Disney’s MARVELous Super Hero - New You - New Year Celebration – January 2017!!

[ski_mom]

QsOTD: Are you bamboozled or comfortable with the scientific terminology used at times for weight loss, exercise, mental health? Do you approach your healthy journey including a mathematical/scientific method? Have you ever tried a pill, shake, diet book, exercise program/equipment that is marketed on TV to help you on your journey? If yes – do you think it helped in any way? By the way no judgment in relation to this – I am sure we have ALL been there at some stage.

Like many of you, I've also tried some of the fad diets - mostly when I was younger. The funny thing is that I had no money to blow on stuff, but for some reason these plans where you took a magic pill seemed to really appeal to me then. Probably because I knew I shouldn't be doing it on 2 levels - health-wise and money-wise. I remember more than one time, getting the stuff in the mail and it said, just take our pill and follow our eating plan and you will lose! Well, if I had the discipline to do that, I wouldn't need your pills lol!

I've also done WW a few times over the years and I think it is a great program. The last time I went, my only problem is that it was my boss' wife that was weighing everyone in. I know that shouldn't bother me, but I honestly couldn't deal with it. It put too much pressure on me. We live in a relatively small town and only have one meeting each week that is during the evening when I can go.

The last 10 months or so, I've just done the counting calories method and I really think that's what is best for me. I used to need to go somewhere for the outside motivation, but now I feel that seeing the scale drop myself and feeling better in my clothes is ok without the outside accountability. If I'm going to do it, I'm going to do it.

One last thing, I saw a dietitian last month who is supposed to help with meal planning and what to eat when. I didn't go back this month and don't know if I'll go back in February or not (haven't decided yet). After doing her thing, I think it made me realize even more that I'm just a log the calories kind of dieter. I like the numbers and the charts (I guess that's why I'm an accountant lol). We'll see where I go with that, but I think in my mind I was hoping it would be another "easy way out" program and I think I'm just better off logging each day.

 

[sweetpeama]

I have tried slim fast, rotation diet, diet pills, diet gum, weight watchers ( not a good idea when your trying to run cross country so that you have a chance of a better PE grade and your being told to carbo load for 2-3 days before a meet), told I should go on phen fen ( didn't due to having a history of medication reactions) all but the diet pills and gum were at the insistance of my mother because I was overweight by the time I was in high school, but didn't look it because I was solid. This started me on a sneaking food more than I already was doing. My parents loved to do the no meals until your room is perfect according to our standards which ment that if we decide your socks should be in the 2nd drawer and undergarments in the top drawer you better not switch them game and since my room was in the basement I would go and nab some swanes frozen pizzas and just eat them raw. ( they were the heat for less than 5 minutes in the microwave to warm them kind so the meats were all precooked as was the crust so I guess cold is a more accurate word to use than raw). I also tried the Young Miss or YM ( I can't remember if it was before or after the name change) diet that they had where you had different choices for breakfast and lunch with health dinner with your family in the evening this one wasn't bad except I could only do 2 of the lunch alternatives due to reactions to some of the foods on the 3rd choice. Got to college ate normal meals with some snacks and cooking in the dorm kitchen along with going to Hardees with friends ( it was just down the road) and grabbing snacks at the C Store. Was on swim team which was considered a club level sport plus was taking water aerobics and working as a swim aid for the special needs swim classes. As part of cross training we were not only doing a walk/run several times a week, we did dance in the dance studio along with strength training. I ended up with the reverse freshman 15. Then in the middle of my second term the school decided I had mental issues because on of the football players that I did not get along with (I got along with a lot of them and had a lot of classes with them-funny thing when your a recreation therapy major you take a lot of the same classes as the coaching and physical education majors which tend to be a lot more male dominated. Since football was the largest sport in terms of participants what are the odds that there are going to be a few player in several of your classes especially since there were some classes that were only offered at really unusual times such as fall odd years or spring even years that were required courses for all the programs. It's a high chance and when your classes are all less than 20 students you do get to know each other and spend time outside of class together) decided to start a rumor around that I was sleeping with the entire football team. My friends found out marched him into the head coaches office said tell coach what you have been saying and the coach even called the school administration and student health services to let them know what was going on but even with a confession I was told that I needed to get mental help with the promise that if I did I would be allowed back the next term ( my suspicions are that his family gave a lot of money to the school and they didn't want to loose the funds) of course they came up with more excuses. The only thing that the hospital I was sent to in a different state could come up with was I was bi polar and in a manic stage because I was constantly surveying the area where I was looking at what was going on-hmm might not be a bad idea when you have 12-18 year old kids ( granted I was not even 19) who function on the level of 2-5 years old around a pool of water. Not only did I have to help my 1 or 2 kids each lesson I had to know where other groups were in the pool at all times so while there were life guards and the official instructors and the teachers from the schools these kids were bused over from for safety reasons EVERYONE WAS CONSTANTLY SCANNING THE ENTIRE AREA. They decide I need to be put on medication which I am told will react with my asthma meds but that they don't care. 5 months later I end up with broncitus, and double pneumonia and am hospitalized back in my home town. My family practice Dr gets me off those medications and orders the providers I had to see for follow up care before I was allowed out of the mental facility to keep away from me because they could have killed me if my "foster brother" ( in " " because he was not placed by authorities but was a kid who was kicked onto the streets by his family and was a friend of my brother's and thus ended up moving in) had gotten off work early and came home as non of the friends were available. He found me collapsed on the floor, called mom said should I call an ambulance mom said she would be right home, she came home took me to the dr and we were sent straight to the hospital from there. Funny thing is my "foster brother' ended up going into law enforcement but got out when his uncle shot himself and his aunt in an attempted murder suicide ( aunt survived ) and it was too hard for him to handle something that close to home ( he ended up living with them after he found his father and learned about them as his father was not in a place he could take him but he did do visits and help pay for things) even though he was not on the call. He was supposed to be back up but when it came across with the address he was ordered into the office. ( they don't like them to find family members). Went to a local university the next year and than decided I wanted to go back to a school that had my program so ended up at a different school from the first one. Found out at a dr's visit for with the provider I was seeing up there ( recommended by my provider and they were good friends and kept each other informed on all my asthma meds because they were still trying to get them all straightened out and levels back where they should be over a year later) that the facility had also found out I was hypoglacemic. ( diagnosed in Mar/Apr 92 and did not find out until the sometime in Oct/Nov 93-they refused to release the records to my provider in my home town as the mental health providers have them but did release them to the provider at the office near the school ( I honestly think they had the mental health nurse get them for them to put in my chart) talk about a shock). Ended up on the diabetic exchange diet to keep my sugars more stable and actually started to loose some weight but then again that might have been from walking a half mile a day to and from the student residence apartments to class plus I was back in the pool between my classes and helping with other things several times a week.
Ended up on the Weigh to Win system which is similar to the diabetic exchange system with a few of the numbers your allowed being different plus this one lets you have so many what they call freedom to choose calories each week. The problem was no sweet treats were allowed even on occasion. No birthday cake, no dole whips, no mickey bars. I ended up cheating and because I was not as physically active gained weight.
I have found for me as long as I am getting in some form of activity each day and some what watch what I eat ( occasional dole whip is fine but not just eat those every day for a week) I do loose weight as well as inches. My problem is I hate to exercise unless it is in the pool and I can't always do that. If I could have my own private indoor pool in my house I would love it. I used to be fine with walking until I had rocks thrown at me while pushing my oldest in a stroller and called a fat cow with comments of shake that fat you fat cow and mooing at me. I decided that I was not putting my child in danger any more so stopped. Where we live right now not only do we have a bunch of snow on the ground and very cold weather and the wind ( even lower wind chill right now it is actually 3 F above but it is negative 28 F with the wind chill) we have no sidewalks where I live so unless it's dry enough to walk along the grass strip and not get our feet muddy forget it-plus I am not walking on the shoulder of my road when I live on a US Highway.

 

[sweetpeama]

I gained over 40 pounds with my 11 year old listening to the dietitian and had my sugar levels all over the place from going too low. Oh got told that because of my weight I would be a gestational diabetic ( nope the 1 hour test was a 73-a high sugar for me is hitting between 80-96 within 20 minutes of eating something with a lot of sugar) and was even told by a midwife I was going to use in the future when my daughter was over 8 lbs that the test must have been off and I needed to have an A1C which measures your sugar levels over a longer period of time done-surprise it was considered low as well. Actually followed a higher protein diet with my youngest and only gained 10 pounds, though again I was told your going to be gestational diabetic because of your weight. Nope had a 70 for the 1 hour test and that was with having a breakfast of bacon, sausage, eggs, cheese, and toast before going in for the test. 20 minutes later my glucose level had dropped to 45 so I would have crashed without all the extra protein to keep it more stable. When my sugars get low I tend to eat so it's better if I can keep them under control a bit more. Cereal with either apple or banana and some milk is not a good option for me though I can handle apple slices and peanut butter or white wheat toast with peanut butter if I can't have my eggs, bacon, sausage type breakfast.

 

[4Mickeys]

@sweetpeama thankyou so much for sharing some of your story with us. I am so sorry that you have gone through these experiences. At a young age away from home it can be so hard and learning to advocate for yourself with health professionals is a real skill that even more grown up people can struggle with. Oh but that story about the stone throwing and calling out while you are pushing a pram is just shocking - that is beyond awful.

You story reminds me how much parent role models with relation to heating healthy and healthy weight management strategies are important for life long health and wellbeing. From your posts this week it seems that you have learned important lessons about what is right for you on this journey and that you are working hard on your health while recognising that you are a great person on the inside no matter what the outside shell is like.

The funny thing is that I had no money to blow on stuff, but for some reason these plans where you took a magic pill seemed to really appeal to me then

haha - I know I have been there as well ... I think this shows a few things - it shows how skilled the marketers are at their job to get us to part with our $$. Also, it shows how vulnerable we are in those moments I think - as IMHO typically the weight likely isn't our only issue and the emotional side kicks in and wants so bad to be in a better place that we push through the budget hoping to feel better on several levels.

I used to need to go somewhere for the outside motivation, but now I feel that seeing the scale drop myself and feeling better in my clothes is ok without the outside accountability. If I'm going to do it, I'm going to do it.

Well done. Sometimes at first we all need that assistance of external motivation to start a journey or behaviour but the best success always comes from that internal drive and motivation to achieve something.

One last thing, I saw a dietitian last month who is supposed to help with meal planning and what to eat when. I didn't go back this month and don't know if I'll go back in February or not (haven't decided yet). After doing her thing, I think it made me realize even more that I'm just a log the calories kind of dieter. I like the numbers and the charts (I guess that's why I'm an accountant lol). We'll see where I go with that, but I think in my mind I was hoping it would be another "easy way out" program and I think I'm just better off logging each day.

I have seen 2 different dieticians in the last year - very different experiences from both - getting full on meal plans can be difficult although very tempting - as really we all have different tastes and families with different tastes to cover. With my second dietician I was able to be much clearer in what I wanted from her and her with me about how she could work with that. It is more about me getting a better education about food, vitamins, minerals etc that I need to be getting as well as servings and portion sizes. She helps me be a little more accountable and tweak what I am doing so that it becomes more sustainable.

...............

