<p>Yeah. It’s 59 and raining here. I just try to grab the odd nice day to get outside.</p>
<p>After seesawing around since before and after graduation, I can now celebrate another five pound party! Goodbye, forty pounds of horrible fat!</p>
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<p>Great progress and graduation season can be a tough time to lose weight but like most other things, it eventually comes to a close.</p>
<p>Woot, sabaray! I am dawdling along behind you so I’ll let you draft me a spell 
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<p>(presently down 36…but my 35 party was a few weeks ago!) That is likely a combo of shenanigans and some muscle building, plus the fact that I increased my weightloss goal from the second to third goal (30 was original goal, then 40…now we’ll see if my body is interested in losing 50 by my december birthday…) but extended the timeline to the end of the year. The result with my tracker is a more generous daily caloric budget, which with summer, guests, and poolside shenanigans, seems quite delightful. We’ll see, however, if I still track to the goal this way. If not, it won’t be too hard to dial it down.</p>
<p>Experimentally, I am trying a wee bit of slow jogging/running intervals (eg intermittent 1 minute intervals on the treadmill) to see if my bad knee, back and right foot can take it. I a, hopeful that after a summer of aquajogging, I might kick it up a bit.</p>
<p>Blank mind, my understanding is that aquajogging is the most boring thing on the planet. However, since I am perfectly content to float around the pool and watch nature around me I am hopeful that I will think otherwise (its a pain in terms of maintenance to have a treed pool on the edge of a forest, but without a doubt, the most beautiful place on earth to float…literally, deer will come up to the back fence and watch a while! And its birder heaven.)</p>
<p>It might be quite different at a community pool – but that could e offset if you had a buddy working with you. If you have your own pool, though, to me it seems a natural. They do have waterproof iPods to make it bearable, but in my case I can just blast my regular system.</p>
<p>First, of course, it has to warm up a spell. I may make my maiden voyage tomorrow so will go turn the heater on now, and will report tomorrow!</p>
<p>Same deal here, kmc (the iPad just tried to autocorrect to kimchi!). Five pounds quite a few weeks ago, then up and down and now finally stable at 40.8. My eating habits feel normal to me now; no feelings of deprivation. It wasn’t realistic for me to try and continue a sub 1000 calorie diet.</p>
<p>I find that I can do the extreme dieting thing for a while if my schedule is clear but we’re talking about a week or two at most. I sometimes toss this in if I feel like it or if others are doing the same.</p>
<p>I was incredibly tired last night and this morning. I had a crown put on yesterday and it is still sensitive to temperature (usually crowns aren’t), so I suspect that there was some trauma to the area. I hope that this doesn’t turn into a root canal. Sometimes crowns can take a while to settle down (a few weeks). I don’t use anesthetic so maybe that results in more inflammation after the procedure. It could also be pollen, summer flu or maybe I haven’t been getting enough sleep.</p>
<p>Putting up the “party” sign for Sabaray! Wow, some of you have really stepped up to the weight loss challenge!</p>
<p>I do firmly believe that muscle weighs more than fat. My legs are so much stronger and I can tell through my clothes and in the mirror that everything is a little leaner - however the scale doesn’t really show much movement - which is fine with me, cause I have never relied on the numbers but how I look/feel. So I’m pretty convinced that the consistent exercise since September along with better eating (but I do love food so not perfect eating!) has led to a process of redefining my body shape - thankfully, in a good way!</p>
<p>The tired thing must be contagious. I’m thinking of taking a day off. </p>
<p>Great news Sabaray! At first I didn’t realize the huge impact losing 40 lbs has on your running. A couple months back I grabbed 2-20 lb dumbbells and tried running a mile on the indoor track. Couldn’t do it. Makes a huge impact. Still can’t believe that I was carrying that extra weight. </p>
<p>BCE-do you wear the strap 24/7? I’m Thinking of getting one? It’s helped you?</p>
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<p>I didn’t wear it to bed. Sometimes I wear the knee sleeve to bed. I wear it the rest of the time outside of showers. It does help but I think that the sleeve works better. I got the strap because running with the sleeve is a pain and it’s pretty hard to peel off. The strap is certainly more convenient as it’s less bulky and a lot easier to put on and take off but doesn’t provide as much support. So it may be best to have both and use the one for the situation that you’re in. The sleeve is also cushioned too so you can do floor exercises without pressure from the floor on your knee.</p>
<p>I thought that your problem was PF, not knee issues.</p>
<p>CVS had a hinged support too. This further reduces lateral motion. I’m not sure if I need that level of support.</p>
<p>Great job, Sabaray!</p>
<p>KMC, at the risk of sounding like a broken record… Whatcha wearing for the running intervals? Have you got yourself a pair of running shoes? If running is something you decide to add into your exercise schedule on a regular basis, you’ll want running shoes. Apologies if you’re already all set, and I’m just stating the obvious.</p>
<p>Can never stress enough how going to a running shop was one of the best things I ever done as a running newbie to learn about my feet/body and what was best for me to run in. </p>
<p>I treasure those shoes!</p>
<p>BCE - I have PF on my left heel that seems to be getting better. I also have a bum right knee that I need to baby. I spend a lot of time each day with strength/stretch/core to strengthen the knee/quads/hips but it is still problematic. The cortisone shot helped, but I think it may be losing its effectiveness. I just need to stay healthy until the end of July. Then I might shut it down for 2-4 weeks.</p>
<p>Congrats, sabaray. This group has lost SO much weight, collectively. Very cool.</p>
<p>I get a new pair of free Brooks shoes delivered today to wear test! Yay! I think I’m beginning to feel less awful from my new clean eating undertaking. My runs are not great, but not as bad as earlier in the week. I’m still down the same 3 pounds, but I feel like my clothes fit a little better. I would like to get rid of 2 more pounds for summer running.</p>
<p>Today is (declared by me) wear Lulu to work day. I have a cute light green Swifty short sleeved t-shirt under my blazer. It’s jeans on Friday, so the blazer is just for warmth.</p>
<p>It’s also National Doughnut Day. I might treat myself to some Lulu instead.</p>
<p>I am sad about National Donut Day and my new eating plan. I had a stupid Larabar for a mid-morning snack. 
