<p>VH - congrats! Everyone runs at their own pace. As long as you feel OK and are happy, you are fine!</p>
<p>sewhappy, yes, your body needs rest. At our age, we cannot exercise non-stop. Have a few off days, just do not eat like a truck driver 
and you will be fine.</p>
<p>sewhappy:</p>
<p>No wonder you are worn out. Heavy aerobic exercise six days a week is too much. My iPod nazi wants three hard workouts a week (intervals or body weigth circuits) with a day off in between . Two of the off days can be something light like walking or jogging on the off days. The recovery days are very important. Thatās when the strength increases as the muscles bounce back from the workout. </p>
<p>Now, in the early going, all the workouts have been hard ones for me as I build a basic foundation of fitness, so Iāve been doing five good workouts a week with heart rates probably above where they would ideally like to be for some of the workouts. As I gain some fitnness, that is starting to change. So, itās extra important to make sure that you have days off. The weeks when Iāve added a sixth day, my body has let me know that itās just too much as I start to feel worn down. Thatās when itās time to back off. I need a complete day off after three days in a row of exercising. So Iāve been doing:</p>
<p>Sun: walking or bike
Mon: ipod workout (bodyweight and intervals)
Tues: off
Wed: ipod workout (bodyweight and intervals)
Thurs: walking or bike
Fri: ipod workout (bodyweight and intervals)
Sat: off</p>
<p>All these spinner classes and stuff are really, really challenging for people like us who are just starting on an exercise program. Iāve probably been overdoing the alternate day excercise just because my hilly route and my exercise bike stuff both have high intensity segments. My walking route has long steep hills and I canāt just pedal the bike for 45 minutes without throwing in some intervals. So I have to take the days off. Donāt burn yourself out. I really think that the tortoise wins the prize on this fitness stuff.</p>
<p>Sewhappy, if your goal was to increase strength, aerobic activities are not the correct activities. You need to do strength training. This can be as simple as some body-weight workouts or as complex as Olympic lifting. I would go with body-weight stuff and maybe some weight machinesā¦</p>
<p>Otherwise, it sounds like youāre currently suffering from some overtraining syndrome.</p>
<p>swehappy: I did this same thing. I went to all sorts of classes 5-6 days a week for about a month, and was so proud of myself. I lost a few pounds and could see new muscle definsition in my legs. </p>
<p>Then one day I did both pilates and Zumba. The next day I caught some stomach virus and have now not exercised or even walked for almost three weeks. My dr. said I am completly exhausted and need a lot of rest.</p>
<p>Soā¦ moderation in all thingsā¦every other day is enough at first.</p>
<p>So who worked out today?</p>
<p>Yesterday, I did an iPod nazi workout. Kind of an easy one as he dials back the intensity as a little breather week. Felt great. Kicked it up a notch by going hard and fast on all the exercises and graduating to the full side plank (from the feet instead of the knees). Man did I feel that in the sides of my belly.</p>
<p>Today was a spectacularly pretty day. 72 degrees blue sky. Very windy. I did my 2 mile river walk and felt very strong on the hills. Itās just amazing to think that just two months ago when I started walking I was carrying the equivalent of a 20 pound bag of charcoal that Iām no longer carrying. I was thinking today how hard it would be to walk those hills with a bag of charcoal on my shoulder. Now, the better fitness and less weight are both kicking in and itās so noticeable.</p>
<p>It makes we want to stick with it and lose another bag of charcoal. But, for now, Iāll just focus on my next myopic goal. Three more pounds to get to 25.</p>
<p>Iāve been getting some really encouraging blood pressure readings over the last week. Like 115 over 68 just now. This exercise thing is fantastic.</p>
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<p>Maybe you should get a bag of charcoal and start working it into your workout ;)</p>
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<p>If you donāt mind me asking, whereād you start at?</p>
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<p>Raises her hand! Met with my trainer again today and have realized that the more he gets to know my strengths and weaknesses and designs the workouts toward those, the more Iām becoming attached to him. Sometimes I think heās just jabbering away while Iām doing reps, then heāll throw out some diatribe about what heās observing as I do each exercise. I guess when they do this for a living, they can multi-task. </p>
