FLUFFBUSTERS!!

Hey everyone! Welcome back to Fluffbusters! I’m so happy we have so many participants!

This time, we’ll have cute little buttons for the weekly winners, courtesy of Apple.

This is the list of participants so far. If you don’t see your name, don’t worry, there’s still time to join in on the fun. Just leave your name and starting weight in the comments!

Apple – 148.8

Badness Jones  – 155

Miranda – 248

MomBabe – 219.2

Liz – 173

Sarah – 290

Tenille

CHALLENGE: This week, it’s a mental challenge. I want you to write 100 reasons you want to lose weight. You need to do it all in one sitting… A list of 100 is a powerful tool.

taken from here:

The Dynamics of Making Lists of 100

To understand why creating a List of 100 works, consider what happens during the process of making one. There are three distinct phases you will usually go through when making your list:

1. First 30 entries or so: where you escape circular thinking

The first items are the easiest to come up with. In this first phase, your conscious mind is still in charge and you’ll most probably just dump ideas you’re already familiar with.

2. Next 40 entries: where patterns emerge

In this phase you’ll start noticing recurring themes and patterns of thought. Phase two is usually the hardest one, as you may find it difficult to let go of the ideas you had in the first phase in order to come up with new, distinct ones.

Bear in mind that it’s exactly this struggle that enables you to get to the third and most fruitful phase, hence the importance of not giving up at this point.

3. Last 30 entries: where the gems are

At this point you will already have exhausted most “logical” answers, allowing your subconscious mind to express itself more freely. Don’t be surprised if you get at least one or two really nonsensical or seemingly illogical entries. You may feel tempted to not write them down (”How on earth did I think that?”). Write them down anyway: these wacky entries may sound far from profound, but it’s exactly those items you’re after.

Also, after coming up with so many entries, it’s not rare to experience a shift in perspective: items that you first felt as being awkward will seem to better fit now than when you started the list. Moreover, your whole attitude towards the problem can change as you develop your entries: you may even come to the conclusion that you should be dealing with a different list topic altogether.

Good luck! I’m very interested to see what happens with this one.

I’d like to introduce myself…

By Miranda

Hello, everyone! My name is Miranda and I am fluffy. I have been reading this blog for a few months and have finally gotten up the courage to post. I don’t think I have ever openly shared my weight with anyone- not even when I was skinnier- but I think it’s finally time.

I have always been considered overweight by normal standards. When I was 17, I joined the Army with my parents permission. I was a junior in high school and went to basic training in the summer between my junior and senior year. When I joined, I was weighed. I weighed right around 160 and was roughly a size 10/12 (if my memory serves me correctly). I was overweight so they had to ‘tape’ me- essentially take my BMI or body fat measurement or whatever they called it. I passed that with flying colors, so obviously I was more muscular than fat. 8 weeks of hell and torture later, I left basic training weighing 156 pounds, but ultimately a size smaller.

Flash forward 1 year. I had just graduated high school, completed my medical training for the Army and decided to go active duty. I had gained a little bit of weight back and was again at a size 10/12. Then in February of ‘99 I got pregnant. I gained a whopping 70 pounds during my pregnancy. 230 pounds and only 20 of those came off right away! “No problem,” I thought. “I’ll lose the weight running every morning and doing the required PT (physical training).” Not so easy to do when you are carrying an extra 50 pounds! Then, within the next year I was (honorably) discharged from the Army, going through a divorce and moving back to AZ. With all that going on, I had finally dropped below 200 to hit 190.

Over the next 4 years, I continued to gain until May (?) of ‘05 when I reached 255. My mom, sisters and I joined LA Weight Loss. Over the course of 4 or 5 months, I lost 20 pounds, which brought me down to 235. I underwent a surgery and job change and then continued, once again, to gain until I was 275. I began to stop having menstrual cycles and I knew that my body wasn’t liking what I was doing, so I decided it was finally time to make a change. I joined Curves in April of ‘07 and began to eat healthier. The next month, I got engaged and had even more incentive to lose weight. I lost a total of 30 pounds by November or December. Things got really hectic in January and February with the wedding (and another job change!) so I stopped working out, but continued to try to eat healthier. I have pretty much maintained since then, so here I sit at a lovely 248 pounds.

