I'm using my fitbit, http://www.fitbit.com/product/features

I'd never heard of them till Sterhill showed the link in a group, just got mine yesterday, I so like my teeny weeny new toy.

I give myself smaller portions & really watch my sugar & fat intake

I try to walk for at least an hour a day or 30 mins on the treadmill.

I've really lowered my alcohol intake from, 20-30 oz of wine, 1-2 brandy Alexanders to a spritzer with 3-4 oz of wine. Geesh talk about calories.

Logging all my food intake, seeing the calories in foods is really helpful for me to decide what goes in my mouth.

So far I'm down 4.1 lbs in 2 weeks, only another 37 to go.

barb

My number one tip is commit to others.

When I committed to running a marathon I told everyone that in on year I would run a marathon. I went public. A year after my pubic commitment I ran the Chisholm Trail Marathon and finished in just over 4 hours. My best marathon time was 3 hours and 20 minutes. I ran 13 marathons. I did countless other 5k, 10k, 15k and half marathons. BTW I didn't begin running until I was 39. I didn't run to quit smoking. t still smoked a four or fewer cigs a day during the 15 years I ran. Stupid? Sure. But that's the way I am. I ran because I wanted to run not because I wanted to do or accomplish something else.

When I decided to quit smoking, five years ago Sept. 18th, I knew I needed to go public. CUC has helped me to stay public with my commitment to quit smoking. I do best when I know others are depending on my commitment.

So for me just being here is a reminder that I want to commit publicly to taking off 10 more pounds. Better blood work will probably be a benefit. But my goal is to work off those 10 pounds.. Whatever benefits I might get would be icing.

I am not planning to give up anything. I do plan to commit to being more regular and intense in my exercise regimine and exercising moderation in intake. Today I did 30 minutes longer on the treadmill and ate a lean cuisine meal for dinner. I would have liked more for dinner. But I did commit. So be it.

And, BTW, I look forward to trying the app on my Samsung Infuse 4G.

I added MyTracks to my phone. After my walk last night, I checked it to see what it had recorded. It recorded nothing because I didn't turn the GPS on. Today I'll know what to do. It does look like a very good app.

I think My Tracks gives mixed messages. On the chart tab it said I averaged 2.5 miles an hour which I think was a bit slow. On the stats tab it said I walked 5.15 miles which i think was at least a mile more than I walked. The stats tab also had me walking at a much faster pace. The time of 42:02 was about right. I know my routes, the distances and my average jog and walking paces. It may take me awhile to figure out MyTracks.

My 3 hour 17 minute marathon was just minutes shy of what I needed at that age (early 40s) to qualify for Boston. So close. I am not sure but I think Oprah got in on the basis of who she was and not her qualifying time. But hey, as one who has run, I always appreciate the time and determination taken to do the full marathon. Kudos to her!

We had two dogs. Both small pound dogs who LOVED their walks. One died last month. Sad. Our survivor, Greta, still LOVES her evening walks. Like you, she doesn't care if I walked during the day. The night belongs to her. I recall the comment of Dr. Kenneth Cooper, founder of the Aerobics Institute, who said on his fitness radio show; "walk your dog every day even if you don't have one."

I did get in the upper body work out on the cybex machines today. myfitnesspal doesn't seem to have the calorie counter for those machines. So I use the closest weight exercises they have that seem to fit.

And, BTW, being retied sure has given me the freedom to work out whenever I want!

Today I m hungrier than my small portions. Commitment to others and discipline need to kick in!

The MyTracks app seemed to work today. I did just shy of seven miles before noon at a brisk pace. The app gave accurate pace and distance information as far as I know. I tell you though this TX heat drains the energy. Fortunately my walk/jog route takes me by the YMCA where I am a member . I often stop there to hydrate. This after noon it is cool. Only 100! It will be about 90 when I walk the dog after dark.

Core workouts are supposed to be important. I don't think they are supposed to be really fun. My motivation to do the core work is the positive reinforcement of seeing how much stronger I am getting. Some of the cybex machines focus on core strengthening . I have added significant weight to those exercises over the past year. Seeing what can happen is a motivation. But working the core is a big bore.

Tip number two relates. Commit to yourself. I know that we never really do anything until we commit ourselves to the task. It's just that I do best when I have committed to others too. I have stayed committed to the weight workouts because I enjoy seeing how much stronger a senior citizen can get when he puts his mind to it. So ultimately my goals are things I commit to do. I have done many things because I set my mind to it. But with the smoking and now with these blasted 10 extra pounds it behooves me to commit to others for accountability purposes. Do tips one and two make any sense?

Empty foods? Caloric count? I am hoping that low calorie light beer counts as a healthy food group. However there are things that hope doesn't make so.

Since retirement my wife and I have enjoyed traveling to visit our grandchildren. We have taken several large ship cruises. And we'll be going on our third small ship river cruise at the end of this month. Being in relatively good shape helps when walking all over those tourist destinations. As my screen name indicates, bytrout likes to trout fish. I do get to head to the cold water streams from time to time.

Since becoming more of a presence here and since I know others are "watching over my shoulder" my meals have been better. Portion control is being watched. But as of today I have only lost about 5 ounces. Not enough to weigh down to an honest 179 yet. Weight until next week!

Peace to all. Be Well!
Bob

7 miles??? WOW that would kill me, lol. GREAT tips y'all.

My tip:

Since I quit smoking I have been trying to just eat more healthy. I am focusing more on healthy eating than I am on weight loss.

I want this to be lifestyle change not necessarily a destination.

Make sense?

Jools53,

It makes great sense. You are saying that the journey is a life style change, healthy eating. You are going somewhere but that destination is not your goal right now. But guess what. You will lose weight on that journey. So when you do get to wherever you're going, you'll be lighter when you get there. Kind of neat. As I said, I didn't run a marathon to lose weight. I ran my first marathon because I wanted to run a marathon. That was my goal. After a year of training, when I got to the finish line of my first marathon, I was about 30 pounds lighter than when I had begun the journey. The goal, however, was not weight loss.

Bob

Tip three. PACE. yourself. The second definition for PACE in the dictionary: "consistent and continuous speed in walking, running, or moving: : walking at a comfortably fast pace. • the speed or rate at which something happens, changes, or develops: the children work separately in the classroom at their own pace."

When I coached the marathon class in Enid, OK, we would joke around with each other. Inevitably a new marathoner would say that a family member had told them they were spending too much time running. Our reply to them was. "Anything worth doing is worth doing in excess." After that response, we would discuss with some seriousness the difference between training for your first marathon - a healthy behavior - and being a compulsive over trainer. In pacing our training we maximized our chances for a successful run by knowing when to train and when to rest, when to run slowly and when to pick up the pace.The goal required a plan and the plan required a healthy pace.

When asked how to win a long distance race, our response was, "You need to run faster than the person in front of you." The trouble is that we are not all built to race. Most of us cannot run faster than all the people in front of us. But by learning how to pace ourselves we can finish the run and finish it ahead of where we were afraid we might finish.

For me this pursuit of a best weight goal also requires pace in order to stay focused and fit. When asked, "how do you lose weight? the answer isn't , "anything worth not eating is worth not eating at all." Pace yourself means eat but eat wisely. I will maintain my overall level of fitness and health if I pace my eating and my workouts. Maybe most of us would like to get to where we're going faster. Faster is not better. In fact faster can discourage us. Faster can actually break us down. Remember PACE.

I have NEVER won our local 5K. But I finish it because I have learned to maintain a pace that will get me to the finish line without killing myself. Dying in a 5K is not good!

PACE. "The speed or rate at which something happens, changes, or develops: (for example) the children work separately in the classroom at their own pace." Do this thing at your pace, a reasonable, responsible pace.

Over and out on tip three. Make any sense?

Bob

I agree Bob does have great tips & lots of them, thank you Bob. One thing we share is having difficulty being committed to ourselves but are able to keep commitments with others.

Looking good on you Peggy. I use to cut tree branches with non electric but that was 5 yrs ago, I sure had some fun too.

One of my biggest fears is being diabetic & having brought it on by myself, well July 8, I was put on notice of sticking to a diabetic diet & walking 30 mins a day or I'll be taking meds. Now I've jumped into action with my main focus being health & eating properly.

I had always said I'd deal with my quit first, 2.5 yrs later here I be, it does take a while for me to catch on but I do eventually, well, most of the time........



I've decided Fri & Sat will be my have what I want days, knowing the calorie count I think twice before devouring the food.

Good tip. Use caution when using all machines. Rec room flying does not count as a calorie burning exercise. It could be recorded as a medical event.

Also note that even Cybex machines are dangerous if you do not secure the pins. I have had near painful seat collapses and weight crashes because of my carelessness.

Another thought. If I could LMFAO, I wouldn't have to work my FAO. However, I like the idea of laughing for weight loss.

Hi all!

I have a couple of tips that may help:

1.) Eat slowly ... put your fork down between bites and chew a lot. We tend to have the need or desire, not sure which, to eat quickly, but it takes our stomach a while to send the signal to the brain that we are full ....slow down to give it time!

2.) Use smaller plates ... I don't use dinner size plates anymore because I feel like I'm getting more food by filling up a small sized plate.

3.) I eat lean proteins first ... they tend to make me full quicker and make me feel full longer.

Hope these help!

Sandy

Good Sandy. !!!

Tip four. JUST DO IT,

Tip six. By all means hydrate well when working out. This is especially important for me when jogging or speed walking with temps over 95 degrees. If you wait until you are over heated or depleted, it can be too late. Drink before you think you need to drink.

Tip Eight. Don't fool myself. Being on vacation is not an excuse for over eating or over drinking. Holidays are not excuses for over eating or over drinking. Special occasions are not excuses for over eating or over drinking. We who want to over eat and over drink can always come up with an excuse for what we are doing. Don't fool myself. The past three weeks I had many occasions to fool myself. Good news. I did not fool myself all of the time! Gretchen and I had a great time. Neither of us added another notch to our belts. I did gain a couple of pounds. Water weight? Don't fool myself. Honestly it is easier now that we are back home. Daily food diary, exercise and regular check in at MFP will help this fool not fool himself. OK?