Not a typical thread here, but what the hey!

I am proud to announce that I have lost 13.7 pounds!! 

I was on a "no exercise" order from my doctors for 2 years until they investigated my fainting issues to rule out my heart.  I was over weight before but during that 2 years I gained even more! :(  

Well, my heart is fine but they still don't know why I have fainting issues. However since my heart has proven fine I have been given the go ahead to begin exercising again. So now I'm in Physiotherapy and have been going twice per week for about 6 weeks now.  So that's a bit more than 2 pounds per week loss, which is a good rate.

Anyone else here working on the battle of the buldge? I could use a weight loss buddy! :)

Great news Acadia! :thumbupboth:

I actually tried to lose a few pounds recently, following one of those 'soup' diets..but that didn't work so well because I figured out I was starving myself,  and actually my body was hanging on for dear life to the pounds I had...

Now Im just walking every night and exercising. 

You know Linda, I had a spell for about a year where I would faint at the drop of a hat. They did every test they could, testing my blood for everything, physicals, heart monitoring, etc. They never found out what it was but it left as quick as it came BUT I still have those times when I feel I'm going to faint but I can usually stop it if I'm somewhere that I can lie on my left side in a cool place.
I was boderline anemic and was under tons of stress at the time so they just kind of chalked it up to that.

My very first date with my exhusband we were out eating at a resturant, I started feeling faint and I said I don't feel so good. He said just say WHEN if you want to leave, right off I said WHEN,  I got up and the next thing I know I'm on the floor with the EMT's there asking him "Is she taking any drugs" He was like "I don't know this is our first date I really don't know her that well".. LOL It was funny, we never ever forget that first date.. 

I hope you find out what it is but I sure never knew what caused it for me and like I said it still happens from time to time for no apparent reason????

Howdy :)
I also have some problems in that area (since 1998) but I have never actually passed out.  The most recent one was a couple of weeks ago when I was looking at the toilet paper in a local (small) supermarket (IGA).  I very nearly passed out that time ... the toilet paper started coming towards me and I knew I wasn't moving at all... I threw myself backwards (unecessarily) and nearly fell on a man walking behind me.  Back when it first started happening I had no idea what it was and neither did all the doctors I was seeing ... it was suggested that I may have low blood pressure but they ruled that out after they did a blood pressure test.  My audiologist (I have a hearing aide in my right ear for conductive hearing problems and my left ear is losing it's hearing too now, she told me yesterday but for no apparent reason) say's that it wouldn't be my ears because vertigo is when the room spins and my room just moves towards me very fast instead, it wouldn't be age related as I am only 36.  I do have balance problems though and have had them all my life shrug.  Good luck in working it out . . . it seems that many people suffer from this 'disorder' that remains unamed.

In regard to the weight loss that's totally great!  I need to lose weight also as I have gained 30 kilo's in six months ... nothing has changed in my life though ... I never excercised very much and I have never eaten very much either. I actually went to a doctor to ask him why this has happened and he just said I have to excercise more and drink less coffee roflmao.  
I have now decided it must be in my genes (overweight aunties on my dads side that were never really overweight until they were over 30) and I am going to have to get off my bum and do some excercise though I am a little limited due to some arthritis in my shoulder and cervical spine but if you would like a weight loss partner I'm sure I could be convinced to join you in the excercises ;)

Becki

Congrats on the Weight Loss Acadia :-) I so need to get back to "try" at  weight loss

A number of years ago I had that same problem with passing out. One minute I would be standing and the thing I knew I was getting up off the floor. They said it was because I was anemic because they couldn't find anything else wrong

I have the opposite problem, I can't put it on!! Seriously!!

And I only ever collapse in a heap after too many beers!!  

Ok, Acadia, what are you doing at physio to burn those calories? My latest attempt to stop smoking isn't going well. About all I've accomplished is to put on weight and be really crabby. Tell you what, fixer, old buddy, old pal, you tell me how much weight you want, and I'll email the whole amount free of charge. grumblegrumblegrumble...

My Dad had a "fainting " episode and fortunately it happened again when he was in the ER. It turns out he had a intermittant problem where the heart stops for a few beats, then resumes (hopefully. )
He now has a nice pacemaker installed to prevent it happening again . The Doctor in the ER says its the sort of conditiobn that can go for years before they find it .

For weight loss you cant restrict calories too much or the body switches to a survival mode for starvation .  Then ya need extra donuts and chocolate :)  . Staying with a calorie controlled diet is tough but if you keep track of every little snack you soon see that your 1600 calorie meals is actually like 3,000 calories with snacks . Walking is an excellent exercise , no strain on hips and knees like jogging and its enough to keep your metabolism high.   Just stick to public areas where if you do have a problem there are other people to help .

