I was just wondering how much you ladies exercise. I really don't like to exercise but i'm just trying to get myself out of that mind set. Wil I get results muc faster if I do exercise?

I definitely think so. I ate like a horse back in my skinny days when I was working out 15 hours a week if my dance team got lucky and satisfied our coach with "perfect" routines. By eating like a horse I mean large portions of everything and seconds too and even seconds of dessert. Stupid me I kept eating like I did even after my exercise regiment lessened considerably. Exercise also helps with endorphins to make you feel better and can help with cravings. I always feel so much better when I exercise on a daily basis. Hope this helps you out.

I only walk for exercise until the fall when I have access to a free gym at school again (and free classes... I didn't take advantage of them before but I definitely will now!). Really, walking does wonders. When I first started walking to work, it took me half an hour to walk a mile and a half. Now it's 10-15 minutes depending on my mood and what music I'm listening to! In fact, I normally end up having to walk a few times around the block once I get to work because I'm WAY too early!

Even just walking at a reasonable speed helps a ton. And it makes you feel good! I personally HATE exercising because I feel like it's wasted time (which it obviously isn't, but if I can't do two things at once then I feel useless!), but by walking everywhere, I'm still getting things done and getting a ton of exercise in. I'm walking 5-6 miles a day during the week and sometimes more on weekends! You can do it, you just have to start!

Check out the exercise thread in the stickies to see what everyone is up to.

We walk a fair amount and I try to run a couple times a week and sometimes do an exercise DVD.

Exercise helps strengthen all of your muscles, heart included, so it's good for you all around!

Kara

My theory is if you don't like to exercise, don't -- go play, instead. My parents didn't say go out and exercise, they said go out and play, and we got a lot of exercise without hating any of it.

Find something you love that is active and then do as much of it as you can. I know that's easier said than done, but even I've found a few. Most things on land hurt so bad that I can't forget that I'm pushing myself. I love the water, though and water exercise never seems like work. I can't walk very far, but if I'm doing it to shop or sight see, I will push myself further than when I'm doing it "for exercise." If I'm focusing on exercise, I want to turn back as soon as I start to get tired, but if I want to get somewhere to see something, I'll push myself harder.

My husband's dad gave us a GPS system the summer before last, that someone had given him for fishing. We discovered geocaching (geocaching.com) which is basically an electronic treasure hunt. People who enjoy the sport hide a container. In it there will be a log to sign (if the container is tiny, you may have to bring your own pen or pencil). It's fun to read everyone's log comments and where they're from. In a tiny little town near my husband's grandparents, we found a cache that had log signatures in it from California, and France. If the container is a little bigger, there will also be stuff in it you can trade for (pins, key chains, little plastic toys, all sorts of little junk that can act as a souvenier). Many people will log what they took, and what they left behind, or just note that they took and traded, or TNLN (took nothing, left nothing) Sometimes there'll be a "travel bug" this is an item that someone puts in the container with a destination in mind - either that the item make it's way to a specific state or a specific cache (hiding place). If you find a travel bug, you can take it, if you can get it to a cache that could get it a little bit closer to it's final goal in a reasonable amount of time. For example, in one near our home, their is a teddy bear trying to get to Holland. We're thinking that the person that placed the travel bug may have been visitors for the kayak races in town that attract visitors from all over the world. Geocaching is very popular in Europe, part of the fun is seeing people's names from one cache to another. The first week we started, we seemed to be only a few days behind a family visiting from Michigan or Minnesota (I forget which).

To find the GPS coordinates for hiding spots in your area, you just log on to the website. The difficulty of finding the cache (how well it's hidden, basically) and the difficulty of the terrain is noted. Once we get to the site, we can determine how far a walk it might be (the GPS notes the distance, though sometimes you can't get to it in a straight line, so it might be further)
We usually go to the sites that are in parks, and if the distance is going to be further than I can go, and there aren't any resting places along the way, we'll go on to the next, and save that one for when we get more fit.

The GPS units are getting cheaper, but it's hard to find a new one for under $80. You often can rent them for the day at hiking supply stores, and some rent-all places. They'll sometimes turn up at garage sales, and even occasionally turn up on freecycle groups (a site where people give away stuff - and ask for stuff that people are throwing away - the goal is to prevent the items from ending up in the landfill if possible - check yahoo groups for a group close to you).

Colleen, that sounds like SO much fun! I think you've just given us a new hobby! Now we just need to find a GPS...

Kara

I hate it too. But I do it, only because I have no choice. I've got a herniated disc in my back, and the Neurosurgeon said that I'm looking at disc fusion in about 5 years - but I've got to be in better shape. I'm lucky, because he sent me to PT, so I go there 3 or 4 times a week, and the stretches they have me do are for 30 minutes a session. Then I've got to go home and do them 2 or 3 times a day on top of the structured sessions.

It's not much, but with my back, and MP, it's about the only thing I can do.

I also work on the 5th floor in my office. I can't climb more than 1 flight of stairs without my back screaming at me, but I will climb the 1, at least once a day, and then I always take the stairs down. As well as parking as far away from the door as I'm comfortable walking.

It's working for me. I just started SB on 7/1/07, and I've already lost about 25 lbs.

Good luck!!!!

I think exercise comes before eating when it comes to weight loss and general health. Once I started exercising, I naturally ate better because I wanted to provide my body with what it needed to get through the workouts. I'm working with a personal trainer twice a week and doing water aerobics twice a week. The other two days I'm doing a walking DVD, a treadmill walk or a trip on my bike. I always rest one day. It feels great to be up and moving and see what my body can actually do. I have more energy, am more focused at work, and sleep SO much better at night. I think exercise is just about the answer to EVERYTHING!

Thanks to all of you! I'm gonna go take a walk!

I'd definately get a second opinion before letting a fusion happen. I had a severely herniated disc...so bad that dye would not even go through my spinal cord it was so crushed by the herniation. The pain was so bad for 6 months that I could only drag my leg and jus cried with the constant pain. After months of PT etc. I finally gave in to the surgury when the doctor explained I could lose the power to control my "bodily functions" and could easily end up in a wheelchair.

They only "repaired" the disc..basically as he explained it, they removed only what was bulging and crushing my spinal cord. He said there was a very small chance later on down the line IF I had more trouble, they MAY have to fuse it, but would rather not as it really hindered flexibility and they tried to avoid doing that and only as a very last resort. That was almost 20 years ago and so far, so good. I am careful about my back, but rarely even think of it and there is not really much I can't do because of it.

The surgury was no where near as bad as I thought it would be...I woke up basically pain free..my back just felt "heavy" like a brick was tied to it. I ate spaghetti about an hour after I woke up and was walking that afternoon.

Femme - I've been to get the second opinion - that Dr. agreed, but stretched it out to about 10 years. He also thought I had Meralgia Paresthetica - and wanted me to go to a Neurologist to have a nerve conduction/EMG study done. I had that done, and got a confirmed diagnosis of MP.

I'm going for a 3rd opinion in Sept about my back though. This is not something I take lightly. My younger sister had a fusion done about 2 years ago, and is still out of work. The surgery worked, but because of comp., she had to put off the surg. till it was almost too late, and there was extensive damage. My sister was in bed for close to 3 months after the surgery... There is no way I want that. AND she had a 13 month old at the time. (My niece is adopted. A pregnancy and my sister's back wouldn't go well together)

If the 3rd Neurosurgeon says surg. then I'm going to have to decide what to do. I'm not looking fwd. to going under the knife, but I'd rather have the surg. done before there is too much damage. I'm of the opinion that if they are willing to do it, and I am healthy (and thin enough ) for them to do it, I'd rather get it done with, before I do more serious damage.