Now that we have the more specific and focused friendship threads, this will be the more "anything goes" thread, talk about anything you want to!

This is kinda neat, my school finally posted the streaming video of the commencement ceremonies on the school's website! They only put up the school specific ceremonies, which is fine because that's the one where they call your name and you walk across the stage and get a piece of paper that states you participated in the ceremony.

Whoops time for me to get ready to go to work.
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Hola, I've been lurking in this forum for the last two days reading all the old posts, and I just thought I'd let my presence known.

A bit about myself--I'm just looking to be fit and feel good about me and what I'm eating etc. It would be nice to shave off about 15 or 20 lbs too. ;) This gets difficult because I work at Baskin Robbins; last night I discovered a way to make the smoothies semi healthy, so I might be testing that out tomarrow at work. Let's see what else...I'm also vegetarian, so that makes things extra fun :r That's all for now.
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i've plateaued! HELP!

i haven't lost anything in about three weeks. (i haven't gained either so i guess it's not that bad.)

any suggestions for me?

oh! and welcome dallandra! i saw those hot photos of you in the other forum. WHOA, GIRL! ;)
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Welcome Dallandra!

There are a couple of other posters who post here who are vegetarian/vegan: Flappergirl and GimpyPoop. (If there is anyone I am forgetting, please speak up!) Its been great having posters with a wide range of lifestyles here, so hopefully you can feel right at home here. :)

Controlling myself when it comes to overeating is getting easier. I'm still in the process of training myself to constantly do this, but it is becoming easier to just pay attention to my feelings of hunger when I eat, and stop when I feel satisfied, not stuffed, and not hungry anymore. I'm not having a problem with "cleaning my plate" just because the food is there, because I've been monitoring my portions a whole lot better.
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Originally posted by cooling_grrl
i've plateaued! HELP!

i haven't lost anything in about three weeks. (i haven't gained either so i guess it's not that bad.)

any suggestions for me?

oh! and welcome dallandra! i saw those hot photos of you in the other forum. WHOA, GIRL! ;)

it seems like when people plateau, the best thing is to change up everything--your body gets used to the diet and the excersize then levels itself off. So maybe try doing some new excersizes or make your current ones harder.

hehehe, my friend at school has a dig cam, and boy do we all get uninhabited in front of it. :D I used to *hate* getting my picture taken--I was always the one who would take the picture or hide behind something to not be in it. Then I figured, what the hell, whenever I think I look bad in pictures, others say I look fine, so I'll go with that. Plus you can delete the really bad ones on a dig cam right after you take them.

Originally posted by Rose Bud
Controlling myself when it comes to overeating is getting easier. I'm still in the process of training myself to constantly do this, but it is becoming easier to just pay attention to my feelings of hunger when I eat, and stop when I feel satisfied, not stuffed, and not hungry anymore. I'm not having a problem with "cleaning my plate" just because the food is there, because I've been monitoring my portions a whole lot better.

I definitly eat whenever I'm bored. Big problem for me that I've been working on. I find that chewing gum or sucking on ice cubes works with wonder. But I can't say that I've ever had much of a problem with cleaning my plate--I think of it this way: would I feel better if I cleaned the plate and felt guilty about eating too much, or would I feel better if I left some on the plate and felt guilty about serving myself too much. It's just food-you can always cover it and stick it in the fridge if you feel really bad about wasting food. Then you get 2 meals out of what would have been 1. At school, where we have to pay a ridiculous amount for our meal plans, people always overeat because they "want to get the most for their money." Simple economics people--isn't it worth more to you to just feel good about what you eat? I tried to explain this, but, oh wellll. Damn that economics class I took has been coming in handy left and right. :)
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Hi Dallandra! ;b

Oh yeah, I just eat and eat ALL DAY when I'm bored. Also if I'm cold (and since we can't afford a lot of heating, that's a lot). I have this idea that if I'm cold I should just go and eat a plate of hot somethings and then I'll be all warm and better. So I'll go and do that then feel terrible about eating for no proper reason.

