mindsovermatter (original) (raw)
April 14th, 2007
Hello community..if anyone is alive out there!
I have been absent for a long time due to not feeling up to taking care of myself. I had a lot of emotional issues. Now I am in a better place and I am ready to get healthy.
I have been walking every day now, starting off small. By friend 
colbyucb suggested this great website www.mapmyrun.com. I've been using this site to measure out my walks. It helps you plot your walks or run and tells you the distances. It's really cool. Please check it out! This way you don't have to drive around in your car to find out where you can walk a mile. :P You can make plans from the comfort of your chair or in my case, my bed.
So I am starting off small by walking a mile 5 days a week. I have made up a variety of mile long walks so I wont get bored and I take Arlo with me :) I am also planning on taking my camera around so you guys can see some visuals of my walks.
I am feeling a lot more positive now than when I did starting this community. I have friends nearby who will walk with me and since I happen to like my hometown well enough, there are some good interesting places to walk.
I'm doing this so I can feel better about myself. I really want to fit into my old pants again and that is my small goal right now. This means I have to lose 3 pants sizes. I think I can do it. The thing that will be the hardest is eating better. I know what I have to do it's just that I love food, especially chocolate and junk.
:)
I would like everyone to post again. Just update everyone on what's going on, even if to say you're just busy. If I have to keep this community alive for my own sake, I will, but like I intended from the beginning, I wanted my friends involved.
If you want to check out my walks, here they are:
http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/united-states/mi/waterford/332638534
http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/united-states/mi/waterford/332626431
http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/united-states/mi/waterford/332594215
http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/united-states/mi/waterford/332609252
http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/united-states/mi/waterford/332614434
Lauren, if you'd like to join me, you can :)
April 1st, 2007
This community has been dead for awhile, BUT, when Marie had the idea I was so inspired by it. I've had my ups and downs but changing my frame of mind has really helped me to stay on track with getting healthier. Food no longer controls me, it is no longer the only thing that I look forward to for happiness. I'm not saying I make the perfect choices all the time, or even most of the time. About half the time I'm really focused, but that's better than not trying at all.
In two and a half months, I've lost 26.5lbs through light to moderate exercise, and controlling my eating. I eat a bunch throughout the day, small things, and my calories usually don't exceed my maintenence of 2000 calories or so, and when they do it's not a big deal since I have a calorie deficit throughout the week. Don't get me wrong, I still eat a healthy amount of calories (from 1450-1600, sometimes more depending on how much I exercise) and can indulge in treats from time to time without guilt. I eat out/order in several times a week (I make healthier choices instead of going for the bucket of deep fried chicken or a huge sundae following a large dinner) and I'm not on a diet, because I feel I can maintain the way that I'm eating for the rest of my life.
It is a lifestyle change, and I had to realize that before it clicked in my brain to actually stick with something. I was the kind of person that thought nothing of skipping breakfast; for lunch getting a Quiznos sub (1200 calories), SoBe (200 or more cals), and chocolate bundt cake (??? calories... probably at least 500); then finishing the day with two burgers (1000+ cals), two large fries (1200 cals), and the largest full-sugar pop (500 or more cals) from any of the various fast-food outlets; not to mention all of the candy/snacks I would have throughout the day. It was no mystery to me why I was gaining weight, I just had no idea how to stop eating like I did. Honestly the food was like an addiction - I looked forward to it almost more than seeing my boyfriend or playing my games or doing anything creative, and I felt like I needed it to be happy. I'm writing all of this to let anyone out there going through the same thing know that the cycle can be broken. You just have to basically force yourself to stick to a plan, and then soon you stop needing the bad stuff.
I still have 55 or so pounds to go, but this whole weight-loss thing seems a lot less daunting and much more doable now that I'm almost 30lbs in.
So, anyway... I guess I just wanted to encourage people and maybe restart this community. I know I couldn't have accomplished my own current goals without the support of the forums on another site (Calorie-Count, which I highly recommend for tracking your food and exercise, finding out how much you can eat in order to lose weight, as well as the community), so maybe we can get a similar support-net going here, as was originally intended :]
September 14th, 2006
I read this article today. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060912/ap_en_ot/fashion_size_matters
I also read the message board which a lot of terrible people frequent.
Some of the things they said irritated me to the point of writing this. Of course many men with low self-worth wrote things about how fat women should stop eating doughnuts and McDonalds and that really didn't bother me much because what they said is idiotic and childish. What some of the women said bothered me the most.
Some women commented on how size matters to them and how relieved they are to be a size 2 or 0, and relieved to hear that size does matter, as if that's the only thing that validates their existance and makes them feel good. Another thing was "Why are they making bigger sizes with labels that say smaller sizes? That's saying it's okay to be fat. It is not okay. Oprah and a bunch of other people are trying to tell women to stay overweight and have it be okay".
That is not true and a closed-minded way of looking at a situation some will never understand. In a world were people are constantly judged by what they look like, a place where children are wearing trashy clothes by the age of five, some people like Oprah are trying to tell women who are overweight that it is okay to like yourself for who you are while also pushing a healthy lifestyle. These women are only right in saying it's not okay to be overweight but wrong in implying that you can't be happy and fat at the same time. These people are missing the big picture. They think a woman will only be happy when she can walk into American Eagle or Abercrombie and feel right at home. What ever happened to liking yourself for things other than a label or a size?
