WORK IT!: The 2007 Labor Day Challenge Thread, Sign-up and Reporting

[Alexa]

Re: WORK IT!: The 2007 Labor Day Challenge Thread, Sign-up and Reporting

Hey everyone,

Well lots of you have bared all so here's me. I cut my head off because felt a bit weird in my underwear online



Geez - no one should ever have to look at a picture of their own butt. It's cruel and unusual.

Just need to lose some thigh and belly fat and tone up generally.

NB I live a rented house - I would not choose these curtains

[julirama723]

Re: WORK IT!: The 2007 Labor Day Challenge Thread, Sign-up and Reporting

Baarb, my gosh, you look fabulous! Look at that trim waist--you have such a gorgeous hourglass figure! I think your stomach looks awesome now, I can't wait to see it in September.

[tmn]

Re: WORK IT!: The 2007 Labor Day Challenge Thread, Sign-up and Reporting

Geez - no one should ever have to look at a picture of their own butt. It's cruel and unusual.

LOL! I'll swap with ya! Your butt looks better than mine!

[BLAZING IN FL]

Re: WORK IT!: The 2007 Labor Day Challenge Thread, Sign-up and Reporting

(one of his arguing points was that the brain needs 100g of carbs/day to survive, otherwise it begins to die or some nonsense), not to mention, 80 pounds lighter. They both apologized and said that I am the healthiest they've ever seen me, that I definitely need to keep doing what I've been doing, and that maybe THEY could learn a thing or two from the Atkins WOL.[/QUOTE]

How did people get 100 grams of carbs a day before "man made" white sugar, flour and processed foods were around???....heck, they would have had to eat a lot of bananas and potatoes, because back then, that would have been just about the highest carb item available.

Julie, I'm glad your parents understood your point in the end. I just had an argument with a man about the diet....He said "how can stuffing pepperoni and cheese in your body all day be healthy for you" I asked him what diet he was referring to, because no where in DANDR does the doc tell you to do this. I explained that America took the diet and adjusted it to suit themselves with eating porkrinds, processed meats, processed cheeses etc...., and forgot to read the book which suggests to get a majority of your carbs from veggies and to try to eat as much lean meats as possible, avoiding to many red meats.

[BLAZING IN FL]

Re: WORK IT!: The 2007 Labor Day Challenge Thread, Sign-up and Reporting

Baarb, I think you look incredible, you don't even notice the curtains.....

[Alexa]

Re: WORK IT!: The 2007 Labor Day Challenge Thread, Sign-up and Reporting

Well that felt like a bit of a thread jack! (Inserting my half-naked body into a serious discussion )

But on the topics above:

*When was the USDA food pyramid accepted as gold-standard, and are there any socio-economic factors contributing to this development?

I've been reading Fatland - How America became the fatest nation on the planet out of general interest and partly because the UK trends generally follow those of the US. I got the impression that in 1970s with the downturn of the global economy and agriculutral factors there were pressures on government to make food cheaper but they didn't want to subsidise as much, also consumers wanted hceaper food - then someone came up with putting corn syrup in all kinds of things which was cheaper than sugar, made backed goods (inc bread) look pretty and acted as a preservative. I think this is a major factor in why people have began to gain so much weight - bread is not like it used to be.

*Do you think that the food pyramid will change? When do you think that will happen?

I agree with the above - eating a near perfect and very wholegrain version of the food pyramid didn't do me any good. I ate brown rice, beans, whole wheat, lentils (as a veggie) until the cows came home - couldn't lose weight. Eating the cows is another story. I can't believe I just put that! Such a bad pun... I apologise.


*Do you think that Atkins or Atkins principles will gain a place in the "normal" everyday diet?

Not anytime soon because of the marketing and production values in manufactured foods. Also, people take most of their cues from the media and it has had a very bad press over the years. It is up to us to be honest about our WOL and show what it has done for us.



*Have any of you followed this USDA guide on another program (Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, etc.) and actually gained weight because of the 6-11 servings of carbs?

No - but I have never eaten that many! Julie I am amazed your Dad is told not to count anything below 15g!!!!!! WTF?!

*How do western countries (Canada, US, UK, etc.) compare with other countries in terms of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and what are the typical diets of these countries? I have heard that the French have the lowest rate of heart disease and obesity, although they eat the highest-fat diets.

It depends where you go in France. In Paris people tend to be super skinny. In the countryside people are more robust. But you hardly ever see really big people.

In the UK I feel like I am seeing more and more big people every day and the average size is getting bigger too. I used to feel like I stood out at UK size 18--20. Now at that size I don't think I would, but perhaps that's the psychology of weight loss.

Interesting! Every time I'm at the gym I look at the food pyramid on the wall and chuckle to myself.

[PaulaMM]

Re: WORK IT!: The 2007 Labor Day Challenge Thread, Sign-up and Reporting

I'm up to 215lbs from 211lbs. I could just cry.

[selfreinvented]

Re: WORK IT!: The 2007 Labor Day Challenge Thread, Sign-up and Reporting

Up 4 pounds isn't the end of the world...I keep reading that weight loss is not linear...! If that's true then have faith!

