This is my blog on my quest to lose weight. You are welcome to comment, criticize, ridicule, suggest, advise, flame and call people names if you so wish. However, I am determined to lose all those extra pounds I've put on in the last year or so.332 responses total.
So why the sudden urge to lose weight? I have had this feeling that I've been packing on the pounds for some time now. The biggest indication is when no pants look good on you anymore, and when you live your life in pants and jeans, this is Not a Good Thing. However, I've been ignoring the notion for a while till a couple of days ago. Someone made the following comment on the "blog" on my website : "Holy cow Sapna. You've put on weight. Start working out instead of spending so much time blogging" No, I don't spend that much time blogging (averages less than half an hour a day over the period of a week), but I also do not exercise. And I love to eat. I'm not big on snacking, food has to be in plain view for me to think of eating it. But when I do eat, I tend to really eat. And I hate exercise. I will walk a lot when presented the oppurtunity, but in Columbus you're best bet on getting from point A to point B is the car. There's nowhere that I'd like to go that's walkable distance from where I live. Anyhow, that comment made me run to the bathroom scale and weigh myself - a whopping 157 lbs. That's 22 lbs over what I was when I moved to Clevleand in March of last year. And even then I was trying to get rid of the last 5 lbs so to speak. That did not make me very happy. I'm determined to lose these 22 lbs and the extra 5 if it's the last thing I do. Started the "Lose weight projec" yesterday. I will be recording progress or non-progress, interesting facts about nutrition and exercise, and anything that catches my fancy while I go ahead with my plan
I started off by looking for "Fitness Planners". I wanted one that I could download to my desktop, but didn't come across any that are free. There is the Vivonic Fitness Planner available, but since it's not free, I didn't really look into it. GNC has a fitness planner on their site, but it's based on .NET and tends to have too many server errors to make it convenient enough to use. Chatelaine's Free Fitness Planner (http://healthplanner.chatelaine.com/) seems interesting enough, though it didn't really fit my needs. The easing in period into the exercises was 3 months. A little too slow for my liking. It based it's nutrition on the food groups instead of calories, which is a good, sound plan, but without the caloric indication, I wasn't really interested. I finally settled on www.fitday.com. It lets me record what I've eaten, and will calculate the caloric content, along with fat, carb, proteins and minerals. It will let me add activities, and calculate the calories burnt. I realise that these numbers may not be accurate, but it gives me a good visual indoication of what I've been eating and doing. Learnt some interesting stuff about the way my bodie burns calories. My basal calories burnt are about 1590. Based on my lifestyle I burn 443 calories additionally a day. And yesterday, I burnt an extra 200 calories in exercise. Playing the piano apparently burns about 2 calories a minute (that doesn't really seem right, it seems a little on the high side). And just by being at work I burn about 254 calories. Driving my car to and from work expends about 42 calories. As for caloric intake, yesterday I ingested about 1700+ calories. About 700 of those were two tuna fish sandwiches that I had as snacks. Each slice of bread was 80 calories. The butter was about 90 calories for each sandwich (I used butter on the bread slices. I didn't add mayo), and the tuna itself (packed in veg oil) was about 300+ calories. That's 700 calories I had in addition that could have been avoided. However, since 1000 calories is a little on the low side, I guess that's ok, but I wish I'd used the 700 calories for something more satisfying. 192 calories on a chocolate chip cookie was way too many calories for so little satisfaction. Counting calories this way has made me understand food better, and make better substitution choices. It's helped me evaluate foods that are worth eating, and which can be skipped (If I hadn't eaten that cookie, I wldn't have had to have yesterday's workout, theoretically) I found that if I substitue a tablespoon of coriander chutney for the same amount of oil-based pickle, IK've just reduced my fat intake by about 5 grams and caloric intake by 90%. Definitely worth it, especially since I don't have a preferance for one or the other.
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We went through something similar trying to figure out how I could gain weight, counting the calories. Fruit and vegetables are mostly water - eat all you want of those. Bread is a good way to gain weight. One way to lose weight is not to eat anything you have not cooked for yourself. No restaurants, no take-out, no frozen pizzas, etc. No prepared foods - start with single ingredients. Don't keep things around that don't need preparing except for low-calorie things like fruit. Avoid refined foods, which includes butter and sugar. These two don't give you much that you need besides calories. Eat vegan - even the less fatty types of meat and cheese are high calorie. Get a pressure cooker for beans. Eat whole-grain - it takes longer to chew and digest and you feel full longer. I am currently trying to eat a lot of bread and cheese, adding olive oil to everything, drinking milk, eating every couple of hours even if not hungry. You should be doing the opposite. Drink water if thirsty. Stay busy with things outside instead of eating.
resp:3 well, to comment on that, if you do need to lose weight, you'll reach it sooner than I. I've posted recent pictures, so... Everyone's got a different idea on how to lose weight, frankly. I think you'll have to find what works for you, Sapna. I think the most important things to remember is that it involves a lifestyle change and therefore, you need to find some kind of plan you can stick to for the rest of your life. Julie has lost 30 pounds with the Carbohydrate Addict's Diet... my progress is more gradual. But this is not for everyone... we eat quite a bit of meat. I think Sindi's advice probably fits a broader range of people. BUT more importantly, if you're serious, and want some help, I'd ask your doctor, and consider seeing a nutritionist. A nutritionist is the one best qualified to evaluate what you are eating and determine what you should eat... and your physician can help you overall, as well as recommend a good exercise program. I bought a scale that measures weight and body fat percentages with my past birthday money and weigh in every morning. Every so often, Julie takes some body measurements with a tape, too-- hips, waist, arm, thigh. Julie charts the percentages, weights, and numbers on a graph. Keep in mind that we look at the graph over time. You should bear this in mind, too. Most of the time, you should be paying attention to how your clothes are fitting you than what the scale says. My numbers weren't going down fast, but Julie said my clothes were fitting more loosely when she helped me rush off to work.
btw, if you want to be 'svelte', consider a exercise program that combines aerobics with weight training. Aerobics will help trim your body, while a solid weight training program can shape and tone your body. Take a look at any of Joyce Vedral's books, such as "Bottoms Up" or "The Fat-Burning Workout."
I only like writers whose last names are Joyce.
Before eating a meal or snack, drink a large quantity (.5l or more) of a calorie-free-and-tastes-like-it liquid (water, unsweetened tea, etc.). Put another one or two further into any large meal, and don't keep eating for an extended period. (The idea's to avoid consuming wet calories because you're thirsty, and to convince your stomach that it's full.) Arrange your life so you have to walk more.
Also so that you are usually near a lavatory.
That can cause bladder problems, i.
I am currently doing a free online class at Barnes and Noble University. The text that is being used is "Diet Simple" by Katherine Tallmadge (she is also the instructor for the class.) She is a nuitritionist and weight loss expert. Unlike most, she has been through it herself. I really like the book. It is full of tips, suggestions, and substitutions. i.e. replace one sugared soft drink with water a day and loose 17-22 pounds a year, replace the afternoon candy bar or ice cream sundae with a fresh fruit with 1 tablespoon of regular chocolate syrup sundae and loose 9-35 pounds a year, etc. It is one of the best diet books I have seen in a long, long time. She suggests keeping a food diary for a week without really trying to diet. (She has found that having to write it down makes you more aware of exacting what, when, and why you are eating and you make changes without thinking about it.) After a week, look at it and evaluate what and when. You have started this process by using fitday.com. I use it, too. It makes it easy to track everything. You periodically evaluate the food diary. Also think about what you are eating. Sometimes you really do need that brownie, but think about the caloric consequences before eating it, do an inner test to see if you really feel that the bit of enjoyment you will get from it is worth the calorie hit you will take. If it is, enjoy it to its fullest. Savor every crumb. I am a choco-holic. I rarely pass chocolate up. Using this approach, there are days that I say, "no, it really isn't worth it." Other days it is. As long it is under conscious control, rather than auto-pilot, it is ok to have a high/empty calorie treat on occasion. I have found that this has reduced my chocolate from 1-2 candy bars per day during the week, to less than one a week. A major win for me. Little tiny things can add up in the long run. Good luck. I will cheer you on, and be support if you slip.
Thanks for all your tips and kind words. Jamie, thank you for your vote of confidence :) But it _has_ been close to a year since you last saw me.. and though I'm still nowhere close to being a candidate for rotunda.com, I have reached a point where I am definitely not happy with my weight and body shape. I don't think my goal is unrealistic. Sindi, your suggestions made a lot of sense. I have made it a goal to prepare all my meals and cut down on restaurant or pre-cooked foods. I know bread is a great way to put on weight, which is a pity since I LOVE bread. But a lot of your suggestions were simple enough to follow, and made good sense. Jon, thanks for your comments and advice. What is the Carbohydrate-Addict's diet. I just might need that :P And I am working out an exercise program that embodies both aerobics and weight trainng. I may join the YMCA, seeing that the universal gym in th apartment complex is broken. Walter, it is my goal to drink more water. I realise my daily water intake is nowhere close to the suggested requirements. For some reason, I do not like the taste of water in this country :P Don't know what it is. I can drink it if it's iced, but with the weather changing that's becoming more difficult. Can I count the water in tea as part of my water intake? Glenda, another fitday person, Yay! I like it well enough, mainly becuase it lets me keep track of what I'm eating and gives me an idea of how many calories I'm ingesting. Not too bad for a fre online tool. Today's weigh-in this morning put me at 158 lbs. I'm blaming pre-menstrual bloating for that. Did some tummy trimming exercises and stretches this morning. Though it didn't feel like it was doing anything while I was doing them, the stretch in my muscles after the exercises left me feeling quite satisfied. And I was more awake after I did them, which is an addd benefit. the evening's exercise was about 12 minutes on the treadmill which recorded a calorie loss of 126, 10 minutes on the stepper at level 1, which recorded 45 calories, 10 calories on the rowing machine. Di some weight training for my arms with the free weights bar and the dumb-bells, mainly for the triceps and the biceps. Then I discovered the universal gym was broken. I may have to look into how to use the free-weights to work out my lower body. Dinner was a little heavier than I would have liked it to be because we had company over. Which leads me to ask, how do I calculate the caloric content of the food I eat. Most of the food I eat is India cooking and I haven't found caloric content of Indian dishes anywhere. Do I just add up all the calories of the raw ingredients for a rough estimate. Do the foods' caloric content change with preparation? (apart from calories added from cooking fat etc) I have been making decisions before I eat foods based on satisfaction vs calories. The 192 calorie cookie was definitely not worth it. I would have been just as happy with 2 saltine crackers at 24 calories. I prefer salted snacks to sweet ones - bagels over donuts, crackers over cookies - and wish that nutri-grain bars did not come with sweetened flavorings.
