Fenton

Kerri - it's easy to slip off the rails and gain. I think I gained a good bit a while back, and had to work my way back down. Weighing in Fridays will keep you honest. No one here will judge you - we've all been there at some point or another. What's more, if you try to go up in weight, you get a date... with THE CLAW!!! So don't go up in weight.

Ajoneen, nice to see you here. We're all thinking of you, and keeping you in our hearts and thoughts. I hope it helps you to know that and to check in; life has thrown you a cruel curveball, and I think it's great that you've managed to not default to bad lifestyle choices. And that's all it is: a choice. Stay strong! BodyBugs: I have one, but I'm not using it. I think they're good, but I HATE the monthly charge that kicks in, and never signed on for that. The thing is useful mostly for charting your calories burned during the day; that said, I'm not sure how accurate it is. WHat's more, I think the food logging software is kind of crappy. At the end of the day, I feel that I'm just as happy watching my pedometer, doing my best to do more than 3 miles a day, and watching my weight with weekly weigh-ins. Perhaps when I get down to a less absurd weight, and need get into a more micro-manage-y headspace, I'll finally subscribe to the online service, but I don't know.

No, really! You haven't had enough of me yet! Here's a Sparkpeople thing about the benefits of walking that I found interesting: Add Steps to Subtract Pounds Researchers from the University of Tennessee asked overweight women to clip on pedometers to track their steps. They divided these women into two groups. One group was told to aim for 10,000 steps a day (the common recommendation considered to be "active"), while the second group was told simply to walk briskly for 30 minutes, most days of the week (a common--but minimum--fitness recommendation). The study found that the step counters averaged over 10,000 steps daily, while the minute counters averaged between 8,270 to 9,505 steps on the days the DID meet their 30-minute goals, and merely 5,597 steps on the days they didn't exercise for 30 minutes. The researchers conclude that setting your goals in steps (rather than minutes) may be the best way to increase your overall activity. Action Sparked: If you're having a hard time getting into a regular fitness routine, using a pedometer may help motivate you. It's a simple way to track your progress, and you can easily continue to beat your past records (even if only by 5, 10, or 100 steps). Tracking your steps is another way to gauge your activity level--especially for the average deskbound worker. (People with active jobs, such as servers, may exceed 10,000 steps at work alone, but should still plan structured fitness activities.) Exercise Extra: Walking less than 5,000 steps daily is considered sedentary, 5,000 to 9,999 is considered low to somewhat active, and 10,000 steps or more is active.

This weekend, I took time out of my gluttony to try some new yoga programs, and I have ADVICE! My top three, four actually, are GAIAM products. 1. Rodney Yee and Suzanne Deason, AM/PM YOGA FOR BEGINNERS - 20 minute easy routines for morning or evening. I've been doing the Rodney Yee AM session for probably 8 years on and off, and I still love it. 2. Rodney Yee and Colleen Seidman (his foxy wife), YOGA FOR BEGINNERS. Again, two 20 minute routines, but a bit more energetic than #1. There's also an excellent 40 or so minute long segment where they explain the poses in detail - it can be used as a yoga routine itself. 3. Suzanne Deason, YOGA CONDITIONING FOR WEIGHT LOSS. This is a 50 or so minute session with Suzanne and three other women demonstrating the poses at different levels of challenge; you can watch just, say, the woman doing the session with the poses modified to make them as easy as possible, or you can watch all four levels of difficulty at the same time. This is a good session, a little demanding at no matter which level you choose; afterwards, unlike the 20 minute sessions, you really feel like you've DONE something. 4. Suzanne Deason, AM AND PM YOGA CONDITIONING FOR WEIGHT LOSS. This is new for me, and I like it. It's a kind of extension of #3, except instead of a 50 minute session, Suzanne offers two different 25 minute sessions. They're carefully modified so that they're not too challenging; there's a bonus practice where the poses are executed without modification, and the focus is on the breath. Those are my four favourite, and I recommend them highly. I'd suggest starting out with #1, doing Rodney's 20 minute AM session until your body gets used to it, then switch to Rodney's 20 minute AM session from the new YOGA FOR BEGINNERS DVD, which is a bit more challenging. Once you start to get comfortable in that, switch over to YOGA CONDITIONING FOR WEIGHT LOSS, start with the easiest version, and, as you feel more comfortable in the poses, gradually move up to harder versions. And if you want, grab #4 for a taster of #3 when you only have limited time. I've also been looking at some Body Wisdom DVDs, and I'm not liking them so far. YOGA FOR INFLEXIBLE PEOPLE is slow-moving and set inside a yoga studio - all the GAIAM videos are in beautiful places like the beach in Hawaii or in a national park etc. BEGINNERS & BEYOND YOGA FOR WEIGHT LOSS is shot in the Caribbean or Hawaii, but I think even the beginners level is kind of hard for people who're significantly overweight - the flow is pretty quick there. I still have to try ESSENTIAL YOGA FOR INFLEXIBLE PEOPLE, which is shot on a beach somewhere.

