TaDa! The Lifelong Journey!!

[TaDa!]

June 9, 2006

10:02 pm I had a great surprise this morning with a whole one inch loss on my abdomen/hip area and a 1% bodyfat loss over last week ... basically I had been at the same midsection measurement and fat loss stats since the end of March, so it is very shocking to have progress with weight staying pretty much settled!! And considering that I have upped my food intake and cut out 6 miles of running to 5 days of workouts and approximately 25 miles. I am just so happy

My annual physical the other day also went really well. The Doctor's scale read 123 and he said it was a good weight for me. I had cholesterol and blood testing and will be able to get the results next week ...

--------------------------------------------

Weight
123.75

Food
calories: 2424 Friday night dinner!
carbs: 75
fats: 158 60%
protein: 120 20%

Exercise
Run: 40 minute (9.5 minute mile)
Weights: 45 minutes (upper body)

[nervous rex]

TaDa!, I haven't posted in many months but I wanted to tell you what an awesome job you have done. You truly are the poster-child for what Dr. A was trying to teach us about a successful low-carb lifestyle.

The fact that you made it to maintenance, having struggled with -- and now side-stepped -- the silly "tweaks" that trip-up a lot of us, and are reaping the benefits of high calorie and carb levels while your body continues to get better and better is such an inspiration.

I tell everyone about you and the success you have achieved and so dearly deserve. Thank you for your splendid example.

Well done!

Susan

[TaDa!]

Thanks so much Susan Can you believe we're still at this??!! lol!! Well done you too!!!



Pauline

[TaDa!]

June 10, 2006

5:35 pm An extra incredible day today ... No! An incredible week!!! I will brag here in my journal since I am probably the only one who can bear to listen to all this bragging ... OK! So here goes!!!

- one inch hip/abdomen lost in the last week
- one percent body fat down in the last week
- New bathing suit arrived and I look HAWT in it!!!!!
- I ran an 8.5 minute mile over 5 miles
- AND!!!! I ran a 7.9 minute mile my first mile!!!!!!!!!!! That's 7.5 miles an hour ... Like Holy **** Batman!!!!!!!
- A card came from the Doctor's office today ..."Your cholesterol is within normal limits"

Yep, this little scream fest is courtesy of the card from the doctor! I've been dancing around the house and the family thinks I've gone nuts!!!!!

My last checkup was in November of 2004 when I had lost 50 lbs ... my cholesterol reading had skyrocketed ..(the doc made me do a non-fasting cholesterol test ... dummy!) and I was very afraid through all these trials and tribulations trying to figure out a liveable maintenance food program that I'd be told to go lowfat yet again ... and looks like I'm free to follow what I have been doing!! woooohooooooooooooo!!!

I will, of course call the office to get the exact numbers!!! and to see what my iron level was as I tend to be low on iron ..... but .... yippppppeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!

--------------------------------------------

Weight
124.5

Food
calories: 2285
carbs: 74
fats: 162 65%
protein: 124 22%

Exercise
Run: 40 minute (8.5 minute mile )
Weights: 45 minutes (lower body)

[TaDa!]

June 25, 2006

9:43 pm I have been hungrier in the afternoons and obsessing over food at night for the past week. I did give into it one night, but have done better in the last few days ... tonight was a real struggle, but I know I am over the hump and will just go to bed very soon. It does not matter how much I allow myself to eat ... this urge is to simply eat uncontrollably ... binge.

I've just looked back a page in my journal and see that my monthly problem time should fall about now ... and I am right on schedule. Well it is good to be able to remind myself of that!! I've got to come up with some catchy phrase to run through my head like "Hey sister, it's the hormones talking ... and they ain't gonna help you out in that new swimsuit next week ..."

This is also good "training" for my trip down to Connecticut. I tend to get a little bored here and there and end up munching due to that, or due to watching everyone else head to the fridge or pantry.

Some Munch-Busting Strategies:

1. Try to keep active during the day when I would usually have sat on the porch watching the kids and doing my "downtime projects" ... for example, take them to the pool, or for a run (my 10 yo dd wants to go "running" every day with me ... so I'll have to fit in an extra mile to jog at her pace).

