I know if I stick to the dietitian plan, and continuing exercise, the weight will come off. 40 lb went on during the years of battling stage III cancer (so survival was key). Before the cancer, it took a healthy me 26 months to lose 30 lbs. So I lose weight IMHO slowly. I will still get there, but making sure I stick to the diet is key. And I just have to accept the ‘new lifestyle’. Too hard to lose the weight to fall back…
Keep moving everyone.
I also agree about controlling the snacks!
I agree.
I read about these amazing exploits, many by people older than I am, and there is a temptation to either feel inadequate or pressure to set bigger goals. But ultimately we have to ask ourselves what it is that we really want from exercise. I’ve never been an athlete and I’ve never had a very competitive nature. What I want is to be healthy, have better quality of life while I’m here, stay off medications to the degree that it is possible, and keep my weight to a number acceptable to me. I ride an hour to an hour and a half per day, and I’m starting to think maybe that’s okay. I don’t aspire to be a long distance cyclist or win any contests. As it is, the travel to and from trails is at least 30 minutes each way, so I’m devoting plenty of time to fitness. And for now, that’s good enough for me.
I can, however, still enjoy reading about other members’ progress, competitions, etc.
We are all on our own fitness journeys based on our own goals, competing life responsibilities and priorities. The only thing that matters is that you make the commitment to yourself. No one should ever feel that they are in a competition with another; even in individual event competitions, what matters is whether you have been true to your own training program, event strategy and have given your all. Have you done the work. Have you been honest in your efforts. The real competition is with yourself. Everything else is a distraction. And we can celebrate the successes of others without diminishing our own.
We are having a heat wave here - today 89, feeling like 91 during my run - did 3.6 miles and feeling proud of myself 
Sounds like many of us are in a heat wave ! Remember these days in January!!!
Low 90’s here today and then torrential rain that just skyrocketed the humidity - truly AWFUL. Cut it with a knife humidity. Loaded myself in the car and went back to the work gym - 3 miles track/treadmill (BB, I bow to you for sticking through EIGHT on the dreadmill!!) and then some rowing time.
Speaking of competition, the best thing you can do for yourself is to make it your own game and no one elses. Otherwise, you will scare yourself away!!! My gym is at the university I work at. I don’t go much in the summer preferring to do outdoor stuff. Tonight when I went - late enough that all the work people had gone home and so the rest of the people there were students - well, I was clearly old enough to be all of their mother! SO WHAT! I wasn’t measuring their workout and they surely weren’t measuring mine! I played my own game and that is where I have to gain my satisfaction.
Oh and check out this article on how sitting too much is detrimental to your health - even if you exercise regularly. Makes me think about MOWC’s standing desk!!!
http://time.com/3672428/exercise-sitting/
Excerpt:
The researchers looked at 47 studies that asked people how much time they spent sitting and exercising, as well as rates of heart disease, diabetes, cancer and death from any cause. The more hours people in the studies spent sedentary—like watching TV or reclining on a couch—the higher their risk of all of these negative outcomes. Heavy sitters showed a 90% higher risk of developing diabetes than those who sat less, an 18% higher chance of dying of heart disease or cancer, and 24% greater odds of dying from any cause. These rates were the average among people who both exercised regularly and those who did not.
There may be hope for us yet:
Doesn’t sound like much, but it adds up to 27,000 calories per year.
Wow!
Pretty good!
[America Is Not Getting Fatter Anymore](America Is Not Getting Fatter Anymore)
@MichaelNKat - hoping I can pick your brain and ask for your help in coming up with some biking workouts that I can do at the gym. Any websites you recommend?
Made it through my 50 minute run today. It’s a sad thing that I’m only on day 2 of the marathon plan, and I was already thinking about cutting it short!
blankmind, you are on “mile 2” of your marathon training. Whenever I go for a long run, I always think about quitting at mile 2. Somehow, when I get to mile marker 3, these thoughts are gone. Give it a few more days and see if you change your mind.
Lol, that’s about right Bunsen. I was about 15 minutes in when I started thinking about cutting it short and adding the difference on to my next run. By the time I got to 40 minutes, I figured I might as well just finish the plan. But you’re right, the first mile is always the hardest.
