beversman

I found a new love that i'd forgotten! Bicycling! I went just went on a 5 mile ride, I was cruising... only took me about 20 minutes to go somewhere between 5 and 6 miles! I was kicking butt. Boy I can feel the different muscles that I was using as opposed to the elliptical. I think I am going to start biking everyday too. It was so enjoyable! Not like exercise at all. more like FUN. I can handle THAT. I am going to invest in one of those cushion seats though DAMN that is rough on the rump! HA!

Another 35 minutes down on the elliptical! Off to do crunches and weights. I passed up a night out tonight. Was invited out the bar and I just stayed home to exercise and behave myself. I plan on going out next weekend. So, I have to be extra good in order to deserve a night off. I am going camping with friends at a boat regatta on the Ohio River next weekend. Its a lonely night here. Hope you are all having a good night. Where is CLAUD!?!? I hope she is ok. I miss her.

(right now) Sam Cooke - Cupid (coming up) ALOT of Grateful Dead

See! My deficit is WAY more than 500 calories a day. I eat no more that 800-900 on a HIGH day and I excersie buring 700-900 calories a day. So... my deficit is HUGE. That is how I lost the 80bls so quickly. Now, it seems like the scale is just laughing at me. I would love to have one of those Body Buggs! I would love to have a trainer too... I know I must be doing something wrong. So, ultimately... I need to win the lottery. hahaha THAT is the real problem. No money for all of this crap! Self pay was my only option. I don't regret it. But that is $500/month just to pay my bill. It is hard to justify spending even more money on something else. I will just keep at it. This will have to work eventually. it HAS to.

The doctor said that REGARDLESS of what you eat. To burn one pound of existing fat you must burn 3500 calores/day That includes your Basal (resting) calories that you burn which is roughing 2200-2800 depending on your lifestyle/age/ect. I am only getting about 3200 a day burned. So, if the Dr. is right... then I need to be getting in 300 more caloreis burned each day and will see better results. I'd just never acutally seen anyone give a # of calories = an actual # of pounds lost. I'm not trying to be hard on myself. I just want my scale to move. I've been stuck here for months. It is frustrating. I don't know what Im doing wrong.

I found this today on Yahoo Health. It is written by Joy Bauer, M.S., R.D., C.D.N. on Sun, Jun 17, 2007, 9:34 pm PDT "While it's true that exercise helps you lose weight by burning more calories, in order to lose one pound of real fat weight during your workout, you’d need to burn 3,500 calories." I usually burn about 3100-3200 a day. Maybe THAT is my problem!! I thought I was doing a pretty good job of burning calories, but maybe I'm really not.

Well, I havent lost much weight, BUT since June 11th... I've lost 7 inches from my body! :biggrin1: So, I must be accomplishing something. Glad I finally decided to start measuring :-) I bought one of those MINI balls to do my core training on... try to shape up this stomach SOMEHOW! Did another 35 mintues on the elliptical... and crunches on the big ball! Calories were low today and exercise was HIGH. This scale has GOT to get moving down soon. It is just scientifically impossible to consume 700 calories or less a day and BURN 3000+ calories a day and NOT lose. SOOO, I have to see some change soon.

