Anyone interested in a Weight Watcher''s thread?

[stepcutgirl]

Merilenda-How are you feeling? I'm so sorry about all your pain and not feeling well. I hope it's passed for the most part now. I'm so glad you have a supportive fiance to help you!

I was up 1.0lbs yesterday, but that was pretty expected and I started my high protein, low carb eating today. I'm still following WW and not cutting out carbs completely but going to try to watch my intake of them for a while and stick with high protein and see if I get anywhere. If I don't I may resort to some other major form of dieting but I'd prefer to still be able to eat a sandwich here and there.

I went and saw my ENT doc this week because I've been on 7 courses of antibiotics in about 3 months. Every time I get well and then start up going outside for my walks...I'm sick again. Turns out the medicine I'm on for Grave's disease has screwed with my white blood cells (per some blood work) and I'm completely unable to fight off infection. So, now I'm going a little early to my routine check up with my endocrinologist. My thyroid needs to come out, there is no two ways about it but I'm really nearly paralyzed by indecision on how to do that. I have to make a decision between surgery and radioactive iodine. Surgery seems more risky to most people but you go in youre hyperthyroid you come out you're hypothyroid, you have a scar, and about one week later (aside from the scar) life is back to normal. With RAI you take a pill, become the green lantern for a few days and then start the waiting game where it can take up to six months for your thyroid to die off and in that time there can be all kinds of side effects that can last up to a year, and you aren't supposed to get pregnant for one year. For those reasons I'm leaning heavily toward surgery but EVERY doctor I have talked to has told me if I were them or a loved one they would absolutely recommend the RAI over surgery and when I ask why I just get the usual run of the mill risks of surgery. I am so stressed with trying to pick an option.

My endocrine doc has given me about six months to make a decision and I see him Wednesday and I just cannot make up my mind. Both will cause (in theory) weight gain and that's why I've put it off so long but the whole no immune system thing is getting bad to where I'm sick and on meds now almost constantly and when I feel bad I eat....and lots of sugary carbs!

Sorry for the long post. I'm just kinda of a mess with indecision and needed to vent a bit. Hope your weekends have been great!

Hope you're still out there Aryana!

 

[merilenda]

I still have a little remaining soreness, but it's definitely tolerable and nothing major. I'm just ready to feel back to 100% though. I've felt good enough to eat a LOT of calories the last couple days.

Stepcut, I just want to say that I have so much empathy for you...because I, too, have Graves Disease. That's such a tough decision and one that I may faced with in the future. My hyperthyroidism is uncontrolled at the moment, and it has been for a while. I know about all the risks and everything, but the truth of the matter is that I'm almost completely asymptomatic. I just feel better while I'm not on meds than when I am.

I know I need to go to the doctor and try to sort some things out eventually. I'm wondering if there are any other med options available that i could try. This will sound dumb, but when I've been on methimazole in the past, I've had terrible luck with it. I just can't swallow the pills. Not because of the size or anything (they're tiny) but because they're so dry or something that they just stick on my tongue until I can get water to dissolve it. And it tastes TERRIBLE. And since they don't make me feel any better, I always give up on them.

That's a tricky decision to make between surgery and RAI. Like you, I'm terrified of killing my thyroid in either way. I know it's safer than being hyper, but I'm so scared to be hypothyroid for the rest of my life. The weight gain, plus the other side effects...fatigue, etc. If it comes down to it for me, I will probably end up going the RAI route, but not without a lot of anxiety. It sounds like you have a lot of information about your options. In the end, it's your body, and if you feel like surgery is a better option for you, then there's nothing wrong with that. Doctors should give you their medical opinion & educate you, but it's not their bodies, you know? They can't make the final decision.

Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I identify strongly with you. I'm happy to talk more about it at any time!

 

[stepcutgirl]

Mer-I'm not glad you have Grave's but I'm glad I have someone to talk to who understands! I know Grave's is dangerous left untreated but if I didn't have symptoms...I'm not all that sure I'd be treating mine either. Sadly, I get severe cardiac symptoms along with pretty bad tremors/shakes, bad sweating and I get VERY irritable/nearly rageful for no reason when my thyroid spikes even with meds.

