<p>There’s a reason our family calls it Feaster.</p>
<p>I ate a lot this weekend, but it was all what I consider “worth it.” Perfect leg of lamb, new potatoes with dill cream sauce, etc.</p>
<p>Even though I probably ate too much, at least I feel it was better in years past. This year had no bread or rolls and no dessert with dinner. Dessert was a huge fruit bowl with a vanilla/juice glaze. But I did have to give in on the homemade mac and cheese–that was son’s only request!</p>
<p>Walked yesterday morning and again this am. Leaving our house you have to walk up a very steep hill, by the time I get to top I am out of breath and have shaky legs–no idea what pulse is (afraid to check). So only walked a little over 1/2 mile each day. Guess I should set goal of getting up that hill w/o feeling like I might collapse on the street.</p>
<p>mkm:</p>
<p>If you can walk even five minutes in the other direction before tackling the hill, it will really help. Getting warmed up will make a difference. I feel tight in the legs as I start out, but that goes away after a few minutes.</p>
<p>The burning and jelly legs is the result of sustaining a burst of work long enough that you can’t supply enough oxygen to the muscles. I’m not sure that’s an important a goal for general fitness stuff like walking, especially for those of us just getting started. I suspect that the hills are why people like treadmills! It’s amazing how the work intensity goes up on a steep hill compared to strolling along flat ground.</p>
<p>I guess the good news is that the homestretch on your walk is downhill!</p>
<p>Back from another morning at the gym. Rode the bike for 55 minutes and then 5 minute cool down. Man, was I a sweaty mess! I confess that I had too much potato salad and wine yesterday! Had lots of fruit and grilled shrimp, too. Back on track today! If I can keep up the exercise routine the healthy eating should get easier for me.</p>
<p>idad…what exercise programs are you downloading on your ipod???</p>
<p>toneranger, Do you have any tips on how to ride together? I don’t really enjoy bicycling with my H because most of the time we have to ride in a line and it is impossible to have a conversation while riding. I might as well be alone! I should add that I don’t bike for exercise. My idea of a great bike ride is to ride side by side on a flat grade, under shady trees on a sunny day, while chatting. I think my H might be indulging me! :)</p>
<p>NorthMinnesota:</p>
<p>I bought this 12 week program (It’ll probably take me 24 weeks to get through the whole thing):</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.*****ドメインパーキング”>http://www.*****teru.com/</a></p>
<p>You need a step (I use the first step on my stairs), a pair of dumbells (Walmart), and a stability ball – plus some kind of cardio (bike, treadmill, jogging in place with jumping jacks, whatever). You can do it at at the gym or at home.</p>
<p>Here’s a YouTube of one of the exercise circuits. It’s really simple stuff, but very effective because everything engages the large core muscles, thus burning a lot of calories. Each workout in Phase one consists of five minutes of cardio warmup, two or three repeatitions of the circut you see here (or an alternate series of similar exercises, plus about 10 minutes of interval training on the bike, finishing with five minutes of cardio cooldown.</p>
<p>Go to YouTube and search for this phrase to find the free workout. The audio is from the second day of the iPod workouts, with video showing the exercises.</p>
<p>FREE Fitter U Workout with Yuri Elkaim</p>
<p>I do these three days a week, then mix in two more days of walking hills, riding the exercise bike, or riding a real bike yesterday – depending on the weather.</p>
<p>A lot of the exercise stuff I see on the internet just looks impossibly difficult for an old fat guy just starting out. I don’t need a 20-something year old bodybuilder yelling at me to do 20 more pushups or whatever. This stuff scales nicely for a beginner. You just start using heavier weights and doing faster, more controlled repetitions as you gain fitness. And, you’ve always got the pause button, which I have used liberally. I couldn’t do that full exercise circuit in the YouTube without pausing the first week. Now I can - of course, now everything has been bumped up to 45 seconds just to keep it fun.</p>
<p>At the start, you might do eight of an exercise in 30 seconds. Later, you might increase to 12. As you go along, the exercises evolve to go along with increasing fitness.</p>
<p>I have no idea why it asterisked out the name.</p>
