Staying in Shape/Losing Weight

[Lori]

Tahleen, Buddy...you should move to OK. Or better yet (cause I'm not a mean person) I'll move to NY. You just call and convince my parents that we're long lost sisters, separated at birth and we need to be exercise buddies. (Sorry if that got a bit extravagant, but I looked at your profile and it sounds like we're two peas in a pod)

[Tahleen]

HAHA YES. I don't think I would have a problem convincing them, and plus Ithaca is pretty awesome/not too expensive to live in... And feel free to get extravagant, I've come up with crazier scenarios. We do have an awful lot in common.

[Lori]

I must admit that I've been reading The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood and am feeling a bit grand dahlin. (Hehe) I love that I meet people like me on this site! I've found so many long lost sisters.

If anyone is interested, I have a recipe for a very yummy mandarin orange salad that isn't too bad for you because you make the dressing yourself. Personal message me if you're interested. (You might have to friend me, which is fine, but in the request, mention the salad so I don't forget)

[Mandee]

I just weighed myself yesterday and I lost 9 lbs. since the last time I weighed myself (which I can't remember when that was!). But I don't care - I lost 9 lbs!

I haven't started exercising yet I've just been using the Sparkpeople page you guys recommended, and I took another tip from someone about the search feature not being great - so I just took some time to input my own foods which go straight to my favorites. That way I know the nutrition facts are correct (cause let's face it, I'm not cheating anyone but myself, right? MmmHmm, no one else cares) and it makes it super easy to track what I'm eating. It only takes me a couple of minutes a day.

Thanks for all the awesome tips (even though you didn't know you were giving them to me!) ;}

[Erin]

Yay Mandee!

[Mandee]

Thanks, Erin!

[Lori]

I just joined the Self-Challenge. I really need to stop screwing around and start running most days. I mean, I walk at least 1.5 miles roundtrip to campus and back 5 days a week and I do yoga 5 days a week as well. I try to eat properly, but it's getting to be that time in the semester where I need to make do with what I have and only buy the essentials. Hopefully the weather will stay nice enough for me to run outside (I hate the gym!).

Here's a little secret for yall...I haven't done any running since I stopped playing soccer when I was 16. I hope I remember how!

[Tahleen]

Lori, I feel the same way! I have been really conscientious about my eating habits, but not so much with the exercise. I usually do yoga three times a week but I skipped this morning because I was too tired to get out of bed... and I can't do it later because my housemate's bf hangs out in the TV room all day. I want to start running, but I've recently realized I don't have a pair of running shoes haha. So that will be difficult... I need to save up and get a pair.

[Justine]

I started doing yoga on Sunday. I'm hoping to get in the habit of doing it at least twice a week.

Today also starts 30 days of other intense healthiness to break and start other habits. Not as excited about this as I was yesterday.

[Spencer]

Lori, me and you are in the same boat! I used to play soccer for like 10 years, and after I stopped playing when I got to college everything went down hill (literally). Getting into the habit of running again is a HUGE challenge, but I really want to get back into enough shape where it doesn't hurt to run anymore.
PS- I did yoga today for the first time and i SUCk! For those who do yoga, how do you continue to keep doing it when you cant stretch far enough to complete the pose? Is it a waste of time to even bother? It was challenging but in the end I felt relaxed, which was good

[Tahleen]

Anastasia, don't force the poses! Go as far as you can, but don't strain yourself--if you keep at it, your muscles will eventually lengthen and you'll be able to get into the position more fully. It's not a waste of time, it's just the same as anything else: the more you work at it the better you'll be!

[Anna]

I've started doing yoga on my wiifit after work most nights, I keep alot of tension in my shoulders so it has helped me relax and stretch which is great because my back has hurt less at the end of the day.

[Lori]

Wouldn't you know that as soon as I make up my mind to do something and do it right, I get a massive sinus infection? I didn't do yoga yesterday or today, nor did I run. But, on the whole, I ate pretty well.

[Erin]

Lori that happens to me too! I hate it! And its like well if I don't start now I won't start, but if I start I'll just get more sick... Oh I hate it.