Where’s MiamiDAP to celebrate Donut Day?</p>
<p>Deb, for the moment, I’m running barefoot. If I actually find myself wanting to “run run” I’ll have to decide, as all I presently have are nike cross and a pair of merrells I use for hiking.</p>
<p>I may try bareform. For the moment, I like the extra sensory perception I get barefootin it. I haven’t run since highschool, and it’s kind of weird landing mid foot, but in my case I think it feels better than heel strike style.</p>
<p>Eg. As a kid, even though I was a great sprinter, I used to get shin splints a lot, which was likely bad form, or possibly overtraining, or just lousy bones, not sure. </p>
<p>Can’t tell if I’d still get them now because I’m only doing one-minute runs at about 5% incline (midway on my treadmill, but I’m assuming a 5 out of 10 is 5%) so it’s slightly elevated enough to reduce the impact/avoid shin splints. But even at those short stints, I do feel it in my calves ;)</p>
<p>I don’t know if I’ll ever turn into a full runner. As a kid, I loved SPEED, but never had much endurance for even mid-length runs. </p>
<p>These days, it would be dangerous to run in my particular woods, given the trail condition, incline, and that just one twisty-fall could lockup my facet joints…and besides, hiking is a little more my style. </p>
<p>So my running is more of a conditioning experiment confined to treadmill and pool at the moment, which makes the barefoot approach make sense ;)</p>
<p>Yeah Sabaray! Party Time!</p>
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<p>MOWC: I was wondering how your diet conversion was going, especially with the daily running. You are pretty much the text book example of a “carb burner” and someone who might find the transition difficult, especially from an exercise standpoint.</p>
<p>Who knows how much of this stuff is actually true, but the theory is that “carb burners” get used to eating/snacking as the blood sugar swings back down.</p>
<p>But, I’ve always wondered if the transition is really that big a deal unless you are trying to transition to some kind of ultra-low carb ketosis diet. The only transition I really noticed was the challenge of weaning myself off of all the junk food binge snacking.</p>
<p>KMC, Newton may be the shoe for you. :)</p>
<p>[Newton</a> Running South Africa](<a href=“http://newtonsarunning.com/about-us/]Newton”>http://newtonsarunning.com/about-us/)</p>
<p>Now it’s true I am something of a wuss and very attached to my running shoes, but I also don’t want to see you get hurt, KMC. I know your back flares up sometimes and you’ve got to watch it with joints, so I’m thinking cushion that reduces impact might be helpful. Don’t know, I’m not a doc. I do know I was sore about the third week into Couch to 5K. And I know you like cool equipment, and Newtons look pretty good as running shoes go! ;)</p>
<p>Went to my old “summer” gym (outside pool) after swimming whole winter inside. It was my first winter swimming and I could not believe the strength gain after not changing in strenths for few decades. I did some weights in a winter but significantly less than I was doing in my previous winters. I have very little insentive doing weight any more, got to do them only to prevent osteoporosis, apparently weights did not build my muscles any close to what swimming did. And I do much heavier weights than most athletic high school girls, but some of the machines I have increased by wooping 20lbs. Definitely absolutely unintended consequense, while I was feeling almost guilty for not doing weights as much as I should.<br>
But swimming in the 70F water is so much more fun than swimming in 85F (inside). Still, swimming is the most fun exercise for me. I hope I can continue swimming until I am in a box. I also have increased walking. If weather permits, I go 2 times/day, at lunch break and in a evening after swimming, got to use up this energy from swimming somehow.</p>