Globetrotter

I feel dumb, what are complex carbs? Like brown rice and root vegetables? I'm deployed so my options are limited, I rely on my protein shakes, I'm lucky if I can get baked chicken or tuna salad. On occasion I have granola with breakfast or a piece of fruit if I can it, orange, plum, kiwi. I have been exercising and keeping a strict diet since the 23rd of April and I have not lost any weight, I keep going up a pound down a pound and this morning up 3 pounds -.-

I'm so glad I stumbled upon this thread today, I had a great cardio and lifting sesh last night but woke up 3 pounds heavier this morning, wtf. I have been lifting every other day for about 8 days now and the scale keeps going down a poun up a pound. Last night I maxed out my thighs with that machine where you put the roller on top of your ankles while you sit in the chair and flex your legs up and down. I also did the reverse of that machine, toe-lifts and crunches. So, should I avoid lower body today?

I'm glad for you lotusflwr, I am, but this is exactly the kind of post that frustrates me - I am looking for suggestions as to why this is happening to me, not to hear other peoples chants about how if you just work your tool (@#$*!!) you will of course lose weight. I've been at this for nearly 3 years, I know what to do and I'm doing it, and I want to know WHY IT ISN'T WORKING. I'm so sorry, this probably felt like an attack on you and it isn't I promise, I'm just that frustrated. v_v Yesterday I ate 800 calories, got plenty of Water, ran for 30 min, lifted weights for 30, and did yoga and calisthenics for 20 minutes and guess what -woke up 3 pounds heavier. F*** THIS SH**.

@ Lipstick - if I were in the States girl, I totally would! But did you know you can shop at Goodwill online now? That might help with your OCD. @ Nurse - again with the online, that is where they have the bigger sizes, they even have extended calf boots!

Women have always been cruel to me, that is why I make friends with men instead. I have a distinct memory of when I started to really pack on weght in college, I had the semi-unconscious understanding that the fatter I got, the nicer girls were to me. So, I traded self worth and health and confidence for *friends*. Sad. Once I got really fat, girls were nice to me, trusted me around their boyfriends, guys were themselves (quite revealing, both good and bad). Until I got super obese and then it flipped again, with women petrified to share the same oxygen with me, lest they catch the fat. I think there was a bit of self-sabotage about to happen last year, before my world shattered into a thousand pieces for other reasons, I was teetering on the edge of normal size/very fit, fitness girls were starting to want to be seen with me in public, I was hovering on the edge of the ability to wear single-digit sizes, male models (seriously actual male models) were willing to date me, and there were many nights that I lay in bed, prodding my sharp new hip bones, feeling the never before felt strength in my muscles, that I wondered if I could do it, if it was *okay* that I become an acceptable recognized healthy woman ... and if/how I would handle it ... I want to get back that feeling of strength, and I want very much to continue losing until goal, and I know everyone else can just suck it. Haters gonna hate, right? But, if you've ever heard the old saying about the prettiest girl at the dance sits alone because nobody is brave enough to ask her ... it's true, and yes it can be very lonely. The women hate you and wont befriend you because they have been so trained into low self esteem, and the men assume you must be a superior b**** who is going to shoot themdown because you've got your pick of anyone and beauty must be cruel. v_v I would love to take some self defense classes but there aren't any here, I've just got running and weights at my disposal.

My hip bones hurt all the time now, and I'm not even skinny yet! It's not that they stick out yet (woohoo, someday!) but its like they are in a constant state of bruise and I had to be careful when um ... *relating* with the boyfriend as there were occasions when our hipbones collided - yowwwzaa#%$&*!! talk about ruining the moment!

I'm trying to drink as much water and herbal tea as I can but I'm still not making quota, I really need a care package with those green drinks people were talking about...

Thank you Arts, could you possibly explain a bit further? I think I may be confused slightly by your sentence structure, or maybe I'm just not getting it :/

Thank you Kali, Lipstick - that is the kind of advice I am looking for, though everyone has said some inspiring things. I work in the Army as a DoD civilian so I am surrounded by men, tonight in the dining facility at dinner I walked across the room and I felt like every pair of eyes was on me and they were watching me in the same way they watch porn. Now, would I rather be invisible? No. But, I am not equipped to deal with this. And the women! If they think a soldier likes you, they will reverse engineer it and tell you horrible tales about that person so you will stupidly avoid them, and then they will eagerly watch for even the tiniest hint that you may even smile at someone, and run with it. I am friendly, I am open, I am an American-raised woman and I yes, happen to be pretty. If everyone wants to be considered beautiful, why does it hurt and leave you lonely?

Um, thanks Art, this is something that I am having to come to terms with, seriously. People now actually tell me to smile in order to get what I want - geez that bums me out. I'm also accused of batting my eyelashes to get what I want and that breaks my heart, I work so damn hard at what I do!! But I don't want this to turn into a humblebrag thread, I'm very serious about not having the ... skills, to deal with men AND women now that they can *see* me. It's frightening and also makes me sad. I really am looking for guidance on all that I mentioned in the post.

