<p>Great job, everyone! My weight loss so far - 24 pounds (152 –> 128) since September. The last 5 pounds or so were not in the plan, but I do not miss them. Now the goal is to keep the current weight because I cannot afford to buy new clothes!!</p>
<p>I let my Wii Fit collect dust. The thing is really mean: calls you names and tells you that you are no good. I do not like that kind of motivational talk, LOL! We do play bowling and other games.</p>
<p>Analyst, I was really overweight! I anticipate the loss will slow with time. Some weeks my weight has not budged and others it has just plummeted. I suspect loss of appetite over personal stress the past month has contributed quite a bit. Need to ratchet up the exercising. Actually a nice day here and I’m ready for a brisk walk/jog I think.</p>
<p>Wow, everyone, I am so impressed. Hey, BB, really nice work. You are so right about staying at the weight. Unfortunately, it is easier for the pounds to rejoin you than it was to ditch them. </p>
<p>I weigh myself everyday. If I am up a pound or two one day I don’t worry, but if it stays that way for 2 or 3 days, then I eliminate the “whites” for a couple of days - white flour, sugar, etc. The whole Dr. Gott thing.</p>
<p>I’ve lost 8 pounds in 7 weeks, which is about the rate what I was aiming for.</p>
<p>TheAnalyst, a 5K in under 30 minutes would be running for the full 30 minutes at a pace faster than 6 miles per hour. </p>
<p>I am up to about 2.3 miles in 30 minutes, but I think I need to hang around there for at least a month or two before pushing it up some more.</p>
<p>I don’t know if I’ll ever get to 5K in 30 minutes, but you’ve given me something to think about.</p>
<p>I need to get back on track. I am still down about 12 lbs since early january but have not lost any in the last 2 weeks. I know it is because I have been eating out more and skipping my walk every few days. At least I haven’t gained any of it back.
I also find my eating is worse right before and during my period. Most of the time I don’t want sweets but the last few days I have scoured the house looking for chocolate. If I could find chocolate with salt I would be in heaven. Come Monday the thought of chocolate or salty food won’t cross my mind.
The 5 boxes of girl scout cookies I picked up today for my D luckily don’t have any appeal. She has been hounding me to find her cookies. The last few days I have circled the various grocery store parking lots looking for the girls in green. Finally success this morning at the 3 market I drove by.</p>
<p>VeryHappy, I may never get there but I like to reach for a goal or I think I would get bored. Once I was able to run the full 5k without stopping (at 4.5 mph), I started going up in 1 mph increments each week and got up to 4.8 mph this week. I also do “speed” work where I alternate walking a quarter mile and running a quarter mile at 5.0 - 5.5 mph depending on how I feel. I do that on days I have a weight class. I like the idea of trying to get faster. If I overreach, I just pull back for a day or two. Also now that I am running the full 5k (which takes me 39-41 minutes), the faster I run means I get to stop sooner so there is a built-in reward. A lot of it is probably mental.</p>
<p>BB, very impressive. I know you are speed demon on that treadmill too.</p>
<p>More great news: D is now able to zip both banquet dresses. She has not weighed herself the whole time she’s been trying to lose weight. But she was originally one full inch from being able to zip one of the dresses, so she must be doing pretty well.</p>
<p>Today on the treadmill I was just thinking "summer clothes; cute dresses; cute tops; open toe shoes. And sorry to all you blizzard bound people, but I was out by the pool in my bathing suit. It was a bit chilly when the wind blew, but that sun on my body felt fantastic! (I’m allowed to share this because we pay for it by having many consecutive 100+ degree days in the summer.)</p>
<p>Okay. So 9 of us have lost a total of 123.5 pounds. Wow - That’s a whole other person!(I am including Interesteddad with his 7 pound weight loss reported on Thursday.) </p>
<p>Anyone else interested in reporting in?</p>
<p>The person who was my best friend in kindergarten (we’re still in touch) is on target to lose ~120 pounds this year.</p>
<p>That’s an entire person lost from just one person. Wow.</p>
<p>There was some earlier discussion on this thread regarding wearing an identity tag and/or carrying a cell phone. I’m getting the impression some of the runners don’t carry a cell phone with them.</p>
<p>I got back from trying to help (along with over 1000 other volunteers) find a missing 17 y/o female HS cross-country runner who likes to run the trails around here which can be in some fairly wild areas. Apparently she frequently ran alone. There’s a good chance this was an abduction and so far she hasn’t been found (it’s been 3 days now). Her car was found though with the cell phone in it. They found the car by triangulating the cell phone signals to the cell towers. It was parked at a rec center that’s typically where many park to hit the myriad of trails that head off from there. </p>
<p>Some suggestions - </p>
<ul>
<li><p>If you’re a female, NEVER run alone in an area where there aren’t lots of other people. Be extra careful in an area that provides a lot of cover like a forest, brushy areas, boulders, etc. Avoid running when it’s dark.</p></li>
<li><p>Always carry your cell phone with you. I know it might not be as comfortable or sleek but it might be able to help you call for help or it might help people find you or at least at which point you were grabbed which might help find you more quickly. Even if the reception isn’t so great they might still be able to triangulate or use the GPS feature.