Teri - I'm not really beating myself up over it. I did it, I enjoyed the food, although not so much the Cookies because the way I ate them worried me. But I think it's important to salute my slip-ups, to take note of them and recognize what they mean. Last night at the restaurant, the chef came up to chat; my friend was writing something about the place, so I just wanted to give her a basic introduction - my plan was to order two appetizers, split a fish dish, split a meat dish and have dessert. But once the chef got involved, everything spiraled out of control. They wanted to show off to her, and she wanted to be shown off to. I suppose I could've eaten less of what was served, but in truth it was all so good that I didn't want to eat Just a Little. It's funny, because it was an amazing meal, but I wasn't into it. It would be too cruel to list the menu, but I'll just mention the first course (because I suspect that it wouldn't thrill everyone on the board!): raw sea urchin with sea urchin ice cream and smoked trout eggs with 80 year old sherry vinegar... But between last night and the cookies today, I had the motivation I needed to push myself to walk extra - including crossing Central Park after dark. So I'm pleased. Lisa - we're weighing in every Friday, and posting in the Friday weigh-in thread. Join us there! And when you hit your Century, be sure to add it on behind your name...

Well, Teri, you may beat me to the century. Not only was last night a night filled with sin, but TODAY I screwed up, too - I skipped Breakfast because we were going out to brunch, and brunch was a solid calorie hit, but manageable. But then we decided to get Cookies from this amazing cookie store; because of a mistake in how they filled our order we ended up with an extra three cookies. And I ended up eating three cookies instead of one, which would have been bad enough. And the way I wolfed them down was bad - unconscious, compulsive eating, clearly just the behaviour which landed me in this ridiculous spot in the first place. I know it's a hard time for me - my long distance relationship is pretty clearly breaking up, and I'd thought she was perfect for me. And she kinda was! Except she has her problems too, and then there's the distance, so... ANYWAY, long story short, it's so easy to fall into the trap of emotional eating, and I did. But now I think I'm back in control. By way of penance, I walked over 5 miles today. And I think I deserve extra brownie points, because it was pretty bloody cold here in NYC today... The End.

Arrgh. dinner tonight - about 7 savory courses, a pre-dessert, three Desserts, petit fours. The whole 9 yards. Argh. I had only a shake for brunch, expecting the meal to be quite calorific, but it far exceeded my worst expectations. I suppose I could've just nibbled, but I didn't. And now I feel super full, will have difficulty sleeping, and will wake up early.

Good Lord! Congratulations! And: watch out, Tess! Are you sure it's not too tight?

Nice work, again. I went down 5 lbs - and since I was bad until the last 3 1/2 days before weigh in, I assume it's mostly Water weight. But I'm determined to be good from now on. I think my relationship is falling apart - and it may be for the best. It's a long distance thing at the moment, separated by almost 2000 miles, and it's hard for her and it's hard for me. But I'm grateful to her for showing me that I can still fall for someone and be with someone, despite my various issues. And I'm returning with my energy renewed to the fold. Realizing that I'd just been fooling around for the last five months was a useful wake-up call, too. The one thing that worries me is my pattern - I have a big loss, then I get complacent and blow-out my diet, and begin to go back up again. Rinse, lather, repeat. But not this time, I think. Although I do have to go out to my fave restaurant tomorrow night with a food writer friend, and it'll be a bit taste-y. We shall see! I went there tonight and I just had some fish, which is rare for me. And a glass of Pinot, not so rare.

