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50lbs2lose
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 29 March 2009 05:18 pm |
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| Well terabyte I decided to make this an all fruit day. I have had a grapfruit an apple some grapefruit juice and green tea. I want to atleast get through this down day for a weigh in for the spring challange tomarow. Bad motive I know. Well gotta go. Have a good one.
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mj36
New Member
| Joined: | 25 December 2008 |
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| Posts: | 1063 |
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Posted: 29 March 2009 08:21 pm |
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Terabyte, it is awesome that you have scheduled your remaining test to get your LCSW! Awesome career move. It's cool that your young charge reached emancipation. Your system is so different than ours! We have no emancipation, and our kids can simply sign themselves out of care at age 18. I wish we could hang on to some of them a bit longer!
As for the energy drinks, we basically ban them at school and call parents in our classes when students are using them because they are really destructive to learning! Kids are so jittery and can't concentrate! And I work with students with special needs, who can't afford anything else interfering with the issues that they already bring!!
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Terabyte
Distinguished Member
| Joined: | 18 November 2008 |
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| Posts: | 1587 |
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Posted: 30 March 2009 01:29 am |
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50lbs: Good luck! Fruit is good, I am sure you will feel great when you go to bed tonight. I went to the store to stock up on apples and carrots for my down day tomorrow. I can have two apples and two carrots for a total of about 210 calories, and they will have a nice, satisfying crunch.
MJ: Thanks! I am excited about taking the second part of the LCSW exam. WOO HOO! I can't wait until I can have 7 letters after my name. Alphabet soup!
Now I am home, and I am watching the Simpsons. My ethereal consort is coming over, he doesn't have work tomorrow, and I don't have to work until 10:15 (YAY!!!!) I love laying in bed late and feeling like a warm, toasty cinnamon bun! 
I went to the BBQ at my friend's house, and while I enjoyed some chips, a small steak, and some cabbage salad, as well as some ice cream, I didn't overdo it. I estimate I am probably around 3300 calories today, which is really good for me on an up day, that's about 1,000 calories less than I have been eating. And I am so happy I bought some nice, crunch healthy produce to enjoy tomorrow for my down day.
My ethereal consort is a good influence on me too; he lost a lot of weight and went from chubby to super-lithe in about four months. Now, he has an amazing body (oh MAN, just thinking about it is exciting to me, lol!) So, he is really inspiring to me, AND he's a good cook. Actually, so is my top advisor consort, they are both excellent cooks. And so is if my friend JP come to think of it. It's a great skill to have. Shannon and Cindy seem like they are good cooks from the stuff they post. My hats off to you, ladies!
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Terabyte
Distinguished Member
| Joined: | 18 November 2008 |
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| Posts: | 1587 |
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Posted: 30 March 2009 01:30 am |
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Wow, and I am really looking forward to my meditation this evening. I have to sit perfectly still for 15 minutes, it's supposed to teach me discipline, which I can always use more of! I am so happy I have this book!
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zenobia
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 30 March 2009 08:52 am |
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i couldn't find the name of the book. i really want to check it out. what is it called? it sounds super...
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50lbs2lose
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 30 March 2009 01:15 pm |
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| terabyte maybe you can help me figure this out....when i weighed in this morning i am up 3lbs 167 but.....body fat ia down to 28.8 a 3.2loss. i do the resistance workought with 20lb weights at least 3 days a week. but would i realisticaly gain 3lbs of muscle in a weeks time? what do you think about this? Last edited on 30 March 2009 06:31 pm by 50lbs2lose
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Terabyte
Distinguished Member
| Joined: | 18 November 2008 |
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Posted: 31 March 2009 02:25 am |
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Zen: It's called "The Master Key System" by Charles Haanel.
50Lbs: I think that most likely you did not gain that much muscle in a week, you probably did put on SOME muscle, but perhaps a lot of it is water that you gained from either your cycle or sodium. I think 1.5 pounds of muscle is about the max that a chick can put on in a week and that's when she's really putting effort into it, so if I had to guess, you probably gained something like .75 - 1 pound of muscle and the rest is water...
Although I guess some people do gain muscle easily, so maybe you are closer to 1.5 pounds of muscle. I for one gain and lose muscle and strength superfast. You are familiar with your own body I am sure--is this true for you as well?
Today was a down day, and I have been having a good one! I had a carrot, an apple, some pumpkin seeds, even a chocolate chip cookie. Plus 3 cups of green tea. And I made out with 430 calories. YAY! I am so happy I gave up those energy drinks, the green tea is such a better choice, I love the difference in the feeling underlying the energy, one just feels so wholesome and happy, the other one feels like a dirty energy almost, and I don't mean dirty like sexy, I mean dirty like something wrong with it, gunked up, ready to burst into anger at any moment...
I had a good day at work today too, my young woman actually moved out of her foster home today into her own grown-up housing. Her foster mom took a really cool picture of her waving goodbye in the doorway and sent it to my phone. I am really proud of this young woman--she graduated high school, got accepted to a community college, she's not pregnant, she has some money saved up, she's even already taken some acting classes because that's what she really wants to do. She grew up in foster care her whole entire life, having been detained at birth because her parents were crackheads. I don't know why she didn't end up getting adopted when she was little, but it just didn't happen for whatever reason. She really did a good job with what she had and she's got a good head on her shoulders, for the most part. Of course she has some things she needs to improve on, mainly standing up for herself and not letting people take advantage of her and seeing through tasks to the end, but hey, who doesn't have things they could improve on, you know? It was a very special day today, and it's great because her final foster family really care about her, and her new home is in the same city, so she can come by and visit whenever she wants. They already told her, come by whenever, do your laundry, go swimming, have dinner with us, etc. She will be starting school in the fall, and I am really happy for her. I can tell you that a lot of kids who are raised in foster care have a LOT of problems--don't graduate, get into heavy drugs, have a few kids themselves, get in trouble with the law for other things like theft, prostitution, assault, etc. So she really came out WAY ahead of the game given her background.
That was the big highlight of my day. I just looked at the picture just now and got teary-eyed. It feels so good to be able to have a job where I get to be part of these big moments. It's like I get all the perks of being a parent without the round-the-clock responsibility! Pretty cool!
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50lbs2lose
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 31 March 2009 02:43 am |
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That was so nice about the young woman. I love it when life hands someone a bowl of lemons and they just turn around and make lemon aid out of it! That is realy how I see the creator as being. He loves it when evil doesn't get theupper hand even against the odds.
As far as the muscle thing goes I honestly do not know my body well enough to know fat,water,or muscle. I have been so conditioned to go by the numbers on the scale that I am dull to other ways of judging it. But the imformation I get from this sight helps me a lot. So ya it's probably water. Because there is no way I ate that much!