There are different accessories available to carry a cell phone in. An identity tag alone is useless in a situation like this.</p></li>
<li><p>Always be very wary of who’s around you. These criminals and deranged people know where females are likely to be in areas that provide a lot of cover and seem to be opportunistic.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>I’m not trying to scare anyone away from distance walking/running, I do it very frequently myself, but just be very aware of your surroundings and exercise due caution. Don’t get too complacent. Nothing will happen until it happens - i.e. just because one has not been attacked yet is no guarantee it won’t happen in the future unless due caution is being taken.</p>
<p>Sorry for the bit of a downer on this thread but just wanted to offer this reminder of something that can happen and that literally just hit very close to where I live.</p>
<p>^^^I can understand how upsetting this must be – to look for this young woman and not be able to find her. How awful for her family.</p>
<p>Six miles from where I live, there’s a 1,000-acre nature preserve where I go with our dogs. The trails are well-marked and it’s beautiful; the dogs get to run off-leash, and everyone is happy. Usually on our 2.5 miles walk, I run into three or four groups of people also walking – with or without dogs. </p>
<p>I have every expectation that one day – either in a month, or a year, or 10 years – something awful will happen to someone there, and we’ll all remember back to the good old days when we thought it was wonderful. I don’t know how you completely protect yourself from this, however, unless you just stop doing things that are in nature.</p>
<p>
I don’t think people should just stop but they can make sure they exercise reasonable caution and unfortunately, a female alone in a wild area is vulnerable. Having dogs with you seems like it might be helpful though because they’d at least possibly raise a ruckus or if they’re bigger or more powerful dogs, can be intimidating to someone who means harm. In this case it’s not known whether something happened out on the trail or possibly even in the parking lot. </p>
<p>I don’t know the girl or her family but I saw her parents on the news and they’re certainly going through a lot of anguish as we all would. I hope the young girl is found and in good shape.</p>
<p>Thank you for writing, Dad. It is an important reminder that we need to be mindful of our safety and the safety of our loved ones. I can’t begin to imagine what her parents are going through. </p>
<p>For all of us who have a DD (not to be sexist, but they are more likely to be attacked) we need to forward your remarks to them if they are young women who run or exercise on their own. So many of them go off with their ipods plugged in, totally unaware of their surroundings. </p>
<p>Thanks - sobering, but so important.</p>
<p>huh- I got the new batteries for my scale- but I think my H broke it.
he doesn’t like it " in the way" so he put it behind the bookcase and the screen is blank.
Now I have no idea what I weigh.
Oh. Darn.</p>
<p>New personal best at the gym today. Lifted heavier objects overhead than I ever have before, while standing on those blue rubber cushion-y things. While doing some squats and holding weights, some random woman passing by said, “Wow, you’re really strong!” Whoever she was, she made my day!!!</p>
<p>Theanalyst, I ran ~16 minutes at 4.8 or so, and 5 minutes at 5.4 or so, and a whole minute at 6.0. Thought I was gonna die, but I guess I didn’t . . . . . Wound up with something like 2.32 after 30 minutes. You’ve given me a new goal, to do a 5K (3 miles) in 30 minutes. May take a year or two to get there, but thanks!!</p>
<p>I’ve lost 25 pounds in 7 weeks by eating high protein, low fat (except fish) and rather low carb meals. Daily I use the excercise bike. When I started I was exhausted after biking 1 mile only (low resistance). In the meantime I’m able to bike about 10 miles in one go (resistance slightly higher). I still have a very long way to go. I don’t find the diet too hard although I have to admit that I’m eating more fruit than I’m supposed to. </p>
<p>Fatigue has played a central role in my life the past ‘few’ years. I’ve had a sleep test and the conclusion was that a very mild apnea interrupted my deep sleep. I started to use a Cpap machine. After a few weeks, I was having sufficient energy to start with a diet. People always say that you get a lot of energy after losing weight, which is true. However, you also need some energy first to get your diet act together. Fatigue is still a problem, but at least the situation has improved. </p>
<p>(I’m European, English is not my native language, my S has attended International and American schools from the age of 3 and is now a junior in a US college).</p>
<p>Well, you guys are going to keep me on track. I have been juggling several part-time responsibilities - this is the time of year when I run a lot of workshops and the weather has made my life difficult, DH is not hiring anyone to replace his assistant until spring at his non-profit so I have been doing that work for him, and I have several psych evals to do. It is a recipe for sitting at the computer and just eating anything that happens to be in the kitchen. But you have made me strong. Walk away from the biscotti, put down the sleeve of crackers, DO NOT GO INTO THE BASEMENT and get the COKES that you purchased for the workshops. Whew. </p>
<p>I can get through these weeks without gaining weight.</p>
<p>^^ A helpful hint - when you’re having a particularly strong moment, go into the kitchen and throw out the crackers, chips, cookies, bread (unless whole grain), cakes, non-diet soda, and anything else not that great for you. Items for the workshops put in a vault (metaphorically). </p>
<p>Just throw it in the trash. Don’t worry about what it cost and wasting it - better to ‘waste it’ than to ‘waist it’.</p>
<p>In my case limiting the carb intake while still eating a normal quantity of proteins helps: no sugars, no subsititutes for sugars (i.e. no diet coke), no products with flour, a lot of vegetables, not a lot of fruit, white meat, fish and cheese. Somehow this changes my system completely and I have no problem being faced with chocolate or cookies when I’m going into the kitchen.</p>