I have this super-duper all the bells and whistles treadmill, mari. The more I use it, the more I eat. Whatcha got in mind?

Yeah, sure. I did the lose weight and get fit thing last year with a fair degree of success, but need to drop a fair bit more this year. And I definitely need to get some of my fitness back. I'm teaching lifeguard classes all March, and it would probably be good if I can get through them without needing rescue myself.

I have one of those... I thought that's what it was for, to work up an appetite.

Count me in, baby cakes carrots. I really want to get off my hbp meds this year, but i need to lose some serious weight. I've started walking every morning at Descanso Gardens after I drop Sprout off at school. I walk for about an hour in this gorgeous garden. I'm thinking of trying out the water exercise class at the Y, too. It will be helpful to have someone kick my butt if I don't go.

I really need to do this. Count me in. Though you may have to count me out if I fall off the wagon. I have become, err, corpulent. (Am I allowed to say that?)

I'm in! I dropped 30lb between arriving in the US in Feb and the end of June but have got stuck since.Really need to lose another 25 or so.

Screw you all. I am in shape. Round is a shape, always has been, always will be!

Please excuse me now; typing this has left me short of breath and somewhat irritable.

Only if you live in New Jersey.

Corpulent looks much better with a spray tan, especially if you can add those airbrushed six packs.

My sister just phoned and told me to be ready to go to the gym in 20-30 minutes.



That's motivation.


I purchased a copy of "eat this, not that" yesterday for a friend who eats out a lot. I follow them (eat this, not that")on de twitter machine: http://twitter.com/EatThisNotThat

I kinda like them. I don't like that they sometimes give you the better of two choices without letting you know that neither is a good choice.

IIRC the authors are wih Men's Health, who (or whom?) I also follow on de twitter:
http://twitter.com/MensHealthMag

Anyway, I find the book to be hard to use. Still, it's quite eye-opening as to what is found in restaurant/fast food choices. (one example: Outback's Kookaburra Wings are 2,145 calories, 185 g fat, 75 g saturated, 3,711 mg sodium. That's just an appetizer.)

There's more, but I hear my sister.

oh, for the record, I bought the book for a friend who mentioned it.

Anyway.

So I went to the gym, then visited neighbors who fed me brownie cake and sent me home with a basket of food. Yes, a large basket filled with goodies.

I have one of these in my home gym. Sadly, unlike the car, this doesn't do everything by itself. On the bright side, it's only 4 minutes a day.

MIMI, BAD GIRL.

Looks like it's missing some bells and whistles. And horns.

That looks vaguely like a torture device, Stern!

The sodium is what makes it so hard to eat out. Soups, salads, it doesn't matter. It seems like 3,000 is kind of a minimum number of milligrams. I love salt, but my hbp is very salt-sensitive. Three thousand milligrams is like a week's worth of salt for me.

I don't always know when he's kidding. like now.


Nuttin' really:

I'm trying to drop some weight I gained when I moved back here. I'm still not there, but feeling better. Not that I haven't had setbacks. I just know they're going to happen and I try not to beat myself up about them. And, I'm almost okay. I want to get back into size 4-6. (I was 2-4 when I moved here. I'm at about a 6-8 now. But not in shape. No muscle. And just not good. So, maybe lose 15 lbs or so and pump up the muscle. If only.)

Awhile back I noticed that people were moving toward interval training. Some call it "burst training". From the articles I read, it's the best way to lose fat. I read that if you use interval training on a treadmill, you can get more benefit in 20 or 30 min. than a person who is doing a non-interval workout for double that time. I mean it is supposed to kick your metabolism into gear and keep it up for up to 72 hours. So, I'm trying that out.

I was doing interval/burst outside as well. I'd walk for awhile, then run as fast I could (meh, I'm real slow) until I was out of breath. And back to walking until I was back to breathing easy. Rinse and repeat. I try for 8 bursts within about 1-1/2 or 2 miles. I found this was oh so much more fun to do on a beach than a city sidewalk. I was getting much better too. At first I could run for a very short distance. I mean very short. But after awhile, my run periods were getting longer and I could go farther. Still not far, but a lot better than at first. I still didn't actually like the running part. But, I liked that I could do it. And I liked that I felt better. Not at first, but after awhile.

