KimStar
February 2nd, 2006, 06:58 PM
First time poster here. I joined the program toward the end of the year and
I joined a health and fitness center (aka gym) close to my home just before
Christmas. It was sort of a Christmas present to myself. About 7 years ago,
I was working out regularly and doing a good job eating sensibly; I had
successfully taken off some extra weight I put on over the course of 2
pregnancies, then being at home with really young kids and getting into bad
habits...you know, allowing myself to believe that running around after the
kids and taking them here and there is enough exercise and eating whatever
was quick and that the kids would like, which often wasn't calorie-conscious
stuff was somehow justified.
So I got into a diet and excercise program and took off over 30 lb. and was
looking and feeling much better. Then I had a really bad accident and
suffered a serious injury to my back. I was laid up in bed for weeks, and
then was in rehab for months after. I was in chronic pain w/ my back for
almost 2 years. My routine went straight to heck and I lay around and sat
around like a slug feeling sorry for myself and feeding my face w/ "comfort
food." Even when I recovered sufficiently to get back to a normal exercise
routine--and of course I could've been eating right all along--I couldn't
get myself motivated to do what needed to be done. I gained back all the
weight I had taken off previously and kept going. About 2 years ago, I was
going through more stress and...well, it's terrible and shameful to say, but
I put on almost another 60 lb. There. I said it.
A little over a year ago, my husband, who also had a big weight problem,
joined weight watchers because there was a meeting in his office building,
so it was super convenient and he's done fabulously! He's very close to
getting his 100# magnet and it's been really great for him, getting to buy
new clothes and shopping at ordinary stores instead of the "Big Man, Tall
Man" shops. He looks terrific and also started working out last spring. He
started out running on his lunch hour, and also climbing stairs in his
office building. When it got snowy and icy here, he joined a fitness center
in his office building which is free to staff in his workplace--it's an
employee benefit. He's now almost my weight and I can't have that! So you
might say he's been my inspiration and I decided to get with the program.
I started the diet and the fitness program around the same time. My first
week was good...I dropped a few lb. right away. But since then, I actually
put back a couple lb., 1/2 lb.at a time and then it's just stayed there w/o
budging. Not gaining, but not losing either. And I've been trying to get to
the gym every day, putting in at least 30 min. on the cardio-vascular
equipment. I started out terrible...I could barely go more than 1-2 min. on
the eliptical or the treadmill. Slowly, though, I built momentum and got my
stamina up...now I can last 10-12 min. on the eliptical (on low setting) and
I can do a fast-paced, 1-mile walk on the treadmill. But even that success
is overshadowed by a discouraging development. I've had to slow my pace down
on both because I'm noticing that I can't go very long w/ my heart-rate as
high as it was. I was getting tired w/ my heart-rate at 140 (recommended by
WW for "rigorous exercise" credit for my age and weight), but I could finish
my time set. Now I'm finding I'm getting too winded when I get my heart rate
much above 130 for more than a couple of mins. Yesterday, I was having
trouble handling it once my HR went over 125. What's going on?
My husband says my metabolism may be adjusting to the exercise and so I have
to work harder to get my HR up where it was when I started out. He also
suggested this may be why I'm not showing a loss on the scale even though my
clothes are getting slightly loose on me, especially around my middle. My
husband says my stomach is definitely smaller than it was. I'm one of those
gainers who gets the most around the middle---you know the one w/ the
highest cardiac risk profile? He said maybe the fat is converting mostly to
muscle, which is denser and weighs more. So he says maybe I'm losing inches
but not lb. yet, but he says don't worry...eventually the weight will drop
too.
This sounds to me like someone giving an explanation for something that is
the only way to put a positive spin on the reality that this diet is not
working. : ( I just don't get it. When I was exercising and dieting
before, I had losses every week.
The other problem is, it seems a lot harder this time. I don't know why. I'm
hungry all the time. I don't remember being this hungry as much when I've
dieted in the past. Now, I eat an "approved" meal and the hunger goes away
for an hour maybe...if I'm lucky. Sort of like the old joke about Chinese
food. The allowed snacks barely take the edge off my hunger. And the really
bad thing is, quite often, I use up all the points I should allow myself
before the day is over. Then I'm so hungry in the evening, I can barely
think of anything else and yet I really shouldn't have anything else before
bedtime. I brought this up at the meeting last time and the group leader
said if I follow the system properly, I shouldn't be hungry. She said she's
had all these people tell her they can't eat all the food they're "supposed
to" because it's just "too much food" and she tells them they have to eat
the amount prescribed if the program is going to work. I got so angry when
she said this. I don't know how anyone can think it's "too much food"...I
think she's full of it. No one I've talked to in the group says they feel
the recommended points and servings are more than they can handle.
