Kasatori

I'm something of the opposite, Castiel, in that most, if not all, of my close friends are male. I tend to liken my literal thinking to being more like a man (I'm female) compared to most of the girls and women I've been around growing up. I also tended to get along better with male teachers and did well writing reports because I was very clear with my points. I have some positive news to share from my job. My Store Manager (whom I've been working with for several months and is very aware of my condition and behaviors) spoke with a woman who mentioned her daughter has similar social issues to mine. Her daughter had been looking for a part time job, but was really nervous about interviews. My manager shared my initial experiences with her: how I'd gotten really stressed out about three months into the job and nearly quit, but persevered. The experience got better for me, and now I'm opening the store alone on Sundays and have a great reputation with my regular customers. It made me feel good knowing I was being used as a positive example for someone else struggling with employment due to social awkwardness. My manager also confided in me that I'm one of her best employees and as such I'm allowed a few extra privileges not given to my coworkers. Not to sound haughty, but it means a great deal to me that my boss trusts me as much as she does. I thanked her for being given these privileges, and she said, "You've earned them." It's been a hard fought battle, but I found I job I truly enjoy, despite the stress, and I wish everyone still looking the best of luck.

I'd love to, but my husband won't go for it. For one, we have no way of penning one, and it wouldn't be allowed inside. His family has had dogs get hit by cars or disappear around here (live out in the country and coyotes come around sometimes), and I'd rather avoid that. I'm also somewhat more of a cat person, but that's not happening either.

I'm a bit farther north in Knoxville.

I'm having my ups and downs with it, though I am making some slight progress. I seem to have dropped back down a pound or two. Small progress, but at least it's starting to swing in the right direction. Haven't had the time or money to make my own snacks yet, though I'm finding some chocolates with lower calories that work. I don't always get to walk, had a couple days with some bad back pain, but at least with my job I'm not completely sedentary anymore. At least I know should I ever start lifting weights, I can at minimum lift 25 pounds...since that's how big a full box of tomatoes or frozen bread sticks weighs.

I do prefer dark chocolate to milk, though I love both. Dark chocolate is supposed to have several good nutrients in it as well, so long as it isn't taken with milk. I may have to start making my own chocolate snacks I can keep, preferably portioned properly, so I can control the ingredients and watch my carbs more. I've done some candy making before, so it might be an option (in limited quantities, of course).

The walking thing is sorta going well. Had a small setback yesterday plus my husband complained walking is boring when I asked him to join me (I wanted to smack him). Personally I'd love to find an activity I enjoy that doesn't involved constant sitting on my butt. Walking at the mall might help with that, so long as I'm not spending tons of money anyway. I've spent about three days tracking my meals through My Fitness, and I've already seen at least one way that I've been sabotaging my weight loss. Day one of tracking went well. I stayed under goal even with the treat of a bowl of plain chocolate ice cream. Yesterday, not so good. I made the mistake of having a cookie at work and a bag of chips with my sandwich. I also wound up having McDonald's chicken nuggets (with a salad but still), which resulted in going over goals. I think I was still under my calorie maintenance level, but it certainly wasn't helping my deficit. The McDonald's wouldn't have been as bad if I hadn't gone with the cookie and chips. Today I went back to a bit better as I skipped the sides and just had a roast beef sandwich with little on it with no sides or dessert. So I need to watch myself with sides as I didn't realize until now how BIG of an impact that cookie and chips made till I started tracking it. Which was the goal for week one, at least, and it gave me the perspective I needed. Also, thanks for the link! I'm still not a soda person, though I'm trying to cut back in it with my tea and snacks. I'm such a chocoholic though, it's hard. I don't think it's sugar specifically that I crave: It's always I just really want some chocolate, specifically. Otherwise, I prefer hard candies like suckers and such. At least chocolate flavored coffee can help in that regard some.