A couple months ago it had been a long time since I had had any symptoms so I decided to half my daily medicine. Not a good idea. Within 3 days I was crying for no reason and my heart was skipping beats and I felt like I was going nuts until I realized it was my thyroid. The longer I have it, the worse it seems to be when not well medicated.

How long ago were you diagnosed? I was diagnosed in Dec 2009 after seeing a cardiologist for the heart symptoms. The furthest thing wrong with me in my opinion then was hyperthyroid. I'm overweight and until my own diagnosis every hyperthyroid patient I'd ever seen was rail thin. Sometimes it really ticks me off that I couldn't get that part of the disease!

Part of the reason I'm also considering surgery is that while not likely, there is a greater chance (though really small) of the surgery being more successful when it comes to not making you go hypo if they can guesstimate how much of the thyroid to take out to keep you euthothyroid. I've read several studies where if they remove one quarter of each lobe about half of those patients will not go hypo. My endocrine doc said he doesn't like it because in time most Graves patients, even if you left only a sliver of thyroid in there, will go hypo again and then you have to treat it again. I would just really like to not go hypo and then deal with that. Sure, there are meds for it and its easier to manage but its a set of symptoms I'm not used to and that need their own set of treatment.

I wish there was an easier medication. I currently take methimazole and that is what has wiped out my white cells (or made them super high, I can't recall). There is PTU as well though it's been a long time since I took it so I'm not sure I recall how it was. I stopped it because it's twice a day dosing where methimazole is once a day and I was always forgetting my second dose. I'd really like to not have to make this decision!

Thanks for listening.

 

[merilenda]

I'm sorry to hear about all your symptoms, stepcut. I know exactly what you mean about not wanting to deal with and manage an entirely new set of symptoms. I probably just need to find a good endocrine specialist and get this sorted out at some point. I don't have any plans to get pregnant in the next several years, but it's not something I want to put off until I'm ready, you know? Since like you said, it can take a while to sort out before you're cleared.

I was diagnosed when I was 18 if I remember correctly. I'm 27 now. Have you had issues with methimazole by any chance? I think the first course of action I want to try is seeing if there is a different pill form. Because when I was on meds previously, my levels normalized fine. But if anything, I felt worse. And the whole dissolving a dry, horrid-tasting pill on my tongue thing once a day didn't give me much motivation to stay on them. I didn't know if it was just me who had trouble swallowing them.

I also never got the whole weight loss thing as a symptom. In fact, I've never had any trouble gaining weight while I'm untreated. I'm also one of those people who gets cold really easily. I carry a jacket with me everywhere, even in the middle of summer, because I get so cold in the a/c.

Are you trying to decide what to do by a certain time?

 

[stepcutgirl]

I'm sorry to hear about all your symptoms, stepcut. I know exactly what you mean about not wanting to deal with and manage an entirely new set of symptoms. I probably just need to find a good endocrine specialist and get this sorted out at some point. I don't have any plans to get pregnant in the next several years, but it's not something I want to put off until I'm ready, you know? Since like you said, it can take a while to sort out before you're cleared.

I was diagnosed when I was 18 if I remember correctly. I'm 27 now. Have you had issues with methimazole by any chance? I think the first course of action I want to try is seeing if there is a different pill form. Because when I was on meds previously, my levels normalized fine. But if anything, I felt worse. And the whole dissolving a dry, horrid-tasting pill on my tongue thing once a day didn't give me much motivation to stay on them. I didn't know if it was just me who had trouble swallowing them.

I also never got the whole weight loss thing as a symptom. In fact, I've never had any trouble gaining weight while I'm untreated. I'm also one of those people who gets cold really easily. I carry a jacket with me everywhere, even in the middle of summer, because I get so cold in the a/c.

Are you trying to decide what to do by a certain time?

