<p>Oh, gawd. I hope I never see a VersaClimber. That has to be brutal. I’ll stick to walking very slowly up mountains.</p>
<p>I’ve never used a VC, but I like the looks of it and I’ve heard some great things about it! We were specifically looking at a Sports Rehab model that has a seat on it and allows various stages of weight-bearing.</p>
<p>Interesteddad, thanks. Now I have to keep that weight off. That has been the hard part for me.</p>
<p>Just got back from the gym. It as pretty early in the morning. I hope this isn’t going to be what it takes to keep the weight off. Working out at midnight on a regular basis. :)</p>
<p>I did see the Green Mile at the gym. Never saw it before.</p>
<p>Stretching and a bit of strength training this morning. I feel pretty good this morning - the stretching always provides a good start to the day. There may be some psychological good feeling on the tooth progress too. At least I can chew on that side now which means less overall stress on the other side (I wonder if that can cause headaches). The endodontist put a filling in the cap after the root canal and said not to chew on that side. I have a full cap on there now and it feels pretty good. But I still have to wait two to three weeks for the permanent crown. That’s a total of five appointments for this thing. It should be over soon.</p>
<p>CDC has warned that flu season is early this year, concentrated in the Southeast right now.</p>
<p>Today is a tennis day - just hitting for an hour. I got an invite for tomorrow and offered Thursday or Friday instead. The warmer weather this week is really nice for working out - btw warmer is just relative.</p>
<p>I heard that about the flu season. H needs to get his butt over for his flu shot! I got mine ages ago.</p>
<p>5.2 miles this morning- 60 degrees. It was spitting a little rain when I went out, which almost led me to go back in. It didn’t ever really rain until just after I got home. I have a neighbor who walks a cat off-leash in the morning. It’s pretty cool.</p>
<p>Speaking of cats getting in their daily workout, I saw “Girl with her cat on the treadmill” on YouTube yesterday when it had somewhere around 6100 views. Now it has over 150,000.</p>
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<p>I’ve been weight stable for over a year now (plus or minus 5 pounds) after losing 90. I think the key is really to keep eating the same way that got you there. Maybe not quite as tightly controlled on the calories, a few more splurges, but the same basic concept.</p>
<p>It’s pretty widely believed that building (and/or maintaining) lean muscle mass is the single best thing you can do for weight maintenance. Lean muscle and the things you have to do to get it work in your favor on every level: burning more calories, lowering insulin resistance, increasing growth hormone, and generally shifting the whole hormonal background in a positive direction.</p>
<p>I am not trying to be stable at all. When food is good, I eat, I gain, then I go back to my normal diet, and the weight comes off. Happens every year, I am not depriving myself of all that wonderful culinary creations on my vacation. 2 weeks of verstuffing yourself with unbelievable things that are not even available in my hometown creates such a positive memory that we are craving for it staring every fall, looking forward for March, yuummm, lots of not being able to get up from the table…
Just give yourself a break, too much focus on one thing never works for me anyway…</p>
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<p>Miami- What works for you (which I seriously question) is not what is going to work for anyone else. I think iDad’s success speaks for itself.</p>
<p>Tennis today. We couldn’t get a court but two people on it asked us if we wanted to play doubles so we did. We lost 6-0, 6-2. Basically my serve was awful and I felt sluggish. My partner had a knee injury and wasn’t moving well. We probably would have been better off just hitting.</p>
<p>"I’ve been weight stable for over a year now (plus or minus 5 pounds) after losing 90. I think the key is really to keep eating the same way that got you there. Maybe not quite as tightly controlled on the calories, a few more splurges, but the same basic concept.</p>
<p>Losing 90 pounds and keeping your weight steady for a year…
Very cool, interesteddad. Very cool. I think your concept is right.</p>
<p>I don’t think I’ve been able to maintain the same intensity of exercise now as when I was losing weight at a rapid clip. A lot of that is just due to the fact that I am much more fit, so to match that intensity now would require crazy hard workouts, hard enough that I would really struggle to keep that up over the long haul. I think a big part of the challenge is finding exercise and eating approaches that work and that are sustainable over the long haul. For me, I’m always looking to add different things to my exercise rotation to keep it interesting. If I get sick of the same old same old, I can do something else for a while. I think changing it up also helps prevent injury.</p>