Ah yes the Roman Chair, or one variant of it, is what I was referring to. I've used the other kind too where you hang over and bend upward like reverse crunches (I'm such a newb at terminology) and hated that thing. I suppose part of my reasons for that were I kinda jumped into exercising at a gym with a trainer and felt really overwhelmed, so my Aspie self kicked in. Also, I'm a self admitted wuss who wasn't used to such an exercise and felt like I was being thrown in too hard too soon. I had assumed weak arms kept me from being able to stay up, but weak shoulder and back muscles make sense, too. I have a small weights set I may start using as I ease myself into some semblance of an exercise routine. I had a feeling my elbow popping may not have been too serious, but I wanted to check with some people more knowledgeable than me about lifting. It rather worried me at the time as I didn't expect my elbows to react that way. I've been spending some time browsing the weights section of the forums and feel a tad intimidated by some people's workout routines, though I admire the enthusiasm they have for it. I'm not planning on trying any heavy body building stuff, but I look forward to giving some strength exercises a try.

It's a bit hard to describe (and also it's been a few years since I've attempted this) but I believe it was sort of a popping sound, not too loud, possibly like something rubbing on bone? I can't quite recall. The leg lift machine (I don't know an official name for it) was basically a frame set up against the wall where you hold yourself up on your arms, hands braced against a couple of handles and back pressed to back rest, and you then lift you legs while hanging there. My problem was I couldn't support my weight on my arms (likely still can't), and I would slide down so my shoulders were too high and they'd hurt. I simply didn't have the strength to keep my own body up high enough without potentially injuring myself. My mom was able to hold herself up (and she weighs more than I do), but I couldn't.

Ok I think I have a starter plan, and I'm gonna post it here to help keep myself accountable. On the days I work, I'm going to take a 10 min or longer walk once I get home, no sitting down, and letting myself "rest" on my off days (still doing chores to get up and moving, though). I typically work 5 days a week, around 4-5 hours a week (7 on sundays), at Subway, so I'm on my feet a lot. I'm hoping this will help break me of the constant desire to sit down and do nothing for hours some as well as ease the soreness I feel from being on my feet for so long. This week I'm going to seriously track my calorie consumption on My Fitness to see where I'm at diet wise. As I do so, I'll make small changes to my diet (skipping cookies at work, getting salads instead of fries) and watch the amount of food I'm eating. I got really used to snacking throughout the day and eating when I wasn't hungry, so I'm trying to break that too. I'll see where I am in a week or two before making further changes.

I had a quick question and wasn't sure if there was an appropriate topic to post under. A few years ago when I briefly attended a gym, I was working with a trainer on lifting with dumbbells. Nothing too fancy, just curls and straight arm lifts. I could do the curls just fine (I think I was using a 3 lb. weight), but when I started on straight arm lifts, my elbows felt odd and would pop. It didn't really hurt per say, but it was a bit on the loud side and had me concerned, so I stopped attempting them. I should mention my upper body strength is not great. I can't even hold up my own body weight when I attempted leg lifts on the machine(?) per the trainer's instructions (very nearly hurt my shoulders and had to stop without doing a single leg lift). Any idea why my elbows popped? Was that just the tendons stretching and moving over the bone (or something similar) and harmless? Or should I be concerned and build upper body strength in a different way? I had no problems with resistance training, though I have no idea if that serves the same or similar purpose to actual lifting.

I have family members who have health issues with Aspartame, so I'd worry about that. Not sure about Sweet and Low. Also I'm not a fan of hot tea, herbal or otherwise. I guess growing up in the south spoiled me.

My mom uses Splenda in lieu of sugar, but I don't care for the taste. I don't know what I'd do if I stopped liking iced tea. There's not much else I drink (water some, though it's boring XD). Sometimes it sucks having a super-sensitive sense of taste.