They really have no clue why I have fainting issues.  I have only lost consciousness once, and that was enough. I completely passed out and woke up with a huge lump and bruise on my forehead from having hit my head on something, and  a very broken foot!  I am able to catch myself during the pre state of fainting where you get the greying of vision, seeing stars and dull sound or ringing in your ears. However, when I get those symptoms I have to sit down or flop over something or I will go down!  So I've fallen more times than I care to count from my haste to get out of the shower to flop over the vanity, or to rush to a table or something. It's a scarey, scarey thing.

And these fainting episodes don't have any rhyme or reason to them either. They can happen when I'm sitting, standing, just getting up, laying down or walking.

They have ruled out my heart.  My blood pressure is fine, well, fine for me. They did put me on blood pressure pills a few years ago because it was dangerously high, but for some reason last year it seemed to "fix" itself and after they played around with dosages they finally took me off of them thinking that my blood pressure was crashing at times. But a year later and I still get these fainting episodes, so they are stumped.

I do tend towards anemia but the last blood work showed my hemaglobin to be right where it should be, completely normal. I take iron pills during "girly times",  hehe

The exercises they have me doing is basically based on Stott Pilates I think. At least there is a chair exercise and standing exercise video that they recommended to me for "Stott Pilates". I don't have those yet, but I think my program is based on that.   I'm in the easy level :)   It includes various stretches for all portions of my body, light hand weights and bands. These activities are varied between sitting and standing because I can't stand for prolonged periods of time due to fainting and also back fatigue. I also do some cardio on the treadmill. I absolutely love the treadmill! I do between 10 and 20 minutes depending on how my foot is feeling (the one I broke when I passed out still gives me grief sometimes). And if I feel well enough I do a second time on the treadmill. On Wednesday I managed to do 20 minutes once and later another 18 minutes. Granted I have to stop and take breather and flop over breaks, but that is the total time of actually doing the treadmill.

The stretches and weights etc take me about 90 minutes or so to do because for each stretch I do I have to hold it for 15 seconds. I do the stretches at the start.  Then the strengthening. Then another set of stretches. Then the cardio.   I get the additional cardio in by arriving early, hehe

Each week I get evaluated. So tomorrow when I go I am evaluated to see how the program is working for me and if I need to be advanced up with more or kept at the same level or some things modified.

Quote - Staying with a calorie controlled diet is tough but if you keep track of every little snack you soon see that your 1600 calorie meals is actually like 3,000 calories with snacks . Walking is an excellent exercise , no strain on hips and knees like jogging and its enough to keep your metabolism high.   Just stick to public areas where if you do have a problem there are other people to help .

I don't count calories. I count food groups and do portion control.

Plus I'm a chocaholic! I have to have my chocolate fix so in order to get that I decided to have one Slim Fast shake per day which is usually my lunch.

Of course it's not just any Slim Fast shake! It's my type of Slim Fast shake:

1 1/4 cup skim milk  (supposed to use 2% milk but I prefer to use skim. Plus less calories and fat)
1 scoop Slim Fast powder (chocolate)
1 heaping teaspoon decaf instant coffee
1 heaping teaspoon Splenda
1/2 cup frozen mixed berries
1 tray of ice cubes

Chop it in the blender then use "liquify" until the ice and berry seeds are finely ground.  Makes about the size of a venti Moca Frapaccino from Star Bucks!  hehe

So far as meals go, I eat like Royalty!

• Orange Chicken
• Shrimp Creole
• Lemon Chicken
• Tacos
• Beef Stew with Red Wine
• Teriaky Beef Stirfry
• Meat loaf, potatoes and veggies
• Spaghetti and meat sauce
• Spinach Pasta Shells
• Poached Salmon with Yogurt Dill Sauce

I purchased Jenny Craig's "What Have you Got to Lose" about 4 or so years ago and have been on and off of it.  My health issues prevented me from spending too much time with food preparation so I haven't been following it again until just a few months ago.

http://www.amazon.com/Jenny-Craigs-What-Have-Weight-Management/dp/0761507868

It's weight loss for dummies! It gives you a grocery list of what to buy for week 1.  And another list of what to buy for week 2.

Plus it gives you a meal plan for those same weeks based on the grocery list for that week.

It also gives you the recipes for the foods to make.  And tells you what to prepare in advance.

It tells you what to eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks!

I'm not a picky eater and I love all of the foods. In fact there is so much food that I can't even eat it all most days if I'm following the plan  it strictly.