I am on methimazole now and yes, having a bad go with it. I don't have any issues swallowing it or anything and it's done fine for a while but recently it has made my white cells go out of wack making me stay sick (like cold/flu sick) and I'm getting severe muscle cramping all over my body which I'm told is from the methimazole but I haven't talked to my endo yet so I'm not 100% certain.

I'm a little on a time crunch if I do the RAI. We had planed to start trying to get pregnant early next year with the expectation it won't happen right away, if at all. I'll be 31 in a few short months and my GYN told me due to an ovarian condition I have (sometimes i feel like i must have every disease available) that at 31 with the condition I'm on par with a 45 year old in terms of my ability to get pregnant. I originally was going to do the RAI and had planned to get it taken care of between April and July this year to make sure early next year was ok to start trying when I was told they want me to wait 1 year after to start trying. So, then I decided to get on the ball and get it done when I started weighing my options and now think I'd prefer the surgery.

I keep hoping I will just go into remission (thats what they call it when your numbers level off with meds) and stay there and then I wouldn't have to deal with either decision but I now most people who make it to remission do so within a year of meds. I've still never had normal values a year and a half later, so the chances are pretty slim.

I may ask the doctor Wednesday when I go if I can give the PTU another go for six months and see if it helps more than the methimazole, though I am probably just delaying the inevitable if I do that and then will still have to go through surgery and healing from that before trying for a baby anyhow. I even wonder if insurance will pay for surgery when a cheaper and preferred option, RAI, is available and if I wait 6 months and then find out they will not cover it, I'm really screwed!

Do you get normal labs done? I wonder if you are all that hyper, ya know? I have the opposite problem with temperature in that at night I crank the AC down to 65 and still sweat my butt off. During the day I stay hot and clammy, it's so gross.

 

[merilenda]

I can't remember all the labs they used to do when I was younger, but the most recent labs I had done were about 2 years ago. They did a T3, T4, and TSH. I'm pretty significantly hyperthyroid according to all of those tests (significantly outside the normal range). But I just don't have that many symptoms. It's weird. I have slightly higher blood pressure & heart rate than I probably should, but not by that much. A doctor has never been concerned about it. It makes me wonder if the hyperthyroidism is as dangerous if you're not having a lot of the other stuff with it...like the cardiac symptoms, for instance. But it's probably not good for me either.

I'm definitely sorry to hear about your dilemma, especially with the other issues combined. I can see why you want to start TTC soon. If PTU causes remission, do you remain on it indefinitely? I should know that, but it's been a while since I've thought about this stuff.

I know it's nothing to sneeze at, but I bet one year won't make too much of a difference in how likely you are to conceive. Insurance is such a pain. I wish they would just let people make the decision that's best for them. This issue isn't as big of a deal, but I'm going to be dealing with that in the near-ish future because I need a dental implant for an upper molar. It's already driving me nuts, so I know I need to replace it. Insurance won't pay for an implant though - only a bridge. Well excuse me if I don't want to file down two perfectly healthy teeth and crown them just so I can have a bridge. They also wouldn't pay for my porcelain crown because of the whole "preferred option" thing and would only pay for metal. Umm, my dentist doesn't even do metal crowns anymore.

Sorry for sidetracking, but just saying that I hear you on insurance being dumb. Can you go ahead and find out now if insurance will cover surgery? And then decide if you want to give it another 6 months try on the PTU? It definitely makes sense to me to completely exhaust your options before opting for RAI or surgery.

 

[stepcutgirl]

You're probably correct that in the grand scheme of things waiting a year with TTC probably won't make or break things. To be honest I flip flop between REALLY wanting a baby...like yesterday to feeling like I'd be perfectly happy not to ever have one. I'm not sure if that's normal or not but I'm not one of those people who feels like my life will not be complete without a child. Yet I feel pressure to do it soon if I'm going to...which is pressure in and of it's self! I just want to make sure I/we get to make the decision to have or not have (or try to have) a child and it's not made for us because of waiting to get treatment or having a hard go of getting normal after the thyroid is removed.

