<p>You guys are waaaaaay too high tech for me. </p>
<p>I do a little of this, a little of that. Consider that I haven’t worked my legs in a while – so I work my legs. Remember to lift heavy things over my head for my bones – do that for a while. Very regular about working my core. </p>
<p>Eat less. Move more.</p>
<p>No measurements.</p>
<p>Up early and heading to the gym. Must be the nice sunny morning! Will see if it motivates me more! :)</p>
<p>I’m pretty happy with the amount of data and feedback that I’m getting now.</p>
<p>At the moment, I’d prefer to buy a high-quality scale for home over a gadget.</p>
<p>Ran 3.25 miles yesterday, stretching video in the morning and home weights workout. I went to bed around 9:00 PM and got up at 5:00 AM. My wife is back home and cooking which is a bit of a problem.</p>
<p>The digital scales today are cheap and accurate. They use four load sensor/strain guages at the feet. I have found my Tanita to be accurate and highly repeatable.</p>
<p>Like anything else, these appear to be manufactured in the same two or three factories and sold under various brands. Taylor and “Biggest Loser” and others at the low end. Tanita and Omron at the high end. When I was shopping, the Tanita models were heavier, more robust, and seems to use much larger, more substantial load sensors.</p>
<p>If I were buying one today, I would go for something very simple. Just stand on it and read the weight, ideally with large lighted numerals so I could read it in a dark bathroom, first thing in the morning, without my glasses! Something like this in black glass:</p>
<p>[Amazon.com:</a> Tanita HD-366: Health & Personal Care](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Tanita-Digital-Weight-Scale-HD-366/dp/B002N6FR0M/ref=sr_1_11?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1305729284&sr=1-11]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Tanita-Digital-Weight-Scale-HD-366/dp/B002N6FR0M/ref=sr_1_11?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1305729284&sr=1-11)</p>
<p>You can get a similar scale from Taylor for as little as $25.</p>
<p>As you go up in price, you get the scales that attempt to measure body fat. </p>
<p>[Amazon.com:</a> Tanita BC534 Glass InnerScan Body Composition Monitor: Health & Personal Care](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Tanita-BC534-InnerScan-Composition-Monitor/dp/B0007Y6BRK/ref=sr_1_10?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1305732033&sr=1-10]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Tanita-BC534-InnerScan-Composition-Monitor/dp/B0007Y6BRK/ref=sr_1_10?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1305732033&sr=1-10)</p>
<p>This is largely a waste of money. It is neither accurate nor repeatable and is only mildly entertaining. The Tanita approach is to use on-board look-up tables based on the gender, age, height, activity level you program in your “button” along with the measured weight and some factor applied to the impedance of a tiny electrical current passed thru your body (essentially measuring water). This means that each member of the family has to have their own programmed button, which of course they will never understand or use. This adds needless complexity because you have to press a button before you stand on the scale (although there is a simple “weight” button). About all I can say for it is that the Tanita algorithm does result in body fat numbers generally trending down as you lose fat, but with significant day to day fluctuation.</p>
<p>The other “step-up” feature is memory – storing anywhere from the last one to a hundred measurements. Mine has a recall feature for the last measured weigth for each of the four people (buttons). It’s a little handy if you forget before you write it in your log, but otherwise not a very important feature.</p>
<p>I had one of the Tanita “body fat” scales which I have now abandoned due to the significant day fluctuations which I found annoying. I wasn’t even weighing daily and was still annoyed. High tech gadgets generally don’t do it for me. For the most part it’s all I can do to put one foot in front of the other without worrying about my gadgets performing. If I’m sweating, I’m working.</p>
<p>What I want most is to be able to see the results right in front of my nose.</p>
<p>The scale that we have in the office is perfect. I don’t know what it costs though.</p>
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<p>With the ice age returning to New England, I can’t even rely on that measure anymore! I’m back to working out in long pants and long-sleeve shirts, like in the dead of winter. Too damn chilly to even work up a sweat.</p>
<p>I have three pairs of 38s and one 36s and the 38s fall off without a belt. I’m going to buy another 36 and I need a new belt too. Losing weight is expensive in clothes.</p>
<p>Make sure you get rid of the clothes that no longer fit right away - then you won’t be able to grow back into them. Might cost more in clothes - but I bet you save money in healthcare down the road. </p>
