My big announcement!

[cruisin]

Agreed, cruisin. At the beginning of the diet, weight fell off fairly quickly (the usual thing that happens) and then it's been a slower process. So I'm hoping to keep control of my weight from now on, to avoid gaining it back. Exercise definitely helps.

Another update: today is December 17, one week to go on the diet. I'm now at 156 lbs., 4 lbs. short of my target weight. Not sure if I can take off 4 more lbs. in one week, but I'll stick to the plan and try to get as close as possible! 18 lbs. lost so far.

Skateboy, in my opinion, you reached your goal, congratulations. You did not fall short, those 4 pounds are a non-issue. You can take care of that after the holidays. Goals and time frames sometimes make us feel like we failed. You did not, you did it! Yay!

My fitness-oriented (I won't say "obsessed" exactly, but getting up for the 5:30am "boot camp" class at his gym multiple times a week is certainly not sane!) coworker swears that if you build muscle, you will burn more calories when you are otherwise not exercising. Muscle requires more calories to maintain. When you do strictly cardio, you only burn calories when you're doing the cardio.

It's true that muscle weighs more than fat, and you might see some weight gain at the beginning, but the muscles will continue to work for you in the long-term. Also, muscle doesn't squish like fat does, so you'll look better even at the same weight (or more!).

In particular, due to the prevalence of osteoporosis, I'd really love to see more ladies at the gym pumping iron! There isn't enough!

Speaking of which, today I deadlifted my bodyweight+10lbs.

I'm impressed!

[skateboy]

Skateboy, in my opinion, you reached your goal, congratulations. You did not fall short, those 4 pounds are a non-issue. You can take care of that after the holidays. Goals and time frames sometimes make us feel like we failed. You did not, you did it! Yay!

Thanks for the kind words, cruisin!

[skateboy]

Speaking of which, today I deadlifted my bodyweight+10lbs.

Major props, Anita18!

[FunnyBut]

Speaking of which, today I deadlifted my bodyweight+10lbs.

So you lifted 60 lbs?

[Anita18]

Skateboy, in my opinion, you reached your goal, congratulations. You did not fall short, those 4 pounds are a non-issue. You can take care of that after the holidays. Goals and time frames sometimes make us feel like we failed. You did not, you did it! Yay!

Here's a pep talk I gave someone else on another forum re: staying healthy during the holidays, but I think it's a good thing to put here too:

Health isn't all or nothing. You can take baby steps. If you eat crap, that doesn't mean you've "failed" and that you might as well continue to eat crap for the rest of your life. You'll s*** that stuff out the next day anyway. Just aim to do better next time.

Your body gives you plenty of chances to do better. It's never too late! Something is always better than nothing. If I have to start back from scratch, so be it.

Just Do It!

So you lifted 60 lbs?

I was probably half my current height then!

[skateboy]

Here's a pep talk I gave someone else on another forum re: staying healthy during the holidays, but I think it's a good thing to put here too:

Health isn't all or nothing. You can take baby steps. If you eat crap, that doesn't mean you've "failed" and that you might as well continue to eat crap for the rest of your life. You'll s*** that stuff out the next day anyway. Just aim to do better next time.

Your body gives you plenty of chances to do better. It's never too late! Something is always better than nothing. If I have to start back from scratch, so be it.

Just Do It!

And a great pep talk it is. I'll definitely remember it. Thanks!