PTU and methimazole can both cause remission. Methimazole is the preferred drug because it's has less incidence of liver damage but I've read from several credible sites that PTU has a higher incidence of putting patients into remission. Graves is considered in remission when your thyroid levels normalize on the drugs, the drugs are then weaned off and your levels stay normal sans meds for one year.

On an interesting note, I opened the newspaper today to an article about a doctor in my area who is now doing "minimally invasive" thyroid surgery and is holding a seminar on it this Thursday. So I made reservations to attend. I'm pretty interested in seeing what he can offer and how many he has done. I thought perhaps it was a sign I need to check into it! I think I will go for a surgical consult regardless and see if insurance will pay. Even if I decide to try the PTU route for a bit at least I'll know if they will or if I'm going to be forced the RAI route. And I totally hear you on the insurance gripe! I HATE my insurance company! I work in medical as well and half the time patients are sent to me when they really need a completely different test but insurance won't pay for it! What are you going to do about the dental? Or what did you do?

 

[merilenda]

I don't think that's weird at all, what you're saying about wanting a baby. In fact, I think it would be more rare to be absolutely set on one thing and never think about the alternatives, you know? I feel for you -I'm still at that point where I want to have kids in some vague future. But if I was backed into a corner due to medical reasons and told that I needed to start TTC soon if I ever wanted to have them, I'd probably panic. Knowing you want them and being ready NOW are two different things, I think. I guess I'll never really know if I'll have issues TTC until I do it though, so who knows.

That's really cool that there's a seminar being done in your area. I hope it's informative! It definitely wouldn't hurt to have a consult and find out about insurance coverage. You can't really be armed with too much information (okay, well, I probably could because I have a tendency to obsessively search the internet for every piece of information possible when I'm considering something major). But you definitely want to have all the pieces of the puzzle before you make any kind of final decision.

I haven't totally decided about the dental thing. I need to talk to my dentist about it. This is one of those instances where I started obsessively reading everything I could about implants and bridges on the internet and I had to force myself to stop. I think I've mentioned it before, but I have a dental phobia, and I'm kind of afraid of all of the options. But I really, really don't want to ruin two perfectly good teeth. So I'm leaning toward just paying out-of-pocket for an implant. I'm going to see what my dentist says when I see him next week though. It just makes me mad that insurance won't cover the (generally) best, most long-lasting option to replace a tooth. Even with the insurance coverage, I think the difference between the two options won't end up being more than one or maybe two thousand dollars. And it just doesn't seem worth it to ruin two healthy teeth for that amount.

I also work in the medical field. In my current job, I don't run into insurance problems that much, but I do occasionally. And I did all the time in a previous position. It's just so frustrating dealing with those insurance companies!

 

[stepcutgirl]

Ha ha ha! Sorry I truly got a chuckle over here about you being one of those people who obsessively researches options! I do the same thing and my family is always telling me to get off the internet that's it just giving me more choices and information than anyone can sort through! They might be right but I like to know ALL the options and what I'm dealing with.

I think you're smart to do what you need to with your teeth, even if it means paying out of pocket. Years down the road you will forget the money aspect of it but you will still be miffed about ruining two healthy teeth. At least I would be. Good luck with deciding.

On a positive note my weight is down about a half a pound this morning. I've been back on WW since Saturday so hopefully by Friday I'll at least have lost this stupid pound I gained!

 

[merilenda]

That's great about your weight! I'm kind of scared to weigh myself this week. I've kind of just been eating whatever I've wanted or felt like since this dental stuff.

That's funny - I drive my FI nuts with all my options for everything. I do really research obsessively! He tells me the exact same thing as your family. I think that's partly why it took so long for us to get anything together for our wedding planning. I'm really more of an ideas person than an action person. I researched Vegas, beach weddings, mountain weddings, pretty much everything. And I kept sending him emails with all these links in them. Eventually he said "Enough! No more new information! Pick something from what you've already found!"

You'll have to let me know how the seminar goes! I'm interested to hear. I'm really trying to get back on WW, but it's so hard after getting off of it for a while. Plus I'm afraid to eat anything too hard or crunchy because I'm terrified of breaking my temporary crown. I even had a dream last night that there was a big hole in it. So I feel like my options are more limited as it is.

 

[stepcutgirl]

Ok, I'm back from the endo. I know this isn't WW related anymore but..well I'm pretty sure it's just us in here (come back Aryana!) and I don't think we mind. Drum roll please....my labs were normal! In the almost two years I've been on meds for Graves I've never had normal labs! I'm doing repeat labs in two months and if my TSH continues to climb and my free T4 continues to drop then he said he will start weaning me off meds to see if I'm in remission! I think this may have to do with a supplement I've been taking, DHEA, which can be dangerous so I don't recommend it without talking to your doctor. I started taking it about a month ago because I had read that 90% of all Graves patients were low in the hormone (its kind of a hormone precursor) and that it it was thought that Graves occurred in patients with adrenal burn out and that in over half the studied patients when they replaced DHEA to normal levels, the adrenals then were not so over taxed and returned to normal function, though in some patients once replacement of DHEA stopped their levels dropped again and the adrenals were thought to be taxed again. At any rate when the adrenal glands were back to normal function the Graves often went into remission in these studied patients.

I told my doctor today that I had been taking DHEA orally for about a month and what I had read, he told me he had heard mention of it here and there over the years but never anything conclusive and that he generally did not think there was too much of a link but to keep it up and we would see since it did not appear to be harming me in any way. I was really confused that my labs were normal because I had felt so hyper in emotions and shakes, etc lately, especially right around when I did my blood work even though I feel leveled off now, so I was shocked to have normal blood work for the first time since my diagnosis! Perhaps there is a DHEA connection? I started taking it not only for they Graves but I had also read there is also (supposedly) a link between DHEA and the ovarian condition I have. I was a bad girl, I did not run it by any doctors. But I'm feeling optimistic!

I'm still going to the seminar on the thyroid surgery tomorrow as my endo told me not to get my hopes up, that it was unlikely that I would achieve a remission and should know what I want to do in case I do not. I'll let you know how it goes. Hope your feeling better with your eating and your tooth!

 

[merilenda]

That's so great that your levels are normal!!! I hope they stay normal as you wean off the meds. That would make things so much easier if you didn't have to worry about killing the thyroid through RAI or surgery. I'll have to read up about the DHEA supplement. Did you ask your doc why you're still having symptoms despite the normal levels?

I'm having a stressful day with all of the storms and tornadoes touching down in the area. I'm home now and need to finish up my work, but I'm definitely worn out. I'm also feeling not feeling like working on wedding stuff. I kind of just want to sit on the couch and read all evening!

I think I'm actually going to end my WW subscription when it's up in a couple of weeks. I just have the online membership and only use it to track points (haven't even been doing that for a couple of weeks). I'm thinking about buying a points calculator. One of my co-workers started last week and she said she got hers on sale for $5. I haven't decided if I want to just keep tracking points on my own or if I want to count calories.

 

[stepcutgirl]

Where do you live? I'm so sorry about these tornadoes. I hope everyone you know is safe and out of harms way.

I had stopped tracking for a few weeks, I too, only do online and I was gonna quit mine too. I started back this past week and it's seeming easier. I was so burned out for a while, I needed a break.

I told my doctor I was very surprised that my levels were normal because I have been feeling like a nut bar lately. He said his only thought was that I may be getting spikes of hormone that are making me feel hyper. It only vaguely answered my question, so...no, not really.

 

[merilenda]

I live in Missouri. Currently in KC, but I've lived all over the state. We've been having really terrible weather all week.

Do you know if WW renews automatically? I should probably figure that out if I need to actually cancel it.

I hate it when you ask the doctor something and you don't get an answer. I mean, I know it's kind of unrealistic to expect the doctor to know everything, but it still bugs me. Like, it should be their job to be able to figure stuff out like that. I wonder if an anti-depressant would help with mood stuff? Part of why I don't always like telling doctors about my Graves is that they attribute EVERYTHING to it and just assume that if you can fix that, you should be totally fine. And that there couldn't be any other issues to address.

 

[stepcutgirl]

I hope all gets better with the weather, it has been so bad.

WW does automatically renew so you wanna go cancel it if you don't want it to renew.

I suppose I could try an antidepressant but I've never had issues with depression before and the timing of when it started was when I was tinkering with my own methimazole because of side effects and what not and got better when I went back on full dose. It was slow moving but I've felt pretty good since Sunday with no real mood swings or crying since then and I've been pretty even keel. I am still shaky though, just a fine tremor shaking which as I'm sure you know goes with Graves. He did note that was worse today than it was before my labs went normal and said he wasn't sure what to make of it because my labs were so significantly improved.

I guess I'll just play it by ear and see how it improves over the next two months and if the moods come back. If they do I might go talk to someone about it but thus far it seems to go hand in hand with the decrease in meds I was taking. Oh, he did tell me to try to start taking calcium to see if it would help the muscle cramps, that mine was not significantly low but was a tad on the low side and could be causing the all over body cramps.

 

[stepcutgirl]

Ok, well the good news for me was weigh in this morning was excellent. I was down 2.8lbs! Apparently my two week break paid off in that I'm focused again and losing again.

As to the seminar I went to last night, it was good, but I didn't hear what I had hoped to. I got a good feel for the surgeon and liked him and during the QA section I asked him what his opinion was on RAI vs thyroidectomy and to my surprise (keep in mind he's a surgeon) he said unless there is a reason why a person cannot do RAI he will not do the surgery! He said it's his opinion that while the risks of thyroid surgery are very low, they are greater than the risks of RAI and as such he will not expose a patient to the risks unless needed. Clearly, this was not what I expected to hear as surgeons will usually try to talk someone into surgery not out of it. But, I certainly respect that he told me what he thinks and I'm starting to do a serious rethink of my own opinion.

Not that I've changed much in how I feel, so much as I might be armed with an internets worth of information, but he was the 6th medical doctor who's opinion I have asked about RAI vs surgery and not one of them has said anything other than do the RAI. 6 out of 6 have told me to go against what I feel and think because I'm wrong. I'm starting to form an opinion here that maybe I really am wrong, ya know? So, I will wait it out the two more months and then see how my blood work goes. Hopefully I will really truely go into remission and not have to decide, but I suspect if that doesn't happen I will go ahead and do the RAI.

Have you decided what to do about WW? Hope you have a great weekend!

Aryana-have you left us?

 

[merilenda]

Great job on the weight loss! That's interesting on the RAI vs. surgery thing. I just hope you can have your concerns addressed before going through with anything. I feel like some doctors don't want to sit down and really talk to you about things, but it's something that you should expect when making such an important decision. Hopefully you won't have to do it after going into remission though. At least it sounds like the seminar was informative.

I kind of feel like I'm not being very disciplined about the diet recently. I'm not going crazy or anything, but I'm eating unhealthy enough to probably not be losing really. I didn't weight myself this week because I had such a busy week at work and forgot. And I'll only weigh myself right after I get up, haha. I have a feeling that it will be hard to stick with anything this weekend, since we're heading home for Memorial Day.

I think I'll cancel my subscription to WW but haven't decided if I want to keep tracking points or switch over to calories. I've had a lot of success in the past counting calories, and it's free.

 

[stepcutgirl]

I have been researching RAI more since realizing I probably need to go that direction. I did find some ways to minimize one of the side effects I'm scared of (worsening of eye issues) by being premeditated with steroids, so that was a bit of a relief. I'm still not thrilled with the RAI thing, and really hoping for good blood work!

When you were counting calories before, how many did you eat a day? How do you know how many to have to lose vs how many to maintain? I'm sure that part is pretty simple, I've just never really counted calories so I'm a little ignorant of how many or how few one can have.

 

[Aryana]

I'm sorry I am still MIA most of the time. I don't log in much during the week and we were out of town last weekend so I didn't get a chance to post.