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mj36
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Posted: 31 March 2009 02:59 am |
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| Tera, I counted the letters after my name... M.S. Ed., C.A.S.... yup, that's seven haha! As for foster care messing kids up, between that and whatever neglect or abuse landed them there in the first place, those poor kids face such an uphill battle. I am counseling a kid right now who has been in care for about 12 years, has been in about 50 foster homes, and was part of a "failed" adoption for about 4-5 of those years... it breaks my heart to see the results of the "system" and the family he came from! It is so good to hear of the success story of your young lady. I do have one young man that turned out remarkably well after being placed in care when he had a child at the age of 15... with a woman in her mid 20's. He managed to graduate high school despite serious learning disabilities, regained custody of his own daughter when she landed in foster care due to neglect by the mother (surprise!), and attends college. He will graduate this May with his associate's degree. He is an amazing young man, but the deck was definitely stacked against him!
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DoublePoppa
Senior Member
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Posted: 31 March 2009 06:31 am |
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Hey thanks for the website. I found on there a few jobs with eckerd youth alternatives. Its one of those camps they send kids out in the wilderness. All your living expenses are paid for and you live out in the wilderness with them. I like the idea of it cause Ive always enjoyed the outdoors and think this could be a good fit for me.
Could you tell me if you know anything about this company? Whether or not it is up and up. I tried finding info about it online but I don't really see anything.
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Terabyte
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Posted: 31 March 2009 10:59 am |
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50Lbs: I think we've all been conditioned to go by the numbers on the scale! That's a pretty common thread here, I think. But as far as knowing your body, I think it's a good idea to make a conscious effort to familiarize yourself with your body composition and then you can gauge how the composition is shifting even if the numbers on the scale are not doing anything. In regards to gaining muscle, this is something you can usually find if you look carefully, you will visually notice muscles getting bigger and getting definition. For me, I usually notice in my quads, biceps, and hamstrings first. Also, if you are gaining strength, I *think* that usually means you are adding more muscle mass. So, if you've noticed that you are getting stronger (i.e. you can do more reps, higher weights, etc.) than you will know that you are putting on muscle mass.
As for gaining and losing water, this is something that can often be gauged by how things are fitting on your body. Sometimes you can also see water retention in your face, especially around your eyes. So, if you notice that your rings are tight or that you clothes are tight (and it's been a short amount of time, like a day), then you will know you are retaining water. Of course, if your clothes are getting tighter over time, it's more likely a fat gain than a water gain, but if the time period is short, like I said, it's most likely water gain.
MJ: That is really nice about that guy graduating with his AA after having to handle so much. Wouldn't that be nice if that guy could hook up with my girl, lol. They'd have a lot in common! Actually, my girl never really got super into guys, she's never dated anyone so far as I know, and I've never heard her talk about being interested in any guys, except for having a crush on LL Cool J. But who DOESN'T have a crush on him, right? She has stated sometimes that she doesn't really trust men or like men. I've asked her if she likes women and she just makes a face like that was a gross question for me to ask, but I thought it was reasonable to ask! I don't think she's ever been sexually assaulted or mistreated by any men--most of the foster parents that were mean to her were single women, no men in the house. Her county worker is a man (which is unusual), and he was/is a really cool guy and took good care of her and really went out of his way for her. I don't know if she really appreciated it though, or noticed really. Maybe she did... her most current foster father was actually stay-at-home; his wife worked and he took care of the house and kids. He was a mellow guy, older, sort of reminded me of George Carlin with this sense of humor, but much more quiet than George. She wasn't that close to him, and he wanted to give her her space. I don't know where her mistrust of men stems from. I hope someday she can deal with it. Maybe it's something I can talk to her about, as I plan on keeping in touch with her.
I think I have told people on here before, I myself was in foster care, but I was so young I don't remember it. I only had two placements--one with a foster mom that I totally don't remember at all, but I do have a picture of her holding me, although you can only see her body and her chin. She looked like a stout, older lady. And then, I was placed with my parents that adopted me. I think I was with that first foster mom for about 2 months and then I was placed with my adoptive family when I was 4 months old (the first two months I spent in the hospital because I came out WAY early). The story of my birthmom has actually unfolded a LOT in the last six months, as I just barely recently came into contact with my biological family. But anyway, suffice it to say that my biological father was never really involved with my mother, sort of a hit and run one night stand type of deal, and then my mother had a lot of problems with drugs and had horrible parents herself, ran away at 17 and then hitchhiked all over the country until she got murdered by some serial killer cop in 1986. So, if I had stayed with her and been raised by her, I probably would have had a really awful life. I feel happy and lucky that the system worked, in my case, and I was placed at a really young age with a REALLY wonderful, awesome couple of people who never looked back since the day I was handed to them. I am so happy my adoption went through when I was little and that I didn't have to grow up in the system, being bounced everywhere and never having a family. I was thinking about that yesterday when I was talking to my Mom, I mean, I don't know how it happened that my young woman (the one who just emancipated) didn't get adopted when she was a baby. She was removed at birth--I wonder how that got so fouled up. It seems really unfortunate. Maybe I can ask her county worker what happened. I think he's had her since she was 8, but he might be familiar with her case from when she was a baby....
She and I were at court on Friday, and we saw some people there that were probably there for an adoption finalization hearing--there was a white couple with a little mixed-race girl who looked to be about 4 - 5 years old, and she was dressed in this really nice red velvet dress and had matching ribbons in her hair and shoes--so usually when you see something like that at children's court, it's an adoption hearing. Anyway, the little girl was laughing and playing and her adoptive father was chasing after her laughing and picking her up and swinging her around and stuff. My young woman commented on it and said how cute the little girl was and how happy she looked. I told the father that he had a cute daughter, and he smiled, so full of pride and said thank you. Now my young woman didn't look sad or wistful or anything, she just looked genuinely appreciative of the interaction between the father and the daughter, but I thought to myself, #%@&! it why didn't that happen to you? Why did you get the short end of the stick like that? And so bad, too, never having a permanent home. Never being able to say, yeah I'm his daughter, that's my Dad.
But I guess we could spend the rest of our lives asking why sh.it happens the way it does--why are some kids born into poverty and some born into wealth, why do some people get cancer and some people don't, why why why. I guess the existentialists would say it's pretty pointless to ask why, besides providing entertainment with your friends and loved ones over a bottle of wine (me and mine like to drink and philosophize....) but the real question is what now? What can I do with what I've got? I guess everyone could sit around getting mad that they don't have what other people have, she could get mad that she was never adopted like that little girl, but then somebody else could look at her be mad that they aren't as pretty as her or as thin as her or have as much money saved as her or jealous that she doesn't have any kids herself and is a free agent and has guaranteed housing provided by the regional center for the rest of her life (she got diagnosed as mentally retarded when she was 8, the diagnosis no longer opertaionally holds true, but because she has that diagnosis, she will always, always have housing and food for life. She will never be homeless or hungry).