That's one of the problems I have. We do a lot of Asian cooking: Indian, Chinese, Thai, Indonesian, etc. We also do a lot of Mexican. I have a reasonable food count book, but the only Mexican and Chinese listing are for either chain restaurants or frozen foods. No Indian or other Asian. I just figure out how much for each ingredient in the entire dish and figure what percentage of the dish I ate. Not exact, but I really don't need exact, just a good ballpark. Caloric content does change with preparation. Boiling versus baking versus frying. Boiling also removes vitamins. The main thing is to try to burn more than you take in. Walking all over campus is helping, as well as I stay on my feet and move around a lot while working as TA in computer classes. I started Tai Chi yesterday. Not particularly for the exercise, though that is a plus, but for the stress relief, improve flexibility (bad joints), and to just MOVE. I miss not walking to school. I was nice when we lived 1.25 miles from school, that meant at least 2.5 miles each school/work day. Now we live too far away, and I miss the walk. With all the trash the UofM students leave on the sidewalks and roadside around here it really isn't too wise to do much walking. I have stepped on things just walking to the house from where I have to park the car, which have caused me to take nasty falls and twisted ankles. Walking for pleasure or exercise and risking another injury just doesn't seem to be suited for this area.
Calorie content does not change from that of the ingredients unless you are boiling things and some of the calories go into the water. (This probably explains why canned vegetables have slightly fewer calories per ounce than fresh ones in our list.) Get a kitchen scale and weigh things as you add them to what you are cooking. The amount of oil used in cooking makes a large difference. Rice and potatoes, not just bread, are high in calories. Try having a higher proportion of vegetables to other things in your meal, as that will fill you up without many calories. Brown rice takes longer to digest and will keep you feeling full faster, also takes longer to chew. You can buy a small water filter that attaches to a kitchen sink faucet (screws on) at a hardware store to make the water taste better. You can also cook with less salt so as not to need to drink as much. Whenever I eat restaurant or prepared food I get very thirsty and drink several glasses of water - with our cooking I don't need to drink water. It is said that sugar makes you hungry for more sugar. Eat fruit.
I've noticed that a large part of my daily intake is carbs. What's the recommended amount of carbs I should be having. Seems like everything I'm eating is high in carbs. As of now I'm keeping an eye on how much of the dish I'm eating and the ingredients that go into it. This includes the oil that is used to cook (298 calories just for 2 tbspn of cooking oil seems a lot) This seems to give me some sort of ball-park figure which works good enough. My diet at home is mostly vegetarisn as my fiance is vegetarian. I will occasionally have salmon or shrimp and sometimes tilapia. My meat intake is limited to lunch at work, which I have been watching religiously the last couple of days. Must remember to get brown rice when the current batch os over, though the fiance is not a big fan.
What worked for me, in combination. I have no idea how much any of these alone would have done: Give up driving. I didn't really give it up, but limited it to situations where there was no other good way to get where I wanted to go, so no driving to the grocery store or other local shopping, no shopping in suburban strip malls (other than the Target that has a train station at the other end of its parking lot), no driving to work, etc. When I was working upstairs from a train station, this translated to using my car maybe two or three times a month. Working in a somewhat wider variety of locations, I find I'm using my car maybe twice a week, on average. This approach used to sound limiting to me, but mostly the places I can get to by walking are more interesting than the places I can get to by driving. Give up soft drinks. I used to always keep a glass or can of rootbeer on my desk, and be drinking it constantly. After a while I decided this was making me feel rather sick, and switched to water. Really rapid weight loss followed, which was a pleasant side effect but mostly not the goal behind that particular move. I followed that by mostly giving up other products containing refined sugar, but I still like cookies or ice cream occasionally. Sugary drinks just seem gross to me at this point. Find a fun physical activity, and build a social life around it. For me, that's biking. I like biking down hills, and I like spending time with the people I bike with, so biking up hills (hard physical activity) becomes part of life. When I've attempted exercise for the sake of exercise, I've never been at all good at keeping it up. Don't limit yourself. If I want to do something, building a lifestyle around not doing that thing isn't something I'm going to stick with. Everybody always starts off this discussion with the importance of healthy, home cooked, food, for example. But I'm not that great a cook, and I live in a neighborhood famous for its restaurants. I'm always going to be consuming calories. The key is just to burn off what I consume. See fun physical activity paragraph.
Ho!! Wait. I once got in a big arguement with mooncat (Anne Perry) because I looked at her picture and commmented that she had a little fat around her waist (I didn't call her fat and even said she looks beautiful). What I got was a big lecture over not calling american women fat!!! But its ok for an american woman to call herself fat?? Hmmmm ... so what I do learn out of all this?? ;-) :D
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Did you see http://goatse.cx ?
I am not American, I'm Indian. Being called fat is a personal thing. Sure that comment did zing at first, but it was the truth, and I realise it. Each woman has their own body shape, and some are a little thicker than others. I, for one, know I can be 22 lbs thinner at least, I've been there. (Even then Ithought I could lose a few lbs, but I'd be happy just ggetting there right now :P) And why is it that you're not supposed to call "American" women fat? It's ok to call European, Australian, Arican, Chinese, Indian women fat? Though compared to Indian women, American women are bombardd much more with size 0 models, and the pressure on them to be thinner has been greater. Indian women have always had pudgy, hip-heavy role models, though that's changing with the latest slew of actresses that we have. But even in school, we were never really under any pressure to be a certain body-shape. i think it's different over here. I remember my cousin saying she'd die if she put on another pound. This frm a 14 year old girl who had teh flattest tummy and was the skinnest person I knew at the time. Maybe it's die to this pressure women have had to grow up that you're not supposed to call American women fat? I don't know. Personally, I don't think you should call *any* woman fat, unless you know she really could be thiner and it's sheer laziness that's keeping her from being fit. My fiance's been trying to nudge me on the right direction for months. "hitcher", the poster on my site, prolly didn't have any right to say it (I don't know who he is. If he turns out ot be someone I knew in my thinner days, maybe he had some ground. If he's just someone who visits my site, it would be highly rude, but it was teh truth, and it did provide the last straw that broke the camel's back.
Haha Jamie, made you look
Steve, I wish I could give pu the car. But Columbus has virtually no public transport, and definitely none from where I live to my place of wor. I do need to drive everywhere. (My theory on why people in NYC are so much fitter than people in the mid-west - they walk everywhere, food portiona are smaller, and beer being $7.00 for 2 at the "convenience" store, who can fford to drink?) And I do not drink soft-drinks. Never liked the aerated stuff, so that's one less thing to cut from my diet. Which is a pity. Just by dropping soft-drinks, I could drop a few lbs. But I do not have that option :( Weigh-in this morning was 156lbs. I think. I shall invest in a digital scale so I don't have to squint trying to figure out where the needle is pointing, and wonderingi f the damn thing is calibrated right. Also, I'm aware that body weight fluctuates daily. I'll prolly go by weekly number, buit a daily weigh-in just makes the process "easier"? The fiance got me a slice of coffee-cake yesterday. According to fitday.com, 1 cubic inch is 15 Ok, again - according to fitday.com, 1 cubic inch is about 16 alories, and 1 gram of fat. Can this really be true? Can coffee cake be sooo satisfyingly low cal. (1 cubic inch is enough at a time) and what does (NFS) next to teh food name mean, Glenda? Anyone?
Boston is similar to New York that way--it takes about as long to walk as it does to drive over, swear at all the idiots that are clogging the roads, and find a parking space which you then have to pay through the nose for. And yet, I've managed to gain about 15 pounds over the past year without consciously changing what I eat. Maybe it's the dreaded mid-twenties metabolic slowdown? Or medication, which I stopped taking about 3 weeks ago. (NFS=national food service?) I'd guess that coffee cake varies widely in caloric content according to preparation--would be leery of trusting the 16 calories number. I'd go with the numbers on the nutritional info label, if available.
Unfortunately the coffee-cake came from a bakery. No nutritonal label. I thought maybe NFS meant No Fat Substitutes. Dunno
I haven't figured that out yet. I intend to poke around the site a bit more. Someday. When I have time. (Yeah, right. I have already forgotten what sleep is, where do I find more time. :-)
Holy shit 156?! You must be short or anorexic. ,
(sapna: for what it's worth, 150 is just about my ideal weight. :))
I'm 5'7". Definitely t anorexic. I can definitely see the fat on my tummy and posterior, and am borderlining the healthy weight for my height and body type. I've never had illusions of being too fat, if anything it's the opposite. I tend to think I'm thinner than I am (which explains how I got here) 157 lbs would have been ok, if I was also fit to go along with it. But I have more flab than I care to know about and am definitely not eating healthy and my stamina is shot. I've been looking at fitday and 10 minutes of walking at about 3.5 mph burns about 33 calories. Chatelaine says "running" at 3.8 mph is about 173 calories for 10 minutes. My treadmill says its 120 calories or thereabouts, but of course it doesn't know whether I'm runniong or walking at a very brisk pace. Does the number of calories burnt actuall ychange with the fact that you're walking or running? I think that's pretty interesting. And also leads me to think that I'm burning a lot less calories than I think I am. (I don't like running much, and definitely not on the treadmill. I can never seem to keep in line with the damn thing. And I don't have the stamina for it)
(Running uses the muscles differently, so I can see it taking more energy to run than walk, even when walking is faster.) Beauty is a cultural thing. I don't know why the standards differ, but they do.
I meant "definitely NOT anorexic". The internet ate u pa cpl of letters.
I think I continued gaining weight for a while after giving up driving. Getting rid of refined sugar in my diet, after giving up driving, seemed to be what made a big difference. But hurting my knee earlier this year and having to cut way back on non-driving modes of transportation caused me to gain about 10 pounds. I think it's a cumulative thing for me. There are two aspects of exercise and calorie burning. The first is the activity itself, for which 20 minutes of walking should presumably be double 10 minutes of walking. The second is that regular exercise raises your metabolism in general, to the point where I find that if I'm exercising really regularly, I start bouncing around all over the place when I'm trying to sit still.
I had lunch away from my desk today, which means I had it in 20 minutes. I was hungry again by 3:30pm. I shall stick to eating lunch at my desk. When I do that, lunch is prolonged over an hour and a half and that keeps the hunger pangs away till well into the evening. (I ate the same thing for lunch today as I've been doing for the last couple of days, so it's not like I ate less today). Just joined California Fitness. A nice month-to-month program with the initiation fee waived for about $30.00 a month. The equipment is good. I get a free personal training session tomorrow where the trainer will assess my fitness, work out some sort of plan for me, show me how to use the eqiuipment etc. I'm looking forward to that. I've also found that I prefer a bowl of lentil-spinach soup to a sandwich now. The mere thought of those empty calories is enough to make the sandwich taste of cardboard
Question for everybody:HOW I CHANGE WEB PAGES?
resp:12 "The Carbohydrate Addict's Diet," Dr. Rachael F. Heller and Dr. Richard F. Heller, ISBN 0-451-17339-2. It's an alternative to Atkins, particularly if you find you have cravings on the Atkins diet. You basically do low carb two meals and the third you have some flexibility by limiting eating time to an hour-- the idea is that your body believes it doesn't need to use insulin yet if you do. Read the book over first.
