biggest struggle I've had with Weight Watchers is eating all of my points every day. In other words, I wasn't eating enough before. Sometimes I find myself at 10 pm with 4 points left. But if you don't eat all of your daily points your metabolism slows waaay down and your body begins to store everything. So that's been a constant struggle for me. But the weeks that I faithfully eat enough are the weeks that I lose the most.

 

I got in my treadmill walk yesterday--60 minutes, 4 miles. Still going slower which is so much better, and I still get a good workout!

I agree about eating enough--not skipping breakfst, etc., so your body doesn't store the fat!

Also, as you remind us MT3, drinking enough water each day helps your body work better as well!

Something that has helped me is this group here, and my dad and sister and I working together and e-mailing each other about exercising and letting each other know how we're doing! Having people to work with, at least over the internet, can really help keep you on track!

YOU GO GIRLS!

 

I'm hanging in there. The weekend was hectic, but I still managed to do pretty well. I didn't get enough water yesterday, but am already working on that today. Dh and I usually walk in the mornings, but it was raining this morning (YEA!! We've been months without rain.), so that was out. The sun's out now, so maybe this afternoon, we can get the walk in.

My biggest struggle is snacking. I am not hungry, but just in the habit of snacking throughout the day (a few bites here and there, not HUGE snacks). I have done really well eliminating the snacks, and I feel good about that!

My weight loss hasn't been huge, but I expect it to go slow. I want to lose weight, but I also want to maintain a healthier lifestyle.

 

Well I have been exercising on my Gazelle 2 times a day, morning 30 min. and evening 30 min.. I have been walking everywhere I can.
I do need to work on the not eating thing, I just get so busy and forget to eat.
Well I am off to a good start I feel.

 

Hi again.

Amie, I'm glad the WW program has worked for you. A friend of mine does well on the Jenny Craig, and then has to stop for a while (financial reasons) and a lot of the weight comes back because she hasn't learned how to put foods together right. That's one reason why I'd like to start making healthier meals for us.

Way to go Deena on the treadmill! We have been trying to walk more, and I am still working on some stomach crunches. How is your family doing?

Sixcloar- I agree about snacking. I have a hard time because I am a night owl- and I don't think about a snack here and there because that is when I am getting a bunch of paperwork done. Thanks for the reminder to stop!

And JoAnna- fantastic about the Gazelle and walking! I've said before that I get hurried in the mornings and skip breakfast, and I feel so much better on the days that I eat it!

So, is anyone weighing in or measuring this week? I haven't decided if I am measuring this week or next, and probably won't weigh for a bit. If I do it too often I will get obsessive about it- and that can't help!!

Have a great day! MT3

 

Well to tell the truth I DO NOT own a scale, reason being that I don't want to obsess over what the scale says.
But give me a couple weeks and I will start measuring. I am afraid to right now.

 

I haven't started measuring yet. I usually do not use a scale but I have since I became sick. My appointment is next week and after this, if all is well, I will not use a scale again, except at the doctors. I can easily get caught up in it rather than my health.
So far everybody has noticed that I have lost weight. This gives me hope. Handsome told me that I made it through the month and he knows I can make it through more. My mom is worried that I am loosing too fast but I assured her that after my appointment, if I get the okay to eat everything or at least more, the weight lose will slow down.
It is interesting how our taste buds change over time. Many years ago we took a nutrition class. The doctor told us that if we cut back on the salt and sugar for a few weeks, our taste buds would go back to normal and food would naturally start to taste salty and too sweet. He was right. I add little salt to my food and it still tastes too salty. Handsome adds more salt because he can't even taste it. I find that I am actually craving water more often than before. I always have been a water drinker but I also drank other drinks. Now I can't wait to get a glass of water and it tastes great.

 

That's cool Patty! I hope you get control of the weight loss and that your appointment goes positively!

With dd's b-day, I have not done so well. I still have a little bit of maplenut icecream and hot fudge left, then it's on to better things! Today is her b-day, so I have not exercised today, we've been busy going and doing.

