Wanna Lose Weight? Calling All Chunky Monkeys!
Lounge By TexasSugar Updated 7 Jun 2009 , 10:27pm by TexasSugar
Is it Ok to join now? I really need some help and companionship through this journey I am determined to take.
I'm Karen, 45, 5' 8", 246 lbs, hypothyroid for the last 12 years, and struggling!
Everyday, I wake up and the scale adds a few more ounces. Sometimes I feel a hypothyroid body defies the laws of physics... I don't over-eat, yet the scale consistently shows huge weight gains.
Karen
Hi,
I would like to join this group as well. I am 24 years old, 5'4" and 160lbs (gah!) I lost 30 lbs two years ago and have kept it all off. I had set my goal for 125 - 130 pounds initally but some how never got there. I still consider myself successful even though I haven't made it all the way to where I want to be.
I decided this past Monday that I would recommit to losing the rest of the weight. My Mom recently moved in with me and started a new job. She wants to lose weight too, so we are trying to do it together. I always find that I am great for the first week and a half of recommitting, but then when I start to feel like I could eat my arm its all down hill. It starts with eating more of the healthier options and turns into shovelling whatever I want in my mouth 
Some obstacles that I face in losing weight are: 1. Exercise stinks 2. I work shift work 3. I love sweets
I have to think of some goals because right now all I can think of is how bad I want to see a low number on the scale, but that isn't going to get me all the way there. Have a good day!
J
Welcome Chippi, Karen and J.
J, one thing to consider for goals is don't weigh yourself everyday. Infact this goes for all 3 of you. It's imporant to weigh in, but don't do it every day. do it at most once a week. Even once a month. I keep a calendar in my bathroom and write down my weight. Good bad or indifferent. So I can keep track of the gains and losses. Once a week I write a number down.
Exercise does stink, but there is lots of stuff that isn't exercise that burns calories and helps you be healthy. Garden, park a few spaces farther out from the store. Not the whole lot, but just 3 or 4 makes a difference. If you're going up a story, take the stairs. If you're going down 3 floors take the stairs. Set the goals that you are comfortable. I now take the stairs for anything up to 3 floors. going down I'll walk 10 floors. Going up is what kills me. =)
I love sweets too. Sugar free pudding, yogurt and jello are my life savers. Also I get packets of flavors for water bottles. I get my sweet fix and get my water at the same time. it's Delish.
Karen, Welcome. Don't weigh every day. Also we have a couple of ladies dealing with hypothyroidism also. Share stories and support with them. It might be yoru doctor hasn't found the right medicine to help you feel better. Don't give up. You will find the balance your body needs to benefit you instead of fighting against your efforts.
Chippi, dear dear chippi. I can completely relate to you. Get off the insulin. Insulin can cause you to gain weight. I know easier said than done. I'm a type 1 diabetic I have been for 17 years. I can NEVER get off the insulin but I know what it does to my body.
Being a diabetic type 1 or type 2 DOES SUCK. But remember you can't let diabetes control your life. You control your diabetes. I don't recommend surgery lightly, but if your insurance will cover the lap band. Consider it. Most type 2 diabetics get off all their medications almost immediately. We take longer to heal so that's why I don't recommend the bypass. But consider it. It's not as scary as being 250 for the rest of your life. It doesn't matter what you "look" like you weigh. It's a matter of what you actually weigh that determines what is best for your health.
Regarding having a low immune system, I suffer from that too. I take a multi vitamin every day. This has helped IMMENSELY. Also losing weight is helping. Don't forget to get your flu shot too. Diabetics are in high risck category. Al;so, don't worry about your husband right now. Make decisions for yourself. If you guys are going to the store, and he's with you and you're driving, Parke 2 or 3 spaces farther from the store front. It's not a lot of extra, but that extra 15 feet makes a difference. Don't even talk to him about makign changes just make them. he'll either embrace them or not. But look at him, hold his face in your hands give him a big kiss and say "honey, I want to live a very long time with you. I have to do this. You can support me, join me, get out of my way or any combination of the above. But I need this for me."
My advice is consider sugery. You are in dire need of a change. Get mental help for the depression. if your counselor isn't helping, get a new counselor.
YOU CAN DO THIS. We are strong women with good goals for ourselves. We can do this.