I'm so tired of being hungry all the time. I'm tired of not knowing what to
do when the fruit or vegetable snack, or the 2 tablespoons of cottage cheese
or the half cup of nonfat yogurt doesn't cut it anymore. I'm tired of
thinking about food all the time and thinking about all the food I can't
have. Amd I'm tired of the stupid things people say to you trying to be
helpful. I was out with someone last week who encouraged me to "cheat" on my
diet. She actually said if I wanted to cheat, she "wouldn't tell anyone."
Yeah, really helpful. I'm viisting a couple of friends the weekend after my
birthday, which is a week from now, and my one friend was saying she was
going to bake a cake for me and wanted to know what kind of cake I want. I
kept telling her not to make any cake because I can't have cake at all, and
she says "Oh come on...you have to have cake on your birthday!" I told her
I'd bring out a couple of those WW snack cakes that are about as big as my
thumb and she could give me a birthday candle to put in it and they could
sing happy birthday to me and that would be it. She thought I was being too
festidious about sticking to the diet, but I explained to her I can't be
eating regular cake, birthday or no. The other thing is, my husband is
taking me out to a really nice restaurant for dinner on my birthday anyway
and that's going to be all the indulging I can allow myself for some time to
come. Finally, she said OK, I won't make a cake. So I'm making some headway,
but it's really hard w/ other people. I know they're trying to be nice, but
so much of what people say is either insensitive or just clueless.
On top of all this, there are so many things going on in my life right now
that are so stressful. My teenage son has a knee injury that requires
surgery, which is scheduled for Feb. 15. He'll have to be in a full leg cast
for 4 weeks after surgery, and the doctor says it will be necessary for him
to be in a wheelchair with his leg elevated. The office gave me the number
for this place that rents them and will supposedly bill our insurance. I
called Monday and since have been leaving voicemail messages for the
customer service person there all week. She didn't call me back until this
morning and that was only after I finally went over her head yesterday
afternoon and put in a complaint. I'm so furious that I have to complain to
a supervisor just to get a simple call back from someone which is part of
that person's ordinary job duties. Anyway, she tells me that the wheelchairs
are in stock but not the elevated leg rest and that it will take 4 wks to
get them in...and the surgery is in 2 weeks. So now I have to start over and
I'm putting in calls to other places to see if anyone has them. I'm so
annoyed that I wasted 4 days to find out they can't do anything for us.
In addition, I'm helping my sister take care of our octogenarian father who
is kind of frail and has early-stage Alzheimers. He lives alone in his own
apartment and we have a caregiver who comes in a few times a week to help
him around the house. He really should have a higher level of supervision,
but that's all he will agree to for the time being and neither of us want to
push the limits by forcing more on him than he wants at this point. I try to
get over to his place a couple of times a week to take him out to lunch or
to a movie or shopping, and I'm juggling that w/ working part-time and
trying to get in regular trips to the health club and get everything in
place for my son's surgery in 2 wks. My dad is not supposed to go out alone,
but a couple of weeks ago, he decided he *had* to have something from a
hardware store on a day when neither my sister or I were available and the
caregiver couldn't come in. So he took a medicab over to the store and
bought the piece of hardware (which turned out not to be the right piece)
and then couldn't get a cab back. He said he called twice but no cab showed
up and he couldn't see one on the street to flag, so he ended up calling
9-1-1. The police are a little upset with us for letting this happen. I feel
like I should be doing more for him, but I feel stretched out and pulled in
all different directions. This is on top of all the ordinary life BS, like
getting the house clean, shopping for healthy food, figuring out what to
make for dinner, going to parent-teacher conferences, playing chauffeur for
all stuff for the kids, paying bills, staying on budget and trying to get
the dryer repaired.
It just feels like too much, and it's all the worse when I'm trying to do
all this when I'm hungry and feeling food-deprived. I realize I've gone on
really long here and am just rambling now and that a lot of this doesn't
have anything to do w/ WW, and I apologize sincerely for being so
long-winded and whiney. I guess I really felt a need to get it all out and
ask for help. I hope none of you will begrudge me going off topic and
rambling so much. If I post again, I promise to keep it much shorter. I just
really needed to tell my story so people reading this can understand who I
am and where I'm at. If any of you have any words of wisdom to impart, I
would so appreciate it.
And in case any of you are wondering, I do see a personal counselor a couple
of times a month. I saw her yesterday and I was telling her how discouraged
I am with the exercise and weight loss plateau I seem to have hit. She was
the one who suggested I try to find a group online where I can share my
questions and concerns because she thinks I'm good at using the internet for
such things. So here I am.