The foods I listed above are actually foods from her program and are found in the book.  There are lots of others in the book as well as on her website. But those are the ones that I tend to cycle through because I really like them!

I live alone and the recipes are for 4 or more portions. I cook the recipe, have one portion and freeze the others in individual plastic containers for future meals. I do that with everything I have to spend time cooking. It makes life so much simpler when you have a stock of foods that you can just take out and heat and serve.

I've been up and down in my weight all of my life. Back when I was 16 I was 199 pounds! Before I hit that 200 pound mark I went on a low carbohydrate diet and with the help of the gym teacher in school who spent some of his time help to guide/coach me using the school's "mini gym" I managed to drop 70 pounds in 4 months and was a svelt 122 pounds for my grade 12 graduation!

Unfortunately a diet such as that where you eat lots of protein and fat and stay off the carbs doesn't teach you about healthy eating, so if you stop "diet" or discontinue the level of exercise, the pounds come back really quickly. Then life happened and getting involved with the wrong guys who knocked my self esteem right into the ground so I didn't really care what I looked like. And then health issues....  well, let's just say that I'm heavier than I have ever been and I don't feel very good about myself at all, at least not physically.

I finally reached a point in my life after a number of serious health scares where I just have to take control of the situation.  My brother has been pressing me to get gastric bypass surgery. He's even offered to take his holidays and take me to Alberta wait for me and bring me home 3 weeks later. But I know I have lost weight before and I can do it again, and besides gastric bypass (our health care won't pay for the lap band reversable procedure) is a very serious surgery especially when it's permanent.  You literally can't eat! You live on a liquid supplement and vitamins or you get really sick and throw up lots. And there is loads of nausea and vomitting because your stomach has been stapled to the size of your thumbnail So while i haven't ruled that out, I am doing the "sensible eating" and exercise way, which is the healthy way. And if in time I find that it's not working, then I may consider the drastic measure of gastric bypass. Maybe by then our health care will pay for the less invasive reversible lap band procedure which is basically a day surgery procedure instead of a week hospital stay and 2 week post op recovery time.

Acadia that is fantastic to hear!!! congrats!!!

i've had a problem with my weight for years... and now seem to have just stopped gaining or losing... i'm just there lol............ and i never eat junk food....

i did a blood type diet which worked wonders and helped but it took alot of dedication and you can gain weight again if you stop doing it.

i have low blood pressure - so if my blood sugar is low i start feeling very faint and nauseous.... but thankfully have never had fainting issues........

Ok, Acadia, I think you just talked me into actually using the DVD my sister sent me a couple of years ago. Pilates for the Decrepid, or something like that. ;) The diet is gonna be harder: I don't eat flesh, fish or fowl. Having dieted only twice in my life pre-back-injury, I'm lost. Think I'll just try throwing out the mayo and all snack-type foods. Maybe lots of apples instead? shrug

Quote - Ok, Acadia, I think you just talked me into actually using the DVD my sister sent me a couple of years ago. Pilates for the Decrepid, or something like that. ;) The diet is gonna be harder: I don't eat flesh, fish or fowl. Having dieted only twice in my life pre-back-injury, I'm lost. Think I'll just try throwing out the mayo and all snack-type foods. Maybe lots of apples instead? shrug

Let me dig out a sensible eating plan menu that I have that counts food groups and gives a list of foods that you can eat and the portions to have. It's "dieting" for dummies because it follows the diabetic way of life for food groups IE: cheese is protein not dairy.

Right click the file to save to your desktop and then change the name to "menuplan.htm"

The plan is really easy to follow.

Basic Meal Plan = 1200 calories

Sample Menu = An example of what to have for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks based on the "Basic  Meal Plan" on the left.

"Special Instructions" = How to add or decrease the number of calories you take in.  Add or Omit the number of food groups listed to alter your calorie intake.

Further down are a list of foods for each food group. Pick anything you want from these. For example if your  plan calls for 3 protein groups for  dinner tonight, then go to the "protein group" and make 3 choices from there.  If your plan calls for 1 fat group, go to the "fat group" and pick a fat choice.  If you are to have 2 starches go to the "Starch Group" and make 2 choices.

You can also shuffle your groups around.  For example say you don't like having a dairy choice at lunch and prefer to have more dairy at dinner. You can do that too!  Simply move your dairy choice from lunch to your dinner menu. So if you were to have 2 dairy at dinner, you now have 3.

And there are some foods that don't count at all! They are considered "FREE" foods which means you can eat them and not have to count them as a food group at all!  So go ahead and have that salad before each meal. It will help keep you full.  However, make sure that you count the salad dressing into your daily plan if you are using any. 

