2019 WIR Healthy Lifestyle Discussion

[andi9899]

Jan 14, 2019 9:48:33 GMT -5 ohmomto2boys said:

I walked on treadmill Saturday and Sunday - 30 minutes, hills at a 3.7 pace.  I hold 2 lb weights also.  Did separate arm weights Sunday, will do those 3 more times this week.  I will walk Monday, Wednesday, Thursday take Tuesday, Friday off.

Eating - ugh.  I'm trying, unsuccessfully, to watch what I eat and how much.  But I'm hungry.    

It's hard,but just keep doing what you're doing and just treat setbacks as a chance to reevaluate and learn. Plus, you have to have days where you can enjoy things. Otherwise, you won't be successful.

[LlamaLlamaDuck]

Trending slowly.  Any loss is a win!

1/1/2019 - 141

1/7/2019 - 141 
1/14/2019 - 140.5

[LlamaLlamaDuck]

Jan 14, 2019 9:48:33 GMT -5 ohmomto2boys said:

I walked on treadmill Saturday and Sunday - 30 minutes, hills at a 3.7 pace.   

That is a nice treadmill pace. Being short-legged I treadmill at a slightly slower pace of 3.6, set at a .5% incline to compensate for the lack of wind resistance. No hills, though.  We have plenty of hills outside.  

Anything at or over 4 mph is "running" for me. At that blinding speed, the incline is set to 1% but can be sustained for over an hour. I can boot it up to 5 mph but that is "sprinting" so only for about 5 minutes or so. 

[andi9899]

I am not a runner. I can walk 2 minutes and then jog 3. Rinse and repeat until I get to my goal distance or time. That's about it. I wish I could run long distances, but it's just not in the cards for me.

I did get a new sleeve for my knee this weekend, so hopefully that helps with some of the knee pain I've been having. I try not to overextend it, but sometimes it still hurts.

[imanangel]

I have my fit bit in at work today. Let’s see how much these little ones have me walking around.

[ohmomto2boys]

2 hours ago ohmomto2boys said:

I walked on treadmill Saturday and Sunday - 30 minutes, hills at a 3.7 pace. I hold 2 lb weights also. Did separate arm weights Sunday, will do those 3 more times this week. I will walk Monday, Wednesday, Thursday take Tuesday, Friday off.



Eating - ugh. I'm trying, unsuccessfully, to watch what I eat and how much. But I'm hungry.







It's hard,but just keep doing what you're doing and just treat setbacks as a chance to reevaluate and learn. Plus, you have to have days where you can enjoy things. Otherwise, you won't be successful.

Yes, I 'm not going to let eating discourage me.  I eat pretty healthy overall - it is portion size I seriously need to work on.

2 hours ago ohmomto2boys said:

I walked on treadmill Saturday and Sunday - 30 minutes, hills at a 3.7 pace.

That is a nice treadmill pace. Being short-legged I treadmill at a slightly slower pace of 3.6, set at a .5% incline to compensate for the lack of wind resistance. No hills, though. We have plenty of hills outside.

Thank you.  I warm up at 3.5 with 1% incline for 5 minutes.   I do intervals on the hills - 2% - 3 minutes, 0% - 2 minutes, 3% - 3 minutes, 0% - 2 minutes, etc - up to 5%.  I will continue to push myself with the intervals - change the 0% to 1 minute instead of 2.  

[WholeLottaNothin]

I worked out this this morning and weighed in. Down 1.2 pounds since last Monday.

[andi9899]

I was all prepared to be good today eating wise. Then the lady in the cafeteria downstairs decided to make peach cobbler. I caved. I also ate the cobbler first and am now eating my salad. Whatever I don't finish today will keep until tomorrow. YOLO!

[finnime]

Re: Food choices 
I lost over 40 pounds the last year and a half by two methods.

When I was doing the intermittent fasting I did a day on/2 days off schedule. Day on fast was limited to 500 calories, so basically soup, dry salad, an egg or two, vegetables on those days. Days off was whatever.

When I switched to low-carb I typically ate (and eat some days now) 2 eggs in the morning, hard-cooked, with a dab of mayo if cold, or whole-milk yogurt sweetened with stevia and vanilla extract, or sugar-free cheesecake (I make this);
lunch would be salad with regular dressing, ranch or bleu cheese, including chicken or meat, cheese, nuts, any kinds of vegetables, or soup I made with no rice or pasta, or bowl of vegetables with butter and some hard cheese;
dinner would be protein: chicken, steak, hamburger, hot dog, with 1/2 bag of frozen vegetables with butter or fresh green beans, or salad with dressing;
snacks would be almonds, peanuts or pecans, celery stuffed with natural peanut butter or cream cheese, melon or berries with whipped cream, 2 carrots, or cheesecake.
Some days I would have also one tortilla or 1/2 pita.

ETA: I also ate eggplant (parmesan with no breading; it's great) and spaghetti squash for low-carb. Added a lot to some dinners.

Basically for me low-carb came in at 30 g or less, but sometimes up to 50 if something was going on - dinner out or with a friend.

I lost weight both ways, and my very large appetite went down. The biggest changes involved different habits, including when shopping. For low-carb you shed your FoF (Fear of Fat). Eating fat really moderates your appetite. So replace milk in your coffee with full cream and enjoy animal proteins, peanuts and the like. My cholesterol did not go up; it went down, too.

[flamingo]

It finally stopped snowing here, so I took a walk at lunch. Chilly, but the fresh air is helping me get through the afternoon.

That, and the reese's I at as soon as I was back at my desk 

[finnime]

Oh, while I was changing my eating habits a good friend got deeply into Weight Watchers. She's lost over 70 lbs. in the past 2 years. It has been interesting comparing food choices with her.

[laterbloomer]

my very large appetite went down

This is what I need to have happen now. If I could just eat the recommended calories each day I would be golden. A woman at work got the stomach surgery and she has lost a crazy amount of weight since last May. But it's not the surgery itself that made her lose weight, it's the small amounts she eats. I want to get to that point without the surgery.

[weltschmerz]

I just got back from a long walk. It's a balmy minus 10 here. 
I walk everywhere in the summer....keeps my weight down.

[imanangel]

I got in 6,975 steps today according to my fit bit. 

[flutterby]

1/6: 1:30 regular planks, :15 each side planks
.

.

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1/14: 1:54 regular planks, :40 each side planks

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Week 2 Reflection
Okay, I don't know where my week 2 goals are, so I'm doing this from memory. 

I hit 85,079 steps last week, which was 5,921 short of my 91,000 goal (that's an average of 13,000 steps per day). 

After Wednesday, I gave up on tracking food consumption. I epically failed the rest of the week. I've been traveling, and I've exhibited very little self-control. I'm disappointed in myself, and my stomach hurts. 

I did manage to get five days of cardio in, two days of abs/core, and one day of arms. I am up to five full rotations of planks--30 seconds on forearms, 15 seconds on each side. 

I realize that traveling as much as I have and having 15-hour work days is not the norm for me. That means I don't actually need to adjust much regarding my routine as I'll be back to my boring life starting tomorrow. I do need to be more planful when I am traveling. 

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Week 3 Goals
January 14 - 20
Step Goal: 91,000  78,000 because I forgot my FitBit charger when I left home for five days. 
Calorie Consumption: 15,000 
Abs/Core Days: 3
Arm Days: 2
Cardio Days: 4 

[debthaven]

Wow Knee Deep in Water Chloe that's a LOT of steps! Well done!!! I don't have a step goal per se but I'm happy when I get 7000 steps in.

I know you mentioned wanting to hear more about the Mediterranean as well as keto. I wish I could help. My guess (since I live in France and part of France is on the Mediterranean ) is that it's all about eating "real food", ie protein, fruit, veg, and no processed foods or ready meals.

I don't know if this will be any help, but on the reddit keto thread, they always suggest that you set your macros (which determine how much you can eat) to sedentary, even if you're NOT sedentary, UNLESSyou do a TON of exercise.

I have a colleague at Job 2 who runs. She started running last year, she now runs 3-4 times a week, in ALL weather. She has been slim since I've known her (5 years). She once mentioned the 5/2 diet so I asked her about it. She told me she generally refuses to discuss dieting but she'd make an exception for me because I was obviously seriously dieting because I had not eaten ONE single pastry in weeks LOL.

I had lunch again with her last month. She told me that she started running 3-4 times a week just so she can have an extra 2-3 desserts/week. She also told me that she used to be "seriously obese" (her words).

I cracked for Chinese food on Sun after our walk. This time I had just 4 dim sum, a hot and sour soup and some broccoli. NO sauce, NO noodles, NO rice. I still gained 700 grams (1.5 lbs)!!!

So now I'm being SUPER SUPER strict again! I even cooked tonight. I was hoping to have leftovers for Thurs but DH finished everything LOL. (I'm not complaining, I cook so rarely these days, so I'm glad DH enjoyed it.) 

DH told me today that maybe my body "just can't get under 135 lbs (61.5 kilos) anymore", that I look great, and that I'm being too hard on myself. I told DH, it WILL get there, even for just a nanosecond, or I will die trying.

ETA: Cookies Galore sorry I hadn't realized you'd lost all that weight! Congratulations! Can I please ask you how you did it, and how you are keeping it off? I do know that you exercise way more than I ever will LOL.

[debthaven]

I also had a sort-of argument with my director tonight. (Yes this is weight related.) She gave me a costume for the first and longest scene of the play (nearly half the play) weeks ago. I told her it wasn't comfortable. She told me it didn't matter.

The top is snug but it fits. However, I can't zip up the skirt. Not even halfway. She said oh that doesn't matter, the top covers the skirt. Tonight I finally texted her to tell her, well actually it DOES matter, because the zipper cuts into my flesh, and it HURTS. I told her, I've lost 41 lbs but frankly memorizing 73 pages of text and getting up on stage is hard enough without having to be in pain or worry that if I gain a pound the week of the play the skirt will split while I'm on stage. (This only came up now because I need matching "racy" shoes.)

So I sent her photos of 2 of my elastic skirts. She found a shirt that matches one of them perfectly! She's bringing it to Wed rehearsal so I can try it on. I think it will fit. 

ETA: I forgot to mention that my theater troupe shares costumes with the local international MS+HS, which is where that first costume came from. Turns out that at 59, I'm apparently NOT the same weight/build as a French MS/HS student?! REALLY?! How astonishing!!! (Two of the 6 ladies in my play ARE, but alas I'm not one of them LOL.)

[Cookies Galore]

"ETA: Cookies Galore sorry I hadn't realized you'd lost all that weight! Congratulations! Can I please ask you how you did it, and how you are keeping it off? I do know that you exercise way more than I ever will LOL."

Thanks, debthaven. Honestly, it took me hating myself to make a lifestyle change and actually working to stick with it. I started half-assedly working out in January 2012 at my work gym and a friend told me about My Fitness Pal and that really helped. I was able to really see what I was putting into my body and also see what exercises helped actually taking off the pounds. I spent a lot of time on the elliptical machine to start out! I didn't start walking/running until the weather got warmer, and even then I didn't really get into running until my sister wanted me to sign up for a 10k in April 2013.
But - it was a lot of work not only regularly making healthy meal choices and working out, but also retraining my brain to not eat all the food. Case in point, I used to eat four slices of pizza in a sitting. It took retraining myself to stop and rest while eating to realize that two slices also satiated me.
I had a bad couple of years mentally when I couldn't run anymore. I walked to maintain my weight, but it wasn't the same so I wasn't doing a good job of doing it regularly. I'm really trying to make a good effort to stick to a routine now.

ETA: I went from a size 14 to a size 8. I'm holding steady at 8/10, depending on the pants, and I can wear a size 6 in certain things like a blazer.

[debthaven]

Thank you Cookies Galore ! Probably like when my nutritionist explained that pizza was a side dish, only ever to be eaten occasionally, and only with veggies or salad.  

I had been craving pizza for 6 months. I made keto pizza once but it's still loaded with calories and I didn't love it at all. It did scratch the itch though.

Last week I finally cracked and bought two mini pizzas. (58g carbs, so 3 times what I'm allowed on keto, although I'm less strict now). It was HEAVEN!!! I told DH that half was for him but then I kept coming back for more until it was all gone.

The second mini-pizza is still in the freezer.

Once I hit my goal weight I'm allowing myself one/week. Maybe even before then.

I don't have much of a sweet tooth but Chinese food and pizza are definitely my weaknesses. Ideally I'd like to alternate them until I reach goal weight, then have each of them once a week.

[Cookies Galore]

Salty things, especially soft pretzels are my weekend. I am effed when people bring pretzels to work.

[raeoflyte]

There's certain food I just can't control myself with.  Cereal is probably #1.  Tortilla chips #2.  I wish I could figure out why I can't just say enough with those things.  

I am maintaining though with no tracking and boat loads of cereal in the house over my vacation plus lots of eating out, so that was fun.  Back to reality and I'm still maintaining.  Still not tracking.  My phone has been in safe mode for a few weeks so I can't really access any of my apps and I don't feel like going to the trouble of remembering my password to login to mfp online.  I should do it eventually though.  

Someone mentioned knee pain upthread?  My knees have really hurt lately and it drives me nuts.  I'm not even 40 yet.  How is this happening, and what do I do about it?  My mom just had 1 knee replacement and is scheduling the 2nd.  I'd love to avoid that if possible.  

Adding in kettle bells a couple times a week is going well (except possibly for my knees?).  I thought I needed to increase my weights until I went to martial arts.  I don't know if the instructor has a new years resolution of his own or what but the warm ups have been killer and I can feel it then that the weights are working and that I don't need to up them yet.  I can't even get through his full warm ups anymore and part of me wants to give him the excuse that its because I'm working out even more.  

[andi9899]

Jan 15, 2019 17:23:03 GMT -5 raeoflyte said:

There's certain food I just can't control myself with.  Cereal is probably #1.  Tortilla chips #2.  I wish I could figure out why I can't just say enough with those things.  

I am maintaining though with no tracking and boat loads of cereal in the house over my vacation plus lots of eating out, so that was fun.  Back to reality and I'm still maintaining.  Still not tracking.  My phone has been in safe mode for a few weeks so I can't really access any of my apps and I don't feel like going to the trouble of remembering my password to login to mfp online.  I should do it eventually though.  

Someone mentioned knee pain upthread?  My knees have really hurt lately and it drives me nuts.  I'm not even 40 yet.  How is this happening, and what do I do about it?  My mom just had 1 knee replacement and is scheduling the 2nd.  I'd love to avoid that if possible.  

Adding in kettle bells a couple times a week is going well (except possibly for my knees?).  I thought I needed to increase my weights until I went to martial arts.  I don't know if the instructor has a new years resolution of his own or what but the warm ups have been killer and I can feel it then that the weights are working and that I don't need to up them yet.  I can't even get through his full warm ups anymore and part of me wants to give him the excuse that its because I'm working out even more.  

Make sure you don't overextend your knee. When you are doing exercises, your knee should never go out past your toe. Copperfit also makes a really good compression sleeve. I have two. Plus they're only about $10. I also take turmeric for my joints. The overextending thing was what helped me the most though. I had horrible knee pain until my zumba instructor showed me that.

[raeoflyte]

Jan 15, 2019 18:28:29 GMT -5 andi9899 said:

Jan 15, 2019 17:23:03 GMT -5 raeoflyte said:

There's certain food I just can't control myself with.  Cereal is probably #1.  Tortilla chips #2.  I wish I could figure out why I can't just say enough with those things.  

I am maintaining though with no tracking and boat loads of cereal in the house over my vacation plus lots of eating out, so that was fun.  Back to reality and I'm still maintaining.  Still not tracking.  My phone has been in safe mode for a few weeks so I can't really access any of my apps and I don't feel like going to the trouble of remembering my password to login to mfp online.  I should do it eventually though.  

Someone mentioned knee pain upthread?  My knees have really hurt lately and it drives me nuts.  I'm not even 40 yet.  How is this happening, and what do I do about it?  My mom just had 1 knee replacement and is scheduling the 2nd.  I'd love to avoid that if possible.  

Adding in kettle bells a couple times a week is going well (except possibly for my knees?).  I thought I needed to increase my weights until I went to martial arts.  I don't know if the instructor has a new years resolution of his own or what but the warm ups have been killer and I can feel it then that the weights are working and that I don't need to up them yet.  I can't even get through his full warm ups anymore and part of me wants to give him the excuse that its because I'm working out even more.  

Make sure you don't overextend your knee. When you are doing exercises, your knee should never go out past your toe. Copperfit also makes a really good compression sleeve. I have two. Plus they're only about $10. I also take turmeric for my joints. The overextending thing was what helped me the most though. I had horrible knee pain until my zumba instructor showed me that.

I'm pretty careful with postures and I know in class they'd correct me if they saw an issue.  At home could be another issue, but I feel like that's been drilled into me for at least 20 years so I hope I'm not doing it very often.  I might try a brace when I do weights.  

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

debthaven, Mediterranean Diet is most likely an Americanized term. It's propogated by physicians and rating systems as one of the top three diets. link

From the Mayo Clinic:
The Mediterranean diet emphasizes: Eating primarily plant-based foods, such as fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes, and nuts. Replacing butter with healthy fats such as olive oil and canola oil. Using herbs and spices instead of salt to flavor foods.

My input from research the past few years:
It dictates red meat only once or twice per month, poultry once or twice or month, and primarily fish as the "meat". Sweets are to be avoided more than a few times per month. 

[flutterby]

1/6: 1:30 regular planks, :15 each side planks
.

.
1/15: 1:57 regular planks, :45 each side planks

Still just plugging along.

[flutterby]

Jan 15, 2019 20:09:35 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

debthaven , Mediterranean Diet is most likely an Americanized term. It's propogated by physicians and rating systems as one of the top three diets. link

From the Mayo Clinic:
The Mediterranean diet emphasizes: Eating primarily plant-based foods, such as fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes, and nuts. Replacing butter with healthy fats such as olive oil and canola oil. Using herbs and spices instead of salt to flavor foods.

My input from research the past few years:
It dictates red meat only once or twice per month, poultry once or twice or month, and primarily fish as the "meat". Sweets are to be avoided more than a few times per month. 

I don't see bacon anywhere on there. Hard pass

[wvugurl26]

For me the knee pain is because my hip flexors suck. I think their demise was hastened by my job. Way too much sitting. Also there was far too much coach potato going on when I got very ill and developed asthma.

I asked around about trainers at one gym but they don't really do that. Their webpage claims they have training sessions but oh well.

I'm trying to get back to 10k steps a day and work some other things in. I'm finally on a good run of not being sick and my travel is pretty low right now.

[flamingo]

I didn't get up early this morning, so assuming the roads don't turn to ice, I'm going to the gym after work. I'm hoping to sneak of work 15 minutes early so I can beat the rush.

My DH has really upped his game with his cooking lately. More variety, better tasting. I think overall it's helping us eat healthier, at least M-F. The weekends are kind of a free-for-all, though. Oh well, one thing at a time.