Tracy, I think we are all guilty of avoiding the forum when we feel ourselves "slipping. But remember, none of us on this forum are going to judge you. When you feel like you can't rely on yourself that's when you need us the most. So for all the monkeys out there.
Lean on us, let us give you advice (good and bad). We have all been there, are there, and will be there again tomorrow.
Now for my self proclaimed kudos.
I have worked out 3 of the last 3 days. I even manage to get there on Tuesday when I was so sore and didn't think I would have time. I made it to the gym. I rode the life cycle for 30 mins +5 mins cool down Then I spotted the row machine and did 5 mins on it. I'm sore as heck, but I didn't give in to the pain. Wednesday is school. I WILL make all 3 classes including the fitness class.
And I'm only 2 days and 11 hours away from leaving to fly to VA to visit my husband whom I haven't seen since Jan 11. I've lost about 6 or 7 lbs since he left. Not major, but I'll take every half pound I can get. =)
Hugs to you Chippi... It sounds like you have been battling a lot over the past many years, and I'm glad you have found us here!
I can't help you out much in the depression area, but I think that if you lose weight and start feeling better about YOU then happiness should come along with that! It would be fantastic if you could kick some of those diabetes medications because you have found a healthier you!
Will your husband join you in a lifestyle change? My husband and I are in this together. While we don't exercise together, we do eat well together and support each other in our efforts to exercise (and the need for one of us to stay home with the kids while the other exercises). It is really hard to try to lose a lot of weight when you see your husband sitting home eating chips and relaxing (been there!!).
I hope you find support in us here and we look forward to supporting you as you try to take the steps to losing weight and gaining health!
Welcome Karen and J!
Karen, I hope you find support here to deal with your thyroid problem! I too recommend you don't weight yourself daily, I am for once a week and I measure myself (waist, hips, thigh, arms, etc) every 2 weeks...
J, you sound a lot like me in the height-weight ratio! I'm 5-6 and 178 but hit a maximum of around 205 last May, which was a low point in my life. My problem is when I'm doing really good with losing, I slack off on the eating, then slacking off on the exercise follows! Not this time! You can do it, we're all here for you!
Rather than set a weight goal (like I want to be 150 lbs), maybe you could train for something new?? Maybe join a learn to run 10 miles training group, or learn to play soccer or basketball? Since I've taken up running I have lost a bit of weight but lost many inches. You could also aim to wear a certain size clothing or to walk to work every day or use most of your lunch break and coffee breaks to walk (either up and down stairs, through the hallways, or outside). These things will help and will help you re-focus on a new goal instead of what the scale says!!
Deb, that is awesome!!!!! Congrats on sticking with the exercise, even through the pain! 
Well, I'm down another pound, so only 4lbs left until my goal. My sister-in-law who has always been thinner than me (if she wasn't so sweet, I'd hate her, lol) recently told me that she's actually at my goal weight. Granted, she's about 3 inches taller than I am, so she looks really good (size 
, but at least I won't feel like a blob next to her when I get down those last 4lbs.
I've been really successful at removing "bad" carbs from my diet and substituting "good" carbs in. Instead of dreaming of the pizza place in the student union here, I grab a chicken cesar salad (it's SO GOOD!) and enjoy that (if I didn't pack my lunch). I've added fruits and nuts, and am still struggling on how to add veggies back in on days when I don't have a salad. I'm really not a veggie person. :/ Besides, I'd want to eat corn, but I can't. I also can't drink my veggies because of the amount of carbs in most of those drinks. It's a miracle Ocean Spray created their Cranenergy drinks with Splenda, otherwise I would have to drink water with my breakfast.
Anyway, when I'm at my goal weight, I can start adding in additional carbs until I stop losing, but not so many I start gaining. And this is all supervised by my doctor, so I'm not going all willy-nilly here. lol
But, I'm really looking forward to my next "carb-day" which is Valentine's Day (I get two days a month). I told DH he's taking me to Olive Garden...mmmmmmm, Fettuccine Alfredo!!!
I highly recommend exercise for the depression. I suffered horrible postpartum depression, and exercise is what truly helped me. Not only for the stress relief, but the endorphins just make you feel better. And when I was/am feeling better mentally, I was/am less likely to gorge on something stupid because I am sad.