Hello my fine fellows! I was diagnosed with Asperger's as an early adult. My family had suspected something was wrong when I was little, but couldn't pin point it. I remember my grandmother telling me (once I was older, of course) that I acted like I wanted to be autistic, her words, but I was so smart they didn't think it could be Autism. My 5th grade teacher was concerned I had ADHD or something similar as I often wouldn't pay attention in school. Though I know now that was because I didn't care about the subject that was being taught, not because I wasn't able to pay attention. It wasn't until I was a Senior in High School that my grandmother found an article in a magazine by Echo R. Fling, author of "Eating an Artichoke: A Mother's Perspective on Asperger's Syndrome" that we first found out there was an entire spectrum of autism disorders. The behaviors of Mrs. Fling's own son very closely resembled mine growing up, and it caught my grandmother's attention. It included a 6 question "mini quiz" at the end that recommended seeing a doctor if your child met 2 or more of the symptoms listed. I matched 5. The only one that didn't fit was a lack of eye contact, though even then my mom said I would often glance away during conversations. We went to a psychologist through the school system to find out a diagnosis, but he didn't listen. He was sure I'd read so much I'd convinced myself I had it and what I REALLY had was ADHD but with some control over it. I went to a different psychologist once I was older who sat down with the guide book and read over it with me, and she officially diagnosed me with Asperger's. Even though my case is milder than some, it's still enough that I often come across as very hateful, odd, and immature to anyone who doesn't know me. I've had coworkers get annoyed with me because I didn't pick up on some unspoken request that others may have picked up on. I was also removed from a guild on WoW by a guy who took an intense dislike to me because I'd unintentionally been negative and was apparently using my disability like a crutch. He even told my husband he should stop enabling me, and that I needed more self-awareness. I work VERY hard to be more aware of my behaviors in a public setting, but I'm never going to STOP being autistic. I don't handle stress well, though my current job has helped a ton with that to a certain extent, at least. It also helps that I have a very understanding husband (who happens to have ADHD) who has been nothing but supportive. Some might think ADHD and AS would clash, but the way our personalities are, we actually meld VERY well. Anyways, sorry for the wall of text, but I wanted to get some things off my chest. The past few months have been especially stressful on me, and it's great to find other people who face similar difficulties.

I'm glad to hear there are others with autism participating in this. I've spent today reading through "The Best Diet Plan" http://www.acaloriecounter.com/diet/ article that I found posted in another thread and figured out my calorie goals. I suppose my biggest thing will be balancing portions and trying to track said calories. I have the My Fitness Pal app on my phone, but have generally gotten annoyed because I'm not sure how to enter the calories I've eaten in it, especially with food I've cooked myself. It helps a lot that I've never liked sodas, though I do have a chocolate addiction. I have found that a cup of coffee does wonders for my moods, and I personally have no problem sticking to a single cup a day, as I find it very filling. Otherwise, I generally drink sweet iced tea and plan on following my mother's advice of mixing sweet and un-sweet tea to get more used to having less sugar in it. As far as excersize goes, I'm trying to get in the routine of walking every day, and my husband picked us up a small weights set that we can both use. I'm also considering getting into some cycling with him and a couple of friends once I get used to being on a bike again. My husband and I had a gym membership briefly with The Rush, but it got to where his work schedule didn't allow for us going together, and I didn't want to be there alone, so we dropped it. I enjoy resistance training, but I did have a question about lifting weights that came up while I was in a training session. I have no real problem doing curls, but when trying straight arm lifts (this was with a 3 pound weight, if I remember correctly) my elbows were popping. It wasn't painful, per say, but it concerned me enough to be put off trying straight lifts. I should note that my upper body strength isn't great. I can't manage pull ups nor can I hold up my own body weight (last time I tried to do leg lifts on the machine at the gym, I nearly hurt my shoulders). Should I build my arm strength with curls and resistance training first?

Thanks for the reply, Strickland5! I'll be sure to take a look at those posts. In the meantime, I'm getting a start on my new fitness goals by walking a little each day after work and cutting back on the amount of food I eat in a day. I look forward to meeting more members as I go!