I don't know if you guys have heard about Alli the weight loss drug that is now over the counter (a weak form of Orlistat) My sister will be graduating from Pharmacy school in a few months. She know her stuff. Here was her recent take on the new "wonder" weight loss drug. This made me crack up!!! Public Service Announcement : Weight Loss & Alli Warning: This is graphic but someone has to tell it like it is. The news companies and pharmacies are too afraid. After hearing some non-pharmacist friends talking recently, I decided to write this blog to help everyone out. Alli is a great new diet pill that is proven to work and is available over the counter. You can lose up to 50% more weight using Alli than just by diet and exercise alone. Great, huh? No. Alli makes you poop your pants. Alli's marketers hide this by using the term "fecal urgency." You will have "oily discharge" throughout the day. When you fart, you will shoot out oil. When you start taking Alli, you have to bring an extra change of clothes. When you take Alli, according to the patient information brochure, you may recognize what's in your poop as the oil that is often on the top of your pizza. This statement disturbs me. First it implies that you look at your poop in the toilet and say, "Hey! I recognize that from somewhere!" Second, it implies that all fat people eat pizza and not just pizza, but the greasy, nasty kind. Third, why use the pizza analogy?? A simple "it looks like fat or oil" would have sufficed. Personally, I think Alli's marketing writers should be fired. And this still happens when you are following the "rules" and only eating the recommended 15 grams of fat per meal. If you eat more than that, may God be with you. Here is a scenario of what will happen: You eat: A turkey sandwich You: Poop your pants You eat: Low fat chips and salsa You: Poop your pants You eat: A salad You: Poop your pants You eat: A salad with ranch You: Poop your pants all day and will probably have to sleep on the toilet You eat: Taco Bell You: Poop you pants for days, and probably will get fired because you skipped work. You'll have to quit if you did go because everyone saw you poop your pants. You will also need to buy a new collection of work pants and maybe a new office chair. So instead of buying Alli, maybe you should buy stock in Depends or the Tide To Go Pen stain remover. Just a tip from your neighborhood pharmacist.

Read the whole thing, Ms Nat! I love reading your posts! Blonde!?!? Ohhhh hell no! haha. RED!? YES.... (I LOVE red hair) I "was" a red head for 8 or 9 years. but blonde???? I don't think I am the blonde type. haha Althought I was as blonde as they come until I was about 5 yrs old. I will get my plastic surgery one day. Get some blonde hair and call up Mr. Heffner!! I will be the next "Girl Next Door" haha -- I could do "playboy" bunny. HA! yeah right! I am so glad to hear that positive tone in your voice too :-) its been a rough month or so for us with this weight loss! I just have to keep exercising... and making smart food choices. Lane Giant!?!? :heh: NAT you crack me up! I loved the clothes there. I have no idea where to shop now. It is killin me. I need work clothes STAT! I took two more garbage bags FULL of clothes to my family this past weekend. I offically have like 15 things in my closet. It is getting desperate. AND WHERE IS CLAUD!!?? I was wondering the same thing! :eek: I miss her. Where is our sexy mamma??

Well, I didnt get on my elliptical last night BUT that is because i spent 5 hours at a rock concert jumping around like a moron last night and didn't get home till after midnight :-) :drum:sooooo, I think that counts as exercise!! I didnt drink! I was a GOOD GIRL! So, no extra calories. I took my little brother. It was his first rock concert EVER! He is addicted like me now... we had a blast. Boy are my legs sore today from all the jumping and running around :-) FEEL THE BURN! I need to start my own workout.... "Mosh away the pounds" hehehe :rockon:

35 minutes on the elliptical again!! hooray! Going to go do some crunches and head to bed. I was doing SUPER good on calories then I ate a chicken pot pie... UGH... 370 calories in ONE of those little bastards... but they sure taste good. I ended up with 888 calores today, grrrr. I worked almost all of them off, but it is amazing how one food choice can ruin a whole days work. Go nat GO!! hope you found that elliptical tonight honey... 2 HOURS!? of cardio!?!? that is crazy... my 35 minutes gets me pretty worked up. I couldnt probably make it 40 or 45 min. BUT TWO HOURS!!! AWESOME JOB!! :clap2: Elle - The truth is if you want to lose more than the 50% YOU are going to have to work your ass off for it... literally!! This is is no way an easy option. If you want to truly see results, you can not just sit and do nothing. It just wont work that way. You have to exercise regularly and watch your calories. Now once your AT goal. I don't think it will be as critical to count the calories... it seems somewhat easy to MAINTAIN without gaining. However, these last pounds are the HARDEST.... they stop falling off and you start having to work for every single lbs that you lose. :-) But I wouldnt trade the weight I've lost for anything.... I am totally happy with my surgery and my results so far. I just know that I am not done until I reach my goal!

