Hi ladies!

I'm new here. My name is Rebekah. My FH and I are planning on getting married in the summer of 2010 and so as my new years resolution for this year I'm going to try and lose 60 lbs. I am going to keep this new years resolution!!!!!!

I'm 5 ft 4 and I currently weigh 189. I've gained so much weight from this summer when I weighed 151!! I'm horrified.

I work full time and go to college full time so finding the energy to go to the gym is a real struggle but I know I have to do it!

My goal is to lose 5 lbs a month which would, in a year, put me into the 120's which is where I would love to be.

Anyways, reading all your posts here has been really inspirational and helpful! Look forward to checking in with you ladies and hopefully I'll be a few pounds lighter....

Those of you who have had success in your weight loss how long do you go to the gym? what activities do you do (treadmill, cross trainer etc) and how many minutes for each?
I really have no idea what I should be focusing on in order to lose...

Edited by: independant2406 on Jan 1, 2009 7:16 AM

Welcome to the new ladies!!!

I will check back and do a more in depth response later, but I just want to wish all you lovely ladies a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I hope you all had a fun and safe night... Here's to 2009, us feeling great about ourselves and our bodies, and the continued support of each and every one of us!

Cheers!
 

I only have a minute but I will be back way more frequently come Monday when vacation is over (bummer), hehe

FMS- I hope you had a fabulous time at big bear!
Tanis- GREAT attitude!


Let's get these new year weigh ins going... lol
I weighed in this morning down 1.8 pounds! AND... that makes it 7 pounds total between Thanksgiving and today! So, I'm now 36 pounds from goal and down 44 total so far- over half way there! And, I went from a size 20 to a size 12 (as of this week!)

I hope you ladies are all kicking off your new year with healthy choices and motivation to make things happen!
 

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!! Sorry for the long absence, but after our multiple travel trips, I am back!

Welcome new girls! You are doing a wonderful thing making this commitment to yourselves, and I look forward to getting to know you better and supporting you in your goals as time goes on. Remember, the beginning can be the hardest, so just stick with it despite whatever comes up and in the long run you will be healthier and happier.

As for my girls, I am glad everyone had a wonderful holiday!!!

Tanis- Ashley is right, your attitude is awesome. You are a great motivator for all of us. Way to go on working in workouts into your vaycay. We all know that can be hard.

FMS- Huge congrats on the awesome outfit!!! I know how totally fantastic that feels....being able to wear new, smaller clothes feels like even a bigger victory than seeing numbers drop on the scale, because at the end of the day those are just numbers, but how you look and feel in your clothing is much more powerful. Good for you, I hope Big Bear was awesome!

Ashley- Ashley Ashley Ashley!!! You are knockin' em dead with your incredible success. I am in awe. You are like one of those people in the TV weight loss ads where it then says at the bottom "results not typical" simply because you are kicking SO much butt that it's unbelievable!!! All I can say is I am thrilled for you. Not because of the drop in numbers, even though that is also amazing, but because of how much healthier and happier you obviously feel and your new outlook on life. That is definitely what it is all about.

Kens- we are thinking of you and pumping you up girl!!! you come on back whenever you can so we can love you up and motivate you for getting back into this project when you are ready!

Muffin- how were your holidays sweetie? hopefully you got a break at some point from your hectic schedule!

As for me girls, I am relieved to be home and in one place, even though that means our two week vacation is over as of tomorrow, which makes me saaad. FH goes back to work tomorrow morning; I have become spoiled after seeing him all day every day for two weeks! I went back to work on Friday for just one day, so in a way that makes the re-entry easier. So our trip to NC for the wedding was awesome; all our friends in one place, big parties both nights, a beautiful winter wedding that was very romantic, it was fabulous. On the health side of things, I did a two day fruit and vegetable cleanse before going to ease out of the Christmas overindulgence, and then for the two days we were down there I made good choices when I could but also went outside of that a little in the spirit of having a good time and not being too fussy when I wasn't the one providing the food. So now I am back and 100% psyched to get back on track. My gown shopping weekend is 4 weeks from now, so it is time to kick it into high gear!

That is my biggest thing right now, ladies. I am really happy with how far I have come, feel healthy and happy and thrilled to be getting married this year, and am happy with the size I am, but I really want to shave off a few more pounds before trying on gowns/ordering one. Everyone has been saying "Don't worry, you look great, and they can always take it in later if they need to" but for me, it is important as a promise to myself. I don't want to be worrying about weight loss after I buy the dress. I would like at that point for it to be mostly about maintenance and going a bit further if I feel like it. But right now I am between 6-10 pounds from where I want to be. I would LOVE to lose 8 pounds before dress shopping, but in four weeks, that's a tall order, so I would be happy with 6. I haven't weighed in over these past two weeks because we have been traveling non stop and nowhere near a scale, and because of my big goal being a Saturday 4 weeks from now, I have decided to weigh in on Fridays for the next few weeks. If just makes more sense for me. After that I will go back to Wednesday weigh ins with you gals.

