Coming back to myfitnesspal - paraplegic and the menopause... wk1.

littlegumnut

Wk1.
F - 47 - 5'6".
120.2lbs
Waist 33.5 inches.

Quick background…
Please note I don't have a lot of weight from my pelvis down as I've been a paraplegic for 27 years.…so although my figures may look fine to some, I have to lose the weight as my custom wheelchair that has been fine for the last ten years is now marking my sides, and pressure sores are something I do not want to have to contend with. Plus I need to protect my shoulders and transfering and the extra stone is starting to make my shoulders wince every time to the point where I'm not getting in and out of my chair as much as I used to!
I started a math degree a couple of years ago, in line with the time that my periods stopped….so being less active and then, menopause, well.. yup.. a whole stone has been added! I've been 105-108lbs for over 20 years. I've been on MFP since 2011 just maintaining my weight, just because I've always liked data. I used to play wheelchair basketball, I've always been an active sporty person. I now handcycle as my main sport. My nickname on court was Taz, (Taz the Tazmanian Devil cartoon character, known for spinning like a tornado everywhere). :) I've gone from a UK size 8 to a UK 14 in under two years. Thank you, menopause!!! lol

11th Jun 2025
I've reached my step goal now for 7 days. I had my last exam for this year last Tuesday, and am now playing catch-up with the rest of my life, with the added 14 pounds I seem to have accumulated… lol!

The front garden has been weeded and bark added, the greenhouse has been planted up, the allotment was about knee high a few days ago, and by yesterday it was completely weeded, compost added to beds, and planted up!
Today's job is the veg patch at home… which I want planted up by tonight.

I'm paraplegic and I use a Garmin fenix watch, and doing a seated aerobics workout, (Lisa Ericson - You tube), a few days I noticed that the Garmin was severly overestimating my HR.. saying that I was averaging 145, with a max of 171… bearing in mind I'm 47, 5'6" and 120lbs…etc, (I dont have 'muscles' from my pelvis down), it gave me an active calorie total of 455 for the 55 mins. lol. So I tried wearing the watch a little higher as I do have skinny wrists, but that didn't help. 
So I've bought an H10 polar strap today and repeated the same workout. I averaged 104 and my max was 108. Sadly, that is more like it, so now I know that my Garmin is way off in activities where I'm actively waving my arms around.. like aerobics and air boxing, at least I know where I need to try and get my heart rate up a bit more.. and I know why I'm not losing weight as quickly as I thought I should be doing!

Same workouts… 
Garmin watch…

Polar H10…

Things I'm concentrating on this week:

- I've joined the 🔎👣 2025 5% Summer Challenge, which I'm sure will help, having a group of like-minded people to help motivate me to reach my goal! Thank you @Dianedoessmiles1
- Completing my food diary every day.
- Keeping my metrics balanced.
- Completing my step goal every day.
-One cardio workout every day - bar a day of rest. I do a mix of seated aerobics, hand cycling, rowing and weights. I do stretches morning and evening every day anyway.
-At least an hour of gardening daily, between home and the allotment.
-Longer dog walks.
-Buy wrist weights to try and increase heart rate for aerobics. Currently have a 3kg weighted bar, but it's not good for everything. I have a 5kg dumbbells.. they are too big for me at the moment.. plus I have a 5kg double-handled medicine ball I use for tricep and core work.

There we have it! lol :) :)

Me just a few years ago - doing layup drills in my daychair as I'd broken my basketball chair. lol

Thank you for reading! :) :)

Dianedoessmiles1

@littlegumnut Oh, I knew when I "met" you here, you are a FORCE to be reckoned with!! I love your fighting spirit, which helps you to be the amazing person you are. There's zero doubt!!! I learned eons ago not to tie my watch to my food intake. When I enter my food intake into MFP, I stay by the calories they suggest. At the end of the day, before midnight, I enter my exercise. That way, if I burn off 130 calories (I can't exercise hard enough to burn a lot of calories, though at the end of the day I usually exercise for 45 to 60 minutes a day, but it's a low burn of today of 109 calories. Heart failure will NOT STOP me! Either!) This way my exercise "earned calories" do not get added into my calorie goal at the start and end of the day. Oh, I hope I described this in an understandable way!!

MEMBERS: We are excited to have @littlegumnut with us on the 2025 Summer 5% Community Challenge and would also LOVE to see you!! There are many inspirational members such as she is. She is pretty amazing, huh? We have NO DOUBT your own story/journey through life is also.

Please click on the link above (TY TY TY TY LIttlegumnut!) or it's also here TO JOIN US!!

 🔎👣 2025 5% Summer Challenge

littlegumnut

heheh thank you for the warm welcome! I'm looking forward to the challenge! lol :) :)

paceka2

I'm Kathy, one of the leaders of the Red Hots team. Our lead heard about your blog and suggested we read it. I'm very glad you've decided to join our 5% Summer Challenge - it is really great to be able to share with others and for me personally, it does help me stay on track. It's been a long time since I've been through menopause - I don't remember it being too bad (my youngest daughter is just beginning and she's having a rough time), my husband remembers it differently!

I love your attitude and your plan for the week. Welcome to the Summer Challenge!

Dianedoessmiles1

@paceka2 She is inspiring as are you!

harvest_fairy

The 2025 Summer 5% Challenge Community is now OPEN!!  We are now accepting requests for team membership. Please consider doing something FOR YOURSELF by helping to give yourself the gift of good health

click on the link below:🔎👣 2025 5% Summer Challenge Community👣🔍 8 Weeks Begins Saturday July 12, Final WIN September 6👣🔍

Once you navigate to the page, please join the team and then read the instructions for next steps. ALSO, mark you calendars … Pre-Challenge Week: July 5th through July 11th, 2025Challenge: Saturday, July 12th through Friday, September 5th with a final weigh-in due on Saturday, September 6, 2025.

look forward to spending the Summer of 2025 with YOU!!

I love the 5% challenges. I was part of them when they were on Spark People (Rowdy Rebels).