Well, I didnt do my elliptical last night BUT I certainly had my work out. I spent ALL day cleaning and moving furniture by myself and THEN shampooed my carpets and got everything as clean as I've ever seen it! I sat down at the end of the day it was like 11:00pm and thought, "damn, im tired" and I decided not to push it by jumping on the elliptical last night. I'd gotten my work out. So, I will be hopping on it tonight! I've been doing awesome with my food and my calorie intake. It is still below 800 calories a day. I am just waiting for some results. It seems so much harder to lose anything right now. I am hoping that it is going to pick up now that I've been exercising daily. Nat - way to go on the exercise and the compliments from your SIS. You mom sounds like a headache!! Mine can be the same way when it comes to some things. She seems to have come around about my surgery though. She is really very supportive these days. Now that she knows it works and that I am healthier than ever. It would be hard to be in your position where she is so judgemental. I really think that with some people (i have friends like this) it is a bit of jealousy. Everyone has their hang ups and things they dont like about themselves. WE are fixing ours and that can bother some people. Which to ME is NOT right... but what the heck can you do? I can't wait to see your PICS!!! :clap2:

transformer -- Thank you for the compliment and HAHAHA (about the men) well, the one "man" was only 21 years old and very much still a "boy" -- he was only around for a few weeks and I couldnt handle him anymore AND had to send him packing. I knew from the start that I wasn't interested, and I should have made that more clear to him. The new guy (Ryan) IS very much a possiblity. (I met him memorial day weekend, a month ago) But we are taking things SUPER slow and just seeing how things develop naturally between us. Heck, we've never even kissed yet! We spent one whole evening hanging out and just couldnt stop thinking about each other after that. It was the end of the evening and we both stopped and looked at each other like "whoa, do you feel THAT!?" -- We've been talking and writing ever since. Kinda cool that he was completely interested in my mind and personality. He told me yesterday that when we finally get back together he thinks it will be like "two souls in communion." (that's a Grateful Dad lyric by the way) He asked me out on our first "date" this past week! :biggrin1: We have a good connection. He gives me those butterflys in my stomach. I haven't felt those since the "happy" days with my ex - and he was the only other one who gave me those at all. So, I am glad he's been persistant and made me pay attention to him. I was trying my best to ignore him at first. haha He is alot like my best friend Eric. In fact, they grew up together actually and have known each other their whole lives. So, it makes sense that we get along so well. If nothing else, I have made an AWESOME new friend. ------------ Congrats on your soon to be degree!! That will take alot of stress off of you once you've completed it. That has to be on your mind all the time and has to take up a HUGE chunk of time as well. And I hear you about the psycho hunger!! I get that alot. It is mental 100%!!!! But dont worry you are not alone. I dont know what to do about it though... except talk myself through it and give every reason NOT to eat it. It is soo hard though. I know I cant do it, but I want to eat everything in site! I hear you about the 999 OTHER things to do. I'd gotten so distracted with life that I wasnt paying attention to the weight loss. I am trying to get back on track too. :-) I love my elliptical. It is savin me! I weighed in at 192 @ the DR Monday. I am now back down to 189. 3lbs this week!! So, I am almost back on track to my 187 that I KNOW I saw before. The scales have started MOVING!!

35 more minutes down on the Elliptical! I would have been around 600 calories today too BUT went to the movies... HA! Took my OWN popcorn... i popped the 94% FF and bagged it up and took it in my purse!! HAHA! BUT it was still 400 calories in popcorn alone... I ate alot of it... if you drink water with it... it just goes right down. It was my one treat for the week. everything else was right on track. I am kicking ass on the elliptical again. I didnt feel like I was going to die at ALL tonight. I am getting the hang of all of this again. Thanks everyone for the encouragement. Glad you guys can see the differences. I am too critical of myself to see what I should :-) love ya girls!

Here is a comparison (before) October 7, 2005 and (during) yesterday. I finally found an older picture that was full length. The second pic is from a year ago and then yesterday.

Here is another comparison. I finally got my monthly pics taken for June. I will put them together tonight and post everything on Yahoo group! :-) My doc wants before and afters.... I don't think that I am an AFTER yet. But I am able to see some differences finally. Not what everyone else sees, but it is starting to compute.

