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<p>What a great idea! That would be a terrific workout.</p>
<p>Today’s workout</p>
<p>Warm Up - 2 rounds:
1 lap run (270 meters)
15 air squats
15 v-ups
15 push ups</p>
<p>followed by 21 reps/15 reps/9 reps</p>
<p>18 lb. kettle ball thrusters
push ups
ring rows</p>
<p>1 lap run</p>
<p>13:51 minutes</p>
<p>MOfWC, I’m eagerly awaiting your reviews of the office chair. My work requires more and more time sitting in front of the computer, and my office chair is as uncomfortable as they get, to the point that I’m about ready to bring one of those huge rubber stability/balance balls to sit on. (of course, I will have ro buy my own chair, but that is not such a huge deal).</p>
<p>I am impressed with the chair so far. I actually have had a Swiss ball at work to sit on and do use a Swiss ball chair at my desk at the house. This knee thing is better than both of those- at least for my sitbones and back. It’s REALLY comfortable and does have a back so you can sit back if you need a break.</p>
<p>Awesome. I’m very tempted to order the chair. I’ve been suffering from the “flat butt syndrome” all day long yesterday, so today I took minor breaks and walked a few blocks. Sunshine + first day of summer = feels good.</p>
<p>Well, I suffered an epiphany of sorts today. I filled out the Livestrong chart and found out that at my lack of exercise level, I can only eat 455 a day to lose my weight. I guess that is why the low carb route is for me.</p>
<p>But I’ve decided to get off my duff and exercise. 15 minutes of biking had me exhausted and I could barely do the slight inclines. I am waaaay out of shape. So I’ll walk the dog tonight and with the biking and the step exercises I’ll have burned 150 calories off my usual take. I’ll do that fro the week and then try to get up to 250 and then 500. If I can bike the neighborhood daily, maybe I’ll be able to eat a decent amount. </p>
<p>No wonder I can’t lose weight these days.</p>
<p>Cpt- Good start. Baby steps. As we get older, our metabolism slows and it is harder to lose weight and burn those calories. ANY exercise will be a big help. Before you know it iDad will have you doing burpees!</p>
<p>cpt:</p>
<p>I hear ya on the bike. You should have seen me huffin’ and puffin’ on my first ol’ fat guy bike ride last summer. Sheesh. I probably looked like I should have had an ambulance following me with the defibrullators.</p>
<p>Exercise and dieting is a complicated thing and nobody really has it figured out, although what you did on the bike today, especially the hills, is terrific for fat loss. I saw a study referenced this week that showed even one day of intense exercise reduced insulin resistance by 20%. That’s huge in terms of breaking the cycle of fat storage and starting to release stored fat to be burned as fuel. Insulin resistance is linked to obesity, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. If there were a drug that made a 20% difference in one day, it would be hailed as a miracle drug.</p>
<p>OK, so vertigo was still hanging around this morning (getting up from bed is usually the worst), so I’m not even going to attempt my usual workouts this week. I don’t think my first week without weightlifting since Christmas (or longer) is going to be the end of the world. I’m going to just do interval cardio stuff where I can stay upright.</p>
<p>Today was my usual 5K hilly walk/jog, which felt short after my longer version on Saturday. Spectucularly gorgeous day. Good music. My usual five 2-minute jogging intervals, which are slowly getting a little faster and a little easier. I have to keep moving my start points up a bit because I’m covering more ground. It kind of feels like last summer when I watched my conditioning slowing improve walking up these hills. The jaunts are right in the wheel house for really good 45 minute interval training sessons. Average heart rate today of 75%, peak of 98%. Combine that with an enjoyable, scenic outing and what’s not to like about exercise?</p>
<p>We are supposed to get some rain, so I’ll probably do Airdyne intervals tomorrow and, if my vertigo improves on its usual schedule, maybe swings and burpees on Thursday.</p>
<p>cpt, do not get discouraged - we all started slow. Your first day was better than mine. After not running for 20 years, I decided to run a 5K. You should have seen my first training run: about 500 yards of slow jogging, then full stop, panting, coughing, slight swearing, etc. followed by walking the rest of the distance. Now I can run a 5K in under 30 min on a bad day. :)</p>
<p>The most important thing for athletes of our age is to avoid injuries.</p>
<p>I used to ride my bike all day, up hillsides and on dirtroads. Had no gears unlike this thing that has more than I can even count. Now I have trouble with the slight incline to the house. It is truly horrifying. Thanks so much for the encouragement. You guys are my support on this one.</p>
<p>Way to go cpt!!! That is a great start! Consistent baby steps are the way to go. You can do this! :)</p>
<p>(Psst…BB…dropped another bra size…not cup size(darn) but inches!!! 