I'm cold. I don't wanna go out and try now. I don't care for winter at all. Cold hurts. (I don't care. Call me a baby.) And the treadmills have a button for interval training. You don't see your improvement on a treadmill as easily as you do outside though.

I've just started back to the strength training. It's terrible to realize how much muscle I've lost. I really have very little strength. Being female, and in my 50's, I need to fight this. (You younger ladies will find out later. It's harder to keep your metabolism up, and you fight muscle loss. A hormonal thing.)

Anyway, I find that my upper body strength is terrible. Embarrassing really. I have to work at this.

Oh how I wish that very handsome guy at the gym was my trainer.

I'm back to square one. But it will be fun, if I can make it fun.

And I like the planet fitness that recently opened just a few miles from me just as much as the pricier gyms I previously belonged to. At least for my current wants and needs. In fact, it's so low key, it's perfect for me right now. ($10/month. Seriously.) And they really do mean it when they say "no judgment zone". There are people there at many levels. And the manager is real nice. They don't have any classes like the other gyms. But, as I said, it's great for my current requirements.

I have also promised my neighbor that I would join the Curves to support her though. It's more expensive, but she is in her 70's and is afraid she may not be able to use the machines at the planet fitness. I know her well. She might be right. But she's gonna go to the planet fitness as a guest to see if she can do it first.

I agreed to Curves for her for just few months. I did this with her last spring/early summer for 3 mos. as well. She and her husband are very good to me, and it's really not all that much time. I wouldn't go to both on the same days. Curves is only a 30 min. circuit plus time to stretch.

So, I still have to deal with the food thing. I don't eat often enough. I should eat 3 meals plus one or two snacks. And when I don't eat often enough, I basically slow my metabolism. I don't drink enough water. By not drinking enough I train my body to retain water. I need to work on it. And, as I said earlier, it's especially hard if you eat out. But IIRC the new healthcare law requires (or will require, I don't know when each part goes into effect) restaurants to provide nutritional info. I don't know if they have to put it on the menu, or if you have to ask for it. It will be helpful to those who want to know. Some will ignore it. And some won't be able to use the information because they don't know if 300 or 400 calories is normal for a meal, or if 1,500 or 2,000 calories is normal. (I remember the Righties on twitter complaining what an unnecessary expense to the freedom-loving free-market restaurant owners this requirement is.)

I'm addicted to coffee. And I went back to smoking (I don't wanna talk about it. I'll quit again.) Yeah, it is harder to use the treadmill. I'll quit again.

So, I think we all have to work at it. I just wanna be better tomorrow than I was today. And, I do it to make me feel better.

I bought a bike off the craigslist in the summer and had a great time riding it to the grocer rather than driving. Not an expensive road bike, but a hybrid that goes for a $250 or $300 new. (I paid $40, and it was just like new. The couple even threw in the helmet. I don't wear it, but don't judge me. I don't go fast anyway.) I bought a basket for it. I'm thinking I wanna get a bubble machine for it too. I had one on my bike when I lived in Richmond. They make 'em. In the kids department. Yeah, the kids laughed. Much fun.

I think I want to hike the Grand Canyon. I need to look into that.

And I am no where near the fitness level of people who I have been closest to. I know I disappoint them, but I'm just not ever going to be at their level, or even close. I'm not a marathoner, or even a runner. I'm not a biker. I am constantly trying to overcome my fears. And, I just haven't ever been competitive. But, I still want to be able to do things.

Finally, if that gizmo that Stern posted really works, I want it.


[so in the middle of this long bit of nothing my neighbor called me to ask about the gym. She talks to me for about 15 minutes. She wants to know if there are older people there. (Was her word, ellie.) She wants to know if there are people who can't work the machines. Wants to know if it's mostly men, cuz she prefers a women only facility. She's scared. Says she's feels intimidated by both. But, she wants to give it a try. Then tells me it will be next week. Maybe I'm off the hook for the Curves thing. I'm gonna help her with the machines. I hope she likes them.]