2. If I keep active during the day, I can work on my projects at night when I would tend to munch!!!

3. Try to get in the habit of going for a walk -- even at night -- when I get the munchies. Much more possible to walk at night down there. We live in the forest and the roads are kind of dangerous at night.

I'll also have to keep a running list of projects to bring down ...

1. My usual. All the photos from the past year to go into the photo album. Enjoyable - especially to do when everyone can enjoy them!

2. My sewing pile ... hand sewing repairs. stuffed animals, loose buttons, etcetera. All the pain in the neck jobs I can do while watching tv.

3. I've been keeping a stack of all the magazines and catalogs I get to bring with me to read through. Veranda, Traditional Home, Runner's World, Prevention ..

4. Try to find some more inspirational reads at the library tomorrow ... running and adventure racing mostly if at all possible! When you read about some lunatic going sleepless for four days while scaling moutains, braving crazy rivers, etc ... it's hard to let go and stuff your face.

Hmmm ... well, that's a start! Off to Amazon and the library website to find some reading materials ...

--------------------------------------------

Weight
127.125

Food
calories: 2180
carbs: 64
fats: 150 64%
protein: 130 25%

Exercise
Run: 60 minutes outdoor hilly run

I decided to forgo rest day today since the coming week may be unpredictable as the first week of the kids' summer vacation!

[TaDa!]

June 26, 2006

4:33 pm Well, I am proud to say my planning for next week has been going well. I looked up and rang the gym near the house and figured out that we will buy passes when I get there. They have the same weights equipment as my gym which is just awesome!! and I talked with one of the trainers about running routes and she was able to suggest a five miler I could do from the gym and back ... so I'll likely do that and then weights 4 times a week and then my weekly long run as well as a few laps in the pool in the evening maybe ... Now just to map out some more runs based on her suggestions!

I just got back from the library. They do not have the Amby Burfoot book I wanted to read, The Runner's Guide to the Meaning of Life : What 35 Years of Running Have Taught Me About Winning, Losing, Happiness, Humility, and the Human Heart, so I shopped the shelves and came up with a varied list of adventure type books as well as my usual diet of mystery and suspense novels. The adventure books are as follows ... I hope I don't hate them, lol!!

The Looniness of the Long Distance Runner: An Unfit Londoner's Attempt to Run the New York City Marathon from Scratch by Russell Taylor

The Perfect Mile : Three Athletes, One Goal, and Less Than Four Minutes to Achieve It by Neal Bascomb

Facing the Extreme: one woman's story of true courage, death-defying survival and the quest for the summit by Ruth Anne Kocour

Wanderlust : A History of Walking by Rebecca Solnit

Well I just checked them out on Amazon and amazingly enough the first two get top marks with readers and the final two books get mixed reviews .. so not too bad for random book selection! after reading the reviews on the second two I am not sure whether I'll get very far into them ... we shall see!

I am currently reading a book (anthology) I bought for my husband at christmas, lol!!! The Thrill of Victory, The Agony of My Feet : Tales from the World of Adventure Racing by Neal Jamison. It's ok, not a must-read ... but definitely keeps me from thinking about hostess twinkies. I'll finish off the current story and will put it aside for another time when I run out of library books again, lol!

--------------------------------------------

Weight
125.8

Food
calories: 2234
carbs: 62
fats: 130 54%
protein: 185 34%

Exercise ... day 7 straight ... ~34 miles logged this week
Run: 40 minutes ... 9.3 minute mile
Weights: 40 minutes upper body

[abercrombie3f]

Just wanted to pop in and say hey

By the way, what is the book Wanderlust about?? sounds interesting...

[TaDa!]

Hey Aber! It's like a history of walking ... yah! weird! Thumbing through it a few strange phrases - bizarre historical references - caught my eye. I'll let you know how I like it, lol!!! I figure I am not your average joe-lene, so just because many reviewers at Amazon weren't into it doesn't mean I won't be!

That other one about climbing Denali had at least one scathing reviewer who questioned the woman's morals as far as "abandonaing" other climbers and her view of the sherpas ... I may just find that one interesting in light of his review ... and I just saw an abc interview with a guy who was saved -- just barely -- a month ago on Everest and there was reference to the sacrifice of the folks who stopped their quest for the summit to save him as well as a reference to folks who went so far as to pretend they didn't speak English in order to not get involved -- and just get to the summit ..

