40 and older with 10lbs or less to lose

alf1163

I like hearing from you so keep on posting...:flowerforyou:

kimss

thanks, I'll watch the sodium.. and get some electrolites. thanks for the website, I'll check that out too.

singfree

Good Tuesday morning, everyone!

Alf, I'll bet that woman in the mirror has a big smile on her face right now! Really good work this week. Seems like the zig-zag is working, don't you?

I've already had workout #1 for today at 5 am: 300 cals treadmill intervals and some core/ ab work. I will do another workout at noon. Now I'm ready for my oatmeal.

To all posters on this thread, keep posting. I really like when you share your success and frustration. We are all in this together, no matter what our ultimate goals may be.

Have a great day!

PS- Wolfena, keep posting! We're here to kick you in the butt (gently, of course).

StiringWendel

Morning everyone! It's been a busy few days. My DH had surgery yesterday, so that wasn't any fun. But he seems to be doing well. I'm keeping up with my workouts (so far) while trying to take care of him.

And I STILL haven't eaten any crap since sometime in mid-January. We had a dinner out on Friday (it was a catered affair), and I was good at that to the point of even turning my back on the white bread and such. I still ate too much I think, but I tried to eat just good stuff. And it was very good stuff!

Today I have an hour of weight lifting planned (back and triceps) and then probably some ab work and stretching. One of the things my husband is noticing right now is that my body shape is changing pretty significantly given the amount of weight I've lost. I think whatever I'm doing in terms of fitness is really having as much impact as the diet, so I'm going to continue down this course for awhile and see what more I can do.

Hope everybody has a great day!

msujdak

Hey over 40's, do any of you have info on calcium requirments? MFP shows a lower daily intake than my Dr. said I should be getting.

duffyzmom

Stiring: Great work and I hope your DH continues to improve.

msujdak: Follow your Dr. guidelines on your calcium intake. One of my favorite treats during the day is the 40 calories I use for my calcium chews. I love the caramel ones it is just like having candy.

alf1163

Hello!!! I did the shred this morning, early start 0530, did levels 3, 2 and 1 in that order. 609cals burned!!! :drinker: I'm at work right now and just ate my snack, 60cal light and fit yogurt and a Borden cheese stick. Breakfast was 1/2 c oatmeal, .5 scoop designer whey protein, 7 chopped almonds, 1/2c skim milk, blueberries, cinnamon. Yummy!!!!!!!!!!! I'm doing pretty good but I have had "crap" from time to time :laugh: WTG StiringWendel for staying on track with your diet!!!!! :drinker:
I really dont have any info on calcium requirements but I do eat calcium rich foods daily and take a supplement. One of the tests I want to get done this year is a bone density test to see how I'm doing. I second duffy, follow your doctor's advice.

Singfree, thanks for your encouragement, the mirror says I'm looking pretty good these days :laugh:

Stiring, what weight lifting program are you following?? An hr of lifting for just back and triceps? WOW!!!!!! :drinker:

:flowerforyou:

StiringWendel

alf, I'm doing Cathe Friedrich's new STS DVD program. For those who don't know but might be interested in learning about it, it is a weight lifting program designed to be done over either three or six months. The program itself includes 40 disks, 39 of which are strength training and one of which is an abs DVD with six different abs workouts. Each disk represents one day for one week in the three month program (for the six month program, it is one day for two weeks). There are three cycles in the program: muscle endurance, hypertrophy (muscle building and definition), and strength.

I've lifted weights for years now. But what I'm finding so incredibly beneficial about this program right now is that it actually forced me (okay, the better word would be 'convinced' me) to figure out my 1 rep max. And the cool thing is you can plug that into a program on Cathe's site, and it will tell you how much you should be lifting for each exercise for each week. For example, the first week is designed to lift 60% of your max (for fifteen reps). The second week, that gets bumped up to 65%, and so on until the last week in the program, you are lifting 90% of your max for eight reps. Why I have found this so helpful is that where I would normally routinely grab a 12lb weight (as an example), and the card says '13', I actually make myself do the 13 (with the help of wrist weights and such). So where I might actually plateau myself because a jump from 12 to 15 at times is tough (depending on the muscle), this is forcing me to think about ways of getting there. I know that sounds strange, but I quite honestly don't think very often about putting things like wrist weights on when I'm lifting weights.