I just did a session of driving with DS16 where I got him to drive on the road in traffic for the first time - do you remember that feeling the first time you did that - how overwhelming all of the things to pay attention to and remember was? That next phase after having your parents drive you everywhere while you were along for the ride, after having studied the road rules and having some knowledge - but now having to bring all of that together being the one in control of the car. As a parent its kind of like holding their hand and running behind them as they learn to walk or ride a bike. But when I started writhing this I saw that it is also similar to our eating/lifestyle journeys as well - we come with habits and things learned from parents, we read up on food intake, preparation, exercise etc. then we are out there trying to navigate it all on our own - taking wrong turns, make u turns, speeding down the highway, going offroad and maybe even having a crash or 2 along the way - and that is what we are doing in our healthy journeys also. I am sure we will all become excellent drivers of our health just as my DS will become an excellent driver

 

[sweetpeama]

The thing that gets me is 99% of medical providers and even insurance start in on your going to be diabetic, have high cholesterol, high blood pressure because of my weight. The first thing our family DO said when he read the lab results from the testing that was done through my DH'S employer was your numbers are on the low end of normal and some people need to shut up about your weight because I see a lot of normal weight people who don't have numbers this good.
So happy I found a provider who has what my granddad would have called horse sense not only with me but my special needs daughter that so many want to just slap an autism spectrum label on because she is non verbal and has problems manipulating toys for a typical kid her age and thus plays with a lot of toys for a younger child. Our provider is going there is something more but also understands that our insurance will not pay for the genetic testing ( getting them to cover a sedated MRI was enough of a battle) and that we can't drop 3-5K (depends on if they need to run 1, 2, or 3 different tests) for it right now. Hopefully we can sometime in the near future. Now I just need a knock on the door and a really big check.

 

[courtneybeth]

Inspiration for today remains with The Hulk – although it comes from his calmer persona – Dr Bruce Banner – the Scientist.

Hiiiiiii Bruce

this is so off topic but I have to say that Mark Ruffalo has really nice arms. And I love his scenes in the lab with his sleeves rolled up.

QsOTD: Are you bamboozled or comfortable with the scientific terminology used at times for weight loss, exercise, mental health? Do you approach your healthy journey including a mathematical/scientific method? Have you ever tried a pill, shake, diet book, exercise program/equipment that is marketed on TV to help you on your journey? If yes – do you think it helped in any way? By the way no judgment in relation to this – I am sure we have ALL been there at some stage.

A background in healthcare and medical diagnostics has made this process much easier to understand. But I also think that there's so many great resources that make it easy to understand too. Weight Watchers and My Fitness Pal have apps that make it easy to lose and maintain weight. You learn how to properly eat without getting too lost in the algorithms and the science.

What I don't like is when companies or personalities promote "fake science" for fad diets. They don't work. End of discussion.

What does work? Eating smart, exercising, and having a great support community with all of you awesome people!

 

[courtneybeth]

You guys were so awesomely chatty today that it made an excellent treat for me to read as I wind down for bed. We're off site Thursday and Friday for a team building meeting where-in we're figuring out how to be productive and how to collaborate since we're all basically new. I'm really starting to learn how to eat off restaurant menus and finding healthy options. for dinner I ordered an Ahi Tuna salad and ate about 2/3 of the tuna and a few bites of salad before I felt full --- then headed off to the hotel gym for 30 mins of working out (10 mins bike and 20 on the treadmill).

Balance is... a challenge. But I am feeling really good about it.

Finally got my walk in just before 4 am ok so it was not in the calendar day but it was in my day.

This is so important to celebrate and I am so happy you shared this with us. You're dedicated to getting it done and just didn't push it off to tomorrow. You made it happen.

The lesson is that diets are not worth it for me, that I need way to live when life is good and I am on vacation, or when life is busy and I deal with work, projects outside work, duties as mum, wife and home, and when life isn’t good too

Sometimes you have to find what works for you. It's good you learned that

Oh my goodness, school is back in session and my life is back to hectic. Sorry for missing a couple of days! Your posts are all so insightful and in the five minutes I've had to spare every now and then I haven't been able to put together words in any kind of meaningful order. I'll give today a shot though!

I feel you on this. The good news is that you can catch up and join in when you can. We're pretty flexible here.

Day one of the Dopey Challenge is done! I have my awesome Pluto medal and now it's back to bed.

Good luck tomorrow on the 10K! Get it!

counting every single calorie works better for me.

Same. I like to know what I have eaten and what I have left. it's fairly easy once I got used to the My Fitness Pal approach.

Thank you. I was telling my husband about you and that I had someone that can answer my questions. As more planning happens I will defiantly have more questions.

Ask away when ready.

Back in the day I tried Slim Fast and some sort of caffeine pill when I was in college (NOT a good idea!). It worked but wasn't sustainable.

I did weight watchers for a few months and that was ok. I'm not good with the logging though.

I think the trick to WW and MFP is to be honest. You log in, you log your food and you stay on it. You have to remember to do it and soon it becomes second nature.

I forgot all about my woohoo Wednesday! So I'm just going to do a woohoo Thursday instead! Over the break last week I got my last name changed back officially to my maiden name! So today I got my new business cards and name plate to reflect my last name. I have to say that I really don't intend on ever changing my last name again. I feel like I lost a large chunk of my identity when that happened. Maybe some day I'll change my mind but...probably not lol. I also had a wonderful therapy session on Tuesday that has really helped to change my view on my life and I feel so much better. So much lighter? So It's nice to have a high when I had been feeling so low.

Congrats on finding yourself again. ::hugs:: All of this just made me feel so happy for you!

DD and I are planning to FINALLY see Moana on Saturday!

YES! i am obsessed with this movie right now. The soundtrack was written by the guy who did Hamilton - and it's phenomenal. I can't stop listening to it.

 

[sweetpeama]

Are you sitting down because this is a shocker
I got my 10 minute walk of laps around the house ( inside the wind is nasty) before 10 PM my time.