Anyhoooooooo, prolly more than you ever wanted to know on my feelings on their feelings on a couple of books I haven't even yet read

[TaDa!]

June 27, 2006

6:01 pm Okey Dokey ... there'll be no question of my sanity now ... I have come up with a fourth of July plan. I am going to be at a summer house staying with 10 other people, helping to cook all the various meals for everyone including the children who will eat different things. It is just going to be too crazy to be preparing the elaborate meals I cook for myself. They are vegetarian lowcarb and just would not be suitable to make in large quantities becasue of the expense and the work ...

so, I have decided to pre-make 8 meals (lunches and dinner) to cover the long 4th of July weekend and freeze each in a ziplock bag. I will also pre-make maybe 6 portions of mashed cauliflower to bring with me to outdoor fried fish shacks so I do not feel compelled to eat badly unless I make the conscious decision to try one bad thing (which I may, being on Maintenance). I am also going to pre-measure 10 portions of the nut/flax mix I add to yogourt since it requires lots of measuring. This way I can measure out my one cup of yogourt, dump it in, add davincis and voila! fini! This surely sounds like insanity ... but just having this plan makes me feel a little happier today. It will make the weekend of the fourth much easier for me down there since it is already a pain in the neck catering to everyone else's needs!

On Wednesday, I can just do the same thing and pre-make a bunch of meals to cover the rest of the week.

7:09 pm I am retiring the following from my signature:

Original Goal 135 ~ Feb 2006
Size 6 Misses ~ Apr 2006
Actual Weight Goal ~ May 12, 2006

and will add:

Cholesterol (June '06): 189 total, HDL: 92, LDL: 90, Triglycerides: 36

--------------------------------------------

Weight
126.625

Food
calories: 2061
carbs: 63
fats: 127 57%
protein: 153 31%

Exercise
Run: 40 minutes (8.9 minute mile .. yay!)
Weights: 40 minutes (Lower Body)

[TaDa!]

June 27, 2006

9:45 pm I seem to have lost my appetite today ... cooked most of the day! I now have single serving size meals for the Fourth of July 4-day weekend and a few extras to go along with it. I will not be on the boards until around July 9th unless I manage to get on here and there and then I will also be scarce much of the two weeks following.

Tomorrow I start to pack and may get an exercise day in ... still unsure about that!

--------------------------------------------

Weight
126.5

Food
calories: 1767
carbs: 54
fats: 130 67%
protein: 91 21%

Exercise
Rest Day .. HA!! Some Rest!!!

[TaDa!]

June 29, 2006

10:06 pm Still not done packing ... procrastinating, even considered eating ... but luckily, still no appetite!!! yipppeee!!!! I think I will got to bed and pack tomorrow - just have my own personal stuff and cold refrigerated food ...

My "weightloss story" got bumped up on the main board. It's good for me to read through it now and again. Hard to believe I actually did it - got to goal. Now there's something to hang onto when the false munchies hit in the next couple of weeks away ...

This is probably my last entry for some time! Until I get tot he town library anyhow, lol!

--------------------------------------------

Weight
124.7

Food
calories: 1923
carbs: 61
fats: 117 56%
protein: 147 31%

Exercise
Run: 60 minutes ... Hot, Humid and Hilly ... 10 minute miles <sigh>

[TaDa!]

July 5, 2006

2:24 pm Very very quick update! I am in CT and have to pick my kids up from camp and leave in 5 minutes! lol!! I am doing very well with the exercise and have run many more miles than usual and only made it to the gym here once so far .. but as long as I maintain my muscle, I'll be happy! I will go do weights tomorrow and the next days as well.

On the eating front I had a day with overeating but seem to have it back under control and my weight this morning was 124.75 ... so that is right on target! I do not have time to read the boards today but will probably try to get back on in the next few days (I am at the town library today .. lol!!).

Doing well .... one more week til my 2 month Maintenance anniversary! I plan to celebrate monthly!!!



--------------------------------------------
Weight
124.75

Exercise
Rest Day

[TaDa!]

July 6, 2006

4:17 pm Well I am back again! The kids are in the children's room and so again it'll have to be brief.

It is funny. Down here i see folks I have not seen since last summer and all the oohing and aahing happens all over again. One really nice comment was "And I thought you had lost a lot of weight last year!!" Really so sweet ...

