5 Pounds A Month March 2010 Challenge

Sonia, thyroid problems are common for us women. I've been on Thyroid meds. for over 10 yrs. now. Good luck with test results, keep us posted.
I did not weigh in today. My DIL has a dial scale and a hard one to read. I did come home today after being at our son's house for over a week babysitting the grandaughter. What a lot of work. I have a renewed admiration for all you young moms with little ones. Here's to you. :drinker: :drinker:
The kids came home on Tues. pm and my calorie watching went right down the tubes. BUT I did enjoy my time with the family. We (hubby and I) came home today so tomorrow is a new day. I will weight tomorrow and let you all know how it went. Even if the scales don't weigh in my favor I am pleased to say I did drop a pant size. Bought a new pair of crops from Cold Water Creek for the spring. WooHoo.:bigsmile:
Jacque

Love the new picture Phyljen! I lived in India when I was a child and the Pariah dogs made every one crazy. I got to know them, though and I loved them all. But when you're running I guess you look like prey to them - a little scary.

So the half pound loss that I had been having a dysfunctional relationship with has officially disappeared and I had no loss or gain this week.

I'm off on a field trip (which should be cool - it's to a plant grower that specializes in native plants) and then this afternoon I am actually going to shape up the vegetable garden and get some seed going. Go veggies, go!

Thank you Jacque and Terri for your support! I have a dial scale and I was thinking of buying a digital scale so I can atleast see 0.5 increments! I know its not much but any thing at all, even 0.5 if I see that go down will give me motivation!

I have my drs appt on Tuesday so I hope all goes well! I am worried a bit but hopefully itts nothing major. I dont want it to be a thyriod problem but that is what I was tested for. If it is though, I might have my answer of why I am struggling so much with my weight!

Regardless, I am going to start up again tomorrow and run run run, and work out as much as I can, while eating as clean as I can and hopefully, the weight should come off!

Sonia,
Great Attitude! You will lose eventually. Hang in there. I be cheering that you have good news from your test results. Weight is a very weird thing. Some times you think that you are doing everything and that dang scale just doesn't show the right number!! I am wishing to get my own digital scales too. Maybe this summer I can buy one when I am in the states. I have not seen any over here but they may exist., I just have not really been out shopping for them.

April Are you eating all your exercise calories? I really believe in that. I had never heard of that before MFP. Now I swear by it.
I did so many exercises today that I could eat about anything that I wanted. Well not anything. but I swam an hour this morning and then did aerobics after school for an hour. I was so tired during Aerobics that I about fell on the floor. I think that I have never sweat so much in aerobics since I started going. anyway. keep your head up. and spirits and know that I am here for you. Phyllis

Thanks for the article Terri, and Kelsey- I'm so glad your pup is on the mend. The annoying thing I have discovered about our pets is that whenever we would come into some bonus cash, one of them would get sick. So now we make sure that we don't mention such things around them. I think it's helping.

So I guess now's the time to make a big push on the exercise. Phyljen you have inspired me. I have my last final today and then a week and a half off till next quarter, so I'm going to make a commitment to 60 minutes a day.

There - I've said it.

So I walk on my treadmill 5 days a week for 60 minutes. I do a lot of incline walking and I keep the pace around 3.8, I have been doing a little jogging in place with Wii so yesterday I tried jogging at a 5.0 on the treadmill. I was able to jog for a full 3 minutes. It may not seem like much to runners but for someone who couldn't job more than 90 seconds before it was a huge success for me. I am hoping that if I keep trying I will get up to a 5 minute jog in a couple of weeks. Just wanted to share.

Good morning everyone! Hope everyone had a great weekend!

We are on the final push for our 5 pounds this month! I thought I would share some things over the next few days that are in the April issue of Runner's World. It is from and article call the "INCREDIBLE WEIGHT LOSS MYTHS EXPOSED. Read the surprising truth about 14 popular diet strategies that just don't work-and fine out which ones will actually help you take the next BIG step towards slimming down for good.

The myth EXERCISE IN THE FAT-BURNING ZONE

The TRUTH....The "fat burning zone" lies between 50 and 70 percent of your maximum heart rate. When you exercise at this low intensity your body draws energy from fat. As your heart rate goes up, more energy comes carbs. So it seems logical that to lose fat you should keep your heart rate low, says Jason Karp Ph.D., owner of Run-coachjason.com. But that's not the case.
"Running at higher intensities causes you to burn a lower percentage of fat calories in favor of carbs," says Karp, "but you use more total calories." And that's the key to slimming down. Plus since you torch more total calories, the absolute amount of fat burned actually increases too. So it pays to pick up the pace.