 

[4Mickeys]

Hello all - I have had to borrow my daughter's computer - for some reason mine is logging me in to DisBoards - I get it my name comes up the little green indicator is there saying I am online - but as soon as I try to do something e.g. like a post or create one it gives me an error message saying I have to be logged in to do that and bumps me out. Super Frustrating !!!!! So considering I am having no problem on DD's computer I guess it must be my computer.

 

[4Mickeys]

Hiiiiiii Bruce

this is so off topic but I have to say that Mark Ruffalo has really nice arms. And I love his scenes in the lab with his sleeves rolled up.

I had a feeling you would like that post - Gotta say I like everything about him in those scenes - I would cheekily say not completely off topic as those arms come from healthy living and working out lol so a good example for us.

Also good luck with your team building.

Are you sitting down because this is a shocker
I got my 10 minute walk of laps around the house ( inside the wind is nasty) before 10 PM my time.

I was sitting down ... so I was ready for it But that is fantastic well done

 

[4Mickeys]

Hello all ... welcome to Friday

So some of our posts got me thinking .... All of our Superheroes have origin or backstories that give us a deeper understanding of who they are and the choices they make. We also eagerly await new movies to see what the future may hold for them.

​

Just like our Superheroes we all have backstories and future stories to look forward to. Weight gain can sometimes be a symptom of happenings in our lives and emotions as we deal with them. By the way our backstories can include happiness and aren't always traumatic but for many of us it can include less than happier memories or experiences. These experiences have helped shape who we are right now but they don't have to define who we will be tomorrow or the choices we make going forward.

QOTD: Are you at or coming to a place of peace with your backstory? How will that help you in your future story? You can think purely in terms of your health journey for this or you can think more holistically about all of you as a person ... it is of course up to you for this question and as always only share what you are comfortable with .

 

[4Mickeys]

I almost forgot to tell u all that I used my meditation app again this afternoon - I laid on my bed to be comfortable- trouble is I was a little tired and it relaxed me so much I went to sleep

 

[HappyGrape]

Great question - again!

Yes, I am. I posted this on my my fitness pal feed from half size me blogger/podcast

first one not so applicable

"Today, in maintenance, I do the same things I did while losing weight. The only differences between then and now are I don’t see the scale go down, the praise has stopped, and no one acts shocked or surprised when they see me. All those external motivaters are gone but the work still happens. Learn to enjoy the process because one day you’re going to do it and the reward will be no change at all.

Many people want to forget how bad they felt when they were overweight, so they burn old photos, and ignore the memories. I think this is harmful because they wanted this change for a reason. And forgetting those reasons can cause you to repeat the same behaviors that made you overweight in the first place.

Learn to live with weight fluctuations. Accept that maintaining your weight means you will gain and lose the same five to ten pounds for the rest of your life. Long-term weight maintenance is about setting a realistic weight window and honoring that. You will gain a little and you will lose a little. You have to decide what your weight window is and you have to respect it. I recommend giving yourself a window of five to ten pounds. Any less than five pounds and you will create unnecessary stress and frustration. Remember, some people can gain five pounds of water weight in certain situations."

But yes, I learned to be at peace with the past and heavier me. I learned to look back and admire the fact that at the time, I didn't live a life that made me happy but I tried so hard to find a better way, even when i failed. I learned to be cool with that and to look back with kindness and appreciation

but it wasn't always like this. I went trough being very angry that I gained weight

 

[dsnyfn1022]

QOTD: Are you at or coming to a place of peace with your backstory? How will that help you in your future story? You can think purely in terms of your health journey for this or you can think more holistically about all of you as a person ... it is of course up to you for this question and as always only share what you are comfortable with .

That is a good question! I think for the first time I'm starting to understand what my backstory even is and why I've made the choices that I've made. This is holistically, not just health related. I'm not sure if I'm at peace yet but seeing how it led to me making choices that didn't end up being healthy for me I can certainly see myself getting there. The funny thing about weight loss is that it requires a lot more introspection than you would think. It's not just about calories in/calories out. You have to figure out why you make the choices that you do and correct those. Nothing is sustainable without finding yourself along the way.

 

[piglet1979]

I gained over 40 pounds with my 11 year old listening to the dietitian and had my sugar levels all over the place from going too low. Oh got told that because of my weight I would be a gestational diabetic ( nope the 1 hour test was a 73-a high sugar for me is hitting between 80-96 within 20 minutes of eating something with a lot of sugar) and was even told by a midwife I was going to use in the future when my daughter was over 8 lbs that the test must have been off and I needed to have an A1C which measures your sugar levels over a longer period of time done-surprise it was considered low as well. Actually followed a higher protein diet with my youngest and only gained 10 pounds, though again I was told your going to be gestational diabetic because of your weight. Nope had a 70 for the 1 hour test and that was with having a breakfast of bacon, sausage, eggs, cheese, and toast before going in for the test. 20 minutes later my glucose level had dropped to 45 so I would have crashed without all the extra protein to keep it more stable. When my sugars get low I tend to eat so it's better if I can keep them under control a bit more. Cereal with either apple or banana and some milk is not a good option for me though I can handle apple slices and peanut butter or white wheat toast with peanut butter if I can't have my eggs, bacon, sausage type breakfast.

Back when I was like 20 I was feeling sick a lot. I went to the doctor for a sinus issue and it so happened that I was having pain in my side as well. They did a sugar test and I was really high. I don't remember the number but I need to get check for diabetes. I was very thin at this time and only weighted about 100 pounds but type one runs in my family. After having the blood test done. It was a long 3 hour test. I dropped so low that I almost passed out and was kind of out of it all day. The test came back where I dropped to about 32. I can tell whenever I start to drop. My legs get shaky. When I was pregnant I asked about how it would affect my blood sugar. He told me that I would be more normal but would most likely never get gestational diabetes. He was right I didn't and my blood sugar has been more normal since. I did read somewhere that since your pancreas is already on the fritz that you can develop diabetes easier. I asked the doctor about this and she told me that I am at a higher risk for type 2 because of it.