Double Poppa: I have never heard of that organization you speak of, so I don't know if they are legit or shady or what. That's odd that you can't find anything online about it.
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Terabyte
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| Joined: | 18 November 2008 |
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Posted: 31 March 2009 11:08 am |
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And speaking of letters after your name, my friend said something funny about that: I was telling him that me and one of my clients (a 16-year-old chick) wrote to a head policymaker at Community Care Licensing to protest this regulation they have that is unreasonable--that hygiene razors have to be key-locked. Anyway, the policymaker wrote back and said that they were going to re-examine a lot of the regs and thank you for bringing that to our attention and they were going to actually rename the new, more relaxed rules after my client, which was really cool
BUT ANYWAY
I told my friend that and I said I think it made a big difference that my girl actually wrote to him instead of just me writing, and my friend said
"oh yeah? you really think it was the girl writing that made the difference and not you?" and I said
yeah! They're naming the new rules after her, not me, man.
And he said, "Oh please, I think it had something to do with that alphabet soup after your name that made them do something about it."
Now, I still think I am right. Well, I don't know, I think the combination of me and that girl probably saved the day. I think if I hadn't written or she hadn't written, not much would have happened. But I don't think it had that much to do with the letters after my name, but who knows, maybe it did. I just thought what he said was hilarious.
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50lbs2lose
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 31 March 2009 12:42 pm |
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Well the fact is my husband keeps telling me how good my body is looking and to keep it up because I am definately "getting there" LOL ! So what I decide to do is go back to my oatmeal with peanut butter for breakfast salad for lunch beans and kale for supper and basicaly have the occasional treats once or twice a week. This kept me on my exercising consistantly which definately is making me stronger. I am using 20lb dbells for almost all my reps now! For me that's good.
I think I was looking for something quicker and easier with the uddd woe. But nothing in this life comes easy! Got to face it!
Have a nice day terabyte.
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Terabyte
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Posted: 31 March 2009 02:13 pm |
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50lbs: Well if your husband keeps complimenting your body, you know you're doing a good job! I think that's good that you were able to decide what you wanted to do diet-wise. As for me, I really do want to stick with this diet for at least 30 days and then evaluate if I want to keep going.
My stats this morning, making this two weeks into the ADD, are that I weighed 153 pounds with a body fat of 32.7% (50 lbs) and a water of 49.1% (75.1 lbs--I decided to start paying attention to the water weight too, since my scale DOES measure it). This means I have 28 pounds of muscle, bone, mammary tissue, nerves, etc. However, to keep matters simple, I am going to say I have about 28 pounds of muscle.
So, this means, that in two weeks, I have actually gained in total weight, putting on .4 pounds. Now, if I only had a scale that measured total weight, I would probably be really upset. However, my scale measures both body fat and water weight, so I know that I have actually lost 1.3 pounds of fat. I don't know how the water changed because I just started paying attention to that today. So, since I gained .4 pounds total, but lost 1.3 pounds of fat, that means i put on 1.7 pounds of lean mass, either muscle or water. I am going to guess that some of it was muscle, although how much I am not sure. I have been doing more strength training, and I have been getting stronger, so I am sure that part of it IS muscle.
I also think that part of it is mammary tissue, because I have noticed that my breasts have stayed big even after the blood came. My friend JP even commented on it the other day, and I have noticed it when I catch a glimpse of my full reflection. Yes. I am officially a DD, no longer a D. So that means when they blood comes, they probably swell up to whatever is beyond a DD, I don't even know what's beyond a DD. But that's cool, I am happy about it. The bigger the better I say!!!
Haha, maybe meditation is making my chest bigger. I bet you a lot of chicks would start meditating if that were true....
But speaking of meditation, I am now 4 days into it, and I like it so much. I feel a very nice, happy, stable and peaceful state of mind, no matter what happens. I think the swtich to green tea helped with this, but I credit the meditation with most of it. That AND the constant re-reading of the book's first chapter every day. Whenever I sit down at the computer, I read a little bit of it.
I am also reading another book right now called "In Search of the Miraculous" and the author must forgive me, but I don't recall their name right now. I will look later. But anyway, one of the parts of the book stated that we are always being influenced by something. We can't be influenced by nothing, so navigating through life is basically a matter of jumping from influence to influence and figuring out what influence works where. I have got to say that I like being under the influence of those books, and they seem to work just about everywhere, so far anyway. Even when dumb #%@&! has happened at work or something happens that would usually anger me or stress me out, I just take it in stride. Or at least, that's been the case for the last 2 workdays. I am actually excited about today and how I can practice my calmness. It's a really cool feeling.
AND going back to the ADD, I've got to say, I am really happy with losing 1.3 pounds in two weeks. That comes out to 2.6 pounds a month, which is pretty good results for being able to eat whatever I want EVERY OTHER DAY. Now that I think of it, maybe the diet has something to do with my good mood too, the book did mention that it had positive psychological effects. Hmmmmm....
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DoublePoppa
Senior Member
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Posted: 31 March 2009 02:37 pm |
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Its not that I couldnt find anything on them but just not reviews so to speak. I couldnt find a page of people saying "WOW this place made such a difference for my child." They seem legit though. I mean it was started by the guy that owned Eckerd drug company and that place was the best before CVS took them over. Stupid CVS. So i mean i found them on wiki and what not. I guess its a good thing I didnt find any news stories. That means at least there hasnt been anything negative.
Thanks a lot. People helpin people. Good luck with the weight chica. I like your mind and body approach.
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mj36
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Posted: 1 April 2009 02:10 am |
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Go LL, Go LL... yup, everyone sure does have a crush on him... and I think size E really does come after DD... but when I outgrew my DD's I got a reduction so I don't really know...
My mom and her sibs spent a number of years in foster care during the late 50's and early 60's... not a good time to be in care. Horror stories, really. They might have fared better w/ my drunk grandma than with some of these people! Things have changed, but so many things are still the same! It's neat that you are getting some of the backstory about bio mom, but you are right... life would have been SO different for you! Scary to hear that she was killed by a serial killer. Very sad too.
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Terabyte
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Posted: 1 April 2009 12:56 pm |
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I am up and ready for a long day! I have to work about a 11-hour day today, so I am really gearing up so I can have the energy to get through it. Luckily, I will be able to take off on Friday to make up those three extra hours. I can't wait until my schedule stabilizes at work, it seems like it changes every day or every other day!