It’s funny because I used to think that 160 was fat. Now I look at myself and think that I was crazy to think that. I know that with my genes (doubly cursed I tell you!) and body type I am not meant to be 130 or even 160 pounds again. I have decided that I will settle for right around 190. Heck, I’d even be happy with 200 knowing that I will have lost 75 pounds. My new incentive is that my hubby and I didn’t get to take a honeymoon, so for our first anniversary we are planning a Mexican Riviera Cruise in February. That and my 10 year renunion is coming up in October. Realistically, I’d like to lose 20 pounds by October and another 20-25 by February. Let’s see if I can do it!

REMINDER

We will be starting Fluffbusters again on MONDAY.

If you want to join in the fun, let me know.

I need your stuff by Sunday night.

Thanks so much!

email: sweetmommybingham@gmail.com

Emotional backslide

by Badness Jones (and I apologize in advance for this post)

I’ve had a bad week.  I’ve been doing a lot of bingeing and emotional eating.  One day I made and ate an entire batch of butter tarts (they’re a Canadian thing, kind of like individual pecan pies without the pecans).  I haven’t wanted to get dressed or brush my hair or put on make-up.  I haven’t been making the beds.  (This isn’t really the forum for me to talk about it, but the friend of a friend lost her infant son, a boy not that much younger than mine, and it’s hit me very close to home….I seem to have lost my equilibrium….I doubt that this post will make much sense….sorry)

I find that for me, succeeding at the diet thing means keeping up with everything in my life – it’s got a domino effect.  It’s about control.  I feel better if my hair is washed, my make-up done, my clothes look pretty.  If I make the bed and do the dishes, it’s easier to keep the rest of the house clean.  If I feel good and the house is clean, I’m less likely to panic and eat a tub of ice-cream.

Today is the first day of summer holidays for my daughter.  I don’t want to do anything but sit in front of the tv, but I can’t start off like that.  I made myself get dressed and put on make-up.  I made the beds.  I did the dishes.  We’re going to go to the store in a few minutes and pick out a pretty scrapbook for Regan to chronicle her summer, and keep practising her letters.  Maybe she’ll be reading by the time she starts SK in the fall.  In the afternoon I’ll take them to the park or the pool, anything to get out of the house.  I’m going to start writing down everything I eat again too- I’m terrified of the way I’ve lost control.  I don’t want to put the weight back on.  And yet I feel guilty for even caring about something as vain and superficial as my figure while someone else is mourning her child.  But getting fat again isn’t going to bring him back.  How do you manage your worst emotions?

Fluffbusters:Week 8

Well, here it is. The final weigh in. Winner this week was Ms. Apple, with a loss of 1.2.   You go girl!

Name	Weight	Loss	Total
Amy	215	-	+2
Apple	148.4	-1.2	-8.8
Bonnie	199.9	-	-4.1
Jen	194.2	-	-2.0
Jill	201	-	-4
Julia	223	-	-7.0
Kamaile	226.8		-1.4
Karen	202.8	-	-6.2
Kris	272	-	+1
Liz	171.4	-	-3.1
MomBabe	217	+15.8	-0.8
Monica	129.1	-	-2
Nichole	169	-	-2.0
Nicki	193	-	-9.0
Randi	147	-	-1.0
Shar	222	-	-
Shelly	244	-	-3.0
Susan	180	-	-
Toni	304	-	-1.0

AND, the WINNER of the WHOLE DANGED THING is Nicki. She lost 9 lbs. In 2nd place is Apple with a loss of 8.8 pounds, and in 3rd, we have Julia with a loss of 7 pounds.

I’d like to say thank you to all the participants. It was great hearing from you each week. We have this next week off…. We’ll be starting Fluffbusters 2 on Monday, June 30. SO, whoever is interested shoot me an email sweetmommybingham@gmail.com

I’d also like to hear what you think we could do better for next time. I know I was slacking over here the last couple weeks, and I’m more than happy to head it up next time round, but due to health things, I won’t be participating. (Just thought I’d get that out there) Anyways, WHAT WORKED FOR YOU? What didn’t? What challenges would you like to see next time? Is there a team challenge you’re interested in? Do you want to have a partner? Thoughts, please!

