Ava324

I'll be there! I'd love to meet up with any other BP members attending.

I just ran my second 5K event a whopping 6 minutes faster than my first (about 4 weeks ago). I'm ecstatic! 39:50, and I could have kept going. My next event is a 4mi race in November. Must sign up for something else before then!

As I mentioned earlier in the thread, I'm getting my first tattoo when I reach my goal weight. 15 lbs to go and I've been in a stall for 3 weeks. The waiting sucks, but it's keeping my motivated. I really want to get my freaking tattoo! Lol.

Like @@Fallenangel2904, my chest was really small for my size. I started in a 42B. Two months after surgery I got 38Cs. To save money, I stayed in those two bras as long as I possibly could, but it was getting ugly. I thought for sure I'd have to go down to a 38A or something, and instead, I'm a 34C. 15 more lbs to go, and I'm hoping they won't change much more.

My second 5K event starts at 6:50 tonight. I'm confident that I'll beat my best time (46 minutes).

A bit unrelated, but has anyone else experienced this? Sometimes when I breathe heavy during a work out, something in my neck vibrates audibly. It feels awful. Maybe my Adam's Apple? My trainer had never heard of that before but proposed that maybe even my neck muscles are weak, and things just kinda jiggle around...

Thank you all for your words of encouragement and advice. Seriously means the world to me. My first cardio/agility day was yesterday, and I have to admit, I did a LOT better than I anticipated. I did a lot better than my trainer thought I would. I genuinely have always disliked sports and moving quickly, but I think most of my dread stemmed from the embarrassment of being so bad at it. I'd been overweight to severely morbidly obese since I was 8 years old, so I've spent pretty much all of my life ashamed by getting noticeably red faced, sweaty, and breathless at the slightest exertion. Like so much of fitness, the mental aspect is super powerful. Once I realized I was performing better (daily jogging is paying off I think!), then I actually enjoyed parts of it. I did cross jacks, stance jacks, 1-2-3 Heisman's, power squats, this box/step side hop thing, regular jumping jacks, and burpee lites. The burpees were the hardest for me. The best I could do was repeatedly step back one foot at a time into a plank and stand back up. My homework is to practice those.. Also the side step up hop thing was hard, I think because of tight hip flexors. Each interval was only 30 seconds with 30 seconds of jogging in place between each. I only saw stars for a second. I built it up to much in my head. >< Now that the first time and anxiety is out of the way, I think I'm up for the challenge.

Today: 155 That's -1 from last week. But! Over the week I went up 4 and then down 5. I'll take it!

I just did a quick search and already think this could be it. When I do cave from a hunger attack, my go to has been greek yogurt and a teaspoon of chocolate chips.

I'm going to definitely look into this more. For the past maybe 3 weeks my appetite has been raging. I've felt possessed. I mostly deny these cravings, and I'm not so fun to be around. The hunger pangs are painful. My husband thinks it's because I've increased my workout routines and started jogging daily. I'm thinking now gut bacteria could be playing a large part. I don't know the first thing about creating a symbiotic gut environment..

@@PuraVida37 Love it!!

I didn't try rolls until about 6 months out. I get rice free ones and I substitute seaweed with soy paper. I don't have a problem with seaweed, but I can't just pop the whole roll in my mouth. Taking a bite out of a roll wrapped with seaweed is messy. I find soy paper holds together better. I order a snowcrab and fresh salmon roll this way. Yum!

They had a tanktop sale (current sale is free shipping), so I ordered these two for myself: Also, picked this one out for my Whovian hubby... We live in New Orleans, so "Who Dat?" doubles for the Saints chant. It's perfect!

Thanks, Ginger! I never considered weak hips could make such an impact! I'll definitely work on my mindset about agility, and try to spin it fun and take pride in it too. Funny how your trainer has gotten tough with you. My trainer said to be ready to really work next week and warned that he's going to push to my limit. He said to have oatmeal and fruit before our session for fuel, but it has to be more than an hour in advance so I'm not throwing up. Eek!

