<p>MOWC…Ha! I can not walk fast either! That was one of my reasons for starting this “get fit” gig. My friends all walk and they don’t wait for me! I am going away for a retreat with those friends next weekend and even though I am in much better shape I know I won’t be able to walk through the woods with them and keep up because of my knee. I will do my own walk at my own pace and enjoy the colorful leaves around the lake trails. I also have a massage scheduled there to reward myself for the weight loss and for making it in to the overweight category rather than the obese. I am really looking forward to it.</p>
<p>I just had a hard-boiled egg, a piece of cantaloupe and a bran muffin with peanut butter for breakfast. And I feel full. Weird how a couple of weeks of decent habits can change a person.</p>
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Me too! I never thought I’d be so happy to be overweight! I’m just thrilled not to have a clinical definition for my weight. Colonoscopy prep day today. Trying to keep busy and keep my mind off this afternoon…</p>
<p>Happy Birthday, mathmom!</p>
<p>I’m aiming for “overweight” as my first milestone. It actually feels possible. My challenge for today: lunch at a Lebanese restaurant. Eating out brings out the worst in me.</p>
<p>Happy birthday, mathmom!</p>
<p>Thinking of you chintzy! Good luck with the prep and test!</p>
<p>geezermom…you can do it! Since achieving this goal I feel that I can tackle the next goal…looking good at my daughter’s wedding! 
I really don’t know how much more weight I want to lose…at least 20 more but maybe 30. Time will tell! Keep up the good work!</p>
<p>chintzy:</p>
<p>Don’t sweat it. It’s really not that bad at all. The stuff you drink doesn’t taste bad. It just tastes like GatorAid or Crystal Lite. Just line them up and drink 'em, glass by glass. I mean, it’s lousy to have to eat and drink like that for a day, but it’s no big deal.</p>
<p>The actual procedure is a piece of cake. Kind of like taking one of those great afternoon naps. Honestly, the only even remotely aggravating part is getting jabbed to start an IV.</p>
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<p>People ask me what my goal is and I say, “I don’t know. Maybe five more pounds!” Honestly, what other goal is there? Whatever goal I might envision only exists in my imagination until I lose five more pounds, so what’s the point of getting ahead of myself?</p>
<p>The real answer is “I don’t know”. I’ve never had a lifestyle of eating like this and moving like this before, let alone having this lifestyle in my 50s. So, I really have no idea what the ultimate destination could be. I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing and see what happens.</p>
<p>I know what you are saying though. You do start to get a sense that at least a couple more 5 pound goals are probably achievable.</p>
<p>It’s kind of like running. When I start out, I have a general goal, usually six miles. After the second mile, I have an idea as to how easy it will be to finish the third. If the third is easy, then I start thinking about doing 7 or 8 if I have the time. Sometimes I’m really tired or hungry at the end of four but I know that I can just eke out the last two.</p>
<p>On gatorade, I can drink a half-a-gallon of that stuff in two hours. I used to buy it in quart bottles and could finish those off while watching a movie on the computer or doing general work. I only drink the stuff while exercising now.</p>
<p>I have reached the high end of the ideal weight for my height, age and body frame. This is still 20lbs over my weight when I got married. I have lost 30 lbs since the beginning of the year. I am finding what is keeping me going is trying on pants that have sat in my closet for 5+ yrs and finding they fit or are even loose.
I have gotton lack in my exercise routine the last few months. I am giving myself the goal of starting back up on my walking next week. My hip has been bothering me but between the chiropractor, massage and stretching it is feeling somewhat better.
I am glad to see everyone doing so well on improving their health and quality of life.
