[DeltaOrionis]

Well, I guess I'll just dive right in. A word to the wise -- ramble incoming.

I have no idea what I weigh right now, scales are not welcome in this house. I had some seriously warped food & weight issues as a teenager, and the bathroom scale just made it worse by making it too easy to hyper-focus on that extra quarter pound of weight gain.
So as an adult, I make an effort to avoid purchasing one, and remind myself that health is about nutrition & fitness, not weight alone. That being said...I suck at that fitness part. I've become sedentary and the problem is, I like it. LOL.

I really hate exercising, I always have. Physical exercise makes me physically hot, and I abhor that overheated feeling. I avoid it like the plague. I'm the kind of girl who shovels snow in shorts and a tank top because proper snow pants & a coat makes me crazy hot, walks barefoot in the snow to get the mail, and glares at my toasty snow boots all winter long. Come spring (like right about now) I start counting the days to first approximate freeze, not summer. Heat and I are staunch old enemies.

I'm extremely undisciplined when it comes to counting calories. When I bother to try to make the effort to, I forget, all. the. time. What I personally prefer to do is mind the beast in the bottomless pit and feed it appropriately.

I don't typically eat a lot of carbs. I'm not fond of rice or pasta, bread is just necessary evil as a delivery system for PB & J, and I may be Irish, but potatoes are not my thing.

I honestly don't snack much, either. If I do, it's leftover meat (fresh, not processed) from a previous meal, fruit, or a PB & J. And the J, I would count as more or less the only "junk" food I eat on a regular basis (a few times a week)

I don't generally like sugary food at all, I get zero satisfaction out of it & I get bored of it quickly. If I try to have a sugary breakfast, I end up with rather painful stomach cramps, I just can't eat sugar first thing in the morning. Protein on the other hand, will do just fine. I'm no stranger to firing up the grill in the AM to cook burgers (the leaner the better, otherwise I always start grill fires. Not kidding.)

I haven't had any candy since my kids went ToTing last year. One kid decided they didn't like Reese's cups, so I had those offloaded to me & made quick work of them. Also made myself sick of them. I'm good til Halloween 2026 now, thanks.
I think the last piece of cake I had was a good year ago, unless you count the one forkful of birthday cake one of my kids gave me earlier this year.
I'm not real big on ice cream, cookies or brownies, or even chocolate (I hate chocolate. I'm a rarity) Soda is infrequent, one or two servings a month or so. My husband & I usually end up splitting a single serving bottle of something running errands as a shared treat.
The only real sweet junk food weaknesses I have that I genuinely like is lemon meringue pie, key lime pie, and pumpkin pie. We get those once a year, so I don't have those at my disposable too often.

That doesn't mean I'm a salt fiend, either. I don't like much in the salty snack department beyond Doritos, and I get tired of them after a few handfuls. My munchie foods really are meats and fruits, and the occasional PB & Js.

I've found that one of the quickest ways to judge if I'm actually hungry or not is to have either a glass or milk, or a piece of cheese (real cheese, not yellow plastic) If that nips it, then I'm just bored and need to find something to do. However, that doesn't always work. I love my spicy food, and milk is my favorite partner for it. Sometimes I end up triggering a bad spice craving that I end up feeding.

There is one thing we just do not buy often anymore, because I go nuts with it.

Ramen.

Of all things, frigging cheap, fried noodles can easily be my undoing. I do have the good sense to measure out only 1/4 to 1/2 of a teaspoon at most of the seasoning powder if I do eat it (otherwise, that's a boatload of salt in one sitting in that packet)

In all honesty, my diet is pretty good. Not perfect, I don't think, but certainly healthier than any alternatives. Processed food is few & far between, unhealthy snacks are seldom, fresh food is paramount. I try not to overeat at meals, but like anyone else on the planet, I sometimes do. That's a work-in-progress.
My husband is the chef in the house, and he does a pretty good job of cooking wisely. I rarely cook, I'm terrible at it despite years of trying. It's either just plain horrible all around, or it ends up burned & the kids joke every fire truck siren they hear is someone calling in seeing me cooking ("Uh-oh, fire truck!" "Ooooh, someone saw mom cooking." The joke's getting a little old, children)
Grilling is about as good as I get, and even then, it's a coin toss as to whether or not I start a grill fire (the kids have even made bets on it) You should try my signature Charcoal Chicken! It's, um...cooked?

Like I said, it's the getting off my duff that I flunk at. I'm perfectly happy to be parked in my hammock, or on the computer, or in my hammock. I'll burn some calories going indoors to the computer up a flight of stairs when it gets too warm for me in the sun, does that count as exercise? No? Crud.