Cybex Arc + weights today. Haven’t been to the gym in 3 weeks, what with Family Camp, Hotel Week, golf, etc. (I DID exercise, just not at the gym!) I was all set to leave the house this morning when an overwhelming desire to sit down and have a 2nd cup of coffee hilt me. BUT, the thought of not reporting in here propelled me out the door. So, while I don’t feel as if I’m competing with anyone on this thread (or anywhere else), the accountability is sometimes just the final push I need. Thanks to all for that!
Yesterday’s golf was hot, hot, hot – and we were riding! Good front 9 (with a Pro Tour-worthy long putt on the 1st hole), but fell apart slightly on the back 9. Oh well, it’s still fun.
sabaray- do you have any good spin classes? I always felt I got the best bike workouts from spin class. As we’ve discussed, though, the wrong teacher can be a nightmare.
Just a short run this morning. Supposed to be a little cooler for the weekend mornings, so I hope to do 8 on Saturday.
Spin class is not an option - two poor instructors coupled with poor time slots make it a no go at this point. I might look for another gym or see about trying classes elsewhere for a trial period.
Ran 5 miles on the same treadmill. I really was not into it today, but this is how I handled it - via my mental math game.
0.5 miles - “wow, it is just 0.5 miles, and I’m already 10% into my run? Fantastic!”
1 mile - “one fifth done!”
1.25 miles - “yay, a whole quarter is over!”
1.67 miles - “no kidding, this is faster than I thought. A third done!”
2 miles - “Amazing, 40% in”
2.51 miles - “it is all downhill now!!”
4.5 miles - “lets speed up this sucker!”
5 miles! - “yay, a glass of water is the best reward!”
I do this game with pretty much every distance. Sometimes, fractions are not so easy.
Can someone familiar with cycling give me the pros and cons of the clip on shoes/pedals?
Yes, those talks with yourself can be pretty comical - we can talk ourselves in or OUT of just about anything!!
I love my spin class- nothing to compare it to, but I really, really like the workout and variety of exercise.
When you clip in on your bike you can use your whole leg to pedal. Inside of just pushing down. I was very nervous about buying the shoes and pedals but now I love it. Much easier to bike, especially going up hill. I have mine set pretty loose so that I can unclip very easily. I have only fallen while stopped. Forgot which side I unclipped on and fell over. The only thing I hurt was my pride.
I agree on the mental game - I do it sometimes with swimming laps, similar to what BB does.
I was trying to find the book that I have with the guy that had run a phenomenal number of miles in his running lifetime (amazing at how his body held up). Instead I found the women’s runner book “Running Free” by Joan Ullyot MD (1980). I am sure there are many things tweaked since this book was written, but it has some interesting Appendixes. I picked up this book at our Friends of the Library, cheap.
I just enjoy jogging some with the set amount of distance - and jogging more as I get more fit.
Losing weight is my first priority, since my weight sucks! Lost it before, can lose it again - but will be smarter and not let it come back on me after I lose it. Don’t beat myself up about having so much to lose, because of the cancer fight and inactivity is responsible for most of the weight. Can also say I never got as heavy as Oprah either! And am now cancer free so no looking back, but looking forward.
So glad the Naproxen helped my hip so much with just a couple of doses.
Was it Vioxx that had the cardiac issue? I know a guy that was affected by that - had a minor heart attack.
I just am very careful on systemic things.
Michael can weigh in with a more “professional” viewpoint, but here’s mine. I started cycling with toe clips (regular shoes in the cages on the pedals) and then graduated to clip pedals with real cycling shoes. It makes a huge, huge difference. Cycling shoes have a stiff sole, so you get a lot more power and can pedal through the whole circle of the stroke, which is the goal. You are, literally, attached to the pedals. There is a definite learning curve learning how to come in and out of the clips without falling over (and you probably will fall over while you learn). With the toe clips (cages), you can have the cages loose enough so that you can yank your shoe backwards out of the cage and put your foot on the ground more easily. Ideally, you build up to wear you are pretty tight in the cages to get the ability to pull through the whole range of the stroke. They say to think about wiping your foot on a rug or grass (backwards motion). That should be happening in part of your pedal stroke. Even in spin class, I always where clip in shoes.