05/24/2011 20:15
Want to lose weight? Why an electric chainsaw could be just what you need.
Just hack off a limb. Instant weight loss.
Really. On a weight loss forum? Chainsaw spam?
I'll tell you what I'd like to do with a chainsaw. It involves spammers, and it could get very messy and very illegal.
Posted By: Helen Wheels
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05/24/2011 16:21
Has ExtraPounds Made Itself Irrelevant?
I mean, really—when the top blogger is nothing but spam trash? When the functions of the site frequently fail to perform? When our complaints about these weaknesses go unheeded for months at a time?
When there are other weight loss websites without all the above?
Posted By: Helen Wheels
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05/24/2011 03:08
On Motivation and Goals, 3
Your motivation has to come from within. It's nice if you have people to support you, but the truth is, your quest to lose weight is not going to be important to anyone but you. There isn't any magic to it all. You just commit to a program, formal or your own, and decide you are going to do it no matter what.
I chose the Jenny Craig program years ago, and got lots of one-on-one support for my efforts, but it was only one of many crucial factors that led to my losses and long term maintenance. Goal and maintenance have to be so important to you that you are willing to do everything it takes to change your lifestyle enough to support it.
The important thing is, you can do this! One step at a time, one success at a time.
Posted By: Helen Wheels
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05/24/2011 03:07
On Motivation and Goals, 2
What was it about those two questions:
But what about after the wedding?
Aren't you tired of losing for an event, and then gaining it all back afterward?
that made me change my mind, and join with a full membership?
It didn't just change my mind; no, it also caused me to burst into tears as I realized how dead dog tired I was of the endless cycle of losing a little weight for one event or another, and then gaining it all back plus some, after the event. It finally became obvious to me that I was missing the most important part of weight loss. And that I had missed that point many, many times.
The diet magic I had sought again and again was simply never going to happen. Losing the weight was the smallest (and I would discover, easiest) part of the whole picture. I had to finish the work. No matter how much or how little I lost, the goal had to change from a number on the scale by a certain point in time, to a constantly moving target with no time limit. Instead of considering getting to the number on the scale as the end of it, it had to become the beginning. That beginning would consist of permanently implementing the lifestyle habits I had been practicing to get me to that number on the scale.
I realized I needed more help changing my lifestyle than I ever needed with mere weight loss. The eating habits had to become permanent. The exercise habits had to become permanent. The mindset habits had to become permanent. I had to finally consider myself a person with the habits of a slimmer person, instead of going back to my old fat habits.
Posted By: Helen Wheels
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05/24/2011 03:05
On Motivation and Goals
I want to lose the weight for my 40th birthday.
I want to lose the weight for our family reunion next July 4th.
I want to lose the weight for my wedding.
I want to lose the weight by Christmas.
These are all event-driven goals. On the surface, they sound pretty good, but I see some problems there.
Say your goal is realistic, and you soldier through to get there for the event, what then?
Say your goal is unrealistic, and you find yourself with ten pounds left to go by the time the big event arrives, what then?
The problem I see with event-driven goals is that they are finite. Unless we change the focus on the event as it relates to the scale, we are in danger of the weight yoyoing back up again, starting the day after the big event. Or, in the case of the goals being too ambitious for the time limit, falling off the wagon before we even get close to goal.
When I first started on my fat loss campaign, it was event-driven. My daughter's wedding was approaching, and I needed help. Lots of it. All efforts on my own had failed, and I was desperate to lose more before the event, which was only three weeks away. I had more than 50 pounds to lose, and though it was not obvious to me at the moment, ten pounds would not make that much difference in the pictures I was avoiding. Still, I had that silly goal to lose ten pounds before the wedding.
When I walked into the Jenny Craig center that morning, I was only going to join for an introductory weight loss plan, which I thought might net me those ten pounds in three weeks. I insisted upon it when I first decided I would join.
Then the Center Director said, "But what about after the wedding? Aren't you tired of losing for an event, and then gaining it all back afterward?"
Snap!
Posted By: Helen Wheels
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05/24/2011 03:03
Food Trucks!
I was talking to a co-worker today. She and her husband are chefs, and they are wanting to start their own catering business.
We got to talking, and decided it would be really fun to have a food truck. Once basically lunch wagons that visited job sites that had no close eateries for the employees, they are increasingly operated by very skilled chefs and cooks who in many cases are taking fine cuisine to the streets. We talked about what fun it could be to operate a food truck.