Where are you Eddieodessa?</p>
<p>The problem with the prep isn’t the amount of liquids you drink, it is the sodium content of the mix. After awhile you feel ridiculously full and dread having another glass of the cocktail. It is, however, a relatively easy prep and those of us who have had loved ones die of colon cancer view it as a small inconvenience for the assurance of health.</p>
<p>I did my walk/run out on a trail today. I accidentally went too far. I had mapped out a 2.3 mile there and back on gmaps, but it looks different in person, so I wasn’t sure when I had actually reached my planned turnaround spot. When I got home, I looked it up on gmaps, and I ended up doing 5.3 miles. Boy was I tired when I finally found my way back to the starting point. It was a lot hillier than I had planned, so I found myself often having to walk when I was supposed to be running. I think I ran a total of 24 minutes, but I lost count after a while. I took my little kitchen timer with me so I would know when to run or walk, but I didn’t remember to note what time I started, so I have no idea how long it all took. All I know is that when I gave up running, it took me 27 minutes to get back to my car. </p>
<p>On the plus side, my knees feel ok.</p>
<p>The new prep for colonoscopies isn’t a saline solution. It’s Miralax and the only ingredient is polyethylene glycol:</p>
<p>[Polyethylene</a> Glycol 3350 and Product Information - MiraLAX](<a href=“http://www.miralax.com/miralax/hcp/miralaxinformation.jsp]Polyethylene”>http://www.miralax.com/miralax/hcp/miralaxinformation.jsp)</p>
<p>They’ve stopped using the old saline based solutions. Apparently people would occasionally not take enough liquids with them and get messed up from the salt.</p>
<p>This stuff really doesn’t taste bad. I hate the taste of GatorAid, but I didn’t really notice any difference before and after dissolving the junk in it.</p>
<p>So I headed over the local school track at lunch and did some calibration walks on a regulation 400 meter track. I did a quick lap to warm up and then walked 10 laps for 4 kilometers. The the lady who lives in the uncalibrated iPod Nike + sensor said that I had walked 3.92 kilometers, exactly 2% short of the actual 4.0 kilometers.</p>
<p>Then, I did a three lap 1.2 kilometer calibration walk. You tell the iPod you are starting a 1.2k walk and then hit stop as you reach the finish line and it stores the calibration.</p>
<p>I don’t know how people do their walking on tracks. It was a nice sunny day and it’s boring as heck walking around the track. I did make pretty good time, averaging about 3.4 mph. I kind of missed my hills.</p>
<p>That would be the place for me to go do the iPod nazi jog/walk intervals workout I’ve got in the queue.</p>
<p>^^I do a downloaded, narrated interval walk on a flat indoor track, and I’ll bet it’s much wimpier than your iPod nazi, interesteddad. Still, it gets my heart rate up nicely. But I am so out of shape it isn’t even funny. I have a long way to go before I match the success of other people on this thread! I’m just glad I can outwalk the cardiac rehab folks who also use the track at my gym.</p>
<p>Right now I’m trying not to focus on any number beyond becoming just plain overweight. This is for my overall health and longevity. I liked many things about Weight Watchers when I did it 15 years ago, but the obsession with a number and the weekly weigh-in (Congratulations! You’ve lost a quarter of a pound!) was not good for me.</p>
<p>The polyethylene glycol colonoscopy prep irritated the heck out of my tongue and the roof of my mouth, even though I used a straw as they recommended. I may have been allergic to something in it. I still haven’t recovered fully, and it’s been about six weeks, but I keep forgetting to call the doctor about it. Ugh. I’m glad I don’t have to face that for another five years.</p>
<p>Geezermom - Sometimes DH IS the cardiac rehab person on the track. Since his last incident, the doctor wants DH to wait until he is on the full dose of new anti-arrhythmia medication. Poor guy is stuck walking either around the track or around a path by our home with me. I feel so bad for him - but he never complains. Next week he is going to start doing some very slow jogging around the track. We will keep our fingers crossed.</p>
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<p>Nah. The iPod nazi is a pussycat. Besides, I’ve got the absolute beginner walk/jog workout that is about as basic as it gets. I’ve been meaning to try it, but it really is most suited for the track instead of the hilly routes I walk. </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.mytreadmilltrainer.com/volume1workoutstructure.pdf[/url]”>http://www.mytreadmilltrainer.com/volume1workoutstructure.pdf</a></p>
<p>I’ll head over one of these days and give it a whirl. I’ve been throwing in the occasional 60 second jog on flat dirt paths in the park on some of my walks.</p>
<p>worknprogress, best wishes to your husband. I hope I didn’t sound like I was dissing the cardiac rehab patients! It is frustrating to be active and then have to scale back. I hope the medication does the trick for him.</p>
<p>The indoor track at the Y that I use has a basketball court, two tennis courts and a street hockey rink on the inside so you can watch a little tennis or basketball if you’re running around.</p>
<p>At BC’s indoor track, there were three or four tennis courts, a few Universal Gyms, a stretching area and a small area for some track and field equipment. The courts had nets to catch the balls that were see through so you could watch the action on the tennis courts.</p>
<p>My indoor track is on a mezzanine above a basketball court used by a middle-school league in the winter. I loved watching them this year and found myself rooting for the underdogs. There are also big windows all around. It’s quite peaceful (when there’s no b-ball) compared to my outdoor city walks and the noisy treadmill.</p>
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Depends on the doctor/hospital. I did the Miralax prep, but my sister used the sodium based one about a month or two ago.</p>