<p>Consolation if I ate what you ate, I’d be gaining weight! Sounds delicious though, I often eat a similar meal - but one egg at breakfast, 3 oz tuna max and half that chicken breast!</p>
<p>MOWC…I use the HR monitor on the bike…not totally accurate but I usually am around 146 (max is suposed to be 165 (I am on the plus side of 50 
). I try to do intervals so it will dip at times. I have gradually increased my RPMs to 100-102. I tried doing the lower HR suggested for “fat burn” but I couldn’t get the miles in. Does this sound ok???</p>
<p>It’s hard to say without knowing your true max. Try seeing how high you can get your HR on the bike, just out of curiousity. Increase your tension and really crank it- try for at least 80 MPHs and be breathing hard until you can’t stand it and see what your HR does. That will give you a much better idea of your max. The max HR is a very individual thing and it does not signal fitness (resting HR signals fitness). My max is about 185 but I have friends who are less fit with a 200 max. My aerobic zone (where I like to do most of my training) is 136-148.<br>
It sounds like you are doing great with your RPMs. You should feel pretty tired at the end of your rides.</p>
<p>Thanks, MOWC. I AM exhausted after I stumble off the bike and I look like an overweight drowned rat with my hair plastered to my head and my clothes drenched through. Ish…what a visual! My resting HR is usually mid to high 70’s. Trying to find my max could be interesting. I have avoided going “full tilt” ever since I had my hemorrhage…kind of an old fear that’s hard to erase.</p>
<p>OK…so this is an interesting (and brief!) summary of the diet plan I have been following (devised by a food scientist at Tufts). And she’s a psychiatrist too (God knows we need one of THOSE when were trying to eat less!). And since this is CC, the Tufts connection works!!
[Tufts</a> Daily - ‘The Instinct Diet’ offers a biological base to fight food cravings](<a href=“http://www.tuftsdaily.com/the-instinct-diet-offers-a-biological-base-to-fight-food-cravings-1.1487865]Tufts”>http://www.tuftsdaily.com/the-instinct-diet-offers-a-biological-base-to-fight-food-cravings-1.1487865)</p>
<p>Anyway, I have to say I’m impressed so far. I don’t use the store brand Fiber One but I found an organic (no high fructose corn syrup) alternative at Whole Foods and Wegmans. This will be a lifetime breakfast for me ( I have it with raspberries or blueberries and small sprinkle of crushed walnuts). I usually also have a string cheese (when I’m on the road) or egg for a mid morning snack. Otherwise, my lunch and dinner are very similar to Consolation’s, but maybe smaller portions. And I eat more fish than chicken and have added beans to my plate. </p>
<p>So I’m needing belts now big time…but I don’t want to trade in my baggy pants cause I’m not done yet. I really only have 8 lbs to go but I have a feeling it will take me a couple of months. THEN, I’ll go shopping.</p>
<p>IMHO, Americans need to:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Eat much less sugar. Avoid soda. If you don’t eat sugar, you don’t crave sweet things. You start realizing that much of your food is sweetened. Easy example: bottled salad dressing has a lot of sugar and tastes very sweet to a person who isn’t used to consuming a lot of sweetener. Buy a good balsamic vinegar - not the supermarket cheap crap that isn’t really balsamic because they didn’t copyright the name and it’s used by everyone - and you barely need more than a little oil for salad. Try making salad dressing with plain yogurt, some feta or blue cheese, flavored vinegar and some oil. Will have a fraction of the calories and be much less sweet. Try cutting up an apple, which is sweet, adding some blue or goat cheese and some vinegar and little bit of oil to lettuce and whatever else you have on hand and you have a salad. Try adding a sprinkle of oregano or other spice that you like.</p></li>
<li><p>Treat protein as a component, not as the focus. As we start another Top Chef cycle tonight, we’ll watch a bunch of chefs who think a meal is a piece of meat or fish and who treat veggies and grains as dressings or garnishes. Other cultures think the other way round. French cuisine is based on sauces meant to stretch scarce protein. Italian food is similar; sauce with little protein added to a carb stretches out the money spent on meat. Asian food is all that way. Learn to eat veggies as part of the meal, not as side dish. Try roasting asparagus (to bring out the flavor) and then making pasta with a bit of chicken and cut up asparagus. A chicken breast or two should feed 4 people if the meat is part of the dish. Cut up some fennel (anise) and let it caramelize in a pan, add some more veggies and add some protein - anything from bacon or sausage to whatever - and serve over rice or quinoa or as a pasta sauce. You’ll find you eat less meat because you need to eat less meat. That saves calories and money.</p></li>
<li><p>Eat less processed food. That cuts the salt in your diet right away and also reduces your dependency on sweetness. It doesn’t take long to make food. For example, I open a bag of frozen pearl onions and add them to some cut veggies (whatever is in the drawer), let it simmer in a little butter and water and then add a little protein and you have a dinner that tastes rich and is healthy and filling. Takes 10 minutes maybe of prep time to cut everything up and if you use frozen veggies - like lima beans or peas - then prep time is zero. Frozen veggies are often better than fresh.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>^^^^Agree with most of above.</p>
<p>When you read labels and try to find products with NO added sugar, you begin to realize how much of it is in our food supply. You pretty much have to avoid processed foods altogether, as well as many of the chain restaurants which cater to American tastes.</p>
<p>I try to keep my animal protein servings to 4 oz. or less per meal. I used to eat twice that amount, not because I was so hungry for it, but because that is how it had always been served to me.</p>
<p>^^^^^</p>
<p>And salt is just as bad. I am trying to adhere to the essentials of the DASH diet for high blood pressure. Everything prepared seems to have salt. </p>