Since it's Wimbledon right now (and as an English bunny I am totally suffering from Henmania :D ) I'm sitting down all day watching TV, and I find that instead of the usual planned healthy six meals a day I'm just eating constantly. I still have a conscience when I binge - I binge on fruit and vegetables - but that doesn't change the fact that I am eating for practically no reason. :a

**sigh**

Well, tomorrow I'm going to go for a half hour run. And afterwards, as I always do religiously, I'll train my abs. AND HERE IS A GREAT AB TRAINING TIP: While you are in the most painful position of an exercise (i.e, when your muscles are contracted), tap your abs gently with one hand. I reached an 'ab plateau' recently and I tried the tapping thing after I read it in Shawn Phillips' ABSolution, and my abs are killing me today. I love doing exercise then waking up sore the next day. Non-exercisers don't understand that, but it's a pleasant discomfort and one that reminds you of how much hard work you're putting in.

Jordie
xxx
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Speaking of abs, I did the first situps today that I've done in maybe 7 years. I went through an ab obsession when i was around 13 or so--when we did timed situps in gym, I could do 50 in a minute (and that's military style). So this morning, after I went jogging and I was stretching out, I thought, what the hey, I'll do a few since I'm sitting here. Dear god, it burned like hellfire. I did 10 straight off the bat and I just laughed. I did 30 more in various positions and I thought I was going to die. :g I guess I should work on that some...

But I felt *extremely* proud this morning, because I actually went out jogging (I started an exercise regiment this week, and it usually involves me dancing around my room for an hour). And everything was against me--I woke up with my calves burning like fire (too much dancing!) and all my excersize clothes were in the dirty laundry. BUT, I thought, to hell with excuses, I finally woke up eary for once and the weather was perfect--I put on my swim suit top and pajama bottoms and forgot about the fire in the calves. I actually walked/jogged for an hour, although i didn't jog as much as I wanted to because I got a horrid stitch in my side about half way thru the hour. But I'm proud none the less! ;b
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Dallandra-Hey walking/jogging for an hour even is good exercise!

You know, all the times before that I tried to lose weight, I'd always get discouraged because of one big thing- I'd always constatly think "Why can't I eat like everyone else??" And I would just not care, and start eating badly again, lose any ground that I gained, and then some.

This time around, I'm enjoying eating better! (albiet, the circumstances are a *little* different this time) I don't feel sluggish, tired, stuffed, etc. and its going on 2 weeks. Usually by now I'd have blown everything-going to the gym (thinking of excuses not to go. makes things much easier now that i don't have to worry about school), eating well, etc. Contrary to popular belief, eating well does not mean eating tasteless food. I eat yummy fruits and vegetables (and am beginning to like the tate of junk food less and less!) and lean meats.

Just about the only "fast-food"-ish thing I've had in 2 weeks was the Togo's sandwich my husband brought for me for lunch. And that's not even real fast food. It was also a wee little treat for sticking with things for 2 weeks. And because of having the sandwich, I know I won't be craving one from Togo's for a while. It was nothing really for me to feel guilt over for eating too (it had good things like wheat bread, lean turkey, no mayo, etc.), so I'm still feeling good after eating it.

Went to a BBQ at my parents house yesterday for the 4th, and I'm pleased with myself to say that I had no trouble controlling my portions and what I ate. Buffet style food situations are always a weak spot of mine, but I didn't really have much of a problem this time.
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Originally posted by Rose Bud
(and am beginning to like the tate of junk food less and less!)

I find that as I cut out sugary things more and more, I like them less and less. I used to be addicted to Mnt. Dew, but when i started college I stopped drinking pop all together, and when I tasted it again I almost gagged. But I HATE how there's sugar in EVERYTHING. Yesterday, at lunch, I discovered there was corn syrup in my tomatoe soup, my "whole wheat" bread, and in my peanutbutter. *pfft* when will the sugar madness stop??
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Your post reminded me of a recent episode of The Simpsons. After discovering that Springfield is the world's fattest city, Marge goes on an anti-sugar crusade and discovers that a sugar company has been putting sugar in everything.

The whole "sugar madness" thing is a reason why I've been trying to eat more "natural" things, without processing becuase its in that processing when the sugar is added in.

I've stopped drinking so much soda, and now I takes me all evening to finish the one soda I allow myself a day! (which I reserve for having w/ dinner)
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my life is pretty crappy right now:

wednesday, i went to kaiser to pick up my bc prescription. the clerk asks me if i have coverage. apparently, kaiser cut off my coverage last february but didn't bother to send me a notice about it. i think coverage was terminated because i'm 24. i don't know---i'm under my dad's plan. anyway, i couldn't afford to pay the $135 for the prescription. (i used to pay TEN bucks!!!)