Some of my goals/promises for the next four weeks:

-no wheat
-no dairy
(these two are particular to me, because I am sensitive to both, and I ate both over Christmas/wedding- so it is important that i get back on track with that)
-maximum of 3 glasses of wine on a night out with friends
-maximum of 2 glasses of wine on a night home with FH or friends
-no refined sugar (this is the biggie!)
-no white carbs
-food and beverages recorded daily in my food journal
-aim for 1500-1800 calories a day
-focus my complex carb intake on breakfast and earlier in the day, not dinner
-work out for one hour a day, 5 days a week
-include regular yoga and pilates in the above workouts

So those are my intentions! I have written them down in my journal, but I thought writing them on here would help to keep me accountable. You al might want to do the same! Well I am off to the gym...I will check in later! Hope everyone had a good weekend!

I'm back!

Ok... 3 months and a couple of weeks to the big day. Tomorrow starts in ernest. Weigh in, drink more water, start my diet again. I had lost 15 lbs before Ike hit and I've gained all of that back... ugh.

Will check in when I have more time... going to measure tomorrow too.

Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, cheesecake in one hand, rum in the other, body totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!

Hey everybody. I had a great workout today. The last 4 workouts were with my EH because of weekends and holidays and while I really enjoy having someone at the gym with me and EH is the only guy EVER who has worked out with me after he saw what I lifted, I workout a lot longer than EH so I was kind of cutting my workouts short and because cardio is what I like least, that was what was getting cust the most. I need more cardio to get the job done

New Biggest Loser starts tonight!

Oprah is 'back on the wagon' and is having a week of health type shows. There is also buckets of info on her website. Yesterday Oprah was talking about how she wants to lose weight again, but then she said even though she knew this she was still thankful for her body - that her heart beat, her lungs allowed her to breathe, and her thighs although she hates them, allow her to walk. It was a bit like my I am Tanis J rant, but without all the weighlifting. lol. At any rate I had an 'aha' moment for everyone. While it is important to recognize that we need to take care of our health, lose weight, exercise or whatever our goal is it is also important to appreciate what our body does and to not beat ourselves up about how we look. Before I thought this too but I thought it was more important for our mental health, but now I think about it its not only important for that but because if we don't think about it that way, we will not succeed. If a friend called you up and said "Do you want to go to the gym? You are fat and you need to lose weight. Oh do you even have clothes that are big enough?" Not only would we not go, but we would hang up on her, yet we do this to ourselves and expect that after berating ourselves we are somehow going to be motivated. We feel like crap but we are still going to go workout really hard, come home and not eat the food that gives us comfort, not have that cocktail that will take the edge off and somehow be happy about all of this. This is why so many diet and exercise programs fail. If we approach them feeling negative about ourselves we will have a hard time receiving positive results, whereas if we say yes I need to do this and this but don't beat ourselves up about it we are far more likely to succeed. I think this is one of the reasons it is easier for men to lose weight - they are alot less emotional about it (except maybe some of those guys on the Biggest Loser). I think this works with food too - instead of I am not going to give myself this bowl of ice cream, which sounds like deprivation, I say instead I am going to give myself the gift of better health then I don't feel like I am missing out.

I think I am going to put my little "Which do you want more?" signs up on the fridge, freezer and cupboards again. it really does make me stop and think.

I hope this all made sense! I was pretty excited when I thought about it.

For the newer people. I am not sure if you are just new to the thread or new to thinking about exercise and diet in general. One of the quickest way to lose weight and cut some calories is to look at what you are drinking. Fruit juice, while still good for you is about 100 calories a cup and not that filling. Pop which isn't good for you at all is 100 calories a cup. Those big frappucino drinks can run 500 calories a pop. If you drink one every day that's 3500 calories or exactly one pound, so just by cutting that you can drop a pound in a week. Thats 52 pounds in a year! Alcohol is just empty calories too and converts to sugar very quickly, which converts to fat very quickly. A glass of wine may be 100 calories but there are quite a few cocktails with a lot of sugar that run in the 300 - 400 calorie range. yikes!

Okay I am going to stop ranting. I hope everyone is doing great.

Hey LADIES!!!!

Hehehe....welcome back everyone who was away!

Melissa- Ashley is right, teling yourself (or feeling inside) that you are going to fail is the quickest way to ensure that you will. It's all about frame of mind, REALLY. I strongly recommend reading Tanis' last post (which kicks ass) and really talking all that to heart. You have to love, honor, and respect your body, both where it is now and where it can be, and believe in yourself, in order for change to happen. And make sure you are doing it for the right reasons; your health and happiness and confidence, not a number on a scale.

FMS- Welcome back girl! Your trip sounded like so much fun. I spent two NYE in Montreal in college and your stories of ill-advised walks home in the snow reminded me of that! So glad you had a blast. I am sure your outfit looked killer! Was your FH there to appreciate it or was it a girls only trip?

Ashley- nice work on the workout class props! You should be feeling great about yourself. Ditto goes for your realization about loving your body for what/where it is....I think we have all been there in our journey. Good for you for appreciating the wonderful, beautiful, healthy body you have!

