No Pain, No Loss?

For example, she said he would never drink organic milk and even after he said "Mom, organic milk tastes better," She IGNORED what he just said and followed it with "No, he doesn't care for that stuff." He was standing right there.
OMG...I feel so bad 'cause I can't stop laughing at that part LOL
 
Yea its hard not to laugh when she does it. I mean... seriously, she comes up with opinions FOR people while they're right there. It amazes me. She did it to me Saturday morning when I think she was having a conversation with herself about me... in my kitchen... while I was pouring us coffee. It was something about bottle brushes. I really have no idea.. I wasn't sure if I should laugh or not.

:rotflmao:

- Sunny
 
Wow, what an entertaining diary you have. That story was so well-written and probably belongs in some magazine, but I understand living through it isn't nearly as entertaining as reading it. One of my friends just married a guy with a crazy mother. I suggested this for the mother of the groom dance:

My love is a butterfly
Floating sweetly through a summer field
Spreading beauty and love under the midday sun

And your love is an entomologist
Chasing me down, ensnaring me in your net
And taking me home, jabbing a pin through my guts
And mounting me on your wall
A pin
Your love is a pin through my guts

My love is a sailing ship
Seeking out a friendly shore
To cast out my anchor, happily never sail no more

And your love is the ocean that drowns me
Leaving my bones to be picked at by crabs
And bringing settlers to the New World with smallpox and influenza
And wiping out the indigenous population
Smallpox
Your love is smallpox

You are a giant redwood falling on a family of deer
You are a soaring eagle landing in a minefield
You are river rising over the downtown levees
You are Christmas in Iran

My love is a tiny puppy
Knowing only joy and trust
Greeting each new day like a miraculous gift

And your love is an underground dog-fighting ring
Catching me and keeping me in a cage
On the brink of starvation
Torturing me daily until all I that know is hate and rage
And death holds no meaning for me
Just like Christopher Walken in the end of The Deer Hunter
Christopher Walken
Your love is Christopher Walken

- Paul and Storm
 
Its easter and my belongings are the eggs!!

I suggested this for the mother of the groom dance....

Hahaha! I loved that poem! Think she'd be mad if I read it to her? I'm not sure she'd even listen to me if I tried.

The terrible part is.. I've really been the one encouraging her son to spend time with her since she is absolutely alone. She's spent nearly a year as a hermit with no job, no friends, and no pets to keep her company. Her ex-husband (they're still finalizing the divorce) has shacked up with a much younger woman that I'm guessing he's been seeing for a long time. I could write a soap opera off this family.

How do I get myself into crazy family relationships? One day I should tell you all about my last boyfriend whose mother... well.. I should let that one go for now. Its a good one for another day. Crazy indeed.


The aftermath of my boyfriend's mother's visit is always interesting. Its like easter morning and my belongings are the "eggs." As it turns out, in her rage, she managed to remember to take the huge bag of ice out of my freezer but didn't remember to put any ice trays in (yea, the ones we removed so she could have her bag of ice). So, not only was my protein shake kind of warm but I wasn't sure where my ice trays had gone. After a search of the oh-so-many cabinet doors in my kitchen, my boyfriend found the stack of trays tucked in with my measuring cups and baking pans. I think thats the last place I would have looked, but at least I'll have ice now.

So far the ice trays are the only misplaced victims of the household. Friday night I did a mad dash of clearing just about anything small that could be "cleaned up," to ensure that on Monday morning I'd know where everything was. And by "cleaned up," I mean anything that could be perceived as out of place by someone who comes into my house (our house) and decides where things belong. Its a guessing game for sure.

I am, however, still trying to figure out why she came to me with my nice (sopping wet) hand-towel from the guest bathroom pinched between her thumb and index finger. I wasn't sure if I heard her right, but I thought she said she cleaned the toilet with it...

Cleaned the toilet with my nice towels? We have more cleaning supplies in this house (sponges, scrubbers, chemicals enough to kill us all, paper towels galore, cloth rags, and swiffer dusters) than is needed and she uses my nice towel to clean the toilet? Unless it was suddenly soiled, the toilet was nice and sparkling clean to begin with. I'm just hoping I heard her wrongly...

Apparently she was bringing me the towel because she didn't want it to get mildewy.. Thanks, ma'. Did you have to use my nice towel??

- Sunny

(P.S. 184 this morning. Down one lb and trying to get back to 183. I went to the gym last night and had a really lame experience with a personal trainer.. I can get more into that later. Maybe some of you know why he was suggesting the things he did.)
 
Hahaha! I loved that poem! Think she'd be mad if I read it to her? I'm not sure she'd even listen to me if I tried

You can find the song at
I think you can hear it for free. It would make a wonderful first dance. I can't believe my friends didn't think so :). Tell us about the trainer.
 
Definitely tell us what happened with the personal trainer. Hope you wont find anymore "eggs" around (including nice towels, which you can use for just her next time she comes to visit :rotflmao:).
 
The Trainer.

I made it back to 183 this morning. July's loss is officially 5lbs according to Fitday. Not too bad for my first full month back in the weight loss game.