I had a nice day yesterday, and definitely enjoyed my up day, calorie-wise. I probably ate somewhere around 4K, but that is a bit high. I was quite busy too, yesterday, my day was packed. I was pretty tired by the time I got home, but I still did my meditation (yay!) and really enjoyed it. In fact, I was really looking forward to doing it once I walked in the door from work. I have two more days of practicing this week's lesson, and then I move on to the second lesson. I am excited! So far, I have really enjoyed the benefits of it, and I really like the idea of getting more and more out of it.
I think i basically went over what I felt was good about it, and I will say that it has produced a sense of general detached calmness, almost like I am up on a hill looking down at a city. I can see all the activity (that would be the activity of my life) and I feel like I am above it, watching it, appreciating it, but not getting too caught up in it, negative-wise anyway. I am able to get caught up in it in a happy way, but even that feeling is slowly changing to something more subtle but very profound. It's like a real nice, quiet, assured happy.
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Terabyte
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Posted: 1 April 2009 01:01 pm |
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MJ: Wow, I didn't even know they had foster care before 1962--I wonder why I have that year in my head, it must be connected to something...?
Foster care is really a crapshoot, it seems. Sometimes you get really, really lucky, like my brother and I did and sometimes you get really, really screwed. I always try to strongly encourage all of my kids/young adults to advocate for themselves because if they don't, a lot of times nobody will. A lot of my focus with them is how to do this effectively, making their points well, staying calm but firm. This is something that is no easy task, even I struggle with this, and I've been around a lot longer than the people I serve. Still though, it's worth focusing on and starting training on as young as possible because it's one of the things that is so important in life.
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mj36
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Posted: 2 April 2009 01:24 am |
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Hmmm, you could be right about that. That would make my mom 9... had to check out her birth year and do some math. I do agree that it is a total crapshoot whether the home is good or not. I have known some absolutely amazing people who give so much of themselves to help others. I know a family with 5 kids that also has 2 foster kids... they won 1 million dollars on a scratch off ticket and still kept doing the foster care- said it would make life easier for everyone in the family to have the $ but that wasn't going to stop them from helping. I plan to be a foster parent later in life, once I am done raising my own son. I don't think I could do my best work right now with him, and his best friend who I call my "bonus child". I don't want to be stretched too thin! but he will be moving on to college in about three years, and then I will give some serious consideration to training as a foster parent. There are SOOOO many needy kids out there!
The neuropsych guy I work with is teaching the special education teachers the art of meditation so they can use it with students in the classroom. Fascinating experiment and I am really looking forward to seeing how it all turns out!
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Terabyte
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Posted: 2 April 2009 04:13 am |
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| Wow, what a long day, but I made it! And I still did my meditation at the end! Now I am looking forward to just vedging out and relaxing. I did great on my calories today, I only had about 480 calories--a carrot, an apple, lots of green tea, and pumpkin seeds and a little lemon bar. It actually might have been closer to 380, but I am overestimating on the pumpkin seeds and lemon bar. I also did some great strength training and great yoga. Overall, a good, productive day. And I am glad it's done! whew!
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Terabyte
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Posted: 2 April 2009 03:04 pm |
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Okay, well, good news in the body composition department! When I weighed myself this morning, my total weight was at 151.8 with a body fat of 32.6% and water of 49%.
This means that I have lost some more fat, and some more water (that probably was supporting the fat) since my last weigh in two days ago.
I currently have 49.5 pounds of fat on my body. I very glad to be in the 40s for my fat weight, even if it is only a little. I think that ideally, I would like to have around 30 pounds of fat on my body, so I just have to lose 19.5 more pounds of fat!
Altogether, since I started the Alternate Day Diet on March 17, I have lost about 1.8 pounds of body fat and put on about 1.4 pounds of muscle (and also mammary tissue it seems for some reason! lol) That's pretty good for 16 days!
And listen up people because this is really important, especially those who have said they are a slave to the scale number. My TOTAL WEIGHT only went down .8 pounds, but my fat loss was over twice this amount! Since I was putting on muscle, it offset a lot of the fat loss in my total weight. I would highly recommend that everyone get some way to measure not just weight loss but fat loss. You can get a scale that measures body fat or you can buy fat calipers. I think a lot of people tend to get discouraged when they just have a scale that measures total weight because when the numbers don't go down or even go up (if someone is really doing a lot of strength training and packing on a lot of muscle) people get sad and feel like what they're doing isn't working. So I am telling you, if you want to see how your body is actually changing in composition, you need something to measure body fat, not just total weight. Total weight is actually almost a waste of time in my opinion, because you don't know what the weight is coming from. And I think MOST people do strength training as part of their weight loss regimen (and if they don't, they should). I think the days are gone where all the chicks just do cardio and don't touch weights because they are afraid of bulking up. So, if you're doing strength training, you will be putting on muscle.
In fact, theoretically, if you were being really athletic and really focusing on resistance training of your core muscles, I think it would probably be possible to actually GAIN weight, so that you could actually have the body you want at a higher total weight than you started with. Say you were a really flabby 150 pounds with a body fat percentage of 40%. So, you have 60 pounds of fat on your body. I would think that if you did a lot of strength training, you could probably put on a 1.5 pounds of muscle per week or something like that. But let's say you only lose a pound of fat a week. You'd be gaining .5 pounds every week, and then in, let's say 3 months, you will have lost 13.5 pounds of fat but you will have put on 20.3 pounds of muscle. So, NOW you weigh 156.8 pounds total, almost 7 pounds higher than when you started, but your body probably looks pretty amazingly good, because you replaced a lot of fat with a lot of muscle in your body composition--now you have a body fat percentage of 30% instead of 40% even though your total weight went up! I don't know if that exact scenario is possible, but it seems reasonable.
So anyway, I am really focusing on body composition instead of total weight. It's probably a good idea for everyone to think of it that way!
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Terabyte
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Posted: 2 April 2009 03:04 pm |
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Okay, well, good news in the body composition department! When I weighed myself this morning, my total weight was at 151.8 with a body fat of 32.6% and water of 49%.
This means that I have lost some more fat, and some more water (that probably was supporting the fat) since my last weigh in two days ago.
I currently have 49.5 pounds of fat on my body. I very glad to be in the 40s for my fat weight, even if it is only a little. I think that ideally, I would like to have around 30 pounds of fat on my body, so I just have to lose 19.5 more pounds of fat!
Altogether, since I started the Alternate Day Diet on March 17, I have lost about 1.8 pounds of body fat and put on about 1.4 pounds of muscle (and also mammary tissue it seems for some reason! lol) That's pretty good for 16 days!