<p>My grossly overweight husband who refuses to board the health and wellness train had a phone consult with a nurse practitioner yesterday as part of our insurance plan. There are financial repercussions for not following their recommendations so I’m hoping that will push him into action. I tried to bully him into walking last night but we seem to be having a monsoon in Virginia currently.</p>
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<p>Yay! Going down a pants size is the best feeling in the world.</p>
<p>PS: I’ve got some low mileage 36s if you want a deal! :)</p>
<p>Sabaray:</p>
<p>I think the hurdle is the mental picture of this overwhelming mountain to climb, both in terms of fat loss and fitness. It all seems so insurmountable that it hardly seems worth trying. I really think the key on the front end is just to take tiny little steps, even if it’s walking just a quarter mile or skipping one Coke.</p>
<p>The mistake my wife always made was trying to get me to go for a “long” walk over to the state park (maybe 2 miles round trip) when I honestly didn’t think I could walk that far (and I was almost certainly correct in that assessment). Probably a short little stroll is an easier sell. Somehow it has to be amusing/entertaining on some level to be the ol’ fat guy trying to eat a little less and move a little more.</p>
<p>At the end of the day, though, I doubt there is anything my wife could have said or done to get me to go for a walk.</p>
<p>I think that we have a bit of a height differential.</p>
<p>Ran 3.5 miles and did some freeweights in the office gym. I did the 2x30 dumbbell chest press on the bench. It was nice - I dropped the weights when I was done - the floor is certainly designed for it. We have fixed dumbbells in 2.5 pound increments at the office - really nice and convenient.</p>
<p>Bench Press and Back Squat
9-7-5-3</p>
<p>KB Swings and Pull Ups
4x8</p>
<p>7 miles. Done for the day. :)</p>
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<p>That’s a nice setup!</p>
<p>I didn’t get an official workout today, but I spent 30 minutes or so pedaling the Airdyne. I put sensors on the wheel and the pedal cranks so my new Garmin watch now records heart rate, pedal rpm, speed, and distance. It all works! </p>
<p>However, I kept scratching my head trying to get a distance reading before a DOH moment tonight. The watch displays pedal rpm and bike speed without hitting start to record a workout – but it only displays distance after you hit START and begin recording a workout. Doh! I remounted the sensor twice before I realized why it “quit working” when it was working before.</p>
<p>Now, I will be able to set up crazy automatic intervals.</p>
<p>1) Warm up for five minutes.
2) Pedal one half mile.
3) Wait until the heart rate falls back to 60%.
4) Pedal one half mile.
5) Wait until the heart rate falls back to 60%.
6) Cool down for five minutes.</p>
<p>The level of integration in exercise stuff is amazing.</p>
<p>I went to Trader Joes and picked up three packs of Extra Firm Organic Tofu. My wife cooked half a pack last night for dinner and the other half this morning for me to take to the office. I’m going to try it for a replacement for three eggs that I bring to the office. Or I might alternate. I’m definitely getting better at juggling stuff to meet nutritional goals but I’m always looking for more stuff to try.</p>
<p>How are you cooking the tofu? I used to love tofu when dining out but have never prepared it at home. </p>
<p>H and I enjoyed a walk together last night. Easy walk around the neighborhood. There is hope.</p>
<p>At the moment, I just ask my wife to cook it but I intend to give it a try soon. Here’s a pretty good video that I found:</p>
<p>[YouTube</a> - How To Fry Tofu](<a href=“How to Fry Tofu - YouTube”>How to Fry Tofu - YouTube)</p>
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<p>Pretty much any body fat measuring method (electrical scales, pinch calipers, underwater weighing, waist measurement) has some level of daily fluctuation. What you want is to see a downward trend in measured body fat (using the same method as consistently as possible) over the medium and long term.</p>
<p>Using weight alone can be deceptive, since desirable muscle gain can “hide” fat loss, while undesirable muscle loss can make it appear that one is making “greater progress”. Waist measurement (at navel level) is likely to be a much better measure of progress in fat loss than weight is.</p>
<p>The test of how much room between your pants and you is a good test.</p>
<p>Wore my wedding ring overnight and it felt fine this morning so I wore it to work today. First time in probably 12 years. I mentioned it to a coworker and she said that she had discussed the same issue with her husband last week. He stopped wearing it a long time ago because it didn’t fit. Now they don’t know where it is. This might be a fairly common problem.</p>
<p>Our rings have decorative carvings on them so stretching wouldn’t have been a good option. I still have to take it off for doing weights. Some women use gloves so that the ring doesn’t hit the metal bars but that can pinch the palm.</p>