80% diet-10%exercise-10%genes

[scrapquilter]

Reading through these posts, I definitely agree with Jodelle, and Merideth. Losing weight is a combination of things, and above all time and committment, from the presentation of the food, to planning, to committing to a lifestyle that uses exercise as a daily component.
Meredith, I too have spent many years in nursing as an aide, and have taken care of many types of people. You are absolutely right about exercise, and the body as it ages. I have seen physically fit older people, and not physically fit people, and as they age, the body reflects what they have previously done, or have not previously done.
I would say beginning with the 40's it is extremely important to include daily physical activity. However, most people don't realize this until they hit their 50's and then it is a scramble to fix things. And at that point it is not a choice, it is a must do.
I was exercising pretty good on and off most of my life, but fell into thinking that once I lost the weight I would not gain it back. LOL. I am at a point now, where I have to exercise, to keep my back and legs from freezing up (arthritis) and to make it look healthy. If I don't keep moving, I lose it. But the realization of lifestyle change and DOING lifestyle change hits you harder as you age.
I am 52 (wonder how that happened?) and I have to exercise and nutrionally feed my body and my lifestyle. I am working towards a vegetarian diet, which I love, just have a few times where I want meat, not too many, and working on the committment of planning and doing what I need to do. It takes time, it takes daily planning, and being on top of what i am doing, and eating.
I work in a fast food restaurant, which is not helping me one bit, but I look at the people as they come in, and everyday I think that if I don't change it now, I will look like these people. That scares me. Anyways, I digress.
I will be starting my first Cathe tape next week. I am starting with Boot cAmp and Muscle Endurance. I do like weights, but I need to be kick started into something. I want to alternate the two. I dont' know if that is alright so to speak, but the boot camp would cover my cardio also. That would be one less element to work in, and I could do tai chi, or yoga in between.
It is kind of hard to pick out a starting point with Cathe. I know the sts series is popular right now, but way out of my price range. I also want a total body workout. So we'll see how this works out.
:

[cendrine]

I love muscle endurance, I think you will enjoy it! It's a great total body workout! I got muscle endurance and bootcamp as one of my first dvds as well when I switched to Cathe, not a bad way to start, but some of the cardio spurts on bootcamp get really long (not timewise, they are all one minute, but they feel long...LOL!)
I have recently switched from high protein diet to a higher healthy fat diet which cuts me shorter on the protein. How much protein do you aim to get on your vegetarian diet? I wonder how much is really needed even for heavy lifting.

[JodelleFitzh20]

Cendrine, it's good to see someone else switching to higher fat....I too have switched to higher fats, mainly omega 3's and polyunsaturated and man it makes it difference doesn't it? I feel so much more satisfied and I am noticing it's easier to see some more lean muscle mass. I'm still keeping my protein higher, but not too high. My carbs are only coming from vegetables and fruits, no grains. I have loads of energy too! I'm not vegetarian, but I am a lacto-pescatarian, which is where you don't eat chicken or beef, but I still eat eggs, dairy, and fish. So that's where I get my protein. What ratio are you doing? I'm doing about 40% carbs, 35% fat, 25% protein, and I"m loving it! For heavy lifting, which I do too, I would not go below 25% for sure! I may even be a little too low on my protein, but 25% is still decent.

[cendrine]

Jodelle, I used to do about 30%-40% protein, also carbs mostly from fruits and veggies only. But now, I haven't completely figured out the numbers but it is more like 25% protein now. I was worried it might sabotage my muscle mass, but hearing you share your numbers was reassuring. I love the higher fat because not only does it do wonders for my overall look but it also keeps the menus more interesting and allows for a lot more variety, and I was getting just a tad bored... I don't eat much beef but lots of chicken but also more fish than I used to. Moderate on the dairy, I love my greek yoghurt...
I mostly get my fats from nuts and seeds, olives and avocados, I try to not do too much oil, because I love the texture and flavor of the nuts and avocados and olives much more! It also seems to help my digestion and adds extra fiber which is always a good thing!

[JodelleFitzh20]

OOOoohhh, can't live without my greek yogurt too! We are kindred spirits when it comes to what we eat! And hardly a day goes by without avocado. Did you see my post about the low carb Flax bread I make....It doesn't even taste like Flax. I use alot of flax in my diet too, because of the Omega 3's...here's the recipe: You'll love it. Only one carb per slice and 6 grams of fat roughly.
Baked in focaccia style -- flat on a sheet pan, and then cut up into whatever sized pieces you want. It is "rough" in texture like heavy whole grain breads. Since it isn't made with wheat, it doesn't have the same kind of grain as wheat breads, but the carb in flax is almost all fiber. Flax is very useful on a low carb diet, as well as being amazingly good for you.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:

* 2 cups flax seed meal
* 1 Tablespoon baking powder
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1-2 Tablespoons sweetening power from artificial sweetener like stevia (optional, I don't use it)
* 7 beaten eggs 2 yolks, the rest whites
* 1/2 cup water
* 1/3 cup oil

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare pan (a 10X15 pan with sides works best) with oiled parchment paper or a silicone mat.

1) Mix dry ingredients well -- a whisk works well.

2) Add wet to dry, and combine well. Make sure there aren't obvious strings of egg white hanging out in the batter.

3) Let batter set for 2 to 3 minutes to thicken up some (leave it too long and it gets past the point where it's easy to spread.)

4) Pour batter onto pan. Because it's going to tend to mound in the middle, you'll get a more even thickness if you spread it away from the center somewhat, in roughly a rectangle an inch or two from the sides of the pan (you can go all the way to the edge, but it will be thinner).

5) Bake for about 20 minutes, until it springs back when you touch the top and/or is visibly browning even more than flax already is.

6) Cool and cut into whatever size slices you want.

My favorite thing to make with it, is an avocado sardine sandwich with wasabi lime mustard and brocolli sprouts! Yum!

[cendrine]

Hi Jodelle,

thanks so much for the recipe! It looks great and I will try it as soon as I have time and the ingredients! I have a big tub of sprouted ground flax seed that I use to add to my smoothies. Do you think that will work with this recipe?

I'll let you know how I liked it, and eating it like a sandwich sounds simply delish!

[JodelleFitzh20]

yes, I think the spouted flax seeds would work, as long as you grind them into a meal. The flax meal works best. Yes, Let me know. If you are anything like me, and we seem to like alot of the same thing, you will absolutely LOVE this bread....I don't ever intend to buy bread, now that I have this..to me it's better than real bread! More decadent and filling!

[punkydoodah]

Wow-- I thought it was all about exercise. Boy was I wrong. This summer, I'm gonna seriously put eating clean to the TEST.

[JodelleFitzh20]

yeah, exercise is only a tiny piece of the pie. Nutrition will get you so much farther towards your goals.

[Jazcam]

Originally Posted by JodelleFitzh20

Honestly, I believe that losing weight is 10% exercise 20% nutrition, and 70% behavorial. You really have to make changes to your existing routine and commit to whatever program you are following and make strides towards making it a lifestyle rather than just a quick fix to fit into a pair of jeans that you like. Behavorial changes such as: starting a routine of going to bed at a decent hour to get adequate sleep so your body gets the rest it needs; Taking a box of crackers and divying them up into single serving baggies for grab and go and to create portion control; serving dinner on smaller plates so that your eyes are pleased to have smaller portions; getting up early enough to make time for exercise, or setting aside a part of each day to commit to at least 30mins of physical activity; rewarding yourself with things other than food; journaling when circumstances beyond your control fire up your emotions, and writing down those emotions rather than turning to comfort foods; deciding a time at night when the "kitchen closes" and no more food will be eaten after than time; changing one thing at a time when starting a program, like giving up soda only and nothing else, and then once you master that moving onto to the next challenge in your diet. All these things are just a few examples of behavioral changes you can make that will make nutrition and exercise that much more simple to aid in your weight loss. It's mind over matter, literally. Set your mind to something first, and you can achieve anything.

This is well written and I agree....70% behavioral.

This is why I get annoyed when I see all of those exercise infomercials which claims that you can lose 50# in 4 week just by using this or that.