And listen up people because this is really important, especially those who have said they are a slave to the scale number. My TOTAL WEIGHT only went down .8 pounds, but my fat loss was over twice this amount! Since I was putting on muscle, it offset a lot of the fat loss in my total weight. I would highly recommend that everyone get some way to measure not just weight loss but fat loss. You can get a scale that measures body fat or you can buy fat calipers. I think a lot of people tend to get discouraged when they just have a scale that measures total weight because when the numbers don't go down or even go up (if someone is really doing a lot of strength training and packing on a lot of muscle) people get sad and feel like what they're doing isn't working. So I am telling you, if you want to see how your body is actually changing in composition, you need something to measure body fat, not just total weight. Total weight is actually almost a waste of time in my opinion, because you don't know what the weight is coming from. And I think MOST people do strength training as part of their weight loss regimen (and if they don't, they should). I think the days are gone where all the chicks just do cardio and don't touch weights because they are afraid of bulking up. So, if you're doing strength training, you will be putting on muscle.
In fact, theoretically, if you were being really athletic and really focusing on resistance training of your core muscles, I think it would probably be possible to actually GAIN weight, so that you could actually have the body you want at a higher total weight than you started with. Say you were a really flabby 150 pounds with a body fat percentage of 40%. So, you have 60 pounds of fat on your body. I would think that if you did a lot of strength training, you could probably put on a 1.5 pounds of muscle per week or something like that. But let's say you only lose a pound of fat a week. You'd be gaining .5 pounds every week, and then in, let's say 3 months, you will have lost 13.5 pounds of fat but you will have put on 20.3 pounds of muscle. So, NOW you weigh 156.8 pounds total, almost 7 pounds higher than when you started, but your body probably looks pretty amazingly good, because you replaced a lot of fat with a lot of muscle in your body composition--now you have a body fat percentage of 30% instead of 40% even though your total weight went up! I don't know if that exact scenario is possible, but it seems reasonable.
So anyway, I am really focusing on body composition instead of total weight. It's probably a good idea for everyone to think of it that way!
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mj36
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Posted: 2 April 2009 10:46 pm |
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| I got one of those scales that does the body composition. It has made me drink more water (I am terrible at that) because it always says I am about 45% water and I should be about 50%. Also, it shows that I have lost a little fat even though the actual weight has changed very little. It definitely helps get a clearer picture!
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50lbs2lose
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Posted: 3 April 2009 01:23 pm |
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Terabyte, what you're talking about is me all the way right now! The last few days the overall reading is168. BUT my fat percent is down to 28.5!!!and my water is up to 55percent! (I don't know if the water is a hood reading or not ?)
In any case with all the working out I'm doing and how tight I'm feeling I would get pretty frustrated if all I saw was that 168 up from 164! I'm also ovulating and I tend to have a lot of mucus (?) lately every time I ovulate. So I am wanting the number of overall weght to go down but I'm not anxious about it. I have to focus on being consistent.Last edited on 3 April 2009 01:28 pm by 50lbs2lose
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50lbs2lose
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Posted: 3 April 2009 01:49 pm |
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| Can you do the math for me on those percentages? You know like how much actual lean mass etc.? Thanx in advance.
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Terabyte
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Posted: 4 April 2009 07:45 am |
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Ah, another successful down day! I am very pleased! It's amazing how one can get used to a down day, although I will admit I was way superbusy at work, which was good. Kept my mind off eating.
Also, I came up with a great snack that is only 30 calories. And it's barely any prep time. I call them Hot Breanne's Nachos (after my hot and sexy coworker Breanne). Okay, so I didn't come up with them, Breanne did, that's why they are named after her, but I am going to be the one telling you about it right now:
You just take some hot sauce, some seasoning, and a cucumber. Just slice the cucmber into little discs, then pour the hot sauce on them and sprinkle them with seasoning and WOW! You have a delicious, spicy, crunchy snack that is way low in calories. Because the hot sauce doesn't have calories and the seasoning doesn't have calories and the cucumber is mostly water. They're awesome! I wanted to send a picture to my top advisor consort to show him because he was having a down day too, but my stupid phone was dying and didn't have enough battery power to take a picture.
Incidentally, I have gotten really into taking pictures with my phone and sending them to people. I think it's fun! I love texting and picture messaging and all that #%@&!. It's so cool and amazing that we have such awesome instant communication technology.
Anyway, on my down day, I had a pear, Hot Breanne's Nachos, 3 cups of green tea, a piece of choclate cake, and a chocolate chip cookie. Just 430 calories. Go team!!!
And I did some good strength training--push-ups and ab lifts. Very happy about that. AND ooh, I almost forgot, I got to play checkers with my neighbors, and one of them was my super hot Guatemalan neighbor, Luis, the one I kissed before. Man, that guy is so cute and shy and smiley. I just think he's awesome. He held my hand when we were playing and I thought it was so cool and dreamy. And he always dresses so nice, I really like his style, always has puma or champion stuff on and he knows how to put together outfits really well. He has the best style out of all my neighbors.
I also started the second level of my meditation exercises--last week I had to hold my body perfectly still for 15 minutes and this week I am supposed to try and hold all my thoughts still, or rather, stop all my thoughts for at least 15 minutes. It is hard to do, and I definitely only did it briefly in little snippets, but the book says that is expected and I will eventually be able to go longer and longer without thinking anything. The 15 minutes did go by very quickly though--I couldn't believe it when my alarm went off, I was like WOW! I can't believe I made it through that quickly!
50lbs: Yes, I love math, so I would be happy to run your numbers. You have 47.8 pounds of fat, 92.4 pounds of water, and 27.8 pounds of lean tissue. 28% body fat is pretty #%@&! impressive! I can't wait until mine is anywhere in the 20s! That's great! Keep up the good work!
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Terabyte
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Posted: 4 April 2009 07:50 am |
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MJ: That's funny, right after I read that I went and drank more water. I needed to drink about 5 more ounces to hit my goal. So thanks!
My water is usually around 49%, but when I just checked right before I got on this site, I was at 48.6%. Water is supposed to be around 50% of your weight. I don't think I have ever seen it go above 50% for me though, even when I was doing the morning water therapy.
I was trying to think what would I really like to see the scale say tomorrow---I think I would like to have lost at least another .2 pounds of fat, so that I will have lost 2 pounds total of fat. And it would be nice to have replaced that fat with muscle! So, at least .2 pounds less of fat and at least .2 pounds more of muscle, and I will be super happy.
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Terabyte
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Posted: 4 April 2009 02:00 pm |
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Okay, everybody, please note: Terabyte is my LAST name, I am only using it because something went screwy with this site. But please, please call me Straylight. That is my first name, and I like to go by it. Okay? Thank you everyone for being accommodating!
just remember: Straylight Terabyte is my full name, but I prefer to be called Straylight.
And now back to our regularly scheduling beaming and cheering:
YES!!!!! I got on the scale this morning and not only did I lost .2 pounds of fat and gain .2 pounds of muscle. I lost eve MORE fat and gained even MORE muscle!
