My biggest dilemma is that I have to take medicine in the morning. I don't want to eat until around 11 am because I like to have a late night snack of 100 calorie pack of cocoa dusted almonds. I've been putting off taking my medicine but the one I can't put off is an anti biotic.

I guess I can share this ,lol. I have to take an antibiotic before have sex or I will get a UTI.I have to take it with food.

I guess half of a Greek Yogurt would be 50 calories. I need to look up string cheese and baby bell light.

How about you? Is the 5:2 plan working with your life? I also don't like working out with my trainer on an empty stomach.

Will this not work if you have 11 hours in between instead of 12? There must be some reason you have to have 12 hours off.

Sheryl, I deleted a bunch of duplicate posts your phone sent for you!    Mine does it too!   It "hangs" and I think its not sending so I hit send again!  And then it sends a duplicate!!!!  

I say that I lost 30 lbs thanks to 5:2 and only one person acknowledges, maybe that's why I never bothered to tell anyone ....

Why can't you take HRT, or if you are taking it, higher doses? acupunture?

The original post, my venting rage, was responded to well but full of a lot of questions. So I responded, answered a lot of questions and also revealed my loss of the regain in full, and it got totally ignored, except you.

I responded with congrats and old school dancing bananas on post 3415!

Hey Florinda, it may just me, but I felt a little "betrayed". Its like, you say you were saving it up for a big surprise, but I was feeling for you and all your difficulties, including not losing any weight, for months.... (I felt like) you were kind of lying about the good news. Not sure what that was about, and then you were all hurt that you did not get the big hurray when you revealed. I felt a little used emotionally.... I am still happy you have lost the weight, I am actually ecstatic about it... after all your efforts, but just left me a little cold... I thought we shared here. Here of all places where losing weight may not be everything now... but it did bring us together in the first place....I want to share your success in real time... just saying.

Not sure where I plan to land. I was fine for a year at 255 which for my 5'7" frame is still obese by BMI standards. I feel overweight. So still pushing down. I have no real fitness goal. My initial goal was to be able to get up and down from the sofa easy and to be able to run around with my grandson. I will have to think about my personal goal. I hope I will know it when I get there.

I think defining your goal is a really good idea...just waiting for it to be recognized when you get there is really some kind of limbo. Even if you reach a stated goal, you can always change it if its not enough or too much... but there is power in stating a goal... thats why picture boards are so powerful, visualization....perhaps a piece of clothing to get into, an activity in particular, or something like that... not necessarily a number...I am so happy that you have seen some movement, I know how that can really energize things.

Coops, I hope you get to the bottom of whats making you feel down energy wise... I used progestrone cream from a health food store... it took around 3 months to really kick in, but the flushes went away, and my wonky sleep patterns, strange thinking and energy really got better... I read this book...... it really helped...I believe this is the newest version...

http://www.amazon.com/What-Your-Doctor-About-Menopause/dp/0446614955

I have finally gotten to the bottom of my bounce range again... even around 2/10s of a pound more... those pesky Christmas pounds have really been a blitch! I managed to pretty much stay in my bounce range, but the upper limits.... so happy to push it down again... Im shooting for 5 more.... so when I bounce, it won't be back into the 170's... head trip.

Thank you Georgia - that was so frustrating!

FYE - you said better what I was trying to say. I am thrilled for any of our little tribe's success but i feel... taken aback I guess. I thought for months of hard work - diet, exercise etc there was zero progress to report. Anyway, I am over it, but it did set me off balance a little.

Brown, here is what I did with goals. I KNEW that once I got under 200# i could do many of the physical things I wanted to do. That 200# mark is like a disability line for me. So, I set that as my initial goal. I was pretty comfy in the 190s, beat the heck out of the 300s. I sorta paused there for awhile... and realized I had some fears about getting smaller...let's be honest, fears about attention. I struggled with that when I was young, but I worked through alot of the head space before making the final push to goal. I seem to have shed the need for fat as a protective layer - and I think that pause helped me figure that out. So, I would have been pretty good in the 190s and I have a feeling that something in that ballpark might be a good range for you too. Maybe you should try picking a realistic, but HEALTHY feeling weight - get to it and then re-assess? I tend to agree that 250# is probably higher than an optimal health weight - but we are all so individual!

How is Curves going?

Monday I did a group weight training class at the gym. It was great, muscle but NOT joint sore. Then I rode my horse. All that after a day at work - that is a good life for me, busy doing healthy and enjoyable things.

Last night I went out with friends - we usually do happy hour (appetizers for dinner and a drink) on Friday night but they wanted to do bingo night at a different place. It wasn't nearly as good of food, the bingo prizes were lame-o, but the whole crowd got into it. Everytime "O-69" was called, the room erupted like we were a bunch of junior high school kids. sheesh. I think next week I want to go back to our usual Friday night haunt.

