Trying hard to lose the pounds!!!!!!!!!

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No, but her standing up and stripping would divert alot of the men's attention...then I could just slip by and take first! Love your attitude Rose!

Cait

wow Cait!!!

Congratulations to you! That is admirable!! Keep up the good work. You have inspired me.

peace,
celia

Four pounds! Ahhh. Got to be water. That's the signal to be really "good" the next day.

Sometimes it takes a couple of days before I see the results of little diet "holidays". That's bad because I have those intervening days to keep living it up. Then the scale signals bad news and it's back to the carrot/apple life.

chomp, chomp, chomp.

Cait, It is hard to believe that you were ever not in good shape! The rowing that you do is so strenuous and requires that you last a long time at it.

I get really hungry too after I exercise. My “plateau” is self-imposed—it is more a break from dieting after almost 10 months straight. I actually do not count carbs or ratios of fat and protein. I don’t do Weight Watchers or anything. I am a vegetarian (and that eliminates a lot of fat) and I do not eat a lot of anything. I do read the food labels and don’t get stuff loaded with fat, and I check the carbs in a serving because I am diabetic, so I try not to eat too many carbs at once to keep my blood sugar down.

I hate having to have regimentation in my life, which is what the docs want the diabetics to do, but I have done my share of food journals and counting calories in the past. I am kind of a free spirit about food. I don’t eat meals, or have regular dining times ( my hubby does tho—but I don’t cook for him anymore since he is way too fussy—so he is learning to cook--hahaha ). I do eat some snack foods like pretzels. I try not to eat foods that are too spicy because that makes me crave more food. And the biggest thing I did was get off of chocolate, which took 2 months and was very, very difficult. So now I don’t have cravings for chocolate or for sweet stuff.

I try to treat food and eating more casually, like something that I have to do to maintain my body, and not as a big pleasure or a social event. My doc has tested me for vitamin deficiencies, like B12, and I am fine. My last hemoglobin A1c tests for blood sugar were the lowest ever and my doc is thrilled. So I am doing fine with my “bohemian” style of eating and I have lots more time to concentrate on my other projects.

Rose, with this “carrot/apple lifestyle,” what about adding in some alternates like mushrooms or pickles?

peace,
celia

Rose, I'm also a numbers girl...I like seeing what I'm taking in and how my body responds to it, both diet wise and strength/endurance wise. I have a huge fennel plant out in my herb garden...should I work up a recipe for fennel cookies???? Probably not!

Celia...NONE of my friends can believe I'm this active now, believe me...and some are not real supportive either. Guess I'm not alot of fun to be around when they want to go sit at Starbucks and drink frappacinios and I want to go work out! And I think having had bc made me even more conscious that I want to do everything possible to be healthy. I've tried vegetarian several times and for me...I'm a devout carnivore...maybe it's a Texas thing with all our beef!

Only 8 more pounds to go for me...but dh and I leave for Seattle and Salt Lake on Friday...restaurant food and all that sodium is probably NOT going to help me lose anymore...but I'll have a good time and come back next week and hit the diet again!

Cait

Splitting entrees is what we usually do, so that won't be a problem. Or we split an appetizer and get 2 salads. And we're only going to be there 2 days and then over to SLC...my best friend and her dh retired there...big ski bums. And they eat very healthy...she has never had her weight fluctuate more than 5# her entire life! So we'll get to spend 2 days with them...visit Park City, maybe Sundance again. I won't be skiing. There are some things artificial knees are never meant to do! I'll remember to bring my own skim milk if we make it to Vermont...it's on our list. So I'll let everyone know how I do...no diet and no gym! DH asked me if I was going to go through withdrawal not wearing gym clothes for 5 whole days!

Cait

Are you flying?
I always wear stretchy workout clothes (of the decent variety) while traveling.

I wouldn't want you to go into sweat withdrawal.

Cait,

I think cross country skiing is grueling and hard on the legs/knees. Snowshoeing isn't bad and much easier to get the hang of. Hope you have fun!

I have been saving a big pile of shorts that i used to wear a few years ago, that are smaller than my current baggy clothes since my weight loss. I planned to use them this summer instead of buying clothes that i would soon have to replace again since i plan to lose more weight. It was quite warm today here in the Pacific Northwest and i decided to try them on before i went to exercise, so that i could replace my shorts that are way too baggy now and can't be worn. I tried on several sizes of shorts in the big stack and found that they were ALL TOO BIG--WAY TOO BIG!!!!! OMG, i didn't realize that i am now smaller than i have been in at least 10 years. It took a long time today to sink in. At first i was disappointed that i didnt have any shorts to wear, but i am now really happy about this!!!!

