Transformation

[JanaNanner]

Hey Jana!

Oi, I can't imagine what kind of hormonal things your body is going through. Maybe before your insurance runs out, get the bleeding checked!! Haha. Insurance is such an awful thing to have to figure out when you don't get it through an employer. Yikes.

Congrats on the .3 lb loss!! In the book I've been reading, it says that you should celebrate every half pound loss! So since .3lbs is close enough, I say celebrate it!

Well, I've been this way since I was 11 and I've been to see doctors before about it but they never helped me, so I gave up and just live with it now. It's been almost 20 years that it's been this irregular so it's almost like normal for me.

Yeah, I was grateful for the insurance while I had it but I've been without it before and it's not easy. I'm looking for a job that will offer health benefits though, so we'll see what happens.

Hey, if I could lose 0.3 lbs every time I stepped on the scale, I would definitely celebrate it every single time.

 

[JanaNanner]

Hi Jana!

You're doing great! Keep at it!

Every lil bit helps!

If your like me and most of us here...weight loss doesnt happen fast enough.
So savour it like you did....even the .3 lbs will add up to 10-20-50 lbs...it just takes time.

Congrats and am looking forward to your first 10 lbs!

I know, I'm so impatient about the weight loss. I want to fast-forward time to a year or two from now and instantly be smaller. But I will savour it because I don't really have the option of enjoying it all at once, hehe.

Thanks.

 

[JanaNanner]

For the last month I have had very small losses each week but as you say even a small loss or no change at all is worth celebrating as it isn't a gain. Well done on heading in the right direction

Thank you. I saw before and after pictures of you recently and it was inspiring. You have made terrific progress and I hope to do the same.

 

[JanaNanner]

Aaaah, my calves are on fire. I love it. Evidence of muscles healing and burning calories from my workout yesterday.

Today someone told me that they can see that I'm losing weight. Of course, that was AFTER I mentioned the whole healthy eating choices thing, so it is entirely possible she was just saying it to be polite. But I'll still take it as encouragement.

I'm at my Mom's house today. It's really, tremendously difficult visiting other people's houses and not having your supply of healthy foods available. I did bring my food scale with me, though. She only gave me a couple strange looks over it during lunch. I imagine the strange looks will return when I break the scale back out for dinner.

 

[JanaNanner]

I think I need to keep a paper journal for better recording of what I'm eating... It would be much easier than feeling I need to run to my computer immediately to record every little detail before I forget it. And the scraps of paper that I use every now are just not organized enough for my liking. It would just be nice to have something (highly portable) to jot things down on that does not require me tearing across the house to get to my laptop before I forget how much each part of my meal weighed.

... Clearly I need to buy an iPod Touch with my invisible money and download apps for tracking calories. Yes. That must be it.

 

[shygemini]

I think I need to keep a paper journal for better recording of what I'm eating... It would be much easier than feeling I need to run to my computer immediately to record every little detail before I forget it. And the scraps of paper that I use every now are just not organized enough for my liking. It would just be nice to have something (highly portable) to jot things down on that does not require me tearing across the house to get to my laptop before I forget how much each part of my meal weighed.

... Clearly I need to buy an iPod Touch with my invisible money and download apps for tracking calories. Yes. That must be it.

LOL

do you have an eraseable board on your fridge? that could be a good way to track it..you could write down things as you weight them, then when you are ready to input into your computer you can...and don't waste paper either my kitchen is right next to my office so i just run in here right after i get everything ready to record it down

if no eraseable board yeah a paper in the pocket works great

 

[JanaNanner]

LOL

do you have an eraseable board on your fridge? that could be a good way to track it..you could write down things as you weight them, then when you are ready to input into your computer you can...and don't waste paper either my kitchen is right next to my office so i just run in here right after i get everything ready to record it down

if no eraseable board yeah a paper in the pocket works great

That is such a good idea! I don't have one, but it's definitely cheaper than an iPod. I'm going to go out tonight quickly and see if I can find a good one for my fridge. Thanks for the terrific suggestion.

 

[KarenBee]

Hi Jana -- I just joined this forum last night and yours is the first journal I read thru -- congratulations on your success so far !

I wanted to comment on something you posted -- the 2 lb weight loss even tho you had been so "good" -- this has happened to me before, and I always know why -- it's water weight from taking in too much sodium in prepared foods. You say that you love "healthy" frozen dinners -- well, in actual fact they are LOADED with sodium. And you are right to question what else is in them additive-wise -- just read down the list of ingredients -- all those things you can't pronounce -- what are they? I only very recently have started trying to stay away from prepared foods that contain ingredients that don't sound like real food, and believe me, I know how hard it is.

