<p>idad…this brief article on “pretty walks” came to me in an email today.
[The</a> Best Walk on Earth - Health Tip - RealAge](<a href=“How It Works - Health Resources & Solutions - Sharecare”>How It Works - Health Resources & Solutions - Sharecare)</p>
<p>Teri - good luck with the prep. Each time it has gotten easier for me, maybe because I know what to expect. I would plan as easy a day physically as possible. </p>
<p>I agree with TR, the jello is a really good addition. Ask about popsicles. You almost think you are eating. Well, that’s not really true, but I thought it would make you feel better. </p>
<p>Here’s what you want to hear from your doc - “clean as a whistle”</p>
<p>Love the pictures, idad.
Good work, Teri and WEAR those sleeveless shirts with pride! </p>
<p>Re: Balance. I bought this little plastic bracelet at the Country Music Marathon Expo this year. It’s called Power Balance and has a hologram. It is supposed to greatly improve my balance and flexibility. The guy even did a demonstration to prove it to me. Now, I don’t believe this for a minute (although according to the Wall Street a lot of pro athletes are wearing these things), but walked away with one on my wrist! Heck, with my running in the toilet and my hamstring cramping, I’ll try anything! I get asked about the crazy thing all the time. Why I am wearing it is a mystery to me, but it’s sort of cool looking. (My balance still sucks, by the way)</p>
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<p>Well, your running may be IN the toilet, but Teri will be running TO the toilet</p>
<p>Teriwtt, good luck with your prep. I’m also scheduled for my first colonoscopy later in July–NOT looking forward to it, so any helpful hints you can offer would be most welcome. “Clean as a whistle” is indeed what I’d like to hear after it’s all said and done! </p>
<p>BTW, I’m lurking on this thread with great interest–so much knowledge and experience here. I’m down 5 lbs over the last couple of weeks, hoping it’s a new beginning. Have about 35# to go. Want to do it slowly and develop new lifestyle habits…</p>
<p>DH and I are thinking of getting new bikes. I know many of you ride often. We have a rail trail in our area and would like to take advantage of it. As we are unfamiliar with all the choices out there, any suggestions as to what kind of bikes to purchase would be welcomed. Not interested in spending a ton of money, but would like to know about options.</p>
<p>MOWC – Of course I immediately had to “Google” these Power Balance bracelets. I read the explanation twice and still don’t get how it’s supposed to work. Agree they look cool, though.</p>
<p>In spite of my first failed attempt at getting back into running, I’m giving it another go. Under D’s guidance (she’s a certified Personal Trainer) I’ll try ramping up the distance more gradually, starting off with a run/walk combo. Today felt fine. I have to admit, it’s pretty nice to have an in-house Personal Trainer for the summer!</p>
<p>[First</a> Ever Live TV Anchor Colonoscopy - CBS News Video](<a href=“http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6285265n]First”>http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6285265n)</p>
<p>A live colonoscopy…The human body is so fascinating~</p>
<p>Good luck to both terriwtt and masslou on your upcoming procedures. Nothing to the procedure itself and the result is power over a dreadful disease!</p>
<p>teriwtt…H has his colonoscopy scheduled for Thursday. He is a little nervous! Will see how he handles it. I have popsicles, jello and chicken broth ready for him/</p>
<p>I only spend an hr on the bike…the rest of the time is weights or additional time on the treadmill. I am improving each time with HR and rpms. I know I need to try the elliptical again but I love the feeling of accomplishing my 25+ miles each day. Need to come up with a new goal. Wonder how long the Biggest Loser people work out each day??? D2 sees O’Neal at our club all the time.</p>
<p>NM, while they are on the show, I’ve heard that they work out anywhere from 4-8 hours per day! </p>
<p>Once they have lost all their weight and are simply trying to maintain it, I believe the recommendation was 1 to 1.5 hours per day max. Jillian was on Oprah and I think that was the number she threw out with regard to maintenance. In one of her books, Jillian said she only puts in three to five hours per week to maintain her weight. She has hypothyroidism and credits the medication, strength training, and a super clean diet (organic everything, avoids chemicals like the plague, etc.) with keeping herself trim and healthy.</p>
<p>There was a big discussion about buying bikes starting at post #2821 in this thread. I love bikes, love buying bikes (shortly before that thread I bought two bikes in a week!) and am happy to make recommendations about which bikes to buy.</p>
<p>[Study:</a> Peak heart rate set too high for women over 35 - chicagotribune.com](<a href=“http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/chi-women-heart-rate,0,2459454.story]Study:”>http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/chi-women-heart-rate,0,2459454.story)</p>
<p>Interesting article in today’s Tribune.</p>
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<p>Will read it more thoroughly when I get home from the gym, hopefully alleviating the stress of worrying where my heart rate really should be.</p>
<p>Hmmmmm</p>
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<p>Which probably means that eats about half as much as a baby sparrow in a typical day!</p>
<p>On this heart rate thing, all I know is that it was way too hot and muggy this afternoon for me to be happy hitting 93% of my max heartrate during the Airdyne intervals at the end of my little workout. Man, I was drenched.</p>
<p>In honor of Cardinal Fang, I did all ten intervals above 65 rpms and pushed the final two to 72 rpm and 75 rpm respectively. Then, I pretty much collapsed.</p>
<p>In other words, the former formula ^^^^ wrongly said that women with lower maximums were at risk. Let’s say a 55-year-old woman took a stress test, and got her heart rate up to 158. Not high enough, the doctors would have said, you should be able to get it up to 165! You are at risk of premature death from heart problems!</p>
<p>But now, the doctors have discovered that a 55-year-old woman is a woman, with a woman’s body, and the formulas for men aren’t right for her. That hypothetical woman, it turns out, is fine.</p>
<p>That formula for women is completely inaccurate for me. My max is 185 or so and the formula would predict 155 which is just slightly over my aerobic zone. I can easily average 155 in a tempo workout. The formulas are really worthless. You have to do something approaching a max test.</p>
<p>I have found that the heart rate monitor really doesn’t tell me much I don’t already know. When I’m bent over panting like a dog, I’m pretty near my max! Duh.</p>
<p>When I’m not breathing at all hard and not breaking into even a little sweat, I’m not working hard enough (although this is a little tricky because there’s a time component to it).</p>
<p>The biggest value of the heart rate monitor, for me, has been giving me a numeric log for each workout (number of minutes x average heart rate). This lets me see my workouts over time. As they start to fall, due to better fitness, I can see that it’s time to kick it up a notch.</p>
<p>One of the main purposes of the HR monitor for runners/cyclists etc. is that it helps you keep your easy days easy. That is, if you listen to it. When you hammer out the same intensity of workout every day, the risk of injury and burnout is higher. This is something I need to work on. It’s more difficult with hills, since your HR goes up at even lower levels of effort.</p>
<p>My biggest “surprise” was seeing my heart rate while pushing a fertilizer spreader back and forth across the yard for an hour. I’d always thought, “man, I’m gassed doing thiis.” Then, I threw on the heart monitor the other day and it was a surprisingly tough workout. An hour with an average heartrate of 74% and a peak of 86%. I guess it makes sense because it’s not only lifing heavy bags and walking, but pushing a pretty heavy weight. I counted it as a workout!</p>
<p>The most encouraging thing is that my recovery rate (decrease in heart rate in 60 seconds after maximum exertion) has improved signficantly. When I first started and pushed my heart rate up to - say - 93% of max, I was only seeing a one-minute recovery in the 13 to 15 bps range. Not good. That’s a excellent predictor of poor cardiovascular condition. Now, I typically see recovery of 19 bps, still just in the “fair” range, but knocking on the door of the “good” range. I notice it. I now recover much faster after cresting a hill or finishing an interval on the bike.</p>
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<p>The thing people sometimes forget is that all these numbers are simply a method of quantifying an underlying condition. People don’t keel over dead from heart attack because the can only achieve 155 bps on an exercise test. They keel over because they are fat tubs of goo whose sole exercise consists of eating Pringles on the sofa (and believe me, I know!)</p>
<p>OK… a question I haven’t seen posed here.</p>
<p>There are the pros and cons of weighing yourself due to the whole ‘muscle weighing more than fat’ issue. So I try not to weigh myself too much (might be different this week, just for good yuks).</p>
<p>For those of you who have used measurements to track your progress… what parts of your body have you measured? Is there a standard for specific places you should keep track of. And to be more specific, if I’m going to take measurements on my arm, or two different spots on my legs, how do I remember exactly where I held the tape measure so that I can compare readings. </p>
<p>I’ve also heard some people even say that when you measure your waist, it’s not necessarily the skinniest part of your waist you want to measure, but pick the same spot each time (i.e. 2" above your belly button)… as you lose weight and gain muscle, the skinniest spot may even move. I don’t know… it all sounds rather complicated to me, but I’m just wondering if there are standard measurements to take to see what progress you’ve made.</p>
<p>The only measurement I use is how Wrangler Relaxed Fit men’s jeans fit. Of the eighty different flavors of men’s jeans, that’s sort of the industry standard style of jeans for guys over 40 (no $400 skin-tight Diesels).</p>
<p>I weigh myself every morning when I get out of bed and record the weight. I just have to accept that the weight loss goes in spurts. A week or two of not so much, followed by a week with a signficant drop.</p>