[mrs dorson]

i want to be under 200 pounds by Christmas. in order to do so, i have to be "on track" every week. i will have to lose 1.75 pounds a week (an average-it doesnt happen like clockwork). i have lost since april 11th 1.4 punds a week (an average).

so i have to be good, well behaved and onplan 90% of the time. i have a weird hybrid plan (part south beach, part hi veggie/fiber/protein, part whatever strikes my fancy). it seems to be working.

i drink tons of water and take my vitamins and try to get enough sleep.

exercise is another story. i have exercised everyday since april 11th. really exercised! 60 -90 minutes of cardio (elliptical or stepper-sometimes treadmill just to mix it up) and some arm weight work 2 to 3 times a week.

i sweat and i get my heart rate up there and the calorie counters on the machines (notoriously NOT correct, i know) say 700 to 1000 calories burned a day. but i am working more resistance than speed.

so today.............i am going to RUN on the treadmill. walk/run to be exact.
warm up and then.........run at top speed until i think i will die and then slow down to 3 or 3.5 MPH until i catch my breath.

i have no illusions that i will run for more than a few minutes (seconds?) at a time. i am ok with that.

the issue is ............i am afraid i will look stupid.

my pride is getting in the way of me moving forward.

but i am going to do it.


am i weird? or do you guys feel/think this way too?


UPDATE

i went, i ran and.......

i had to stop.
but not cause i couldnt breathe.

my foot (my heel, to be specific). i fell down one (yep, just one) stair about 2 weeks ago and bent back my second toe so it touched the top of my foot.

can you say...YOWCH?

it has made me walk funny. like it threw off my stride. the toe is almost back to normal and it never hurt really bad. just was stiff and uncomfortable. but my heel hut badly when i was running.

so i stopped. but I DID IT!
tried it twice and lasted ahout 5 minutes total. i felt ponderous too. very clunky and clumpy.

and i will try again in a few days.

still worked out for 90 minutes--30 on elliptical/ 30 on stepper and 30 on treadmill (with higher incline).

i only monitor my heart rate with the sensors on the machine. probably not real accurate??

I DID IT!! I DID IT!!

[Dorys Girl]

There's no reason for you to feel self-conscious. You're starting a new fitness program...for you. All the people who are runners today had to start at the same place you are and work their way up. They didn't start off running marathons overnight. Just go do it. You'll do fantastic!

[mollymom]

May I make another suggestion..I don't want to discourage you, I just worry that you will discourage yourself. Also at our weight that is still a lot of impact on already stressed ankles, knees and feet.

We all know that for fat loss rather than aerobic/cardio conditioning, you need to go a long time at about 60% of your maximum health rate..most machines now even have a graph that shows the range for each age group...so for me for example, I have found that 3.3 mph 2.5 elevation on the treadmill I use gets me at the target 112 beats per minute....now bear with me. I talked to a trainer, avery trained trainer used to working with very overweight people, about increasing the metabolic benefits and that I was getting bored at going 40 minutes just trudging along...yawn

She suggested that once you have done a warmup and reached your target heart rate you do 4-5 minutes there..then really ramp it up for 2, back down for 4-5 back up for 2 etc. For me that means I move it up to 7.0 elevation, and 3.7 mph. I guarantee you, by the end of a 45 minute workout I am really sweating, and I have WORKED IT. If you look at suggested treadmill routines online, this pretty much follows the profile. Just my suggestion. You are doing great...just be happy as long as you are moving down, and if you don't reach your goal by Xmas..you will be close and concentrate on how far you have come, not the tiny bit you didn't achieve.

[mrs dorson]

i am not sure i understand?

so not so much faster but more incline?
for example: 0% incline for 5 minutes at 3 mph; then move to 3.5 mph at 3% inlince and then progressively higher incline? more not necessarily faster?

i did that yesterday but only for last 15 minutes. it was a program built in treadmill and it went from 0% to 7% inlcine (highest it would go) and i kept speed at 3.5 mph (fastest i could go honestly at that incline).

i was sweating and (tmi alert) my booty cheeks were/are sore!

is that what you mean?

thanks for the advice! i appreciate it. but i have good knees now and dont want to screw them up!

[thistoo]

I run intervals on the treadmill, and I have done so for a long time. I'm pretty sure I look stupid while I'm doing it, but it's helping me lose weight, so I don't really care. Go for it! I think you'll find that you enjoy it after awhile. Okay, maybe not. I don't really enjoy it most of the time. But it definitely works, so it's worth it!

