Posts by ainedb

Original Post by heatherkparks:

 

"Oh I was skinny before and I had a ton of confidence. Knowing how you feel when are thin makes being overweight so much harder...at least for me."

I think there's a lot of truth to that statement. The most difficult parts for me are

1. having a ton of reminders around me (photos, clothes, etc) how skinny I used to be
2. getting winded just walking up the stairs when I used to be an athlete
3. in my head, I still see myself as a skinny girl...when I see current photos of myself its like a jarring reminder that I'm not that person anymore. Talk about an identity crisis.

So maybe being skinny isn't an instant way to have self-confidence, but its an awfully big step in the right direction. And unfortunately, gaining a great deal of weight in a short amount of time (for whatever reason) is a pretty good way to instantly kill any self confidence. But most importantly, taking the initiative to do the right thing for your body and lose weight is BIG a step in the right direction.

 

I agree completely, with all of this!

Original Post by gi-jane:

Finally... for someone your size, age and being pretty active I'd have said that 1500 cals should be your minimum intake.  1200 is very low and 'volume of food in' will have an influence on the 'volume of waste out'.  Have a day where you get a 'maintenance' intake of food soon - say 2000 cals - and increase your portion-sizes all round.... especially any fats like olive oil.

 

I couldn't agree more.

Well, I eat VERY healthy (focusing on body building, so it's lean proteins, steamed vegetables, oatmeal, sweet potato, natural no-salt-added peanut butter, egg whites, and that's pretty much it) so once or twice a week I cook up a batch of chicken breasts in the oven or on the grill, or maybe salmon or lean pork chops or steak, and bake a pile of small sweet potatoes. Then, during the week, each time I want a meal, I can either fix a salad to go with the potato and protein, or I buy the steam-fresh baggies of frozen vegetables and in five minutes I have fresh-steamed broccoli or veggie medleys or whatever.

I do my eggs and oatmeal in the microwave in the morning, and for lunch I eat similar to what I have for dinner. Snacks are protein shakes or fruit or healthy bread with peanut-butter. I measure out proper portions as much as I can in advance so I don't screw it up later. Good luck!

I'm guessing 5 pounds because I starting weight-lifting for the first time a year ago, and therefor went from having practically no back muscles to having decent lats and being able to do a pull-up, etc. If it's less than that, who knows. But I guess I'll just ignore it in the overall scheme of things. It's probably wise anyway not to consider having more muscle as an excuse to eat more (although it does confuse and frustrate me a little because I have more muscle than most skinny men, so why shouldn't my metabolism be as good as theirs?).

Well, it's probably actually a 21 speed. It no doubt has 7 gears on the smaller set and 3 on the larger. Am I right? What exactly to you mean by "19th" then... does that you are on the big ring of the rear cassette and the towards the harder end of the front gears? I just want to be sure what you're saying. :-)

Anyway, if that's the case, I'm assuming that you're riding on the street. A higher cadence has been shown in several studies to be preferable for losing weight overall, although both have their benefits. This is likely because lower resistance combined with higher cadence allows for longer workouts, since the muscles don't feel as fatigued as quickly. If you need to lower the gear you usually use in order to maintain a higher cadence, then do so, and only increase the gear when you can keep up that higher cadence with the higher resistance. In general, higher cadence with low resistance has more of a benefit on your aerobic and endurance fitness, while the opposite has more benefits towards strength and power.

I often don't feel very sweaty at my 17 mph pace, although I do notice that my sports bra is generally soaked when I get home after 80 minutes in spite of this. I think you have to remember that the wind has a large drying affect when riding, so you do not always notice the sweat as easily. If you want to be sure you are pushing yourself hard enough, you may want to consider getting a heart rate monitor. You are keeping a pretty good speed for a mountain bike, considering the amount of resistance on the tires as compared to the skinny tires on a road bike. If you want to make things more challenging, try adding some off-road riding, or try doing hills or sprints, if you can find a place to do it. It is important to remember that the gearing on a mountain bike is actually considerably lower than the gearing on a road bike, however, and that I often find myself riding in the highest gear on my mountain bike and still able to keep my higher cadence that I use when I'm on my road bike. You may need to experiment with it a bit. I think the best thing you could do would be to try and increase your cadence and see how high you can get it in each of the higher gears. Try to hold a higher cadence for 5 minutes, 10 minutes, whatever; set some goals and try to reach them. :-)

As for standing up, I don't think it changes your overall caloric expenditure. After all, standing up incorporates a lot more muscles into it than when you are pedaling from your seat; you add in a lot of stabilizer muscles and glutes on top of your lower leg and thigh muscles. I think that on some people that evens out the effect of gravity, or even makes it more difficult than just sitting down.

