Weekly Weigh-In 2/26- 3/4/06

[Rob]

Weeks go by so quickly, don't they. Hope everyone had a good week!

[Goddess]

wow, we ain't lining up to weigh in this week, huh? snort! uhhh, me neither. i made some of my homemade carb bars this weekend, which are deliciuos but man, i am not so good with chocolate and portion control....eek! i'm glad when i overdo it's still lc, but it is not what i need, either. i've decided: next time i make them, they get broken down into individual servings and into the freezer they go!

but i promise, i'll be back next week, ready to go...

[spride]

Goddess -

Care to share the low-carb bar recipe? I could use a treat.

All -

I'm down half a pound this week despite the complete lack of exercise due to knee surgery. Dietwise, I was very "good" with my dw's help. Besides, the fridge was too far away for me to go wrong.

In all seriousness, it's two monthes in and I'm starting to get depressed. It's an old trap for me and I've succumbed to it on prior adventures in weight loss. Despite all of the hard work, all of the exercise, all of the "No thank you, I won't have any {insert food here}"'s, despite the fact that I've lost over forty pounds, I'm still fat. I see myself in the mirror and I see someone who's fat and it's depressing.

It doesn't help that for the last week, I've spent a lot of it flat on my back and have lacked a lot of social interaction. (My only trips out of the house have been for knee surgery and for physical therapy) The knee is progressing nicely, but the loneliness and the lack of weight loss combination has me blue.

I know where depression has led me before. I know that low carb eating is a way of life and not a diet. But other "lifestyle changes" and "ways of life" have succumbed to the dark side.

[Goddess]

hello sven. here is the recipe...but it does call for a special sweetner that you may not have on hand. i ordered it online and through experimentation, discovered it will act like corn syrup, which enables me to do the bars...lately, my favorite treat has been the 3-min choc. cake (which i don't call cake around dh, who says it's fine as long as you don't try to call it cake." it is NOT cake!" he says emphatically. ok. )

i'm getting a slight sense of is a general feeling of deprivation, perhaps? if there are specific foods you've been missing, you may want to start looking (or ask around) for help with lc subs. no one should have to feel deprived or lacking in their food choices; that doesn't make for a happy lc-er, you know? if it's lifetime, it can't be about denial and deprivation. you've got to be happy with your options.

Originally Posted by spride

I know where depression has led me before. I know that low carb eating is a way of life and not a diet. But other "lifestyle changes" and "ways of life" have succumbed to the dark side.

i'm so sorry to hear you're feeling down! i think when the journey is long to get where you want, weight-wise, that's really not uncommon. and being stuck laid up for recovery can't help! that's a perscription for depression, i'm thinking.

i've had my moments, for sure. somewhere around 40-50 down, i just kept thinking, "good lord. when will i be DONE with this? i'm tired of thinking about my weight." of course, i knew i wouldn't be "done" in the sense of going back to the old ways, but you know what i mean. it gets tedious at times. and i'd be lying if i said i always feel enthusiastic, happy, or excited about continuing on. i mean, yeah, i work on focusing on the positive, but there are some days when it's much more of an effort than other days.

perhaps it would help to remember that "feeling fat" is SO objective. i mean, when i actually was pretty fat, i thought of myself as "plump." (BOY was i an optimist!) there are days now that, while i'm in a normal weight range--towards the high end, but normal nonetheless--that i feel positively porkish, fatter than i ever felt when i actually was fat. then there are days when i feel like the cutest chick in kansas. but some would say i've always tended toward the delusional.

i've been doing this for a few years now, and have had my share of ups and downs emotionally. plus, dealing with your weight is as much psychological as it is physical, to me anyway. i know that i've had to actively work on cultivating a "slimmer" self-image, because what i see in my head doesn't always match reality. and then, there are lots of little issues that crop up and often, they can be surprising. but you just work through them as they come up.

on the more concrete level - do you have at least a couple of outfits that fit well and you feel good in? while that may sound like a weird question, i know people avoid buying clothes as they're losing, and feeling good about how you look can be a huge ego boost exactly when you need it. it's well worth the price of a new shirt or two and a couple pairs of slacks, i can assure you. and wearing smaller clothes does make one look much thinner than oversized clothes, too.

i don't know, hon. it's a process, you know? sounds like that being out of commission for the time, stuck laid up (and therefore not getting your social interaction OR the lovely endorphins that exercise provides) has just been wearing on you. i don't have much else to offer you other than my personal experience that the 40-pounds-blues did pass pretty quickly for me.

and maybe you'll think i'm crazy (you SO won't be alone!), but i think that your feeling this way is actually a very good thing. you recognize these feelings are what sent your resolve packing before. that means this is a turning point for you! what have you done before, and what can you do differently now?

'cause what that tells me is that once you successfully navigate these waters, freedom is squarely within your grasp, man! a lifetime of freedom from being overweight. that's SO worth it. and while i'm not 100% where i want to be yet, i can tell you from my heart and without reservation, even if i never lost another ounce, being where i am now is worth every dark moment and doubt and rough day i had along the way a million times over. beyond feeling good, beyond more energy, beyond better health and looking better and all the other stuff, it's enhanced my life in ways i couldn't have imagined before. it is worth it.

peace out to you, my friend.

[inspiredmommy]

Hi,
11 1/2 lbs gone in 3 weeks. It feels so good to be below the dreaded 300 mark. I am taking it one meal at a time, but so far so good.

[CarolynInTexas]

I weighed in today and am 299

next week will see how I am doing, today is day three of eating on track.
see you next week at this space

[CushieButterfield]

I weighed Wednesday and was 312. (I have weighed since but will post updates here on Sunday/Monday) Up 24 pounds from my low but thinking positively I am still down 78 from my high.

Carolyn under 300 is a place I want to be! Hope to join you in a couple weeks or sooner.

Great work, inspiredmommy! Dito to what I said above. Can't wait to be back in the 280's. I was there in the fall but went off plan for several months...see reason below.

Sven, I would like to reiterate something Goddess said but tweek it for me.

i've had my moments, for sure. somewhere around 40-50 down, i just kept thinking, "good lord. when will i be DONE with this? i'm tired of thinking about my weight."

This happened to me this fall. I hit 100 pounds lost and was so excited but then the reality hit me that I was still 110 pounds from goal and I got depressed like when will this all end! And the truth is that it will never end for me. After Thanksgiving I ate poorly and sabatoged myself...always knowing in the back of my mind you've got to get back into good eating or you will die. I can't tell you exactly what made me pick March 1 as a restart date but I did and now I'm back but will always keep my months off in my mind knowing that if I give in to too much temptation I will prbably end up back in the same place I have been for years and that cannot happen again. I hope you find it in yourself to keep up the fight. It took me a while to return but I'm back being a LC cheerleader. That's the great thing here, even if you leave you can come back.

[Kumus]

Wow, this is the best weigh-in thread ever! Noel, well said.

[Goddess]

mommy and carolyn-congrats on the milestones, ladies! those always feel so good.
{{{noel}}} - i'm SO glad to see you back around here. you were missed.

[Rob]

Inspiring to see so many losers, er i mean winners!