Wait! At the risk of infuriating Amanda, I think we should also note key weight loss milestones - I miss potatie's 100 POUNDS LOST! sign. I propose that everyone adds their key milestones - 50 POUNDS LOST! 100 POUNDS LOST! 125 POUNDS LOST! We can do it tidily, I think. And there would be two benefits: 1. You get to crow about your achievement, and see it there every time. 2. It's inspirational for others to see what can be achieved - and for ourselves, perhaps, to push us to the next minigoal... Let's say, in 25 pound increments - 25 LOST, 50 LOST, 75 LOST etc? I'm not going to do mine until I've got the 100, though.

Christine, I think the Claw is only interested in people who put on 2 lbs or more; I think that 1 pound up is within standard deviation for the measuring process, and wouldn't sweat it. I'm down 5 this week, somewhat to my surprise. This puts me at 5 from my hundred, and I'm going to aim for the hundred for next week's weigh-in - unlikely I know, but only dreamers move mountains.

Amanda, glad you could pop your head in here, gladder that you made it to the gym. In hugely stressful situations like yours, getting away to a gym and getting out of your head and back into your body is perfect therapy. Try and keep it up, if you can (and you can). And give my thanks to your Dad! Who doesn't love praise???

Way to go, Scrappy! Always the trailblazer...

aJoneen.........0 evelas5000......0 Desdemona.......0 Fenton.........-5 HarleyGirl......0 Hopeinapril.....0 Lynn1215........0 NurseNiki.......0 Nycm00.........+1 Potatie.........0 scrappy_friend..0 SpecialK........0 Sugarbean......-2 Sharona.............-1 Tess415.........0 Thin2bme........0 WestCoastMom....0 Wishin4.........0

I was pretty awful at the beginning of the week, but reined myself in for the last few days, so I'm hoping... Mostly, though, I want you to know, Sugar, that the Claw is always waiting for you... He knows when you've been good or bad, you see... And so will we, come tomorrow!

OK, Shamrocks!!! COUNTDOWN TO JUDGEMENT DAY!!!! I hope everyone's doing their oops I hope everyone's doing their Last Day Power Workout regimens and whatnot. Because tomorrow brings the numbers... and a possible date with: the CLAW! Which (and now I'm speaking from personal experience) is not as fun as it might sound...

Amanda? We're all thinking of you.

Damn, Christine! No fair. I think it's significant that your tummy was getting better under the medical regimen; I'm sure you'll start to improve back on the meds. I'd probably have some Pepto or Mylanta to begin.

Please! I've been struggling with (roughly) the same 13 pounds! I think I'm now at a weight I was back in July, 10 more for my hundred. I lost the first 90 in about 5 months, and have basically footled around for the last 5. Yikes! Put like that, the problem seems kind of stark...

Amanda, hang in there. We're all thinking of you.

Oh, Sugarbean! You say "Good attitude!" here, then seconds later SLAM me in another item!!! Well, I'm going to be watching you like a HAWK from now on... And the second - the very SECOND - that even a fraction of an ounce creeps back on, I shall POUNCE! And I shall do a little dance* as I escort you to see... the CLAW... * Please note that the dance will be not so much a formal dance like a rhumba or a cha cha cha, nor a line dance like the Texas Two-step or the Electric Slide. I'm thinking of something more along the lines of the free-form expressive dancing such as one might have encountered in the parks of San Francisco in the late 1960's, or in the animated films of Charles Schultz's beloved PEANUTS <tm> characters, such as Linus, Charlie Brown or Snoopy.

I must admit that the CLAW is a heavy burden indeed... As to Indian food, off the top of my head I'd say saag paneer - pureed spinach with soft Indian cheese - shouldn't be too bad. I'm not v. restricted so I don't have tremendous insight into this subject.

I'm not updating my ticker, though - that'll be gone by next week... AND THEN SOME!

Argh! I'm afraid the eyes of the nation must now rest upon ME! As soon as I get back from seeing the CLAW, that is... NAME *********LBS.Lost this week aJoneen.........0 evelas5000......0 Desdemona.......0 Fenton........ +4 HarleyGirl......0 Hopeinapril.....0 Lynn1215........0 NurseNiki.......0 Nycm00..........0 Potatie.........-2 100LBS LOST!!! scrappy_friend..0 SpecialK........0 Sugarbean......-2 Sharona..............0 Tess415.........0 Thin2bme........0 WestCoastMom....0 Wishin4.........0

Now all can understand the Power of the CLAW!!!