The other thing is that I am actually stronger than I was giving myself credit for being. When I looked at the first set of workout cards, I thought to myself 'there is no way I'm going to be doing 15 reps with THAT weight', but lo and behold I actually CAN do it and AM doing it.

For people who might not be as lax as I am in weight training, maybe this wouldn't have such benefits. But I think I just got....bored.....with pushing myself with weights because I have been lifting weights now for about 20 years. And it really excites me to have something that is so easy that is pushing me so hard. And it is pushing me hard! Again, I've been a regular exercises for years, and a regular Cathe Friedrich exerciser for years. But I have been sore from the leg workout I did last Friday since, well, Friday. And right now, my arms are still quivering from that back/tricep workout I did a few hours ago. It feels great!!

While the premise of this program is similar to something like P90X and such, what I like about it is NOT repeating the same workout each week. While some of the exercises are the same (about 50%), there are new exercises each week, and that should help me with my boredom issues. And I do have boredom issues when working out. This program is quite an investment (thankfully I bought it when it was presale, so I got it for less expensive), but given that there are 39 independent workouts and a comprehensive abs disk, I actually can't really argue too much with the price. I may not do the program often as I'm doing it right now, but I think many of these workouts will find their way into my regular rotations because they are so effective.

And, no, Cathe doesn't pay me for advertising, though it probably sounds that way. :blushing:

So there's a VERY long answer to your question, alf!

duffy, thanks for the good wishes for my husband, He seems to be doing well. What kind of calcium chews do you take? I've started taking Viactiv, and I tell you what, that is one of my favorite treats (as you called it!). My husband thinks I'm nuts when I say 'I'm going to have dessert' and out I pull a calcium tablet. But I do crave them!

duffyzmom

Stiring - Usually Viactiv if I can make it to Costco - right now I have Kroger's brand and their not bad either.

alf1163

Thanks for the info Stiring!! I too have been lifting for many yrs, I would say about 16-20yrs. But like yourself I usually stick to the basics and I'm very cautious how heavy I lift so I don't hurt myself, especially since I always lift by myself. I am looking into a program that will challenge me more as far as lifting is concerned. I have been thinking about getting P90X when I come back from my trip but I've heard the dvds are very long, some more than 1hr. I'm afraid it would be hard to complete them the recommended way. I've heard Chalean program is about the same but not as long as P90X. Have you used those? How about Cathe's, are they long workouts? I do work outside the home, part time, and I have an autistic son so I usually workout early in the morning before I have to get ready and get him ready for school. I prefer to leave the evenings open for hubby, housework and other things than working out. What would you recommend? How much is the program? Thanks!! :flowerforyou:

singfree

Good morning, Alf. Mind if I put my 2 cents in? I have used P90X exclusively in the past, with great results. In fact, I incorporate many of the P90X routines into my workouts at the gym. Also, if I am ambitious in the evening, I will pop in a P90X workout and do part of another CD! Yea, I'm crazy, but it's working wonders for me. Since you really don't have any weight to lose, I assume that you are looking for more total fitness and muscle definition. P90X will be more lifting based than Chalean. I believe the only CD that goes over one hour is the Yoga (I stink at that). Have a great day!

alf1163

Thanks Singfree!! I don't mind suggestions at all!!! I have been giving P90X some thoughts for a while now...I am getting a little bored with what I'm doing and I love a challenge. I've read some posts in the p90X thread and they say they do it twice a day, morning and evening. And one of my coworkers said that some dvds are longer than an hr so that is why I was a little worried about getting it. I was watching the infomercial this morning while I exercised. :laugh: :laugh: It is expensive but I think it would be worth it. Yes, I am looking into challenging my body and getting stronger now. I might need to lose a few pounds after my trip though...:laugh:

I took it "easy" this morning especially since it is my lowest calorie day today, zigzagging, 1287 cals Yikes!! :noway: I already planned all my meals, 1290cals. Pretty clean except for the skinny cow truffle I'm planning to eat after dinner :laugh: I did 30 mins on the stationary bike and 15 incline walking on the treadmill, 276 cals.

