[Chipmunk]

Well I posted a huge long post and somehow it ate it! Go figure.

So this will be much shorter.

My name is Michelle, I'm 23 and I live in Southern California. I have been married to my husband C' for the past 6 years and we have a beautiful almost 1 year old little boy.

During my recent pregnancy I got up to 200lbs the day before I had my son. I was 150ish prior but had sustained some fractured vertebra's in a motorcycle accident a few months before I got pregnant.

Pre marriage I was 130. Which is my short term goal. I am 5'3 and have currently lost 57lbs. My long term goal is 120. Currently I am 143.

I'm stock on losing those last pounds. I'm also starting to notice the extra skin and looking for great ways to help solve it. My stomach has alway sbeen the place where I hide my fat so it's very obvious there. Hopefully I can be pointed in the right direction.

Thank you and I look forward to making many new friends.

Michelle

[penpal]

First of all and congratulations on losing so much weight already - especially considering your traumatic accident.

Do you count calories? I've found this to be the most successful way to lose weight. Just be sure not to go too low or your body will hang on to every calorie as if it thinks there's a "famine". Also, I believe it is very important to do some kind of exercise on a regular basis in order to rev up your metabolism and keep the weight off.

Good luck on your weight loss journey!

[Chipmunk]

Hi and thank you!

I should add that I do attend the gym. I do 50 misn of cardio. 30 mins on the elliptical and 20 mins on the bike. I alternate the level and the motion.

then I do upper and lower body workouts (machines) on alternating days and then abs and back every day.

I do count calories.. I use to do the WW's but I believe i was mandated like 22 points. It worked well for awhile but I think that's why I'm in the rut I am now. I'm so use to eating 11-1200 calories when my body really needs more.

[chick_in_the_hat]

Michelle!!!

I was gonna ask if you were working out...but you answered that already...do you have a heart rate monitor? Are you at 75-80% of your maximum heartrate when you are doing your cardio? Do you give yourself rest days? The rest days goes especially for the weight training - but I think everyone earns at least one rest day a week...(dog walking doesn't count for me...he's too slow. )

Wow 43 pounds!!

Do you know what portion of your calories are coming from carbs and fat and protein? I think 1100 calories is too low for anyone. 1200 is the lowest you should be going on an average. Especially if you are working out consistently. Your body needs fuel to build muscle. Lean proteins are pretty good for that.

I find that Fitday (others use Nutridiary or Calorie King) is very useful for logging what I eat and being able to pull all kinds of reports.

You didn't say how long you have been in the rut...some of us have been on rather longggggg plateau's so I feel your pain.

Do you ride motorcycles yourself or were you riding with DH? If you are still into riding - come join us in the Chicks on Motorcycles thread!

[Chipmunk]

Hi and thank you!

No I do not own a heart rate monitor. I need to get one though! That was one of my questions about the heart rate. While using the machines at the gym it says weight loss target - and cardio target. I was curious if those are accurate and which I should be targeting. A monitor is the next thing I plan to buy! Maybe tomorrow

I really haven't broken down the carbs, protein, fat when it comes to calories. I really haven't paid much attention to that other than trying to limit the carbs and eating whole wheat products when I can.

I've been in the rut for about 3 weeks now almost 4.

I sitll love motorcycles, it was a ninja 1000 that I was on. It was rearended by another ninja 1000 and both me and my best friends husband (who I was riding with) broke our backs. I fractured my T12, L1, and L2. The guy who hit us wasn't wearing a helmet was drunk and walked away. Imagine that.

Anyway I still love bikes but I'm deathly afraid of them. My husband wants to get a chopper or something like that and swears they're safer than crotch rockets, that we will see Just yesterday I saw a kid/guy take a corner, over correct and eat asphalt. My heart stopped but he walked away and pulled his bike from the street himself...

I'm accident prone, so someone above finally gave me a child to slow me the heck down. LMAO

I'll check out the link in envy

[chick_in_the_hat]

I thought I was really working out until I put an HRM on...
Some machines are more reliable than others...the other bonus is that some HRM are compatible with the machines and you don't have to hold onto the handles to check your heart rate. I have a Polar HRM...there is a post here that gives more info. There's also some talk about Jillian Michaels' book "Winning by Losing"...I'm a big fan of this book. It has a lot of useful info about weight training as well as tips for the head games we play on ourselves. She also has a test to tell you what is the best ratio for the way your body processes calories. I ended up with 40% of my cals from carbs and 30% each from protein and fat. Basically it meant that I cut back on carbs and added more protein. I find it gives me more energy when working out.

I don't blame you for being afraid of motorcycles after that...that sux! Not to mention totally unfair that the drunk who caused the whole thing was fine afterwards...

Here's my ride...

quite sedate next to a Ninja....but you don't have to be riding to hang out on the thread...