Are you allowed to eat apples or other fruit while at work? Foods with fiber take longer to digest and will keep you from getting hungry longer. Whole grains, beans. Can you take rice and lentil stew with vegetables to work and heat it up there? Vegetarian (non-cheese) sandwiches are probably not going to keep you from getting hungry other than if they are peanut butter. Not enough bulk.
Simple carbohydrates (like refined sugar, or Gu) are sometimes bad because your body stores them as fat if it can't use them right away. The other approach to eating stuff with lots of sugar is to do so during exercise. At that point they can provide badly needed energy, rather than "empty calories." Sustained exercise will probably require you to eat a lot more than being sedentary, since you end up burning a lot more calories. I decided at one point that if fuel costs were measured in miles per dollar, driving became considerably cheaper than bicycling. Somebody else I mentioned this to pointed out that it was more true when biking from bakery to bakery in West Marin than when biking from convenience store to convenience store in some other areas.
Sindi slipped in with #35, and I'll disagree, at least in my case. For me, apples have a milder version of the surge of energy followed by a crash effect that sugar has.
Re #20, read my post. It says that I did not call her fat. Having a little fat on your waist and being fat are two VERY different things, IMHO.
Whether you called her fat or not, my response was more toward the sentiment that one should not call American women fat. You're rght in your distinction, btw.
As always, wacky theories about weight loss abound. Mine is that building muscle is the best way, since the muscles are what use energy, even when you are sitting around.
Weight Training is part of my program. Today will be my first day at the gym. I'm excited. Have to get new sweats, my current ones are pretty ratty. I realise that there are certain things that I will not be able to gibe up. The morning cup of tea brewed the "Indian" way with 3 tspns of sugar is definitely one of them (For a discussion on the indian way of brewing tea, please refer to Item Ate) That's what gets me up in the morning!! Skipped this morning's stretch exercises as I was late for work. Don't feel too good about it, especially considering that last night's exercise was a dud (Thank you NBC Premiere Thursday. The least you cld have done was deliver an episode of Friends that was *funny*) However, I hope to make it up tonight. I skipped donuts at work this morning. Go me. Though, I think if it was bagels and cream cheese, I may not have been able to resist.
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That's it! I'm gonna exercise too!
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resp:43 rock on, rock on
Had my fitness evaluation at the gym. Turns out, that I actually weigh 161 lbs, according to the manual scale at teh gym. That's 5 lbs off my bathroom dcale. Could it be because of my clothes and shoes (I usually weigh after the shower, without any clothes on). 5 lbs off seems too high. Anyways, the fitness instructor says that weight should not be the focus a it can vary largely due to water retention and such. I know that. Though I do liike to monitor daily just so I don't forget to weigh in at the end of the week. The equipment is pretty good at teh gym. Lots of cool stuff. However, teh Butt Blaster seems not to work. The peg to adjust the weights seems stuck at 15 lbs. Maybe I'll ask someone tomorrow to see if they can do something about it. The cardio equipment mostly come wtih heart-rate monitors so you can monitor and see whether you're in teh fat burning range. The instructor says that given my weight and age, my ideal fat-burning heart-rate is 151-175. The machines say 125. I seem to be able to go at 160 without any adverse effects. Today was a breakthrough of sorts, I actually managed to run on the teadmill, something that I loathe doing. It's usually a brisk walk for me. Of the 10 minutes I was on the treadmill, I ran for 5 which is quite a lot for me. So that makes me happy. The cross-trainer seems to burn the most calories. I must remember that and incorporate that more into my routine. We also did the fat-percentage test. According to that little machine, my body is 31% fat. 50 lbs of my body is fat. Howeer, for women, the normal range is 24%, which is understandable, though men can have a much lower fat rate and be ok. So that's a little encouraging, I jsut have to lose about 7% fat :P My suggested exercise routine is at leasr 30 minutes of aerobics a day to work up to 45 minutes (and hopefully 60 minutes) I used to do this last year, ebefore I fell off the wagon. Weights every other day. Seems liek a good plan to me. As far as meals are concerned, I seem to have had only about 1100 calories today. This included 2 glasses of orange juice, Salmon with a little sour cream, and a lunch of urkey sanwich. Also a Dannon's yogurt with fruit at the bottom, some crackers, and a tiny slice of pizza. I skipped my morning tea today, as I was running late. 1100 seems too little. But I'm not hungry. I've had two square meals and a cpl of snacks. Maybe I'm not eating the right things?
My experience has been that exercise is a key factor in weight control. A year ago, I was working out regularly, had lost 15 pounds, and was well on the way toward my goal of losing 25-30 pounds. Then, last October, I had a back injury - herniated disc - that severly limited my exercise level. Guess what - the 15 pounds are back on. I'm trying to get back into an exercise regime, with the help of a personal trainer, but it ain't easy. Sounds like mynxcat is on the right track. 1100 calories does sound a little light, actually, but if you're not hungry and have a good energy level, I wouldn't worry about it.
Twice this year I went on a 30-day self-invented program (once in Feb and once in June). Each time I lost 15 lbs. I never gained it back in the 'off the wagon' times. These were my rules, and I cheated very occasionally: no carbs, no food after 8 pm, work out three times a week, walk an hour every day.
No carbs at all? Doesn't sound healthy. (Fruits and vegetables are carbs.)
I bought myself new workout clothes. Unlike the apartment complex gym, where you rarely run into anyone, and even if you do, it doesn't matter how ratty your sweats are (you're practically at home :P), at Cali Fitness, everyone seems to be dressed really well. i was a little self-conscious at first, though I've come to realise that no one really pays attention to you. The gym is a place of self-worship. Everybody seems too involvedf in their workouts or reflections in the mirror. It's been hard keeping a calorie count today. We had company over, and I had a "samosa" (deep fried, potato filled fritter). I wasn't sure of the nutrition content, but I did a little research later this evening, and 100 gms (about 1 samosa) is 400 calories!! Not surprising really, when you think of it, they are deep fried and all. Also had a few potato chips at the Buckeye game. Dinner is a more sensible paratha peas. The calorie count for today seems a little higher, but it's still under 2000, and I figure since yesterday's was so low, I can make up for it today. One step in the right direction though- when I microwaved the samosa, the plate got really greasy. This really grossed me out, the amount of oil that they contained, something I wouldn't have given a second thought to, last week. Went grocery shopping at Trader Joes' Lots of low-fat, goodies. I noticed that there are a lot of low-cal, high energy nutrient bars, but they all come in sweet flavors - chocolate or fruit flavors. I don't like bars of that texture to be sweet. I'd prefer a bar that had a cheesy taste, or something non-sweet. I'm amazed that nutrient bars don't come in some of the more savory flavors. I did pick up a box of TLC crackers which were chedda cheese and 7 grains. Tasted like cardboard. Low fat cottage cheese (or rather no-fat) shall save the day. found low fat multi-grain bread by Aunt Millie's. Hopefully this should satisfy my craving for bread
They are made for American tastes, Sapna.
I assume you mean the nutrient bars. I know they're made for the majority, and the majority loves chocolate flavored stuff. true. But I'd like something that tated of heese crackers. It's not an American vs Indian thing. I'm sure a lot of Indians would prefer the taste of chocolate. But if a bar is supposed to replace my lunch, I expect it to not tast like dessert. Bought a digital scale to replace my Analog one. I found that my old scale was off by about 4 lbs. While that shows my weight to be 155 lbs, the new one oscillates between 158 and 159.5, This may be closer to the truth considering that I weighed in at 161lbs at the gym. However, this scale is going back. I don't think my weight should be varying between 158 and 159.5 within 5 minutes. I've recorded my weight as starting at 157, which I now find out is wrong. I don't feel like recording m actuial weight now, as it would skew the graph. I'm just dropping my goal weigt by about 4 lbs, so I have the same goal lbs to lose a week. today's workout was extremely good. the cross trainer is my avorite machien. 120 calories in 15 minutes, ain't too shabby. I did 50 calories on the treadmill in about 10 minutes, another 12 minutes on the bicycle for a loss of 25 calories, 20 abdominal cruches and another 5 minutes on the treadmill for another loss of 25 calories. My biggest accomplishment was running every other minute on the treadmill. Tonight I had about 3 white russians. I expect to see the effects tomorrow :(
I think you'll discover that the no-fat items are loaded with the insulin-raising simple carbs you may also be trying to cut down on.
You can make your own bread. Bread does not require fat. Flour, water, yeast, and optionally salt. A bread machine can make it for you. There is no such thing as low-calorie high-energy anything. Energy is measured in calories (kilocalories actually). You could have microwaved a potato instead of a samosa and eaten it with yogurt instead of sour cream. Probably just as filling. It might help to read a short book or article on nutrition - to find out what carbohydrate, protein, and fat are, how the body uses them, etc.
filling versus EDIBLE.
As far as samosas vs. baked potatoes go, it depends on your particular body's fat vs. carb preferences. Some people ought to stay far away from bread/potatoes/pasta/grains in general; their bodies churn out the insulin, pack the carbs away as fat, and make you hungry for more in no time flat (not to mention low-blood- sugar cranky). Others process carbs much more slowly and can get away with high-carb low-fat diets. If you're trying to adjust your diet to lose weight, it's important to figure out what part of the spectrum your body is in.
I was making my own whole wheat bread in the bread maker for a while. I need to get back in the habit of doing that. It was cheap and yummy and, since it was 100% whole wheat, it was very filling.
If you are not eating more than you need, it is unlikely that your body will convert the carbohydrates via glucose to fat since it will be burning the glucose for energy.
The problem, when you're hypoglycemic (as my girlfriend is, as well as one of my best friends and my mother are), is that the body shoots you full of insulin too quickly when you eat a high-carb diet; the carbs to glucose to fat process occurs more quickly than your body can use up the glucose as current energy. When you body tries to use the glucose, and finds that it has already been stored, it says, "I need more glucose! Feed me!" and makes you hungry, causing you to eat more than you need. It isn't this way with everybody; I can survive just fine on a high-grains input. But if you're one of the people whose bodies go nuts over simple carbs, it's important to figure this out before you get frustrated that your low-fat high-carb diet seems to be making you fatter. Mynxcat may or may not have this to worry about, but I know enough people who do that it is a reasonable possibility.