I have a pair of arm weights, 10 pounds each. I do use them, I try to aim for a minimum of 2 days a week using them. I've laid off them for the time being, I've messed up my elbow twice in a row and I think the second time was because I didn't give it enough time to heal the first time. I also use the stairs as a push-up method twice a week at minimum, and have laid off doing that for now, too. Still gotta use the elbow, and still not a bright idea to do so right now.

Beyond my lazy girl stairs push-ups and weights, that's about it. These are the only enjoyable methods of exercise I've found short of swimming. I've LOVE to swim the weight off, but I have no pool anywhere near me, nor any natural body of water I can get to to swim in. A back yard pool would have been a great thing to have, and we were planning on it this summer, but we need to save for a new car instead. Darn life & it's inherent cogs.

In lieu of an introduction weight number, here's my measurements in all the applicable places for me to reference in future posts.

Forearms: 15 inches
Neck: 15 1/4
Chest: 42
Waist 45
Hips 47.5
Thighs 25.5
Calves 16 1/4

At 5 foot 4, I basically resemble a tomato on toothpicks here, lol. If I had to guess at my weight, I'd say somewhere between 210 and 220 is likely.

I guess the ramble is done for now. It's breakfast time, so I better go see what I can whip up without using the fire alarms as timers

[mjf]

I really hate exercising, I always have. Physical exercise makes me physically hot, and I abhor that overheated feeling.

Are there any gyms near your home? I think most gyms are air conditioned. If not, maybe you can find an air conditioned building with stairs that you can walk up for exercise.

Beyond my lazy girl stairs push-ups and weights, that's about it. These are the only enjoyable methods of exercise I've found short of swimming.

It sounds like you enjoy weightlifting. Have you tried other weightlifting exercises, like squats for example? Stair pushups are a good choice, so I'd suggest continuing with those after your elbow heals. As you become stronger, you can gradually make it harder by decreasing the number of stairs, until eventually you're doing regular pushups. To reduce the risk of injury when weightlifting, you should avoid working the same muscle 2 days in a row.

I don't typically eat a lot of carbs. I'm not fond of rice or pasta, bread is just necessary evil as a delivery system for PB & J, and I may be Irish, but potatoes are not my thing.

Bread with peanut butter can be a healthy snack, if you choose the right bread and the right peanut butter, but it's better to leave out the jelly because of the sugar. Bread should be 100% whole grain (and water and yeast). Peanut butter should just be peanuts. Optionally there could be a small amount of salt, but you should avoid the ones with added sugar or other stuff.

I don't think you mentioned vegetables in your post. Do you eat vegetables?

[DeltaOrionis]

Originally Posted by mjf

Are there any gyms near your home? I think most gyms are air conditioned.

At the moment, we can't afford gym fees. It's out of the question.

If not, maybe you can find an air conditioned building with stairs that you can walk up for exercise.

Nope, we live in the 'burbs, the houses are the only multi-floor structures around here. As for the A/C, that's in businesses if they turn it on at all. In homes, that's a pipe dream. I've yet to see so much as a window A/C unit on any house around here, it's just not hot enough long enough in the summers to make the cost central or window A/C worthwhile for people.

It sounds like you enjoy weightlifting. Have you tried other weightlifting exercises, like squats for example? Stair pushups are a good choice, so I'd suggest continuing with those after your elbow heals. As you become stronger, you can gradually make it harder by decreasing the number of stairs, until eventually you're doing regular pushups. To reduce the risk of injury when weightlifting, you should avoid working the same muscle 2 days in a row.

I like weightlifting quite a bit, I could get into this in a gym setting if we could ever afford it. I do squats and lunges, yes. I'm kind of at a loss as for what else I could work in with what I have, though.

Bread with peanut butter can be a healthy snack, if you choose the right bread and the right peanut butter, but it's better to leave out the jelly because of the sugar. Bread should be 100% whole grain (and water and yeast). Peanut butter should just be peanuts. Optionally there could be a small amount of salt, but you should avoid the ones with added sugar or other stuff.

I don't think you mentioned vegetables in your post. Do you eat vegetables?

I'm not wild about white breads, they're doughy & "pastey" to me. Whole wheat is a standard for us, but I like Ezekial-type breads a whole lot more, they're full of flavor.

Yep, I eat my veggies! I prefer them in salad form with just a little salt, pepper & vinegar. So DIY vinegarette, I guess? My husband introduced me to that concept when we dated, I haven't looked back. He's a stickler for a salad at every meal, so it's very seldom skipped, and we don't use pre-made dressings. If we remembered to set a bottle of olive oil aside for steeping herbs in, that's sprinkled on & blended with the vinegar, salt & pepper, but mostly, it's just vinegar, salt & pepper.

The only veggies I really, really dislike to the point of hating are sweet potatoes, eggplant and brussels sprouts. I don't like regular potatoes very much, either, but I'll eat those before the other 3. I'll eat everything else, especially if it can be made into a salad, or be put on a skewer & grilled, or just plopped on there, I love grilled veggies. I stay away from using butter on the grill (it doesn't work well anyway) and stick with a light basting of grapeseed oil. Aside from a higher smoke point, it's also one of the most flavor neutral oils I've used, which is fantastic for vegetables because it allows for their natural flavors to pop.

[mjf]

Originally Posted by DeltaOrionis

I like weightlifting quite a bit, I could get into this in a gym setting if we could ever afford it. I do squats and lunges, yes. I'm kind of at a loss as for what else I could work in with what I have, though.

You mentioned arm weights. Do you use those when you squat and lunge? I'd suggest increasing the weight when the exercises become easy. Do you do multiple sets of each exercise (with a rest between sets)? Multiple sets will allow you to do more total reps (and burn more calories).

Do you have dumbbells at home? If so, you could do bent over row and overhead press (but you may want to wait until your elbow heals). It's hard to think of upper body exercises that don't use your elbow.

Whole wheat is a standard for us, but I like Ezekial-type breads a whole lot more, they're full of flavor.

That's a good choice for bread.

[DeltaOrionis]

Originally Posted by mjf

You mentioned arm weights. Do you use those when you squat and lunge?

Yes, I do. I started using them when I do squats and lunges out of boredom with the routine, now it's more fun, lol.
Also, for whatever it's worth, when I say weights, I refer to dumbbells (it's all I've got)

I'd suggest increasing the weight when the exercises become easy.

They are not modifiable weights, they're completely solid 10 pounders. We can't afford the splurge on new stuff right now, so these are what I have to work with, as-is. Maybe later this year I can get modifiable ones, or a few sets of kettle bells. We're just too strapped right now to splurge on non-essentials.

Do you do multiple sets of each exercise (with a rest between sets)? Multiple sets will allow you to do more total reps (and burn more calories).

3 sets of 15 reps. From what I found googling, this is reasonable for calorie burning & muscle toning. More reps is not that beneficial unless I want to look like the Hulk, I'm just aiming for toned sans batwings.

Do you have dumbbells at home?

Answered above

If so, you could do bent over row and overhead press (but you may want to wait until your elbow heals).

I am terrible with the proper names for these, I can never remember which is which. The best I can do is describe. I do arms out at the sides while bent forward at an angle standing or seated (seems to make no difference to me in terms of comfort factor) I raise the arms up from my sides, pause each time on the up for a count of 5, and do again 15 times total. I do a set, then switch to another style, I pick a mix of 3 and go with it. I do one set of reps in each, then start again from the first style. Style A for 15 reps, Style B for 15 reps, Style C for 15 reps, x 3.
I do the basic curls. That needs no describing.
The overhead one with elbows over the head and arms & weights behind the head. I guess that's an overhead curl from behind?
I do the one leg on a chair, bending forward and "pumping" the weight up & down.
I also do one flat on my back with arms out to my sides straight, bringing one weight directly above me, then returning to the ground & switching to the other.
I also do the "punching" straight ahead (not too slowly, not too quickly, not too vigorously)

It's hard to think of upper body exercises that don't use your elbow.

I know, right? It's really hard to use your hands when you don't want to use your elbow, because it's inevitable!

That's a good choice for bread.

It's one of the best breads out there, IMO. Tasting like an indulgence and being healthy isn't too common for manufactured foods.

[mjf]

Originally Posted by DeltaOrionis

3 sets of 15 reps. From what I found googling, this is reasonable for calorie burning & muscle toning. More reps is not that beneficial unless I want to look like the Hulk, I'm just aiming for toned sans batwings.

15 per set is enough. I often hear people recommend 8-12 per set, and some people recommend alternating between higher (12-15) and lower (5-8) rep ranges, but if you don't have heavier weights then it's probably better to stay at 15 for now. If you're a woman, it would be almost impossible to get a manly look from weightlifting.

The overhead one with elbows over the head and arms & weights behind the head. I guess that's an overhead curl from behind?

If I'm understanding correctly, I think it's a tricep extension.

It sounds like you're doing at least most things right, so I'd be surprised if you're not making progress. Have you made progress, or is this the first time you took those measurements?