Saturday i am going to get a Polar Pacer, because i am sick of the pulse checker on the treadmill--it told me today that i had a 191 pulse rate and then it finally changed to 110. Kind of scary. I had a Polar Pacer 25 years ago when i was a runner and a weight lifter, but it had long since stopped functioning.

Next week i will be going shopping for some shorts that fit me. (Yay!!!!) I wish that i could wear those little camisole tops with the spaghetti straps, but with a mastectomy bra and prosthesis, i don't know how i would do this. But i always dreamed of wearing them once i got thin enough.

Cait--have a great time on vacation!!!

peace,
celia

Rose, the Polar Pacer is a “wrist watch-style” monitor that you wear on your wrist, and there is also a hard rubber strap with a strip of metal that goes around your chest, (right under your bra) with a flat nylon webbed strap. It doesn’t involve using the pulse monitor on the treadmill, so you can completely ignore any exercise machine’s built-in pulse monitor. It is continuous monitoring, and if you run on the treadmill you can just swing your arms and you don’t have to grab anything. This is why the Polar Pace is used for running or cycling. I got the simplest model that just allows you to set your training rate for your age and the Pacer beeps an alarm when you are under your rate or over your rate (called Target Zone alarms). You just glance at the “wrist watch” and see your pulse rate. There are more expensive models that have all kinds of features that allow you to program in training programs and other stuff, like calories burned, average training rate and how much time per week you spend in that rate, etc. I think it is the FS-6 that is good for exercising in a gym where lots of ppl have on the Polar Pacer, and this model doesn’t allow any “cross-talking” from other ppl’s Pacers to interfere with your readings. Mine is the basic model, FS-1 for $59.00. The website is www.polar-usa.us/ . I had used the basic model before and it met my needs. I hated doing the pulse check with your finger on your neck or somewhere and then multiplying by some number while I was running on the 440 track.

I noticed at the sports store that they also had a pulse rate checker by Rebok for on the wrist, and it said on the box that it was strapless, but I was used to the strap and I felt that it was more accurate with the chest strap. I think it was a tiny bit cheaper than the Polar Pacer, but I didn’t investigate it.

The camisole tops would be bad for me since I do have to wear a mastectomy bra and the bra straps would be obvious., Also, my incision and scar were originally skin-saving and it looked like I had a sausage attached to my chest. I had an implant and it got infected and the P/S took it out and the scar got a bit smaller that surgery, but still is lumpy so my bra and prosthesis do not get flush against my chest. When I lean forward even just a bit, both swing away from my chest and my scar is visible at the inner side which is high up. So the spaghetti straps are probably not do-able for me, but I am going to shop for them anyway!

peace,
celia

Rose---

Ok….what planet have I been living on….I do look at the ads for clothes in the Sunday paper all the time, but I am not sure what you mean by:

“… but like everything else it's got that criss-cross top”

Straps ? that cross in the front? The back? . I haven’t noticed a trend toward this style.

I am going back to that Polar site to read about those heart rate models. I am guessing that if the cheaper heart rate monitors have problems with “cross-talking” from other people’s monitors, then there should be a way to harness that capacity and use it to hook up with the exercise equipment. Let me know what your trainer says about it.

Yep, a bra and a tank and a dress is too much clothing for summer weather. But you did get me to thinking that perhaps a camisole top and another top that is a bit different could be worn together to conceal the mastectomy bra and the top part of the scar that shows. It is a possibility. Maybe getting creative with this problem will be the answer……?

Peace,
celia

Checking in - I'm at 165 and am now trying hard NOT to lose the pounds! I am still 5 lbs higher than I want to be (but in normal range) but I don't want to lose just because I have no appetite, want to work out and earn it!

Anyway, never thought I'd have to, but am force feeding myself 3 times a day.

Good job on the elliptical, Celia. I haven't worked out in a while but will walk to the polls Tuesday - that's about 6 blocks each way. Will give me a clue on how out of shape I've become!!

Keep up the good work everybody!!
Kari

Hey Kari - Losing because you're not well and anxious isn't exactly what we envision! But don't let your good habits go. Build with strong healthy stuff, and maybe some ice cream when needed.

Take care - I'll be thinking of you today. I hope that decadron doesn't do a number on you. Are they green pills? Count me in on the Relay for Life.

Ceila - I think that's progress on the elliptical. Don't overdo because injury will knock you off for a lot longer. I went back to the weight room after a several week stint of a hurting shoulder/arm/side (it's always on the recon side ). I dropped all the poundage. It's not about being super-woman, it's about being that at all - with an arm that isn't numb.