The Trainer:

Monday evening I had an appointment to meet with a trainer at the gym I joined roughly 4 weeks ago. The training session runs for one hour and is designed to help people in their fitness/weight-loss goals/nutrition. I was sort of excited to have someone else's input on what I've been doing and see if there were improvements I could make based on that. I'd just like to point out now that this training session comes free with the sign-up at the gym, so I didn't pay for any of this (had a special deal that cuts out the sign-up costs).

The first thing the trainer had me do was fill out a little slip of paper that had a few dozen check boxes for possible ailments and injuries. After I finished marking every "no" box I could find, I handed it back and he looked over it. Then he looked at me and said, "So whats the deal?" Whats the deal??? Am I supposed to have something physically wrong with me to account for my weight? Responsibility isn't a physical or very tangible thing, I'd say...

My response: "I'm over weight." Simple enough, right? Two can play the vague game!
Trainer: "Well, what is your goal in being here?"
My response: "Lose weight and slim down. I'm primarily concerned with my lower half."

At that point he started talking about proper nutrition and he wanted to make sure I wasn't eating "junk". He started telling me to kick the soda habit, kick the candy habit, eat leaner meats, etc. He never once gave me a moment to tell him that I don't drink soda, I don't eat candy often, I don't have a sweet tooth, and that currently nutrition isn't my problem.

When he found out that I frequent Starbucks, he gave me one of those looks like "You're one of those people who eats lots of bad stuff and says 'it doesn't count'." So I told him that in general I get an iced grande (medium) non-fat, triple espresso (one third is just coffee) drink that barely has any sweeteners added. Instead of the 3-5 pumps of vanilla they put in, I ask for 1/2 to 1 pump and easy on any caramel they might use. I won't do the sugar free stuff. He didn't approve of that. So I said, "My drink only comes out to about 162 calories. Its barely more than having a cup of whole milk. I think I'm doing alright there."

I think he was trying to size me up at that point and decide if I had a 'resistant attitude'. Its not that I'm resistant. Its more like, I don't enjoy people telling me that something is a bad habit if they don't know what the habit is. Its presumptuous, and I don't do well with that.

At this point, he decided he'd do a body fat test. He didn't seem sure how to treat me for this part. I guess some women are funny about things like this, but I was genuinely curious and wanted to know the percentage of body fat. He took some upper body measurements and then said, "I need you to find the next spot, just above the hip bone," and he sort of gestured on himself where it would be as if I might not know where my hip bone was. So I said, "How about I put my finger on my hip bone and you pick the spot to measure." He seemed so confused by that, but I put my finger on my hip bone and he found the spot he needed. Was that so difficult? The calculation came out to 30% and the decision was that I needed to lose about 6% body fat. Sounds easy enough, right?

So I asked, "Whats the best thing to do to get down to that 24% body fat?" This is where he said "Good nutrition paired with some exercise and you'll be there just fine." I felt like banging my head against a wall. Clearly I knew that much to be telling him that my nutritional habits were greatly improved and that exercise is what I was at the gym for. I guess I should have phrased it as "How do I go about losing a bunch of fat at this gym?" I let it go. I had a feeling that I should just keep my mouth shut and get all I could out of the session. It was after all, free.

My trainer decided that one of my major targets should be my core. Yea, I know its one of the places you build up to hold yourself upright, keep good posture, and aid in proper lifting/pulling/pushing/etc. While I appreciated his effort in helping me on my core, the middle section of my body is the thing I worry about the least. If the rest of me were as slim as my "true-waist", I'd probably be at 25% body fat and not 30%. But hey, I'm not the trainer and maybe working your core to death is the magic cure for having a large bottom.

He went over some machines to use, most of them involving free movement (which I really liked) and then showed me a couple things I could do on the floor at home to improve my abs. The exercise that seemed like it should be the easiest actually kicked my butt. He had me down on my elbows and my toes, holding my back perfectly straight with only my abs to support it. It felt good.

We never discussed any machines/weights/movements that would address muscles below the core.

After all that, we walked back over to where we started and he asked me what I'd be eating when I got home from the gym. I said "Probably nothing," and I knew that was a no-no. He told me I better have at least something, so I asked if a protein shake would suffice. He asked me what brand I was using and when I told him Spirutein, he gave me a funny look and said, "Ahh, Spirulina Protein." What was the funny look for?

He said: "Do you know whats in it?"
I said: "Yea, for proteins its got a variety of sources including whey, soy, and pea. I use it because its one of the very few protein powders that doesn't upset my tummy."
He said: "Maybe you should try one that has less junk in it. I mean, that one has everything down to mushroom powder in it. Something else might be easier on your stomach."

Did he miss what I said? I think so.
I repeated: "I use it because it doesn't upset my stomach."

He wrapped up the session trying to sell me on a set of 10 training sessions with him for some ridiculous amount of money. He then followed it by telling me when he'd be free and that I managed to get an appointment with him because one of his clients canceled. Canceled for the night or permenantly, I wondered...

I felt like I had wasted the better part of an hour. I don't think I'd pay good money to waste more time.

- Sunny :D

(Coffee time!)
 