There has been a lot of research on appetite. No one really knows all the factors behind it. What they *do* know is that people like to eat fat and sugar and they like to eat more of it than they should. Think of the USA as a giant eating experiment designed show what happens when an entire population has all the food available that they can eat.
All this talk of overweight and eating is making me hungry. Breakfast: a banana, 1/2 cup of blueberries, and a 16 oz sugar free mocha Lunch: 2 thin slices of turkey on berrywheat breat with some spicy mustard, and 1/2 raspberries Dinner: too much olive garden salad, 2 breadsticks, and the alfredo portion fo the tour of italy, the rest went home to lunches.
Experimental animals (I forget if it was rats or mice) fed a diet high in fat and sugar gain weight. Those fed a normal rat or mouse diet do not. Both were allowed to eat as much as they wanted. What you are eating, not just how much, affects weight. I gained weight on dorm food, which was greasy and included desserts twice a day.
I lost weight on dorm food. It was all fatty foods. It was a huge campus and i was walking alot, that probably helped.
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Some things to keep in mind in this discussion: (1) not all people are alike (as murph has pointed out), (2) not all carbs are alike, and (3) not all fats are alike. Carbs high in fiber (e.g. whole grains) are a better choice than high-density, low-fiber carbs (e.g. balloon bread), because the fiber slows digestion and delays absorbtion of sugars and fats. This helps control the insulin response described in #59. Monounsaturated and poly- unsaturated fats (e.g. nuts, avacados, olive oil) are better choices than saturated fats (e.g. red meat) and trans-fats (e.g. french fries, crackers). Current nutrition research indicates that the low-fat, high-carb approach to weight control popular a few years ago, and enshrined in the USDA Food Pyramid, is simply wrong. Five years ago I lost 25 pounds following a diet that was 30% fat (the absolute maximum recommended by the USDA and anybody else this side of Atkins), 30% protein, and 40% carbohydrate. Not quite "low carb", but certainly less carbohydrate that the usual mainstream recommendations that you see, and certainly not the Food Pyramid. It was a low-calorie diet but I didn't feel hungry and had plenty of energy. I was working out regularly, which I'm sure was an important factor. Anyone who embarks on a weight-loss campaign can benefit from educating themselves about nutrition and exercise. An excellent one-stop resource is _Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy_ by Walter Willett, chair of the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health and an outstainding researcher in the field of nutrition. He's very down on the USDA Food Pyramid and substitutes one of his own that, among other things, has exercise and calorie control at the base of the pyramid and emphasises the distinction between "good fats" and "bad fats", something the USDA pyramid totally ignores.
I'll keep the book in mind I remember reading that poly-unsaturated fats weren't as good for you as once thought, and now it's becoming mandatory to report poly-unsaturated fat content along with saturated fat content? I'm very vague on this. I read this before I became really interested in nutrition. What I am finding hard is finding low-carb (as in not the insanely high) fiids that I really like. Most foods I like have more carbs than fat. One new food that is healthy, and that I really like is the Yogurt Dip I got from Trader Joe's. That is definitely going on my regular shopping list. Healthy and tasty - yum. Excellent substitute to sour cream, ad I love my sour cream. yesterday's workout was good, again. Didn't get as much running as I would have liked, but still lost about 250 cals on the aerobics (at least as reported by the machines. I'm not sure how accurate they are). Yesterday I incorporated weights. Worked the legs, outer thigh, hamstring, calves, back, oblique abdominals and abdominals, buceps, triceps, glutes. I think it was a pretty good workout, and I think I stood up pretty well, considering I had my period, and tend to get tired a lot faster at this time. exchanged the digital scale for a digital scale with a fat analyser. It seems my weight is in the higher 150s - fluctuating between 158 and 159.5. This I expected after my first weighin at the gym whuich put me at 161. Bdy fat content is about 36%. The literature that came with the scale states hat for women in my age-group, the appropriate body fat i 20%. That's lower than what I heard at 25%. need to do more research before I lose all the essential fat in my body. However, it'll take me a while, so I'm not to worried right now. (The fiance is pissed off at the old scale, which pegged him at 165lbs. Turns out he's closer to 175 lbs. He says that if he knew he had crossed 170 he would have done something a whole lot sooner. He plans to buy 20lb weights and use them on teh new scale regularly to be sure that ut's still calibratd right :P)
As I was leaving for work, I heard a commercial on TV for SlimFast. SlimFast now has PASTA!!. One reason that i've resisted the SlimFast diet is that I can't fathom a milk-shake or nutrient bar for lunch. Lunch needs to be something more tangible than that. With the introduction of the pastas, it may be a viable solution, at least for one meal a day. I was speaking to a colleague today who's sister lost 20 lbs in two weeks by going on the all meat diet (Atkins) 2 eggs and bacon for breakfast, meat for lunch and meat for dinner. I love meat, but that just seems like way too uch meat for me. And 2 eggs and bacon for breakfast everyday? Sounds like too much cholestrol. He said that she didn't eat ANYTHING else. I'm not sure I can do that, though the results sure are tempting. Today's lunch was not a very healthy one. It was half a pound of roast turkey, on a hamburger roll. City Barbecue has some great meat, but wayt too much. Maybe I should have had half the meat on my sandwich.
It is not possible to lose 20 pounds in 2 weeks unless you do an awful lot of exercise. 1 pound is okay for your health. You normally only eat enough food to equal 3-4 pounds/week.
You can lose 20 pounds in 2 weeks if you are very overweight. Most of the big loses you hear about in the first 2-3 weeks of a new diet are usually water weight. A big person holds a lot more water than a small person. The last time I went on weight watchers I lost 9 pounds the first week and 6 pounds the second week. After that I only lost 1/2 to 2 pounds a week. I notice that when I consciously increase my water consumption, I lose more weight. Drinking extra water somehow helps flush the already existing water out. It also helps to keep you feeling full so you don't eat as much.
That makes sense, losing more weight at first when you are more heavy. I am trying to make a conscious effort to have more water these days.
If you stop eating salt after having eaten a lot of salt (anything from a restaurant or any prepared food and most canned foods) you will lose water.
Re 49, John: Yes, no carbs. Thus the 30-day limit.
Wow. The brain needs carbs. Hope you didn't lose IQ points.
Sapna, get off the scale on a daily basis. You'll make yourself crazy. I would honestly recommend Weight Watchers to you. When I did it (and stayed with it), I would drop 2-3 lbs. a week - but I'm bigger than you. What I liked about it is that it took into consideration different kinds of foods when counting points. That way, you have some guidance.
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Does walking on the damn treadmill in the gym count? That's about 2 miles a day. Brooke, you're right. The damn scale went up another pound. Thanks to the skewed reading I got from my older scale when I first started, I'm not really sure if I lost any weight, a lot or a little. Even if I did lose some, I'm not sure if I weigh lighter because I had my period (I bloat quite a bit before my period) or whether I actually lost fat. My workout today was less than satisfactory, As it was the day before yesterday. I attribute the lack of stellar workout to heavier than normal lunch. I guess it's not digested enough to really have a good work out without feeling too heavy. Yesterday's was pretty good, including the weights. I can't wait to start the 11:00am to 7:00 pm shift at work so I can work out in the morning before breakfast, and won't be at the gym till 8:30 at night.
re76: it counts!
resp:74 resp:76 if you're going to be on the scale daily like I do... then do what I do. Get a digital scale (Tanita) that measures lbs. and body fat percentage. *Then* chart out both sets of measurements on a graph. *Ignore* the daily readings and look at your progress over a few weeks or so. Oh yeah, don't forget to do some tape measurements every so often-- have someone help you. Hips, waist, thigh, bicep. Take a look at the averages of those measurements over time. Then compare them to your charts, and see how your clothes are fitting after a while... and you'll have a better indicator than watching the scale everyday.
I am graphing m daily weight, and rying not to let the slight increases and very slight decreases worry me too much :) The body-fat percentage has been pegged to around 36.7% I had taken initial tape measurements, (I need to find them) and though I *think* my tummy may have gone in a little, I can't be too sure till I find the original readings and take another measurement.
Maybe you should be looking at a running average, rather than day-to-day measurements? Take the average of the last five days of actual readings; it'll smooth out the single-day fluctuations. Hooray for spreadsheets!
]I'm trying to keep that in mind. It's still not very encouraging to see the damn scale go up half a pound!
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I don't!! Not any more at least.
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I can barely manage 5 :(
Yep, running averages (or "moving averages", as I call them) smooth fluctuations out nicely.
I know it's hard to get a lot of water in. I shoot for two liters a day - I just can't drink a lot at once. But the rewards are infinite - better skin, healthier body . . .and it flushes the fat away. I still think getting on the scale once a day is not helping you - weight loss is such a psychological thing, that if the numbers aren't going down, it can be discouraging. A once a week thing, or once every two weeks might be better.
I'm trying to increase the water intake. When I remember I gulp down a whole glass of water (usually with my nose closed and really fast) (Try multiple times a day ;) ) I'm trying to keep in mind that this is a "lifestyle change" like the fiance keeps telling me, yadda yadda yadda. But I want results now dammit!! Irrespective of what teh scale says, Iseem to have lost 2 inches around the waist, the hips are still the same, and the fiance says my ass looks better. Whether he's lying so as not to discourage me or he really means it I can't tell. He says he means it.
Read this about the water myth: http://www.snopes.com/toxins/water.htm
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Batmanghelidj, Fereydoon. Your Body's Many Cries for Water.
Global Health Solutions, 1995. ISBN 0-962-99423-5.
Tee hee. My girlfriend's mother was reading this last time we visited, and
seemed *quite* taken by it.
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Fruit and vegetables and boiled grains are mostly water. So is juice. Meat and bread are not.
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diuretic.
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(Out of curiousity, tod, did you read the snopes article?)
resp:80 resp:86 that's what I'd been saying all along. resp:82 resp:83 Better advice: portion control. Eat a little less than you would have. Don't believe in "the clean plate club." At the same time, don't deprive yourself of stuff, like say, a dessert. Don't snack between meals-- especially, try to document what you eat... and don't just say, carry a bag of something around, like chips. Stick to the three meals a day-- with one mid-meal fixed snack if you need it. But fixed portions all, total amount. resp:88 again, the inches count more than the pounds in the long run. Muscle weighs more than fat. re: the water thing-- it can't hurt to drink a glass of water at every meal.
I haven't really changed much in terms of dinner, we still eat the same thing, though my portions are smaller. Lunch has changed from burger and fries to a turkey sandwich from Subway. I love black olives and lots of vinegar, so I really enjoy my lunch. I've never been one that has to have something sweet, though I do enjoy the occasional dessert. Dessert these days is this wonderful honey cake that's delicious, and low in cals made of rye. Courtesy Trader Joe's. If I'm realy hungry, a snack woyld be Wisecrackers from Trader Joe's again Today's workout was shorter than normal because of a ticket that caused me to get to the gym late, and piano class which caused me to leave early. My aerobic workout was cut in half. Weight was te normal, except I didn't get the time to do the calves and triceps, as the machines were busy and I had to get to class. I guess I can give myself a break, considering I've been really religious about the gym. I was thinking of skipping it rather than have a less than complete workout, but in the end I rationalised that getting any workout at all was better than breakin the rhythm that would most prolly send me into a spiral of more missed workouts.
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freak!
hardly! that is minimized considrably from when tod lived in a2 - guess having a fmily takes up the rest of his energy.
Uhm, Tod, I'm not in the marines.
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No thanks. 157 this morning. Pretty encouraging, even though it may be a fluctuation. Will weigh myself at the same scale I used a week ago at the gym.
gripes... weigh yourself weekly if that's what it takes to forget the day-to-day variations that don't matter so much. (Just a thought)
Heh :) Work out was good. On the cross trainer it seems that the more the resistance is and the slower the speed, the more calories that are burned. It made more sun to go at it slowly with a high resistance and then speed up when the desired heart rate was reached. Also found an aerobic achine that works on the hands instead of the legs. And excellent way to give my legs a break while still keeping the heart rate up. Finally sampled my 5 grain low-fat bread. I really liked it. Had it with a tuna burger. Very satisfying with ome lemon juice on it. Also had some miso soup, and a slice of the honey cake.
Although, if you weigh yourself weekly, you get a random sample of day to day variations.
It's a trade-off. I can weigh daily and not get too bothered by the numbers all that often. The point is to do what works, i.e. what will keep you motivated.
i didn;t read all of this .. 109 damn posts and i'm way behind. but 22 lbs ain;'t much to lode if you cut out shitty food and get some excercise evryday. sheesh.
Ease of losing weight is age-dependent. The older you are, the harder it gets.
Only to a certain age, then people lose weight again.
Right, at some point your taste buds stop working and your teeth get loose and painful and you're so tired of living you don't even want to get dressed in the morning, nevertheless go out to eat. So you lose weight. Wow, good news! ;-)
No fat cottage cheese has an icky metallic taste. Not a good idea. Slim Fast's Hot Meal is passable. Found somehing to substitue for butter with half the calories and half the fat. In all it's randomness, the scale has not registered anything higher than 158.5 in the last 3 days. Today it registered 156. I'm finally breaking through. Bought myself an mp3 player (long overdue) to help with the pace-motivation for my workouts.
(Last I looked, all the calories in butter and its substitutes came from fat. The fat may be corn oil, or even canola oil, but it's still fat.)
Butter substitutes tend to substitute water or air for the fat and charge you for them.
But nonetheless, all of their calories still come from fat. Water, air and fat are just about all that is in margerine.
If you use 50% more (by volume) of a spread that's 50% air & water (by volume), then you've applied 25% fewer calories to you waistline (vs. your old 100%-pure-fat spread).
(The point is not calories; the point is fat intake. Sure, you are getting fewer calories, and less fat, using margerine instead of butter, but the calories are _still_ 100% fat. Don't believe me? Read the label.)
It's true, most of the calories are still fat. But there's still only 4.5 gms fat / tablespoon of this new stuff (I don't remember the name) as compared to 10gms in the "Can't Believe It's Not Butter" stuff. I haven't had a chance to try it yet, so I don't know what it tastes like. I'm a huge butter/butter-like-substance fan. I need something on my bread. We'll see how this works. Had a huge dinner last night. We were invited over to dinner at former boss's place. Dinner was delicious though there was "ghee" (Indian clarified butter, sometimes substituted for oil in dishes, and more fatty and cholestrol-laden than oil) in most of the dishes. The scale registered 158 this morning. I'm glad it still hasn't registered 159 and it's been about 4 or 5 days. I can safely say that I'm definitely under 159 lbs now?
(I substituted honey and fruit preserves for butter on my bread. Salt and pepper, no butter or substitute, on potatoes and corn. Salt and pepper on salads. Salsa in tuna, instead of mayo. I really needed to eliminate fat from diet. Still do.)
I don't like sweet stuff on my bread. So no honey or fruit preserves. We cook potatoes the Indian way. I like to have corn without any condimenmts. I usually don't have anything with my tuna. Sometimes some Miracle- Whip, though I haven't had that in a year now. I've looked at what I usually eat, and think that most of my problems were huge quantities and an intake of fat that I would definitely not miss. And a serious lack of exercise
Oh man. I hate mayo. I will have to try that salsa with tuna thing.
Miracle-Whip isn't exactly mayo.
But it's a good enough substitute. My exercise routine was interrupted by a page and spending an hour in the locker room on the phone trying to conduct a conference to solve problem. Luckily the call ended before my phone died, or I would have had t o return home. I was able to resume workout after the hour, but it did mean that I got home at 10:00 pm. today also showed me about how fanatical I've become about my work-ou, once I've got to the gym,. Getting to the gym is a whole different story. Also, working out to Bad Boy Bill is highly motivating, pace wise. Dinner was salmon steak and Orange Juice. Today my carbohydrate intake was only 43%. Which i'm not complaining about.I guess the fish contributed to the low carbs and the high protein.
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Salmon isn't too expensive. At least I can afford it from the local Meijer
re126: except for the MERCURY.
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Isn't tuna the one with the heavy metal problem, not salmon? I eat a fair amount of econo-canned pink salmon because it's a quick/cheap/convenient protein.
Anything bigger than sardines is supposed to be eaten in small amounts.
How big are "small amounts"? And how frequently?
I thought it had to do with location as well. Though, from what I vaguely remember from news broadcasts, there is a problem with ocean fish, as well as, lake and river fish. And also a bit of an issue with oysters and shrimpies.
gelinas, I don't remember where I found the information. But my current rule of thumb is one can of tuna no more than every four days. About 1-2 times a week. I was eating a lot of (cheap, easy to store, easy to fix, good-for-you-cause-its-fish) tuna. I'm sure my frequency decision maximized my use of tuna. IIRC, fish larger than sardines all fell in the caution area. This news penetrated my consciousness about 4-5 months ago, so it is fairly recent.
Thanks, cmcgee. From March 24, 2003:
http://www.fox2detroit.com/dynamic/images/stories/health/tuna.html
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I love tuna and salmon. and when I eat them, I get to share with my cat. I know - bad habit, but she's adorable. One thing I learned yesterday - Do not exercise if you're hungry. I was struggling yesterday, and the only differenct was I was hungry. I usually have a snack before the gym, but yesterday I went straight from work. From next week, I get to go in the mornings, thanks to change in work schedule.
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i've been working out after dinner usually.
I work out in the mornings on the weekends, (well actually it's around noon, depending on the time I wake up, but it's after a cup of tea, no breakfast) Definitely better than working out in the evenings My weight is definitely dropping, taking into account all the randomness that occurs. I seem to have left the 158 lbs behind, and weighed in at 155 lbs this morning. That's about 6 lbs less than when I first started. I'd think a more realistic weight is 157 lbs, though the randomness doesn't seem so much anymore. However, measurements still seem to be the same, except for an inch loss around the waist. Though my waist seems curvier than when I first started. Wishful thinking maybe
I have been swimming for 2 main reasons, 1. I am taking swimming for a class, thus a grade, 2. I have a membership to the YMCA and I am able to go to "free swim" at the school during the evenings. I am up to about 15 laps of front crawls, 3 laps of breast strokes, and 2 laps of the back stroke. Do that at least 4 days of the week, and let us see what happens
I can't swim :( And the gym doesn't have an indoor swimming pool.
Bummer, it is a great way to exercise. You, the sound of the water, and just concentrating on your breathing.
mynxie, pardon me for asking, please, but how the *hell* did you manage to blimp out to teh 150+ arena? the pics i have from a couple yrs ago wouldn't have yo tip the scale past 110 even if you were wearing ankle weights! well, maybe 95 lbs. yeh, ok, i used to be as scrawny as you but my excuse is years-of-life. youu won't have that one for another 25+ yrs.
First, what pics do you have of me frm a cpl of years ago. The oldest ones on the web are from 2001, I think. And believe me, I was never at 110 lbs let alone 95 lbs. WIth my bone structure, I would have to be really sick to get to that stage. I think the lowest I've been is 130 lbs. How did I get here - try - lots of fried food, and next to no exercise. I may need to lose weight, but I've definitely not "blimped" out. I may get there if I continue with my old ways another 6 months. I'm not obese, I just got on the overweigt list - on the borderline.
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Close, Mynxie was 12 lbs at her last check up. Mynxie and mynxcat are pretty similar in many ways, except that Mynxie definitely does not have to lose weight. mynxcat has taken great care to see that Mynxie does not get over-weight.
And once again, I am amazed at the total idiotic behavior of some people. Sapna, aren't you like 5'7" or something?
About that high, yes. (I assume when you mean "total idiotic behavior" you mean tsty's comment about me bein 110 lbs?)
Oh yeah. First off, "blimped out" might not be the most inappropriate thing ever said, but it might be close. Secondly, you're designed to carry at lest 130 lbs. Jesus.
That's what I thought. I'd be positively anorexic at 110 lbs. I don't think that's a very healthy weight for me. I'm not petite, not by a long shot anyways. Apart from trying to lose weight, I've also been trying to make healthier choices when presented with food. Like today's going away lunch for a colleague. Lone Star Steakhouse was the venue of choice. Not the healthiest of places. I had grilled chicken with steamed veggies. While probably not being very low-calorie or low-fat, it was definitely the healthiest thing on the menu. This is a far cry from the day I would have chosen the cheeseburger with mushrooms and steak fries. Keesan's comment about my diet being low-fibre with low-cal fillers set me thinking. I don't think I've really made that many substitutes that would be termed "Low-cal fillers" I've been watching the kind of foods I've been having, and trying to keep the foods healthy over all. I don't post everything I eat on a daily basis. Not here, anyhow, but I have gone over the list of foods I've eaten over the past two weeks, and fitday shows that it's pretty well balanced. Sure I've substituted low-fat margarine (which by the way tastes "lighter" than butter, seems to melt faster)which may be a not so very appropriate substition when I can have fruit preserves (too sweet), but I like the taste of butter, and low-fat margarine comes close.
Grilled chicken and steamed veggies is a great chooice. Loaded in protein and fiber. As for going with low-fat margerine over butter, I've noticed a trend in Cooking Light magazine - they are back to using butter. It's better for you (in small amounts, just like margerine should be), as it's more natural.
Small amounts is the key. I LOVE butter. Tend to put more on my toast than I should. Margarine it will be till I get down to my desired weight.
Someday I will figure out how to beat the cheat that is lunch.
Pack lunch.
????????????? 5'7" ?????????????? from teh perspective of teh pics i would not have thoguth above 5'2", tops. --oops-- sorry? i apologize.
Again, which pictures are you talking about? I'm defiitely 5'6.5" at least. So 156 lbs is hardly "blimping out"
The weight tables for me (5 feet 5.5") if I had 'big frame' say up to 150 is normal, or down to about 120.
whatever the first pics were .. maybe not 'published' but avaiablle upon request. ok, 5'7'' and 150-ish is JustFine (tm).
First pictures were published. They are available upon request to very few people. And first pics were head-shots. You cldn't guess my height from them. Saturday, we decided to treat ourselves. After 2 weeks of choosing healthy, Saturday was splurge day. After half a packet of guacamole chips, we had dinner at the Martini Bar. Brusschetta, Penne Pasta with Shrimp, and the crowning glory of the evening - Tiramisu. I think the splurge was well worth it. Finally bought egg-beaters, and soy milk. Soy milk has a slightly funny taste, but I can easily get used to it.
Why soy milk? Is it lower cal or lower carb?
It's loaded in protein. I can't get used to the taste, and God knows, I've tried.
Soy milk has no cholesterol. It does have fat and the commercial soy milks also add sugar and flavoring. They gave me some in the hospital but I switched to no-sugar milk instead. It did taste odd due to the sugar and vanilla. The unflavored unsweetened stuff tastes like beans.
egg beaters are ok, soy milk tastes like dirty sugar water. soy cheese, soy yogurt, and *not-dogs* i can't stomach... just the SMELL of not-dogs makes be wanna barf. morningstar burgers, sassidge, and worthington fri-pats, on the other hand are yummy...i like just good ol plain tofu as well.
I think that there's wide variation in flavor between different brands of soy milk. My favorite is Silk brand, red carton. Full-flavored, not at all like "dirty sugar water". I prefer it to real milk on cereal and added to coffee.
I think I got the Silk brand. I got it as an experiment, I've heard so much about soy-milk, I had to try it. As I said, I could get used to it's taste, but I doubt it will replace real milk in this household. It might, if it gels well in "Indian" tea, but I highly doubt it. Maybe if I get sereal, I will makel ike remmers and put it on that. However, I'm not a cereal person, so we'll see how that goes. Keesan will be proud to know that my refrigerator is stock fuill of fiber. Apples, grapes, carrots, and a mango. Also som canteloupe. And mushrooms, yum. I think today's going to be a good day for food. Workout this morning was great. How much can you trust the machines on calories burnt? I know it will vary somewhat depending if you're actually working the machine, or waiting for minutes to tick byu. I discovered the elliptical, and spent an hour on it. Total calories it says lost were about 660. I did have it on teh high incline about 50% of the time.
I love the elliptical. it makes your ass go away.
Not mine. I think I have hockey butt. Y'know, I never quite trust the calories-burned number on the elliptical trainer. It always seems like much less effort than the bikes or stair- masters, and claims 2-3x as many calories burned. However, I still use it a lot when I go to the gym because I like it better. (I have no scientific basis for not trusting the numbers...if they're more or less accurate, that would rock.)
Keesan is definitely proud of mynxcat's refrigerator.
:) keesan. I second edina's comment on the elliptical and asses. I can actually feel those muscles get a workout. I think the elliptical does get your heart-rate up, but with little impact on your legs, or much less impact. Maybe that's why it seems like the effort isn't as much? I definitely sweat a lot, and I feel the muscles in my ass, and thighs getting worked, but unlike the cross- trainer and the treadmill, there's little impact to the calves, which is good, because a lot of times I know I can do a lot more, but my calf-muscles feel like they're going to drop. Without having to worry about that, I can go for an hour on the elliptical, work up a good sweat, and not lose feeling in my lower-legs.
Hmmm, I was looking at the internet, and I read that "Just a word of warning regarding cardio equipment and calories burnt. Many cardio machines if not all don't ask for your weight and tell you that you're burning X number of calories. The number displayed is for a person of average weight [Usually average is 150 pounds]. For many people the number of calories is overstated. " The elliptical machine I use asks for my weight. And even if it didn't, 150 lbs is pretty close to what I weigh
And from http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/11/25/earlyshow/contributors/minnal essig/main530806.shtml Here are some activities and the number of calories they burn (for a 150-pound person, on average): Stationary bike (at moderate level): 504 calories/hour Elliptical trainer (general): 648 calories/hour Stairmaster: 432 calories/hour Running (11.5 min/mile): 648 calories/hour Walking (17 min/mile): 288 calories/hour which shows that the elliptical trainer numbers are pretty close to accurate. Yay! The article also explains why interval training burns a lot of calories. The fat burning program on the elliptical is pretty close to the interval-training program, so that would explain the large number of calories lost.
I had better be careful not to overexercise and lose weight ;) Do you know of any exercises for making the buttocks larger so that it will be possible to sit on a less padded chair? Walking has not helped much.
Keesan probably would also like the pumpkin pie I baked yesterday. I accidently used a can of regular pumpkin instead of the pumpkin pie filling. In other words, no sugar. It wasnt too bad except for that first bite when I was expecting something a little more sweet.
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Heh
Hmm. Often, the elliptical I used at the MIT gym would tell me I was burning about 600 calories in about 40 min. It was definitely a good workout, but the bike always was much more effort and told me I'd burned fewer calories. The calf-muscle explanation sounds good to me. The elliptical definitely works more of your body. I think hockey and swimming are known for building up butt size. I don't swim very often; I can say for sure that hockey works the butt muscles pretty thoroughly. They're essential for standing your ground against an opponent who is trying to knock you over, or who you are trying to knock over. Anyway, while my ass is not small, I think I'd describe it as solid rather than large. More exercise is not the way to get rid of that. I was screwing around with BMI calculators online today, and was annoyed just a bit to find that I'd crossed the line into the "overweight" classification. Meanwhile, the body fat calculators told me I'm about 23% fat, which is well within the healthy range. It's really gross to think about carrying 30+ pounds of fat around, though. Maybe I'll go exacerbate my butt at hockey practice tomorrow morning.
You can be 'overweight' by having lots of muscle.
I think I'd like elliptical trainers a lot more if they weren't designed for people under 6 feet tall. I feel sort of cramped on them, anyway. Now that winter is coming it'll be time to start hitting the stairclimbers again...
The ideal fat percentage for women is in the 22-25% range, for men its much less. Makes sense, seeing that women have more fat in their breasts and overall need more fat on their bodies than men do. 600 calories in 40 minutes on the elliptical is believable if you were going at a steep incline or really fast. I did 580 calories in 55 minutes this morning. Some 660 calories in an hour yesterday. Keesan is right, when you start buiilding muscle, you tend to put on more weight. Muscle weighs more than fat.
BMI is terrible, I'd suppose, for fit people.
There's fit, and there's the body-building types with lots of big muscles. If you're aiming for fit, I'd imagine the BMI is a good indication. If you're aiming to go the Arnie Scwarzie way, look more at fat percentage. I've lost enough weight to put me on the borderline of healthy BMI
Anyone want to calculate my body fat percentage? I am at least 101 pounds now. Used to be 19%, I think (at 115 or so pounds). I have gained nearly 10 pounds but it must all have gone to muscle as I can't find any fat, but I also don't see any increase in muscle size (not that they don't work better now).
Yup, BMI is pretty damn bad as a measure for healthy weights. One of my teammates is *extremely* fit--in an athletic but not body-builderly way. One of the very few women I know with a sixpack. Anyway, her BMI puts her into the obese category. That's always really entertained me. I'm quite aware that muscle weighs more than fat, which is why I went for the body fat calculation. I'm sure the measurements-based numbers aren't completely accurate either, but as a measure of weight-related health they're much more believable than BMI.
Jim is also borderline overweight due to muscle and I don't see any fat on him. He has big bones (and duck feet). 32 waist, 6' - is this overweight?
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Did it matter whether you were male or female?
What is "BMI"? http://www.arlingtoncemetery.org/ceremonies/sentinelsotu.html doesn't mention sex, but the height requirement is now 5'10" to 6'4".
BMI - the ratio between weight and height; a mathematical formula that correlates with body fat. Obese is considered having a BMI of 30 and above. Overweight is having a BMI of 25 to 29.9. That was on my test last week! I knew it!
6' and 32" waist sounds reasonable. How much does Jim weigh? I was bad - had cajun from the fast food place at teh mall last night. And I didn't workout either :(
Every time I see the item title "mynxcat wants to be svelte" I wonder of the Grex login "svelte" is available.
re 191: grin :) BMI stands for "body mass index". I believe it's the official government method of classifying people as overweight, obese, etc, and therefore sucks ass. re 189: I believe you that you had to learn that. But I don't believe you that there's a good mathematical correlation with body fat. :)
Re 191. all you have to do is use "finger", but I'm sure you knew that ;). 'svelte' is available.
Jim weighs somewhere around 175. He wears a L shirt and S pants. The L shirt assumes his waist is 38.
He seems alright to me. Doesn't seem over-weight at all. (Though it's a wonder that he fits into "S" pants, which I assume is "Small"?) Breakthrough, the scale registered 153 at one point yesterday. It always excites me when I see a new number on teh scale.
Small waist is 30-32, medium 34-36, large 38, I think. It is a problem to find men's pants under 30 waist (I used to wear 28 waist but may have shrunk). Shirts assume a 4" or 6" difference between chest and waist size and Jim's is 10". Some people are bigger in waist than chest. I think that difference would be more predictive of overweight than the weight/height ratio. One test of amount of fat involves measuring the thickness of a pinch of flesh from under your arm - should I look this up and post it? Mine is about 1/2" or less right now.
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There's this gadget at the gym that tests the amount of body fat you have. You enter in information like height, weight and then hold the handles firmly at arms length. After about a minute, it gives you a reading. I asked the personal trainer what it did exactly. He said that it sent impulses through my arms and based on how long it took for the impulse to return, it could tell how much fat I had. Fat has a different conductivity than muscle. That gadget showed me 31% body fat. The trainer mentioned that those things were not very accuate with a +/-5% accuracy. The scale at home gives me a reading after my weight reading. I would like to think that it does the same thing as the gadget, though I suspect it just uses a mathematical calculation based on my weight, and hips, height and waist measurements that you have to feed it. I changed the hip and waist measurements over the weekend and the reading dropped by about 3%. I'm not laying much stock by the scale
My boobs have gotten smaller!! First I thought it was a figment of my imagination, but the fiance has confirmed my suspicion. While they're currently at a size I like, I really don't want them shrinking anymore!! I guess the rack was thanks to a lot of extra weight I was carrying around. Also, the one pair of spare jeans I had that I wore with great reluctance when all my other pairs were in the wash, now fit comfortably. No longer do I have my stomach pinched in uncomfortably when I wear them, and no longer do I dread wearing these jeans. They have come out of semi-retirement to be a permanent part of my wardrobe. To go with the jean story, my favorite pair of grey pants that I bought a month and a half ago are now pretty loose. Any more weight lost, and these pants will have to be replaced. While it's sad to lose a good pair of pants (lord knows how hard it is to find a pair of pants that really look good), there is the sweet part of this sorrow to know that it's due to weight *lost* and not *gained*
Can you take them in along the outer seam? (The grey pans - jeans are too thick).
I'm not a goo seamstress. And they're not regular material - more like stretch. I'm not sure I could take them in.
You might be able to have a professional tailor take thime in, though. A couple years ago when I lost weight I ended up having some stuff taken in.
I will look into it, when the time comes. Today looks like a packed day. Looks like my workout is going to be pushed to some time after 9:00 pm. I hate when that happens. I prefer my workout to be done by 8:00 am, or preferrably in the morning. However, today I needed to be in early, so the morning workout wasn't working out. I'll be at work till about 5:30, and have a hair appointment at 7:00pm. Maybe I'll move the hair appointment up, if possible. The good thing is it's just an hour workout today, instead of the hour and a half
I know about the whole bust thing. I've nicknamed mine as the "incredible shrinking breasts" - and I'm not thrilled.
Exactly. It seems like I'm losing all my weight from my breasts, rather than my waist and my hips. Ok, I'm probably losing some around there as my jeans are now fitting me, but I really don't want to lose my boobs!
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:P
Yeah, becuase me eating a jelly donut would only make me sick as a dog.
Brooke, is the minimal food-intake a result of the surgery (what surgery was it?) or a conscious decision?
I had gastric bypass just over two months ago. I'm down about 50 lbs. I can't eat that much food, and high sugar quantities make me sick. So it's a result of the surgery AND a conscious decision as I don't want to be sick.
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That's disgusting. Did she have surgery or what?
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Hahahahahah!
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freak. She is skinny though.
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All 3?
david blaine is good on tv
A little late: I'm a big fan of Silk soymilk--anybody who thinks soymilk tastes like beans (or grass (or ass)) should switch from EdenSoy to Silk. (sad: EdenSoy is made in Saline and marketed out of Troy, but my taste buds war with my desire to go local.) For the Silk drinkers--have you tried the Lavender variety? That's carton color, not flavor; it's the unsweetened "plain". It's spectacular, but new, so it only comes in the quart. Hopefully it'll get popular enough that they'll make half-gallons so that I can reasonably afford it. (checks web page--oops, unsweetened is green. lavender is creamer) SilkNog is also good. Somewhat less late: Sindi, I'm told by people who have recently started swimming regularly that they experienced surprisingly fast build-up of muscle in butt and thighs. Vigorous swimming might be tiring for you, though; I don't know of any physical therapy type exercises that would help. (all I know there is knees) I definitely don't know any exercises that would help mynxcat. I have noticed some e-mails that might be relevant, though, and could forward them along if you like. ;)
(I've found the "Soy Dream" soymilk to be my favorite. The Silk and Edensoy stuff tastes weird. And regular milk tastes slightly sour to me now)
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Thanks (re 220) for the idea of swimming but the chlorine bothers me. My apartment (which I cannot yet walk to) is a few blocks from Mack Pool. I am impressed with mynxcat's progress in converting fat to muscle.
Milk in all of it's forms makes me ill. I've fallen off the workout wagon over the past couple of week, I"m still going, but not as frequently as I like. Hopefully I can put some time in again this weekend, and swing onto monday into the gym on my way home from work.
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I've tried going to the gym directly after work, but usually I'm too hungry to really have a good workout. I've foun that stoping at home to have a snack before I go to the gym is a better plan. Alternatively, I could take a snack to work, but I prefer coming home first. I tried the body-fat machine that I originally used at teh gym some time in the past few days. My body-fat percentage is now at 28%, a drop of 3% from my initial body fat reading. That was 6 lbs of fat lost. Pretty impressive. Also, since my hair is now really short, it makes it more imperative to lose the fat, especially around my face. Easier to see teh chub and teh double chin, now that the hair is gone. I planned to have cereal with soy milk this morning. too late, I had to rush out the oor. I did try Dr Soy, a so called health bar, with high protein. Chocolate caramel or something. If health bars are supposed to substitute for lunch, I wish they'd tast more like cheeseburger and rnch fries, than chocolate. (I am getting really addicted to the taste of Silk, I could definitely have a whole cup if requierd,. Right now I take big swigs right from the carton.
Interesting discovery... the Japanese grocery next to Godaiko has locally made soy milk, in gallon and half-gallon jugs. I bought a half-gallon of the "sweet" variety, figuring it would be pretty crlose to the usual stuff listed above. $1.99! Gallons under $4, pretty cheap.
Was it any good? I ate too manty sweets this afternoon in honor of Diwali. Ok, I see that I'm going to have to workout more, or starve myself more, or see my weight plateau till I get back to the diet. Tomorrow is the Diwali party, I expect to be eating some more :(
I'm not sure exactly what Diwali is, but if good eatin' is involved, it sounds like my kind of holiday.
re#227: where's Godaiko?
Diwali is the biggest hindu festival, commemorating different events, depending on who you ask. Lots of lit lamps and the like. As big in India as Christmas is over here. Lots of sweets.
Godaiko is in the Oak Valley shopping center, right across from Meijer on Ann Arbor - Saline road. It's the biggest oriental grocery in Ann Arbor, although the Plymouth Road one probably fits almost as much stuff into 3/4 the space. :) The soymilk I bought is extremely fresh tasting, for lack of a better term. Seems to taste like tofu, not really like the big-name commercial stuff. Not sure how I feel about it yet - soy/rice milks tend to be an acquired taste.
Is Diwali a lunar based holiday, or the same day on the solar calendar?
Lunar based. The Hindu calendar is Lunar based. Last year Diwali was sometime in early November. Today is the actual day for Diwali. We're having a party this evening, so I'm prolly going to starve myself in anticipation. Or not. Aunt from NJ has sent me lots of fattenning Indian goodies. Looks like the fiance is going to ome in handy eating them. I have to fit in a workout sometime between now and 6:30 pm. Hopefully, I don't get a call from work :P
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Lots of Indian sweets and friend stuff. Did not end up going to the party on Saturday, so saved some calories there. However, did end up going for lunch yesterday, so though it may have added some extra calories, it wasn't much compared to party-type food. Soy milk with cereal is definitely yummy. Thanks for sharing that "recipe", remmers.
Try Chinese foodstores for soymilk. Foodland on Carpenter has both unsweetened and sweetened (unflavored) half gallons. Also 'soy pudding' to which you can add flavors (soft tofu).
Ok, I have lost, and I mean really lost....<drumroll> 10 p o u n d s and dropped a pant size. I feel pretty good about this.
that was pretty fast...like a month right? congrats!!!
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Hooray Sapna! I am sure you also feel a lot stronger and healthier too. I have gained at least 10 pounds in only 2 months. Let's keep trading. Another 10 pounds?
Yeah Congrats SApna!
congrats Sapna. That is quite an accomplishment.
Congrats, Sapna! Well, I'm not sure what's up... my scale numbers are dropping.
That's good, jaklumen.
Thanks guys. Yes, I feel healthier, and stronger, and I like the way some of my old clothes look on me now. That was 10 lbs in 1 month yes. I like the pace I set, and hopefully it will continue. However, yesterday, I slacked. Didn't go to the gym, but then, didn't eat much either. This morning's gym aerobic workout was 50 minutes instead of the usual 60, but at a slightly higher resistance. And postponed my workout till tomorrow. Also tonight there shall be decadent drinking in honor of our exiting team-lead
That is wicked awesome. The weight loss, not the decadent drinking.
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Adopting it as a life-style is a goal. I might have Chipotle for lunch today, again in honor of the exiting team-lead. Decadent drinking has been postponed till tomorrow, which is just as well. I can "work from home" Friday. Another thing I've noticed that my menstrual cramps, which are usually terrible on the first day of my period, were non-existant this month. Did not experience the fatigue, aching joints and bloating either. Could it be the exercise?
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resp:245 I should probably do some tape measurements to be sure. It's lbs. numbers-- now the fat % is creeping down a little. Tomorrow, I go see my sleep doctor... I hope to get a C-PAP soon... here's hoping some better sleep will make it easier to step up the exercise.
/"Sometimes, I get the menstrual cramps real hard."
"All he wanted was a hot roll and butter...so why do you use the word trapped?"
215 reminds me I have to go for today's walk, despite little sleep. Getting more exercise usually helps one to sleep better.
I won't be going to be gym today, but I'm doing house cleaning, so that's going to be my work out for today, yesterday was a wash since I worked until I went to an event, so it's been since Monday. I'm a little heavier than I was a few weeks ago, but it's currently do to a little extra water weight that is my monthly right as a member of the female gender, as well as an increase in muscle.
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EAT SANDWICHES
Elliptical for about 45 to 60 minutes. Weights every other day both upper body and lower body. Right now I'm doing one set each of 12 reps. From next week, I'm going to work on upper and lower on different days with 3 sets for each exercise
Stick with that regimen, watch what you eat, and you'll soon be svelte with a capital S.
Maybe I will get inspired to do supper body exercises. Yay Sapna!
the stray s- was not intended. I am still thinking in eating mode.
supper body exercises would be great :) Thanks keesan, remmers, et al.
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/runs for the car keys yelling like a viking: "CHICKEN WITH CHEEEEEESE!"
It's been a while since I've posted. Mostly because I haven't been keeping up. I looked at FitDay yesterday, I haven't updated for over a fortnight. I haven't been keeping to the diet strictly, and the exercise routine is sporadic at best. I blame my personal life, and the fact that I wasn't in town for a couple of weekends. The bad news is I haven't lost any extra weight since the last report. The good news is, despite the eating out and such, I haven't gained any of the weight back. And that's a huge plus point. In desperation, I turned to the Atkins Diet. At least I looked at it. It's pretty tempting, lots of meat, and I like meat, lots of cheese, and I love cheese. It seemed like the easiest thing to do. Till I looked at what I could not eat. I looked at the recipebook on http://www.atkins.com, they have a few indian recipes like the chicken curry, and the cauliflower. All very well, but you're not supposed to eat bread or rice. Now how is one supposed to have chicken curry without rice or bread? Totally against what I've been brought up on. The vegetarian recipes looked like too much trouble. And the deciding factor to not go on the diet was that not everyone loses that much weight the first couple of weeks, everyone has a different resistance level. Ok, I'm not trying something that doesn't guarantee results. This morning on the radio they were talking to Dr Do-Nothing, or something like that. He advocates high protein and high natural fat and low carbs, which is pretty close to the Atkins diet. Though I'm not going to follow that, one thing he did mention was for maximum weight-loss during exercise, not to have any carbs at least an hor before and an hour after your exercise. Sort of ties in to the whole Atkins thing which advocates no carbs so fat would be burnt instead. Must try.