Current mood: Stressed/Scared/Unhappy

Trying to buy a house, realizing that I may not be able to afford the payments I'm signed up to make, that I may not afford to move, and that there are still questions and doubts about the man I'm buying it with (because it's as big a commitment as getting married)

I have noticed this to be true in myself, that 90 minutes total a week is too much. This came as a shock to someone who used to do more than 60 minutes a day, but it's true! In order to increase my metabolism and actually gain muscle I had to back WAY off on the cardio. I'm not a bodybuilder, just a girl trying to get a stronger and healthier body, which wasn't happening when I was doing a lot of cardio. However, as Melkor mentioned, with different goals you have to change your expectations of yourself, and because I've been focusing on gaining strength I have noticed that I've lost some (but certainly not all) of that long-distance endurance I used to have. As far as cardio, workouts like HIIT are often more like resistance training than aerobic training, and don't usually do the damage of a steady-state cardio like long-distance running or cycling. Riding two or four miles and for errands shouldn't have a negative effect on your muscles if you are doing a relatively easy pace. If you are pushing at 16 mph on hilly terrain for 15+ miles every day, then you might start to see counter-productivity, but for leisurely rides or even if you are just doing a lot of walking I doubt you have much to worry about.

I've noticed this exact thing myself. It wasn't until I quit doing all the punishing cardio 5-6 days a week that I finally started to drop fat. These days, my main focus is on a 40-minute weightlifting session three days a week, and three half-hour cardio sessions on other days aren't even always necessary. It's amazing how much better I feel, how much extra time I have, and how much better I look now that I'm not constantly doing cardio! For a long time, it was so hard to imagine "giving up" my cardio marathons, but it really is for the best. Once you slow down and allow yourself to build up more muscle, you can eat a lot more and still lose fat, unlike the feeling of constantly struggling with cardio workouts but never getting any closer to your goals.

Original Post by littlemalynda:

I'm in! Here's my current routine (change about every 6-8 wks):

Mon: Abs & then Spin Class 60 mins

Tue: Legs (60 mins)

Wed: Chest, Tri's, & Shoulders (70 mins)

Thur: Abs & then Spin Class 60 mins

Fri: Back & Bi's (60 mins)

Sat: Run Day (at least 80 mins consistent running; usually 10 miles)

Sun: Rest/Off/Sauna Day

Sauna Day! I never thought to use the sauna on a rest day. Thanks for the idea! This winter I'll have to try it out.

Hemp and Soy are mostly higher priced proteins for the limited market of people who do not wish to consume animal products. I recently read an article about the various properties of each of these proteins, but mostly the article announced that combinations of whey isolates and casein are still going to be your best bet. Whey is great for quick digestion, which you want during the day, especially around your workout. Casein is best at night, before bed, because of the slower rate of digestion. However, strangely enough, satiety levels are higher for whey than they are for casein, which seems strange... but drinking a whey shake is reported to make you feel full longer than drinking one based upon casein. I suppose it's just another reason to focus on whey proteins during the day. Powdered egg is much cheaper in bulk online that you will find in the health-food store, and can be used as a lower-cholesterol version of eggs that doesn't go bad. I haven't tried them for taste, but I don't really like the thought of eating powdered eggs, even in the form of a chocolate shake.

Here is a link I uncovered, although I couldn't find the original article that I think was in one of the newsletters from Vitamin Shoppe.

I love the first day of spring when it's finally warm enough to open the windows and go outside into the sunshine and new flowers in just a t-shirt.

I would buy a house so I'll have a place to live in a month and a half when the lease runs out. It would be amazing not to wonder if I will have a place to live or can afford to eat.

I would give enough money to my 65 year-old parents so that my mother could finally retire and afford health care.

I would pay off my student loans and those of my boyfriend and brother.

I would buy a new bicycle.

I would upgrade my older Prius for a new one with the GPS and the good sound system that wasn't in an accident already.

I would get a small tattoo of a lilac, since that's a symbol of hope to me.

I would take my mother to see Peru for her birthday, since she's always dreamed of seeing Machu Picchu.

And if it's truly enough money that I would never have to work again, I would quit my job and go work for a non-profit or volunteer 40 hours a week, perhaps at an animal shelter or with homeless people or children or something.

The rest would go into savings and retirement funds.

Original Post by im_a_cc:

someone told me to eat a handful of nuts when im under they dont bloat you if your full, they have loads of protein.

They have loads more fat than protein, although it tends to be healthy fats. If you are looking to add calories, they are a wonderful addition to a plan.

If you're worried about having 3 big meals, just don't eat everything on your plate. Pack some up for later to help spread it out, or just don't eat all of it and then carry some fruit or protein bars or something to have as snacks in between.

Spaghetti squash with no-sugar-added spaghetti sauce instead of using pasta and regular sauce.