End of November

Well, it is less than a month before Christmas!

Time flies right after Halloween! It's amazing!

Weighed myself and took off a half pound of the 2.5 I seemed to gain last week.

Didn't really change anything to drop that half pound. I will NEVER figure this weight loss thing out!

Anyway, it was soooo encouraging to see all the clubbers signing in and letting us know how they are doing! Keep up the posts!

I know I enjoy reading everyone's successes and relate to the struggles too!

So as we enter into December, we need to keep our positive focus. Dinnner parties, Christmas goodies, alcohol flowing...it is always a challenge. But let's just take 10 minutes a week to check in with our club clan and be accountable and supportive!

Goals this week...

Eliptical three times, cutting portions and increasing water...that hasn't been so good lately.

Good luck girls.

Sarah

My record for November 2005 is not too brilliant: all in all, I managed to eliminate .8 lbs. I still have 30.4 lbs to loose to reach my goal

With the "Month of Excesses" having creeped on us, I plan to try and ward off the excesses by:
- Limiting the number of parties I attend.
- Trying the very best I can to stick to my program by planning those days where I will have less control over what I eat.
- Working out at least 3 times a week.
- Waiting 5 minutes before giving in to temptation, asking myself if it's worth it jeaopordizing all my hard work.

I know it can be done... And I just hope I'll have the will power to do it.

Great intro to my next topic- another Yogic principle:

MINDFULNESS (that would be paying attention)

It brings to mind some other psychobabble ideas I have gleaned from different sources. I don't mean this to be a put down just that some of these ideas are beginning to gel for me.

First- there is a beast in your brain telling you to eat/drink. It is the lizard brain from way back. You should eat/drink because you will need the calories to run away from the Tiger coming over the hill or because you will not escape the Tiger and will die so be happy now. This lizard part of your brain is your amygdala and you have it and it won't go away. The good news is that even though your lizard brain is strong the other/newer/rational part of your brain is bigger. I don't think it is stronger at first, I think it needs exercise.
In a book about behavior modification I read that the problem is not will-power it is self control. Uh ok- what is the difference? Can I answer this question? Maybe we need to pump up the rational part of our brain.

(Yikes! this is hard! Don't get the idea that I can do this. I am kind of thinking out loud here and I am thinking that I should just shut off the computer and do something else. it is kind of a creepy feeling)

Eat that last paragraph.

Pumping up the rational part of the brain might relate to mindfulness.

True or False: Fat people enjoy food.

Well, if you are overweight you don't want people to see you eat so you don't eat at parties, family get togethers etc. enen though you want to. So since you are hungry when you get home you stuff yourself. then you feel guilty because you ate too much. No food was enjoyed at all. ( I can relate to this scenario)

Here are some ideas I have had about food and mindfulness.

Like Dany said wait 5 minutes- but you might think about talking to it (the food) in the mean time. See what it has to say. Get in a fight with it if you have to.

When you eat enjoy the food. Put it on a plate. GET A GLASS OF WATER to go with it. Sing it a song. Do you guys know the "COOL WATER" song by the SONS OF THE PIONEERS"?

Eat at the table only.

Make a list of 150 other things you should/could do instead of eating. ( 150 is a rediculous number that some psycho said in a book with out mentioning one) I will list one at least. It is fairly difficult to eat with a mud mask on your face. (Not impossible- but difficult) You are probably not working as hard as you should be if you are eating at your desk at work. (Sipping WATER is ok though). Apply lots of lipgloss!

Keeping a journal is probably a good idea. I'm not doing it but I still think it is a good idea. I guess that I am trying to keep in touch here so that at least once in a while I PAY ATTENTION. because I really do want to stay healthy and lose some weight!

Press On and keep up the Good Fight!

Barb

Thanks, Barb, for sharing that.
November was not good for me. I started out well, but at the end, I've ended up gaining about 3 pounds (my scale isn't the best).

I was doing well up until T-Day...and making the chocolate chip cookies a few days before.

On the up side, I joined Curves on the 8th of November and have been working out about 4 times per week...so, at least I'm feeling better.

At the beginning of the month, I had started the low-carb, no-sugar thing. I "fell off the wagon" so hard at T-Day that the wagon backed up over me. Actually, I don't think I ate too much sugar at all...the amount was much less than what I normally eat.

My question is (and its rhetorical, I suppose unless someone has some insight)...since this surgery, will the weight ever be able to come off? Am I doomed to suffer through meals of salad only? Do I gain 5 pounds every time I look at ice cream? It does not seem fair. Maybe after they weigh and measure me next week at Curves...maybe after I've seen some inches go away (and I can tell I've lost inches)...maybe that will make me feel better.

Anyway, apparently, this is a difficult time of the year to lose weight. I've never had a weight problem until this surgery.

My goals for the month:
1. Don't overeat (stay away from refined sugar and carbs)...well, except for the Red Velvet Cake and during Christmas parties.
2. Keep working out at Curves 4 times a week (we go during our lunch hour)
3. Keep drinking water (I haven't had pop--that's soda for the Yankees--in many, many months)
4. AT LEAST maintain my weight during Christmas...but really, really try and lose..

Good luck, sisters!! It sounds like everyone is on the right track.

I walked last week and did fine. I weigh 117 lbs so I lost the weight. I just have to keep it off. It was probably depression that made me put on weight early in 2005. I started baking sugar cookies and delicious cakes from internet recipes and testing them to reach perfection. As a result, I gained 13 lbs in a few weeks. Then, because I planned a trip to Arizona for May, I stopped baking altogether. I started exercising. I lost 16 lbs this year since April. I eat my veggies and fruit daily: carrots, an orange, a few apples. I eat whole, unprocessed nuts and whole grain cereal, the kind you have to cook. I avoid the foods that intice me to overeat mindlessly like pizza. I don't take vitamins because they make me ravenous. For calcium, I drink nonfat milk. My goal for December is to maintain the weight loss and get more exercise.

Hi! I ended up losing .5 from last week so I"m almost back where I started when I joined up here. My husband has agreed to walk with the dog and I at night so that is helpful. I also need to up the water intake so I'll be working on that along with walking the dog or using the treadmill at least 30 minutes 4-5 times per week. Hopefully it will help!