Tanis- your post rocked. I have often had thoughts along those very same lines, and it's like you took the thoughts we often think and posted them here for all of us to really hear and benefit from. And great work on being back to your uber-charged workouts! I thought of you at the gym yesterday when I was doing some kind of hamstring lift (sigh...I don't know the terminology). I was thinking "Crap, I thought my thighs were strong as hell but this is HARD!" I am a little sore today, but in a good way. One of my commitments is to try to work some weights into every workout and just vary the body parts, rather than doing just upper body and doing it every other workout which was normally my MO, and so far it has been going well!

Well girls, I have been in a blizzard of wedding planning these past few days! Our date is September 19th (same as Kens...woo hoo!), and I basically decided a while back that I would kick the planning into effect after the new year. So here we are! In the past four days I have: worked on guests lists with both families (all mostly finalized except my parents, who are away), finalized save-the-date and invitation choices with FH, spoken at length with my mom and FMIL about general wedding decisions, finalized our wedding color choices, and spent ALL DAY today compiling the dresses I want to try on between websites and magazines and making appointments for my dress shopping weekend, which is a little under 4 weeks away! I kept having to change and re-change the appointments to try to make it work with everyone's schedule, but now it's DONE. Sadly one of the appointments has to be for before my sister gets to town, and since she is my MOH, I told the other friend bridesmaid that it would be better for me to do that appt with just my mom so that my sis won't feel left out. Maybe it's a good thing that my first dress shopping experience will be with only one person! Unless the other two manage to work it out and come...we will see. But I am SUPER excited.

OH, and I bought my wedding shoes on Saturday!!! Yeah, yeah, before the gown...I like to do things my own way :) They were exactly what I was looking for and I couldn't risk passing them up! They arrive in the mail later this week, I can't wait to try them on, and I really hope they fit well!

So far this week, I have been doing great with food choices and exercise. Friday I worked out at the gym for an hour, upper body weights and toning cardio, Saturday I did an hour long brisk walk with FH outside, Sunday I did a 45 minute gym workout but a very intense one (15 minutes weights and 30 minutes high intensity interval cardio), and added a walk outside for warm up and cool down to meet my 1 hour workout commitment. Monday I did an hour at the gym, 15 mins lower body weights and 45 mins varied cardio intervals. Tonight I am "supposed" to go to the gym with FH when he gets home from work, but we will see if he is up to it. If not, I am going to take the night off too. I am wiped after spending the day in a blizzard of wedding dresses!

Also, I was proud of myself tonight...I finally heated up this gluten-free, dairy-free packaged pizza that I had bought forever ago and had been sitting in the freezer...anyway I was going to have it for dinner, but although it is organic and from the health food store, the thing was very high in calories, so I did the right thing and only ate half and wrapped the rest up for another day. It wasn't easy since it was a personal pizza and the thing was just sitting there on my plate, but it was the right call and I feel good! Little victories :)

So that's about it for me...I am pretty elated about the fact that our wedding planning is now going full throttle. We are ordering the invitations and save the dates this coming weekend, and my next thing is to begin researching bands and photographers. As for weigh in, I will be weighing in on Fridays for the next 3 weeks due to my goal being Saturday January 31st. It's go time!!!

Hey Ash!

To answer your question (and for anyone else who is interested or bored and looking for something to do!) Here are the details we have so far for our wedding:

Our colors are purple, deep midnight bluish/purple, deep pink, and gold. Shades of those four colors.

The shoes are actually from J Crew. They have such pretty shoes! I want to wear dressy flats, since I really want to be comfortable walking around and dancing all night, and also because I don't need the extra height :) They are hard to describe, but when I get them and if they work (please!!) , I will post a pic for you guys!

Let's see, what else...here is a link to our wedding and reception site if you'd like to check it out, we are doing both at one place www.easthamptonpoint.com . Have a look! Make sure to turn up the volume, they have cute music! They have a section on the site for weddings, but there is actually way more photos of the place in the other sections on the site. It is beautiful! It's like a little resort/marina village. The shot they show of the couple actually during the ceremony, that is the exact spot where we will be saying our vows :)

Our floral designer's site is www.flowersbybeth.com ....she has done weddings and other events at our venue before, which is one of the reasons we wanted her, because she'll be comfortable and familiar with what works there. On the site, in "weddings" photo #4 is of our location, the spot where we'll be having our ceremony (ours will be decorated differently obviously, but just to give you a good idea of the surroundings...180 degree water views!), and also in "events" photo #5 is where we will be having our reception, or one part of it. The cocktails hour, hors d'oeuvres stations, the band, and the dance floor will be over there. We probably won't use that wicker furniture though so that there is more room for people to mill about. Make sure to check out the "flower shop"...that's where we go for our meetings :) I adore it there!

Oh yeah, our invitations! Here is the link to what we have chosen:

http://www.thehappyenvelope.com/collections/wedding2/index.php?imag=07

and the colors we will be using are a purple for the text and design and a beige-ish gold for the stripes. The background will still be white. The envelopes will be purple. The wording will be totally different than this, too. I absolutely love them!

Well girls, that is it for now. Hope I haven't chewed off your ears! (eyes?) But hey, maybe you will be bored at work and need a little procrastination!

And Ash, I hope you enjoyed!!! I will keep you all updated on new progress!

Good Night All!