Interval training is an excellent way to exercise - and it doesn't have to be used just with running. It can be on a bike, swimming, even lifting weights (but light weights!). A good way to start is to do 8 secs on/12 secs off for 4 minutes, then have a minute off, then do it again. If you have an iPhone or similar, then look for apps for Tabata training (its just a fancy name for intervals), the apps are good because they manage the timing for you and you just have to listen for the beeps. If you are starting off with intervals, then just jog the 8 secs, walk the 12 secs. The key is to make sure there is a change of effort between the on and the off of the interval. Its only 8 secs each time which makes it bearable!

I do intervals with band training as well - I love the bands because they work all the good stabilising muscles as well - less likely to get injuries. This guy sells bands if you are interested in getting some. The light bands are a great way to start, and means you have a whole gym in such a little space! For my interval training with bands, I use a 20 secs on/10 secs off interval again for 4 minutes with a 1 minute break. Its a great way to do some weights like training while also getting your heart rate up for weightloss.

I love the bands, too, Ozzie. Portable, and they give you a workout you'd not expect. If you're looking for toning, these are the deal.

I like the whole series - I used them last year, when I went on a big weight loss kick and dropped from 238 to 207. But I'm back at 220, so I'm dusting them off again. I didn't find the eat out ones to be hugely useful, but I've gotten a lot out of their cookbook (Cook this, not that.)

My wife swears by the P-90X system. (I swear at it.) Personally, I'm going the triathlon training route. It's a better fit for me, and has a lot of the same benefits.

Regardless of what you pick, I'd strongly suggest that y'all look at doing different workouts through the week. The cross-training/periodization type workout cycles have a lot going for them - if only because they give different muscle groups a break on different days. I'd also strongly suggest that, if you can, you find a fitness facility that has a decent-sized swimming pool (25-yard lap pool, minimum). Swimming and water aerobics are very energetic, but also quite low impact. That's a good combination, especially for those of us who are not starting from the fittest of foundations.

I bought that one too. I bought it for me, but I'm not sure if I'll keep it or not. It depends on how many of the recipes are vegetarian, or easily adaptable. And easy. I like easy.

I like the information in the books. But I find the "Eat this" book a bit hard to use. I only looked at it for a few minutes though. I hope it's easy. My friend eats lunch out every day, and dinner out a couple times a week.

Also, like I said, sometimes the "Eat This" is deceiving. For example in their entry for "The Cheesecake Factory" they tell you to choose "the Factory Burger (737 calories; 16 g sat fat;1018 sodium) " over "Grilled Turkey Burger" (1331 calories; 31 sat fat; 1674 sodium). Yeah, it's better. But not exactly good. (Then again, how many people would order the Turkey Burger, thinking it to be the more healthful choice?)

I do think the success of the book series will add some pressure to food industry to provide better choices.

I'm in. I simply need to eat less food. How do I stop going to the fridge for snacks in the evening? That's my downfall - the after dinner snacking.

I think that's probably their point. And they do give a suggestion on dealing with the issue of "not good" - have the server pack half to go before bringing it out.

As far as the veggie options go, there are a fair number that either are veggie or are readily convertible. (I'm a carnivore, but my wife's vegetarian.)

I'm a snacker too. Something that worked for me for a long time was to move to 6 meals a day, instead of 2 or 3 along with snacks. Each meal should be around equal protein and carbs, with as little sugar/sat fat as you can get away with. I found it hard to find good sources of protein for morning meals - as its either meat, fish, cottage cheese (which I don't like) or egg whites. I think powdered egg whites are sold, you could make an omelette or something like that for brekkie. I usually just had a protein shake with a banana blended in for breakfast.

It worked really really well - its actually pretty hard to eat 6 meals a day, even though they are all quite small. It meant I didn't really have time for snacking - as the next meal was only ever about 2 or 3 hours away! Its good to try get in the last meal before around 8pm though if you can, which may leave snacking time afterwards.

I was quite lucky with where I lived when I was eating like this - a tiny little town on the coast where there were no shops that opened past 6pm. I went shopping just after a meal, meaning I didn't really feel hungry and therefore didn't buy bad snack foods. Then, at night when I would get my snack cravings I couldn't eat anything bad coz there wasn't anything in the house and the nearest open shop was 45 minutes away! Its a lot harder to do that living in a city.