[Mandee]

Don't worry Lori, just remember the reasons behind making up your mind to do what you set your mind to do, and it won't matter how long you have to put it off, you'll still have the drive/determination even after you get better. When you remember why you made up your mind all the same feelings will come back for you. That's what's been working for me anyway. I hope you feel better soon :/

[Annie]

ive been home for a week on break and ive discovered my mother's plan in life, being the italian that she is, is to fatten me up every time i walk though the door.
Noooooo!!!!!!!!!!

obv going to the gym nine times a day every day for the rest of my life. lol

[Tahleen]

I haven't done yoga recently either... but it's because I just couldn't drag myself out of bed. Gotta work on that.

[Lori]

Jeepers! I am so ready to not be sick anymore and to get back into my routine. I always felt so good after doing the yoga, even if I hated dragging myself out of bed most mornings. As for the running, I really hope I keep my resolve to do that. It's rather necessary to get rid of the jiggling in my problem areas.

[Erin]

I'm having more trouble now with my ADD. It could be because I'm aware of it I am just noticing it, but it could be that I have more energy. I haven't ran in a few days and don't feel like going for one yet. Though I do feel like I could. I think I'll try and make sure I go for one today.

[Rafaela]

So, for runners: do you follow a method to train and evolve?
I'm using the tips from Runner's World.
I am also concerned because I don't want to lose muscle mass, but... I love running and I'm not going to stop.
Once I'm restarting, after long time of inactivity, I have trained three times a week for only thirty minutes. I walk for five minutes, then I start merging three minutes of fast walking with two minutes of racing. I feel very well after the training :)

[Tahleen]

I don't know if anyone is struggling with how much they are eating (like to an unhealthy level or something), but I found this online and thought it might help those who are limiting what they are eating too much: http://weightloss.about.com/od/eatsma...

This made me feel a lot better; right now I just don't want to gain any weight back, and so I've been limiting myself on what I've been eating, but after calculating my BMR and adding the activity calories on here, I feel a lot better. I realize I haven't been overeating like I thought I was, or at least not to the extent I thought I was. (Like I do maybe once a week, if that.)

[Mandee]

Tahleen, that's exactly how I've been feeling for the last few days...except I've been struggling with feeling like I've been eating too much (but I think its more like I'm eating the wrong things). I did the whole detailed BMR thing a few days ago and revised my calorie intake because of it, but now I feel like its given me permission to not be as careful as I was before.

Like today I hung out with one of my friends who likes to eat a lot and I KNOW I overate even though I haven't added everything up yet. I'm afraid of letting myself go back to my bad habits and that I'll stop losing weight, or even worse that I'll start gaining weight again. But I just know that I will not go back to that. I don't know if I'll ever get to a certain weight, but I know that I'll always strive to be a healthy person, and that's what really matters to me.

[Lori]

One of the good things about being sick is that you tend to eat less. I don't know if I've lost any weight, but I know I haven't been shoveling down as much food. I really hope I can keep myself to such reasonable portion sizes.

I haven't been able to start running or doing yoga yet, but hopefully by next week I'll be able to breathe through my nose.

[Mandee]

Haha...yeah, I had strep throat for the first time a few months ago and I literally couldn't eat a thing! So painful, but positive in that way I guess!

[Tahleen]

Mandee, as long as you are getting at least 1200 calories a day and are eating the right amounts of each food, you should be fine. If you are trying to lose weight eat less of the calories you calculated, but don't overdo it... I did that for a while and it was not healthy, and I realized it before it got to be too much of a problem. The website mypyramid.gov has been helping me figure out how much of each food category I need, and if you want to look there it really helps. And if you're feeling stuck or anything, let me know, I can try to help you out.

[Annie]

is it legit to use i have a cold as a reason not to go to the gym? lol

[Lori]

Annie, That is totally legit! You don't feel well, you need to rest, and you need to not contaminate other people.

[Annie]

thanks! i feel better about not going now! lol

[Lori]

Good. I'm hoping that by next monday i'll feel well enough to do something exercise-ful.

[Tahleen]

If you don't feel like trudging to the gym, dance in your room! That's what I do. :)

[Erin]

I like that suggestion Tahleen and like doing it myself, until my roommate almost hits me with the door as she comes in. That's embarrassing and can have a painful end...

Annie its worse if you go when you are sick because you'll stress yourself and get even more sick and very possibly pick up something else even nastier such as mono! Its extremely important for all of us to make sure we don't over tax our bodies to much. Many nasty things like mono live in our everyday environment and we're fine until we give them a huge hole to get in.

