<p>Kelowna, no - this is a coed thread. :)</p>
<p>Hopefully…seems like guys are more involved…night :)</p>
<p>YAY, idad! Way to start a little running! If you ever have the chance, I bet you would kick butt in spin class after that Airdyne work. </p>
<p>I went to spin class this morning and realized that what I don’t like is that there is not good air circulation and besides getting hot (which I expect), I felt like I was suffocating. Did an hour (15 minute warm up and 45 minute class) and it was hard.<br>
In Denver with my son now and there is what looks like a nice running path by the hotel which I will check out in the morning for whatever it is I do these days. I also think the steroid pack is raising my heartrate. Just 2 more days on that, though.</p>
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<p>I’m sitting on the beginner iPod nazi Treadmill Trainer program – intervals of walking and jogging, designed for a first time jogger. I haven’t forgotten that I have it, just not quite there yet. To be honest, I think I walk faster than some of the joggers I see in the park. I see a lotta up/down motion. I’m holding the running thing in reserve for when I can no longer get my heart rate up in the zone on my walks. So far that’s not a problem. Today was just about an ideal workout – average 73% heart rate, peak of 85%. I hit 90%+ on Airdyne intervals three days a week, so I really prefer that my cardio days aren’t quite that high.</p>
<p>I would be horrible in a spin class. I don’t have the aerobic capacity.</p>
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<p>We just don’t need air conditioning in New England more than a couple weeks a year, so we have room units in a couple of rooms, but not where all the exercise stuff is. I can’t handle it being stuffy. I know exactly what you mean about feeling like you are suffocating. The Airdyne is fine because it kicks up a big breeze. I finally aimed a big fan where I do the iPod nazi workouts.</p>
<p>I’m getting envious reading about cool breezes. Hot again yesterday. And today. Tomorrow is supposed to hit a 100. </p>
<p>I just read a review of a book in the WSJ…something about how AC is bad. Bad for the environment. Keeps ups working when we should be resting. Isolates us socially. Blah…blah. Sorry, I couldn’t live without my AC. </p>
<p>Anyway, I’m up for my regular walk today…don’t want to try hills until the weather cools down. But I DO plan to do some really long bike rides this weekend. I’m getting addicted to those breezes. Seems I can bike in 100 degrees without getting uncomfortable. Just have to make sure I get enough water though…</p>
<p>Hi all, I feel like I’ve been reading along long enough and finally feel like jumping in with my story. I’ll try to keep it short. At the risk of sounding like a Lifetime Television for Women movie, I hit a crisis point in my marriage back in March and decided to CHANGE MY LIFE. Joined a gym (okay, we’ve actually had a family membership at the Y for years, but finally went there), got a trainer, found The Daily Plate on Livestrong.com to track my diet and weight loss, got a therapist, and joined Overeaters Anonymous, a twelve step program based on AA for compulsive overeaters.</p>
<p>I’ve lost 70 pounds, finished the Couch to 5k program this morning, and have never been happier. H and I are in couples counseling and whether or not the marriage survives I feel strong enough to handle it.</p>
<p>So who should play me in the movie?</p>
<p>Hi chintzy!!! Wow! Congrats on the change! 70 lbs!!! Way to go! What an inspiration!</p>
<p>Wow, Chintzy, I’m so impressed with you.</p>
<p>I had a look at the Couch to 5k program on coolrunning - that looks like a very nice program. </p>
<p>Losing 70 pounds is a life achievement.</p>
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<p>Give us some choices and we’ll vote.</p>
<p>Fantastic, chintzy. 70 pounds might make you the reigning Diet/Health/Wellness Thread champion! That’s wonderful. You must feel like a million bucks stepping on that scale!</p>
<p>Was exercise the glue that held it together for you? That’s been my experience.</p>
<p>Wow…chintzy…awesome! Congrats! Send some tips our way!</p>
<p>I don’t know who can play you in a movie…but I think YOU could play Wonder Woman. And maybe even get away with wearing that outfit :)</p>
<p>Thanks all, for your kind words. Idad, it’s actually been OA that has helped me the most. You know from your experience kicking the smoking habit that you’ve got to get your mind in the right place and hope the body follows. My trainer must be related to the ipod Nazi–lots of plyometrics, bodyweight exercises, etc. Why do a dumbell press when you can do one balanced on a BOSU ball? As things progress I am convinced I will be juggling flaming chain saws while straddling two large exercise balls in the near future.</p>
<p>My brief highlights were just that–the highlights. I still have about 50 pounds to go. I am 5’3" and weighed 244 pounds when I started. The first 10 to 15 pounds were from the stress of the aforementioned marriage crisis. The advantage of being morbidly obese (what?) is that you can lose large amounts of weight rapidly. If you weigh 250, 2% of your body weight is 5 pounds, and I did have some 5 pound weeks. Things have slowed down considerably now, but I will keep plugging away.</p>
<p>Couch to 5K has been wonderful. The funny thing is I had lost 44 pounds and decided I was ready to try running. Okay, great weight loss, but I weighed 200 pounds! At 5’3"! It was like jogging with two kindergartners on my back.</p>
<p>Oh, and movie me–I’m 5’3" with brown hair, green eyes and a decent sized nose. Vaguely Irish/Italian looking. Valerie Bertinelli seems like too easy a choice…</p>
<p>I was bad about exercising this week, so I lost two pounds. Go figure!</p>
<p>Good Karma.</p>
<p>Hmmm…Hillary Swank? She’s a tough gal…</p>
<p>Where can I get some of that Karma? I need it for when the thermometer hits 100 tomorrow.</p>
<p>Tough day at the iPod nazi rockpile. Harder of the alternate circuits today with lunge walk/shoulder presses and squats with curl/press plus assorted killer core exercises (plank on ball, etc.). Did two sets, full speed, with no pauses. Then, hopped on the Airdyne for ten hard intervals (10 seconds fast, 20 seconds easy). I did the whole set Cardinal Fang style, hitting 70 rpms on all ten fast intervals. Heart rate was above 90% on the whole set and hit a peak of 97% on the final one (75 rpm). Airdyne intervals will kick your butt. You never recover during the easy bits, so the heart rate just rises and rises as you go. I was panting like a dog and drenched at the end. </p>
<p>Heart rate recovered 21 bpm in 60 seconds of easy pedalling at the end, in the “good” range, which is better than the “fair” range I started in and the 'watch out, you’ll keep over with a heart attack" range I’m trying to avoid! Definitely some aerobic/cardiac fitness gains over the last few months.</p>
<p>Feels good. I “moved more” a lot this week. That’s six days in a row. Need a Saturday recovery day.</p>
<p>Wow, i-dad, that sounds torturous!</p>
<p>I’m slowly ramping up my running - today I ran 2 miles on my treadmill. Felt great! Tomorrow is an off day, then I will try to go a little farther (and maybe just a notch faster :)).</p>
<p>From the very first iPod nazi workout back in February, I just got into the mindset of gutting it out on the exercise bike intervals, so I don’t mind them. It’s a guaranteed way to crank the heart rate up, which is great for building cardio-vascular fitness (of which I had none when I started).</p>
<p>The exercise circuits felt pretty good today. It continues to be infuriating how challenging some of these simple looking things are – like 45 seconds of “plank” with the elbows on the stability ball. I’ve been working on these circuits for a month. Next week, I’ll be trying the full 3 sets at iPod pace. I think I can do it, if it’s not 100 degrees. Three sets is just boring to me. Once you’ve done plank on the ball twice, it’s hard to get up for a third go-round.</p>