thursday, i tell my bf about the loss of coverage. he decides it would be a good idea to put a stupid code on the cable box so i can't watch tv. he says that the less tv i watch, the more time for me to go look for a full-time job with benefits. i got so pissed that when he left the room, i hid the remote so that he can't watch tv either. (it's a digital cable box where only the remote has numbers.)

i already feel like total crap because of where i work---i don't need my bf making me feel worse. whenever he says "go look for a job," i always correct him and say "hello, i already have a job. you think i just put on a uniform and take pictures for free?!" and then he says, "you know what i mean. a full-time job." i can see where he's coming from though---he works at least 50 hours a week, he pays the rent, he pays the bills, he pays for the cars, and what am i doing? i work around 20 hours a week at a crappy portrait studio job that doesn't pay much. he even paid for my tuition a few times. and why am i so effing lazy about finding a job? actually i need an internship first, but with no postings at school, it's damned hard applying for one.

so yeah, my life is crap right now. but we bargained and i can watch tv just on mondays. he says that if i don't get a job (or an internship) soon, he may cut off my internet access. he pays for that too, btw. i'm such an effing mooch.
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I got cut off of my parents plan last year, when I turned 23. (State guidelines, you can only be on a parents health plan till you are 23) I had a go a couple months without health coverage, while I enrolled with the health plan at my job.

Looking for a job right now isn't an easy thing. Its something that you've gotta have patience and persistence, becuase things aren't like they were in 2000. Back then (hah I say back then and that was 2 years ago!) you could put your resume in at 5 places in one week, and then get 5 callbacks for an interview that very same week. Thanks to the whole dot-bomb, things just aren't like that anymore. The people who got laid off from the now defunct dot-coms are taking just about any job they can get, making it harder on everyone else (because computer programmers and such are taking administrative or support positions which they are WAY over-qualified for but its the only jobs they can get!).

It was a rather interesting weekend for me. Lots of good stuff happening. On saturday, we found out that my brother-in-law and his girlfriend got engaged! That was terrific news, everyone was always bugging them "When are you guys gonna get engaged?" and heheh my brother-in-law had it planned all along and never told anyone.

Another good thing that happened this weekend-my female monthly cycle issues straightened themselves out! "Aunt Flo" *finally* returned, after not coming for nearly 6 months. I guess all the stress I was under created a hormone imbalance. I'm also thinking eating more good foods and less junk has something to do with it too. How could I have expected my body to be healthy, when I wasn't putting healthy things in it?

This is a new record for me, I've made my good habits stick for going on three weeks now. Its becoming easier, especially since my husband is getting into it too.

I do allow myself some little treats, which keeps me from totally caving. Like this weekend I allowed myself some frozen yogurt from Cold Stone Creamery. (Its one of those "Create your own flavor" places. Damn good ice cream) I didn't go overboard though, I had the smallest size they offered, and had frozen yogurt instead of ice cream. My stomach hurt just looking at the size of the serving I used to get! This is an every-once-in-a-while thing anyways.

I'm readjusting my gym schedule. I was originally going M-W-F, but last week I adjusted it for my own personal reasons and went T-Th-Sat and liked that much more. So I think I'm gonna keep that schedule instead. Maybe in a week or so I'm gonna throw in a day or two of weights. I have a question, would it be so bad if I did weights and cardio on the same day? I know that I cannot trust myself with going to the gym 5-6 times a week. That is just *asking* to get me to stop going!! I know I'd probably get the most benefit out of doing them on seperate days, but I know myself, and Its just not something I can do.
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go ahead and throw in weights after you do cardio. doing cardio will warm up your muscles and make them more flexible. less likely to get a strain from weight training, yeah. the instructor i had for weight training at sjsu would tell us to do things like play basketball before coming to class. of course, the class being at 8:30 am, that wasn't the case for a lot of us! LOL

because of the lack of tv, i've been cooking more. i didn't know that i let tv take up so much of my time. yesterday, i made a boatload of red sauce pork enchiladas. so i froze about twelve enchiladas to eat at a later date. (i got inspired by nigella...just love that chick. still gotta go out and buy her books...)

rose bud, i have a story like yours---but mine happened at dairy queen. i used to always order the largest size they have for the blizzards. this time i ordered the smallest, and i could barely finish it! and i was eating this on an empty stomach. i used to finish the largest size even after eating a quarter-pounder. sheesh! eating home cooking sure does re-train your appetite!