Thanks in advance for any help,
Kim
I joined a health and fitness center (aka gym) close to my home just before
Christmas. It was sort of a Christmas present to myself. About 7 years ago,
I was working out regularly and doing a good job eating sensibly; I had
successfully taken off some extra weight I put on over the course of 2
pregnancies, then being at home with really young kids and getting into bad
habits...you know, allowing myself to believe that running around after the
kids and taking them here and there is enough exercise and eating whatever
was quick and that the kids would like, which often wasn't calorie-conscious
stuff was somehow justified.
So I got into a diet and excercise program and took off over 30 lb. and was
looking and feeling much better. Then I had a really bad accident and
suffered a serious injury to my back. I was laid up in bed for weeks, and
then was in rehab for months after. I was in chronic pain w/ my back for
almost 2 years. My routine went straight to heck and I lay around and sat
around like a slug feeling sorry for myself and feeding my face w/ "comfort
food." Even when I recovered sufficiently to get back to a normal exercise
routine--and of course I could've been eating right all along--I couldn't
get myself motivated to do what needed to be done. I gained back all the
weight I had taken off previously and kept going. About 2 years ago, I was
going through more stress and...well, it's terrible and shameful to say, but
I put on almost another 60 lb. There. I said it.
A little over a year ago, my husband, who also had a big weight problem,
joined weight watchers because there was a meeting in his office building,
so it was super convenient and he's done fabulously! He's very close to
getting his 100# magnet and it's been really great for him, getting to buy
new clothes and shopping at ordinary stores instead of the "Big Man, Tall
Man" shops. He looks terrific and also started working out last spring. He
started out running on his lunch hour, and also climbing stairs in his
office building. When it got snowy and icy here, he joined a fitness center
in his office building which is free to staff in his workplace--it's an
employee benefit. He's now almost my weight and I can't have that! So you
might say he's been my inspiration and I decided to get with the program.
I started the diet and the fitness program around the same time. My first
week was good...I dropped a few lb. right away. But since then, I actually
put back a couple lb., 1/2 lb.at a time and then it's just stayed there w/o
budging. Not gaining, but not losing either. And I've been trying to get to
the gym every day, putting in at least 30 min. on the cardio-vascular
equipment. I started out terrible...I could barely go more than 1-2 min. on
the eliptical or the treadmill. Slowly, though, I built momentum and got my
stamina up...now I can last 10-12 min. on the eliptical (on low setting) and
I can do a fast-paced, 1-mile walk on the treadmill. But even that success
is overshadowed by a discouraging development. I've had to slow my pace down
on both because I'm noticing that I can't go very long w/ my heart-rate as
high as it was. I was getting tired w/ my heart-rate at 140 (recommended by
WW for "rigorous exercise" credit for my age and weight), but I could finish
my time set. Now I'm finding I'm getting too winded when I get my heart rate
much above 130 for more than a couple of mins. Yesterday, I was having
trouble handling it once my HR went over 125. What's going on?
My husband says my metabolism may be adjusting to the exercise and so I have
to work harder to get my HR up where it was when I started out. He also
suggested this may be why I'm not showing a loss on the scale even though my
clothes are getting slightly loose on me, especially around my middle. My
husband says my stomach is definitely smaller than it was. I'm one of those
gainers who gets the most around the middle---you know the one w/ the
highest cardiac risk profile? He said maybe the fat is converting mostly to
muscle, which is denser and weighs more. So he says maybe I'm losing inches
but not lb. yet, but he says don't worry...eventually the weight will drop
too.
This sounds to me like someone giving an explanation for something that is
the only way to put a positive spin on the reality that this diet is not
working. : ( I just don't get it. When I was exercising and dieting
before, I had losses every week.
The other problem is, it seems a lot harder this time. I don't know why. I'm
hungry all the time. I don't remember being this hungry as much when I've
dieted in the past. Now, I eat an "approved" meal and the hunger goes away
for an hour maybe...if I'm lucky. Sort of like the old joke about Chinese
food. The allowed snacks barely take the edge off my hunger. And the really
bad thing is, quite often, I use up all the points I should allow myself
before the day is over. Then I'm so hungry in the evening, I can barely
think of anything else and yet I really shouldn't have anything else before
bedtime. I brought this up at the meeting last time and the group leader
said if I follow the system properly, I shouldn't be hungry. She said she's
had all these people tell her they can't eat all the food they're "supposed
to" because it's just "too much food" and she tells them they have to eat
the amount prescribed if the program is going to work. I got so angry when
she said this. I don't know how anyone can think it's "too much food"...I
think she's full of it. No one I've talked to in the group says they feel
the recommended points and servings are more than they can handle.
I'm so tired of being hungry all the time. I'm tired of not knowing what to
do when the fruit or vegetable snack, or the 2 tablespoons of cottage cheese
or the half cup of nonfat yogurt doesn't cut it anymore. I'm tired of
thinking about food all the time and thinking about all the food I can't
have. Amd I'm tired of the stupid things people say to you trying to be
helpful. I was out with someone last week who encouraged me to "cheat" on my
diet. She actually said if I wanted to cheat, she "wouldn't tell anyone."
Yeah, really helpful. I'm viisting a couple of friends the weekend after my
birthday, which is a week from now, and my one friend was saying she was
going to bake a cake for me and wanted to know what kind of cake I want. I
kept telling her not to make any cake because I can't have cake at all, and
she says "Oh come on...you have to have cake on your birthday!" I told her
I'd bring out a couple of those WW snack cakes that are about as big as my
thumb and she could give me a birthday candle to put in it and they could
sing happy birthday to me and that would be it. She thought I was being too
festidious about sticking to the diet, but I explained to her I can't be
eating regular cake, birthday or no. The other thing is, my husband is
taking me out to a really nice restaurant for dinner on my birthday anyway
and that's going to be all the indulging I can allow myself for some time to
come. Finally, she said OK, I won't make a cake. So I'm making some headway,
but it's really hard w/ other people. I know they're trying to be nice, but
so much of what people say is either insensitive or just clueless.
On top of all this, there are so many things going on in my life right now
that are so stressful. My teenage son has a knee injury that requires
surgery, which is scheduled for Feb. 15. He'll have to be in a full leg cast
for 4 weeks after surgery, and the doctor says it will be necessary for him
to be in a wheelchair with his leg elevated. The office gave me the number
for this place that rents them and will supposedly bill our insurance. I
called Monday and since have been leaving voicemail messages for the
customer service person there all week. She didn't call me back until this
morning and that was only after I finally went over her head yesterday
afternoon and put in a complaint. I'm so furious that I have to complain to
a supervisor just to get a simple call back from someone which is part of
that person's ordinary job duties. Anyway, she tells me that the wheelchairs
are in stock but not the elevated leg rest and that it will take 4 wks to
get them in...and the surgery is in 2 weeks. So now I have to start over and
I'm putting in calls to other places to see if anyone has them. I'm so
annoyed that I wasted 4 days to find out they can't do anything for us.
In addition, I'm helping my sister take care of our octogenarian father who
is kind of frail and has early-stage Alzheimers. He lives alone in his own
apartment and we have a caregiver who comes in a few times a week to help
him around the house. He really should have a higher level of supervision,
but that's all he will agree to for the time being and neither of us want to
push the limits by forcing more on him than he wants at this point. I try to
get over to his place a couple of times a week to take him out to lunch or
to a movie or shopping, and I'm juggling that w/ working part-time and
trying to get in regular trips to the health club and get everything in
place for my son's surgery in 2 wks. My dad is not supposed to go out alone,
but a couple of weeks ago, he decided he *had* to have something from a
hardware store on a day when neither my sister or I were available and the
caregiver couldn't come in. So he took a medicab over to the store and
bought the piece of hardware (which turned out not to be the right piece)
and then couldn't get a cab back. He said he called twice but no cab showed
up and he couldn't see one on the street to flag, so he ended up calling
9-1-1. The police are a little upset with us for letting this happen. I feel
like I should be doing more for him, but I feel stretched out and pulled in
all different directions. This is on top of all the ordinary life BS, like
getting the house clean, shopping for healthy food, figuring out what to
make for dinner, going to parent-teacher conferences, playing chauffeur for
all stuff for the kids, paying bills, staying on budget and trying to get
the dryer repaired.
It just feels like too much, and it's all the worse when I'm trying to do
all this when I'm hungry and feeling food-deprived. I realize I've gone on
really long here and am just rambling now and that a lot of this doesn't
have anything to do w/ WW, and I apologize sincerely for being so
long-winded and whiney. I guess I really felt a need to get it all out and
ask for help. I hope none of you will begrudge me going off topic and
rambling so much. If I post again, I promise to keep it much shorter. I just
really needed to tell my story so people reading this can understand who I
am and where I'm at. If any of you have any words of wisdom to impart, I
would so appreciate it.
And in case any of you are wondering, I do see a personal counselor a couple
of times a month. I saw her yesterday and I was telling her how discouraged
I am with the exercise and weight loss plateau I seem to have hit. She was
the one who suggested I try to find a group online where I can share my
questions and concerns because she thinks I'm good at using the internet for
such things. So here I am.
Thanks in advance for any help,
Kim