I wasn't sure if this should go in the Ladies Gone Wild section, but then I really wanted input from men as well, so I figured I would put it here. I have often wondered if many of us put on weight as a defense mechanism, I think it has been proven time and again -especially with females- that massive weight gain happens after a sexual assault or abuse or something. I'm not saying this means every last fat person was abused, so please, those of you chomping at the bit for someone to flame - no. What I'm trying to say is ... I was invisible for a very long time. During the years when I should have been learning how to interact with men, get my heart broken, get tough, get wise, learn from romantic mistakes, learn to spot predators - I was cocooned in my obese isolation and never learned any of those things. I never learned what other women learn about other women, that there are so many out there that are so crippled by insecurity that they will attempt to destroy you just to secure their own positions. I never learned that if you appear to present any sort of "threat" to these kinds of women that they will stop at nothing - including destructive gossip and libel, to eradicate you as a threat. I also didn't learn how to interact with men or rather, I never learned that there are consequences to my behavior; as an obese invisible individual, I was, ironically, treated as a person not a "woman" with all the connotation and baggage therein. I was treated by men as an honorary dude and got to joke and be bawdy and opinionated and they were comfortable around me. Now, if I make eye contact with any man, they see it as an invitation. Now, men are aggressive in trying to mark their territory, and I'm the territory! Now I am viewed as physically weak and now for the first time in my life, I am afraid when I have to walk somewhere alone in the dark. I don't know how to deal with all of this, I don't know how to weild this power, I was never taught. Help?

I got that same one today, I reported it.

I was lucky, I was living in a college town with a LOT of wealthy parents and alumni and nationally recognized sports programs, which all fuels a serious Greek system, which in turns means a LOT of ridiculously overpriced clothes being bought for girls who will only wear them once or for specific events. So, at my (regular, not boutique) Goodwill I was able to find Gap, banana Republic, LL Bean, J Crew, Old Navy, Calvin Klein, Diane Von Furstenburg, Anne Taylor, Levi's, and more. Not to mention the items from little boutiques I had never heard of and all of the silly crazy formal dresses that I could repurpose for dancing Of course, it did take work to find these things, I went every Saturday morning after the farmer's market and I scored good stuff maybe once a month, but it was a lot of fun and I felt victorious on so many levels.

I have no cats but, maybe I could use the port-o-potty instead of the latrine before bed ... but, that might give me nightmares!

Also, that horrible Aberdeebag dude, it's not often you see MEN with lip filler ... so. wrong. *shudder*. The only way I will ever wear their crap is if I get it at the Goodwill, but that's where I get all my clothes anyway, I mean, once you have paid 3 dollars for a pair of JCrew cords, or a quarter for a pair of perfect Levi's, there's no going back to retail!

I love J. Crew's clean and classy lines, they top out at a 16, not a 12 but yeah the clothes are cut small. So instead, I shop at LL Bean online, they carry plus size and their stuff has that same classy I-go-yachting-off-Maine look, lol.

As I told my boyfriend, if you want to be touched, make yourself touchable. You enjoy touching our smooth skin? Why do you think we wouldn't enjoy the same tactile experience? Besides, more exposed skin means more exposed nerve endings to titillate ...

Have the Dr lance them, keep them clean and dry. I know the pain of friction blisters, if you think this is bad, you have NO idea how bad it is to have a friction blister on your lady bits! Yeah, it's a real thing, so please no "informed" comments on STDs, I've been to my Dr been thoroughly checked out for every conceivable STD and I'm clean, but because of a deformity I have and the massive weight loss, one of my inner labia is in the wrong position and gets pinched and rubbed raw if I don't "tuck", so when I do heavy travelling or running and forget to "tuck" I get a friction blister and it is incomprehensibly painful, especially because you can't do any of the things you are supposed to for blisters, I can't lay there all day with my legs open, letting the air and wind dry it! I can't lance it because I can't keep the area dry and bandanged, it's miserable and the more weight I lose, the more exposed this bit of flesh becomes, so I'm thinking of having reconstructive surgery.

All of the food available to me in this deployed environment is SO loaded with salt it's not even funny. I was 189 yesterday, this morning I was 191.

Okay, mornings are easy - it is morning now (I'm 7.5 hours ahead of US east coast) I have no inclination for food in the mornings, it's the nights when I am soothing myself and relaxing from the day and trying to fall asleep that I want to nibble. So, right now, I am having some herbal tea, and I will have a protein shake made with 1% milk. Lunch will be a salad and some tuna - no bread. Dinner will probably be some chicken if I can get it, if not - another protein shake. I kinda like having a semi-frozen protein shake at night, it's almost like a milkshake and satisfies the craving for sweets. Let's see if I am able to adhere to this .... Oh and I will do weights and cardio tonight.

No kettlebells available to me, again, I am deployed. All I have are some free weights, some lifecycle treadmills and ellipticals, and some nautilus type weights machines.

I've been working out steadily for about 2 weeks now, every day, then suddenly about 3 days ago, I started getting shaky after working out. It did coincide with A) coming down with something don't know what exactly, and adding weights. Anyway, after a workout now, if I hold my hands out in front of me, they shake, I can barely hold my arms over the keyboard to type right now. whats up?

What is HIIT? Tonight I did 15 min elliptical @ medium heart rate range, 15 min bike @ medium heart rate range and some light stretching and if I hold my arms out straight, my hands are shaking (been a little tired lately).

Thank you, Hathery, everyone else, well aren't y'all just made of steel!

My version of "running" right now consists of one full minute at 4.5, followed by 2 minutes of 3.0, etc. etc. until 10 minutes have passed. Any ideas, Fiddleman, on why I'm not losing weight?