Yes or No?

By Sarah

One of the major things about weight loss is motivation. This manifests itself in different ways – the “goal” outfit (mine is a gorgeous red printed on black spanish-flavoured knee-length dress), the “picture” (mine is taped at eye level on a cupboard in my kitchen so its the first thing I see when I go in)….and now, my mother has offered to pay me.

Yep, pay me. Apparently, to her, a pound lost is 10 dollars gained, up to a maximum of 100 pounds (to be lost within a year or 15 months).

I’m struggling with whether or not to accept this challenge. What do you guys think? Should I or not? Why or why not?

Quickfire Challenge

by Grace Ellen

Your mission is to help me come up with some healthy snack ideas. The constraints are as follows:

1. Snack must be healthy
2. Snack can be either salty or sweet or both
3. I am a picky eater, so carrots or celery don’t work well for me
4. Snacks must be able to be eaten by hand, when studying
5. Snacks should be something I can prepare at home (i.e. no Fiber One bars)
6. Snack should not include artificial sweeteners

Bonus points for snack being something a husband and baby can eat as well.

I will try the suggestions and post the results.

Fluffbusters: Week 7

Well, hey there. After all my griping, I ended up winning again this week. Another case of how in the heck did that happen? But I lost an amazing 13.8 pounds. THIRTEEN POUNDS. Go me. My next magic trick will be keeping it off. Here’s the progress for the week.

Name	Weight	Loss	Total
Amy	215	-	+2
Apple	149.6	Same	-7.6
Bonnie	199.9	-	-4.1
Jen	194.2	+1.2	-2.0
Jill	201	-	-4
Julia	223	-	-7.0
Kamaile	226.8		-1.4
Karen	202.8	-	-6.2
Kris	272	-	+1
Liz	171.4	-	-3.1
MomBabe	201.2	-13.8	-16.6
Monica	129.1	-	-2
Nichole	169	-	-2.0
Nicki	193	-	-9.0
Randi	147	-	-1.0
Shar	222	-	-
Shelly	244	-	-3.0
Susan	180	-	-
Toni	304	-	-1.0

Also, this coming Saturday is the last weigh in. After that, I think we’ll take a week off and start the whole process again. The weigh-in day will be Monday this next time, because I think it’s easier for people to remember on Monday, especially since most of you blog at work

Anyways, keep up the good work ladies! How was the last week of No Soda? This week, your mission is to exercise daily. Be it 10 minutes, or 60. Keep moving girls!

Go fast and hope for the best

by Grace Ellen

For the last six days, I’ve biked seven miles round trip. I’m taking a summer class at one of the universities here in town, and I thought it would be a good idea to leave my car at home
When I told my husband that I wanted to bike to class, he told me all the reasons it wasn’t a good idea. I didn’t drop the topic (i.e. nagged until he realized I wouldn’t give up on the idea). Then he brought out his secret weapon, the words he knew would deter me: So, I had a premonition of your death, he started, not looking at me.
Uh-huh, I said.
Well, it wasn’t really a premonition, he continued. It’s more like I thought about what will happen when you
die on your bike. Like what it will be like having to raise the baby by myself. And who I’d tell first. I guess I’d call someone in my family and give them the job of calling other people. And being home with the baby this past month, I don’t want to raise him alone.
Okay.
Silence.
Um…
More silence.
Okay, fine. I won’t do it, I conceded. I don’t want to die.
No, no, no, that’s not what I meant, he backtracked.
Well, what did you mean?
It’s just that I worry. Not so much about you, but about other people. Other people are idiots. Cars don’t pay attention to where they’re going. I don’t want you to die.
We had several conversations like this, and I started to doubt my grand idea. My anxiety kicked in, and I began saying things like I want to be buried in Orange, or I just want to see my baby grow up. I worried up until the day before class, when my husband had to practically push me out the door to do a practice run.
I got on my bike. I wobbled and teetered and almost fell, and then I took off. I huffed and puffed my way down the streets and up a hill and on and off of sidewalks up to the university and back home again.
I loved it. Yes, I looked like an idiot in my off-fitting helmet, and I had some near run-ins with pedestrians, but I loved it. When I came home, the endorphins had kicked in, and I breathlessly told my husband, I can feel my arm fat melting off.
You were feeling your arm fat on the bike? he asked.

