What Scrappy said.

I believe the 15 pounds I've lost this year is primarily from increased activity. I certainly haven't been trying to lose weight, although with my Sous Kitchen meals I am a bit better with portion control since I try to make sure (for budget reasons) to get at least as many portions from each entrée as they say I should.

The *only* thing I've ever done to lose weight successfully was to go off birth control. I'm 20 lbs lighter since I had Dylan than I've ever been in my entire adult life, with no other change in eating habits or activity level. (I now chase a toddler around the playground every day, but I haven't had a gym membership in almost two years so it evens out.)

Happy Birthday, Nutty!

Peanut butter and bananas on toast (Hi PixKristin!)

Heh. What megan walker is alluding to here is how very much we bonded over our comfort foods this past weekend. It was hysterical. Every time I said something I was craving--things that have caused many people out here to look at me like I'm crazy--she said, "I love that too!" and vice versa. It really rocked. I don't know if it was just a Connecticut thing or if it was more just a family thing, but it was kind of awesome.

I was able to maintain my weight loss as long as I kept up the healthy eating and the working out.

Sadly, I am not keeping up my healthy eating and my working out. Though as of today, I'm on a refined sugar avoidance plan for a while, after binging on spice drops yesterday. And tomorrow starts with the walking again. Woo.

Happy Birthday, Nutty!

Going from the 250 I should've never been down to 155-160 was (relatively) easy. And when I was in the heady rush of losing all that weight, the last 15-20 pounds was also fairly easy. (I was doing power yoga as my workout).

But then, moving to Florida caused me to gain twenty back, which I then lost by starting to work with a trainer. (Loved the trainer, hated the workouts with a passion.) Last April, I hurt my wrist and hip and wasn't able to work out. Gained five pounds almost immediately, but that wasn't such a big deal. However, over the last year, I've gained back that fifteen pounds that puts me back in the 155-160 range and I simply don't feel good.

My eating habits aren't too terribly different from when I was down at 133, with the exception of the stress-eating peanut butter M&Ms. This is a big culprit, I'm afraid, but dammit, I do eat reasonably the rest of the time, so I'm not going to cut off one of my few treats. At the same time, I desperately want to lose this weight-- more because I don't want to fall into the spiral of "Oh, another five pounds won't matter," because in the end, it does matter. Right now, everything I gain past where I'm at, makes me feel physically worse.

What I need to do is find something active that I'll actually enjoy doing. I'm so not an organized exercise person-- I wish the ice rink wasn't nearly an hour away, but I'm almost to the point where I'm thinking I'll get off my ass and drive the freakin' hour to go skate for a bit.

What I'd really love to do is take Latin dance classes, but like restaurant food delivery, it's near non-existent around here.

Happy birthday Nutty!

Barb, though you may not get the proper techniques, you could always try something like this [link]

Barb, though you may not get the proper techniques, you could always try something like this

It's a thought DJ-- thanks! One of the reasons though, I'd like to take a class is I'd like to be around other people. I'm normally such an introvert, but when it comes to something performance-oriented, I actually like being around other people.

My psyche is one screwed up place, I swear.

However, studies have shown that calories often don't work that simplistically in people, for a variety of reasons, including: hormone levels; medications a person is taking; metabolic damage caused by previous attempts to diet, etc.

Right, but do those things lead your body to process a hamburger calorie different from a broccoli calorie? Or does it mean you process calories as a whole differently than other people?

Both. My body might not process a hamburger calorie the same as a broccoli calorie, while yours might.

I wish it were this simple, but humans are not lab-calibrated calorimeters. Consuming 3,500 fewer calories than you burn does not always lead to losing a pound. Eating 3,500 calories more than what you burn does not always lead to gaining a pound. I can dredge up the studies tonight, when I'm at home, but I don't have time while I'm at work.

Hey look! Free dance videos! [link]

I'm normally such an introvert, but when it comes to something performance-oriented, I actually like being around other people.

I get you. I'm the exact opposite. I'm very extroverted, but I can't stand performance-oriented stuff. I'm not enough of a joiner.