Thanks everyone for the encouraging words and suggestions! We pretty much never use the weight machines in training. It's mostly free weights and kettle balls, then pulley cables, and TRX straps. I've certainly activated my stability muscles and balance muscles some, but I've mostly compensated up to this point with other muscle strength. I've reached the point where something has to give. In order to lift heavy, three things happen: I either go up on my toes, use bad form/round my back, or fall forward. Where agility training fills me with dread, it's music to my mother's ears. She's an occupational therapist and has lectured me on poor balance forever. Apparently I had poor balance and stability as a little kid too. She works in geriatrics so she can go on and on about how important agility is for fall prevention. I've actually had a few bad trips and falls in the past that put both my arms in slings and I'm only 26..

I may be able to help. I sent you a PM.

Start: 156 Goal: 145 I'm hopeful.. Good luck everyone!

I was pitifully weak when I started personal training 7ish months ago. I'm so much stronger now, and it feels great. I love lifting. I love lifting heavy. I love pushing myself and surpassing my personal bests. I love the results! I've felt like a million bucks and so proud of myself. Until today... All that momentum and excitement came to an abrupt halt... I hit a ceiling today during my weekly session. Basically my targeted muscles are strong. My stability muscles are weak weak weak. I can't increase the weights any more, because I fall over. Once the light bulb went off for my trainer and he saw what was and has been holding me back, he had me do some test exercises to see just how bad it is. I can't do lunges. Like at all. I fall over to the side (weak hip flexors). He diagnosed the problem, and we're switching focus until further notice. Fun bad-ass lifting is on pause until my stability muscles catch up. And his solution is agility training. My worst freaking nightmare. I've pretty much been sedentary my entire life. This is the first and only time I'd call myself "active" (I'm jogging almost every day and sometimes twice a day and weight-lifting 3 times a week). I avoided and hated playing sports. I move slow. Everything about how I move is slow, even after losing 113 lbs. For example, there's no way I could jump rope. My body and my muscles just don't move that way on mental command. I couldn't do it now any easier than I could before surgery. Agility training... "Leg day" is music to my ears. "Suicides" makes me want to puke. I dread it beyond how hard and brutal it will be. I'll go from feeling proud and accomplished to being embarrassed by my unfitness. Anybody else share this distaste and difficulty with agility? How about some other type of exercise? I'll have to keep telling myself "Everyone starts somewhere." Just like I made resistance training gains, I'll have to be patient with this. And it's a means to an end. If it improves my stability, then I can bring my strength training to the next level.

I'd pay for ad-free too!

So far I loathe the new app, which I downloaded last night. Such a shame! I broke my own policy of avoiding app updates for as long as possible, because they seem to always get worse - not better. I thought BariatricPal would be safe. The pop-up and in-thread ad banners are a complete nuisance. Distracting. They raise my blood pressure. Ugh! I'll almost certainly delete the app. I'll visit BariatricPal less. Ugh, again...

Sorry, I don't have a specific recommendation. I'm bored with music too and think audiobooks might work for me. Maybe look for a funny fitness audiobook?

My skin is in poor shape and flabby, but the fact that there is now definition amazes me. I had mashed potato arms before and couldn't feel a hint of muscle if I tried. Not arm related, but I dead lifted 115 yesterday. So proud!

I picked up a little personal heater to keep under my desk at work. SUCH a life saver.

I think my fitbit broke, and I am sooo bummed. I dropped my zip (only from hip height!), and it's been unresponsive since. Hopefully when I get home and can take the battery in and out it will revive.

Two NSV posts for me back to back! Yesterday I went and got a mani, and I hadn't seen this manicurist in a while. It genuinely took her a minute to recognize me. Then of course came the questions. She asked what I weighed, I told her, and then she said "I wish I weighed that". Someone wished they were my weight.... What?!! She said she weighs 163, which is a very normal weight to me, and a skinny weight to former me. A non-heavy person wished they were my weight... Mind blown.