<p>Cardinal Fang, Just wondering if you’d mind giving me some bike recommendations? I’m shopping for a new bike and I’m overwhelmed at the choices. I used to own a Trek mountain bike, but I sold it when H and I moved overseas. That was almost 15 years ago and I haven’t owned a bike since then.</p>
<p>I’m looking for a bike that I’ll ride primarily on paved bike paths and hard packed earth trails. (I do very little road biking because it scares me too much. My teenage brother was hit by a car and killed while riding his bike.) Although we love mountain biking, H and I are too old for the hard core stuff we used to do. We’ll probably do some easier mountain biking, though. </p>
<p>What do you think of the Cannondale Quick Feminine bikes?</p>
<p>I’m a small female (5’4"), early 50s. I’m looking to spend around $500-1000. Thanks in advance for any advice you can give me!</p>
<p>One advantage of plastic bottles is that I can toss them in the freezer to bring out to the court which can be 100 degrees. I am concerned about the leeching though. I think that I’ll use my lemonade bottle for now. I have one in the office and need someone to drink the lemonade in the one at home.</p>
<p>That LifeFactory bottle is $22 (forgot to mention that in my earlier post). Just a wee-bit pricey for what is essentially a glass bottle, polycarbonate top and a silicone carrying sleeve.</p>
<p>I guess I’ll try throwing one of these shirts in the wash. I usually do colors at high temperatures with soap and powdered bleach. I should check these shirts to see whether or not they are okay with powdered bleach. I usually hang-dry my workout shirts and my work-related t-shirts.</p>
<p>Work has picked up considerably which may put some stress on my workout routine. Work and family stress have traditionally been the thing that kills my fitness programs in the past.</p>
<p>I would avoid bleach on delicate shirts with stretchy fabric. Bleach eats up any kind of stretchy fiber. I bleach whites (socks and underwear) because I figure that’s all disposable anyway after x amount of time, but I wouldn’t repeatedly bleach anything that you expect to keep indefinitely.</p>
<p>Congrats, idad! Really excellent progress and lots of goal-busting!</p>
<p>4 horrific, hot, humid miles this morning. (this is not just me whining- everyone in the Nashville running community is, also) 85% humidity and 80 degrees at 6am. I wore some Saucony shoes (very high end) that I used to love (pre-Brooks) for cushioning on the foot and I truly felt like I was wearing army boots. They felt like boats. I hated them. No foot pain, though.
Check up at the Doc. He said I am 75-80% improved over pre-epidural steroid. My choice is to give it a couple of weeks and see if I continue to improve or go back for another injection. Shockingly (well, because I survived the first one) I scheduled another epidural for next Wednesday. As the clerk at the dr’s office was calling the Radiology place to schedule me, I told her I was surprised they would let me come back after I acted like such a baby the last time.<br>
Also recommended a metatarsal pad for the foot pain. I’ll go pick one up after work. </p>
<p>All this might be moot because I am not at all sure I will survive the moving process of getting WildChild from Philadelphia to Denver. This begins today with H driving part way to Phila and me flying there tomorrow. We are doing it in 2 steps- PHL to Nashville, a couple days here and getting a bigger trailer and then Nashville to Denver. I am looking forward to getting back to Colorado and some better weather.</p>
<p>My wife gets up early in the morning to walk before the heat arrives and we’re in Northern New England. Hard to imagine how hot it is down south. I also try to dry the clothes when it is in the 70s or lower so I put in a load of clothes at midnight, then one at 1:00 AM and then get up early to do any remaining. The heat this summer has been remarkable up here but I’m sure that it’s another notch or two higher where you are.</p>
<p>My wife has the metatarsal issue from time to time. I’ve told her to change her shoes more often but she thinks that they’re fine if they look good. She has tried metatarsal pads in the past with limited success. I probably should have gotten her the New Balance Arch Supports the last time we were at New Balance. Much more cushioning and arch support compared to the stuff at the drug store. She did buy a new pair of shoes while we were there last week but she doesn’t take her shoes seriously.</p>
<p>Mapesy, the Cannondale Quick Feminine looks very well suited for your purpose. I like that it doesn’t have a front or rear suspension- unnecessary, heavy and complicated for what you need.</p>
<p>That bike has road bike sized wheels (700c), not mountain bike sized wheels (559). Road bike wheels are fine, but since you are shorter than the average bike rider, I would have recommended smaller wheels. With road bike wheels on a smaller-framed bike, you may find that when you’re pedaling slowing, for example when you have to slow up to avoid a child on a bike path, your foot hits the tire, which is annoying. Or, in an attempt to avoid that misfeature, sometimes frame makers make the frame too long, so you have to stretch out to reach the bars. However, unfortunately a quick look around the web shows me that manufacturers are now putting 700c wheels on almost every bike. Sorry, shorter people!</p>
<p>Do fenders fit on that bike? You should have fenders on your bike unless you live in a climate where it doesn’t rain in the summer and you never plan to ride in the rainy season. Fenders keep you cleaner and keep the bike cleaner. You don’t want to ruin your favorite shirt with mud because you rode through a mud puddle.</p>
<p>BC, here in Southeast Missouri, it’s been right around 100 for a normal temperature-- then add the heat index. Add to that the fact that our soccer and football teams practice on the Fieldturf… been getting readings over the last week as high as 300 degrees for relative humidity I believe it is!!</p>
<p>Wow. I think I’m more spent after a workout than I can remember. The harder of the two iPod circuits. 45 seconds for each exercise, 30 seconds rest. 7 exercises including lunge walks with dumbbell shoulder presses and squats with dumbbell curl and press. Three sets. I’m using heavier weights and doing the exercises with more strength. That part was OK. </p>
<p>Then, I hopped on the Airdyne and did eight Mike Boyle intervals. Fifteen seconds as hard as I could go – level 12 to 14, 600+ watts, 90+ rpm. After each one, rest until my heart rate recovered to 70%, which was taking 1:45 to 2:00. Then repeat. Eight all out intervals. I staggered off the bike. This is a terrific way to do intervals, particularly for a newbie trying to get in shape. I see slightly lower peak heart rates than I do on timed intervals, 88% versus 95%. But, the level of exercision during the all out intervals is off the charts.</p>
<p>Way to go idad!