Have a great day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :flowerforyou:

singfree

Alf, a quick question. Do you have enough energy on the low cal days? This morning at the gym I was really dragging. Maybe it's because I do cardio before weights, which has never been a problem for me. More likely it's due to my lack of enough sleep and heavy workout schedule. It's tough getting older! Concerning the twice per day (doubles) of P90X, I think you will find that one full workout per day is fine. There is a good nutrition guide included with P90X, which will help you maintain your weight and preserve lean muscle.

duffyzmom

Alf: Have you been adding your exercise calories when you zig zag? I based my calories on the little or no exercise and am trying to eat my exercise calories in addition. Used my new Polar HRM today for the first time and I was amazed at the calories I'm burning. Almost double what the generic calories burned lists. I'm wondering if that is part the stall problem maybe my body is in starvation mode.

StiringWendel

alf, like Singfree, I think P90X is a great system. You don't have to do two workouts a day. In fact, in all honesty, I would say with a system like this it may be somewhat counter-productive (at least initially).

I love the strength training workouts included in P90X. Unfortunately, I'm not sold on the other workouts included (primarily the cardio workouts, though I never warmed up to the yoga workout either). I found the cardio workouts weren't even close to challenging for me, which was unfortunate. So out of the 12 discs included in P90X, some were useless to me. But, again, I think it is a great, challenging strength training system.

I've only read about ChaLEAN Extreme, but after I read that it was aimed more at people just starting to weight train, I've decided it isn't for me. From what I've read, the workout are definitely shorter (about 45 minutes), which is a plus. But, given that, I question whether the cardio would challenge me at all (given that P90X didn't). So I really don't want to invest more money for strength training workouts that may be a little elementary for me AND with the potential that the cardio workouts would (like P90X) be useless to me.

Between those two systems, given that you've worked out with weights as long as you have, I'd recommend P90X if for no other use than the strength training DVDs alone. Most are right at an hour (if I recall correctly). They also include a 20 minute abs section that can be added on to any workout (it's a great abs routine!)

What I like about Cathe's STS is that it is just strength training and doesn't include cardio. Like P90X, it is geared towards doing strength training three days a week (two upper body, one lower body), but the other three days are left to you to do what works best for you. As a system, it works much better for me because I feel I can play around with it more AND get more variety in the program than I would if I did P90X as it is written out to be done. Again, I have an issue with boredom and working out, so doing the same workouts week in and out really isn't the best thing for me.

I think there are a couple of STS DVDs that go a little more than an hour, but most of them come in between 50-60 minutes. Then there is an optional extended stretch (which I enjoy after the leg workouts in particular) and the separate abs DVD (between 10-20 minutes each).

As far as lifting heavy, I don't know how heavy you lift. So I'll use me as an example, and I don't consider myself as a 'heavy lifter'. I own dumbbells between 3 and 35 pounds and do all my weight workouts with dumbbells instead of a barbell (it's a space thing!). For this system, I'll probably need to go get some more plates to be able to lift over 40lbs for later in the system (dumbbell rows and such). But that's how heavy I'm lifting. What Cathe has done for legs is create two programs for the last cycle because she understands most people working out at home aren't going to be able to get the amount of weight off the ground and over their heads that would effectively challenge their legs. So she has created a workout for those who have a squat rack (to assist them in getting that heavy weight onto their backs) and for those who don't have that, she's created four plyometric lower body workouts. So when it comes to the very heavy weights you might be lifting (with legs), there are other options in this program.