So, I got the email of the day... still smiling from it. I am "piloting" some technology with our field organizations (the guys that service our customer's equipment). I had a list of volunteers who I later discovered didn't really volunteer so I only got about 1/3 of them to join. So, now I have followed up individually with some we need to join us... anyway I get a "no" from someone but we needed more east coasters and he is in New Jersey. I wrote back telling him I would remove him from the pilot, but then gave him the "elevator pitch" and he writes back to me:

"Your smooth and unforgettable style has won me over let's try it again on Friday"

Don't worry - i didn't email him a corset picture or anything....although many thoughts did cross my mind of how do I talk this guy into joining my little team....LOL... who knew my silver tongue (keyboard) would do the trick. HA

I don't really like managing projects but i do like the people part!

Thanks Kim, I'll have a look at the link.  I have to go back in two weeks to see her about this bloody menopause, so I'll mention the cream then. Doc said that it was probably a severe virus that has wiped me out... and the menopause symptoms have just made me feel worse...

 

Congrats on getting to the lower end of the bounce range - I'm getting there slowly too - just need to get the last pound off before I can say surgeon's goal... please let the scale be kind to us both!

Florinda, I did send congrats and a {{hug}} too as you wasn't feeling at your best the day you posted.

I think after you wear it a while that 1/2inch will disappear.

Skinny, tell me about the red rice yeast...? My doc wants to put me on statins too... Im actually worried about increased pain...

Hi Kim, I have been noncompliant with taking my statins for a few years and my doctor suggested that I take a natural supplement that has been know to reduce cholesterol. So I went to GNC and bought the Red Yeast Rice. I take 600mg 2 times a day. My doctor wants to have blood workup to see if the supplement is lowering my cholesterol. I do not like putting synthetic supplements in my body so I buy only the biologically made supplements. I will keep you informed as to the progress of my cholesterol...

Corset pix... oh boy, I have to learn to not let the neck show, that is the one place where my double / triple chin left too much skin...

20140128_144356.jpg20140128_143806.jpg20140128_144546.jpg20140128_143901.jpg20140128_144030.jpg20140128_144506.jpg20140128_144559.jpg

Holy Smoke! You look absolutely beautiful and it helps me figure out how to put my corset on now.... thanks!

And here was the photo that had me feeling so... plump... the other day. In clothes, I really don't look this squishy. sigh20140127_013918.jpg

I look like this too, except I have more......

Just got back from the doctor - she seems to think that the way I am feeling now is due to a virus and the tiredness is exaggerated by my menopause symptoms that have gotten worse. Had some bloods taken to check hormone levels and I have to go back in a few weeks to see if there is anything they can offer me to help; the hot flushes are back (have been for a while) and getting worse. It is nearly four years since this started and it is a complete pain - I just hate feeling out of whack like this!

Hope you get this over with soon. Sending some healing energy your way....

Why can't you take HRT, or if you are taking it, higher doses? acupunture?

The original post, my venting rage, was responded to well but full of a lot of questions. So I responded, answered a lot of questions and also revealed my loss of the regain in full, and it got totally ignored.

I know that you have had a rough few years with all the past traumas you've experienced. No one deserves the things that you have had to endure either... but I have noticed that I don't get any response from you on my posts and I'm ok with that. I do comment on your posts most of the time but a lot of the time I don't because I do not want to offend you in any way. You are a beautiful woman who is struggling like I am on a daily basis....wishing you the best!

Georgia it is so good to see your back...Missed you terribly...I have only been on the boards in the AM and have kept it limited due to my daily stresses. For the past 2 days I have been detoxing again from my horrible sugar addiction. On day 2 I went to dinner with a friend and stuck with just rotisserie chicken and veggies, but I really really really wanted some bread and dessert.... But I am happy I stuck to my plan of very very little carbs. However, the scale remained the same. I'll take it, it's better than going up...

Cathy when i started out, I really didn't have a goal weight either. then I made up an arbitrary number and have stuck with it. Got to goal and then gained a couple of lbs. Now I want to just get under my goal and be healthy. My big goal right now is to start exercising more in which I have. So have a wonderful day everyone!

FLORINDA you are a success! You lost 30 lbs! That's fantastic! I agree with KIM, I see dancing bananas too..

Cheers Dorrie... I reckon those healing hugs are better than any form of medicine.  Good on you for detoxing - damn sugar is in everything isn't it... such a hard food source to deal with. When I get a sugar craving I have a cuppa with sugar in it - I usually have 1/2 - 1 teaspoon anyway, and I might take a risk with two...lol... but seriously, I do find a cuppa helps.  Sometimes I also get some dark chocolate, that sometimes helps.  But then thinking about it, it might make things worse?  Anyway, you gotta do what is right for you my lovely.

