STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

poptart · Coach

Shopping and Weight

Elle · Hermes

I hear ya! I've always had a tough time losing enough weight for it to even make a difference, as I both gain and lose quite slowly. I also happen to DESPISE exercise. I used to be a dancer/dance teacher, so I was excercising 4-6 hours a day because it was my job to do so and it served another purpose. Now, I sit on my behind for 9 hours a day and just can't bring myself to exercise just for the sake of excercising b/c at the most I would lose maybe 3 or 4 lbs. I guess it doesn't help that I look pretty much the same at 105 as I do at 120, with the exception of a little extra on the thighs, slightly fuller cheeks, and a straighter waistline. I guess if I was able to look AWESOME if I excercised everyday, I would be much more likely to do it!

crystal · Kate Spade

i went thru this b4 the new year. all my clothes were really tight & although i wasn't "fat" i felt like it. i had definitely gained a few pounds & wasn't doing anything to lose them. that's when i decided to do the detox diet. i'm a huge sugar addict & just love unhealthy food in general, but this diet allows no pre-processed foods & is quite strict but i stuck with it for the 3 weeks & now i've lost almost 4 lbs (i also began working out, but not that intensely) & really don't desire unhealthy food. in fact, this is my 1st week off the diet & i'm still eating foods i ate when i was on the diet (save the kfc cheat meal i'm allowing myself today, but that's one time in 4 weeks). now, i don't know if this will work for everyone, but if u have a lil extra time to devote to grocery shopping & cooking (nothing too hard, i barely knew how to boil water b4 i started this diet) then i would reccommend it. i feel healthier & my clothes fit better so i like wearing them now. if u want to check out the diet go to www.handbag.com/healthfit/diet/detoxdiet good luck!

hotcocoa · Kate Spade

crystal - i've been wanting to do a detox diet for years, but cannot seem to give up diary... everything else is already out of my diet anyways. i browsed (briefly) throught the site you posted and noticed that week one breakfast is fruit smoothies made with yoghurt. would this be non-dairy yogurt? (soy or rice... it doesn't seem to say) or are you just suppose to limit diary instead of avoiding it completely?

i've heard how wonderful detox is for your skin, so i'm really curious.

crystal · Kate Spade

well, i must say that although this diet was tough, i'm sure there is tougher. ya, i thought it was strange that u can have (low fat) yogurt, but for cereal/oatmeal it says to use soy milk. i'm a big milk fan tho & found the soy milk to be quite satisfying of my dairy needs. i think the idea is just to limit dairy consumption, i guess. i'm not exactly sure... as for skin, i never really had many complaints before so i can't say i've seen a marked improvement, but i've heard it's a great way to kickstart a weightloss regime. and it definitely kickstarted a new way of eating for me!

Joina · Kenneth Cole

First of all, let's talk realistic weight. You need to find out what your body fat percentage is in order to make a realistic goal. I'm going to use me as an example. I am 5'7" and about 4 months ago (my fat days), I weighed 149 lbs. I changed my habits when I went to my sister's wedding (as MoH) and everyone told me I look like I gained a lot of weight. Started going to the gym 5-6 times a week and hired a personal trainer 2x a week (I'm in Shanghai working, they are cheap)... Anyway, I created this whole plan and my goal was to lose 24 lbs to get to 125 (pre-fat days).

My trainer measured my body fat percentage in the beginning of it all, and it was 27% in the beginning of the diet. If you do the calculations, that is about 40 lbs in fat and about 109 lbs in lean mass (muscles, organs and bones), meaning that I should always have at least 109 lbs in lean mass. Going back to the my original goal of 125, my trainer made me realize that it was not realistic since that is only 16 lbs of fat or 13% body fat percentage which is extremely unrealistic (22% is normal and 18% is for very fit/athletic women). By redoing calculations and my goal now is to get to 18% bfp, I found out that my realistic goal should be 133.

As to my personal progress so far, my bfp went from a 27% to 21% in 3 months of hard work. My current weight is 139, which means that out of the 10 lbs I have lost, 9 lbs of it was fat! 3% more to go

nyc_shopgirl · Dooney & Bourke

You are definitely not fat. Yes easy to say. You work out a lot and keep thinking muscle weighs more than fat. I was at my lowest weight when I was not working out and I was eating crap (dinner was half a bag of reeces pb cup minis) Anyways I am about 10 lbs heavier but my clothes still fit and actually fit better but I am definitely more toned. Check into your workout maybe you have gotten into a rut.

Joina · Kenneth Cole

Yes! And to add to that point, I fit in all my pre-fat days clothes even better even tho I am 14 lbs heavier now.

Lola · Dooney & Bourke

Don't obsess over loosing those "5 extra pounds" just concentrate on living a healthy lifestyle and the weight will come off! I hired a personal trainer/dietition and he helped me a TON. I was 138...feeling kinda sluggish, my top weight I had ever been. My bfp was at 27%. After following the diet plan and workout plan of my trainer I went down to a bfp of 16%! In 3 months, it was a lot of work, but anyone can do it, if you work for it hard enough.

Since you already have great dedication to your workout plan, I would concentrate on your diet. Can you see a dietition for guidence? It's really motivating after actually having to confront and spell out what exactly you have been eating to a professional, and then come up w/ a personalized "diet" or eating schedule w/ their help. I was so motivated to succeed at filling my diet requirements after having professional guidence, and after he broke it down to me and explained it, it just all made so much sense! Something I could have never done on my own! Just some "food for thought"...I'm soooo lame! ;)

Joina · Kenneth Cole

Wow, lola, that's just awesome! 16%! You should be very proud yourself!

The problem with me is the food. I couldn't survive with less than 1800 calories a day and I do drink a lot

poptart · Coach

Thanks, everyone! You are all absolutely right about focusing on being healthy and strengthening/toning through weight training. And I might be in an exercise rut - I should talk to my trainer. At my biggest I weighed about 140 with a body fat of about 24%. My bfp is now 19.8, which is a good loss, but I should shake up my routine. I take a lot of ballet classes, and everyone is so t-i-n-y that I feel like a cow. Especially at costume fittings! But, I'm never going to weigh 105, so I need to accept it!

It's hard to put on clothes that don't look good, but I'm sure even if I weighed the elusive 125, there would still be things that wouldn't look good! I'm going to blame it on the designers.

poptart · Coach

"As to my personal progress so far, my bfp went from a 27% to 21% in 3 months of hard work. My current weight is 139, which means that out of the 10 lbs I have lost, 9 lbs of it was fat! 3% more to go " -- (This is from Joina - I have no idea how to do the cool quote thing ) and I just wanted to say:

---That is great! Congratulations!

-- Edited by Lisa at 10:26, 2005-01-26

Joina · Kenneth Cole

Lisa - Thanks for the support!

As for the quote thing, just click on the quote link instead of reply, and it will quote for you

Meow · Coach

I know how you feel, Lisa. I am your same height and weight. Last year at this time I was weighing 123 pounds. I would just like to lose 5 pounds. What is weird is that I wear a size 8 and sometimes a 6. Somehow, those sizes just don't seem to match my weight. The reason I want to lose 5 pounds is that when I am around 125, I have pretty much a flat stomach. At 130, where I am now, I think it pooches just slightly. I do pilates four times a week so that helps with the stomach, but still I hate going shopping at this weight.