My friend and I played Dance Dance Revolution for an hour and a half tonight. Panting and sweating! Not as much exercise as jogging, but a fun way to get myself jumping and moving!
I keep running into the problem where I sometimes treat the calories between my goal 1200 and daily metabolism 1700 as sort of "buffer" calories. If I eat too little during most of the day, and then if I increase my evening meal to make up for it, I almost treat that as an invitation to eat right up to the limit of 1200 for dinner. Then I have no room for anything else in the day. And it's hard to keep myself from thinking "oh well 1350 is still under, so it's still loss, even though not as much!" and having a bite of something or other later. Same if I exercise - since there are more calories that I COULD eat and still not gain weight. I think that's why my weight loss slowed down so dramatically. It's a psychological thing I need to overcome >< Anyone else have that urge?
I also tend to want to eat more in the late evening. Horrible habit.
I'm growling because I didn't go over 1700, but I ate more than I wanted to today T_T Perhaps I should plan my meals better ahead of time. That's time consuming, grr.
Ahyessophie - Very true that we all burn more than BMR unless we stay in bed all day (oh i remember those days! ) Even so, i think we forget how much we have to change just to lose 1lb a week and all the small losses should be counted - I get so involved in things like the biggest loser and think why aren't i losing 5lbs a week! Of course i'm not exercising 8 hours a day and eating fitness instructor approved meals!! But it skews my expectations i think! Great about the fit day logging, i just about manage to jot mine down on paper although i do have an app to track my scale weight. Your breakfast sounded yummy, and great for under 400 - hope you didn't get too hungry
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Sakuri - Thanks so much for all the extra info I used caloriesperhour to calculate mine (purely because i like the activity burned calculator as the guy wrote to Billy Blanks and asked about calories burned for his taebo so i figure its the most accurate). I am sorry to be such a thicky but i tried your figures and mine came out at 340?! Now i know that's not right! Must be because i've just got up! I will engage brain and try again Your calculations for you sound great for getting the 2lbs though, what exercise do you do?
I know, it makes me feel wistful seeing people drop weight like that. But they're going through something crazy to get there so fast, and honestly is probably not that great for them. And their skin is definitely not going to catch up easily!
I did mine, and it came out to be 1571. This is almost 270 above what my metabolic test showed, and I attribute that to (1) I had crappy lean body mass when I did the test, and lean muscle burns the most calories. Also (2) when you've been dieting a long time (which I have T_T ) your body's metabolism gets more efficient! Unfortunately, a "more efficient" metabolism means that your body is burning fewer calories to accomplish the same things. It's not uncommon to have a 200 kcal lower daily metabolic calorie consumption due to extended dieting
Yeah, arms....I felt like my arms consist of a few fibers of muscle in a sea of fat. (lol that's a horrible mental image!) I've really pushed up the arm weight training, and it's slowly improving. But my arms are one of the things I hate most about my fat distribution. T_T I also force myself to stop and do a round of arm weight training. Lean muscle burns more calories, and I need to strengthen my joints.
Exercise wise, I like the elliptical. I inherited craptacular joints. Being obese so many years only made that worse. So I "jog" on it. While I read, I lose track of time, and easily can go for an hour. (I do "interval" mode on the machine, where it spends a few minutes at lower resistance/incline, then ramps up for a few mins.)
I keep myself in the weight loss range of heartrate, as it shows on the machine, instead of cardio. There are online equations that can give you the heart rate that you should aim for to keep in that range. It seems strangely slow sometimes, like a very slow jog or very brisk walk at times (depending on the resistance and incline on the elliptical).
But the metabolic concept is that you remain in the range where you are able to still provide enough oxygen for fat metabolism (Beta oxidation). When you get into the cardio range, you start pushing past the point that you get sufficient oxygen to meet demands, and you start doing a percentage of your "work" in anaerobic respiration to get enough energy. That percentage that is anaerobic CAN NOT burn fat, it burns the rest of your glucose sources and then your proteins (your body only stores proteins in the form of muscle). Later, after you work out, your body uses glucose and fat and protein from your DIET to rebuild your muscle. That's why you need enough calories to rebuild muscles!