and thanks for the reassurance about my current job situation.....AND DAMN i'm only working TWELVE hours this week. july isn't a busy month at the picture people--so everybody's hours got cut (except the manager and the sen. asst. manager). my manager left a message on my machine earlier, asking if i wanted extra hours helping close down the napa store today. napa?!?! i want extra hours, but i don't want to spend an hour driving to napa! (besides, the cool vintage clothing store that's close to the napa location is closed on mondays. ;))

because the bf and i have been living in this same apartment for over five years but never gotten around to decorating it, i decided it's about damned time. we are never moving out. the previous years, we kept thinking that we'd move to mountain view or even a few blocks away. uhm no. we're still here. so i'm going to start with the bathroom. it needs a corner shelf, it needs a few pictures hanging on the walls, it needs new rugs. i'm gonna hit up bed, bath & beyond later this week to see what they have.
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My little happiness for the day:

I did an excersize video today that I used to do 3 or 4 years ago for a while. It's a mix of cardio and weight training--at the end of the last cardio part, I would always feel like I was going to die. Well, I did it this morning, and my heart rate hardly even went up! It was sooo easy, I'm baffled that I ever had problems with it. I think I'm going to use it on days when I want to do weight training, and the cardio on there will be an added bonus. :)
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Dallandra-Isn't that great, noticing progress like that?

Yesterday, I began noticing the effects of eating less. I know I was eating far too much before. How I could tell wasn't the number on my scale, or how loosely my pants fit. IT WAS ALL THE LEFTOVER FOOD IN MY FRIDGE! There were times before when I'd eat the leftovers of what we had, not becuase I was hungry, but just to keep it from going into the fridge and most likely going bad. Now, that's not the case so there are leftovers EVERYWHERE in the fridge. Guess that leads to what we should tackle next-making less food!

I think I will be doing the weights after doing cardio. I don't do an insane amount of cardio, like how I see some people going for an hour on the treadmill at a time. I only do a half hour, so its not like I'm ready to collapse after doing it. Think I'll begin doing that next week. It just means I have to adjust the time when I go to the gym, which is no big deal really. My gym never gets *that* crowded where I'll spend more time waiting for a machine than using one.
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Originally posted by Rose Bud
Dallandra-Isn't that great, noticing progress like that?

Yesterday, I began noticing the effects of eating less. I know I was eating far too much before. How I could tell wasn't the number on my scale, or how loosely my pants fit. IT WAS ALL THE LEFTOVER FOOD IN MY FRIDGE!


Yes, I love that feeling! I also really love when you, say, order something in a resturant you used to be able to finish no problem, and suddenly you think you're going to die after you only eat a small portion of it. I always love those times.
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Originally posted by Dallandra

Yes, I love that feeling! I also really love when you, say, order something in a resturant you used to be able to finish no problem, and suddenly you think you're going to die after you only eat a small portion of it. I always love those times.

Yes! My husband and I went out to eat on saturday. Its been too darned hot here to cook! I ordered somthing, knowing I would not eat it all. My husband did good too, remembering to order us salads since our meals didn't come with veggies. After a salad, I could only finish about 1/3 of what was on my plate. The leftovers we took home became our dinner a couple nights later.


mmmmm I just went out on my balcony and it smells like Ghiradelli chocolate outside! I live very close to one of their chocolate factories. God even smelling the stuff helps keep the chocolate cravings at bay.
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It smells like chocolate outside your window!? :n I would die.
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yeah, it happens all the time! If you go to the gate of my apartment complex, and look straight ahead, you can see the Ghiradelli chocolate factory quite clearly. Its just about a quarter-mile from my apartment. (which is why the smell of chocolate is so strong where I live)

And we also live near a Kraft dry-foods processing plant. The main thing they do there is COFFEE. So at times near me it either smells like chocolate, coffee, or both. *dies*
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Originally posted by Rose Bud

And we also live near a Kraft dry-foods processing plant. The main thing they do there is COFFEE. So at times near me it either smells like chocolate, coffee, or both. *dies*

wow! that rocks!! I LOVE the smell of coffee!!

jeni
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This week has been so tiring, and I didn't even go to te gym this week. Its been oppressively HOT here so I've had ZERO energy this week. I've done ok though, I've been maintaining my weight and finding other ways of keeping active rather than going to the gym. It should be back to the routine next week, when the weather is normal.