TOMORROW, and I mean this!!!, I will get back on the treadmill!

I'm proud of all you ladies---it sounds like you're doing so well! If you DO fall off the wagon, like I have this weekend, don't be afraid to let us know. We'll encourage you to get back on and keep enjoying the ride with us!

That said, can ya'll lend me a hand to get back on there myself?! Thanks!

 

You keep talking like this and I will have no problem getting my weight loss under control.:lol:

 

"No problem getting my weight loss under control!" That's a fun way to put it, Patty! But I know how you you had to loose weight was not funny! 'Glad you're feeling so much better!

Yes, I'm back at the computer and back on the trampoline for a few days, anyway.

I wish that weight and appearance didn't have such an effect on our sense of well-being and self-worth. Having teens and also children in their twenties who are so self-conscious and therefore aware of how their parents look, too, adds extra incentive. For me, I'd be happy to stay in my blue-jean skirt all day and use the extra fabric to carry the eggs to the house when I gather them and in summer, the garden veggies. But no! What if someone would come and actually SEE me like that?!! Oh! The trials of being a teen-- or living with them! (I'm actually chuckling as I write this--actually not complaining at all!) It's a fun season of life, and I'm glad our dc care enough about us to want us to look nice. Dd even helps me shop for clothes that she thinks make me look beautiful and even--get this!--even likes to get us look-alikes from time to time! This year we got look-alike jackets! So, I'm just rambling about all you people, including our children, who are pushing, prodding, and encouraging me to get into shape and look and feel better. In RL I'd just gripe about it and then laugh, and you'd know I was really grateful. Here, we have to explain ourselves. I hope you see my heart. Thanks MT3 and all the rest of you!

 

Welcome back Prairie! Yep, teenagers are great! I sooo love mine, and I truly think they love me too!

Today my dd (who turned 11 yesterday! ) said, "Mommy, you stay where you are, I'm going to bring you a good lunch!" So I stayed! I wouldn't pass THAT up! A few minutes later ds14 came to me with a plate and said, "Here's your appetizer!" He had fixed a plate with a few Tostito Dip crakers, with a little beans in each one and some cheese, chopped green onions and sour cream. Not exactly low cal, but hey, how could I turn that down?!" When I finished the appetizer, dd came in with a plate of whole wheat spaghetti, and sauce, a sprinkle of cheese (not much) and cucumbers cut in circles and set around the perimeter of the plate. How neat is that?! She'd used a can of chopped tomatoes with spices, then added a few little things herself to make a spaghetti type sauce. I sure do LOVE my kids!!! :love:

I was able to get in an hour on my treadmill this morning! I'm glad I got it overwith! I felt really good afterwards!

I just read a little book by a health doctor about different things you can do to stay healthy. It's so neat! He said that with exercise it's better to do INTERVAL TRAINING. That's where you incorpaorate intense exercise with short bouts of rest. I sort of do that already, since I started college as a PE major, and that's one thing my teacher for many of my classes emphasized! This is why it's good: "As you do so, you will be able to keep your muscles burning oxygen and reduce the risk of overworking them. Overworked muscles build up lactic acid, which tires you more quickly and makes exercise become a drudgery. Also lactic acid buildup may decrease the benefits of exercise, even reducing the amount of fat your body burns during exercise."

So, I thought I'd share that here with you all. Hope it can help you!

 

That is so neat. You sure have a talented and sweet dd.
But of course you could not turn down a meal like that.

 

Happy Wednesday all!

I just wanted to stop in and see how everyone is doing. I just finished doing one of my sets of crunches, and now don't want to go to bed yet. I'll walk around here again in a minute and then go. (I'm waiting on the laundry anyway. I would love for there to be "health benefits" in doing laundry, but alas... no.) :wink:

I've been doing pretty good on cutting down on portion sizes, and was glad to see grapes at the market that were reasonably priced! I had a banana for breakfast this morning... I'm trying to improve!! How 'ya doing on your water intake?