Here is a comparison (before) October 7, 2005 and (during) yesterday. I finally found an older picture that was full length. I had to get it from my work. Please ignore my current GUT:cry. Im working on it!!!

Hey mammas!! Just got done with my 4th day in a row of elliptical hell!! haha. Just pumped out another 30 minutes. Didnt kill me quite so bad tonight. I think I am getting my stamina back up!! Knee is great. Weight is still not moving much. Not sure what is up. Ive been eating less than 800 calories a day. Minimal carbs (less than 40) Protein is at least 70 (usually more than 80) Fat has been 20 or less grams a day. I don't get it. Ive got to lose this gut! K, im off to do a few crunches... then it is time for bed. Love ya long time!

Vaband - i had to do the same thing a couple of weeks ago. The guy that had been hanging around and had all of the family trouble. I finally had to be blunt and tell him AGAIN that there was not going to be a relationship with me. He got quite upset and I realized that being friends wasn't going to work with him either. So, I had to cut things off completely. I've never had to be in that position before and it felt horrible, BUT I could have allowed him to go on thinking that there was more there that what it was... or I could be honest ASAP and stop things from getting worse for him. I just did NOT like the guy that way. He had to be told. I did NOT want to get into a relationship with him. He was just the wrong guy. Like you said, I wasn't feeling it. He was way too into the "lust" of it and not into me as a person with a heart and a mind. He was too immature and too into himself. We were just in different worlds. I need someone who wants to make the effort to get to know me... and I need a person that makes me WANT to get to know HIM. He just wasn't that guy. However, there is someone that I've been talking to since memorial day weekend. (when I went to the Indy 500) We met that Friday night before memorial day. We talked and had an awesome conversation and that was it. He is college educated. Got plenty of money. Is completely into the same things that I am, but in a different way. He knows many things I don't and intrigues me to no end. About a week after we met, i got this text message that said - "I absolutely can not stop thinking about you. I can't get over your smile. It captivated me. You're all that Ive thought about for a week now." Then, the next week... (now bear in mind he is a professional artist/poet kind of guy) said that he would love to get to know me better and that he'd fallen in love with my eyes. He calls me bright eyes now. I've been best friends with many of his good friends for years, (my Eric and he went to high school together) but he and I never had got to hang out. So, he is already in my Indianapolis circle. BUT like you, VAband, I sure dont know if I want to do this whole thing right now. So, I gave him my email address and told him that we could email each other back and forth to get to know eachother a bit better and he could then decide for himself if I was all that he seem to think I was cracked up to be. We are almost 2 hours away from eachother after all. He has been emailing me a couple times a week ever since. One night we spent 6 hours on the phone talking all night. BUT we just did that once (a couple of weeks ago). And yesterday he asked me out on our first offical date :-) I really do feel excited about it. Which is good. I havent felt excited like this in a very very long time. However, I need to go hang out with this guy and see if I get "THAT" feeling about him or not. This is definitely a take it very slow. Do the whole, dating, movies, concert, dinner kind of a guy. A NOT rushing into ANYTHING kind of guy. I do find myself "wanting to know more about him" though INSTEAD of having that "eek, I dont want to deal with this right now feeling" --- so heck, I think I've gained a very intellectual friend if nothing else, and those are always very nice too! -------------------- Heck, I know I want to stay single for a few months. So, i can enjoy all of the attention that I'm getting for the first time in my life. hahaha... But dont want to pass up someone that truly saw something special in me that didn't have a thing to do with getting in my pants! So, I will continue to investigate this intriguing, professional, intelligent man. He is a refreshing change from the trolls that I generally attract. Much more mature and put together.... and not bad looking at all. He is such a cutey. BUT I am certainly making him work at it. haha. this is NOT going to be easy for him if he wants to get to know THIS brandi :-) We will see if he is up to the challenge.