Yep. It’s going away. I was excited about all the good things biking to class was going to do for me. I was going to get skinny. I’d be setting a good example for my kid (not that he can comprehend what I’m doing), and I’d be doing my part to spread out the $40+ I’m spending to fill up my Civic.
I’m loving biking to class. I don’t mind being the smelly kid in class. Being on my bike gives me a new perspective on my beloved city. I’m able to people watch and architecture watch. I also get to see the mixed bag of people who wander into the local porn store.
But I was overly optimistic about the results of biking. I don’t feel any thinner, and for some reason I can’t understand, the numbers on the scale keep climbing this week. I don’t think I’m building muscle either. It’s harder than I expected to roll out of bed at 6:45 in the morning and bike bleary-eyed up a hill that seems more like Mt. Everest. I have to go in and out of the street, dodging pedestrians, cars and other bikers. When I get home I’m exhausted and hungry, and with only 20 points allowed each day, I have a hard time finding something to eat that doesn’t cancel out the activity points I earned by biking.
I’m also having more fun than I expected. I look forward to the challenges I’ll face each day, and each day I get a little braver. I ride on the streets more and on the sidewalks less. Even though I can’t see or feel the results, I’m sure they are there somewhere. And I haven’t died. Yet.

By: The MomBabe

Man oh man. I’m frustrated. I’m frustrated with numbers, and doctors, and medicine, and exercise, and myself. I’m frustrated that I’m working so hard,  and not seeing results. Do you know we’re in the seventh week of fluffbusters? We are. And while I won last week with a loss of three pounds, it’s because I fluctuate between the same 10 pounds. So I’m not really any further down than I was 7 weeks ago. That’s frustrating.

I’ve had lots of doctor’s appointments lately. The good news is that my endocronologist thinks he may finally have my thyroid stuff under control. The bad thing is, that while the thyroid will damage your metaboloism and such, fixing it won’t magically make you lose all the pounds that it caused.

Then I had the fabulous well woman exam with my OB/GYN. It pretty much went like this “You’re too young to have all these problems. blah-de-dah. Let’s get  Ultrasounds! and Blood Work! and CT Scans! Hoorah!” And now I go back next week to see if he has an actual answer or if it’s another one of the “well, it looks normal here, but that doesn’t make any sense?”

Because, you see, my fluffy friends, I specialize in being a medical malady. I like to get weird problems that nobody knows the answer to and then when they finally determine the problem, they like to say things like “Huh. That’s odd. You’re too young to be having these problems.!” And they say it like that ! with the exc!amation point that’s all “This is so very strange and so very cool and I haven’t ever seen this in a 26 year old woman and I! am! going! to! be! in! the! history! books!!!!”

But I’m getting besides myself. Because the other thing that my Endo AND my OB/GYN casually mentioned was a LapBand.  Did you hear me?  A LAPBAND.

And on the one hand, wow, that would be kinda nice. And that is kinda wonderful that they know that I’m trying and trying and not seeing results. But it’s kinda frustrating. Because it’s like they’re both telling me I CAN’T do it on my own.  And in my eyes, it’s like they saying, you might as well give up because honey, without medical intervention, that ass is going NOWHERE.

The best part suckiest thing about this is that my insurance doesn’t cover things like that. Well, not without good cause. Which means if that’s the route I choose to take, then I have to play insurance games. And I hate playing insurance games.

I also hate that if they don’t decide I need it, and they aren’t going to pay for it, it means I give up. Because I feel like giving up.  As much as I hate being overweight, I don’t have it in me. I don’t have the strength to diet and exercise so that I can ?maybe? lose a pound.

I don’t have it in me, to count calories, and cut carbs, and wake up at 5:00. For NOTHING.

I feel like I’m the fattest fit person ever. I can probably run longer than you can. I can bench press more than you. Inside, I’m an athlete. It’s just hiding behind my fluffiness.

Anyways. Do any of you have experience with the whole LapBand/insurance thing? Because if I gotta start playing games, I want to talk strategy.