Eliana,

I like that you change things up and experiment - that in and of itself is incredibly valuable.

The second thought is - track your data. If you have a day when you feel tired, check in on your calories. Try the next week at 1700 calories and see if you are as tired as at 1200. Look for trends and work from there. I'm sure you could've figured that out without my help, but you DID ask.

Keep us posted!

My reaction was relief at seeing that some of your active time will be spent walking & doing things with your kids. Not because I'm concerned you're not gonna be a good mother or anything ... but because spending that many hours alone working out sounded so very solitary & frankly more than a little lonely to me. I'll feel even better if you've got a trainer or if you're taking classes at your gym.

The thing about the Biggest Loser to me has also seemed due to the bringing-together of many disparate people who've suffered from being overweight. Being fat & feeling unhappy about yourself is a very isolating problem. The crux of it is feeling that you're not fitting in, that you're the weird thing that doesn't belong. (Even though we sometimes find out it runs in their families.) Then, suddenly, they get moved to a ranch where everyone around them is like themselves. They're mirrored everywhere. They're a community. (Like us at 3FC.) And this incredible camaraderie develops, despite everyone competing for a prize. They become brothers & sisters in arms. Also, the trainers focus on them & work with them & encourage them. Imagine: Bob or Jillian spend time thinking about them & their capabilities & how to solve issues that arise & to further strengthen them. They're not doing this alone, as you are. That's the biggest difference I can see.

That has to really help, when they're exhausted & sore, or when they're having trouble getting up in the morning facing what the day will bring. And when it's over & they're depleted, they've got assistant trainers icing them & tending to them. (It must be like a tent of wounded soldiers after the Last Chance Workout.) And they're in a whole room full of people who are so sore from working out that they can hardly bear to squat to sit on a toilet or lift their arms above their heads or turn at the waist.

So please stay in touch with us during your experiment, because I'm just concerned about the loneliness of the effort.

But I'm a "people who need people" person. Maybe you're not exactly like me (what an idea!) and yo can do without gladly. Maybe you've got kids in your face all the time. I don't know. But I do think the Biggest Loser people have to take incredible comfort from having others in effect sweating in harness right there beside them all day. I think that is why they bond so much & why, when people get voted off, the tears flow as though there's been a death in the family.

If your plan is a sort of pick me up thing that is motivating you then I say woo hoo! AND if you find it isn't working in whole or in part you can tweak it.

I posted this and left it hanging for the holiday weekend! Sorry about that!

I'm short on time, but just wanted to check in. I didn't do any exercising today, mainly because the gym was closed. And it was awful! I have just felt tired all day, and out of sorts. So I'm looking forward to getting in there tomorrow.

By the way, my workouts are from 5:30 to 8:30 in the morning, so it isn't interrupting my life at all...just my sleep. Also, my best friend works out with me, just not quite as long as I do most of the time. I also have a personal trainer and I do take classes, so no, I'm not at all isolated. It's great, actually. And even if I was isolated...I make a very good hermit.

I think this is great - I've often thought that if I didn't have to work, I'd do this too.

Just be smart about it, don't set crazy goals, and don't pay too much attention to the scale since you KNOW that for you, this kind of exercise messes with your WIs. (Actually, I know it's kind of funny since I have become a big proponent of daily WIs, but they don't do daily WIs on BL......)

Okay, you're good by me. You're out with your kids. You're exercising with a buddy, even if you leave her in the dust eventually. You've got a trainer. You've got classes with others. This is all good.

I was picturing this solitary driven endeavor. Compared with the Biggest Losers supporting one another. But it appears it's a largely social even if individually driven endeavor.

[You have my permission. ;-)]

Report back on how you're doing. Please, if you can. I'll bet lots of us are curious about how this goes. Heck, start a thread & post on it daily, if you think that helps you. (I already think it would help us.) I did that during all of April, while working on "active recuperation," as someone put it. No pressure, but it would be interesting, if you felt up to it. Like the 30-Day Shred threads.

I would love to continue posting what I do to this thread.

It felt really good getting back in the gym after taking Sunday and Monday off. Like I said, yesterday was just blah!

Today:
Ran a 5K in 40:30. (Speed of 4.6) Finished with 15-20 minutes of walking about 1/2 mile, so 3.5 miles total.

One hour weight lifting: arms

One hour elliptical, hills workout with steady heart rate around 153. Covered 4.5 miles.

Total: Three hours and 8 miles!

Feels great!

Nothing special to add, just wanted to cheer you on!



I'm so interested in this! Please continue to post here daily, your dedication inspires me!

I really wish I had the time to dedicate to this too. I have an hour I can dedicate but right now I am being derailed by a couple medical problems and having to rely on diet only. (tooth surgery today and another small medical problem which ironically I am not supposed to leave this area on my skin too wet such as sweat so my workouts have to be short and then showers so that takes up a lot of time!)

Good luck!

For those of you who wish you could be doing this, I understand completely. I feel very fortunate that I have the time and the ability to do this. A little of it is dedication on my part for getting up so early, but I owe to my husband too because he's there in the morning for the kids and because he puts up with me going to bed basically with the kids. LOL!

When school starts up again in the Summer, I'll have to back down to a very normal one hour a day, six days a week schedule.

Cita, I'm happy to inspire rather than annoy!

Oh man. I think its a great idea. In fact, it was MY idea too...since I finished classes last week and suddenly find myself with more time than I know what to do with until at least the 14th, more likely the 23rd, of June.

And I was going to just be lazy today, but now I'm going to the gym. So I don't have any advice, I just wanted to say, thanks for inspiring me to get off my rear

Oh good! I'm glad to have had such an effect on you! LOL! Let us know how the workout went!

For those of you interested, Bob Harper apparently facebooked today that he's interviewing or meeting the new contestants for next season. Disclaimer...I'm not as big a fan of the show as I'm coming across. I like it a normal amount. I think it's just that "Biggest Loser" is something people can relate to. I think I'd be doing this even if the show didn't exist.

Eliana - I am with you!!! I have thought about going hard core for the next few months.

I have no children, and do not work, so I am free most of the day, so I say let's try it!!!

I can't do 1200 calories, but am trying 1500-1600/day.

Hey Eliana! I was just thinking to myself that I wanna do a biggest loser type of thing. I might do it and post here. hmmm

Good luck, Eliana! I'm ramping up my excercise right now, too, but not THAT much