Airdyne Torture Machine intervals for me! I tried my new style: using the Garmin to stop each interval when my heart rate goes over 90% of my max and begin the next one when it falls below 65% of my max. The cool thing is that the first interval is the worst and that there is every incentive to go hard to get each interval over with sooner.
I cranked out the first interval, 1.05 miles in 2 min 53 seconds, which is a very good pace for a mile.
The second interval was .49 miles at a quicker pace, lasting 1:17. The final three intervals were a bit shorter, but stabliized.
<p>Quadruple that for quitting smoking. A lady who I encouraged along the way while she successfully quit smoking now has terminal COPD at age 50. On oxygen. Hoping to be a candidate for a lung transplant.</p>
<p>I was at a family reunion after I quit talking to a 50 year old relative while he was out in the driveway smoking. He said, “Yeah, I need to quit” and we talked a little bit about how I had done it and that it isn’t as hard as it might seem…</p>
<p>I got word earlier this year that he had dropped dead of a massive heart attack, completely out of the blue.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, the defense mechanisms make it so hard to believe that it could happen to you… with smoking, with weight, with fitness. Then, you make the changes and kick yourself because you could have done it years earlier.</p>
<p>I was going to bag my run because it is pouring out there (we need the rain, it’s been a dry winter). So on that note, I went to the YMCA and ran a mile before closing.</p>
<p>50 is when you are supposed to start enjoying life; not dieing.</p>
<p>NM–glad to hear you are on the mend.
VH–great outcome! </p>
<p>Two good days of workouts: yoga on Th evening (liked the beginner class at the new studio) and a 6 mile walk in the AM (walked with a friend who walks really fast). We were doing a 15 minute miles–actually 14:48. Went to a spinning class this morning. New bikes in my gym. It makes a big difference.</p>
<p>The problem is only going to get worse as there is an increasing disconnect between what Americans believe is a healthy diet and a diet that will actually help them control their weight more successfully. Even people who are trying to eat “healthier” are often eating in a way that tends to maximize fat gain. The end result of the current nutritional advice is that people are cutting their protein intake and increasing their grain/carb instake. That’s a disaster from a population-wide weight management perspective, especially with the apparent increasing rates of metabolic syndrome/insulin resistance.</p>
^^
Yup, as I have stated here frequently: became overweight vigorously exercising on a low fat, whole grain, relatively low calorie, mainly vegetarian diet.
Today’s numbers:
Cals:1375
Fat:71 g
Carbs:43 g
Fiber:10 g
Protein:144 g
Sugars:8 g
<p>I’m listening to a Robb Wolf podcast with Mark Sisson as a guest (there’s a combo!). Sisson is talking about his marathoning days when he was a disciple of MOWC’s buddy, the father of aerobic exercise Kenneth Cooper. He says that he was eating 1000 grams of carbs a day (4000 calories), averaging 100 miles a week running, and falling apart physically and health wise.</p>
<p>Bravely going to krav maga conditioning workout tomorrow. Survived the basic workout last week. Lots of kicking and hitting. Very therapeutic. At 51 I am often the one of the oldest in the room. I can handle the workout, it’s ever ones sweat all over the place at the krav maga workout room that gets kinda icky. But it is hardcore and I have pushed past the usual workouts. