Diet & Weight Loss General Support #8

[ladybird11]

Livvy - throughout my entire childhood / teenage years and adulthood I had always been on the chubby side. At the end of my 2nd pregnancy I was 92kgs (previously my weight had probably been around 65 - 67 kgs - I'm 162cms by the way). I felt yucky and hated my reflection. So in late September 2009 I started exercising vigorously daily and counting my calories. By early March 2010 I weight 59kgs - the lightest I had ever been in adulthood. Then by mid April I weighed 55kgs and maintained that until I became pregnant with my 3rd baby. So I know that it IS possible to totally change the shape of your body.

I have a link to my blog in my signature, and I also have a FB page called 'Fat Chic Slim' where I try to help others keep on the straight and narrow and offer some 'tough love'. I'm generally pretty hard and fast (maybe abrupt) with my advice (I am a qualified / registered Personal Trainer and Fitness Instructor fyi), so if people want my honest advice they will get it - and possibly squirm lol, but it has helped others.

[beckoes]

Livvy - throughout my entire childhood / teenage years and adulthood I had always been on the chubby side. At the end of my 2nd pregnancy I was 92kgs (previously my weight had probably been around 65 - 67 kgs - I'm 162cms by the way). I felt yucky and hated my reflection. So in late September 2009 I started exercising vigorously daily and counting my calories. By early March 2010 I weight 59kgs - the lightest I had ever been in adulthood. Then by mid April I weighed 55kgs and maintained that until I became pregnant with my 3rd baby. So I know that it IS possible to totally change the shape of your body.

I have a link to my blog in my signature, and I also have a FB page called 'Fat Chic Slim' where I try to help others keep on the straight and narrow and offer some 'tough love'. I'm generally pretty hard and fast (maybe abrupt) with my advice (I am a qualified / registered Personal Trainer and Fitness Instructor fyi), so if people want my honest advice they will get it - and possibly squirm lol, but it has helped others.

i for one always love your advice leesa!!! sometimes i need harsh/abrupt!!

[livvy]

yup i totally get the loathing of reflection.. is it actually possible to get a flat tum again (with all the extra skin not to mention love handles) after having babies? i do think my arms are starting to look more toned though - am doing dips and triceps press ups for the bat wings.

will have a look at the blog soon (is late here - 10.30pm) but am not a FB member. have resisted this long, would prefer not to become one lol :P

anyway, one can hope. and it has only been 2 and a half weeks so can't feel hopeless yet lol! first goal - fundraiser. second goal - nan's 80th. third goal - 72kg. is my ultimate hope to make it to goal three before goal two, but reality can be harsh. esp when am a hungry hungry hippo a hungry hungry hippo i love to feed my face, a hungry hungry hippo... somethingsomethingsomethingsomething. does anyone else remember that ad? was a board game thing.

anyway. to bed! night all

[Floweryfields]

Hi everyone, glad to see you are all stil going along nicely and reaching your goals.

Weighed in today at 77.9kg - so 5.6kg down since I started on 10th June. I am currently on day 13 of cycle two of the 17 day diet. This cycle slows the weight loss down a bit as every second day carbs and red meats are included. So I've been having some natural starches (brown rice, porridge, etc) on the off day which is nice. Have also had a few treats here and there, which the diet doesn't allow in this cycle, but I felt I really needed to scratch the itch on a few occasions - and the scales are still going down - albeit much more slowly than in cycle one.
I've been exercising most days - on the weekends it's been a very fast paced hour walk each day and at least 40 mins for 3 out of the 5 weekdays this week. I have also noticed a change around my tummy and thighs with how my clothes are fitting - or not fitting to be exact. 8cms off my tummy so far which is great!

[livvy]

wow way to go belfie and ausgirl! that is seriously impressive!

belfie - HIIT is "high intensity interval training" and have been (procrastinating from hons seminar am meant to be writing...) surfing the net and it keeps popping up everywhere, so i figure maybe was worth a try lol, so bought for US$20 (NZ$25) three fit yummy mummy mp3s so i don't have to time myself and can just play it and go. oh and so thank you for the reassurance about walking! and awesome work with the cycling feeling great!

ausgirl - yay! well done you! that waist measurement sounds impressive!

ahhh. found american heart, lungs and blood institute recommended waist measurements to be taken just after breathing out, so less depressing measurement i took this morning... 76cm! so happy! only 6-7cms to get back to prebabyness!

after 45min (hard) pilates class today i felt really energetic again.. am wondering if it is that my fitness level is rising? ...maybe? :P

although must confess was naughty today and had an indian takeaway for dinner... chicken korma and a garlic naan (i skipped the rice)... oh well. gotta give ourselves a break sometimes, right?

have wonderful weekends! - am so glad we stopped on our roadtrip today. we stopped for five mins, just as we were about to leave the volunteer fire siren goes to call the volunteers (thought for a terrifying moment was a tsunami siren as sounds the same), and then five as we're driving five mins down the road is just carnage: huge trees snapped like matches, buildings shredded to nothing, just piles of rubble, 4 cars thrown off the highway - there had been a tornado and if we hadn't paused on the road we'd have been in the middle of it. was so scary.

[tellytubby]

I've been stalking you all. Ha! Been a while since ya'll heard from me I know you're upset, but I promise to stay around this time I was pregnant... key word was.. After a D&C and a week of eating absolute crap, I decided I need to pull my thumb out. So here I am. Incredibly inspired whenever I see a new picture of Leesa on FB. Girl... you look incredible! So far down 3.2kg. Want to get rid of another 10. I totally can do, but will need your help to stay on track!

Livvy - Woop and Woah! Woop - Nice one on all of the exercise, and that you're beginning to notice a difference in your fitness levels! You must be feeling incredible, and so you should! Keep up the awesome work! Woah - Holy crap on the tornado!! Glad you're safe

ausgirl - Well done on the loss so far! I bet you were super stoked when you saw you were in your 70's again. What is your ultimate goal?? I wanna join you in the 70 group

belfie - you are doing AMAZING. Both you and Leesa! Be proud! Under 60's hope you get there soon!

[Floweryfields]

My goal is 73.5, 10kg down, but would love to be 70 - I'll see how that goes but!

[belfie]

Mildez - if it helps any, when I started in march, my goal was to walk 10-15 mins a day! It's amazing how quickly your fitness will improve when you get stuck into. The 12 week thing sound like a great idea too

[forshelby]

Hi ladies, it's time I join in here.

Quick history- I put on 20kgs during my pregnancy with DS. Miraculously I lost 15kg in the firat 6 weeks PP. I think I can thank the stress I was under at the time for that. I'm currently sitting at around 72kg and want to get back to 55kg. So 20ish still to lose. I was slim and trim once, and have slowly piled the weight on over the last decade or so.

Looking forward to getting to know you all as we become the yummy mummies we want to be!

[tellytubby]

Thanks for the love ladies, I appreciate it

Belfie, how exciting to be going clothes shopping! I know what you mean about feeling like a grot in too big clothes, that happened to me last time I list weight ( yes, classic yoyo'er here). You'll feel a million bucks once you're in some skinny jeans! Enjoy the 'me' time

I'm on my phone so can't see back on other posts. So excuse me while I have a squizz, lol

[tellytubby]

Mildez, how annoying that your hubby is still being unsupportive don't worry, we are here cheering you along! And I agree with belfie, just start small. 15 minutes a day. After a week, or when you feel ready, slowly increase it.

Afm, was feeling emotional last night, and wanted nothing more than to drown my sorrows with a bottle of moscato, but didn't! Woke up this
Morning wanting bacon & eggs. Chose the lower fat options, ate around 7 points (cup of tea included), but counteracted it with a 30 minute brisk walk. Feeling good about that! Have a great Sunday everyone!

[tellytubby]

Argh! Trying to muster up the will power to not enjoy the cornflakes and sultana biscuits baking in the oven!!!

[livvy]

Argh! Trying to muster up the will power to not enjoy the cornflakes and sultana biscuits baking in the oven!!!

lol i totally sympathise! i think it was on about day 10 of my "no baking et al" diet (yay! up to almost 3 weeks!) and was making gingernuts with the baby and it took *all* of my willpower not to taste even one! but truly it is feeling so so so much easier now. they say it takes 21 days to form a habit and am on day 19 or 20 i think.

you'll get there!

mildez - yup am tallish too (not tall tall, but average tall IYKWIM) at about 170-171cm. and big boned too so although WHO guidelines for BMI say that someone my height can be as light as 53.5kg (dear GOD that is small!) i don't go below 60kgs without being unhealthy and look severely underweight if i do... (last time got down to 58kg after D&C so was really unhappy and just not managing to eat although didn't realise it, time before that was after wisdom teeth so mouth too swollen to eat).. and am a bit sad that i think i will never fit anything below a 14 again as hips were pushed apart by bub coming out - he was in a rush - natural birth without pain relief, only took 3 and a half hours! midwives asked if i was sure i'd not done it before, that made me laugh! :P

have a fabulous day everyone! is gorgeous and sunny today! who would have thought yesterday was so stormy, still windy though - but then this is wellington!

[ladybird11]

Tellytubby - I'm so sorry about the D&C hun, but I'm glad you're in here with us hun. Exercise does help release good endorphin's etc and they hang around longer and have less guilt factor than eating a Tim Tam anyday - honest - it's a proven fact. Are you with me on the Fat Chic Slim FB page hun? And are you happy with me offering some tough love sometimes? Just like to check first as some people aren't ready to face facts and need a more gentle approach...

Livvy - have you got a Heart Rate monitor? If you do a hard 30 min HITT session, continuing on with a brisk / gentle walk won't lessen your efforts. Though you will move down from 'fitness' training (generally anything above 80% of your HR maximum) into the 'fat burning' range (anywhere around the 60% - 79% of your HR maximum) you'll still be burning calories at a higher rate than if you didn't do the HITT session in the first place. Does that make sense? Any activity is GOOD activity (I'm tempted to wear my HR monitor during sex lol but I think that'd be too distracting lol, even if I put it on silent mode). Having a HR monitor helps taking the 'guess factor' out of exercise and can help you keep track of the calories you burn (+ or - 20%). I found my training was more fun when I could try and beat my personal bests each session - or at least make sure i'm on par with the previous session and not slackening off too much.

Belfie - You are shorter than me (not taking the pi$$ hun) so I think 55kgs is totally do-able for you. I've also found even second weight loss time around the weight will always come off the ab's last. Lol, we sound like mirror images. I'm also athletic build and my DH is not wanting me to go back down to 55kgs again, he said I looked to scrawny - he's happy with where I am right now (to be revealed shortly ). Now I'm going to stop telling him what I weigh otherwise he'll just say I look scrawny based on a number and now how I look, IYKWIM? Dunno about your budget but I'm so stoked with my weight loss that I've got an appointment with a 'fashion stylist' to help me pick clothes that suit my colour, shape and lifestyle etc. It's a bit of a splurge, but I also view it as a reward and an investment (not buying clothes that I wear once and throw to the back of the wardrobe never to see daylight again).
And I totally agree re - feeling fitter, stronger etc, I now feel like I 'glide' through my workouts (although it is still a damn hard workout IYKWIM?) and they give me more energy rather than sap it.

Mildez - not sure what the go is with your DH, but let me just ramble here...? You say 'you wish your DH was fat', so I'm assuming he is slim? I question his security - eg, would he / does he feel that if you were slim you might score some interest from other men, so by keeping 'not so slim' he doesn't have that insecurity? I notice a big difference in my DH's security now that I am slimmer again. He keeps saying he feels threatened that I'll run off with some other guy lol. I just keep reassuring him that won't be the case - the rest of the work he needs to do in his head, IYKWIM? I've heard lots of positive stories about MB's 12 wk Challenge - so I'm looking forward to hearing about your progress!

Ausgirl - 8 cms off your tummy is friggin great! Surely you'd be due to go shopping now too eh?

AFM - My waist is now 80cm's (I take the measurment over my belly button so it is consistent fyi) and I'm in the 60's now (60.8 as of this morning). So I've averaged a kilo a week for the last 8 weeks - and that's doing vigorous exercise every day since DD2 was 4.5wks. I've got 800 grams to go to my first weight goal. Then it'll be time to re-assess.

[livvy]

Livvy - have you got a Heart Rate monitor? If you do a hard 30 min HITT session, continuing on with a brisk / gentle walk won't lessen your efforts. Though you will move down from 'fitness' training (generally anything above 80% of your HR maximum) into the 'fat burning' range (anywhere around the 60% - 79% of your HR maximum) you'll still be burning calories at a higher rate than if you didn't do the HITT session in the first place. Does that make sense?

lol...uuum, no i don't have one. and that went *way* over my head! have never been a gym bunny or exercise fanatic, so am not really up to speed on all the lingo lol! so is lower heart rate better for fat burning? so like walking better for fat burning that doing intervals? or was it the other way around? sorry sorry sorry for being dim lol!

oh and are they something that has a battery to be work on your person? if so i might have to pass on it as have a high magnetic field (i kid you not) and make all things with batteries (laptops, cellphones, watches etc) stop within about two months of meeting me... is very sad and rather annoying!

[ladybird11]

Oh wow - Livvy! Um, yeah, it can also function as a watch. No worries - we can do it old skool style .

220 minus your age = X (we'll use me as an example as I can't see your age on your sig lol). So 220 - 31 = 189.

189 is my heart rate maximum (if it beats faster than that I'm in trouble lol!).

Then you just work out what each % is eg if I wanted to stick to a 'fat burning' range I'd aim for 70% (70 divided by 100 multiply by 189 = 132 beats per min).

How do you work out if your heart is beating that fast during a workout? Well you do have to slow down a bit (but don't stop entirely, just walking around is fine - this prevents blood pooling around the heart). Find your pulse and count the beats for 15 seconds. Multiply that number by 4 and it'll give you the number of beats per minute. So I'd want to reach the number 33 in that 15 second count to hit 132 beats per min to KNOW I'm working out at 70% of my maximum heart rate. If I only reach 30 beats per min I know I'd be just under that 70% - but still in the fat burning range etc....

I hope it's not all gobbledegook to you - I've tried explaining it as clear as I can.

My tip is to work out what 60%, 70%, 80% and 90% of your heart rate maximum is - write it down and before long you'll have a really good idea on where abouts what level you are working at...I hope this helps hun!

[tellytubby]

Chicken casserole is no longer happening. Dh just got 4 mudcrabs! Chili crab! Mmm! Please tell me crab isn't so bad?

[Mildez]

Leesa I liked your page. Looking forward to looking around and seeing you motivate me.

Welcome Forshelby.

TT it didn't help packing my lunch as DH fed it to our 4yr old so I ate the chips. I was so angry at him as I told him don't let her eat it (I was down the paddock feeding cows at the time) I packed her snacks knowing she would ask for mum's lunch and sure enough as soon as I left on the bike she was tucking into it. Going to have to take a backpack now and keep it on me at all times.

I brought a skipping rope today. Look like the biggest tool trying to use it. Its all scrunched up from been in the packet so it needs straightening out and I can only do 2 jumps without stuffing it up. I'm so looking forward to improving my fitness. It is dreadful.