Hello all ... welcome to Friday

So some of our posts got me thinking .... All of our Superheroes have origin or backstories that give us a deeper understanding of who they are and the choices they make. We also eagerly await new movies to see what the future may hold for them.

View attachment 213601
​

Just like our Superheroes we all have backstories and future stories to look forward to. Weight gain can sometimes be a symptom of happenings in our lives and emotions as we deal with them. By the way our backstories can include happiness and aren't always traumatic but for many of us it can include less than happier memories or experiences. These experiences have helped shape who we are right now but they don't have to define who we will be tomorrow or the choices we make going forward.

QOTD: Are you at or coming to a place of peace with your backstory? How will that help you in your future story? You can think purely in terms of your health journey for this or you can think more holistically about all of you as a person ... it is of course up to you for this question and as always only share what you are comfortable with .

I guess I am more at peace with my backstory as I ever will be. My parents divorced when I was only a few weeks old. My mom is a very strong women. She left my father who was abusive towards her. She remarried when I was 4 to my awesome step-dad. So other then a few drama filled teenage years things at my mom's has always been good.

My dad's on the other had was rough. He is an alcoholic and has done drugs in the past. My sister and I had a rough time over there. He remarried too and we didn't always feel like we mattered to him. We would go over on the weekends but that was it. He abused my sister once and she has never gone back to see him. This was close to 30 years ago. I kept going but had my issues too. I got what ever I wanted. I knew this and took advantage of this. When I was older he stopped coming around and I would have to ask for him to come pick me up for the weekend. They got a divorce when I was a senior in high school. My dad step the next few years getting in trouble for drinking and driving. He had to spend a month or so in jail. His family wanted me to go see him and I refused. I was in college at the time and there was no way I was going to a jail. I still won't. They were mad. He made the decision to be stupid he had to pay the consequence. He got married again and this time it only lasted a year. He tells me on my birthday (called me that morning to have me come over to visit with my grandma for my birthday)and then tells me that he was arrested for domestic violence and was drinking the whole year that he told me he wasn't. I was mad. Really mad. This was about the time I got engaged. It was a rough time. He almost was not invited to the wedding. Over the year things got a little better and he was paying for part of the wedding so he was invited. I almost had 2 weddings one big one with my mom's family and Jeff's family and one with my dad's family. the 2 families don't mix well either. He was doing better for a long and got married to his (so he says) high school sweat heart. I found out from my mom that he was engaged to her before he married my mom and then cheated on my mom with her. I didn't like her at the time. While he was not married things were good between us but since things have gone down hill again. I see him maybe 4 times a year. I had a run with him a few years ago where I was home alone with him (kids were sleeping) and i felt really threatened. I will no longer be in the same room with him alone. Every time he calls and wants to get together I am waiting for the bad news. It has happened lately but I am always waiting for the drinking to come back. He does not believe he is an alcoholic or has any issues.

Thankfully things have always been good at my mom's and I have a great role model with my mom and step-dad. I try not to let my dad bother me but sometimes I just can't help it. He is never going to change so I deal with things as they come up and try to shield my kids from it the best I can.

I don't think had any issue on my weight. I am pretty sure it is this darn desk job. I am pretty good at letting things roll of my back. With my dad since he really does not come around much it is easy to ignore the issues with him.

Just a side note. For my wedding I refused to choose between my dads. One is biologically my father but not a good father and the other is not my biological father but was a great dad to me. I chose my mom to walk down the isle with me. She was there from the beginning and went through all the bad times with me and gave me everything she could with very little money and a single mom of a 2 year old and new born.

 

[princessbee]

QOTD: Are you at or coming to a place of peace with your backstory? How will that help you in your future story? You can think purely in terms of your health journey for this or you can think more holistically about all of you as a person ... it is of course up to you for this question and as always only share what you are comfortable with .

Sometimes I think I have a handle on my backstory--other times, it feels like there's more to myself that I didn't even know. With my weight, I've been aware for years that it's really a part of my family legacy... my mom didn't really understand food because her mom didn't, and it wasn't until I married that I changed the way I approached it. Growing up, we rarely had meals together, and in fact, I remember very few dinners that weren't pasta or tacos, because my mom didn't know how to make much else, and my dad had multiple jobs. For that reason, food became an overwhelming chore to me; I was tired of what I knew, and scared of what I didn't. When I first graduated from college and moved out on my own, I subsided almost exclusively on grilled cheese sandwiches, pasta, and applesauce. And exercise? My parents both worked at least one, if not more, full-time job, and we barely had money for cable, let alone extracurriculars. I was on the JV basketball team for one season, but I was so nervous about messing up that it was all I did, and the coach terrified me even more. Plus, I'm nerdy--I like to read, and felt uncomfortable doing anything where people were looking at me, which is a natural part of sports. I did start walking a lot towards the end of high school and that helped, but I felt so incapable of more than that. Not because I was, just because it was scary to challenge myself physically, especially in public.

Since then, I've had to do a lot of wrestling with what I've heard called The Fantasy of Being Thin--the idea that you can't do certain things until you're thin. Not just things like "wear a bikini," but things like "finally have a clean house" or "be great at math." Because being thin is so celebrated and desired, I think a lot of us tend to conflate losing weight with becoming a better person. Partly, it's kind of magical thinking, and partly it's just that meeting your goal feels like a Brand New Start. But whatever I am on the outside, doesn't change who I am on the inside. And coming to terms with that was hard. Because of course when you lose a significant amount of weight, things do change for you a little bit--you get attention you didn't get before, people seem happy for you, and you do change in whatever ways you were already working on changing. But the attention and stuff eventually goes away and you're left with who you've always been, just in a different body. If you weren't already working on, say, being really, really good at saving money, then losing weight isn't the brand new start where that suddenly happens. I know we all know this, like, so obviously, but I do think I have had that tendency to think, "okay, when I reach x amount of weight, I'm going to finally go to Pilates EVERY SINGLE DAY!" when I barely even go once a month. Then there's the other side of it, where I tend to think, "Okay, so because of my weight, I can't xyz." Running 5Ks used to be one of these things--but I'm the heaviest I've ever been and I've already run one! I had to train for it, of course, but I would have had to do that regardless of my weight. So my goal this time around is, yes, I can think about what will happen when I reach x weight, but if there's something I want to change about myself, or if there's something on my bucket list I want to cross off, I have to already be changing it, you know? I can't wait until I get to my goal weight, because I have things in this life I want to do as soon as possible! There's nothing important that I can't already do, and if there is, I have to work at getting there regardless of what I'm like on the outside.