<p>Okay, just to gross out the non-sardine people on this thread - I am now making a spread of two teaspoons of tomato paste (low sodium, DON"T buy the stuff with added herbs!!), juice of half of a lemon, a teaspoon of Smart Balance mayo, and a well drained can of King Oscar sardines. I love it and I am getting my two teaspoons of tomato paste! The sardines have sodium, but overall it is a great lunch.</p>
<p>A little humor to help us keep our perspective today…</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>^^^^^That’s pretty funny.</p>
<p>My husband became practically enraged one evening because he couldn’t find half a box of Raisinettes from the night before-I had filled the box with water and threw them away so as not to be tempted. He just could not understand this. </p>
<p>Now he’ll look through the cabinets after dinner saying “do we have anything good to eat or have you sprayed it all with water?”</p>
<p>My son asked yesterday why we don’t have any sweets in the house. My H answered. “Because Mom does the shopping and she doesn’t eat anymore.” </p>
<p>WIP…I bought a can of sardines about 4 months ago…I think this thread or maybe another one had quite a few posts from sardine lovers. The can is still there sitting in my pantry. Haven’t worked up the nerve yet to try them…:)</p>
<p>Too funny! D2 made choc chip cookies last night and they are sitting here but not my thing. Now it would be an entirely different story if they were potato chips!</p>
<p>Had the best nectarine EVER for my dessert tonight! Fruit is my sweet weakness!</p>
<p>Love the Raid story!</p>
<p>TR - leave the house and have someone else make the recipe - and then don’t think about the ingredients!</p>
<p>Recently I was telling a dear friend just how sweet and delicious dates are. I was in the middle of raving about dipping a couple in a little peanut butter when she stopped me. </p>
<p>“Dates? You dip five dates in peanut butter and think it is dessert? You really need to get a grip!”</p>
<p>I am trying to monitor what I say in public situations anymore. This thread doesn’t count.</p>
<p>nMinn:</p>
<p>What you are doing sounds excellent. Your heart rate is certainly up in the 80%+ of max range, so you are definitely working it. I don’t know anything about exercise bikes, but your pedal speed sounds very fast. That’s certainly faster than a bicyclist would crank. So, you might try bumping up the resistance and bringing down the rate a bit just to change it up. </p>
<p>My Airdyne is completely different. You’d fall over dead if you tried to maintain 60 rpms for more than just a couple of minutes. As I’ve gotten more fit, by “cruise” speed has increased from 40 rpm to 45-50 rpm. 60 tp 70 is my high intensity interval pace, which I can do for about 40 seconds or so before the legs start burning. But, this is wind resistance so the resistance increases with speed squared. It gets really hard really quickly when you pick up the pace.</p>
<p>Here’s how the HeartZones booklet that comes with my heart monitor says to test for max heart rate. Please sue them, not me, if you keel over doing the test! Warm up first:</p>
<p>a) Sub Max Step Test: </p>
<p>Find an 8 inch step. Start a 4-count sequence: right foot up, left up, right down, and left down. Do 30 of these sequences per minute (one every 2 seconds) for 3 minutes – a total of 90 4-count sequences. Measure your heart rate at the end and add 35 for poor condition, 45 for average condition, 55 for excellent shape, and 65 for very fit.</p>
<p>b) Sub-max Chair Test</p>
<p>Sit down on the edge of a straight backed chair. Stand up. Sit down. Do this 30 times in one minute and measure your heart rate. Add 50 for poor shape. Add 60 for average. 70 for excellent condition. 80 for very fit condition. </p>
<p>Average the two test results for an approximation of your max heart rate. I got done with the whole thing and ended up with the same number I got from my age. I probably should do it again sometime.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I wouldn’t push yourself any harder than that.</p>
<p>D2 is visiting D1 this week. D1 has taken much of the advice from this thread and has “nothing” to eat in her house according to D2. D2 is afraid she is going to starve. D2 said she is NOT going to eat quinoa.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Tell me about it. I’ve gone down 2 inches on jeans waist size and now I have to cinch those up with a belt – Urkel style – to keep from coming out of them. I’ve got the next size down queue’d up and ready to roll. I actually fit in them, but I find the loose size more motivating! Probably five more pounds and I’ll make the move.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>My wife gets all over me for serving too big a portion of frickin’ poached haddock. I try to explain from a male perspective. It’s not prime rib, it’s a piece of poached white fish. I’m not even dunking it in beer batter and deep frying it it. I’m poaching it. I’m cool with that. I love it actually, but don’t nickle and dime me on the portion size of poached white fish. Sheesh.</p>
<p>NMinn: A cerebral hemmorhage? Goodness. Was this caused by anything? Or did you just draw the short straw? Seems like there’s a lesson here. What were your symptoms? Tell us the story.</p>
<p>Had the hemorrhage during the middle of city indoor tennis championships. I was playing singles and was in a third set tie-breaker. My specialty was usually out-lasting my opponents. We had played so long that we had to switch courts and I told my coach that I felt sooo tired which was unusual for me and that I had a slight headache. He gave me a pep talk and I just kept going. I served, opponent returned the ball and when I hit the ball it was like an explosion! Lost my vision, fell to the ground and had a terrible headache. They got me off the court and into the lobby. Vision returned but I wasn’t making sense…garbled speech and couldn’t use phone. They called my H, he came and got me and he knew right away it was serious so took me to hospital. Diagnosed with cerebral hemorrhage…a blood vessel that burst and then sealed itself off. I was very lucky and blessed! They don’t know why it happened. H said I couldn’t handle the pressure of the match…funny man. Couldn’t exercise for quite a while and I never returned to tennis. Had a fear of pushing myself and I still think about it. The weight has slowly crept up and then with the torn meniscus last year things really got out of control. Now I’ve got to try to get back in control! Slow but steady, right??? (I am so not a patient person!) Off for my morning workout! :)</p>