Or course, lower intensity exercise still has its place. Long slow runs build aerobic fitness and endurance. But to kick start a pokey metabolism, you need intensity. Karp suggests interval training (condensed runs that mix in intense efforts with recovery) because studies have found these workouts burn more calories during and after exercise. It also cuts down on boredom which makes it more likely you'll stick with your programs"

Remember this magazine is geared towards runners, but if you do not run you can do intervals while walking, or biking or on the elipse. After warm-up push yourself hard for a minute or two then go at a slower pace then push yourself keep this going during your whole work-out and then do your cool down.

Have a healthy day!

Terri

Hi all, there is an article about interval walking in the newest issue of Prevention Magazine. I'll need to get a timer that I can carry and hear while out walking for me. I don't have a treadmill to monitor times.
Good luck all on "push week". Hope we all make goal.
Jacque

Okay. I spent a good 4 hours yesterday hauling bags of compost and building vegetable boxes, so that counts for my hour. Today I missed yoga, but I'm hiking this afternoon. I still need a half hour of something more serious today.

Terri, I know what you mean. It's hard to maintain balance when you're completely out of balance and sleep-deprived. Hopefully the week with them gone will help you get back on track.

I am going to have to be really careful. My 16 year old (with brain impairment, attachment disorder, autism, etc.) is coming home from residential treatment tomorrow for ten days, and will be coming back to live in a couple of weeks. (Pardon my venting here) I am scared ****less. The school district is studiously ignoring me. I've been on the phone all morning with therapists, attorneys, doctors, etc. I've been working on getting a solid plan for the last six months, and here I am, days away and nothing is together. Things were really awful last year, I could never have imagined sending my child away, but it was not safe for anyone. He's made some improvement, but it could all go down hill really fast. We've seen it on past visits.

I'm trying to be positive, and I'm trying to just move forward step by step, but my husband and I are both crazed with panic. At sixteen we don't have a lot of time left to get him the right treatment, so we feel an enormous amount of pressure.

Anyway, thanks for letting me vent. It will be even more important to eat clean and get the exercise in during this period.

Karin

Welcome Kimmie! you have joined the greatest group of supportive people out there so give yourself a pat on the back!

Karin- I feel your concerns and anxiety for having your son back with you. I know you are strong and will be able to do what you have to do to make life as smooth as possible. You are such a connected person. I feel in all your posts that you are really grounded and all your energy used to work in the garden and out doors will surely lift your spirits and keep you sane. I would love to see all your vegetable boxes. Sounds very interesting. Do you have little space for planting and so that is why you make the veggie boxes? or do you put them out doors to make better crops? I grew up on a farm and so we had unlimited space to grow and always had a huge garden plus all the crops in the field. Oh those days of hoeing and weeding the sugar beets. I have good and bad memories at the same time. It was how I earned my summer money as a child to buy school clothes, or should I say to buy fabric to sew my school clothes.

Terri- for some reason I had forgotten that you had a 10 year old son. Nice to have the reminder. I for some reason I just imagine you with all the little kids that you tend. I have a 30 year old son that moved back to Egypt and lives with us too. He is going to the Canadian University trying to finally finish his degree. He was in the states for years and had a great time messing around. Now it he finally decided that he should settle down and really get his degree. We are happy that he is finally trying to finish up and it is good to have him back with us too. but our empty nest that we used to enjoy has bee invaded. My daughter moved back a few years ago too and is getting her masters degree. She got married so she is not with us but we see her a lot and that is good too.

I guess it is time to vent and speak up about our lives today. Interesting huh?

Jacque_ How is everything with your husband? I think you are a saint to be such a great care giver!

Well I need to go pop some pop corn and have a snack. I need to eat a few more calories today. LOL Phyllis

Hi,

Just got back from Mexico. Not going to weigh in tomorrow 'cause I now that I am holding water...nice pitting edema in my legs...hope to pull off a miracle by the 31st...if not, I'll just have to start fresh on the 1st

Kim, thanks a million.

My son came home, and today was a good day - a really, really good day.