joe_d Member

Thanks to everyone for reading this and for the comments and support--it's much appreciated. I wish you all the best. :flowerforyou:

Hi Dawn! I'm glad you're here, and thanks for posting your story. I can only say I'm sorry you've gone through what you had to, but I'm so happy that for the last few years things have been going well, and I hope that continues for you. Vailara, nice to see your posts too. I hope you've been well. I've been lucky that so…

Congrats on losing 100! I'm in awe of you and other folks who can work that hard, that long, and that persistently to achieve that much. Here's wishing you continued success!

The term "fat-burning zone" is really misleading. Google around to check out what's been written about it. My understanding of it is this: While you work in the fat burning zone, it's true that a greater percentage of your calorie burn is coming from fat compared with the "fitness/cardio zone. However, you're working…

Just 3 months ago I made the switch to early morning workouts after thinking I would never be able to do them. I was pretty sure I'd hate them. Last February I signed up for a 6am class that met for 4 weeks (what was I thinking?). I'm glad I did; I really liked working out early and now that the class is over it's my…

Chinese? This!! And Indian...ummm Chicken Vindaloo, extra hot. And proscuitto hoagies when I'm in Philly, and... Pop tarts? Really, folks. If we're going to incorporate the "nasties" into our diets, let's go for the gusto! :drinker:

Well, but math based on crappy data is pretty pointless, no? So yes, the simple additions and subtractions we do will pump out a result, but when the math doesn't get you the results you hope for, it might just be a a case of garbage in, bad results out. You've got to be pretty rigorous about your measuring and portioning,…

Doing the math right is cool, but I believe the problem is having too much faith in the numbers. Even assuming you've picked an approach that will give you a calorie deficit (either MFP or the TDEE-x% approach), the fact is you have to understand that every number you use is only an estimate. For the first 3 months I used…

Excellent post! Great stuff, especially the point about getting some instruction. You need to be safe as you increase the weight, and to get the most benefit you need to tense your core and supporting muscles as you do the exercises. As you think about buying bells for yourself, you might want to plan for the fact that you…

I used to get this all the time. Seeing your post just made me think about it and I realize that I don't have the problem any more, and I do 60 minutes 3 days a week. A couple of things might be making the difference: I got new training shoes. And I rarely go for more than 30 minutes on the same elliptical. I split my…

Well shucks. No, your weight doesn't change just because some blood moves from one part of your body back to the general blood supply. It's the morning pee that mattered in your test case. Remember: "A pint's a pound the world around (referring to water)." But in this case, since pee's a little heavier than water, let's…

Congrats, CathyD! That's a lot of work, and I hope you are seeing the results and feeling strong. I too missed the rehab staff when I finished, but you know you can pick right up from where you left off and keep going. You've come thru a bad time only to become stronger and in better shape, and you will be even stronger as…

Great suggestions from folks here. Satriani, yes! I have Flying in a Blue Dream and If I Could Fly in my cardio playlists at about 2/3rds of the way through when I usually really need a pick me up. Here's just a few suggestions for upbeat and/or interesting lyrics for running/cardio: Time Has Come Today (Chambers Brothers)…

Man, I'm with you all the way. I'm nominally on 1560 cals/day, and I'd been trying to not eat more than 200 of my exercise cals (most days I'm in the 600-900 cals burned range). Seems like not enough net cals, but I've been feeling energetic enough and it was working well until recently. I'm having a little harder time now…

I'm in the same boat for morning workouts. Water only for me. I tend to have reflux (although I'm off meds now that I've lost some weight), so even though my morning workouts are at 6am, I hold off on breakfast or even coffee until I'm at work. However, when I do my strength training (evenings), I do occasionally save…

Wow. If I were to use that formula, it'd say I'm burning quite a bit more than my HRM does. So I'd be careful, especially if you plan to eat those exercise calories back. On the other hand, I'm an old guy and maybe my multiplier should be a lot smaller than .096. :smile: I think the important thing is that you're…

Was that weight in kilograms or pounds? Either way, that would be a very, very crude approximation at best. It doesn't take into account how hard you're actually exercising--there's going to be a big difference in calories burned say, between running for 10 minutes and walking for 10 minutes. if you really want more…

Yep, me too. My loss has been very uneven, but the it averages out to 1.3 pounds a week. I've seen folks out here refer to those blessed weeks where you lose those pounds as "whoosh" weeks. :smile:

Perhaps. But it's a pretty simple problem to diagnose correctly, so I'm not sure why you're saying this. In my case all it really took was a pulse-ox sensor on my finger overnight, and it pretty clearly showed the significant dip in blood oxygen as a result of not breathing while asleep. And it was happening a couple of…

Mmapags, I've seen this said often--that you can't build muscle while in a calorie deficit. But let me ask you this. I've been eating at a calorie deficit since August and have been losing on average a pound and a third a week. The first couple of months of that I was doing just cardio and I lost 5% body fat while having a…

I've been doing KBs for about 3 years now, but really intensely for the last 6 months. It depends on your routine, I think. I work with KBs at a KB club, and we get new workout every time we go, and there are enough KBs to move up to heavier bells. It's a combination of strength/circuit/cardio training really. But if you…

Here's my thoughts on cardio vs. strength training. For folks that are trying to lose weight to be healthier, I think you've got to do the combo platter. First, tackle the biggest risks (heart, diabetes, etc.) by building a good base of cardio activity--it's important to strengthen your heart muscle and keep those coronary…

Music! Get your music player of choice, and put some thought into creating some playlists for your workouts that include things you really like and maybe don't the get chance to listen to often. Make it part high energy, part inspirational, part calming (for your cool down)--whatever works for you. Good music makes the…

But this study was of people on a very low calorie diet (800 cals a day). You can't just generalize this one study to all situations. Is there any research that covers people who are doing a more modest calorie deficit? The reason I'm poking at this is it's counter to my own experience. In about 3 months, I did pretty much…

I really like to poach it in a 50-50 mixture of water, white wine, some onion slices, and dill. It cooks pretty quickly (depending on thickness like 4 mins a side) and you can then add a little salt, pepper, or whatever when you serve it. I agree that good salmon needs little in the way of seasoning...

Vailara, you've been losing weight, too! Good for you! As I've told folks who ask my about "my secret" for losing weight, there's nothing like a heart attack to put you off your appetite. :ohwell: But still, now that I've come to terms with having had one, it still takes work and discipline to lose weight, so I don't…

Welcome, CathyD! Hope you are feeling better physically and emotionally after having gone through it. Best wishes to you (and to us all!) as you continue through your recovery.

You're right! I did a little comparison reading on the "best" cardio exercise (of course, the real answer is the best one is the one you enjoy doing and will work the hardest on), but running pretty much gets top recommendations. The elliptical stores up momentum to smooth things out, so yes, it is easier than running. The…

I lost about 20 pounds while doing most of my exercise on an elliptical doing interval training supplemented with walking on non-workout days. Since then I've gone back to doing kettlebells on alternate days for strength training. And just last week I started on the rowing machine for some of my cardio minutes just to…

I've been doing KBs off and on for about 3 years now. I really like the challenge, and I like getting some strength work in but also the occasional routines that provide interval-like cardio. I agree with other folks here that you need to get good RKC based info. The key, and it may not be apparent from watching DVDs, is…