Another 30 minutes on the elliptical! Getting ready to hit the weights and do some crunches :-) Ive been keeping the calories super low and maintaining the protein. Ive got my water intake very high... in fact, Ive been going back to a little bit of the liquid diet during the day. Drinking broths for lunch and protein shakes for breakfast. I think this last fill is much closer to where I need to be. I feel much more full after 2/3 of a cup of food... instead of just using will power. I acutally feel like I cant eat anymore. yeah!! We will see how long it lasts. Im keeping the carbs super low. Trying to keep the fat lower. I am going to maintain this all week and see where it gets me. OK, IM off to hit the weights and then will be making my lunch for tomorrow. VAband -- hey honey!! Happy for you with the new man. It must be nice to have someone around that wants to spend so much time with you. There are good ones out there... so I hear. Maybe you found yourself one! I understand you being reluctant to move ahead with it. Once you've been burned, it is hard to try it all again. (this i know!) Good luck you you girl! Dont worry about the weight. Enjoy yourself, that is what life is all about :-) no sense in doing all this if you can't have fun with your new bod!

Well, I thought I might die!! BUT I just got done with 30 minutes on my new elliptical machine. I feel freakin' fantastic. I was sweating and breating heavy and it feels wonderful now. I LOVE that burn. SOOOOOOO glad I went and bought this thing. Ive missed it! Good news... didnt aggrivate my knee at all!! I thought it wouldn't. Glad I was right. I can starting kicking my own ass again without worrying about my stupid knee!! Watch out body, here I come! I think I am gonna go life some weights. and crunches... I feel inspired to tone!

Well, im back.... Good news is last time I weighed in at the Dr's I was 197 (6 weeks ago)... so I weighed in at 192 today. WHICH is up from my lowest of 187 but still 5 lbs down from the Dr. visit. I went in expecting to have gained from my last visit. So, they all yelled at me BUT NOT for gaining. They yelled at me for being negative becuase "I'm doing great" -- They even asked for before and after pictures for their website. Sooooo.... they kind of made me feel better. I just want to know when I got so much MORE critical of myself. I think it is worse now than when I was 80lbs heavier! Funny how that works. The nurse and the dietician said people tend to get really picky the closer they get to their "goal" -- and that many are just never completely happy. I sure hope I'm not one of those people. I'm feeling good after my week of getting back down to business. Im about ready to go make friends with my new elliptical machine. I didnt make it on her this morning... So, we are having an evening date. I know that most of us are going through a "funk" right now. BUT just know it is just part of the process. We are all going through it. Lets just keep after eachother!! Keep showing off all your hard work everyone. It inspires me to do better. I am so glad I have all you here to talk to.

Heck no girl!! Get your happy butt back on here... ticker and all! :-) You never know... we may all be catching up to you real soon :-) Don't count us out. You may have some company up there realllllll soon... hehe Luv ya honey! no hiding allowed! Be proud of yourself. Just because we wish we had the same results doesn't mean we aren't proud of yours!! Keep rockin and rollin' sista...

bannannie - i didnt mean it that way. i was just amazed at your success and kickin my own butt for not being more dedicated. it was nothing against you. I didnt think you'd take it that way girl! Put your ticker back up. Dont be ridiculous. You're making ME feel bad! I wasn't intending to be unsupportive. You should know that! Im here everyday and can't wait to hear from you all. I would never discourage anyone or make them feel bad for their success. Get that ticker back up there girl!

Got my elliptical!! Got it put together today, and will be getting up early to put my butt on it... Nat, IM with you honey. FRUSTRATED :-) I've been eating sooo well for a week now. and I cant get the weight to move. I am hoping my daily 30 minutes of elliptical butt kicking will do the trick and get things back in motion. It is frustrating when we dont see results. I go for a fill tomorrow. I think I will have gained weight. My doc is gonna be disappointed. I hope some of this "period" water weight goes away by then... ive been carrying around aobut 4 extra lbs becuase of it and they NEED TO GO! Im disappointed in myself. Ive never went to the Dr. and saw a gain. Ive been behaving myself too. I dont get it. :phanvan Bkwalling -- honey your doing great!! Things have picked up for you so much with the weight loss. I am so happy that everything is finally going as it should :-) Banannie -- im jealous. I want a personal trainer so bad. I am just so poor :-( cant afford it. You are doing so well... I feel so bad for not being able to keep up. It is killin me.