Just a quick hello. I'll check back later....

Drink your water and kiss your kids!

MT3

 

This is neat... I am fairly new here.

I have been lazy this week exercising. Usually exercise 2-3x a week. I dance for exercise (turn on fun music and get movin').

I am trying to loose my last 10 lbs of babyweight. I think I have 5 more to go... doing more body sculpting though (finding my hips waist again).

 

It's not raining and dh is feeling better, so I got my 30 min. walk in this morning! YEA!! I've already had 16 oz. of water. Water is a struggle for me, but as I've been drinking more, I've found that it's not so bad. It's a busy day here. We have lots of outside activities.

 

Sixcloar, if you put in just a tad of lemon or any other juice, it helps.

Deena, thanks for sharing the intense exercise interspersed with periods of rest idea. I do that throughout the day, except that my exercise bouts aren't all that intense!

Now I have a "Did you know?" piece of info for you. It's awful, though, and I hope it's not true. Yesterday I read that one main source of commercial Vitamin B12 is ground-up, dried beef livers, probably contaminated with bacteria, growth hormones, antibiotics, etc. One other source of commercial B12 is activated sewage sludge. Would the producers have the audacity to call both of these natural sources??

I don't have problems drinking water. Vegetables aren't my favorite food, however; but after reading that, I think maybe I should rely more on veggies than vitamins...

MT3, thanks for your personal interest in each of us.

 

Wow Prairie, I haven't heard that, but somehow I'm not surprised!

How could one prevent ingesting that type of thing if they need to supplement with the B vitamins?!

By the way, Patty, I forgot to comment on your post about getting your weight LOSS under control! I thought that was hilarious! :lol: How are you doing? When's your appointment?

 

I don't know how a person can be for sure about what sources are used in commercially synthesized vitamins and minerals. Spirulina & blue-green algae are high sources of the B-vitamins and B-complex nutrients. The benefit of using actual food is that we also get the related nutrients, instead of just the isolated skeleton of only one vitamin. In this case, for example, blue-green algae not only gives the B's but also boron, calcium, chlorine, chromium, chlorophyll, copper, germanium, iodine, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, potassium, selenium, silicon, vanadium, and zinc as well as essential fatty acids and amino acids (protein), etc. We've never used these items on a regular basis, but they look worthwhile to investigate.

It sounds like your children, Deena, are with you on the nutrition issue. That's a blessing! Ours are not entirely convinced. In fact, if certain ones of them would prepare a special plate for us, it would likely contain some chocolate-covered coffee beans for dessert!

My weight-gain spike is now reversing, and I'm back on the downward trail again. Boy! Was that U-turn hard! It seemed the brakes had gone out of the car and I was destined to go over the cliff into the chasm of hopelessness.

 

Prairie---YAY! I'm so glad you're now away from the edge of that chasm!!!

Welllll, my 14yo is a little stubborn about healthy eating. I mean, he loves salads and lots of foods that are good, but he also loves cheese and sweets! He likes cheese on pretty much everything, including pb & j sandwiches! We're vegetarians, but he likes chicken and turkey and sometimes beef when we go out to eat (I don't fix it at home). I mean, not that it's so horrible, but too much cheese isn't good. I'd love for him to cut back on the cheese and not eat meat, but forcing him isn't going to end up with the desired result.

Yesterday I walked while dd was in her piano lesson. It's a good walk, cuz I try to keep my pace up and there's one large hil in the loop that I do, so it works the muscles that I need worked on!

Today I got on my treadmill, still trying to go slower and more carefully (and haven't been having any problems). But today---by 20 minutes my shins hurt so bad I had to stop! I put ice bags (frozen vegetable bags! ) on them and put them up. Occasionally I'd move the ice bags and rub them, then put the bags back on. They're sooo much better now, but I don't think I want to go back on the treadmill today.

I'm a bit frustrated with these shins of mine! Not sure what the problem is! I would not be doing as well if I didn't have my treadmill to go on!