Stepcut and Merilenda - I'm sorry to hear about the Graves. Ugh, I can't image having to choose between 2 highly different treatments, each with their own pros/cons. And insurance - yuck. Good luck with your decisions. Stepcut that sounds promising about the possibility of minimizing side effects. And here's to really, really hoping you are in remission.

Well...WW is still on the back burner. I need to figure out what I'm doing because I am burning away money by paying for meetings that I don't attend nor do the program. I really don't want to quit, but I can't seem to get my act together anymore. I weighed myself one day (after I had eaten) and I was up about 5 pounds. I know it wasn't an apple-to-apple comparison, since I didn't weigh with the same conditions, but it scared me. Granted, there is still Italy in those 5 pounds, but still.... I tried to be pretty good this week, but haven't weighed myself. I am very discouraged, because I was doing so well (although slowly) and was very close to my original goal. Now, I'm going in the opposite direction and not sure what to do. Lunch is my big problem. I'm already taking breakfast and fruit, so to add lunch I'm going to look like a pack horse. I need to be able to fit on the train! I'm not much of a sandwich person, although I will eat sandwiches from a restaurant/deli. So I've gotta get this figured out.

Stepcut - congrats on your big weight loss!! Yippee!

 

[stepcutgirl]

Thanks Aryana. How are you liking the new job?

I think we are all sorta off the WW wagon! I did well last week and then this week has fallen to pieces! I've been sure to track but we've been at his parents and my parents and out to eat a few time and I blow through my points and then quite a few every day! Its crazy!

Do you have a grocery store near work? If you do you might be able to stop there and get some frozen meals to have at work to make lunches easier?

 

[merilenda]

Hey stepcut, sorry I missed this post! When I was counting calories, I used a site called fitday. It used to work really well for me, but when I've logged in recently, it seems like there's a lot of ads there now. I mostly use sparkpeople to track these days, but keep my fitday account, because I can't find some of the features it has on sparkpeople (both are free, btw).

On fitday, you input your current weight and then your target weight & a target date. It will compute for you how many calories you should eat in a day to meet this goal (and tell you if that calorie goal is healthy). If you're a math person, I'm sure you could easily compute the number for yourself - I'm just lazy. But you would need to know about how many calories your body burns in one day based on your weight, lifestyle, etc. And then if you figure that you lose one pound of fat for every 3,500 net calories, you figure out how many net calories you need to burn to lose that amount of pounds (3,500 x # of pounds wanting to lose). Then divide by the number of days you have until your target date. For instance, the last time I plugged this into fitday, it told me that I need to have a net loss of 600-some calories per day to meet my goal.

Did that make sense? I probably didn't explain it very well. But it has always really simplified things for me to think of it as a simple math equation. 3,500 net calories burned = one pound.

 

[Aryana]

Stepcut, thanks for asking. The job is okay, but I'm really missing my life of leisure! Fortunately the pay is better!! I'm from the midwest and there are several things going on that I would like to go to this summer, but I don't have much vacation yet. So a bit bummed by that. I'm also the only female in a group of non-talking males so it is a long, quiet day. From what I have seen so far, they are all very nice, but they don't chat. Sometimes I find it funny, other times not so much! The first week I was there they had a status meeting. 5 men, me and the female big boss. They have all worked together for something like 5 years, so you would think they would be friendly. Each man walked in, sat down and didn't say a word. at all. nothing. Then, they report their status. Not a smile or a joke, or a tangent - nope - they didn't deviate from their status. They answered questions. When it was over they all got up and left, still saying nothing to each other. It was truly interesting to watch! It was like they were all new employees and didn't know each other. Sometimes I kind of 'force' them to talk to me - good thing I have gotten good at interrogation-style communication (I have to use that on my teenage nephews to get them to talk to me!) But, as I said, they are very nice and I prefer that over being talkative and a jerk!

I am trying to get back on the WW wagon. I began the day good but deviated along the way! At least it is a start!

 

[stepcutgirl]

Thanks for the info Merilenda. I'll look into it.

Aryana-Your job sounds painful but funny! I can imagine myself being like you and making them talk to me.