<p>Biggest thing that keeps me sort of on track foodwise is to stick to a pretty tight ban on sugar. I simply cannot eat candy, soda, juice, or junk food carbs (chips, etc.) in moderation. I have to “just say no”. That way, I can eat like a pig when it comes to meals…</p>
<p>The key to getting your weight to a desired level and then maintaining it there is to make a lifestyle change, not to diet. And it does not require constantly feeling hungry or deprived. You can even have your occasional “cheats” as long as you maintain moderation and an overall healthy lifestyle based on regular exercise, sound nutrition and portion control. Dieting leads to cravings and then binges. A nutritional plan keeps you satiated, both physically and mentally.</p>
<p>The key is to identify where your daily nutritional habits are counter productive and to then take remedial steps to change those behaviors. For me, my problems were portion control and a penchant for 2 chocolate martinis each Saturday when out to dinner and restaurant portion sizes of pasta every weekend with multiple slices of Italian bread. So I did away with the chocolate martinis as a “staple” and switched to 4 oz of Van Gogh Chocolate vodka or 6 oz of red wine on Saturdays. When I eat pasta, I limit myself to 1 to 1 1/2 cups. Only 1 piece of bread. If I have a dessert at a restaurant, my wife and I share it or better yet, I save dessert for when we get home and have a Vita Top Brownie warmed with a dixie cup of Skinny Cow Dolce de Leche on top. I eat loads of protein and veggies. I use Weight Watchers points for portion control. I work out 5-6 days a week and make sure to eat enough food to fuel my activity level.</p>
<p>I knocked off 36 pounds using this approach and have maintained my weight +/- 2 lbs without feeling deprived. If on occasion I “crave” that oatmeal raisin cookie, I have it but then adjust my meal plan for the rest of the day accordingly. It’s all a question of balance and moderation coupled with some basic sound nutritional guidelines.</p>
<p>Interesteddad, I totally understand your last post. Totally.</p>
<p>michaelnkat, I am trying to do the moderation thing. I have cut my portions down. I am eating better most days. I have never been able to do the moderation thing for long. That is the reality.</p>
<p>I should probably just cut the sugar out like interesteddad has done. I feel like I am a sugarholic.</p>
<p>You should have seen me with the Halloween candy. I swear, a junkie with a supply of heroin would have had more “willpower” than I did with that stuff in the house. I just would rather have my binge treats be stuff like fresh fruit, nuts, cheese, or pepperoni slices. I can still pack on too many calories, but at least it’s food. With some nutritional value. I just can’t come up with anything good that comes from eating candy or drinking sugar.</p>
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<p>Airdyne intervals for me today. 1/2 mile intervals. Just 19 minutes worth. First time I’ve done them since April. I intentionally tried to take it a little easy and they weren’t that painful. Still, I did the intervals in my second fastest ever for 1/2 miles. Not bad for my Airdyne legs being a little rusty. I definitely left a little something on the table, but I’ve learned that it doesn’t pay to get greedy on the Airdyne.</p>
<p>I was doing a heart rate recovery between intervals – down to 70% of my max. That’s enough to catch my breath, but without much extra rest. Saw heart rates of 95% of my true max on the final two intervals.</p>
<p>I’m quite the sight. T-shirt, shorts, big box fan on a stool blowing on me from 24 inches away. Geezer intervals. At least I didn’t open the window. I’ve done that before riding Airdyne when it’s in the teens outside!</p>
<p>“You should have seen me with the Halloween candy. I swear, a junkie with a supply of heroin would have had more “willpower” than I did with that stuff in the house.”</p>
<p>I understand this too.</p>
<p>I eat candy,cookies and cake that I do not even like if it is the only junk left in the house.
My wife all 100 lbs of her came home with cookies I did not like once and I asked why she bought that kind. She said she had a craving for them. I said the box isn’t open yet what kind of craving is that. Three days later the box still was not open and I ate the entire box. A couple of days later she went to have some and asked if I ate them. When I said yes she said I thought you did not like them. I said liking them and eating them are not the same.</p>
<p>My wife likes ice cream everynight so I gave up eating ice cream so that we have it left for her. I love ice cream but I never eat it at home.</p>
<p>Tom1944, I missed, your weight, fitness story. What is it and what are you trying to accomplish?</p>
<p>Well I am in good cardio shape and I am strong. My bloodwork and BP are good but I am fat. I have worked out my entire life and I should lose weight but I feel great.
I am heavier than you were but not as heavy as idad was.</p>