I am also tired today. I am having trouble getting all the right “ingredients” on MyPlate. I had 17 (count them!) cherries and 1 cup of grapes and I am over my sugar limit again! I had an egg white and veggie omelet for breakfast, a 4 oz chicken breast and salad, no dressing for lunch and one for dinner with portabella mushrooms and that put me over for protein. Everything else is way low. Do you think it really matters??? I am probably tired because my carbs are low. For those that use the Daily Plate do you add back more calories allowed to make up for your calories burned to your total like they want you to? I haven’t because I’m not hungry.</p>
<p>Out of curiosity, I went to the spot where I keep my wedding and college rings. I haven’t been able to wear them for quite some time. I can get the college ring on and off my right hand but it’s a little uncomfortable. It fits fine on my left hand. The wedding ring is about 3/8ths of an inch away from fitting. I probably need to lose about 15 pounds to get it on.</p>
<p>Fitness question–does heat affect heart rate when working out? It’s been really hot and humid in my area (which is unusual). When I walk outside–I do a half hour of fast invervals (1 minute very fast walk followed by a rest period of 3 minutes) and then another half hour at about 70-75% max heart rate–I recently noticed that I really didn’t have to push myself very hard to keep at the 70-75% range. In fact, I keep looking at my heart rate monitor thinking that it might be incorrect. I’m wondering if it’s the heat more than my efforts that’s keeping my heart rate at that level? If it’s not the heat, am I working more effciently because I’ve been working out consistently and have also lost weight (just over 40 pounds in 6 months). I did notice that the same work out now burns fewer calories than when I first started on my program. For example, when I started I’d burn almost 100 more calories in a 90 minute spinning class than I am now. Same with walking and working with a trainer–same routines (slightly harder because I’ve gotten better) but less calories expended. My goal is to expend 1800-2000 calories per week.</p>
<p>I think it’s useful to track calories for a while, just to get a feel for what you are eating and the calories of various foods. However, I could never deal with something as precise as rationing out sugars and proteins and carbs. That’s just not the way I’m wired and I think it would put way too much emphasis on picayune details.</p>
<p>I do not like the way MyPlate tries to assign a calorie value to each workout. Frankly, I have no confidence that any estimate of workout calories is accurate. I burn different calories walking than you burn so how can a website estimate that? I prefer the approaches that assign a calorie requirement based on overall activity levels. I stumbled across one that is seems to be quite good that I’ll post later.</p>
<p>BC:</p>
<p>Yeah, my wife had to get a jeweler to cut her wedding ring off when her finger went numb. When I was putting on weight, I took mine off as a preventative measure. I just fished it out of the safe-keeping place and it slips right on and off now. So, another benefit of fitness! I can wear my wedding ring again.</p>
<p>Bromfield:</p>
<p>I have no doubt whatsoever that the heat and humidity sends your heart rate up while exercising. I have done the same walking route for months and my heart rate goes up on hot days and down on cooler days. Clear as a bell.</p>
<p>I don’t trust any of the exercise calorie estimates. In theory, my heart rate monitor should be the best since it knows my weight and heart rate during exercise. But, it gives me absurd estimates. If I were really burning that many calories I’d be losing five pounds a week. I do track the intensity of my workouts – minutes x average heart rate. So a 45 minute workout with an average heart rate of 80% would be an arbitrary number of 3600. This lets me track a weekly total. As I get more fit, the number goes down unless I step up my workouts, so tracking it, even with an arbitrary number, gives me a way of measurement. Even that is still a bit hit or miss. For example, my iPod workouts don’t generate really high heart rates anymore (until I do the intervals at the end), but they are physically demanding. That’s about to change as the next phase is super sets with stuff like burpees thrown into the mix.</p>
<p>First you calculate your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate). This is your calorie needs based on your height, weight, gender, and age if you did nothing all day but lie in bed.</p>
<p>Once you’ve calculated his, you multiply by a adjustment factor based on which of five levels of physical activity best describes you. The first level is a total couch potato. The fifth level is a pro athlete training twice a day.</p>
<p>Just enter your height, weight, gender, age, and activity level and it will calculate how many calories you need to eat each day to maintain your weight without losing or gaining.</p>
<p>Figure that you need a deficit of 500 calories per day to lose one pound per week.</p>