Here are the numbers
Total weight: 150.6 pounds
Body fat: 32%, 48.2 pounds
Water: 49.3% 74.2 pounds
Muscle: 28.2 pounds
HOORAY!!!! So, 18 days deep into the Alternate Day Diet, and I have lost 3.1 pounds of fat, .6 pounds of water (this is negligible, probably) and gained 1.7 pounds of muscle. This is awesome! And today is an up day, that' even better!
I am going to my family's for one of their annual spring dinners (my family is really into spring and celebrating fertility stuff, rites of spring, etc. We need a maypole, seriously. Except I don't think we have any virgin chicks left in our family. The youngest grandchild is 20 years old and it's possible she's a virgin, but I doubt it. And there's no great-grandchildren yet. Actually screw it, the maypole thing is a big metaphor for sex anyway, so it should be the chicks who've had sex that participate anyway. How can you celebrate fertility with a bunch of virgins? Even the flowers have sex with the bees, so virginity is over-rated anyway. Well, actually, I think that whole pure maiden thing is just mysogynistic social control total horsesh.it anyway, so there. In fact, I wish I had started being an impure maiden a lot sooner than I did--stupid, lousy, choking, religious traumatic experiences, killing my second chakra from 12 - 20. I RENOUNCE IT!!! I SPIT ON IT!!!  
I think Sassykat said she averaged a loss of 1.3 pounds per week doing the Alternate Day Diet, so I am right about there with her. Ummmm, yep! I am average a fat loss of about 1.2 pounds per week, so yeah, that's basically right there with her. (But keep in my mind, I am measuring fat loss, not total weight lost. I wonder if she was doing that do. I am going to go ask her...)
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Terabyte
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Posted: 5 April 2009 03:08 am |
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well i had a good spring celebration with my family. I fashioned this crown thing to wear. It's like what the maidens would wear to the maypole ritual back in the day.
Attached Image (viewed 159 times):
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Terabyte
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Posted: 5 April 2009 03:16 am |
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oh and check this out, I think this is really interesting...
back in the pagan days before christianity spread everywhere, many peoples had spring rituals where they celebrated fertility and had basically rites of spring parties. Now I don't know exactly what went on at these celebrations, because I wasn't there, but they were fertility celebrations--fertility of plants and flowers as they were in bloom, fertility of animals, including humans, obviously. And if I am not mistaken, the maypole celebration was a big metaphor for sexual intercourse as the maypole as a phallic symbol and the maidens would dance around it wrapping it in ribbons and that was supposed to symbolize, well, a vagina wrapping around a penis.
And then when christianity came and spread all over, the resurrection celebration got mixed in with fertility rites. In fact the word Easter comes from the word "estrus" which means fertility in mammals, literally meaning "in heat." And most of the commercial Easter symbols like eggs and rabbits have their roots in fertility/mating celebrations.
Too much! I think it's fantastic.
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zenobia
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 5 April 2009 05:50 am |
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i LOVE that stuff!!! Christmas is the same sort of thing. the whole tree idea came from peagans, as did gift exchange. I think it's a trip how bunnies and eggs represent Easter. i think it's neat how everything is sort of intertwined.
it's funny- i work at a popular drug store and we sell all that Easter stuff and amungst all the eggs and rabits, there is one chocolate cross and one pair of chocolate hands in prayer. it wierds me out and at teh same time, i find the whole thing just fascinating.
and i dig how your family celebrates spring like that. i would totally get into it- flowers in the hair is always a bonus!
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Terabyte
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Posted: 5 April 2009 06:04 am |
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That is some seriously weird sh.it with the chocolate cross and chocolate praying hands. I would definitely eat a chocolate cross on Easter. Man, I need to go Rite Aid and see if I can find one. That is just too great to pass up! Seems really sacrilegious to me (that's why I want to eat it) but I am presuming that the manufacturers thought they would be appealing to Christians when they made those things.
I've got to say--when I was severely Christian back in my Dark Ages days, I was seriously offended by all the commercialism wrapped up in Christmas and Easter. It would make me really mad to go into stores and see that stuff gunking up a religious holiday with materialism. Now, I just think it's funny. I mean a chocolate cross, come on! George Carlin himself couldn't have made a funnier joke.
Somewhere I read that the tinsel we hang on Christmas trees is supposed to symbolize the ejaculate of the gods. Every time I see tinsel now, I just think of, well, you do the math! It cracks me up. Haha, I should take a picture with tinsel on my face standing under the mistletoe like I just had some major fun with Samhain.
Last edited on 5 April 2009 06:07 am by Terabyte
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Terabyte
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Posted: 5 April 2009 10:16 pm |
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wow, i've been having such a good day! I went and completed some stuff for work this morning, only took a few minutes, and then I went for a nice long walk with my friend Steph through her neighborhood--she lives in Silverlake, lots of cool shops. It was fun.
And then I was just outside sunbathing and reading this really cool book "In Search of the Miraculous" and this dude happened by and asked what I was reading and I started talking to him, and he was real nice and attractive and interesting and he lives right next door. He asked me for my number, and I gave it to him. He's a film writer. And a mystic. And white. And he likes the Simpsons.
So woo hoo!
That was really cool!
Maybe I will hang out with him tonight and watch the Simpsons. :)
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Terabyte
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Posted: 5 April 2009 10:23 pm |
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Today is a down day, and I am doing good so far! I had a bit of energy drink (about 4 ounces), a piece of tomato and basic pizza, some Hot Breanne's nachos, and an apple. A little later I will have some more Hot Breanne's nachos, and I will have consumed about 445 calories. That's pretty dang good! I am getting the hang of these down days I think! And thank God for Hot Breanne's nachos, they are a total down day lifesaver!
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Terabyte
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Posted: 6 April 2009 01:04 pm |
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The scale this morning was okay, really not much change since last weigh-in, but that's okay! This was what it said:
Total weight: 151.4 pounds
Fat: 32.1%, 48.5 pounds
Water: 74.9 pounds
Muscle: 28.0 pounds
So, after 20 days on the Alternate Day Diet, I have lost 2.8 pounds of fat, put on .1 pounds of water weight, and put on 1.5 pounds of muscle.
There is probably a lot of sodium in Hot Breanne's Nachos, so I could be retaining a little bit of water. As for the little bit of fat that I put on, I am not exactly sure what that's due to, and of course I would rather to have LOST fat than gained it in the last 2 days, but in the overall picture, I am still very pleased that I have lost almost 3 pounds of fat in about 3 weeks. I am definitely happy with losing a pound of fat a week. Not to mention that muscle I have put on--now THAT is nice. Let's see, I seem to be averaging about .5 pounds of muscle gain per week. That's great!
Last night I was dog-tired after my sunbathing. I probably spent at least an hour out there in the sun (not exactly sure because I try to eschew clocks as much as possibe). I like to not know what time it is unless I absolutely have to. But it felt great to be outside, although I got that sun-tiredness that happens and I took a big nap from 5 - 6pm last night.