<p>We tried something new today, cardio-wise, and again, my heart rate shot up quickly and I got light-headed; the difference this time is that I told him how I was feeling sooner, so once we backed off, I was fineā¦ didnāt need to sit down, lie down, etc. He said that we need to start working more on the cardio endurance training, so that will be an additional focus on top of the weight training. Guess Iām buying ten more sessions.</p>
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<p>I donāt know. Never high enough to put me on medication, but it had to be an increasing issue with my weight and smoking for 38 years. I was the poster child for everything you can do wrong for fitness and health. Well, except I only drink about a beer a month.</p>
<p>I started checking it several times a day about a month ago after I was well into this exercise kick. The first week, I averaged 134/78. Last week was 129/75. This week, so far, is 126/73. Iām thrilled with that and a little surprised to see it noticeably coming down. Iām barely scratching the surface on gettng back in shape.</p>
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<p>I guess I kinda have one with the dumbells. But, generally speaking, no way. Itās been such a struggle to get out of the gates on this fitness thing. Being completely out of shape and then doing bodyweight exercises with so much extra weight is a really double-whammy. You just have to set small goals and get excited by each milestone and then you have to be really patient.</p>
<p>With increasing fitness and less weight to carry around, Iām feeling massively different when I exercise.</p>
<p>Wow - It seems that most of you are doing fantastic!
Hubby and I need to get back to the YMCA for sure.
My weight is staying the same, but I know I can move it along with some aerobic activity.
It seems llike one of us always has an excuse for not going to the Y after he comes home from work.</p>
<p>Thank you for validating my suspicions that I over did, guys. Did not exercise yesterday and felt a huge desire to just eat anything sweet and crawl under the covers! Today Iām going to garden a bit and maybe walk 30 minutes in the sunshine. </p>
<p>Why did I ever think that at 51 getting into shape would be like when I was 21?</p>
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<p>I think itās human nature. The lesson I learned quitting smoking is that you just need to stay focused on today. From the day you quit cold turkey there is a dynamic process of adjustment while your body goes through the physical withdrawal and while you unlearn the years of behavior reward training that kept you smoking (with the relief of drug withdrawal as the Pavlov doggie biscuit). That process lasts months, 16 weeks seems to be about average.</p>
<p>As you begin that process, you canāt allow yourself to dwell on the enormity of the challenge. When itās all you can do to get through the next hour, letting yourself visualize a week or a month or four months like that would swamp you, expecially because all you know is what itās like at the start. You canāt appreciate the changes that occur, just like I couldnāt appreciate what exercise would be like 12 weeks later, 23 pounds lighter, with some aerobic fitness, and a little muscle tone. You have to set a short term goal: one day without nicotine, two days, three days, and start building on those wins. In the same way I built on the first week of iPod nazi, or walking half a mile.</p>
<p>Conversely, you canāt be impatient. When you quit smoking, you want it to be done NOW. That is also a dangerous trap, because it undermines your motivation if you get frustrated that āOMG, Iām still having to work at this and its been a month!ā That would be the exercise syndrome of thinking you can cram it all into the first month of working out.</p>
<p>The real danger with both of those traps is that they undermine the real goal: to make exercise something that you enjoy doing as a sustainable part of every day life, not something that you do because you feel like you have to even though it is drudgery and you hate it. Thatās the secret to quitting smoking. People think they need willpower, but willpower canāt work against a drug that is that addictive. What does work is getting to the point where the desire for freedom from the trap ends all desire to smoke, i.e. you enjoy not smoking. Then, it doesnāt take willpower. I think this exercise thing is the same game.</p>