So, as you can see, my backstory includes a huge shift in perspective, and I can't imagine that it's for anything but the better!

 

[HappyGrape]

Back when I was like 20 I was feeling sick a lot. I went to the doctor for a sinus issue and it so happened that I was having pain in my side as well. They did a sugar test and I was really high. I don't remember the number but I need to get check for diabetes. I was very thin at this time and only weighted about 100 pounds but type one runs in my family. After having the blood test done. It was a long 3 hour test. I dropped so low that I almost passed out and was kind of out of it all day. The test came back where I dropped to about 32. I can tell whenever I start to drop. My legs get shaky. When I was pregnant I asked about how it would affect my blood sugar. He told me that I would be more normal but would most likely never get gestational diabetes. He was right I didn't and my blood sugar has been more normal since. I did read somewhere that since your pancreas is already on the fritz that you can develop diabetes easier. I asked the doctor about this and she told me that I am at a higher risk for type 2 because of it.



I guess I am more at peace with my backstory as I ever will be. My parents divorced when I was only a few weeks old. My mom is a very strong women. She left my father who was abusive towards her. She remarried when I was 4 to my awesome step-dad. So other then a few drama filled teenage years things at my mom's has always been good.

My dad's on the other had was rough. He is an alcoholic and has done drugs in the past. My sister and I had a rough time over there. He remarried too and we didn't always feel like we mattered to him. We would go over on the weekends but that was it. He abused my sister once and she has never gone back to see him. This was close to 30 years ago. I kept going but had my issues too. I got what ever I wanted. I knew this and took advantage of this. When I was older he stopped coming around and I would have to ask for him to come pick me up for the weekend. They got a divorce when I was a senior in high school. My dad step the next few years getting in trouble for drinking and driving. He had to spend a month or so in jail. His family wanted me to go see him and I refused. I was in college at the time and there was no way I was going to a jail. I still won't. They were mad. He made the decision to be stupid he had to pay the consequence. He got married again and this time it only lasted a year. He tells me on my birthday (called me that morning to have me come over to visit with my grandma for my birthday)and then tells me that he was arrested for domestic violence and was drinking the whole year that he told me he wasn't. I was mad. Really mad. This was about the time I got engaged. It was a rough time. He almost was not invited to the wedding. Over the year things got a little better and he was paying for part of the wedding so he was invited. I almost had 2 weddings one big one with my mom's family and Jeff's family and one with my dad's family. the 2 families don't mix well either. He was doing better for a long and got married to his (so he says) high school sweat heart. I found out from my mom that he was engaged to her before he married my mom and then cheated on my mom with her. I didn't like her at the time. While he was not married things were good between us but since things have gone down hill again. I see him maybe 4 times a year. I had a run with him a few years ago where I was home alone with him (kids were sleeping) and i felt really threatened. I will no longer be in the same room with him alone. Every time he calls and wants to get together I am waiting for the bad news. It has happened lately but I am always waiting for the drinking to come back. He does not believe he is an alcoholic or has any issues.

Thankfully things have always been good at my mom's and I have a great role model with my mom and step-dad. I try not to let my dad bother me but sometimes I just can't help it. He is never going to change so I deal with things as they come up and try to shield my kids from it the best I can.

I don't think had any issue on my weight. I am pretty sure it is this darn desk job. I am pretty good at letting things roll of my back. With my dad since he really does not come around much it is easy to ignore the issues with him.

Just a side note. For my wedding I refused to choose between my dads. One is biologically my father but not a good father and the other is not my biological father but was a great dad to me. I chose my mom to walk down the isle with me. She was there from the beginning and went through all the bad times with me and gave me everything she could with very little money and a single mom of a 2 year old and new born.

Your mum sounds like a wonderful lady. I am sorry you had so many grown ups issues to deal with since so young. You are so kind not to cut your dad out of your life, I wouldn't have the heart to continue seeing him

 

[HappyGrape]

Since then, I've had to do a lot of wrestling with what I've heard called The Fantasy of Being Thin--the idea that you can't do certain things until you're thin. Not just things like "wear a bikini," but things like "finally have a clean house" or "be great at math." Because being thin is so celebrated and desired, I think a lot of us tend to conflate losing weight with becoming a better person. Partly, it's kind of magical thinking, and partly it's just that meeting your goal feels like a Brand New Start. But whatever I am on the outside, doesn't change who I am on the inside. And coming to terms with that was hard. Because of course when you lose a significant amount of weight, things do change for you a little bit--you get attention you didn't get before, people seem happy for you, and you do change in whatever ways you were already working on changing. But the attention and stuff eventually goes away and you're left with who you've always been, just in a different body. If you weren't already working on, say, being really, really good at saving money, then losing weight isn't the brand new start where that suddenly happens. I know we all know this, like, so obviously, but I do think I have had that tendency to think, "okay, when I reach x amount of weight, I'm going to finally go to Pilates EVERY SINGLE DAY!" when I barely even go once a month. Then there's the other side of it, where I tend to think, "Okay, so because of my weight, I can't xyz." Running 5Ks used to be one of these things--but I'm the heaviest I've ever been and I've already run one! I had to train for it, of course, but I would have had to do that regardless of my weight. So my goal this time around is, yes, I can think about what will happen when I reach x weight, but if there's something I want to change about myself, or if there's something on my bucket list I want to cross off, I have to already be changing it, you know? I can't wait until I get to my goal weight, because I have things in this life I want to do as soon as possible! There's nothing important that I can't already do, and if there is, I have to work at getting there regardless of what I'm like on the outside.