I still did my meditation, which I was very proud of! I didn't sit still the whole time, I had to move my head because my neck was hurting really bad, but I DID refrain from scratching my ear even though it was itching something fierce. I skipped studying, but I did find myself able to integrate what I had been studying with things that I was observing in everyday life--little connections came up in my mind all throughout the day, so that felt good, it felt like I was really getting a grasp on the material. I think tonight I may try taking a practice test instead of just studying, we'll see.
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Terabyte
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Posted: 8 April 2009 04:11 am |
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Had a long day, but a good successful down day. Kept it well under 500 calories!
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Terabyte
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Posted: 8 April 2009 01:37 pm |
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Actually, when I did the math for yesterday, I was WAY under 500 calories, consuming only about 290. I had
-orange juice
-pumpkin seeds
-1/2 Rock Star energy drink (sipped on VERY slowly throughout the day)
And that's it! I had a really busy day, so that kept my mind off eating, which was nice. Also, I am helping one of my girls file a complaint against a county worker who accused her of being a devil worshipper (and then got mad at our agency for not telling her there was a devil worshipper in the house). My girl is NOT a devil worshipper, we talk about spiritual matters all the time, and she doesn't even believe in the existance of the devil, she thinks it's a quaint and silly concept. The devil is, after, a Christian invention for the most part, and my girl doesn't believe in Christianity either. She is basically a deist, so she was shocked and angry that this county worker drew this conclusion about her. (the County worker was placing another girl in the home and then blew up when she met my girl).
Now yes, my girl wears black and she wears dark make-up and she has a bunch of Twilight stuff on her wall, but HELLO!!! Has this County worker been under a rock? That's the style, tons and tons of teens dress in black and are obsessed with Twilight. She's ridiculous and obviously knows nothing about 1) teenagers or 2) how to look into something before flying off the handle. And of course, she mad my girl feel like absolute #%@&! like she did something wrong. Luckily my chick is very smart and is really trying not to take it personally or blame herself for that other girl not being placed in the home, but she is quite indignant about what happened, how she was perceived, and how this perception wasn't even checked out before taking such a drastic action. So, we are going to be filing a complaint with the ombudsman, I think. I don't even want to bother with the county worker's supervisor, because the sup. more than likely will just protect the county worker.
And of course, my foster parents are reeling from it and feel really bad for the girl who was accused of being a devil worshipper. (So stupid!!! Devil worshipper, SHEESH!!!)
Anyway, the scale this morning gave me the following info (not great, but not horrible):
Total weight: 152.4
Body fat %: 32.4 (49.4 pounds)
I forget the water weight, sorry!
So, three weeks deep into the Alternate Day Diet, I have lost 1.9 pounds of fat and put on probably about 2 pounds of muscle. This results are acceptable and I will continue on the diet. I would like to be losing at a little bit of a faster rate, but that is OK. I am also ovulating right now, so that could be throwing it off a little. But, losing about .6 pounds of fat and gaining about .7 pounds of muscle per week is really good for getting to eat whatever I want every other day.
I just did some mountain jumpers this morning. That felt good. And I drank some green tea.
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Terabyte
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Posted: 9 April 2009 01:46 pm |
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Good day yesterday, and I am so happy I don't have to be in until 10:00 today! Sweet!
It was an up day, so I definitely indulged. I had McDonald's for breakfast and Del Taco for lunch but then a pretty healthy dinner--a nice salad, and a small serving of spaghetti.
Work was good, I drove one of my newer girls home and we had a lot of fun being silly in the car. I really enjoy working with kids because you can be so silly with them and they like it and I like it and it's fun! I feel thankful that I have that opportunity on pretty much almost a daily basis. It's great!
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Terabyte
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Posted: 11 April 2009 01:45 am |
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Weigh in this morning stated the following:
Total weight: 151.4
Body fat: 31.9%
Water: 49.6%
In running the numbers, this means that in the last 3 weeks and 3 days, I have lost 3 pounds of fat and gained about 2 pounds of muscle. This is pretty much what has been my results for about the last week and a half. I would like to see a little more fat loss, I mean anything, a quarter pound, a half pound, whatever! I am still happy that I have lost 3 pounds of fat in three weeks and I am still of of the opinion that the Alternate Day Diet works, I just might have to switch something around to get the fat to continue moving off my body.
Today I was happy because I had a dental appointment and did not eat anything until about noon, so that meant I had extra fat-burning this morning because all my activity was done on an empty stomach with no food for fuel, which is my understanding speeds fat loss. So, that's pretty cool. I also have another dental appointment next week, so that will help out in staving off eating that day as well.
I was even thinking about trying to wait a lot later in the day to eat, like until I am really hungry. I know everyone says this is a bad idea, but I don't know. I have read conflicting info on this. Maybe I will try it and see how it works. My weigh-in on Sunday morning will probably influence my decision a lot.
I am looking forward to tonight. I will be hanging out with the blue-eyed Jew and then tomorrow I am going to a party with my top advisor consort and then sunday i am hanging out with my familia. It's going to be a good weekend! I am happy :)
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Terabyte
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Posted: 11 April 2009 05:28 pm |
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Wow, what a fun night! Me and the blue-eyed Jew stayed up real late and put on music and danced and watched british comedy until about 4:00am. Sweet!
AND I got on the scale this morning, even though yesterday WAS an up day. (I have never done this before, weighed myself after an up day), and I was actually pretty pleased with what it said. Total weight wasn't up by THAT much (just about .4 pounds) and fat weight was only up by .6 pounds. So, I decided that I was really going to try to integrate waiting later to eat into my routine. That cuts my calories by a lot.
I spoke with my top advisor consort and he says that on his down days he always waits until about noon to eat. If I could do that on ALL my days, I really think I could save myself a serious lot of calories, because I probably consume, I don't know, at least half my calories by noon.
So, today is a down day for me, I think it's about 10:30am, and I haven't eaten anything yet. I have some quick easy stuff to make the blue-eyed Jew if he gets hungry, he usually likes to eat a little something in the morning, but not much!
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Terabyte
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Posted: 11 April 2009 06:22 pm |
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Wow! Now I am not sure exactly what time it is, because I don't have a clock in the house, but I know it's later than last time I posted, and I am still going. Haven't eaten anything yet! Go me!!!
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zenobia
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 14 April 2009 09:55 pm |
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just checking up on ya- havn't seen you here for a few days and you always tend to post more.
hope all is well :)
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cportwine
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 15 April 2009 01:25 pm |
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| Yea, Where are you? How's the diet going....
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Terabyte
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Posted: 16 April 2009 03:21 am |
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Zen: Thank you for checking up on me. Sometimes nobody writes much in here and I feel like I am talking to myself sometimes, which is fine, this diary is to help me reach my body goals, but it IS nice to know that people are still reading it.
Anyway, actually everything has been going fantastic, and I am pretty happy. To put in a nutshell, I basically stopped the up day down day thing because I was noticing that I was eating very poorly on both my up and down days--overeating WAY too much on my up days and then still eating cr.ap on my down days, so I came up with a new plan of my own design. (My top advisor is still doing the up day down day thing, and it is working pretty well for him, so we'll see how long he keeps it up).
My own plan is, once again, is to return to what was successful for me in the past--1800 calories, making a conscious effort to include fruits and vegetables in my diet, and this part is new, doing yoga in 5 - 10 minute increments throughout the day (I have started doing little sessions at work with my coworkers) and lots of walking. So far, I have lost about 2 pounds of fat in the last 2 days by following this plan, and it is sustainable.
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zenobia
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 16 April 2009 07:32 am |
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hey you!
thing sound like they are going well for you. tthat makes me happy
yeah, i know how you feel about it seeming like you are only writing to yourself, i feel that way sometimes too. i just keep pressing on though. even if i take an extended break from writing, i certainly read journals. and yours is always one of them
take care and you are so dead on about the calorie coutnig thing- i did my best when i have my daily limit. stick with the plan, it's bound to get you closer to where you want to be.
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cportwine
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 16 April 2009 11:11 am |
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I think it's great that you decided to eat better. You know when I lost weight for the first time four years ago. I was probably in the worse shape ever. I ate cr.ap and didn't exercise. So, goes to show you that you can be skinny and not in good health, lol.
I am so glad I exercise now and try to eat right. It really does make a difference as far as our bodies go and our general health.
Oh yea, I just thought I would let you know that I read your diary all the time. You would be surprise how many people our reading when not posting. 
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Terabyte
Distinguished Member
| Joined: | 18 November 2008 |
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| Posts: | 1587 |
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Posted: 16 April 2009 01:12 pm |
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yes! Oh WOO HOO hallelujah! what a great day yesterday! I saved a kid from getting expelled AND i got a big cute hug from one of my newer girls (she's 9) because she is so happy that I am trying hard to get her back to her dad.
AND I have a new consort--that makes six! If I can get one more I will be weekly!
And last but certainly not least I weighed in this morning after 3 days of my being back on my new old plan (aka the dirty raver plan) and I am at 32.1% body fat with a total weight of 150 making my fat weight 48.2 which means I lost 3.4 pounds of body fat! WOO HOO!!!!!
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Terabyte
Distinguished Member
| Joined: | 18 November 2008 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 1587 |
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Posted: 16 April 2009 01:14 pm |
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weekly monthly yearly
all the brothers try to fly
but they can't get near me
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mj36
New Member
| Joined: | 25 December 2008 |
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| Posts: | 1063 |
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Posted: 17 April 2009 03:59 am |
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| I had some catching up to do. First of all, I do hope that your young lady follows through with filing against the county worker who obviously is a)close-minded and b)judgmental- she shouldn't be in charge of any kids, much less needy ones! Second, your plan to get back to basics sounds solid. I have been doing a bit of the same myself. I have been too focused on calories, etc and not on the important things like eating fruits (I won't say veggies because though I strive, I just don't ever accomplish anything on that front!), limiting fats, choosing healthier carbs ie brown rice (instead of trying to avoid carbs altogether and then binging on the refined kinds, like cookies and bagels!). I know what you mean about sometimes feeling like you are writing to yourself. I think those little "hey, good for you", "keep trying", "sorry to hear" comments are what makes me hop on here most days of the week!
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Terabyte
Distinguished Member
| Joined: | 18 November 2008 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 1587 |
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Posted: 17 April 2009 04:03 am |
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Zen and Cindy: Thanks for letting me know you read it all the time. I wish there was a way to know who is reading your profile (and I mean exactly who, not just that someone read it because I know we have a views counter).
I am happy that you read it!
I am so pleased with my fat loss, I think it's great and it feels great to break up the workday with yoga. I like that my coworkers like to do it too.
And my eating is like a good mix of healthy and bad food I think. Like yesterday, I had
1) about 8 ounces of coffee rockstar--I figured out that if I drink a smaller amount it just gives me energy and doesn't put me on edge. I drank the 8 ounces all throughout the day, from about 7am to about 7pm.
2) Jack in the Crack spicy chicken sandwich (I chose it because it has chicken, which is better for you than beef) as well as tomatoes and lettuce)
3) small curly fries. Proud of myself that I chose the small. Something like 360 calories
4) One shortbread cookie, those Danish kind, you know the kind I mean!
5) an almond snickers--it's 60 calories less than a regular snickers, which is crazy because almonds are so much better than peanuts in my opinion
6) green tea in the morning
Altogether, about 1800 calories.
I am always reminded of systems theory when I look at how small changes bring big effects. One of the tenets of systems theory is that a change in the part brings about a change in the whole (that goes for any sort of system, ecosystem, social system, mechanical system, etc.) Little changes like this are fairly easy to make, especially for me. I mean, please an almond snickers versus a peanut snickers, one cookie instead of four, chicken sandwich instead of beef, small fries instead of medium, picking something with some veggies on it instead of without, etc. And I really only exercise in no more than 10-minute increments, and usually 5-minute increments so it's really great and doesn't even feel like you're doing much at all, but you get to reap all these benefits!
Everything I have ever tried (and ya'll have seen me try a lot--no white carbs, Alternate Day Diet, fasting and that's just in the last freaking 7 months!!!!) and really these things work for a little while, but most of the time I can't even keep it up for 30 days. I lost about 19 pounds over about 4 months just doing the counting calories thing and I had no forbidden foods or food schedules (candy only on sunday, beer only on saturday etc.) It was great. I remember my top advisor said, man you should write a book, I see you eating #%@&! all the time and you just get leaner and leaner.
Really, just tracking calories and making small changes to eat a bit more healthy is awesome and turns me into one of those people that "eat whatever they want and don't put on weight." Now granted, I can't sit and eat a whole pizza, obviously, but really eating that much isn't good anyway and does the 8th piece of pizza really even taste THAT great? 3 pieces of pizza is what I usually eat and that's a pretty decent amount and it's about 750 calories, which is decent for a meal, I think.
oh yeah, and I decided that I want to go out and dance hardcore at least once a week. I went to a warehouse ravery thing this past weekend and I danced really wild for probably about 3 hours. And that feels GREAT and does not feel like "exercise" (not many exercises you can do with a drink in one hand and a man in the other--oh wait, I guess there is ONE exercise lol and that one doesn't feel like exercise either) but I am sure that three hours of dancing burns a #%@&! of a lot of calories. In fact, let me check....
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