Yesterday I realized that bathing suit season is 3 1/2 mos. away, and I am going to do 100 crunches per day until then. I'm going to try. (If any of you are one of my Facebook friends you already know this). Anyone want to join me? 100 crunches per day. They don't all have to be at the same time. I plan to do 20 here, 20 there. I measured my waist and will measure my waist in May to see if there are any results.
I would like to suggest a website called stumptuous, there is info there on why doing that many crunches without resistance probably won't do the trick.
I alternate strength workouts between days, starting on Tuesdays with lower body & core, then upper body on Wednesdays, etc... Mondays are my day "off" although I do cardio every day. You may notice better results if you do 3 sets of 15-20 crunches either on an exercise ball, inverted, or with a weight on your chest, 3-4 times a week!
I used to weight train A LOT but am only now getting back into it.
I hope this helps! And I hope you're ready for bathing suit season!!!
happy dance, happy dance, happy dance!!!!!!!!!
I lost 4 more lbs. I am so excited, this brings my total to 19 lbs lost!! I am so happy!!! now I only have another 30 to go!! I now weigh as much as I did when I went to the hospital to deliver my daughter!! I know that doesn't sound good, but I remember saying that I would feel better if I could just get down to that weight!!! I was right I do feel better!!
I am just so excited b/c I really have not been great this week and I didn't weigh on Monday b/c I thought that I had gained - I WAS WRONG!! I've never been so happy to be wrong!!
ok, enough rambling about my joy!!
one question - when you get on the scale do you mentally tell yourself - "skinny, skinny, skinny......." or am I the only one?? haha!!
Welcome to all our new members and I'm sending positive eating habit thoughts out to all our members!! Good luck Ladies and pray for me this weekend - we are off to Disney and I don't want to ruin my momentum on the weight loss!!
Good for you, Janel! Yay! I think skinny thoughts when I get on the scale, too. I go to the bathroom, take off all my jewelry, and suck in my belly. 
i'm so glad that its not just me!! haha!! I get out of the shower and dry my hair and then I get on the scale in the buff and suck in my stomach - oh and I say a little prayer before I step on the scale - then a deep breath followed by - "skinny, skinny, skinny...." and then the appropriate reaction based on the scale - todays reaction was "HELL YEA!!! - I lost 4 pounds, I lost 4 pounds!" Followed by high 5's from daughter and husband! haha- I am so silly!! Its so funny how 4 little pounds can make you so happy to lose and so miserable to gain!
Oh WAY TO GO!!!! *does the happy dance with you* That is wonderful!!!!
And I never just think "skinny, skinny, skinny." I point to my scale, tell it what number it will tell me and go from there. For example, this morning I hopped on and said, "149, or it's your life!" And guess what? It showed 149!!! 
If it doesn't tell me what I want to see, I give it a rude gesture and move on with my day, lol.
Great losses Janel and Emrldsky! When I grow up I want to be just like you 
It must feel great to know that you are getting closer to your weight goal with every pound gone.
I made some bad choices at work last night and we weren't even busy so I can't even pull that excuse out of the closet. The more I evaluate why I make bad choices with eating and not exercising the more I realize I have a lot of excuses to leave behind. I need to find a happy medium between allowing myself a treat and not feeling guilty and not overindulging.
When I read the post about not weighing everyday all I could think was BUSTED! I totally am a daily scale devotee. lol Well I am prepping to go back to work tonight. Hope you all have a wonderful evening.
Janelle
Hello everyone. Welcome, Welcome to all of our new Chunky Monkeys!!! Glad to have you on board and look forward to talking with each of you. Hey, I've got a question for everyone. Which do you prefer, Equal (aspartame), Splenda or Sweet and Low (sacharin) as a sweetener? Or do you prefer NOT to consume any artificial sweeteners?????? Thanks guys!!!
Hi Everyone ...
Sorry I haven't posted in a couple days. I hope everyone is doing good! I've lost a few more pounds and really starting to notice it. I fit into a pair of skinny jeans!!
Woo Hoo Candi!!!! Sounds like you are doing great. Keep it up and you'll be at your goal weight in no time. 