But then there are the very odd ones .. "Do you even recognize yourself when you look in the mirror?!!" and I wonder to myself how they must have spoken about my "appalling state" behind my back and I get angry. And no, I am not blowing this out of proportion. I know that people talk about me here ... it's all they have to do all day long.

Well, I will cope by imagining how I am making them purple with envy .... the same way I imagine, when I am running, that all the folks driving down the street are themselves intensely jealous of my free-flying legs ... while they are stuck in their little tin cans using their god-given powers to step on the gas pedal


--------------------------------------------
Weight
126.25

Exercise
Run: 42 minutes
Weights: 38 minutes (upper body)

[TaDa!]

July 10, 2006

9:17 pm Well today was a very confusing day back alone in the house. I went for a six mile run and was pretty slow, but that's ok! It is very very hilly here. I was pleased to see that I had made a mistake in my mapping of my running route in Connecticut! lol!! and actually ran longer distances than I had thought. While away I averaged 9 min 20 sec miles which is fine!

A lot of people have remarked on my weight lately ... people I haven't seen in a long time. I know I mentioned it before - down in CT, but it happened twice today as well. It is kind of strange. I have been at this for over three years and I suppose to these people it appears that I have changed presto chango but it certainly has not been the case!!!

My neighbor asked whether I was now at an "old weight." I replied that I had always been heavy before and she asked me "How do you feel?" What a bizarre question. How does one respond? She has likely been skinny as a rail her entire life. I can't exactly see myself sharing my innermost feelings with her.

I am just back from my practice. We are singing the National Anthem at the Red Sox v. Oakland A's at Fenway Park next Saturday night. Unfortunately I don't think they televise the singing of the anthem. Hopefully one of the spouses will video it for us ... I have to say we sounded really good tonight

--------------------------------------------

Weight
126

Food
calories: 1966
carbs: 54
fats: 121 59%
protein: 134 29%

Exercise
Run: 60 minutes ... Hot and Hilly ... 10 minute miles

[Joycelyn]

Hey Tada, how are you? It's been over a month!

Does anyone know...is she ok?????

[AllieCat0817]

I'm wondering too

[Loner]

me too she has been missing from her other challenges too

Pauline where are ya hun???!!!

[Joycelyn]

Does anyone have her email address? Maybe she can be emailed?

It seems like she dropped off the face of the planet. Hope she's ok.

[AllieCat0817]

This is so strange and scary. Pauline, WHERE ARE YOU??????????????

[Loner]

Originally Posted by Joycelyn

Does anyone have her email address? Maybe she can be emailed?

It seems like she dropped off the face of the planet. Hope she's ok.

no i wish i did!! i wish she would check in!

Pauline come back....we are here for you girl!

[Joycelyn]

Do you think the administrators can email her to see if everything is ok?

[momacat]

I've been wondering the same thing...she's missing from the other board also.

[DisneyPrincess]

anyone contact an admin?

[Loner]

I will

[Joycelyn]

Thank you Loner.

[Topazz]

she has not answered anyone's emails for the last 6 weeks or so

Usually Pauline writes right back to me..... but I am worried, too. I know she was going to be offline, but didn't expect it to be this long.

Hope you are well Pauline..... we miss ya Tada!

[sexyfatchick]

If anyone knows her last name you could type it into zabasearch.com and you may be able to find her address AND phone number. I don't normally think it's a good idea to look people up from message boards but seeing as everyone is so concerned this may be a viable option.


SFC

[AllieCat0817]

I was gonna say that too SFC.

[Joycelyn]

I do not know her last name. I don't even post much anymore...just quietly following my eating plan. But I log in to read journals like Pauline's and Alleycat's and others for inspiration and motivation and new ideas.

I know ultimately we need to be our own motivators, but it doesn't hurt to know others share our journey.

It seems like Pauline left the board so suddenly, and if some folks have been emailing her, and she hasn't answered in six weeks, we can assume SOMETHING is up.

Let's just pray that everything is ok and for whatever reason, maybe Pauline just needed some time away from the board.

If anyone DOES have her last name, maybe we can find her to verify she's ok.

[Loner]

someone mentioned to me that she might be in Ireland taking care of a sick family member...