response 50 of 77:

Oct 18 16:19 UTC 1999

Why do you want to lose 5 pounds when you are at a stable weight and feel (and
look) healthy?  A little extra weight is an advantage in cold weather.  I
usually gain weight in the fall and lose it in hot weather.  The body is set
up to put on a bit more weight as the days grow shorter and colder.  This
protects against chills.

response 52 of 77:

Oct 18 21:59 UTC 1999

You looked great last I saw you.  The skinniest friend I had in college was
always trying to lose weight.  She looked fat to herself.  There are ways to
measure whether your weight is appropriate for your body build.  Want to
borrow my book?  You need a pair of calipers which you can also borrow.  You
measure your wrist and the flesh below your upper arm.

response 54 of 77:

Oct 26 17:45 UTC 1999

Okay, I've decided to go for it and lose another nine pounds.  My plan
for doing so:

(1) Watch what I eat more closely.

(2) Exercise more.

I'll keep y'all posted.

response 56 of 77:

Oct 27 17:18 UTC 1999

Most of the things you mention are of a sporadic or seasonal nature,
which ain't good enough.  Nor am I going to give up the power mower
or snow blower.  That said, in addition to an exercise program I
*do* look for ways to incorporate more exercise into my daily life,
for example walking downtown instead of driving.

But exercise programs have worked for me in the past, so I'm not
going to abandon that approach.  I'll let y'all know it's coming
along.  (That reminds me, I have yet to do my power walk around
the neighborhood today...)

response 58 of 77:

Oct 28 16:53 UTC 1999

That too.

Actually, Sindi's advice has merit, but it's essentially the same advice
she gave when I first posted this item a year and a half ago.  I didn't
follow the advice then and lost over 25 pounds.  So I think that not
following Sindi's advice has proved to be a winning strategy for me.  :)

response 60 of 77:

Oct 29 17:33 UTC 1999

Jim says there are also people who pay other people to walk in circles for
them (pledge per mile) and suggests you pay someone to lose weight for you. :)
He would offer himself but being a vegan he cannot afford to lose any.
(He will refrain from nominating any other grex members for the job but
suggests people offer to lose weight for other people through the grex
auction, at $5/pound).

response 62 of 77:

Oct 29 21:51 UTC 1999

Well, it's nice that Jim and Sindi get all their exercise in the course of
normal activities (although not without occasional overuse injuries, it
appears).  But not all people are the same.  I used to depend on martial arts
for most of my exercise, but it turned out some muscles didn't get their fair
share and resulted in problems I could only fix by specific exercises.

response 64 of 77:

Oct 31 02:22 UTC 1999

Ah, but perhaps your injuries might have been less or even prevented by having
more muscle in place!

response 66 of 77:

Oct 31 12:21 UTC 1999

You're just looking forward to the bundt cake I'm making
for the Linquist meeting.  Be honest. ;-)

response 68 of 77:

Nov 1 00:14 UTC 1999

Re resp:66 - That too.  I'm experiencing a double sugar whammy
at this point in time.

response 70 of 77:

Nov 1 15:45 UTC 1999

Bones do benefit from weight lifting.  Somehow having muscle does support the
tendons better, if I recall from the wrist tendonitis therapy I had.

response 72 of 77:

Nov 17 13:23 UTC 1999

Sure, I'll help if I can.  Are you overweight?

response 74 of 77:

May 20 07:19 UTC 2002

It looks like I posted something here three years ago about my attempts to
get into better shape.  I made some progress then, but backslid considerably.
A year ago, I was up around 220 pounds (up from 120 when I stopped getting
taller, I think).  I stopped drinking pop very often, and then expanded that
to other foods with large quantities of refined sugar, because they weren't
making me feel good.  I once again started making an effort to run or bike
for a while every other day or so, and have kept that up for the last year.
With those lifestyle changes, I've now dropped down to about 170 pounds, so
I guess this means I'm really making progress this time.  I'm feeling great,
and did a 108 mile bike ride with more than 8,000 feet of elevation gain a
couple weeks ago, and have been doing 50-70 mile rides with a local club most
other recent weekends.

The web based ideal weight calculators I've found say that I'm still 15 pounds
overweight.  I know I've been considerably lighter than this, so maybe they're
right.  On the other hand, the biking is probably building considerably more
leg muscle than normal, and that must weigh something.  After falling really
fast for a while, I seem to be losing weight far more slowly now, so I'm
guessing I'm now approaching where I'm likely to be as long as I can keep up
my current lifestyle (which I'm enjoying a lot, so hopefully I'll stick with
it).