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<p>Actually, H is correct. The blood will get where it needs to go. But the ice will keep it from swelling and will keep inflamation down. Elevation does the same thing – keeps the bad stuff from pooling in your leg. If I had to choose one or the other, I’d always go with the ice. Ice is good. Heals lots of stuff. Ice it for 20 minutes on, 40 minutes off, over several hours. It will make a world of difference.</p>
<p>Amesie, my trainer had me set the treadmill at a 1% incline while my knees were recovering, and told me specifically not to leave it on the flat setting.</p>
<p>Well, I’ve been trying to lose this same 5 pounds for two years and now I’ve lost a bit over 5 since Thanksgiving with no effort. I’m on medication for several different conditions and illnesses and I fear that I’ve found some “magic” combination of drugs. I’m sure it won’t last but it’s nice to feel skinny around the holidays!</p>
<p>Pug- everyone is slow in the water with running. Good job on doing it! Water is HARD to move around!</p>
<p>iDad- Sorry you are benched, but it’s nice to have company on the bench. Pour me a drink!</p>
<p>Pmk, don’t be hard on yourself for being “slow”. There is a reason that the world record for 100 m freestyle swim is just under 50 seconds (what is it now, 47 seconds?) while Usain Bolt can run this same distance in under 10 seconds! Nice to hear you found an enjoyable way to exercise!</p>
<p>i-dad I sometimes use marsala, but for roast chicken I like plain white wine or vermouth best.</p>
<p>idad, that chili sounds awesome. Planning on being snowed in for a while? Sorry to hear about so many injuries and tweaks and colds. Hope everyone is back in fighting shape soon! </p>
<p>So, anyone know anything about maintenance? I’m down 116.6 lbs. I think I’m done with the weight loss portion of the program. Today I bought a pair of size 4 petite jeans. In March I was wearing size 26. It goes without saying that exercise remains a HUUUGE part of my life. Right now my plan is to stick with my eating 4 times a day routine, absolutely nothing in between, but adding some quality calories at each meal. I’m a compulsive overeater/binge eater. I really feel I need the structure of an ongoing food plan for a while. I welcome any suggestions.</p>
<p>chintzy- That is really amazing. Super congrats. Maybe look at Weight Watchers online for maintenance suggestions???</p>
<p>Congratulations, chintzy! Could you meet with a nutritionist? </p>
<p>I did not go to the pool today, instead I tackled my long walk fear. That’s when my back went out so horribly in October; walking through the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (great museum, by the way.) I just took a step and felt something wrong. I tried to walk it off and we all know how well that worked.</p>
<p>So, today I went to the mall in my most comfortable/supportive shoes and walked for 20 minutes straight. No rests. I was actually a little sweaty at the end, which was disconcerting. Even at my heaviest I could always walk a half hour or so before I would start to sweat. Hmmmm…I’m just going to have to take it a day at a time. </p>
<p>I do feel better knowing I can walk that far now and my back behaves itself as well as can be expected at this point. In other words, I can still stand up straight! Yes!</p>
<p>chintzy:</p>
<p>I’m really eager to hear how maintenance goes for you. I’m still losing, but the shape of the graph says that I’m right there, knocking on the maintenance door, too.</p>
<p>I’m guessing that a big part of the adjustment will be learning how to splurge as a one-time thing, i.e. have a splurge meal or snack and not view that as a green light to splurge every day. I’m also thinking that daily weigh ins and/or a pair of Rachel Cosgrove’s “thermometer jeans” will be an important part of maintenenance.</p>
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<p>Take it every other day at a time! </p>
<p>Fantastic that you could walk pain free. Now, give it a day in between to recover. Don’t get greedy as you figure out what you can do.</p>
<p>I’ve been reading this threat with great interest. I decide that it’s time for me to lose 10 lbs. (it’s a really bad timing with the holiday upon us)…anyhow, I started excersing. I’m jogging at least 35 min 3 times a week. But, i’m having a hard time to keep my calories intake to the 1500 calories a day. I’m still hungry if i limit myself to 1500 calories. I eat really healthy, but I eat a lot of it 
I don’t have any junk to cut from my diet.
How do you guys manage to keep your calorie intake to 1500 or less? any tips?
Thanks a bunch!</p>
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<p>I don’t think I could. 1700 calories a day is my “basal metabolic rate” or what I would burn lying in bed eating bon bons all day. So, trying to diet below that would not only leave me craving calories, but would be counterproductive to losing fat and fitness gains. I could probably do it for a short period of time (bye-bye half 'n half in my coffee), but it wouldn’t be healthy for me.</p>
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<p>Fantastic on starting to exercise three times a week. That will jump start your weight loss and probably make it easier to eat a little less (maybe not right at first). Cranking up your metabolism that way makes the whole eat less/move more thing come together, IMO.</p>
<p>Back to Spartacus today after a two-day injury time out. I ditched the dumbbell rows (bent at the waist, lifting two dumbbells from knee height to the shoulders. I’m really careful on that one, but it’s always felt iffy on the back. I replaced it with a one-arm dumbbell row with the other arm supporting my upper back on a sofa arm. Heavier weights, more reps. </p>
<p>Otherwise, Spartacus felt great. Good and strong. Well, maybe the two sets of eight T-pushups didn’t feel that great, but I did 'em. 
And, I’m actually getting down pretty close to the floor on the pushups, even with my hands on the dumbbells.</p>
<p>Felt good to get a workout in. Probably some Airdyne time tomorrow unless we see some warmer temps. Cold as hell out there right now.</p>
<p>Interestedad thanks for the encouragement. Jogging feels great, although some days my body feels so heavy that I can hardly jog.
I’ve tried different calorie calculators, and most of them ondicate around 1500 calories to lose weight. I’m a petite woman so I guess I’m not supposed to need so many calories?</p>
<p>I’m lonely on the bench, iDad.</p>
<p>To not be hungry at a lower calorie intake you have to make sure you are getting enough protein. Women in particular tend to cut out too much protein.</p>
<p>I may be ready to try a little low heart rate running. This involves lots of walking or your HR gets over the target, which is the absolute bottom of the aerobic range. I have to set my Garmin to beep at me at 136 HR.</p>
<p>MoWC: I am curious why low heart rate?</p>
<p>Chintzy: Wow. Impressive. Again out of curiosity, is this a low weight for you or have you weighed 116 before? </p>
<p>And idad: What did you freeze your chili in? I am wondering if I need actual serving containers (then that raises the glass or plastic question) or if I could freeze chili or soup in ziploc bags and then transfer to a serving container before heating in the microwave.</p>
<p>I freeze stuff in the semi-disposable ZIPLOC plastic containers. That and Sara Lee sells their deli turkey is perfectly sized 2 cup reusuable plastic containers that are low and flat and stack well in the freezer. I froze a bunch of 2 to 2.5 cup portions and then a few 4 cup portions that will work for a dinner and a lunch.</p>
<p>I froze a bunch of turkey, veg, and rice soup – that I had to make with storebought chicken breast because we didn’t have any turkey leftovers!</p>
<p>You could freeze chili in ZIPLOC bags, but then you’ve probably got to defrost it to get it out of the bag. I like these ZIPLOC (or GLAD) containers because they can go straight from the freezer to the microwave in a pinch.</p>
<p>Of course, I saved out some chili. It’s fantastic for dinner tonight, if I do say so myself. I had just a little taste last night at 2 am.</p>
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<p>Those are words that should never be spoken (or written) out loud.</p>
<p>Just kidding, and actually I had to concede as much this morning–I did use some ice last night and it seems to have helped.</p>
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<p>So are you going to share the recipe with us?</p>
<p>I am not a fan of semi-reusable. I never seem to be able to get the plastic really clean.</p>
<p>It would take a lot of explanation, but there are advocates of low heart rate training for building a base (some do it all the time). It is a way of building fitness and greatly reduces the risk of injury and over-training. It is HARD to run slowly enough to keep the HR low, but a number of elite runners and triathletes train this way and are able to race at a pace that is crazy-fast compared to what seems like a crawling training pace. Your target heart rate (called MAF in some circles based on the Maffetone method) is based on a formula that takes into account age and max HR. It often requires a little tweaking for very young or older (over mid-50s) runners. </p>
<p>Aren’t you glad you asked? :)</p>