My poor fingers are so sore. Between playing playstation games and playing my guitar, my fingers are getting a beating!!
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i'm on week 12 of BFL. next week i'll still eat normally but will take a break from exercise for a week.

i start challenge two on july 29 ... and i can't wait! :p

this time, i'm going to stick to everything.

i've had my share of cheating (and lack of exercise) this first challenge and i *still* lost 20 pounds.

i know next challenge that with all the proper exercising and eating i'll be doing that i will gain muscle so i might gain more weight. I HAVE TO UNDERSTAND THAT.

:: understands ::

anyway, good luck to everyone who's getting fit. :)
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God and I thought the end of last week would mean things were gonna get back to normal.

I am EXHAUSTED right now. My younger sister's birthday was yesterday, so we went to Dave and Buster's. For those who don't know what that is, its a "family entertainment" center which is like an arcade and a restaurant all rolled into one. Lotsa fun, plus it's not like your typical arcade. If you are under 21, you can't get in unless there is someone over the age of 25 with you. So there are no unsupervised children (or even teenagers!!) running around. There are kids there, but they have to be accompanied by an adult at all times. So since the husband and I can get in, we took her there and had lunch and some fun playing some arcade games. I found I'm very good at those games where the games are all about winning prize tickets.

So thanks to that (plus the fact that its located in a big mall-well big for here at least) so walking around the mall and the arcade just kinda wore me out. Good thing I have tomorrow off from work (gotta take the sis to the orthodontist) so I can relax a little.

I cannot wait to move out of my apartment. Its too small and I'm beginning to hate apartment life. (I guess that's because I know we're gonna move in 4 months?) We will only be there till november. I can't believe that in a couple months we'll be able to start looking for somwhere new to live. I am so ready for someplace new, even though it means getting a new drivers license and changing my address on everything again. I don't care!! I feel so cramped in our 1 bedroom apartment.
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hey everyone-
I just wanted to post that I'm starting running tomorrow morning. I'm actually quite excited and nervous. I've been Nordic Tracking for nearly 2 months now and I'm really bored with it. I've always wanted to try running but I've never had the guts before.

jeni
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Originally posted by jezebel36
I've always wanted to try running but I've never had the guts before.

jeni

Running's always been hard for me, cuz I often feel kind of stupid for only being able to run for maybe 5 or 6 blocks at a time (if I'm lucky), although if I do it often then I know I can jog a mile at once. That's a big IF though ;)
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Good luck with the running!! I always hear about how running is such good exercise. I am physically unable to though. :( (large chest..quite painful, plus its too hard on my knees b/c of my weight) I plan on working my way up to being able to jog and then running.
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I LOVE to run, problem is, it's way too hot to run and I am not able to get up at the crack of dawn to do it (that's what kids do to ya! :p )

My boyfriend (fiance?-i dunno... I haven't wore the ring in about 2 weeks) and I split up tonight... Kinda makes me sad. We were together for almost two years but I feel like we both need to move on. We are just so different... I love him but I don't think I love our situation. He needs to grow up a whole fucking lot. I wanna concentrate more on school than men right now in my life anyway. I've decided on a double major... psychology (which I should finish in about a year or year and 1/2) and nursing. I figure I will be in school for another 3-4 years (praying more like 3). But I'm sure that it will be WELL worth it whenever I finish. then I hope to get my master's in psychiatric nursing. that would be awesome.

-angeles
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I'm excited!! I'm actually learning a song on my guitar!!!!!!!
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*looks at dusty red Ibanez sitting in the corner* yeah, I used to play guitar...but for some reason I can never keep it up. It's probably a cop out, but I don't think guitar is for me. Too bad I didn't figure that out until after I bought a $400 instrument. *looks at oboe* oh well, at least I get plenty of use out of the $2500 one!
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I know that the guitar is for me. I've played a couple instruments in my time, and I didn't have as much fun or am as excited as I am about the guitar. I've wanted to play guitar since I was 17, and didn't really pick it up till just now (I'm 24). I bought myself a Squier Strat (they're made by Fender) back in January, which I named Dusty since it sat for 5 months, relatively untouched collecting dust. I signed myself up for lessons at the local music shop in late June, and I've been taking lessons for 5 weeks and that's why I'm so giddy to learn a song. After months of doing the rather unproductive self taught thing (which just *did not* work for me!) I am so happy to see that I am making progress with my lessons. I love my instructor, he's very laid back and we are quite similar in some ways and on the same wavelength so I have fun taking lessons from him. What's great is that my husband is also taking interest in my playing (when he found out I was learning a song, he said "I can't wait to hear you play it for me". That made me so happy!) and he wants to learn to play too, but is like I was earlier this year, just doesn't have the time.
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