So, as you can see, my backstory includes a huge shift in perspective, and I can't imagine that it's for anything but the better!

Agree so much with what you said. In way, I think it is possible to purposely regain lost weight so we get back to a familiar, weight loss goal mode to avoid dealing with things as who we really are, what makes us happy. Weight is nearly like a comfort blanket. I don't feel great so I won't apply for the promotion. I won't go out with my friends.

You can't and you shouldn't put your life on hold. I think that's why last year I kept buying nice clothes, going out and doing things while loosing weight as I wanted to be happy with my life, even when my weight isn't where I want to be. The goal was healthy lifestyle that feels happy, not a number on the scale. The number was there, but not as significant as finding piece with myself including the way I eat.

 

[Lady Marie]

QOTD: Are you at or coming to a place of peace with your backstory? How will that help you in your future story? You can think purely in terms of your health journey for this or you can think more holistically about all of you as a person ... it is of course up to you for this question and as always only share what you are comfortable with .

Good question!

I can remember as a teen wondering why I didn't have an hourglass figure (I wasn't overweight by any means, just have a short torso and (then) a small little pouch. But I was never unhappy with my body. I was never wire thin, but well proportioned. It wasn't really until high school, when I got a long term boyfriend that I started to notice a difference in my body. He took me out a lot, his family did too. Not to mention that home-cooking wasn't always good choices either. I was the biggest I had been up to that point, but I was HAPPY!

Without going into too much detail, he was in a car accident (didn't die, but sustained traumatic brain injuries), and I slipped into a depression that took all of that weight away and then some. I was the thinnest I've ever been, but desperately unhappy.

I sustained through college at a comfortable weight (the freshman 15 came off the summer after freshman year easily enough) with a few blips and breakups that would bring me down a dress size with nothing too dramatic, and then moved down to FL (still comfortable with myself).

Once DH and I started living together was when the pounds came back and then some. BUT... I was HAPPY! I lost a little when I was in a soul-sucking job, but overall, I have been happy.

My pattern is super obvious-- When I'm happy, I'm heavy. When I'm sad, I lose.

This is why I am struggling. I have never figured out how to be happy AND fit/healthy at the same time. Fitness and less food were always things I turned to when I was sad and needed a release or something to control in times of chaos.

This is the crux of my struggle. I don't have answers yet, but I am trying my hardest to find the balance.

I am at peace with this. This is my story, and there is a reason to my journey-- whatever it may be. I am hoping to use this backstory to better myself holistically to be happy and healthy at the same time!

The funny thing about weight loss is that it requires a lot more introspection than you would think. It's not just about calories in/calories out. You have to figure out why you make the choices that you do and correct those. Nothing is sustainable without finding yourself along the way.

SO SO TRUE! I am just now coming around to this. I am surprised at how much of this journey has been about how to to make myself happy while still redirecting my behavior, thoughts, and feelings rather than just simply "eat less." Yes, obviously, that's a big part, but there are other factors as well.

 

[pjlla]

QOTD: Are you at or coming to a place of peace with your backstory? How will that help you in your future story? You can think purely in terms of your health journey for this or you can think more holistically about all of you as a person ... it is of course up to you for this question and as always only share what you are comfortable with .

Well.... I think my answer will be a little different than some here, as I have been at goal for over 8 years now and as such I've had more time to make peace with certain things.

I have always lacked in self-confidence..... I was picked on and bullied as a child (from Kindergarten through h.s. graduation.... it just never ended) and had a turbulent relationship with my Dad (we are too much alike in many ways and without meaning to I always seemed to "push his buttons" the wrong way). I was always the one hiding in the back row or behind a book or behind my hair. But I honestly never let it really get in the way of things I REALLY wanted! I desperately wanted to be a cheerleader in high school.... now I don't know about your town, but in my town it was 90% a popularity contest and only about 10% cheer ability that was involved in the selection. My first time trying out (Jr. year of high school) I made it as a Junior Varsity alternate.... pretty much the LOWEST position possible and still have made the team. But I didn't let that stop me.... I was the DANG BEST JV alternate they ever had! Never missed a game or practice. I sat on the sidelines PRAYING for someone to get sick or injured so that I would get my big break! Senior year I made JV again for the fall season, but at least I was a "regular" not an alternate! I was the BEST fall soccer JV cheerleader I could be (despite being a senior on a team full of sophomores).... and my big reward was being a VARSITY cheerleader for basketball season and into competition season. Anyhow, that was a REALLY long winded way of saying that I PUSHED THROUGH my lack of confidence and shyness when it mattered.

On a side note, I remember always thinking that I was the "fat" girl on the team. But I have some old home movies from high school cheer that my Mom had converted to VHS in the 80's and you know what.... I WAS NOT the fat one! Not by a long shot. It is amazing what our BRAINS can make us believe when we have no confidence in ourselves.

Anyhow, my weight loss has not made me a person who is always confident.... but at least I know that if people don't like me, it isn't because I am PERCEIVING that they are judging me for my weight. If I'm hungry, I'm not afraid to say so (because I used to think that people would JUDGE ME for being hungry). In fact, I once nearly passed out when I was with a male friend.... he was a tall skinny beanpole who never ate much and after spending about 12 hours together without a meal, I was a mess.... and isn't it FOOLISH that I was afraid to say anything!??