A benefit to P90X is the nutrition guide. P90X is it is meant to include ALL aspects of diet and fitness throughout using the program. STS is really geared more towards just the strength training portion of a diet/fitness program.

In terms of equipment needed between P90X and STS, it is more for STS. Cathe uses a step bench as her 'weight bench' (P90X uses the floor in alot of areas) and a 'tall' step for legs (a step height of about 12 inches). In addition, she uses a stability ball and resistance bands for some exercises. Finally, just like in P90X, there is the option of doing pull-ups and chin-ups or using tubing for a similar exercise if you don't have the equipment to do pull-ups at home.

STS is much more expensive than P90X (like $160 more), but I chalk that up to 40 DVDs vs. 12 DVDs. I, personally, think it was worth my investment but I've been using Cathe DVDs for years so I like her as an instructor (more than Tony Horton, though Tony cracks me up sometimes!) and know what I'm getting when I order her DVDs. If I were unfamiliar with her, I'd probably be very hesitant to invest that kind of money.

But if you are interested, you can go to her website at www.cathe.com and click on the STS information (it's the big picture in the middle of that page) and read about the program itself. There are even previews of the workouts there.

Okay, enough of that!!

duffy, what you've said about a HRM has really interested me. What kind did you get? I've been thinking more and more about getting one, and I think when I finally do get to my goal weight, I want to have one because I plan on building my maintenance nutrition plan around my workouts to some degree, and I think it will benefit me most to have a more accurate indication of how many calories I'm burning during my workouts.

I'm going to be doing 60 minutes of kickboxing today. I love kickboxing!!

Enjoy your day everybody! :flowerforyou:

duffyzmom

Stiring: I bought the Polar F6 Women's Heart Rate Monitor Watch (Black Diamond). I was impressed with it today and I was just using the chest strap that comes with it. I understand there is an upgraded one you can get but right now I don't think there is a need. It was right over $100. Tommorrow is a run day so I'm interested in doing a head to head with my Garmin forerunner on calories burned. My Garmin doesn't have a heart rate monitor and now I'm wishing I'd splurged for one with it but live and learn.

alf1163

Stiring, thank so much for the info!!! I appreciate it. I will check out her website. I am about the same level as you are. I also have dumbells at home from 3-20lbs. When I go to the gym I do bench presses with 25lb dumbells and rows with 35lb dumbells, deadlifts with a 60lb bar. I put about 50-60lbs on the Smith rack for squats and lunges at the gym and about 180 lbs in the leg press machine. I don't go to the gym often because it is not convenient, thank God it is free (military gym). So I workout mostly at home. I have a step bench, stability ball and resistance bands as well. I have a treadmill and a stationary bike at home and of course lots of workout dvds. But I feel now I need something more...

I have the Polar F4, it works well for me. The only thing that I don't like is that it does not save the workout summary so I always have to log it in as soon as possible or write it down somewhere so I don't forget :laugh: I bought it in the military store for about $60. I think the F6 was about $90.

Duffy, I am not adding my exercise calories now while zigzagging. What I do is that I look at the list of total calories the freedieting.com gives me and I change the order according to the workouts I have planned. There are days that I eat less than what I burned and other days, usually weekends, I eat more...that has worked out well for me. I would not dare to have a low calorie day on a day I burn mega calories. I could not survive that day!!!! :laugh:

Singfree, I have not had a lot of problems on low calorie days. I feel that I could eat more but the energy level has been ok. Yes, you do need to rest more!!!!! Lack of sleep will definitely drain you.

I'm done eating for today. I'm going to try to log in my food for tomorrow tonight and pack my gym bag. Of to the gym tomorrow...looking forward to it already!! :laugh: :flowerforyou:

duffyzmom

Alf: what level of exercise did you use on freedieting for your calorie info? I put in little or none and that is why I was adding in exercise calories although it has caused some of my days to equal out which I guess defeats the purpose.

alf1163

No, I put in every day. I never thought about that, I would think that is another way to do it. What you could do is to compare what the site is telling you and what you are eating now and see if the total amount is about the same. Today I can eat 1609 cals and I know I will be burning over 500 cals at the gym. :flowerforyou:

StiringWendel

duffy and alf, thanks for the input on HRMs. I'll look at both models (F4 and F6) and see what they are about. I went out to the Polar site about a week ago, but there were so many models that I didn't know where to start. This will help!

And I need some more help. I've been keeping my calories pretty low over the past couple of months (between 1300-1400). But at the end of the month, I'm going to be going to a conference where I know, no matter how cleanly I eat, I'm going to be taking in more calories than that. Would it be best for my body to try to ease my caloric intake up slowly over the next few weeks to closer to 1700-1800 so I don't 'shock' my body too much? Or would it be better for me to jump from 1300-1400 to whatever I might be eating at the conference (probably 1800-2000 for some days, depending on how much I'm eating in restaurants) and then back down again when I get home? I'm leaning towards easing my calories up gradually since I've read that is how calorie increases should be done, but I'm not sure if that is the best way if I'm planning on bringing that calorie count back down once I get home. Any input is appreciated!!

Today I'm doing a leg workout (the same one that nearly killed me--in a good way--last Friday) for about an hour.

duffyzmom

Stiring: FYI my garmin forerunner and polar were almost exactly the same on calories burned. a difference of only 5 calories.

Thanks ALF: I may do some switching the numbers up and see what happens. Now that I'm able to get out and running I will be burning a lot more calories weekly than during the winter.

alf1163

Stiring, I would increase calories gradually but by 100 a wk or so until your trip. You have been doing so well eating clean that you might not eat as much and so bad as you think you will. When you come back then go back to your normal eating. Are you just mantaining now? You burn a lot of calories, right? This temporary change to your nutrition routine might confuse your body and get your metabolism running...:laugh: That is what I hope my body does the next two weeks in Puerto Rico...:noway: :laugh: wishful thinking!!!!! I am a little anxious about how I'm going to deal with temptations!!! :frown: :flowerforyou:

StiringWendel

alf, thanks for the response. Increasing by 100 a week is exactly what I was thinking about doing.

I'm not in maintenance mode yet. I've still got about five pounds to lose before I get there. But even before I learned I was going to be going to this conference, I was thinking about gradually increasing my calories because I'm beginning to feel the diet a little bit. I'm still getting through my workouts and such, but my energy levels are a bit down.

I do burn alot of calories working out and that's one of my concerns. The week I'm going to be gone is actually my 'rest week' for this STS rotation I'm doing, so the timing works out well. But I can just kind of imagine my body going into shock from working out hard 6 days a week and eating 1300-1400 calories to not working out (at least not at the same level) and eating restaurant food! I'm hoping, like you, it gets shocked in a GOOD way (and drops those extra five pounds), but I'm also concerned it's going to say 'Ah FOOD' and hold on to everything I put into my mouth. :laugh:

I think I will continue to keep crap out of my diet while I'm gone. It's just not being able to control what goes into my food that has me concerned. I would love to think I could get a salad at a restaurant and be safe, but looking at another thread on this board about restaurant salads is just shocking. I mean, I knew some were bad, but I didn't know they were THAT bad. :noway:

And just so you know, I wouldn't even remotely be thinking about this if I were going away on vacation! I'd just go and have fun (within reason) and get back to a more controlled diet when I got back. But because this is kind of work related, I don't want to treat it like a vacation. So, that being said, what I'm trying to say is Enjoy your trip to Puerto Rico!! :drinker:

alf1163

Thanks Stiring!!!! That is the "ok" I needed to stop worrying :laugh: :laugh: I really don't want to go overboard but I also know it will very hard to resist some of the foods that I crave that I cannot get over here. I already told my husband I will enjoy everything that I cannot eat over here but only once and an appropriate portion. The puertorrican diet is not very healthy, lots of fried foods, starchy foods, tons of bread and of course the drinking!!! :laugh: I will be checking in with you guys but maybe not daily. It will keep me in check :laugh: I'm not leaving until Monday morning. I still have to finish packing!! :noway:

Going back to you Stiring, I truly think you are not eating enough. I am not eating all my exercise calories now because I am zig zagging and on the days of low calorie allowance I am starving!!! I could not imagine doing that everyday. :noway: Have you tried zig zagging? This is my third week and the past two weeks I have lost weight and inches.

:flowerforyou:

singfree

Wow, alf! I'm glad you said how well zig-zagging is working. I read similar results in bodybuilding.com. I think I will give it a try from time to time. I'm not sure when you are leaving, but have a wonderful time in PR. I'm sure the nice warm weather will feel good after enduring the winter. It FINALLY is starting to feel like Spring! Tomorrow will be in the 60s (pretty warm for PA in March). I hope you are able to post when you are on vacation. Bon Voyage! Gute Reise!

duffyzmom

:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: Happy Friday!:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:

Alf! Have a great trip - my brother lived in Puerto Rico for awhile and I'm still kicking myself for not visiting him while they were there. I've only seen the section between the airport and the cruise docks but it was beautiful. When I'm on vacation I really let the diet concerns go and just try to make sure I get exercise in (assuming I'm not still feeling the effects of the drinking:laugh: )

Friday check-in: Today's weight 136.5 (at this stage I'm very happy with a half pound lost) I also lost a half inch on both my hips and thighs (probably from being able to get out and run again). I'm starting to do a better job with the zig-zagging. I think I am going to play with the numbers next week so that I have my highest calorie days on my more intense cardio days. I've graduated to Power 90 levels 3-4 I'm enjoying the upper body but quite frankly the lower body is not really a stretch for me. I'm going to add weight to the lunges and squats to increase the intensity. I'm hoping we can get more of our basement finished so that we can focus on the weight room. Husband as all the equipment and weight that I need just right now the renovation is taking all the space.

Also, still doing the hundred pushup challenge.

Everyone Enjoy their weekends.

singfree

TGIF- I had my workout this morning, starting to drag at the end of the week. I have to work thru lunch today, so no noon workout. We will have a warm weekend here in PA, so maybe we will get the bikes out or do a hike on the Appalachian trail which runs a few miles from our house.

I've been a good boy this week, fairly clean diet, and 9 workouts so far this week since Monday. Little by little I can see improvement in the mirror and my clothing continues to fit better.

Have a great weekend!

alf1163

Good morning!!! Guten Morgen!!! Buenos dias!!!! :laugh: :laugh: Well, not really any changes this morning. Actually up .5lbs so I am not really concerned about that. 128lbs I only measured my waist, no changes, 27". This week has been great!!! Eating pretty clean I would say 90% of the time and exercising every day. I did a 45 min walk/run intervals on the treadmill this morning. The fitter I get and the smaller I get I burn less calories :grumble: :grumble: I guess that is a good thing and a bad thing :laugh: Also as far as zig zagging goes the less weight the less I get to eat. Both times that I updated my weight the calories decreased :noway: Oh well, I know I really don't need that much food unless I burn mega calories.

I am leaving to PR this Monday morning. Almost finished packing... Singfree, the change in weather is not that much. I live in San Antonio and lately it has been in the high 70, 80's, one day it went up to 90!!! I will just be glad to see the ocean and get in it. The water should be warm...I am taking my jump rope, running shoes, exercise clothes, resistance band. A friend does not believe I will workout. :laugh: I know I will because I have done it in the past. Maybe not every day and not as much but I will...

I will continue posting until Sunday evening. I am planning on going to Zumba tomorrow morning and then on Sunday do three levels of Shred.

Have a great day!!!!! :flowerforyou:

StiringWendel

Friday check-in....I lost three pounds this week! How did that happen? So I'm down to 125.0. I've also lost nearly an inch in my waist and hips. I think I must have been retaining some water when I measured/weighed myself last week since I'd been out the night before because that seems to be a pretty drastic one week weight loss given that I'm now within five pounds of my goal.

Which takes me to what you said, alf, about how much I'm eating. Thanks so much for your input and your concern. Since I came to MFP in January, I've actually done quite a bit of reading about the whole 'starvation mode' thing and how many calories I need to eat to maintain my weight vs. how many calories I need to lose weight. I really don't want to mess up my metabolism! But at the same time, I don't want to overeat and lose weight at such a slow pace (or not at all) that I just give it up altogether. So, for me, it was all about striking a happy balance.

I take that whole notion of losing 1-2 pounds a week pretty literally when it comes to calories, and a calorie deficit of 1000 a day (for 2 pounds a week) at my age/height/weight is actually pretty significant. Pretty much, I can workout as hard as I want and keep my calories very low (1300-1400) and never hit a 1000 calorie a day deficit, which has left me in a very natural 'losing 1-2 pounds a week' category (except for this week!!) since I started back in January. The whole notion about how difficult it is to create a deficit is frustrating to be honest because it makes me incredibly aware of how quickly I will gain weight back if I stop working out and don't control my diet very strictly.

That latter issue is one of the reasons I've been trying to really work at controlling my diet because I think it is important for me to learn how much I can eat when I'm not working out. As I said at the beginning of the thread, my problems with weight gains have always come during times when I'm not working out and I don't adjust my eating habits. But, quite honestly, I didn't really know how much I could eat when I wasn't working out to maintain my weight. Now I do....and it's only about 150 calories more than I'm eating right now. :noway:

So that's one of the reasons I've been okay with sitting at lower calories while working out hard for the past couple of months. It has really taught me alot about portion control, measuring food and really weighing exactly what I choose to eat. The other reason I've been okay is because I have felt great! It really has only been in the past two weeks that I've started to feel a little bit like I needed to eat more (more last week than this week, to be honest).

That being said, I really think you have the right recommendations for me. I think I'm going to work at raising my calories over the next few weeks and see how my body responds. Then after I get back from the conference if I still have weight to lose (and I imagine I will ), I think I'll try zig-zagging. I want to play around with it because, like duffy, I'll want to make sure that my highest calorie days come on my toughest cardio days. So I'll have to see how that works. But I like the idea of being able to play around with my diet a little bit more than what I have since mid-January.

And, truthfully, even though I'm not at my goal weight, I'm pretty happy with where I am right now in terms of my body measurements and such. I'd love to take another half inch off my waist (to get to 25") and another inch off my hips (my trouble zone!!), but all I know is I'm back in my skinny jeans and they're loose!! And those things--how I feel, my body measurements, how my clothes fit--really are more important to me than the number on the scale.

Today I have 70 minutes of step/interval cardio planned. It's a killer workout. I LOVE killer workouts! :bigsmile:

alf1163

Congrats Stiring!!!! That sounds great!!! How did you decide on how many calories you need to lose but not reach starvation? I would love to know that. So far what I have been doing it has been working but at a very slow pace. When I first started here my goal was to lose 18 pounds, get to 130lbs, that is my "happy" weight. I thought "hey this site is great and it can help me lose 18 lbs in about 6 mos or so". It took me 8 whole months to lose 23 lbs (I changed my goal weight to 125 around summer 08). I was happy but I thought it took too long. And of course I was not super strict with my diet and I was eating every bit of my exercise calories...then came the Holidays and I gained 9 lbs. I am 3lbs from my goal weight, 125lbs, which I consider my "super happy" weight. :laugh: Please share with us how you decided on your calorie allowance. I would also like to lose a couple more inches...if my body stays the way it is right now, 128lbs and 27in waist I would be a happy camper. I too like the way it looks right now...unfortunately I know I need to be very careful what I eat in order to stay this way. :grumble: :noway:

:flowerforyou: