Weight Loss!
Hey, I lost a POUND! Course I worked my butt off at the gym and I can't believe that's all I have to show for it. This is going to be hard. Whaaa. Get me some cheese to go with that whine! I love cheese...I want wine and cheese! :>) Please?
Actually this was more painless than I expected; I'm working out at the hospital gym where I used to be a staff member, so I have friends among those who work there now. It's always easier to get through a workout if you have someone to chat with while exercising. Today I found a nurse practitioner colleague there exercising too, so now I have a little support from a friend.
Did I mention that I hate to exercise? I find it incredibly boring, and I have to change what I'm doing about every 15-20 minutes or I start to hate it enough to make it painful. Today I did 20 minutes on a treadmill, alternating between walking fast and jogging. I was actually working at about 9 1/2 METS, which is pretty good.
A MET is a term in exercise science that refers to "metabolic equivalents" and it has to do with the number of calories the body is burning per minute of exercise. As a point of reference running 8-minute miles is roughly a 12-MET workout. No one really pays any attention to these numbers except those of us in exercise science or medicine, because it helps us to judge fitness levels in an exercise participant, which is important when you're assessing recovery from a heart attack.
Anyway, I digress. After my treadmill I did some sit-ups and push-ups while seated on a large exercise ball. I was happy that I was able to do that without falling off and embarrassing myself, LOL! They're killer though, especially the sit-ups. I did a few more on the floor for good measure, because it's easier when you're not also trying to maintain your balance on a moving ball.
Then I did about 10 minutes of jumping rope intermittently; I met my match there! Anything overhead increases the pressure inside the chest, which is called inter-thoracic pressure. This makes it a harder workout. I want to be able to do 5 minutes continuously with that rope. That's my goal-so far I can do about 2. At the end the staff was trying to do some yoga stretches and I tried them as well. I did better than I expected in the flexibility department.
The gym staff is doing a newsletter for all the weight loss challenge participants and it includes a weight loss tip, and exercise tip, and a motivational saying. Today's exercise tip was pretty neat, and I'm thinking about doing it.
Their suggestion? Pick an activity, such as jumping jacks or push-ups. Then commit to doing a certain number of them hourly for the day. If you did 10 x 8 hours you would have done 80 jumping jacks or push-ups in that day. If you alternated activities every other day or every third day and added another exercise, such as sit-ups, then you'd work those muscles over again every second or third day.
I think this is a neat idea. I'll have trouble getting the job done on the hour while seeing patients, but I'm sure I can accomplish once sometime on an hour without a problem. Good thing there's a door on my office. They already think I'm nuts!
Laurie
Related Topics: Exercise Eases Menopause Symptoms, Video: Cardio Crash Course
Technorati Tags: weight loss, workout, situp, pushup
Actually this was more painless than I expected; I'm working out at the hospital gym where I used to be a staff member, so I have friends among those who work there now. It's always easier to get through a workout if you have someone to chat with while exercising. Today I found a nurse practitioner colleague there exercising too, so now I have a little support from a friend.
Did I mention that I hate to exercise? I find it incredibly boring, and I have to change what I'm doing about every 15-20 minutes or I start to hate it enough to make it painful. Today I did 20 minutes on a treadmill, alternating between walking fast and jogging. I was actually working at about 9 1/2 METS, which is pretty good.
A MET is a term in exercise science that refers to "metabolic equivalents" and it has to do with the number of calories the body is burning per minute of exercise. As a point of reference running 8-minute miles is roughly a 12-MET workout. No one really pays any attention to these numbers except those of us in exercise science or medicine, because it helps us to judge fitness levels in an exercise participant, which is important when you're assessing recovery from a heart attack.
Anyway, I digress. After my treadmill I did some sit-ups and push-ups while seated on a large exercise ball. I was happy that I was able to do that without falling off and embarrassing myself, LOL! They're killer though, especially the sit-ups. I did a few more on the floor for good measure, because it's easier when you're not also trying to maintain your balance on a moving ball.
Then I did about 10 minutes of jumping rope intermittently; I met my match there! Anything overhead increases the pressure inside the chest, which is called inter-thoracic pressure. This makes it a harder workout. I want to be able to do 5 minutes continuously with that rope. That's my goal-so far I can do about 2. At the end the staff was trying to do some yoga stretches and I tried them as well. I did better than I expected in the flexibility department.
The gym staff is doing a newsletter for all the weight loss challenge participants and it includes a weight loss tip, and exercise tip, and a motivational saying. Today's exercise tip was pretty neat, and I'm thinking about doing it.
Their suggestion? Pick an activity, such as jumping jacks or push-ups. Then commit to doing a certain number of them hourly for the day. If you did 10 x 8 hours you would have done 80 jumping jacks or push-ups in that day. If you alternated activities every other day or every third day and added another exercise, such as sit-ups, then you'd work those muscles over again every second or third day.
I think this is a neat idea. I'll have trouble getting the job done on the hour while seeing patients, but I'm sure I can accomplish once sometime on an hour without a problem. Good thing there's a door on my office. They already think I'm nuts!
Laurie
Related Topics: Exercise Eases Menopause Symptoms, Video: Cardio Crash Course
Technorati Tags: weight loss, workout, situp, pushup
15 Comments:
I never understand people who say they lost or gained ONE pound.
Some days the body just retains more water than other days, so the ONE pound loss or gain does not exist. Most people's weight changes from 1 to 3 pounds daily, at least, everyone I know, so please, to the ONE pound people~~~~
Good luck~
I read your blog about losing just one pound, and I hope my comment can help. I started working out in november, and I have been very dedicated. I go to Curves at least 3 times a week and even try to swim a few hours during the week. Have I lost much weight? No. Only recently, I lost about 8 pounds, and that's since november. But you know what I did lose? over 18 inches all over my body and about 4% body fat. You see, the reason why you may not have "lost weight" is because you are gaining muscule, and muscule weighs more than fat. I lost 13 pounds of body fat but i didnt know until I looked at the body fat percentage because I had gained so much muscle. Don't be discouraged. Any activity that you do will be good for your body. My suggestion is to go to a curves and get measured, or measure yourself, but only do it every 6 weeks. If you look at the scale too often or measure yourself too often, you will set yourself up to be disappointed because your body needs time to change, also, throw out the scale!! you don't need it anymore. Good Luck and look into a curves, it is a great thing for me.
lots of love
Great job, Laurie, and thanks for sharing all your medical information. It sounded like an article, not just a blog. I, too, have been working out a lot lately and only saw a pound off on the scale at the gym today. But I also realized I can't pinch as much fat around my midriff as I could several weeks ago. THAT felt good!!! I just think of it as an investment in muscle poundage that will pay off in boosted metabolic rate and that I'll see the pounds of fat come off the body, and the scale, in time.
I am so excited today!!! After joining a new gym in mid-February I am now, in mid-April, finally really getting into my workouts and wanting to eat rationally, dropping the need to eat to cope with feelings, and seeing the fat loss, and I think, the weight loss, now, too. It's clear it all goes together -- taking care of yourself with diet and exercise, increased self-esteem, action in your life towards all your life goals -- heck, I just got my taxes done and started spring cleaning and am just feeling like a new woman!
changrilee said it-personally,my body weight fluctuates 1-4 pounds.I also have seen more of a difference with measurements than on the scale.
I've been taking diet pills for years on and off. Adipex and Phertermine, but the most weight I lossed was about 9-10 lbs. But I stopped taking them in 1/06 and I "found " the weight again. I was very dedicated going to the gym every morning at 4:30 a.m.,for a couple of weeks, but when my job became stressful again, I stopped going. Well, I have a family reunion coming up at the end of May, and I want to lose about 20 lbs. I'm gong to Medical Weight Loss Clinic tomorrow for some assistance. Maybe I need some personal attention..HELP!! I need some support..
Thanks everyone, I went on the South Beach Diet - strictly & walked 4 miles a day & lost 3 pounds in 2 months - I need to lose 35 - Talk about frustrating. I'll quit the strict diet, eat healthy, keep walking & add some weights. May be I'll try on my bathing suit - that will either get me motivated or depress me into eating my daughter's chocolate Easter Bunny.
Muscle DOES NOT weigh more than fat. This is a common misconception. Muscle and fat weigh the same. Think of it this way, if you had a pound of muscle and a pound of fat, which would weigh the most? They would both weigh one pound. Muscle is denser than fat and takes up less space. This is why your body weight might increase on a strength training program, while your clothes continue to fit better.
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I completely agree
jti, I giggled when I read your post about muscle weighing more than fat being a common misconception. What people mean when they say that muscle weighs more is exactly what you described: muscle is more dense and takes up more space. If you had the same volume of muscle as you did fat, the muscle would weigh more.
To everyone,
This losing weight thing is very confusing! You lose water-weight, you gain muscle mass, you lose inches, you're going through the menepause,(which really put the weight on me). If you listen to the Medical staff you have to belive the simple explanation they give and it is that you just have to expend more calories than you consume, simple? No way! when so many variables get in the way.
I recently lost 56 pounds than counldn't lose another pound for several months. Truth be told I got tierd of it and got lax. For several months I got frustrated and fell off the wagon. I refused to get back on the scales becase I just knew I had gained all the weight I had worked so hard to lose. One day my husband was upset with me for not being so zealous with my diet as before and he accused me of gaining all the weight back.
So I had to get on the scales to see, after beating myself up all those months I had only gained a couple of pounds I was so thrilled!
Evidently I had learned what and how much I could eat not to gain the weight back. And losing only one pound is much, much, much better than gaing 5pds. So stay away from the diet pills they are really bad for you, and celebrate every pound lost.
I have been on the South Beach Diet for 3 weeks now. I lost 7 lbs the first week then a lb a week after. I am happy with that & plan to stick with it. I went on the diet because my cholesterol is high & 2 nurse assured me that they had gotten theirs down by going on the S B diet. One of the reasons I feel I will be able to stick with it is because it recommends the foods I already like. The only thing I don't like giving up is watermelon & pineapple (my favorite food in the whole world). I think that is the most important part of dieting; finding a diet you can live with & doing it for the sake of your health.
P
Don't even worry about the scale: I went from nearly a size 10 to a size 6, and stayed about 150 lbs the whole time. Really!
About three weeks ago, I decided to go on a diet and start going to the gym. I cut my fat down to under 20 grams a day. I was going to the gym three days a week. The first week I lost about 8 lbs. The following week I lost nothing and last week I gained a pound. I was told that my metabolism has adjusted after my first week of diet and was not burning fat/calories like before. Also was told that since I was working out that I would lose inches not pounds. I found that to be true but it is depressing when you are trying to get your weight number down.
The worst part of menopause and dieting is that your too tired most of the time to try!We have Aunt Flow-babies and now this ahhhhh!
pollymom
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