It's disgusting. If I were to decide to raise a child in this world I hope it's a boy. I would have to have to raise a daughter, who with my genes will probably be heavy, in a society that will only look at how small she is rather than how smart she is or how funny or talented. It frightens me.
I am trying to lose weight to be healthy and look better, not because I do not like who I am. What matters most to me is being healthy so I can live longer. I want to see and enjoy so many things and being healthy will help me, not worrying about sliding into the tiniest pair of pants ever.
I just had to share my thoughts on the matter.
September 13th, 2006
I am down 5 more pounds...I am really excited, but my shins are sort of hurting. maybe I am doing too much hi impact. I even turned down McDonalds. I am proud of myself.I hope all is well it everybody else weight losing world!
Lovies,
Angela
September 7th, 2006
Name: Yolanda
Age (optional): 28
Weight (optional): Alot. Over 250
Where you live: I live in Sheffield IA now. I am Australian, and moved to the USA to marry my now darling husband. I miss Oz.
What are your goals?: Well i have alot of goals. My first small goal is to lose 20lbs. Hell, i'll take 10lbs. Small steps.
What are you going to do to achieve this goal: Work out alot more, cut my food sizes down and just get healthy.
What food is your downfall?: carbs, bread taters. bad!
How can this community help you on your way?: I need support of a group of people who have similar issues. And that are willing to be honest, just nice about it all.
What can you bring to this community?: Someone who can be a lil straight forward sometimes, but hey, i care.
Tell us a little about yourself: I work doing data entry here in sheffield. Went to school for nursing in aged care. Worked most of my life in childcare. I first came to the USA to work in summer camps and have done that in quite a few states for about 5 summers. I love summer time. But seeing snow the first time was very cool. I love to stamp and scrapbook. Oh man, too much to tell. I am sure you will learn more over time.
Marie: Your next workout will be harder. The first one is always easy, and then the second is harder. Good on you and charles for doing it together, it helps thats for sure. I also have been using a chart to write down what I have been doing, and this is helping me alot. Heres the link for you guys to use it.
http://www.stampinup.com/us/documents/six-week_heart_health_chart.pdf
With this i cant fool myself, its all on paper and i can see just what i am doing, and i keep by my computer, on my desk, so i fill it out all the time. I used to keep a weight chart need my scale for a few months. Not losing enough right now to go back to that yet.
*testing to see if this posts, just wrote a HUGE reponse and it errored out, hope this works*
Charles' work provides its employees with a gym building for $5 a year. It's a great little building. It's full of really nice equipment, including elipticals, weights, treadmills, bikes, step aerobic equipment, and a bunch of other things. The best thing about it is it's open 24hrs. We went there last night to check it out at like..8:45pm. No one was there, which was nice. We could sweat and be gross together.
I once read in some weight-loss book that in order to lose weight you must burn at least 200 calories in your work out. So I go by that. My goal on the eliptical was 200 calories and I accomplished that. I just basically did a 20 minute quick walk. I also did 80 arm reps with 5lb weights and I did a short, 5 minute step work out, just to see how it feels. I felt pretty good afterward.
My arms do hurt but it's a good hurt. :P
Remember to do a work out that gets your heart rate up and makes you sweat. Also, stretch before hand. :)
It's fun to work out with someone else. We are going to go in the evenings when I don't have to work, so Mon-Tue-Wed, probably. Hopefully, since we are in this together to get healthy and look good for the wedding, we can keep it up and actually lose some weight.
:D
Of course, eating a bagel in the morning didn't really help. SIGH :D
I am down a pants size...I have also lost 6 pounds! can you dig it? I was bad yesterday though. I got off the midnight @ 9am but could not sleep until 2pm as a result I missed my areobics class and kick boxing class...NO MORE OF THAT! I need to stop being such an insomniac.
Angela
September 1st, 2006
Name:Angela
Age: 21
Weight: Not Emotionally ready to disclose that info
Where you live: Mount Pleasant Michigan
What are your goals?: I'd be tickled pink to lose 30 pounds by May
What are you going to do to achieve your goals?: Losing weight is hard because I am pretty sure I poly cystic ovarian disease, so there are hormonal issues. I am an active member at contours(like Curves) for women and I am in three excercise classes at school Hi-Lo areobics, kick boxing and Fitness walking.
What food is your downfall?: Anything fast and convienient. Most the time I am not at home so the only fast option is the on campus places...which are mostly coffee, sugar and grease based. bad X 3.
How can this community help you on your way?:I need support like whoa, I don't know who to talk to/I don't feel comfortable talking to them because all my friends are smaller than I am. They don't have some of the problems I have.
What can you bring to this community?: I am a hard worker and I have alot of heart. When someone gives me 50% I give back 150%.
Tell us a little about yourself: I am a first year senior at Central Michigan University. I am persuing a degree in Family studies with a music emphasis. I hope to go to graduate school to become a musical therapist for the mentally challenged. I also am planning to become a CNA. I love singing, writing and I am enjoying working out.