)</p>
<p>I am also interested in the knee chair. At the moment, I sit on a large stability ball. It’s fund and comfortable for a while, but does not give enough support for longer periods. I have a great office chair from Neutral Posture, but DH stole it when his Ikea chair fell apart.</p>
<p>MOWC, Perform Better has free shipping on online orders again…</p>
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<p>Uh, oh. I might have to buy something!</p>
<p>Seriously, though… those minibands have got to be the bet $3 piece of exercise equipment in the universe. They work the one thing that all of us need to work – hips/butt.</p>
<p>If somebody is looking to drop some real money, here are my two picks:</p>
<p>[Valslides[/url</a>] I love the Valslide reverse lunges and the plank walkouts.</p>
<p>[url=<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2u1EQ2dPAo&feature=related]Jungle”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2u1EQ2dPAo&feature=related]Jungle</a> Gym XT](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlysFj0UPRA]Valslides[/url”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlysFj0UPRA) It’s worth $99 just to be able to do inverted rows (an essential exercise that is so hard to do at home). Pick any angle to make inverted rows (or pushups) as easy or as hard as you like. Also fantastic for assisted squats and lunges for a newbie. Terrific core stuff like plank with your feet in the straps. And, on and on and on.</p>
<p>“…dropped another bra size…not cup size(darn) but inches” - 
When you go down in band size, the cup size also goes down even though technically the number stays the same (e.g., 34D is much closer to 36C than to 36D!)</p>
<p>Did some mall walking after work to return some oddball online orders, then, after getting home, did a series of pushups and planks. Had a large lunch and was not hungry at dinner time, so dinner was skipped alltogether.</p>
<p>DH is exited about our upcoming mini-trip. I already made our dinner reservations and got us a car, but had the hardest time picking a hotel. Has anyone stayed in a Westin WORKOUTroom? Apparently, this type of room is offered at selected Westins, and it comes with a treadmill and a bunch of exercise junk, such as weights, stability balls, rubber mats, etc. DH vetoed this choice saying that he does not want to relax in a smelly gym. :)</p>
<p>Visited with relatives yesterday and looked through a photo album. There was one picture of me standing with one of my doubles partners holding trophies and tennis racquets. My daughter commented that I was really thin. I believe that my weight was 145 at the time. I’m planning on scanning those pictures in so that I have a point of comparison.</p>
<p>Just did home weights yesterday - too much to do yesterday. I also have errands to run today - I don’t know if I’ll have time for much else than home weights and/or the YMCA. I did get my new racquet strung and I’d like to give that a try but I’d need someone to hit with on short notice.</p>
<p>Do many of you work from home? How do you find the time to do all this exercise?</p>
<p>I’m in the office almost every day but my hours are very flexible. I’m at home right now with a quad-monitor system in the basement with a virtual machine connected to my office. I can walk over to the weights and just do a few exercises at any time. I also have better access to water at home - the walk to the kitchen at the office is quite long.</p>
<p>My commute is 20 minutes with no traffic. I was driving in the Boston area yesterday evening and Route 95 was a parking lot. I can’t imagine how people deal with that every day. It definitely helps workout-wise if workouts are convenient.</p>
<p>I have been complaining about this darn plateau for so long and you all have been trying to tell me I am still losing inches and increasing fitness. You all have been right!!! Makes me very happy to report I have lost more inches even though the scale is not moving. Thanks for the support! :)</p>