<p>What a difference a few weeks makes. My river route walk goes down to the river and then up from the river leveling off into a long quarter mile uphill grade. The first time I walked it, I plodded up the steep section and about halfway into the long uphill grade, I had to stop for a breather. Heart rate was 94% and not coming down, I was panting. I stood next to a particular tree for a minute or two to catch my breath before tacking the rest of the long grade with another steep section up to the top of the ridge.</p>
<p>Today, I sailed past that tree and my heart rate was 16% lower at a good steady workout level of 78%. I was breathing aerobic heavy but not panting. I walked the whole route without ever breaking stride and walked in the door having taken a minute, 38 seconds off the fastest time Iād ever walked it before. Nice to see that kind of progress.</p>
<p>I donāt usually do the same workout two days in a row, but it is absolutely postcard beautiful today, 68 degrees, bright blue sky, not a cloud to be see. Supposed to rain tomorrow so I had to do the outdoor thing today and do the iPod workout indoors tomorrow.</p>
<p>Last Sunday I was depressed because I was up two pounds. I wasnāt able to get back to the gym till today where miracle of miracles - Iād lost three. We had our usual tradition of having Motherās Day dinner or lunch ahead of schedule. Tried out a new local restaurant - great meal, but not low calorie! </p>
<p>While Iāve been somewhat discouraged by the slow progress in losing weight - I have to remind myself, that my real goal has been to have a diet that I could be happy with forever. So far 1400 to 1500 calories with slightly more exercise than Iād been getting seems to be doing the trick. I can splurge a bit on weekends, get a daily dose of chocolate if I want it, and eat bread and other starches on at least an occasional basis. I do miss cookies though - I wish I could ration them, but I canāt.</p>
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<p>I hear ya on the cookies. I was in two different stores today that had four different end cap displays of sour gummy worms and red licorice. I was like Dr. Strangelove fighting off an arm that just kept reaching out.</p>
<p>Iām still eating a decent lunch and great dinners. Half 'n half in my coffee. Maybe a little snack after dinner. I just have to avoid putting on the feedbag with stuff like Pringles or sour gummy worms or Doritos ā things that I know, if I buy any, Iāll chow down on the whole damn bag, scarfing down 500 to 1000 empty calories. Itās like, three pretzel rods are 120 calories, which would be fine, except who is going to open a bag of pretzel rods and stop at three? Iād get three more and three more and, a little later, just three more and all the sudden Iām looking at 500 calories.</p>
<p>If I hit a serious plateau, Iāll give up the half 'n half and switch to black coffee.</p>
<p>I havenāt posted here in awhile. After a slow start I lost 5 of the 10 pounds I wanted to lose simply by cutting portion sizes and asking myself if I was really hungry. I have stopped losing as I have kind of gotten off track.</p>
<p>One thing I have done faithfully though is to do squats and other lower body toning while brushing my teeth. I know that sounds weird, but I have noticed that my thighs and butt have really toned up. I got this idea from Denise Austinās books, and it works for me.</p>
<p>A couple years back a co-worker and I made a pact to ALWAYS take the stairs, never the elevator. We both lost about 5 pounds over six months and it has stayed off. Those little life changes add up. </p>
<p>Another biggie for my family - we stopped having bread at meals. Period. For years and years we always had the bread basket on the table at every dinner. We simply stopped and at first there was an outcry but now in restaurants when we are served bread along with the meal it really seems like overkill.</p>
<p>Itās really not that hard to change habits. You have to be conscious of it at first, of course, but then it becomes ā a habit.</p>
<p>Making a point to park further from your destination is also a fairly painless way to get a bit more exercise & be less likely to get your car ādinged.ā Everyone is trying for the closest space. Just be sure itās in a well-lit area for safety, but walking those extra steps is GOOD for our health.</p>
<p>Iām sure your CV heatlth is better for choosing to always use the stairs instead of elevator/escalator.</p>