Eating too much protein can damage your liver and kidneys when you break down the protein for energy. Atkins diet may produce quick weight loss but it is not healthy. You are not supposed to exercise a lot for an hour after eating so that your stomach will have time to operate without the blood being drawn away to the muscles. They taught us at summer camp, in swimming class, never to go in the water within an hour of eating, but the lifesaving class had no other time to meet so we always met right after lunch. Don't worry about a temporary standstill as long as you do not backslide. You are probably still converting fat to muscle. I wish I had fat to convert to muscle. I seem to be stuck at 106 with no taste buds except for sour.
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Sapna, sounds like you may have hit a platue (I misspelled that). If you read the whole Atkins Diet book, you start out going with a large amount of fat and protein, but supposedly this is supposed to help get the "carb addiction" within control. After a couple of months or so, you should introduce more veggies and the like in, but like all diets, it is about portion and consumption control.
plateau? from French, I presume
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jiffer, I did read most of what they had to say on the site. I know you can introduce carbs into your diet in small amounts after the first two weeks. Just that it's not for me. I'm hoping it's not a plateau. I do know that I haven't been keeping up. The exercise is sporadic at best right now, and I haven't been that careful about my diet. I am trying to get back on track, and I think I overdid the elliptical at the gym yesterday - my legs are sore :( I think I'll concentrate on upper-body today and give the legs a rest. I need to get in the habit of going in the mornings. It's easier to skip the gym in the evenings, especially with the shorter days :(
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72 hours is 3 days. I thought it was ok to work out muscle areas every other day. Besides, my muscles are sore from the damn elliptical. I think the resistance was a little higher than I'm used to.
Every other day is what I was told (by my personal trainer) as well.
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Yeah, but pro weight trainers tend to use the 'roids, too.
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What's the westside barbell method? I'm guessing since my weight-training is MUCh lighter than a professional trainer's, every other day should be ok for me? I went to the gym this morning. 45 minutes on the elliptical (reduced the resistance a little, since my muscles were a little too sore from the last time)and upper body training. I figured out the reason I couldnt' get up in time to get in a workout in the mornings was because I was going to bed so late. Duh!
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But I don't want to increase my weight... /whine That's pretty interesting. And you say the club is in Columbus? Even more interesting.
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I'll ask around
What I'd like to know is when is when is it better to exercise, before or after eating, and how long before or after, especially in the morning.
I've heard the best time to exercise is in the morning, before breakfast. This increases metabolism and gets your body into fat- burning mode at the beginning of the day, and is therefore the most beneficial. If you can't exercise in the morning, the next best time is about two hours before the evening meal. Personally, I like the morning. For one, it wakes me up for the rest of the day. I'm really raring to go. However, it doesn't seem to work for my fiance, he says he's usually too tired for the rest of the day. Also, I prefer to get it done with in the morning so that I don't have to worry about it till next morning.
You know, we always hear about (and FUCK) ladies of the night, but what I wouldn't do whore a good morning whore.
Morning Whores are so neglected. Elliptical crosstrainers are my preferred aerobic workout, but I try to occasionally switch with the treatmill or bike for variety. I also like to work a part of the body on weights every session, so I make sure to trade off between upper and lower body, except on really busy days at the gym when all of the aerboic equipment is taken, in which case I do the weight machines. I start up yoga again in the spring, so the two days I'll have class (I'll be paying for two sessions a week instead of one) will be days off from the gym, since the Iyengar instructor is really intense. Thankfully I've sharply reduced my fast food intake again. I prefer to eat none at all, but currently I'm once or a week at lunch time.
I need to go back to the gym. I have sorely neglected it what with my obsession with PS2 and CivIII. I haven't been able to wake up early enough to go. CivIII keeps me awake late into the night. Also, I've started eating a little more take-out. However, I still haven't put any weight back on. Which is a good thing.
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CivIII? How good are their games? ;-)
The only way I was able to break my CivIII addiction was to take up an even more addicting game. :) I'm subject to similar temptations/excuses with regard to my own exercise program. But I find that regular exercise makes a huge positive difference in my sense of well-being, both physical and mental. So I hope Sapna sticks with it.
I hope to return to the gym tomorrow morning. Keeping fingers crossed. CivIII - What praises should Ising. I've moved my empire up to rank number 2, though I haven't won any wars. And I can't wait to go home and play. But iwbg. What game did you take up to break your CivIII addiction, remmers?
Wizardry 8.
What's that about?
It's about killing monsters. KILL KILL KILL! Well, there's also a plot that goes along with it, concerning a quest to save the universe from this evil dude called the Dark Savant who looks and acts uncannily like Darth Vader. The Wizardry series goes back over 20 years to Wizardry I, an Apple II "hi-res graphics" game that was very popular in the early 1980s. I was addicted to that one too. Wiz 8 has all the latest whiz-bang technological features: 3D graphics, stereo sound, ultra-smooth animation, but without losing the basic feel of Wiz I and its numerous successors.
Hmmm.. I've never been into anything that is faintly "fantasy". But wow - it survuved 20 years. That's got to say something for the game. I'm also hooked to Need For Speed on PS2 and DDR (Don't laugh. Very geeky arcade game, now on PC)
Thank goodness I'm not easily hooked on games. ;) Although at one point I did spend a couple hours every day on the NES Super Mario Bros. and got all the way through...
I used to love Donkey Kong on those little hand held games. In this one Donkey Kong's sone was supposed to run along a wire with electrc impulses passing through it, jumping all of them and unlocking each of the four chains that had his father tied up. and then he was supposed to run and catch DK when he fell. I loved it. Now I think I'd find it boring. Video games should be banned
I remember Wizardry for the PC from the late 1980's. A friend had pirated a copy from somewhere. There were spells with weird names; they must have been described in the program manual, but we didn't have that. A lot of the fun of playing that game was figuring out what the spells did. If there's an updated version, I'd like to get it. I'm amazed it's survived for so long.
Wizardry 8 came out a couple of years ago. As the number implies, there have been eight different Wizardry games altogether. If you were playing it in the late 1980s, you could have been playing anything from Wiz 1 through Wiz 6. I'd have to look up the dates to be sure, but as best I can remember, the only Wizardry game released in the 1990s was Wiz 7: Crusaders of the Dark Savant (another wonderfully addicting pastime). I don't see Wiz 8 much in stores, probably because it's been out for a while. I'm sure it can be ordered online.
Yes, I found it on both eBay and amazon.com.
Dare I get this one?
Hard to say. If you're not into fantasy role-playing games, it probably won't appeal to you.
(Won't help make you svelte, either... ;-)
Tell me about it. I've been playing video games all week. Can't say it makes for a very cheerful Sapna in the mornings. I've borrowed LOTR - Twin Towers for PS2 from a friend. I hated the book/movie, but I want to try the game. He also recommended Max Payne for the PC. Anyone played that one? Role-playing is interesting. I thought I wouldn't like action games, but I don't mind them as long as there's some strategy involved. GTA Vice City is another favorite. Beating up little old ladies can be quite satisfying.
GTA III AND GTA VC could be a huge time drain for me....I resist.
Your resistance is futile ...
Re. 304: If you like 3rd-person shoot-em-ups, you'll like MP. Normally, I'm not into 3rd-person games, but I was intrequed by the Matrix-like effects and "bullit view" options.
Hmmm, another one to try. I borrowed LOTR - Twin Towers for PS2 from a friend. I think it's a pretty weak strategy - modelling a game on a movie. The movie excerpts were annoying, the visuals were dark, and the actual fight sequences where you got to play were uninspired.
I've seen very good games based on movies. The Lion King game for the Sega Genesis is still one of my favorites ever. (But I admittedly don't play a lot of video games.)
Is it very childish? And is it out on PS2?
Yes, it's available for other platforms besides Sega Genesis according to a search I did on amazon.com. It's The Lion King game from Majesco Sales. You'll have to check on whether it's out for the PS2. The game was appropriate for kids, if you ask me, and I'm rather strict about such things. It wasn't violent or obscene or anything... but it was definitely challenging for adults. I played it for months without completing it. It felt like a real accomplishment to get to a new level.
That's what I meant. Was it challenging enough for an adult to play. Sounds like it was. I'll keep a look out for it. Thanks John.
I'm slower than many but eventually I get there. (-:
Wow...this is just like real exercise! This, too, got derailed by computer games!
Hehe. And the holiday season :P I'll go to the gym tomorrow, I promise :P
I think I have gained back 1.5 pounds in 1.5 weeks. Yay me. Food tastes funny. There must be some pill people could take to make their food taste funny too.
Heh - it's called "fat". (No joke - I've worked with chefs who say fat is flavor.)
Fat *is* flavor. That would explain why most foods that taste so good are really fatty. And why low-fat or no-fat versions never taste quite as yummy. Didn't go to the gym today. Was up till 2:30 am playing CivIII. On the good side, I wiped out the French, and have two more cities to conquer to wipe out the Chinese. Bad side, all the fudge I ate yesterday is prolly being converted to pounds right now :(
Some of the flavorful compounds may be fat soluble, but fat itself does not have any flavor that I know of. It has a distinctive texture. Flavor consists of sour (acid), sweet (sugars), bitter (various things that are bad for you) and salt.
True - if you want to get literal about it.
or if you want to be OCD about it. *snort*
I know I prefer fried to boiled or baked. And that's fat.
Wasn't another flavor the tongue detects been labeled as 'umi'? as in yummy? The tastes good sensation?
I think it's "umami," from the Japanese term for the flavor. Re #319: Grapefruit is bitter, and it isn't bad for you.
Re 323> Tastes good as in what? sweet, salty, sour?
Re #325: Distinct from all of those. It's a taste that can be triggered
by some amino acid compounds (like monosodium glutamate). I
know what it is, but I can't describe it well. It's sort of a
richness. Some people describe it as "meaty," but it shows up
in some vegetables (mushrooms and asparagus) as well.
Probably the best way to experience it is to eat some MSG, and
ignore whatever salt flavor you get -- it isn't that.
(And it is "umami," and it's a Japanese word with no English
derivation.)
Crisco is fat and it does not have a whole lot of taste. Mushrooms and asparagus are on the list of foods to avoid if you have gout because they are fast growing and have a lot of DNA in them. Can people taste nucleic acids?
That sounds distinctly like quackery.
Re 326> I've tasted MSG and liked it. It must be some kind of flavor I really like because I really like mushrooms and asparagus.
MSG causes brain damage.
Personal experience?
Your face.
You have several choices: