Anybody Want To Weigh In On WEIGHT?

[K8-EEE]

Poll question: Anybody Want To Weigh In On WEIGHT?

Like many Uh-murkins, I am weight obsessed, I'm the variety who is constantly battling the hated Last Ten Pounds. I'm either taking it off of wanting to -- or putting it back on! It's a very stupid lifestyle when I think of it. I would like to change it -- either by accepting my higher weight as "natural" or finding a way to stay at the preferred lower weight permanently.

I started wondering if anybody is happy with their weight or are we conditioned to be constantly struggling with it. Where to you fit in?

[no name no slogan]

1. Lost 20 lbs over the last six weeks

but I was in the hospital, so that's a big part of it.

[UncleSepp]

2. Those Last Ten Pounds

On 1200 calories a day I don't lose weight. Doc's helpful suggestions were things like "Well, stop using butter and stop eating fried foods and sweets..." I use olive oil, only sparingly any butter, don't eat sweets, have small portions, all the right stuff and still that gut won't go. If I were to lose that last ten pounds, I'd have to make my whole life about nothing more than losing weight. Yuck!

[NoSheep]

3. When I turned 40-I can starve and still not lose. Very frustrating.

I hate excercise. That reminds me of a thread I wanted to start. I'll post it now. I have a theory about people who don't like to exercise.

[K8-EEE]

8. I DO Love To Exercise

I don't feel right if I don't hike, swim or go to the gym every day. I think I would be way more overweight if I didn't like to exercise, plus I would have to starve!

I DO eat too much -- usually emotionally driven and almost always at night.

[redqueen]

11. Eating late at night is a KILLER

If you can get used to not eating after 8 most nights, that might make a big difference.

[K8-EEE]

15. You Got That Right Red Queen --

Well that's exactly what my "dieting" consists of, stop eating at 7 pm and eat light dinners. It totally works and it's not really all that hard but I am festive by nature and easily seduced by any number of things, a party, somebody coming over, a baseball game, I guess I'm kind of I'm a social over-eater.

I think the demon ALCOHOL might also play a part in this, because if I have a glass of wine (or two) suddenly everything sounds so delicious. Out comes the frying pan, out comes the garlic press, or if I'm out, I'm hitting the bread basket, something I would never do if I was just drinking water.

The truth is I love rich, wine-soaked dinners, but they don't love me back.

I have a couple of actress friends who are so professional about their weight, they just say "I don't eat (whatever.)" Like, NEVER. Oh I don't eat fried stuff, I don't eat pasta, oh I never touch bread. I admire them but then at the same time I think they are kind of not as fun as me! LOL!

[UncleSepp]

32. Soon as I move out... that will be the case

I like to have dinner at 6 or 7 and go to bed at 10. However, my husband will not eat if I cook that early, and if I leave it to him to cook, he won't start until after 8. I have talked to him about it many times, and he - beanpole that he is - doesn't care.

Oh well. I will have my own kitchen and cook for just me, whenever I want, in a few weeks. We'll see what that plus living on the fourth floor of a building with no elevator will do :-)

[AlienGirl]

36. Yuck indeed!

As long as your BP's okay, why bother worrying about it?

And I bet your fat/muscle ratio is going to change, anyway, in the "buffness" direction.

Tucker

[northzax]

4. well it's decent

but I really prefer http://www.houseoflyrics.com/d/artists/phish/songs/lengthwise.html">Lengthwise

[dajoki]

5. 10 lbs. is nothing

don't worry about it as long as you're healthy.:)

[K8-EEE]

7. I Suppose My Fear Is If I Stop Struggling With It

It will turn into 100....although maybe the opposite is true, maybe if I stop dieting altogether, I'll stop overeating after the diet!

[scarlet_owl]

6. I'm very overweight. I would like to lose weight, but I'm

not about to make weight loss my entire life. So far, I have lost six pounds this summer and the only thing I have done differently is increase my activity level. I have to do it at my pace and I refuse to let anyone make me feel bad about the way I look.

[redqueen]

10. That's the way to do it!

Slow and steady... at your own pace. Anything more and you'll want to 'go back to the old way' and end up back where you started... only worse because fat cells act weird.

Kudos to you! :hi:

[K8-EEE]

16. For Sure!!!

People get more positive feedback when they crash it off but it should be the other way round -- admiring your refreshingly sane and moderate approach!

[cestpaspossible]

9. I was having trouble getting those last 10 pounds off.

13 days ago I bought a kayak. Leaving in about 25 minutes for the fourth whitewater trip in that time... the pounds are gone...

[Nikia]

12. I have an eating disorder

That has made me underweight. It gives me a very odd view on my body. I can see myself as both fat and too skinny at the same time. Maybe, it's because I am not proportioned well. My waist is bigger than the waists of some people who are 15 pounds or more heavier than me. Showing prominently ribs, including the upper ones bothers me though.
When I ran in high school and college, I was happy with my weight. I was thin, but heavier than I am now and I was strong.
I gained a lot of weight after that. Strangely, I didn't become extremely unhappy with my weight until I began losing weight. I remember trying on size eight clothes at the store because I wanted clothes to fit me since I had lost weight. All I could see was the fat. I should have been happy, shouldn't I have? I was at a healthy weight and actually on the thinner side for my build. There is no reason that I should have wanted to be any thinner than that.
Ask your doctor if you are at a good weight for you, if the answer is yes, stop trying to lose weight.

[Left Is Write]

13. Just want to make a note here -

"Starving" is not the way to lose weight. Low-calorie diets that are too restrictive can actually backfire by sending the body into starvation mode and slowing down the metabolism.

A key to achieving a healthy weight (whatever you determine that to be) is eating enough calories balanced with exercise/activity. Both will keep your metabolism happily humming along.

[SarahB]

14. Decent weight.

Healthy BMI.

I'd like about 10 pounds gone, but overall, I'm ok with where I am though. However, I have to be very careful with what I eat and not go overboard or I can put on weight easily. Overall, I stay active, eat healthy, and as long as I do that, things are fine. I struggled in the past, but largely it had to do with using food as comfort instead facing what I needed to face in life. That's no longer the case in my life and all that weight stuff just fell into place a couple of years ago. :)

[Pale Blue Dot]

42. VERY decent.

:loveya:

[Taverner]

17. I wanna be bigger and more bulky

With triceps that seperate and biceps that look like two stretched pork loins...

[ismnotwasm]

18. You should have other

Being a muscular women (no,not a body builder) I've never been the "right" weight. I don't own a scale. This is the way I'm made. I stay in pretty good shape. I like to stay a size 7/8 in the summer, and gain a size in the winter. It seems to be my natural rhthym. I go by clothes size not weight, otherwise I would be considered overweight. I remember one time my family was complaining I was "too thin" so I weight myself-- shit, 140. Scales are bullshit for me.

[K8-EEE]

22. I Don't Think "Ideal" Means "Small" or "Skinny"

Although we are certainly conditioned to think that -- in my college years I definitely thought that!

You sound like you're at your ideal weight for you, even if it fluctuates, it sounds like as you say it's your natural rhythm.

[ismnotwasm]

25. Yup

'Course I'm most 45 now, so I've learned to be very comfortable with my body over the years. I hate what Americans have to go through just to feel right about themselves and the way they look.

[bicentennial_baby]

19. Not even on my radar

I don't know how much I weigh...maybe 110-112. I don't gain or lose, unless I'm drinking heavily, then I drop weight like a motherfucker. My lowest was 95, when I was 20. I love butter, whole milk, pasta, and I live on cheese (whole milk mozzarella) I'm weird.

[Shredr]

20. I quit smoking and got married at the same time last year

And kind of let myself go. I'm now about 40 pounds over weight and really self conscious about it. I'm trying to make it back to the gym...

[K8-EEE]

28. Congrats On Not Smoking!!

Hey check out the open secrets site, the tobacco companies are one big fat sugar daddy to BushCo & the evildoers. They hate it that you quit smoking! So remember that if you ever feel like slidin'....

:thumbsup:

[Shredr]

31. Thanks

It wasn't easy. I was a 2-pack a day smoker for 10 years. But I was tired of being a slave to the damn things, plus tired of the health risks and spending all that money (not to mention the political connections you mentioned). I figured I'd gain weight, and I did. Now I just have to lose it.

[Kathleen04]

21. I'm in the process of trying to lose weight

About 20 pounds..goal is to get down to my "driver's license weight". :)

Working on getting my way of eating in order first. My vice is going out to eat too much, both because I don't cook and socially. Even though alot of the foods I order "seem healthy", I think they pack alot of hidden calories..fattening dressings on salads, etc.

Then I'm trying to make exercise a habit, which is tough because while I enjoy it, it's the first thing that gets shoved to the side when life gets busy for me.

I learn more each time I try to lose weight..a new trend seems to be "anti-diet" so I tried that for awhile, figuring I could eat reasonably (reasonably meaning the stuff that "looks healthy", still going out, no heed to calories) and the exercise would take care of the rest, but I live way too sedentary of a lifestyle where I need diet + exercise in order for it to be mathematically possible to lose weight.

[swag]

23. Hi, k8-EEE!

It's me! Hi!

[K8-EEE]

27. Swag!! DARLING!

Where have you been, I've been simply frantic!

[swag]

39. Sorry I ran off

but the discourse has been a bit corky at the other joint, in spite of the beautiful electric basses and musicians.

Good to see you, pretty lady.