Not sure how this connects to the QOTD.... maybe I'm just rambling. But regardless.... I am not a perfect person.... I don't always have a clean house and sometimes I am broke and there are moments when I feel like my life is a HOT MESS. Being at a healthy weight doesn't change all of that. But it definitely impacted my life in ways that I never anticipated.

Great question - again!

Yes, I am. I posted this on my my fitness pal feed from half size me blogger/podcast

first one not so applicable

"Today, in maintenance, I do the same things I did while losing weight. The only differences between then and now are I don’t see the scale go down, the praise has stopped, and no one acts shocked or surprised when they see me. All those external motivaters are gone but the work still happens. Learn to enjoy the process because one day you’re going to do it and the reward will be no change at all.

Many people want to forget how bad they felt when they were overweight, so they burn old photos, and ignore the memories. I think this is harmful because they wanted this change for a reason. And forgetting those reasons can cause you to repeat the same behaviors that made you overweight in the first place.

Learn to live with weight fluctuations. Accept that maintaining your weight means you will gain and lose the same five to ten pounds for the rest of your life. Long-term weight maintenance is about setting a realistic weight window and honoring that. You will gain a little and you will lose a little. You have to decide what your weight window is and you have to respect it. I recommend giving yourself a window of five to ten pounds. Any less than five pounds and you will create unnecessary stress and frustration. Remember, some people can gain five pounds of water weight in certain situations."

But yes, I learned to be at peace with the past and heavier me. I learned to look back and admire the fact that at the time, I didn't live a life that made me happy but I tried so hard to find a better way, even when i failed. I learned to be cool with that and to look back with kindness and appreciation

but it wasn't always like this. I went trough being very angry that I gained weight

As usual, your response speaks to me.... especially those parts I highlighted in pink! SO TRUE!!

Sometimes I think I have a handle on my backstory--other times, it feels like there's more to myself that I didn't even know. With my weight, I've been aware for years that it's really a part of my family legacy... my mom didn't really understand food because her mom didn't, and it wasn't until I married that I changed the way I approached it. Growing up, we rarely had meals together, and in fact, I remember very few dinners that weren't pasta or tacos, because my mom didn't know how to make much else, and my dad had multiple jobs. For that reason, food became an overwhelming chore to me; I was tired of what I knew, and scared of what I didn't. When I first graduated from college and moved out on my own, I subsided almost exclusively on grilled cheese sandwiches, pasta, and applesauce. And exercise? My parents both worked at least one, if not more, full-time job, and we barely had money for cable, let alone extracurriculars. I was on the JV basketball team for one season, but I was so nervous about messing up that it was all I did, and the coach terrified me even more. Plus, I'm nerdy--I like to read, and felt uncomfortable doing anything where people were looking at me, which is a natural part of sports. I did start walking a lot towards the end of high school and that helped, but I felt so incapable of more than that. Not because I was, just because it was scary to challenge myself physically, especially in public.

Since then, I've had to do a lot of wrestling with what I've heard called The Fantasy of Being Thin--the idea that you can't do certain things until you're thin. Not just things like "wear a bikini," but things like "finally have a clean house" or "be great at math." Because being thin is so celebrated and desired, I think a lot of us tend to conflate losing weight with becoming a better person. Partly, it's kind of magical thinking, and partly it's just that meeting your goal feels like a Brand New Start. But whatever I am on the outside, doesn't change who I am on the inside. And coming to terms with that was hard. Because of course when you lose a significant amount of weight, things do change for you a little bit--you get attention you didn't get before, people seem happy for you, and you do change in whatever ways you were already working on changing. But the attention and stuff eventually goes away and you're left with who you've always been, just in a different body. If you weren't already working on, say, being really, really good at saving money, then losing weight isn't the brand new start where that suddenly happens. I know we all know this, like, so obviously, but I do think I have had that tendency to think, "okay, when I reach x amount of weight, I'm going to finally go to Pilates EVERY SINGLE DAY!" when I barely even go once a month. Then there's the other side of it, where I tend to think, "Okay, so because of my weight, I can't xyz." Running 5Ks used to be one of these things--but I'm the heaviest I've ever been and I've already run one! I had to train for it, of course, but I would have had to do that regardless of my weight. So my goal this time around is, yes, I can think about what will happen when I reach x weight, but if there's something I want to change about myself, or if there's something on my bucket list I want to cross off, I have to already be changing it, you know? I can't wait until I get to my goal weight, because I have things in this life I want to do as soon as possible! There's nothing important that I can't already do, and if there is, I have to work at getting there regardless of what I'm like on the outside.

So, as you can see, my backstory includes a huge shift in perspective, and I can't imagine that it's for anything but the better!

You are right... it is a big shift for the better. Very impressive.... thanks for sharing it with us!

******************

Hey friends! Stealing a few minutes here at school to play catch up with you all! It was nice to come to school today and find out that I have been MISSED! Between the lice before Christmas and my kiddos being home for such a short time, I haven't worked at school since about 12/14! I'll definitely be missing the next paycheck, but sometimes you gotta make those decisions that FAMILY time is more important than money.

Got another new recipe in the crockpot for dinner tonight..... this is the THIRD new recipe this week! I'm kind of excited about all of this new stuff I am finding the time to try! I cannot share the first two recipes because they came from a brand new WW cookbook, but they were GREAT! If you are a WW who might be looking for some new meal ideas, try the newest SmartPoints cookbook and then immediately go to the Teriyaki burger page! Absolutely the BEST 5 SmartPoint real beef burger I've had in YEARS!! I made a double batch (8 burgers).... the men each ate two and DD and I each had one.... and I wrapped the extra two for DD's freezer when she goes back to school. If tonight's pork recipe is a winner, I will share it on the recipe thread. That poor thread has been neglected lately.... I'd love to get it rolling again!

Okay.... time to work again!..........P