Anyway, I know you are paying attention to so many other details about what you are eating, but you might want to consider the sodium content too -- if I get too much sodium I bloat and gain water weight -- maybe that is what happened with you too?

 

[shygemini]

That is such a good idea! I don't have one, but it's definitely cheaper than an iPod. I'm going to go out tonight quickly and see if I can find a good one for my fridge. Thanks for the terrific suggestion.

Glad to be of help! Also then you have the little pen that clips onto it...so don't have to go searching for a pen (always a problem in my house lol)

 

[shygemini]

I did finish it. I made myself finish it. I've found since I began all of this that I am much more able to eat things that I'd prefer not to, just for the sake of the health benefits.

I still have another one and I'll probably have it on Monday. We'll see how I feel about it then. I might as well give it a second or even third try before giving up the fight.

hehe i always like trying new things even if i don't like them! maybe sometime you'll suggest something to me, and i guarantee you i will try it

 

[JanaNanner]

Hi Jana -- I just joined this forum last night and yours is the first journal I read thru -- congratulations on your success so far !

I wanted to comment on something you posted -- the 2 lb weight loss even tho you had been so "good" -- this has happened to me before, and I always know why -- it's water weight from taking in too much sodium in prepared foods. You say that you love "healthy" frozen dinners -- well, in actual fact they are LOADED with sodium. And you are right to question what else is in them additive-wise -- just read down the list of ingredients -- all those things you can't pronounce -- what are they? I only very recently have started trying to stay away from prepared foods that contain ingredients that don't sound like real food, and believe me, I know how hard it is.

Anyway, I know you are paying attention to so many other details about what you are eating, but you might want to consider the sodium content too -- if I get too much sodium I bloat and gain water weight -- maybe that is what happened with you too?

I'm currently averaging one of those meals about every four days so I'm eating them a lot less than I was. I haven't even had one in a few days now and I still feel like it is impossible to lose weight and I don't usually eat very salty foods or add salt when I'm eating, either. So who knows. o.o I'll track sodium content from now on as well, along with the fat, protein, and carbs I've already been tracking, and then see how much I'm getting on average.

Welcome to the forum and thanks for reading.

 

[JanaNanner]

Glad to be of help! Also then you have the little pen that clips onto it...so don't have to go searching for a pen (always a problem in my house lol)

I got one and it's posted, ready and waiting on my fridge as I type this.

hehe i always like trying new things even if i don't like them! maybe sometime you'll suggest something to me, and i guarantee you i will try it

I'll keep that in mind! And I promise I'll do the same anytime you have recommendations... unless it is something really odd... like olives. Haha, no, I just already dislike olives.

 

[JanaNanner]

Weighing yourself at night is a very, very bad idea. It made me thoroughly miserable. It put me right back into the "WHY? WHY? WHYYYYYYY?" mode I was in when I gained the two pounds last time.

But I do feel discouraged. It seems unusually difficult for me to lose weight. I worked out for an hour and 45 minutes this week, an hour on Thursday and 45 minutes on Saturday, and I'm eating so healthy. No potatoes, no white bread, only whole wheat pasta, no white rice, no pizza, no fast food, little to no junk food, no sodas, a ton of vegetable and fruit servings everyday, etc, etc... and not more than 1800 calories which is definitely 500 calories below maintenance. How can I weigh 280 lbs tonight? Does weight fluctuate that much from morning to night or does my body just really honestly refuse to lose weight?

I feel good about the way that I've been eating and there have been emotional benefits... I've been really happy about the changes in my view of eating. I am not happy about the lack of weight loss though. It makes me think about what I could possibly be doing wrong that I haven't thought about already when I know I am doing so, so much right.

I know, it's a slow process... but I've been doing this for a month and weighing in at 280 tonight is only 5 lbs less than my starting weight... after a month (and I haven't even fallen off the wagon once).

I should just stop weighing myself because it makes me unhappy. Hehe. It might be better to just keep eating healthy and weigh myself again in, oh, say... a year from now.

I'm sorry for the whining. On the plus side, I checked out SparkPeople.com today and I LOVE IT. There are a ton of amazing resources there and some good motivation to keep at it, too.

 

[ecky1]

5 lbs in a month is good going. If you do that every month you will have lost nearly 40lbs by the end of the year. If you keep at it you might even lose more some months. It really shouldn't be a race so don't get disheartened, it is so much better than the alternative of putting on weight. I rarely had a month where I lost much more than that but it's surprising how quickly the time goes.
I always weigh about 3 lbs more at night than in the morning due to all the liquid I drink during the day.