[ghostsofgiants]

24. I'm naturally really skinny

Not unhealthy or anything. I actually like it. I have no desire to be physically impressive, haha.

[knowbody0]

26. me too

117 lbs, 5'6 1/2" since age 13. no matter what i do.

[Telly Savalas]

29. There's more to health than the number on a scale

A couple of years back I trained for and completed a marathon. The year after that because of issues with a wonky knee and motivation, I curtailed the running a lot. I lost weight by having the leg muscles disappear, despite a growing gut. Muscle weighs more than fat.

How you feel, look in a mirror, and fit in your clothes are much better metrics than your weight.

[truthbetold]

30. I've always dealt with weight issues.

I had an eating disorder for a number of years and it still creeps up on me from time to time. It's been particularly hard because I start on birth control pills a couple months ago and you always gain at least 5 pounds (mostly water weight) on those.

[AlienGirl]

33. Above ideal and happy with it

My BMI is something like 27. I weigh between 125 and 131lbs at the doctor's office. (For perspective, I'm 4'10" tall.)

After having the experience of not tasting solid food for a few months and dropping to 80lbs the hard way, I decided I wouldn't worry about being a few pounds overweight anymore.

I do, however, hate when I outgrow a pair of pants I like.

Tucker

On edit: I don't own a scale, either.

[Liberaler]

34. Last ten pounds?

Don't lose them!

I guess that is why I love latin women who really look FEMININ with a nice shape and wellrounded ahem behind....

[LynzM]

35. For me, it's about shape and health

Weight isn't so much the thing. It's that I know I could be in better physical shape (which would translate to more muscle and less fat) and could feel and look better. I've finally learned to mostly let go of the numbers, and to start doing something about how I feel about my body, regardless of how others perceive it. So, a little bit of running, pilates, and finally getting back to climbing do wonders for how I feel about myself. I no longer own a scale :)

[VelmaD]

37. I've lost nearly 140 pounds at this point...

and I'm not agonizing over the last 10-15. I just got into a pair of size 6 jeans when I used to be a size 22. Life is good. :)

[K8-EEE]

40. Well You Know What Everybody Wants To Ask....

How'd ya do it??? Really there is only one way but still I feel compelled to ask!

CONGRATULATIONS!!

[Terran]

38. Ugh, "ideal" for me = too damn skinny

I guess my esthetic is just different, but, on men anyway, I prefer to see some meat. I'm above "ideal" (always have been) and am trying to lose some of what I consider extra poundage, but I'll be staying at well above what's considered ideal. I deal with the health issues by working out, not dieting. I've been at it for just two months and have lost five pounds and feel great, so that's my strategy from now. That and cookies.

I think my "ideal" weight is something like 160, and I would look like a damn toothpick, to me, if ever lost that much weight.

[Ariana Celeste]

41. I'm a little overweight, no big deal.

It used to bother me, especially when I had to go buy new clothes. I'm not like unhealthy overweight or anything. I used to have super unhealthy expectations for myself, but I got over that... however...

The reason it really bothered me for awhile was because my ex's all had high expectations when it came to my figure... it's taken quite a bit of time to get used to my SO not caring. Sometimes I get self conscious and make him dim the lights still. He humours me and does it whenever I ask, he isn't overly aggressive with the "It's okay! You look great! Don't worry about it!" stuff. I'm starting to get comfortable. :)

[Dave Reynolds]

43. I have put on

90 pounds in the last 22 years. I was too skinny before, but now...

[MzShellG]

44. I've lost 75lbs since 2001.

By eating foods that are low in fat and not snacking late. I also avoid fast food. Ya gotta have will-power. It's the only thing I'm consistant about.

[RobbinsdaleDem]

45. Packed on many pounds during menopause.

I've never been my "ideal" weight, but when I hit my forties, nothing I could do would slow down the weight gain. Now that I'm in my fifties, my weight is finally starting to drop a bit. First it leveled off for a couple of years, and then over the past couple of years I've been losing very, very slowly.

Interestingly, the other day I happened to spot an old journal I had kept for a few years when I was in my twenties. I read a few pages, and it hit me like a ton of bricks that I had been obsessing about my weight my whole life. What a waste!

I can't say I'm necessarily happy with my weight, but I've come to accept that I am what I am. One major issue for me was getting weighed at the doctor's office. About four years ago I decided I wasn't going to let them weigh me anymore. Now when I have an appointment and the nurse asks me to step on the scale, I just say I'm going to pass on that.

[SuffragetteSal]

46. My Kaiser plan is actually helping out with W.W.

Show your Kaiser card at any Weight Watchers meeting and the membership fee is waived, also you may attend at a nicely discounted rate ($9.50 instead of 12 bucks). A good deal..

15 pounds so far lost - need to lose 40