I had to make weight for a rally and didn't eat for like 36 or 42 hours and was trying to pee like crazy so I could ride. I didn't get a chance to eat something before I did ride and wound up getting chronic mono from it. Chronic mono is much worse then the usual mono which is usually from interaction with someone who already has it. Chronic mono only makes you feel lethargic and kinda coldish every two weeks or so.

[Mandee]

Thanks Tahleen! I'm checking out the link right now, and there's so much good info on it...thanks for offering to help too!

Erin that sounds horrible!

[Tahleen]

Mandee, glad it's useful and also glad to be of help :)

[Erin]

Oh it sucks. But I'm over it now. It was entertaining because each time I got tested for mono the 6 month test came up positive and the test for right now came up negative. I got all my tests with in six months of each other for a few years.

[Lynnie]

I don't remember if we've discussed this before... but how do yall feel looking at old "fat" pictures of yourself? I just ran across my student ID from sophomore year of HS and I look quite chubbier than I remember being. It hurts .. it's silly I know. Maybe I was just in that ugly phase?

[Tahleen]

Lynn, I know what you mean... I untagged a bunch of pictures on Facebook recently because I didn't like the way I looked in them.

[Mandee]

Erin, seriously, that does not sound fun. I'm glad you came up negative finally.

Ugh...pictures...I hate them. I love taking them, though!

[Anna]

I see pictures of me when I was bigger and wonder why i never noticed...and why I thought what I wore was a good idea. Luckily I take most of the pictures so I'm only in a few of them.

[Tahleen]

Ugh, Easter ruined me... haha. Toooooo much food.

[Lynnie]

yep.. yesterday was a Chocolate Overload!

[Erin]

I never like pictures. I don't like looking at myself that much. If I'm in a certain mood I can see beauty, but still as a general rule I don't like them.

I really have problems with eating when I'm upset and sometimes with other people's weight. I use to eat as comfort and so that ruined my appetite when I'm sad. I also can't really date guys who are over weight because I think of their bodies and its just his underlying hate of my weight. If I see a naked over weight person I flash back to my body (never that bad) and get sick to my stomach even. It has nothing to do with the person, but I hate it because it can seem like I do. Its just me having this horrible problem with my body being over weight. If clothes are on then I'm fine because I just see the person not their body.

[Annie]

Yay! I got to the gym today, ran a mile, and did some ab workouts. And Im snacking on some 100 calorie pack popcorn. I would recomend this stuff. Sooo good and theres definitely a lot of it!

Also, I had to share, I saw the sickest thing online. And by sick I mean gross- not awsome.
On a blog site that I am on, there was a girl who literally counts her calories on her blog and eats well under the, what is it?, 2000 cals. you should a day.
DONT DO THIS! I would hate to hear about any of you beauties doing this!!!
It made me very sad for this girl.

[Lori]

Lori is going to hit the pavement tomorrow and start running. She is also going to do yoga tomorrow morning. (She is not sure for how long she'll speak of herself in the third person)

[Mandee]

It's a goodreads tweet!


Good for you, Lori!!! I'm glad you're feeling better.

[Annie]

Lori: how is yoga? They offer it as a class at my college and I kind of want to take it. Is it hard?

[Lynnie]

I know this is a stupid cop-out but I am absolutely swamped and I don't see any time for me to work out! ugh! Why am I so busy?? How do yall fit it in??

[Tahleen]

Annie, I know your comment was not directed at me but all I can say is DO ITTTTT. It's so good. I love it, even though I have been slacking lately... I think if I were in an actual class I'd keep on track.

[Anna]

Annie, I agree with Tahleen yoga is great. I wish I had taken it at school I just do it on the Wiifit so I'm not sure if I have the right form but it is so much fun and relaxing.

Lynn, my best advice would be to just start setting aside 5-10 minutes and do simple stuff at then once you get used to that set aside a little more.

[Lori]

Annie, Yoga is not really hard, especially once you get used to it. I think my biggest problem starting out was being able to balance. I agree with Tahleen and Anna, yoga is totally worth it. It's helped me become less stressed and also helped melt a few inches. It doesn't burn fat, but it increases muscle mass (which in turn burns more calories).

Bottom line: Do yoga!

[Annie]

Awesome! Thank you!