Actually that is a big help! I live on cheese... we love cheese. This also reminds me that eating one big meal a day isn't the same as eating several small ones. (Tendency to go until I'm famished, then eat the whole kitchen.) Salads will take some work: mine tend to be soup-like with the amount of dressing I dump on them. Perhaps those new salad spritzer things? And I'm sooo happy pickles are on the good list. Thank you for posting that! Now to get up some enthusiam, walk away from the computer and dig up that Pilates DVD....

Woot!!! 

18 Pounds!!!

We can now call you The Incredible Shrinking Woman! How are you feeling? More energy? Totally psyched? Ready to take on the world?

hehe.  Not feeling much of anything other than stoked!

I do know that I was going to order pizza for dinner tonight but decided against it!  LOL

Veggie pizza, with feta cheese! Some nicely roasted red & green peppers, onions...mmmmm....

Quote - Veggie pizza, with feta cheese! Some nicely roasted red & green peppers, onions...mmmmm....

LOL Nope! Not tempting me! 

You have sooo much self-discipline! But the peppers and onion can be roasted with Pam. Not super-tastey, but pretty good. Meanwhile I blew it: they had Irish butter at the store. I don't know what the Irish do to butter, but it's better than chocolate.

Quote - I don't know what the Irish do to butter, but it's better than chocolate.

Nothing is better than chocolate! Not even sex!  LOL

If you're talking dark, semi-sweet chocolate, I might just agree. With confectioners discovering that the cacao bean has certain health properties, and producing all sorts of exotic delights from around the world, it's been very hard to not try every_single_one.

I'm on a Nupo diet, which is going quite well. 
I've lost 22 pounds so far. 
Congrats on your weight loss :D

An odd thing I discovered when I was a kid. When you are sitting or lying down for a period your rest heart rate  can slow quite a bit. Sudden standing (or vertical movement of head relative to heart) can cause fainting/blackout as your heart rate, if too low can't catch up to the increased pressure needed to supply your brain in it's new position fast enough. Hit the floor a couple of times myself for that issue.

Down about seven pounds myself over 2 months. Just improving the quality of what I eat and trimming a small bit. Still splurge every once in a while though. KInowing that I can go off the rails occasionally allows me to say no to that slice of cake/ plate of fries more easily.

Congrats on the losses!

Well done, I'm so happy for you :)
I am happy that summer seems to be starting and I can eat salad for the next several months :) - I'm a terribly fussy eater and it makes it hard to find healthy foods to eat when your diet consists mainly of bread, meat and potatoes :( I LOOOOOVE vegetarian pizza's with fetta cheese and roasted capsicum and sundried tomatoes YUMMY! and chocolate .... that is my BIG downfall - YUM! - I only buy it once a month for the kids because I would eat it ALL :(

Well done with your loss :)

Congratulations dieters! I have lots 80 pounds in the past two years, and it was HARD. I think I am done now, but the most important thing I did was to stop eating after 8 at night. You don't digest food well as you sleep, so anything you eat just kinda sits in tere. Sleeping well and waking up hungry did wonders for my energy level, so even though I still depsise exersize, I have the energy to do it. And more energy for other things that burn calories as well

-Sarah

I have to admit that I sinned today... not a little, a lot. I'm addicted to the Mcdonalds Chili Cheese tops. -_- damn cheesy goodness.
Back on the wagon tomorrow. maybe I should just tell my friends that I can't go coffee'ing with them when it's not friday. (We've agreed that on fridays, we can eat what we want, otherwise it'd just be too darn easy to sin)  

As long as the overall trend is down, then falling off the wagon is forgivable. Knowing that it is ok to "occasionaly" sin makes it easier to resist the temptations much more often. Maybe the results are a tad slower but they still come and your mental health is not tied up in knots lusting after something snackable. My experience anyway.

I sat on the opposite side of the fence for years, underweight. My doctor once actually patted me on the back when my weight went fron 97.5lbs, to 100lbs (I am 5 feet 2 inches tall). Then when I hit my thirties, got double pneumonia I quit smoking cold turkey. Within two months it was hard to say which was the biggest, my belly or my butt...lol. I went up to 140lbs in that length of time. And the weight still hasn't dropped. As to fainting, I have had fainting spells since birth. At first it was attributed to an enlarged heart. But an ear specialist said it was more than likely due to my Meneire's syndrome which hadn't been diagnosed until I was grown. It causes fluid build-up in the inner ear which can lead to neausea, dizziness or fainting or a combination of all. It can also destroy the auditory nerve and cause deafness. Which is why I'm almost deaf. If you've had so-called frequent ear infections, have testing done to see if that could be a cause. And congratulations on the weight loss. :thumbupboth:

Thanks for the congratulations and well wishes.