So...my weigh in was +2.4lbs this week. Once again, not unexpected. I really need to get on the horse, pick another horse and get on it or just be happy being fat. I don't feel like the third option is one I can be happy with so I'm trying to give this some real thought. I know the problem is me. I've been lax with tracking and have a very screw it attitude. My exercise is patchy at best and I'm just not putting forth the effort. I'm trying to really decide what I want to do so I can put forth my best effort and get back on track.

 

[Aryana]

Ugh, I am with you. I was so into WW and now I'm just over it. Granted, I have been doing it for a looong time, but I still had more I wanted to lose. I wish I could get back into it, I don't know exactly why I am struggling. I think mostly because it is SO much harder now with work and I'm tired and don't have time for much of anything. But, I'm not doing well on my own. Between Italy and work I have gained around 5-6 pounds (I think). So, now I obsess about gaining the weight back but I'm not doing anything about it...quite a quandry I am it! I saw a picture of me from 1.5 years ago and it was upsetting - I WILL NOT go back there. I just have to get my head back into this somehow. Maybe we can all get back on our horses!!!

Stepcut, have you heard anything about the jobs? I hope whatever you want to happen happens!
Merilenda, glad your dental pain is over!

 

[stepcutgirl]

Aryana-I'm sorry you are struggling too. Maybe it's the warmer weather? I have no idea why but it seems like we were all doing well and then poof, it got warm and we all jumped ship! I did REALLY bad Friday, I ate dinner, then went out and got gelato, then went to a local draft house for trivia and had an appetizer platter and then fried onion rings! I wasn't even hungry after dinner but I just kept eating! It's disgusting. I did much better yesterday (Saturday) and so far today so good. I'm trying to be very aware of what I'm eating and making sure as soon as I finish eating, if not before I eat, that I track it.

I have heard from the job but only twice (its been a month since the interview) once was to tell me they had checked my references and all was well and they had some internal processing to do then again two weeks ago to tell me that they were still doing internal processing and would be in contact with me the following week. The following week was last week and I never heard from them. I'm stuck between contacting them again and waiting for them to contact me. I don't want to bother them and seem like a pain but if they can't or don't want to hire me anymore I'd kinda like to know. It's been three full weeks since they called me references and that seems like a long time, to me. I really want this job so I don't have to drive so far but I'm not sure it's going to happen anymore.

 

[redfaerythinker]

Hey ladies, will some fresh blood get you all back on the wagon? I need to lose some weight so I just joined the online version of WW. I also started the couch to 5k program. I did my second workout today and it was harder than the first time. What gives?

But anyways... Hi!

 

[uklfstyle]

Good Luck everyone with the ww program.waiting for replyes from the ones that progressed.

 

[Aryana]

Welcome redfaerythinker and uklfstyle!! I'm willing to try anything to get back on the wagon, so hopefully good vibes will rub off on me!

I have been trying to eat better, but haven't been tracking. I'm probably eating too large of portions since I"m not using my scale. But slowly I'm getting a little more in-tune with my eating and making healthier choices. So maybe, just maybe, I can get back on the plan.

Good luck to us all!

 

[stepcutgirl]

Rft and ulk-Welcome and good luck! Here's to hoping some newbies will help us out and that we can help you!

My weigh in was this morning. -0.8 for me. I'm happy enough with that, I'd be happy with anything if it would stay off! I'm so tired of gaining and losing the same 2-3lbs. I definitely did better on my eating this week, though it was not without some flaws...namely wine, pizza and cupcakes last night! This week I'm going to do my best to get 30 minutes of activity at least 4 days this week. Hopefully that will help.

 

[Aryana]

Step, congrats on the .8. Certainly better than gaining! I know it is frustrating when the scale just goes up/down/up (aka butt bigger/smaller/bigger)! I still haven't gotten back into WW mode, but trying to make smarter food choices. I want/need to start tracking again and weighing/measuring. I'm going to start trying to do that more tomorrow (since it is Monday) and see if I can at least do that much. Maybe I can inch toward doing the full plan!! Gosh, I am lame....

How is everyone else doing?