Oh to be in my "skinny jeans" again. I love my skinny jeans, hmmmm, it's been so long since I've worn them, I don't even know where they are.......... maybe my fat jeans ate them.....
I'm pretty bummed today. 
I had an okay weekend with eating, but didn't exercise. Then my husband basically says I am out exercising too much in the evenings. Now this morning he advises me I am going to have to start driving everyone in the mornings.
So there goes my evening workouts, and my morning walks to work. I just feel stressed and have no idea how to work things into my life if I can't do it in the morning, or the evening, leaving only lunch time when I only have 1 hour. *sigh*
Boy, I feel like I've been gone forever! Welcome new Chunky Monkeys! I am disappointingly up .2 this morning, but that's not as bad as I expected having entertained my inlaws all week and indulged in some of the box of candy Valentine candy and such.
Katherine, do you have a place you can walk around work? Around the building, or the parking lot or something? You hang in there, where there is a will, there's a way.
Congrats to Candi for the skinny jeans....and to everyone else who has had success! You inspire me ---when you aren't making me feel jealous and guilty!
Margie, my fat jeans ate my skinny jeans and are now obviously cannibalizing themselves - they look pretty chewed up. What's the consensus on buying new fat jeans versus wearing old ones that are...um...less than stellar?
Hello everyone,
Congrats on all the great accomplishments. I haven't been on a very good roll lately. Had a few setbacks and am back up 3 lbs.
One of my daughters good friends was killed and just trying to be there for her really upset the whole eating healthy and exercise routine. I don't know when these kids will learn, this is the second friend of hers to be killed because of stupidity. He was arguing with his girlfriend went out & got drunk then tried to drive home. He ran a red light and collided with a tow truck and he wasn't wearing a seat belt , he died instantly from head trauma. I guess I am lucky, My daughter doesn't drink and is usually the designated driver for everyone else, but she had to work that night and didn't go out with him, so she has been feeling guilty. I have just tried to help her understand she can't be the babysitter for all of her friends, they are responsible for their actions. Not to mention he had just recovered from heart surgery in June, he almost died because of a heart defect you would think he would have appreciated the value of life better, But these kids never think it will happen to them. Ok enough with my Rant.
So its been a lot of late nights and eating junk. But time to get back on track now.
Kay, I know how you feel, sometimes I think my husband is purposely sabotaging my weight loss. My husband is very insecure and he thinks if I lose weight I will leave him. But my husband is a jerk. hahahah It could be something totally different with your husband. Maybe he is feeling left out or that you aren't paying him as much attention now that you are taking time for yourself.
Whatever you do don't give up, find some time for yourself, you deserve it! Would your husband be interested in exercising with you even going for a brisk walk in the evening is beneficial, and it could also give you time to talk and connect.
Unless he's like my husband I would rather just be alone... Hhahahah
Anyways Good luck , and if you ever need to talk or just vent I'm all ears...
I hope everyone has a great weightloss week.
I am sending out lots of encouragement vibes to you all!!!!
Hi all,
I lost 3.8lbs this past week! I'm pretty excited. My friend is coming to visit me for the rest of the week too, so thats exciting. She is driving in from 6 hours away. I am going to have to really mind my eating becase we have a few nights of going out planned
I also asked a boy out for drinks next week, not a date, but I still feel like an awkward duck. He will probably say yes, ok I facebook asked him out for drinks, because he was really trying hard to make conversation with me at work the other night
I just ran to flip my cake out of the oven and the corner on it crumbled, I'm pretty disappointed about that right now.
It's not ok to wear too small of pants, its not comfortable and it looks bad. Treat yourself to a new set of pants, or do you have friends you could do a clothing swap with?
JamieAnn - I'm sorry to hear of the loss of your young friend. With time it will get easier for your daughter and you, so give or take all the time you need to feel better.
Take care, Janelle
Weight is UP
Morale is DOWN
I'll post more later when I'm feeling better.
I feel ya Deb! My weigh in this week was pretty disheartening.
You have already accomplished SOOOO much though, no need for the busted Morale, We all have setbacks and you are doing great! You have started exercising and a lot of times the benefits of that don't show up on the scale..
Remember that muscle weighs more than fat so as you start building more muscle you are still losing fat.
Keep on trucking , You are doing great!
Positive energy vibes coming your way
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