<p>It’s www dot my f i t t er U dot com</p>
<p>mousegray… I know EXACTLY what you’re talking about with respect to biking together. Our first few trips were…well…not the best. I was not in biking shape so I lagged. I screamed to him to slow down but he was oblivious (too far ahead) and then I would crab about how I might as well go alone! </p>
<p>A few things helped a LOT. </p>
<p>One was to help him understand that I needed time to adjust to his fitness level (he’s out every day!). I’m STILL a bit behind in fitness level, but I keep up just fine…we go fast enough to keep both of us happy. We throw in some sprints andalso do hills sometimes. I like that I’m getting exercise but I also love the views and that fact that I don’t have cars whizzing past me. </p>
<p>Two was to get wireless “coms.” This was my husband’s idea and it worked beautifully. We can talk like we’re in our living room…even if he gets kinda far ahead (we he really doesn’t anymore…I’ve improved a lot). I have no idea where he got them but they were worth the investment. He also gives me warnings about ruts, and other hazards. Very cool.</p>
<p>Well, I changed it up and did my hilly walk to the river today. It was just too nice to exercise indoors. Managed my pace a little better and did the walk without stopping. The steep quarter mile hill to start the return leg is still brutal, but my heart rate was significantly lower than the last time.</p>
<p>thanks, toneranger. What’s a wireless “com”?</p>
<p>MG: Well, we have two small units which we attach to the back of our pants/shorts. They both have little headsets. I wish I could tell you where to get them…I think H found them on ebay. Not cheap from what I understand. But we bike a lot so it was worth it. If you want more detail, I can get it. </p>
<p>Up a couple pounds from “Feaster.” Not gonna stress. It’s too nice out these days to be stressed.</p>
<p>Up a pound from Feaster as well. I’m actually welcoming this pound since I’ve been steadily losing weight in the last month. I cannot afford another new wardrobe!
Today H and I went for our reguar run, and I felt like a slug. When we finished, H got very excited - we set our personal record for this particular course! No wonder I was huffing and puffing a bit.</p>
<p>wirless comm = wireless communications = new-style walkie talkie</p>
<hr>
<p>I was kinda pleased to see that I lost 3/4 pound on Easter, including the two handfuls of jelly beans and that damned Reeses peanut butter rabbit. Of course, I had been at a bit of plateau for three or four days.</p>
<p>I’ve not been biking too much the last 6 weeks. FIL was then dying and its been 3 of 3 against me (Cold, Wet, and Windy). I did more bikng in Dec and Jan than in March.</p>
<p>saw my doc last monday. She said that I lost 7 lbs since November and asked what have I done. </p>
<p>“I haven’t rehydrated this morning. I’m still biking a lot. Its not after Thanksgiving.” I said, adding finally, “I had four prunes last night.”</p>
<p>She said, “That makes a difference?” </p>
<p>surprised, I said, “These are the same prunes that I gave you in November… They made a difference before I came in this morning. You didn’t have any find anything thing examining the prostrate, did you?” </p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>Ok…another day of exercise for me. 45 minutes of dreadmill…does tweak my knee a little bit while I walk but feels fine afterwards. 20 minutes of free weights…not really my thing but friend I was with likes them. Now I just need to watch what I eat.</p>
<p>Victory in spin class today–I managed to follow along with the instructor and did all of the up/down moves and kept up with the intervals. Usually, I have to rest longer between the intervals and jumps. You really do get fitter if you keep at it twice a week!!</p>
<p>Wow, friends. You are all getting me excited about starting up again. Didn’t get to the YMCA at all last week, and not this week so far either. I did walk 2 miles outside about 3 or 4 days due to the nice weather. I need to pull out my steno pad and start writing down what I eat again. I haven’t gained, but losing is sure slowing down. I need to get back to business.</p>
<p>I ran my 5k in 35 minutes and 43 seconds today, which was 5.3 mph after my warm-up. Looking back at January I had started at a pace of 4.5 mph. Still a long way to go to get reach my goal of running it in 30 minutes, but I am making progress. My weight, however, is up a little as I indulged while the boys were home on spring break. I need to get back to basics on the eating plan.</p>