"Cardio" is called that because it's an intensity that conditions your heart and blood vessels and lungs and tissues in general to operate more efficiently; tuning it to more effectively provide increased oxygen to meet increased demands. It is extremely good for your body, ESPECIALLY for lowering blood pressure and even reducing athersclerosis. But it isn't as effective at burning FAT. Since I'm focusing on fat, I spend most of my workouts at the fat-burning level.
Hope this helps! I'm becoming a little obsessed with learning more and more about these things. It was one of my favorite parts of school this year. I think I may want to focus on weight management as a physician, since I have the personal experience of how f'ing difficult it is
I had a Ph.D. in exercise physiology explain to me how to maximize your exercise time - one way is interval training. Go at a steady medium intensity pace, then ramp it up to a brief 1-2 minutes of intense effort, to the point that you are out of breath and sweating, then go back down. Repeat every 3-5 minutes or so, but not too frequently or it is less effective (and you'll burn out sooner). When I'm focusing on cardio, for example, I'll be in interval mode. For 1-2 mins I will greatly increase resistance and moderately increase incline, and go for 1-2 mins until I am pushing exhaustion, then go back down.
Sorry those were so long! Hopefully helpful though
Lunch today was something tasty I eat all the time:
5 egg whites (I swear that cage free vegetarian-fed hen eggs taste better!)
Half a bag of steamable green beans, steamed a minute too long
pam spray
salt and pepper
cook the green beans in the microwave as directed, but add a minute or so. that makes them softer.
fry em until starting to sizzle, then add eggs and salt/pepper, and stir until eggs are cooked.
you can put fresh or canned salsa on top, which adds extra flavor for very few calories.
- egg whites have almost as much protein as yolk, and have only 18 calories instead of 70-90 for the whole egg!
- green beans make it a very filling meal with lots of healthy phytochemicals, fiber, and very low in calories.
- fresh or steamed green beans are a zillion times healthier than canned!
Hello ladies. I am definitely feeling yesterday's hike today.
The 90 Day Challenge is something I saw in one of the other support groups. They began theirs awhile back, so I decided to do my own. Basically, for 90 days (starting yesterday), I will stick to my workout regime of running 4 times a week and doing a DVD workout (or something else) for 5 days a week. I've already outlined the first three weeks.
Of course, I will be smarter about my eating, too. I'm sticking between 1300 and 1500 calories. I'm taking measurements and progress photos to keep myself entertained and motivated, haha.
Ohh, fun stuff! If any of you other ladies have recipes that you like to make, please post them. I'd like to add to my meal options. (Oatmeal is yummy and quick to make, but variety spices things up).
I think today is going to be strictly a stretch day - my body (and mind) needs the rest since I'm feeling a bit off.
So, hello, my name is Traci. I live in California and recently celebrated my 21st birthday. I am currently not going to school, but I plan to pick up where I left off either this fall or spring. To fill a lot of my free time, I work as many hours as I can at a local ice cream parlor (not the most weight loss friendly job haha). You've probably heard of it -- Cold Stone Creamery.
My initial reason for wanting to lose weight was military-based: I want to join the Air Force within the next few years. Now, though, I simply want to look and feel good, and I want others to look at me and think I look good, too. (Vain, but hey, coming from someone who's never had a REAL boyfriend - those middle school relationships don't count! -, or been kissed, it's big to me). Once I reach my goal weight, the bonus will be that I am qualified weight-wise to join USAF .
I look forward to getting to know you ladies better.
Yeah, how did we skip introductions?! I'm also 21, starting my last year of university at U of Toronto (Canadians seem to be rare-ish on here) in the fall but working through the summer until classes start up again.
With this extra weight, I really don't feel like myself. I'm sick of worrying if you can see my gut in a shirt or if my butt is hanging out of my jeans. I just want to be comfortable in my own skin again.
Traci - I don't think it's vain at all to want people to think you look good, just honest!
hey guys, my goal is to lose around 22-25 pounds by August. not sure if it's possible, but I'll give it a try. I completely agree with ahyessophie, I feel very uncomfortable in my skin. I don't know how I let myself get to this stage and I hope I will lose these pounds...
Hi pointless! It's not pointless to be here tho :P
Intro: I'm 31, in my second year of med school, married, and live in Cleveland. Not as much outdoorsy stuff to do around here, but I am trying to start biking more.
I know, I'm also feeling uncomfy in my skin - I'd been very overweight for so long I barely remembered not being heavy, but as I lost weight I didn't work out very often. Now I'm jiggly - and that's one of the worst feelings in the world. I feel a lot better and have more energy than when I was big, but jiggly feels suuuuuper horrible. I'll probably have to have some skin removed eventually (sighhh) but I want to avoid what I can of that by toning up as I go from now on. NEVER let yourself get super fat, ladies! It's not just losing weight you have to conquer, it's the skin too. T_T
I'm going to be in Peru on a medical missions trip (yay!) for 3 wks. I leave Saturday, so I won't be around much for a while.
Weigh in: this morning, the scale said 191! Maybe water fluctuations, but I've been working my *** off, so I'll take it!
Just a real quickie from me today to say i'm sorry i wasn't around yesterday, we got our official move date yesterday and are gearing up to move in the next couple of weeks and with that and my two little ones i'm a bit swamped! Will pop on when i can but just wanted to say i am thinking of you all and hoping everyone is having great happy healthy weight loss
Hello, sorry I've been MIA the past few days. When I get a chance, I will update a bit (I haven't exercised since Monday and my eating has been horrible -- this is what happens when family comes over for an extended period of time . . . next time, I'll be better prepared - hopefully) and see how everyone is doing.
In the meantime, keep it up! Go, ladies, go!
Also, welcome to Pointless! Do you have another name we can call you by? I hate having to refer to you as that (-___-). Haha.
Last edited by CallMeTraci; 06-10-2011 at 03:43 PM.
Looks like we've all been a bit busy! I'm visting my mum for the weekend so it will be a bit irregular with my eating and exercise, but I had some good news on the scale this morning - down to 172. I'm hoping it isn't just water weight or a fluctuation. 160s are on the horizon! Going to run tomorrow and hopefully some swimming over the weekend at the beach I'm glad summer is finally here so I can take my activities outdoors, although it can be so hot in the day (and it's only June!) that I can't run until the evening.
Failed a bit at breakfast today, 500 calorie sandwich at Tim Horton's...delicious, but full of fat. I was a bit stuck though since I was about to hop on the train and they didn't have much selection. Compensated with a small salad for lunch...here's hoping there's nothing TOO delicious for dinner! Good luck this weekend ladies xx
I jogged for an hour yesterday, but BEFORE then, the scale said 189.9! Some of it is that I was all puffy before my period, and now it's coming down to normal, so some of my loss was hidden last week! It's the encouragement I needed to keep at this hardcore. If I can go at 2 lbs per week for the next 7 weeks until class starts, I'll weigh just as much as last year AND be more fit! Then only 3 months and I'll be where I want before my birthday in December! GONNA DO IT!
I'm leaving for Peru in the morning for a few weeks...I will still have internets so I might drop by. Whoever recommended LoseIt! app, I LOVE it and it's helping me SOOOOOO much!
I'm so glad I have you guys, this is REALLY helping me stay strong. I keep putting things back in the cupboard that I reach for in reflex when I want a snack.
Traci - you'll get back on it! Family is tough to handle in many ways ><
Sophie - congrats on the hiking btw, that's some hardcore working! I admire you guys who run, it's toughhhhh. Just jogging is tough to get into, and I do it on the elliptical, but at a good jogging pace. Running is something I'd love to get to someday! When I'm not quite so overweight and my knees can take it better
) Even so, i think we forget how much we have to change just to lose 1lb a week and all the small losses should be counted - I get so involved in things like the biggest loser and think why aren't i losing 5lbs a week! Of course i'm not exercising 8 hours a day and eating fitness instructor approved meals!! But it skews my expectations i think! Great about the fit day logging, i just about manage to jot mine down on paper although i do have an app to track my scale weight. Your breakfast sounded yummy, and great for under 400 - hope you didn't get too hungry 
Quick introduction