Dee, any news on the move - are you in?  Nearly in? Been thinking of you and wondering how you are doing.. I  bet you can't wait to get back to 'normal'!! xx

I decided to update my profile pic...teehee... now i am expecting to see corset photos from some of the rest of you!

I would like to say something about our squishy looking bodies. My friend Steven one time said to me "You know that is just what women look like, right?" He went on to talk about how really skinny people (and he is one of them) model clothes but in the real world that isn't what women's bodies look like. He looks amazing all dressed up since he has this ideal tall athletic build, but naked he is kinda skinny looking.... not so perfect either. I have mentioned before he has told me I look like Betty Boop or an old style pin up girl - in his words a sexier look. His point being that it seems like it is really only WOMEN who seem to think we need to be skinny to be attractive, worthy or whatever regardless of our underlying body type or genetics. It does ... disinhearten me to see the squishy - but photos can be both cruel and overly harsh and they can be misleading and overly perfect (most media images we see). The truth is we are all filled with beauty and it manifests in different ways. I choose to focus on the images I like but that undies photo definately made me reconsider my swimsuit plans for Mexico....haha I look better in my gym clothes.

I decided to update my profile pic...teehee... now i am expecting to see corset photos from some of the rest of you!

I would like to say something about our squishy looking bodies. My friend Steven one time said to me "You know that is just what women look like, right?" He went on to talk about how really skinny people (and he is one of them) model clothes but in the real world that isn't what women's bodies look like. He looks amazing all dressed up since he has this ideal tall athletic build, but naked he is kinda skinny looking.... not so perfect either. I have mentioned before he has told me I look like Betty Boop or an old style pin up girl - in his words a sexier look. His point being that it seems like it is really only WOMEN who seem to think we need to be skinny to be attractive, worthy or whatever regardless of our underlying body type or genetics. It does ... disinhearten me to see the squishy - but photos can be both cruel and overly harsh and they can be misleading and overly perfect (most media images we see). The truth is we are all filled with beauty and it manifests in different ways. I choose to focus on the images I like but that undies photo definately made me reconsider my swimsuit plans for Mexico....haha I look better in my gym clothes.

I so love how I look in cloths, especially jeans, but naked, I'm totally hating the squishy, wrinkly, muffin type skin there.... My PCP wouldn't refer me for a face lift....the nerve of him....LOL I might be going to Mexico really soon.......

I decided to update my profile pic...teehee... now i am expecting to see corset photos from some of the rest of you!

I would like to say something about our squishy looking bodies. My friend Steven one time said to me "You know that is just what women look like, right?" He went on to talk about how really skinny people (and he is one of them) model clothes but in the real world that isn't what women's bodies look like. He looks amazing all dressed up since he has this ideal tall athletic build, but naked he is kinda skinny looking.... not so perfect either. I have mentioned before he has told me I look like Betty Boop or an old style pin up girl - in his words a sexier look. His point being that it seems like it is really only WOMEN who seem to think we need to be skinny to be attractive, worthy or whatever regardless of our underlying body type or genetics. It does ... disinhearten me to see the squishy - but photos can be both cruel and overly harsh and they can be misleading and overly perfect (most media images we see). The truth is we are all filled with beauty and it manifests in different ways. I choose to focus on the images I like but that undies photo definately made me reconsider my swimsuit plans for Mexico....haha I look better in my gym clothes.

I look very squishy too, with folds of Sharpei skin in a couple of places... (!) But I do look pretty good in cloths, I feel confident in cloths. I am 60 though, and know the wear and tear of life will do that to you, let alone years of being obese... I think you should consider a "corset" style swim suit! Do they make such a thing? http://www.ecrater.com/p/11223739/victoria-secret-jantzen-retro-pin-up?gps=1&id=20539275859

I so love how I look in cloths, especially jeans, but naked, I'm totally hating the squishy, wrinkly, muffin type skin there.... My PCP wouldn't refer me for a face lift....the nerve of him....LOL I might be going to Mexico really soon.......

I decided to update my profile pic...teehee... now i am expecting to see corset photos from some of the rest of you!

I would like to say something about our squishy looking bodies. My friend Steven one time said to me "You know that is just what women look like, right?" He went on to talk about how really skinny people (and he is one of them) model clothes but in the real world that isn't what women's bodies look like. He looks amazing all dressed up since he has this ideal tall athletic build, but naked he is kinda skinny looking.... not so perfect either. I have mentioned before he has told me I look like Betty Boop or an old style pin up girl - in his words a sexier look. His point being that it seems like it is really only WOMEN who seem to think we need to be skinny to be attractive, worthy or whatever regardless of our underlying body type or genetics. It does ... disinhearten me to see the squishy - but photos can be both cruel and overly harsh and they can be misleading and overly perfect (most media images we see). The truth is we are all filled with beauty and it manifests in different ways. I choose to focus on the images I like but that undies photo definately made me reconsider my swimsuit plans for Mexico....haha I look better in my gym clothes.

face lift... I think about that now and then... I am getting past the optimal facelift age... but maybe some day.....

I'm...there's so much I COULD say that I don't even know where to start. I'm still, I think, the only one who hasn't lost any weight on 5:2. For reals, I'm not keeping anything back. There were weeks and weeks where I did it so 110% and...nothing. But then since flood, burglary, car accident, dog illness...and now sitting here in half-empty apartment by myself (using phone for hotspot cos no internet LOL)...and a bunch of work shit (on and on and on I could go) that I don't even bother spelling out cos wtf, you know? I am okay...but I'm squishy round the middle and weigh the same as always.

The good news? I will be in my real apartment for reals hopefully by the weekend, so I will be hopefully back at the gym next week too. Fingers crossed that I haven't just slipped into oblivion on that...

I'm SO ENVIOUS, Florinda -- no kidding. I'm just dying that you lost 30lb cos that is EFFING AWESOME. I am very happy and proud for you. Especially when things are mental and I'm just barely clinging to normal sanity during the day in work (never mind the bawling I do at night -- my husband doesn't know what to do with me...more crying in the past few months than our entire previous 15 years...poor guy, he's lovely and I'm just a mess) and sometimes having internet at night. But I love this group and I'm always thinking of all of you!!

HUGS from me in my echo-y apartment. I will go to bed soon and hope for more than three hours' sleep in a row!

xoxoxo

Edited January 29, 201412 yr by swizzly

Whoa! So much to catch up on.

First off, thanks to all of you for your kind words and encouragement when I wrote about my friend on drugs. This has been weighing so heavily on my mind and I am still having a hard time with it. The fact that nothing can be done is a hard one for me. I know I need to learn to cope but, wow, it's hard. I honestly don't know how you all do it who have gone through this. Dorrie and Georgia with your sons...my heart aches for you. Florinda with your dad, so sad. I keep praying that she will stop before she kills herself.

Kim, I think it was you who asked if she has any family that could help with an intervention. Honestly, my family and my extended family have been her family for the past few years. She has a mother and step dad who live right by her but they have their own issues and she has never been close to them. There is no way they would do an intervention. She's married but her husband is an enabler with the whole drug thing. He is such a good guy and she is just throwing her life away.

With the weather and a lot of other stuff going on it's been rough for me. I know I will be ok. I spent 3 days in bed. 3 days! What a waste. I had no ambition to do anything at all. We have had such cold weather here that school was cancelled again for 2 days this week. Wind chills were -30-40. I'm just trying to keep my head above water until Spring is here. I made myself get up and work out on Monday and that made things better. Exercise is such a stress relief for me.

I've been doing my fasting days and they have been fine. I fasted on Monday and tomorrow is another fast day. I'm getting blood work done tomorrow and I'll find out my results next week. I have a thyroid problem so I get blood work every 6 months but I like to see where I am with things.

Ok, I'm going to go back and try to respond to everyone.

Coops, hope you are back to feeling better soon. I'm sure your students are missing you and are worried about you. What grade do you teach?

Kim, as usual, I love reading what you write. You know just how to say things and have such an encouraging way of looking at life. I feel the same about you, Wanda.

Wanda, so glad you are working Curves into your schedule. I know you don't like exercise but you just have to make yourself go because it's good for you. So happy to hear the scale is moving down even if it is slow. Oh, I was also going to suggest that you take measurements and write them down and maybe do them every month or so. I have a feeling you will see a big change in inches with the working out.

Now to try to answer your question about goals. Like, Sheryl, my first major goal was to get under 200 (started at 270). Once I got under 200 I really started noticing a difference in the way I looked and the things I could do. This is when most people really started to notice my weight loss. Some people noticed before that but once I was under 200 I would get the, wow's and what happened to you, things like that.

My body got down to 160-165 and I was very happy where I was. Because of working out a lot I feel like my body didn't look too bad. After being there for a while and really looking deep inside I knew that I was holding on to some of the weight still for some of the same reasons I became obese to begin with. I wanted that to change. That's when I started 5:2. 17 pounds later and I still would like to lose 10 pounds. Why? One thing is that the 17 pounds made a huge difference in my workouts. I am lighter and I can run and move easier so I think 10 more pounds will make even more of a difference. Also, this with this 17 pound loss I know from my body fat numbers that a lot of that was fat loss. I still have a little fat that I would like to try to lose before I have plastics.

Finally, to be honest, I just want to see my weight in the 130's again. It's been 20 years since I have seen that and I would like to see it again.

As for where your goal should be, only you can answer that. You will figure it out.

Not done yet but I'm going back to reread...