[opimisticchick72]

I felt the same way when I started using the eliptical machine. Honestly, I thought the machine was out to get me. Not only did I feel more awkward and fatter than if I was standing there in a thong, I couldn't do it for anytime at all without thinking I was going to have a heartattack. So I retaliated (sp?) by shooting the machine the evilest of looks as I passed by...geez once I even gave it a small kick..not at all harmful to the machine and incredibly childish on my part admitted. However I just kept getting on daily until I conquered my fear and at that point didn't give two hoots what others thought. Running has been my goal for sometime just because I think I could just get lost in it. I think your determination and williness to try something new is commendable and courageous. You go. You do it. Just know you can and pay attention to your body, it will guide you. And if it the mood strikes you and no one is around, a small kick (more like a nudge, no need causing yourself any damage) really makes you feel better..muttering "stupid machine" at the same time is completely optional. I look forward to reading about your success and you have inspired me to look into fulfilling my dreams to run.

amy

[mrs dorson]

hahahaha!

i called the elliptical "the mean one" and the stepper "oh most eveil one"

the treadmill?

old faithful

but today, it might be............." a very bad word"

cant say cause i would get censored.

snicker

[JayEll]

Hey! Do you monitor your heart rate? You can exercise to improve fitness and burn fat without having to overexert or endanger your knees, ankles, etc. More is not necessarily better with this...

Jay

[fiberlover]

You can do it! Just start really slow with the running, small intervals interspersed with jogging, but don't go all out. Then you can build up.

[Beverlyjoy]

Start slow...so you don't injure yourself. You are doing great and have a wonderful plan. Go girl!!

[JoyfulVegGirl]

You have such a great attitude. I love it! Congratulations on your success.

What you're describing is exactly where I started at the beginning of this year. The hardest part about starting to run is not that your body gets tired, it's dealing with the impact and learning to regulate your breathing. Your body uses all kinds of tiny stabilizer muscles to run that most people forget they have, and your joints also need some time to strengthen themselves so that they can handle the impact.

I tried to start running a couple of years ago but hurt my knee, so this time I did the Couch to 5K program (the podcasts) and stuck with it faithfully. But I started off SLOWLY. We're talking 30 seconds of running to begin with, and that killed me. By the time I graduated I hadn't injured myself at all, ran a 5K, and now I can run 5 miles without stopping no problem.

Now I spend most of my free time trying to get new people addicted to running. Can you tell?

That first time you realize that you don't feel slow and awkward anymore and can really run is so exciting! Go slowly at first so that you can get there injury free. And get some good shoes! It is so worth it.

[Ookpik]

Like JoyfulVegGirl, I have done the "Couch to 5K" podcasts. I found it a bit hard at first...could a minute really be that long?!? But I finished as well, and now can run 30 minutes without stopping. I just had surgery last week, and I haven't run in awhile, but I cannot wait to get back to it! I didn't have access to a treadmill, so I ran outdoors....where anyone could see me. I just blocked them out and kept running.

[Krystine]

The Couch to 5k program has podcasts? Where can I find them? I just printed off the routine 2 days ago and I was wondering how I was going to time myself... do the podcasts tell you when to switch from running to walking?

[Kelleigh]

Originally Posted by Krystine

The Couch to 5k program has podcasts? Where can I find them? I just printed off the routine 2 days ago and I was wondering how I was going to time myself... do the podcasts tell you when to switch from running to walking?

You can get the podcast for free from iTunes. Pick the most popular one by Robert somebody. And yes, he tells you when to run and when to go back to your brisk walk, plus has an okay techno beat going to listen to.

I'm part of a challenge for this that just started last week, here's the link:
http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=148204

[Skinny4baby]

I copied this from a good friend. When you can successfully WALK for 30 minutes at a time..at a decent speed, without getting to winded to talk...change it up to the following. My friend suggested about TWO weeks of walking to get you charged up.

Week #1~ Run 2 min. Walk 4 min. Complete 5 times.
Week #2~ Run 3 min. Walk 3 min. Complete 5 times.
Week #3~ Run 5 min. Walk 2.5 min. Complete 4 times.
Week #4~ Run 7 min. Walk 3 min. Complete 3 times.
Week #5~ Run 8 min. Walk 2 min. Complete 3 times.
Week #6~ Run 9 min. Walk 2 min. Complete 2 times / then Run 8 min.
Week #7~ Run 9 min. Walk 1 min. Complete 3 times.
Week #8~ Run 13 min. Walk. 2 min. Complete 2 times.
Week #9~ Run 14 min. Walk 1 min. Complete 2 times.
Week #10~ RUN 30 MINUTES!!

My goal is to get to 209 and then RUN my way to ONEDERLAND!!!