drosebud Member

My friend has lost weight this way, over a year. I do a "fast" day every now and again when I feel like it, but primarily calorie count, as it's working well for me. There is a 5:2 forum on here somewhere, if you do a search.

I don't eat anything before an early cardio exercise session, if it's before around 10:30.

Is it really immature of me to be giggling at this?

I don't know, but they definitely had FFs yesterday!

Coincidentally I went to Boux Avenue yesterday with my daughter (34F), and she was very impressed with the range. She was fortunate enough to get a very helpful assistant who recommended styles and checked for fit. It was nice that most of the bras had bigger cup sizes, unlike M&S where they are a separate range.

As well as my Polar FT4, I also use a Garmin Forerunner 110 for running outside as it has a GPS (unlike the Polar). If you aren't wanting to track distance, and just want it for gym cardio work to track cals/HR/whatever then the GPS is a waste of money, and the Polar will do just fine.

I've got an FT4 and love it. I press start at the beginning of an exercise and press another button when I'm done. It then shows how long I've been exercising for. You can toggle the display according to what you want to see when exercising: HR (BIG, which is good for me as my eyesight is naff), time, and a mix. I normally…

I was just about to post this. It's taken me around 30 years to lose this weight, and no amount of kicking myself or telling myself how useless I was helped. I am a good cook, by the way, and this is pretty irrelevant if you have food issues. No one can really understand how hard it is unless they have been through it. It…

Thanks for the last post. MeanderingMammal. It made some sense to me. I've never really understood zones at all. I'm hardly ever in the zone for running, as my HR is higher than it seems to think it should be, yet I can maintain it for 40 mins or so reasonably comfortably. I'm working towards my first 10k :-)

I use a Polar FT4 HRM, and find it's around 20-30% lessfor calorie count than MFP for similar activities. I figure that as it is monitoring my HR directly (unlike either MFP or Nike+ can) then it is likely to be more accurate. Either way, no monitor will be exactly reliable as to how many cals you are burning, but I fin d…

Oh my, that last post bumped this thread for me, having just posted on another how much I am enjoying running, five months later. Hard to believe that time has gone by so quickly. All the local park runs are on a Saturday morning, which clash with another class, so I run at other times, but 5k is the norm for me now.

I'm in my early 50s, and would have never believed I'd ever be running, let alone enjoying it. I got talked into entering a 5K charity run earlier this year, and figured I'd do the C25K (nhs, 9 week) as a challenge. I started off on treadmills, but it was so boring! Week 5 I went outside and it was lovely. Fast forward…

How tall are you? I'm 5'3" and have lost less than you, but have dropped from a 20-22 to a comfortable 14. That is a big difference. You won't notice the change week by week, but over a year it is telling. I still look at size 12-14 trousers and think to myself that I'll never fit into something that small, but I do, and…

I had regularly done cardio exercise prior to starting the C25K in April, but it still took me around 12 weeks to complete it, never having actually ran for any distance in my lifetime. I can comfortably run 5K now, and am working up to 10K as a target for the end of the year. I used the free NHS app for the C25K.…

The last time I managed to achieve any significant weight loss was 25 years ago, when i got married. I'm 53 now and peri-menopausal, yet more physically active than I've every been since a teenager. I've been logging cals via MFP for nearly a year now. Yes, my weight loss may be considered slow by some (less than a pound a…

Me too. See my ticker :-) It's taken me nearly a year, but I am ecstatic with the loss as I've never managed it before in my adult life. My target has gone down more than once: I am at a weight I am entirely comfortable and happy with. Also, my diet is a new way of life for me and not an unsustainable fad.

I've had a Polar FT4F for several weeks now and use it for cardio (Combat, Spin, Running), and find it works well. You customize it with your weight and it automatically works out the cals. The calorie count appears consistent. It's generally around 20% less than the estimates on MFP. I did look at the FT7 but decided it…

I'm doing the Soton Race for Life as my first ever group 5K, in July. Just over 4 weeks to go.

Well done, freya33. I've been there as a taxi-driver/supporter several times for my hubby. The atmosphere is fantastic, and it is mega busy! Have you run at all before? I can recommend the NHS C25K plan f you haven't, to get you to the 5K. I did my first ever 5K yesterday and it feels great. Look at me, sounding like an…

I'm early fifties and have lost over 3st now, yet had never managed it before int he past 25 years. So yes, it's possible, and entirely do-able if you are determined and have the arsenal to defeat the inevitable temptations etc.

I'd never even tried before, but the C25K is magically converting me :-) I went running out in the drizzle last weekend before breakfast and realised I'd morphed into one of those people I used to silently pigeon hole as "nutters". Looking forward to the big event now!

I use a Polar FT4 for my cardio work (running/combat/spin). It's a useful motivation tool for me. MFP estimates calories burned at around 25% more than the HRM, on average. As some others have suggested: I don't use it as a definitive figure, but as a guide. I don't swim, so have no idea on whether it could be used for…

I've signed up for two Race for Life 5K runs: a week apart, in July, and am following the C25K plan so that I can run them properly. I was coerced into doing it by a friend, yet am grudgingly enjoying it :smile: 25 miles is a great target to aim for. Good luck!

I got to W5D3 and got an injury which has taken a few weeks to get over. Last week I restarted and did the whole of W5 again. Moving onto W6 tomorrow. Well done for getting to the end of W6 in the first place: it's quite an achievement. In your position I'd re-start at W6 as it isn't that much different to 5 and see how…

Thought I'd post an update as I'm past my original target and on to a new (lower) one. So it's not impossible to lose weight even at this time of life: if I can do it after around 30 years of trying, then it's do-able, even if it isn't easy. I feel better than I have done in ages, and am planning on running two race for…

My diary is open to friends. I shop mainly at Waitrose/M&S/local shops + markets. (oh, and Aldi!)

Adding to what others have said: it takes me a while to get into a new routine and I've been going to the gym for ages, so it's not unusual at all. The only people that find it all easy are the ones who aren't trying. If you can persevere then the rewards can be fantastic.

I put on a load of weight in my final uni year too. Dratted finals led to massive binge eating for me. Get to grips with it ASAP and don't leave it as long as I did would be my advice. I wish I had managed to sort my head out when I was younger, (though any time is better than none!).

That's one way I hadn't thought of, though I like logging the cals earned. I calculated my TDEE as sedentary, and entered the extra cals on the days I exercised, but that makes it too top-heavy on exercise days, really. I'll use my baseline allowance as you suggest, and log exercise, but offset with some "dummy"…

Well done! I'm on W5D3 today, so am not far behind you :-) I think this podcast has to be the most daunting, in terms of the jump from 8 to 20 mins, but to be honest I'm quite looking forward to having a crack at it as the walk /run/walk etc. is getting a bit of a pain. As for weight loss, I was dieting well before I…