I'll be 43 this June anyone around the same age want to join my weight loss quest?

Greetings!

I am hoping that this site I stumbled on will help me out. I have been on a diet or fighting with food my entire life. About 8 years ago I lost about 100 pounds, my lowest weight was 204 then I had my first child at 40. Now I am 220 and he'll be three this June. The only good news is that I do not weight 300 + pounds anymore having said that - No excuses, my food addiction problem has been out of control now since his birth. I try - and try - and try - and still nothing seems to be working. Maybe I can find a friend here who will help give me the strength I need to be healthy. I need to stay alive for my family.

Welcome back Tammie!  Life happens, but it's important that you're picking yourself back up and getting back on the road to health :)

Glad to hear you back again! I miss it when people drop off, I just get to know them and start caring and they are so easily lost here. Glad to hear that you are back to work on yourself again. I hate to sound too meditative here but remember that alot of things can happen in life, these things can stress you, hurt you, make you sick, some can even kill you...but none of them can MAKE you miserable. You have to be willing to allow it to make you miserable, this is a choice that you have and that no one and nothing can force on you.

Like I said I have been dealing with heavy duty stuff myself but even though I am nervous, stressed, etc...I have a good life and I am basically happy. So whatever happens at this point I refuse to allow it to make me miserable! Life is too short and even if it is happy or miserable it will only last just so long for all of us, so decide to be happy and run with it!

Ok, speach over. I did confess that I am dealing with crap (lots of sympathy for scares like Terry had), and I have been very deep in my thoughts and emotions so I hope I haven't freaked anyone out today. I have found that making sure I get my regular exercise really helps me to maintain my positive outlook. Hopefully getting back on the "lifestyle change" train we have running here will help you to get your positive outlook as well.

I hope that everyone keeps posting, it is always good to hear that we all end up dealing with the same stuff and that life is pretty much the same for us all.

Have a good day everyone! I love my forum friends!

Hey guys....I hope everyone is doing well. Sorry I have been scarce, but with spring there is so much going on. Weight loss is coming along fine. I need two more pounds to hit the halfway point of 35 lost. Hopefully by Friday?

Anyway, I hope you guys are all doing well!

Terry

Terry your progress continues to be amazing!

I'm hanging steady at around the same weight.  I'm improving my pace on the elliptical which is great for cardio shape, though.  I missed last night's weights workout because we were over visiting friends, but my husband and I have both been really good about the cardio workouts.  I really hope it warms up so I can start running outdoors; I'm not one of these die-hards who runs outside in the snow and ice.

Hope everyone's week is going well!

Cynthia

Hi everyone.  Just wanted to check in.  Been really busy.  My daughter went back to school yesterday after spring break and I miss her!!!!!  She's only in 1st grade but we were big buddies while she was on vacation.  Also been taking care of my 19 year old dog.  Weight loss is stalled right now but I'm not gaining which is good.  Trying to get more exercise in and eating more healthy.

I hope everyone has a great day.

Sometimes just not gaining makes me feel good! I can't wait for the weather to break also, I don't like trying to get out and watch everywhere I step for ice. I know that if I tried to run in that I'd be on my butt in a heart beat. We have some sun today so I feel pretty good about that! Anything but gray! I have gotten out the exercise ball again (kids love to sit on my lap when I use it). I had forgotten that it can be fun. I am hopeful this will be a good friday weigh in for me, I stalled for a couple weeks but seem to be over that now! Think I'll go check out the excerise area on here for more ideas on the ball, while I have it out. Talk to you later guys.

P.S. Terry, crossing my fingers for that half way point for you! Very exciting!

You know Cynthia, I swore off weights until I hit my target weight. I would always get too frustrated when I was building muscle and not seeing weight loss. I need the motivation of watching the scales drop, so all I am doing is walking/biking.

I got outside today and walked. It was a bit cold at 45, but the sun was out. Managed to get in 2.5 miles. My outside trail at the arb is so much better than the mall as there are elevation changes. I am going to hit the bike path tonight and try to get in 8-10 miles of biking. I REALLY want that 2 pounds gone so I can be past halfway. I would love to get it done by Monday as that is two months.

Next question is what is my "reward" for this goal? I bought a pedometer for 20lbs. Maybe a new gel seat for my bicycle!

Hope everyone is on the mend. Is spring ever going to get to CT? Sometimes I wonder.............

Terry, i just got a pedometer this week . I was wondering how many steps a day I should be doing? I am shooting for about 10,000 steps a day.Should I be dong more?

Cbear

10,000 is what they tell you to shoot for daily. If you want to walk to lose weight you really should aim for more than that. But if you are new to it start at the 10,000 and see how you feel, if you have not been using a pedometer I think that it is a good idea to wear it on a normal day and see what you are "used" to walking you can aim upward from there.

We are supposed to hit the 60's soon here, great news BUT....the pollen count is officially on the rise now (trees are a big one for me in the spring). Guess I will soon find out if the new drugs I am trying are going to make a difference. I have been so happy to see some sun lately though that I am not really caring about the rest of it...yet! It is kind of funny right now to have the sun out, see the temps in the 50's and still have snow piles around (they are determined little piles of white & black - the dirt makes them more temperature tolerant).

Cbear...supposedly 10K steps in the magic number. I think that equates to like 5 miles on average. Obviously that will depend on your stride, but it is close. I have never worm mine for a full day to see how many steps I take. I try to walk 2.5 miles at lunch everyday, so the only time I really wear mine is when I am actually going for a walk. My typical lunch break is 5500-5700 steps.

ONE pound to go to the halfway point. I would REALLY like be there by weigh in tomorrow! Although I "think" when I get to 199, I am going to start over and try to get to 175.

I really feel bad for all you people dealing with the cold weather.  It was 84 here yesterday.  I was sweating just walking to the mail box!!!  ha. ha.  It is only 8:00 a.m. and the temperature is 70 degrees already!!!!!

hello everyone! It's nice to read that you all are doing well. You guys really inspire me to keep on keeping on! lol  I'm staying on track and I'm feeling better now. Everything is ok with me, just a little scare is all. The weather has been improving here, but looks like rain everyday this week! GRRRRRR  I've been exercising more, just being careful not to inflame the back and legs! I'm working on my lower body more. My arms are looking good, but the lower half needs improvement! :) 

Will check in later!  Have a nice day!  :)

Wow that's warm! It's going up to 10'C here this weekend, around 50'F I think, which is a great improvement since it's been hovering around freezing still most days.  I saw my first crocus of the year the other day, though, and that really cheered me up.

I've never actually owned a pedometer; I map out my walks / runs using someone's application that runs over top of Google Maps.  I should try MapMyRun too.

It is frustrating sometimes to not see the scale move, but I'm noticing a big difference in my cardio fitness which is great :)  I was hoping to be down a size by summer; we shall see if that happens.

Wow, good to see activity on the forum! Also it's great everyone is in a postive form!

re:pedometer....This is from the booklet that came with my pedometer. It's a Sportline from Dick's Sporting Goods. I think it cost $24.99 or $29.99 but it has you measure your stride and you program it in, so the readings are pretty acurate. If you have a pedometer that you can't customize, then 2000 = 1 mile based on a 29" stride.

to begin you should wear the pedometer for three days, take an average reading to see what you average in a day. Then gradually increase the number of steps until you hit 10,000 or more.

If you walk:

<2500 steps, increase by 250 steps/day to reach 5000, est time 10-20 days

2501-5000, increase by 300 steps/day to reach 7500, est time 8-16 days

5001-7500, increase by 400 steps/day to reach 10K, est time 6-12 days

7501 -10K, increase by 500 steps/day to reach 12,5K, est time 5-10 days

10K-12,5K, increase by 500 steps/day to reach 15K, est time 5-10 days

There is more info in the booklet, so if you have questions I can check to see if the answer is in there.

Boston was mid 40's today, sunny with little wind. I would say we're in a heat wave but I heard snow for tomorrow's forecast :(

Any advice on cardio?  I have been doing the stationary bike due to a bulging disk in my back.  It is finally getting better, but I feel like I am going to die when I get on the treadmill or eliptical....it seems so much harder.  Is there a benefit to doing this type of cardio vs. the bike? 

Any ideas?

Good question, you really should try to do a mix of cardio because they all have their benefits. On avaerage a bike will get you 450 to 700 cal per hr burned (depends on amount of effort you put into it), but the eliptical will get you 575 to 850 per hr (that is the difference you are feeling). The treadmill also just depends on how hard you push it. For cardio on on treadmill or eliptical I try to go easy for a couple minutes then push it for a couple minutes, I keep shortening the time that I go easy and lengthening the time that I push it gradually during the workout. I find that this helps me get more out of the machine before I feel like I am wearing out. Personally I just don't like the stationary bike much any more, I don't feel that I am working as hard if I am on my own and yet most "spin" classes kill me. If I do a bike I get out the one that actually runs on pavement.
I have really gotten more addicted to the treadmill and eliptical, but it really is whatever you are most comfortable with. I have a friend who adores the spin classes (and if you could see her after a class... you would never take one, I don't like to work out till I look like I might pass out).

Well it is Friday...so I guess that I will start this today (only because I am happy with the numbers). I think that I left the 60's behind me and I have not been in this range for 15 years! P.S. we might hit 60 degrees this weekend.

Omagraf - Sandy 157 (3 lbs down!) 

Omagraf - Sandy 157 (3 lbs down!)

Cbear ~Claire 262 ~no change

Omagraf - Sandy 157 (3 lbs down!)

Cbear ~Claire 262 ~no change

tsjej - Terry 236 (4 down) 1lb to half way!

Omagraf - Sandy 157 (3 lbs down!)

Cbear ~Claire 262 ~no change

tsjej - Terry 236 (4 down) 1lb to half way!

mcs1229 - Marie 214 -1lb (that's a total of -40 loss)

Hi Tammie,

Just think about positioning yourself on each piece of equipment. Bike: you're sitting, tread mill: you're standing, eliptical: you're standing but your knee is bent and your arms are raised to heart level. Now you know how each work out will go. Individually you can burn the same number of calories on each machine, you just have to adjust your time.

Did you know when your arms are above heart level you get a more aerobic workout b/c the heart has to pump harder?

Also the interval training Omagraf does is excellent for a maximum aerobic workout.

With your bulding disk doing the bike is your best bet. It puts the least amount of pressure on your back. Trying doing the interval training, what is your average RPM? Bike at that rate for 5 minutes then do 1 minute bursts at +20 rpm's more, then reduce it to +10 rpm's for 2 minutes, then to your average for 5 minutes.