Hi, just wanted to pop in and introduce myself.

yellowsnowdrop

Hi to all,

My name is Helen and I live in a smallish town on the North East coast of England,the largest city to us is Newcastle Upon Tyne.
I'm 55, married,not working because of ongoing health problems and despite being overweight I'm happy with my life.
I walk up to 50 miles a week both in the gym and regular road walking as well as doing my gym weight circut 4 x weekly.
I have a FitBit which is one of my best friends as it gives me an accurate step and mile count. I've lost 21lbs in 12 weeks but most of that is down to my exercise. I don't (sadly) eat clean but I do try and get fresh fruit and veggies as often as possible (Not a great fan of veggies I'm afraid!!)
My other 2 passions in life are travelling (I've been lucky enough to visit Thailand, Borneo,Mexico and the Maldives to name a few) and beading with seed beads, pearls and crystals.
So, that's me. How about you ?
Good to meet you all
Helen:flowerforyou:

thejuicywoman

Hi Helen,

Welcome! It's great to have you here with us. What an amazing accomplishment to be such a strong and determined walker.
How do you manage to walk 50 miles a week? What is the average amount of time you walk each day? I'd love to walk, but I tend to prefer the gym. Please tell me more about your workout.

I'd be happy to share tips with you to help you eat cleaner. Are there any veggies that you like?

Looking forward to touching base again soon.

Andrea

yellowsnowdrop

Hi Andrea and thanks for such a lovely group. (I need to work out how to post a picture to use as your avtar (The cat is Misty, sister to Greedy Benny. She was only 6 weeks old when I took the pic, she's 2 now but still thinks she's a princess!!) It can't be hard if I can do it, I'll get back to you on that.)
I had surgery on my back at the end of January this year to fuse 2 vertebra and put in a graft taken from my hip, I swore then that once I was recovered I'd get fit so that's what I'm trying to do. I also gave up smoking a year ago and gained quite a bit of weight after that. I walk on an almost daily basis (I might take 1 day off a week) and since I live close to the sea walking is easy, I use my walk time also as thinking time.
I go to my gym 4 times a week but may have to try and increase that soon, I do treadmill and I'm trying to run for the last 5 mins of my treadmill time each day, hard but I feel better once it's done.I walk on average probably 2 to 3 hrs a day. My mum has dementia so a walk to her flat takes me 40 mins one way, I do that 3 times a week. A walk to my gym is 35 mins one way, it soon builds up.My weight rotine is mainly upper body (chest press, lat pull downs, shoulder press etc) but in the last week or so I've added some lower body stuff like leg presses and abductor and adductor.
Veggie wise my favourites are cauliflower, broccoli and carrot and that's it really. I think maybe I have NO idea of how to start eating 'clean' tho I've checked out a few websites on the subject.I stopped eating bread mainly because I have a gluten intolerance and my main meal in the evening is gluten/dairy/lactose free (pre packed from a company called Ilumi)
I'd be interested to hear about your workout, just good to see how others are doing it.
Stay well and strong, catch you later
Hugs
Helen

thejuicywoman

Hi Helen, Great to have you here. What a precious kitty Misty is! I have an especially soft heart for all kitties, especially rescues. My kittie, Owie came to us over 10 years ago as a stray and we adopted him and fell deeply in love. Just like Misty he now also thinks he's royalty. It's wonderful that you're walking and getting more active. Walking by the sea, that would be a dream for me. I love the ocean. Your walking in connection with nature will certainly shorten your recovery period. You inspire me to walk again. I've always found that my walking time has been the foundation of my best writing. Right now my workout is either going to the gym about 3 times a week and working out on the Elliptical machine for between 30-40 minutes. That's really the machine that I tend to favor. My nutritionist suggested that I change things up a bit by varying my pace,incline and speed more. One day I alternated Levels 1 and Level 4 for a minute each. That day I also spent time on the treadmill and again did bursts of altering activity moving between 2.3 mph to 3.5. Yesterday I was on the Elliptical again and I did 5 minute bursts alternating Levels 1 and Levels 2. My choice of activity depends how I feel each day. I used to be a gym rat and I worked out with a trainer for years, but injuries through me for a loop and being a former all or nothing gal, I spent years avoiding the gym and working out. Having written the book on Lovin' the Skin You're In," I like to follow my advice and so I'm a lot more gentle with myself than I ever was.

You're doing great things for your mom and your body will enjoy the benefit of your dedication to caring for her. Like you, a glucose intolerance spurred me to change my eating habits so I often avoid a lot of my former favorite foods; pastry and pasta primarily.

I have been using a powerful and effective stress relief technique that I teach my clients. It's known as EFT and it stands for Emotional Freedom Technique. The latest research that's been done in scientific testing shows that it balances brain chemicals and reduces cortisol levels in the brain by as much as 25%. Doing the tapping sends fresh signals to the brain to pair whatever anxiety ridden or upsetting thought you have with a sense of calm. Honestly I can't say enough wonderful things about this technique because it's changed my life in so many ways.

So yes you can definitely use EFT to change your preferences around what you eat, how you feel about those foods and the way you look. But as I mentioned previously, the foundation of succeeding at weight loss is not based on what you eat, but on how you feel about yourself. Hugs, Andrea