[Alexa]

Re: WORK IT!: The 2007 Labor Day Challenge Thread, Sign-up and Reporting

Hey Paula,

Selfr is right - weight loss is prone to being all over the shop. The number of times I have lost and gained the same bit of weight - I must have lost about 200lbs by now!

It could be TOM, retaining water weight from exercise (I do that a lot), bowels, all kinds of things. Don't panic, drink your water, eat right and exercise and it will go the right way again.

[Alexa]

Re: WORK IT!: The 2007 Labor Day Challenge Thread, Sign-up and Reporting

Thanks very much for the compliments Julie, tmn and Michelle You guys are all so suppotive

[PaulaMM]

Re: WORK IT!: The 2007 Labor Day Challenge Thread, Sign-up and Reporting

Sorry to be such a downer, guys. I'm having myself a huge pity party this afternoon.

I think some tweaking is in order. I've been doing this for over a month and I'm only 2lbs from my start weight. My only options are finding a way to make this WOE work for me or give it all up and continue to gain weight and stew in self hatred. It's pretty much a no brainer.

Oh, and TOM is no longer possible for me, as of April 2006. I thinking more and more that this is my problem. I'm off to do some research.

[LooseShoes]

Re: WORK IT!: The 2007 Labor Day Challenge Thread, Sign-up and Reporting

Wow, Baarb, you look great!

As to the Atkins questions, I did Weight Watchers in about 1980 when they were basically low carb and lost a lot of weight and felt and looked really good. When they changed over to the American Heart Assoc and Pyramid, I went back a couple of times but only seemed to be able to lose 10 pounds or so and just couldn't stay with it. The low fat diet is just too hard and I was hungry a lot, not something I deal with that well.

I'm afraid I don't trust the government that much with most things. There are a lot of good people in government, just the bureaucracy makes everything move at snail speed and it takes too many people to make a decision. A lot of times the people are obligated to special interests and that affects the decisions that are made. That's one reason I'm not thrilled at the idea of government running healthcare. If they can be so wrong on what we ought to eat, what makes us think they know best about our medical conditions?

I'm also concerned sometimes about the "studies" that come out all the time. Some of them are financed by companies that have an interest in the study coming out a certain way. Even if the research is honest, the results are sometimes skewed. You know the saying--There are liars, da**ed liars, and statisticians. One day hormone replacement is wonderful, the next year it'll kill you. One day low fat is the only way to eat, the next year, not so much.

One reason I let my weight get out of hand was I figured, what the heck do these guys really know anyway? I might as well eat like I want and be happy. Whatever they say now will likely change anyway, so I'll do what I want. Of course the junk food made me feel awful, but I thought I was happy.

I think people have to take responsibility for their own health and well-being. I could take a bucket of pills prescribed by the doctor, or, I can lose weight, exercise and eat sensibly and not have to rely on chemicals. Of course, the pharmaceutical and food companies aren't so excited about that. But why can't the pharmaceutical companies just be needed for horrible diseases and we, the people, take care of ourselves for the basics? The doctors are way too apt to just throw pills at you and not set you down and say, "Get a grip and lose some weight before it kills you." They'd rather give me a pill and then I take it like a brainless sheep and figure everything's OK now. I don't have to change anything else, I'm "fixed". Of course, that pill causes a reaction and you have to take another pill to counteract that, and so on and so on.

Sorry I got on my soapbox, but it really upsets me the way medicine is handed out but very little is said or done to help people actually BE healthy.

[gonnabskinny]

Re: WORK IT!: The 2007 Labor Day Challenge Thread, Sign-up and Reporting

Wow, I really need to get caught up on my reading on this thread. This is some challenge. I was really worried when I posted 18 lbs for my goal!!! I said to myself, what was I thinking? Well now I think, it is really doable! I figured with being on OWL, it is going to slow way down. Boy was I wrong!!! Last week, I also figured that I blew it with July 4th. Too much wine (OK an extra glass twice), and too many calories (I know we aren't supposed to look at calories), and I missed exercising a couple of times. Well, I stepped on the scale this morning and am down 3 lbs!!! 15 more to go! Woooooo Hooooo!!!

OK, here are some stats that I promised last week.

Current weight is now 253 lbs.
Waist 44.5 inches
Hips 43 inches
Chest 44.5 inches
Thighs 25.5 inches
Calfs 16.75 inches
Biceps 14 inches
Neck 17 inches

I will post a picture soon. I promise!!!

[*Emma*]

Re: WORK IT!: The 2007 Labor Day Challenge Thread, Sign-up and Reporting

Congrats all you losers!! too many to name them all! y'all are doing great!!

Haha looseshoes - that pixie is the devil, but shes working me hard!

Baarb you look amazing!! youve got a fab tummy!! i want one like that!

[julirama723]

Re: WORK IT!: The 2007 Labor Day Challenge Thread, Sign-up and Reporting

Don, GREAT JOB on the 3 pounds lost! I KNOW you will do this. Heck maybe those extra calories helped!?

I am seeing some fabulous answers to the discussion questions. I love it!