We think it would be fun to have a food truck that didn't just offer a certain type of cuisine, but one where we could offer a variety "true" diet entrées. When you go into so many restaurants, and take a good look at their "lighter" offerings, you discover that they have nearly twice as many calories as would be appropriate for a fat loss program.
I wonder how well something like that would do, in our culture, where bigger and more and excess is equated to a good buy. Could we compete with the eat-it-and-beat-it culture of fast food?
I sorta think we could, with fresh, excellent food.
Posted By: Helen Wheels
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05/23/2011 21:33
Done!
I got the posts for the new gate set, and it looks like it is just in time.
It's thundering and the rain clouds are moving in, just as I finished cleaning up. Putting a board across the span ensured that the posts are aligned with each other, and both are plumb. I ended up without enough concrete, so I had to go back to the big box to get another couple bags.
One thing amazes me. I finished it all in about 1 1/2 hours. Digging the holes by hand took another 1 1/2 hours. None of it was difficult, though I am mildly tired after the physical work. I keep remembering that similar tasks would sometimes take my husband (with help) an entire day, accompanied by a lot of grunting, groaning, cussing and whining, and punctuated by at least two substantial breaks. Getting the posts plumb would have involved much discussion and fussing. It's a wonder he ever got anything done around here!
Am I missing something? Should this have been a lot harder than it was?
Between that and some light yard work, I managed to burn 560 calories. Nice.
Posted By: Helen Wheels
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05/23/2011 16:58
Taking it Inside
One of the advantages of slow weight loss is that it's an opportunity to practice for the rest of life. But I didn't realize that when I first started.
Gradually, the gravity of the promise I had made to myself became apparent. There was no going back. OMG! I promised myself that no matter how much I lost, my weight have yoyoed upward for the last time. I was going to have to get serious.
That meant I had to do some serious lifestyle changes. For good, not just until I was happy with the number on the scale. If I returned to any of my old habits, maintenance wouldn't be possible. But I had no idea what maintenance would look like or feel like, because I had never done it before. I had a lot of thinking to do.
When I went to a restaurant, never again could I polish off a whole entrée at one sitting. No more large servings or going for seconds. Exercise every day—every day! No more eating without thinking about what was going in my mouth, and considering whether every bite was worth the calories. And I had to get the bingeing under control. It was almost too much to think of. I began to feel overwhelmed at the enormity of what I had promised myself. And then I began to wonder if I would really be able to do it.
With my track record, who was I to think I could pull if off? The doubts started piling up. I wasn't even halfway done, and already I was projecting into the future and beginning to see that failure was possible. The way my thoughts were going, my goals were headed for trouble.
I had to take it inside my head and get my thoughts in order. Eventually I realized that I would have to take it one day at a time, and be patient with myself. Habits of a lifetime do not change to a new way of doing things overnight. The first habit I had to change was my that of only seeing the negatives.
Posted By: Helen Wheels
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05/23/2011 16:57
Suddenly, Doubts
I got up this morning, enthusiastic about getting the fence posts set, and now I'm sitting here, semi-immobilized by doubts in my construction skills. That's what I get for jumping fearlessly into home improvement projects.
I need to get out there and study the situation so I can get the posts set before the possible rain tomorrow. The main problem is that I am setting them at an angle to meet the piece of screening fence that is already there. The posts need to be set at an angle so that the gate can open smoothly on them, and I'm not sure how to go about getting the faces of the two posts that support the gate, aligned properly.
I'm thinking that if I just run a board between the two as part of the supports while the concrete sets, it will align them and help to hold the alignment. The other worry is how to mount the gate frame on the ready-made fence section I want to use as the gate. I think I may have that one figured out, but I'm not sure until I get the box open and look at the instructions that came with the hardware. It is designed to work with a six-foot fence that has only two cross supports, and the section I have has three supports. I think I may be able to get away with simply adding another 2" x 4" support at the correct vertical measurement.
But it's not going to get done if I keep sitting here, so I'm off to confront the challenges!
Posted By: Helen Wheels
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05/23/2011 02:45
OK, So I Was Tired...
I ended up not setting the fence posts tonight. I was tired when I got home from work.
I did manage to dig the holes another inch, and then I went and planted a couple more of my baskets.
The plants I had hardening off suffered a couple of casualties when it hailed last week, which made me sad. Poor little things.
Still doing great with the Monotony Diet. All this repetition has me not too interested in food, so it's been easy to moderate. S far today, I'm running a 1200-calorie deficit, so I'm going to have a nice snack later—probably a Skinny Cow ice cream sandwich, or maybe yogurt with granola, to get a few more calories.
Posted By: Helen Wheels
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