Weight Loss Check-In week of 9/16...

[KayM]

RE: Kay's long introduction

honeybunch - I have a serious boredom problem when I try to do anything like walking, treadmill, stationary bike, etc. When the weather is nice I try to bike, but at my weight and with my wimpy legs it is hard on my poor knees. Come to think of it though, I haven't biked much since I started my fitness program, maybe it would be better now that I'm fit.

As far as weights, all I have is 3 lb weights and 5 lb weights, that's it. The 12 minutes worth of leg work at the end of Weight Loss Workout kind of kicks my butt, if that tells you what level I'm at now. When I was younger I took a lot of dance classes, and I had nice strong legs - I would like to be there again someday, not bulky but with nice strong muscles.

I'm going to try to change my workout so that I get more weight training in. I've been thinking that two days of the week, I could do a 25 minute cardio routing and then 1/2 hour worth of weights. Do you think that would work? Then I would have 3 other days of the week when I do cardio (or cardio with some light toning thrown in). Any advice on how to allocate my exercise time would be helpful - I try to keep it to 5 days a week (I get a little obsessive if I don't make myself take rest days) and am planning on 45 minutes to 1 hour per day of some form of exercise.

Thanks for all of your help!

 

[amynicole]

RE: Kay's long introduction

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Sep-18-02 AT 01:42PM (Est)[/font][p]Hi Kay,

To answer your question, I am eating about 1,500 calories a day. Some days a little lower (but never below 1,200) and some days a little higher (but not above 1,800) but in general aim for 1,500.

I workout 4 days a week right now. I am concentrating on cardio for now and plan on adding weights soon. I do step 2 times a week- one of cathe's earlier step tapes, or a Kathy smith step or power step, or gilad step (or something similar) and for the other 2 days I either walk on my treadmill, or ride my stationary bike, or both). I only have time for 4 days a week (I am the mother of a 2 month old, 3 year old, and 5 year old). I know I should add the weights but I am currently losing 2-3 lbs a week and am happy with that. I figure as my weight loss slows I will kick up my metabolism with weights. I tend to build muscle easily so I don't want to bulk up.

Before kids and marriage. I used to weigh 135 and want to get back there again. I plan on keeping the kids and husband but losing the fat!!

Marci

PS, to answer your final question, yes I love to excercise now! Even though I am overweight I am fairly fit cardio wise and it feels so great to complete a workout!!

 

[KayM]

RE: Kay's long introduction

JenniferAnn - I have nothing to blame for my weight gain over the past few years but excessive, excessive eating. I completely went crazy and pigged out. It was a strange time in my life. Basically if I don't put controls on my diet I have a severe problem with bingeing. In the interest of honesty I should tell you that the diet I was on involved the use phen-fen (or whatever it was called). When they pulled it off the market I suddenly had food cravings and didn't have any idea how to handle it.

Because of that experience I am now convinced that unless they come up with a craving-suppression drug you can just take the rest of your life, the use of weight-loss supplements or drugs is not a good idea because you don't learn how to deal with the problems you will face when you are ready to maintain your weight. In a way I'm glad it happened that way, because if I had gotten to 145 and gone off the drug, I'm sure I would have gained it all back and then some and that would be so depressing! As it is I will hit my goal weight without the help of anything but my iron will (ha ha) and that has a good feeling to it.

To be honest, 1200 calories a day is hard to do sometimes (today for instance ), but since I've been steadily losing 2 lbs a week I hate to change it. It is so hard to change your life and if I had to go through a period where the scales weren't changing, it would be so hard and depressing! Honestly I really am amazed at people that hit horrible plateus and manage to stick with it (I'm sure I will be tested that way eventually no matter what diet I'm on).

TTYL,

 

[JenniferAnn]

RE: Kay's long introduction

Kay, of course we have to take responsibility for what we eat and it's good that you understand that. However, I strongly suggest that you speak with another doctor or a nutritionist. Offhand, I can't think of a single person I know who lost weight on a very very low calorie diet who maintained their weight loss. In fact I can think of more than a few who gained it all back plus more.

 

[honeybunch]

RE: Kay's long introduction

First thing I would do is get some heavier weights, and don't worry about "bulking." Do you have any Cathe tapes at all? You mentioned a couple of tapes, but I want to be clear on what you have and how much time you have to work out.

As for walking or biking, I always urge folks to make sure something is interesting on the TV while you're exercising. Tape something & play it later if possible, or rent tapes. As for walking outside, try walking to music CD's or tapes.

You certainly can do a good job with 5 days per week to exercise.