The fainting isn't related to my ears. I don't get "dizzy" where the room spins. I get light headed and faint. You know that feeling you get if you stand up too fast you feel like you are going to pass out? Thta's what I get randomly throughout the day. There is no pattern as to when it happens. It's deeply frustrating.

On the topic of my weight loss, that has been on a stand still the last few weeks :( I was in physio but was pulled out of that because of funding issues on the part of my long term disability insurance. Apparently once my Blue Cross maxed out and the insurance company had to pick up the whole tab of $60.00 per session, they decided that it was too expensive and that there were other, cheaper options available that would accomplish the same thing.

I found out today that because of my fainting issues that I qualify for one of the cardiac refit programs offered in my city at one of the local hospitals.  I've been accepted into it and I start going on the 26th,  three times per week.

I've kept up with some of the stretches that I was doing in physio, but some I can't do because you have to be laying down to do them and I have a waterbed which prevents me from being able to do them safely, and I can't get down on the floor because I'll never be able to get back up again!   So I haven't lost any more weight, and in fact I think I've gained back a pound or two :( I am scared to weigh myself to find out.

I'm looking forward to starting that program. I cried when I was told I was pulled from the physio one. I enjoyed going. Plus I enjoyed the social interaction it afforded me. It was nice to get out of the house for a few hours that didn't involve seeing a doctor.

You're describing what my son-in-law gets.
He gets real pale when it happens and passes out.
But his is because somthing in the brain tells his system that his blood pressure is high (which it isn't) and then sends a message to suddenly lower it. That's when he passes out.

I hope they find what is causing yours.
Not only is that frustrating, it can be dangerous if you are alone and fall against a hard, sharp object.

Well, still at a stand still with the weight. In fact since I stopped going to physio and haven't been able to do the cardio that the treadmill there allowed me to do, I've gained back 5 pounds :(

But I'm not beaten!  My eating habits are still the same, though I caved and had McDonalds for lunch yesterday and 3 whole chocolate bars!  (that time of the month :P),

I have also found some more inspiration! This video has found a home on my desktop and will be viewed daily in order to keep up that motivation. I was thin at one time and I do remember how much energy I had and how good I felt about myself as a whole, both inside and out.  And I'm bound and determined to be a thinner version of me.  I'll be happy if I can get to a size 14 or 16, but that is months and months away! 

Here is the video. Hope it is an inspiration and motivator to you as well.  I think I'm going to make one of my own at the end of the road, but in the meantime I will be taking photos over time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5c22JCnMiq4

I've been up since 6:30am! And I'm getting ready to leave for the gym! This is the first day that I go that I do not have to attend an education class, so I have no requirement to go, but here I am leaving the house to go and exercise at 8:30am!

I started in a Cardiac Rehab program through the Wellness Centre where I live.  It's primarily for those who have had a heart attack or bypass or valve replacement surgery.  I squeaked in because I have a mildly enlarged heart due to my sleep apnea. It's not affecting my life in anyway, but it qualified me for this program which provides provides me with assistance in a structured exercise program geared to my needs.

Today I'm doing 1 hour of cardio (45 minutes on the treadmill and 15 minutes with the arm bike), 2 - 15 minute stretch sessions and 1/2 hour of resistance training.

I weighed myself this morning and I've lost the 10 pounds that I gained back after my insurance company yanked me from physio back in September. So that's motivation enough to keep going. It's a total of 21 pounds so far!!!

What's more, I am absolutely terrified of water that is deeper than my knees...and even that gets my gut churning! This Thursday I'm going to buy a bathing suit so I can do Aquasizes twice weekly in order to mix up the cardio.

Insane, I tell you! Totally insane!

but in a very good way - way to go!

Thanks!

I was at the gym bright and early this morning at 7am!!  Got in 1 1/2 hours of cardio, 1/2 hour of stretches and 1/2 hour of resistance training.

I have some shopping to do tomorrow and Friday, and Saturday I'm taking a "me" day and not doing anything, so I can't go to the gym again until Sunday, so I'm bummed about that :(  I never dreamed that I would actually enjoy going to the gym,  LOL

there is nothing that says you can't go to the gym if that's what you want to do on a me day!

Quote - there is nothing that says you can't go to the gym if that's what you want to do on a me day!

Funny you should say that because earlier today I redid my february calendar and my gym times to include Saturday mornings!

I'll keep every other Tuesday as a "me" day where I don't go out or have anything special to do and can just lounge around the house :)