<p>^^^ I like that calculator better than another one you posted, idad. This one lets me eat 1700 calories per day – the other one was only 1300!!!</p>
<p>YES, yes and yes. It affects HR a great deal.</p>
<p>For example, I am easily averaging 10 beats above the upper limit of my target aerobic zone in the current weather. I am not at my most fit, but my slower pace is the result of that. I hit a max today of 180 on a hill- but not a particularly steep hill. My max heartrate (tested) is about 186. This is completely due to heat and humidity.</p>
<p>I saw some brief glimmers of my former running self this morning. I drove my car a mile and started at the grocery store parking lot to avoid a big climb going out and back. I did 6.6 miles, which means I have 20 for the week so far with at least 2 running days to do. I used the metatarsal pad in the Newton shoes (with the forefoot lugs) and the foot felt fine until the last mile or so when the pad had slipped back under my arch. My average pace was much better than it has been. Maybe there is hope. Hamstring/butt bone did really well. Some discomfort now sitting in the chair. Weight is low (a little dehydrated, too) which is good since I am flying to the land of Excessive Food (aka my sister’s house in PA).</p>
<p>The new calculator gave me about 200 calories more than the other one. I will try to stay away from both numbers though.</p>
<p>The slippage issue is why I prefer the full insole to just a heel cup or a front pad. I think that some of the pads have a loop which hooks onto a toe but I’d worry about constriction on that toe. Perhaps you could glue it down?</p>
<p>NorthMinnesota, I’ve only been using the Daily Plate for about 2 weeks, and I just look at the total calories. I don’t pay much attention to the breakdown. I do eat more if I feel like it on days that I exercise. Right now I can hardly walk let alone work out, so I’m paying more attention to my calories. The biggest help the Daily Plate has been to me is in stopping the snacking I was doing. No more entire bags of Chips Ahoy for dinner :)</p>
<p>Thanks blankmind! I guess I will not look at the breakdown. I can feel my obsessive and competitive mode kicking in as I try to kickstart a more rapid weight loss for this challenge and to have more weight off for the Holidays. I will allow myself more fruit! ;)</p>
<p>The other calculation was based 100% on lean body mass, so it would be highly dependent on coming up with a percentage of body fat, which is not an easy number to pin down.</p>
<p>This one is based entirely on weight, height, age, and gender.</p>
<p>The two formulas came out virtually identical for me. My resting BMR is 1810 on one and 1814 on the other. Assuming the middle level of physical activity (exercising 3 to 5 times a week), my calorie burn to maintain weight is 2805 on one and 2811 on the other.</p>
<p>BTW, there seems to be a widespread rule of thumb that you should not diet by limiting calories below your resting BMR requirements for any length of time. So, for example, my absolute maximum safe dieting rate would be 1000 calorie daily deficit or 2 pounds per week. For a lot of women, trying to lose 2 pounds per week would be well below that threshold and both mentally miserable and physically detrimental. Below that level and you aren’t even supplying enough fuel for the basic function of your organs, even while lying in bed all day. Dieting at those levels will cause physical deterioration and cause the body to go into starvation-protection mode and start dialing back metabolism, which is the opposite of what you want. I think this is why “crash diets” with extreme weight loss don’t work long-term. </p>
<p>This goes a long way towards understanding what is a realistic rate of weight loss and why the experts recommend a maximum dieting weight loss of 1 to 2 pounds per week. This makes the message sent by shows like **The Biggest Loser **questionable at best and perhaps misleading in a way that undermines successful dieting and weight loss.</p>
<p>I have been eating way more than I used to but way less calories. For breakfast this morning I had leftover roasted broccoli, cauliflower and onion with egg whites scrambled on top. Had 2 1/2 cups of veggies and 1/2 cup egg whites. Planned on having a Thomas’ Light multi-grain English muffin with it but I am full so will probably save it for my snack with some fruit instead of a smoothie made with frozen fruit and a little juice. That said, my breakfast was under 200 calories. I am finding it hard to add back the calories since I am having lots of veggies, chicken and fish at all meals. I do use extra virgin olive oil. The big calorie deficit for me is not having breads. I guess I have been averaging 1100 -1200 calories a day while burning at least 400 calories during my workouts. That’s why I was asking about adding calories back in because I would be at a huge calorie deficit! Oh…I guess another thing that I have cut out is wine with dinner. </p>
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