<p>CountingDown–Thanks! And I think it’s fabulous that you’ve re-energized your goal to continue in the post-rehab program. I’ve never had any cardiac trouble but my mom did—she died at 45 from a massive heart attack. She didn’t have a weight problem; she’d been a ballerina before having kids but she smoked heavily. I later discovered that several generations of people had heart attacks and none survived so I’m determined not to let it happen to me if I can help it. Diet and exercise are a daily decision and I’m just taking one day at a time. </p>
<p>You WILL get “the figure” but of course it will be different from the one of your youth because you’re different. I remind myself daily that I’ll be getting a new body and I’m confident that it will be much better than the one I have currently, if for no other reason than there will be considerably LESS of it! HA! I’m thinking of the health AND beauty aspect daily because vanity can be a great motivator at times. I despise how older women in this culture become invisible. Just when we’re r-e-a-l-l-y becoming valuable!</p>
<p>EPTR–I hope you kick that cold soon! You’re at goal, that’s so fabulous. Sometimes different exercises can help us sculpt our bodies but it also takes time. We all want you well for the holidays so it’s enough that you concentrate on that!</p>
<p>Jym—What you’re currently doing is a daily mental exercise for me—going into a store and trying on various cocktail dresses! You can DO that now and I can’t—I envy you!</p>
<p>Being mindful during this holiday time can be a challenge. . .so the more we anticipate and prepare for the various social/eating episodes, the happier we’ll all be. I want to ENJOY the holidays this year, not look back with regret!</p>
<p>Uh oh! Page 4 two weeks before Christmas is not good!!! Where is everyone? </p>
<p>I’ve been maintaining my weight loss and haven’t been too tempted as we haven’t been to any parties yet. Having a bad cold has been helpful, too as my appetite is off. Lol.</p>
<p>I’m here! But still nothing much to say; DH is away, went to brother’s for niece’s 18th birthday today and had TJ frozen heated food, so no danger. So instead of reporting, I’m “liking” all of you for helping me on this thread. :D</p>
<p>bungalowdweller, I have the same figure problems now that I did when I was 12 – but now I am old enough to forgive it. This apple shape will never be an hourglass!</p>
<p>Am doubling down on good behavior right now, because there will be very little healthy food when I go to my parents’ later this month. Will have to sneak veggies into the house! ;)</p>
<p>The holiday parties have started … more exercise is my only tool to at least maintain over the next 3 weeks. I cannot resist delicious little morsels like bacon wrapped about beets w/ maple syrup. Who knew a beet could be so good? I had to try 3 of them to be sure.</p>
<p>I am in awe of all of you.
The beets sound yummy!
I have been avoiding this thread. Never made it past week one of couch to 5K. I am not doing terribly with my eating but I am not exercising. Haven’t stepped on the scale in weeks but I can tell my pants are not as comfortable as they should be.
Not beating myself up.</p>
<p>I need moral support. A new Dunkin Donuts is opening tomorrow about a block from us. Yes. Now, normally I would just ignore this, as I don’t look on donuts as food anymore, but…it’s Hanukkah. It is a major custom to eat foods fried in oil. Do you see my dilemma? :D</p>
<p>Hanukkah. Jelly Donuts. I am ENTITLED to one. Entitled, I say!</p>
<p>mom60----if it’s easier just to concentrate on the eating, then do just that. Exercise and eating properly are two different issues, it seems to me. Whether you exercise or not, if you eat less than you need, you’ll lose the weight. And get on that scale! You may be in for a very pleasant surprise!</p>
<p>I agree with that. I finally got to my goal weight with dieting. I exercise little and plan to step it up after Christmas. Sometimes, for me, at least, the exercise is false confidence and I overeat a bit because I think the exercise will balance the scales. While just concentrating on my dietary intake, I was able to stick it out. Recently I read that weight loss is about 80% diet and 20% exercise. This I believe.</p>
<p>Mommusic, If I were you I would go eat a donut!!! Lol. Set a day aside and watch the other stuff you eat and just go for it! Life is short!</p>
<p>Edit: Where else but on the Weight Loss for Dummies Thread would you be advised to eat a donut!</p>
<p>Mom60, I’m going to say don’t give up on exercise just because C25K wasn’t the right exercise for you! Would walking work? An exercise DVD that you can do at your own pace? Mall walking? It does NOT need to be intense, but I firmly believe that the benefits of “moving” go way beyond what appears on the scale. </p>
<p>I think it also has to do with how much weight/inches you want to lose. It’s easy for us to give advice but we are all different. One person wants to lose 5 pounds another needs to lose 50+. No matter, look to tackle just a LITTLE at a time. Altering your diet a LITTLE, or exercising a LITTLE, or doing a LITTLE of both. That little bit will make you feel good.</p>
<p>I just read my last post and it sounded anti exercise. That’s not how I wanted it to come across. What I meant was, for me to get to my goal weight I needed to push through the last 7 or 8 pounds by really reducing my calorie intake and almost completely eliminating bad carbs. While i was doing that, I walked every day but did not “work out”. This method helped my focus and kept me from depending on exercise to burn off the extra calories that I shouldn’t have indulged in in the first place. Now that I am at goal, i am determined to get into a more regular workout routine and start exercising to maintain my weight loss as well and keep a healthy heart, bone density, etc.</p>
<p>I have a few family members who have joined gyms, go on a regular basis but eat nothing but crap, especially on the weekends. They wonder why they haven’t lost weight. I try to tell them that diet is most of the battle. All the exercise isn’t going to make up for the cheese curls and beer. They will hear it when they are ready. Or when the first heart attack strikes, God forbid.</p>
<p>And I still think Mommusic should have one donut!</p>
<p>Yes, Mommusic. Judah Macabee says to eat a donut, or at least a donut hole. The danger is eating one additional donut each day until next Saturday night when you eat eight. Avoid that no matter how compelling it might be. Just think how lucky you are it isn’t a Krispy Kreme opening one block away!</p>
<p>However, you may **not ** eat a beet bacon bite for Chanukah. Cause it isn’t fried in oil. Those lamps were not lit with maple syrup!</p>
<p>There is a Krispy Kreme right across the street from our local hospital and cardiac rehab facility. Recidivism Central!</p>
<p>There was a donut discussion previously (on this thread, I think?) and a glazed KK donut is 270 calories. Requires one hour of a stationary bike to work off. </p>
<p>I can resist the donuts. Latkes are another story. DH is overseas right now and he’s the one who makes them. For the moment, I am safe from myself.</p>
<p>My weekly weigh-in was this morning. No weight loss last week; first time in 14 weeks. Total weight loss so far 31.1 lbs. </p>
<p>I’ve been following many of the ideas in “The Anderson Method” by Bill Anderson. I’ve been thinking about many of the things he says while reading these posts. Among other things, one of the things that he teaches is that we need to learn how to eat those foods that we enjoy eating in the proper amounts or that we’ll never maintain weight loss. In other words, there are very few “forbidden foods”. A doughnut won’t derail us----it’s eating the doughnut, the eclair, the prime rib, 5 martinis and 1/2 the cheese plate that will do us in. </p>
<p>I’m trying to plan every eating event I can so that I go in armed with what I have to do I don’t want every Christmas/New Year’s to be one of frustration over my weight. I can’t simply “forget” it and stuff myself only to feel badly after the holidays are over.<br>
This year is going to be different.</p>
<p>And a Happy Chanukah to Marilyn, mommusic and everyone else celebrating. G-d bless you all!</p>