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:rotflmao:

It sounds like, despite the little info he provided, you learned some good core exercises and your body fat %. That's a start, but surely not worth his fee for 10 more nightmare sessions with him. He should have to pay YOU to be stuck with him!

The exercise you did is called the Plank, and it IS hard.

To lose weight from your lower body, you cannot spot reduce by just doing more on the lower body. So you need to do whatever possible to burn as many calories and the weight from the bottom and elsewhere will come off. I've found heavy weights, especially for the legs (which are large muscle groups that burn lots of calories when worked) work wonders. Steve gives some suggestions on a good starting program in one of the forums which you might find useful.
 
If there's a better trainer in there that actually will talk to me about caloric needs, good heart rate when doing cardio, stretches, so on and so forth, then I think I might shell out the cash to pay for some sessions.

This guy, however, didn't answer any of the questions I had pertaining to any of those things. And when I asked about caloric intake being in balance with working out, he just said to me "Eat less on days you don't work out. Eat more on days you do."

*sigh*

- Sunny
 
To lose weight from your lower body, you cannot spot reduce by just doing more on the lower body. So you need to do whatever possible to burn as many calories and the weight from the bottom and elsewhere will come off. I've found heavy weights, especially for the legs (which are large muscle groups that burn lots of calories when worked) work wonders. Steve gives some suggestions on a good starting program in one of the forums which you might find useful.

Yea, I knew there wasn't exactly a miracle that was going to fix my wide caboose. I was a little put off that we didn't even cover toning exercises since my lower half isn't in the greatest shape at all. Just upper body and core.

I've been reading Steve's posts on some of that stuff and his info is more helpful than just about anything the trainer had to say.

Back to the gym this evening. I'm trying to conquer the elliptical and I can tell its getting easier. Yay for me! :D

- Sunny
 
Hi there Sunny,

I found your post at the August Challenge and decided to look up your journal. :) We're pretty much in the same boat here... trying to get in the 170s. I hope everything went well at the gym. You're 3 lbs away from the 170s. You can do it!

-Sheryl
 
Hey there Sheryl,

Thanks for hoppin' over here and saying hello! I'm glad to know there's someone else in the same boat as myself. How close to the 170s are you? Three pounds seems so close, but I haven't been able to shed them. I was actually 181 over Christmas (so close!) but then I had a trip back home and ended up 10lbs heavier! Three months later, I'm almost back down to my starting point.

I'm still trying to get amped about going to the gym Its only 4pm here and I probably won't get there until 7pm or so. I'm trying to will myself to want to go, but I just can't seem to do it. I'm going even if I don't want to.. but I tend to stay longer and get more done if I want to be there.

- Sunny

(I'll hop over to your journal asap.)
 
Hey if you have the patience to go back in my diary about 2 weeks, you'll find my experience when I signed up at the gym. I asked them about personal trainers and they immediately introduced me to the one that was there. The first thing she said to me, "I will teach you so much about nutrition." The way she said it, I knew she wanted to tell me on the ride home from the gym don't stop at the McDonalds drive through for your usual 6 Big Macs fatty. I thanked her kindly, but it was oil and water. I immediately emailed one of the other trainers whose certification caught my eye and explained my life story and asked her if she could help me. She has worked with overweight people before and doesn't assume I can't do anything. She spends a lot of time finding out what I'm doing and tailoring my workout for it. She does discuss nutrition a bit, but its more to improve things I do than to lecture me on stuff I already know. You're so much closer to goal than I am and I'm surprised to see you getting that same kind of ignorant trainer talk.

Society looks down on us and most overweight people have some bad habits of their own, but weight is 70% genetic. Not every overweight person has a bottle of crisco and a bowl of bacon bits on their desk to snack on while they're on the computer. My trainer is hugely expensive ($55 per session), but my god what going to her twice has done for my attitude and motivation level is amazing. A good trainer is worth their weight in gold. It might be worth shelling out some dough for one you actually like.
 
Wow Joe that's nice of you!

Sunny sorry about the B.S.!

Hmmmmm I should be a trainer, I have been trained now on what people don't like! :D
 
I think you'd be a great trainer Val. I think that attitude from some trainers is something a lot of intelligent women get from dopey guys. My friend Colleen is my school's computer teacher, but she actually has a degree in computers and work in the field. She constantly has people assume she has no clue about computers simply because she's a woman. I think women in the workforce put up with a bit of that naturally. When it comes to trainers, I want somebody to treat me as an individual with a clue. When a trainer doesn't treat you as an individual, I just don't see how its going to be a very worthwhile experience.
 
I think you'd be a great trainer Val. When it comes to trainers, I want somebody to treat me as an individual with a clue. When a trainer doesn't treat you as an individual, I just don't see how its going to be a very worthwhile experience.

Joe: I would love to! My "thing" in life is to treat people like individuals, as I may judge like anyone else at times, my talent is not to. It's about individual experience. However, I can't even get to my goal weight without regressing, I have a horrible sweet tooth, and I wouldn't know the first thing about handeling a person whose body type is WAY different from mine, so I'd have to take a bunch of classes if I was seriously going to.

Hi Sunnygirl!!!!!! :D
 
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