 

[JanaNanner]

5 lbs in a month is good going. If you do that every month you will have lost nearly 40lbs by the end of the year. If you keep at it you might even lose more some months. It really shouldn't be a race so don't get disheartened, it is so much better than the alternative of putting on weight. I rarely had a month where I lost much more than that but it's surprising how quickly the time goes.
I always weigh about 3 lbs more at night than in the morning due to all the liquid I drink during the day.

I know all these things intellectually, the domain in which I am rational. But my heart is irrational.... oh, so very irrational. Especially at 1 AM when I am half awake. Tsk tsk.

I know other times in my life I have looked back and thought "Goodness, the past year went by so quickly..." and I hope that is the case this time, as well.

I really appreciate your encouragement, especially when I am so very clearly being a rambling lunatic.

 

[JanaNanner]

I do so solemnly swear never to weigh myself at 1 AM ever again. From this point on, weighing will be done in the early morning to noon part of the day in order to preserve my sanity (and not send me into bursts of late night rambling that convince everyone else that I am completely insane).

I weighed myself this morning-- yes, yes, I already went completely against not weighing myself for a year-- and the scale read 275. Yes it did.

... So. That's a 5 lb difference over night. I much more so like morning weigh-ins now.

Okay, so maybe I am losing weight. The scale just wants to make a liar out of me, I swear it does. Kind of like "Ah... let's toss a couple extra lbs in there, watch her flip out, and THEN drop them again next time she weighs in so she'll feel really idiotic. It's good fun!"

I'm curious how much weight clothing adds, as well. I weighed myself in my PJ's this morning but I weighed myself fully clothed last night.

 

[JanaNanner]

hehe i always like trying new things even if i don't like them! maybe sometime you'll suggest something to me, and i guarantee you i will try it

Good news! I had the cottage cheese with blueberry this morning for breakfast and I LIKE IT. I put the spoon into my mouth and my eyes must have lit up like the sun from surprise.

Cottage Cheese with Strawberry? Failure.
Cottage Cheese with Blueberry? Very doable.

I'll have to try other flavors and see what different combinations I like.

 

[shygemini]

Yay glad you like the cottage cheese and blueberry! You can also try with frozen blueberries (makes it seem a bit like ice cream lol).

I love olives, but i would never make you (or someone else) try something that i know they don't like! Plus, olives are very salty and thus not very healthy (at least the olives i like).

Glad you got the little eraseable pad thing too

I weigh myself often at night, but with the understanding that it will be higher. In my experience, say i weigh myself at night, and it says 278 lbs. I think to myself, well in the morning, i should be about 2-3 lbs less than that (at least) and then that can still give useful info. Then i still weigh myself in the morning and see how my prediction was lol. Its like an on the go tally of your progress.

 

[JanaNanner]

Yay glad you like the cottage cheese and blueberry! You can also try with frozen blueberries (makes it seem a bit like ice cream lol).

I love olives, but i would never make you (or someone else) try something that i know they don't like! Plus, olives are very salty and thus not very healthy (at least the olives i like).

Glad you got the little eraseable pad thing too

I weigh myself often at night, but with the understanding that it will be higher. In my experience, say i weigh myself at night, and it says 278 lbs. I think to myself, well in the morning, i should be about 2-3 lbs less than that (at least) and then that can still give useful info. Then i still weigh myself in the morning and see how my prediction was lol. Its like an on the go tally of your progress.

This morning at the top of my erasable board I wrote in big letters "YOU ARE LOSING WEIGHT!!! " It's a little motivation every time I approach the fridge.

I think that the fact that olives are so salty is why I don't like them. I don't like pretzels either because of all the salt. I don't generally like very salty-tasting foods, which I guess is a benefit for me to avoid them a little.

Ah, I'll try frozen fruits in my cottage cheese sometime.

 

[JanaNanner]

I love working out. When I am working out I'm not even really thinking about losing weight, I'm thinking about it making me a healthier person. No amount of exercise is without benefit and that's what makes it so worth it for me, because I know it is good for me, no matter what the scale tells me.

That's why, even though I scheduled Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays for working out, I caved and worked out for 45 minutes today. I even did 5 minutes of cardio! I was gentle; I walked laps around my house and did trips up and down the stairs for 5 minutes (which amounted to about 8 trips, I think). Next time I'll do ten minutes of cardio because my back took 5 minutes really well.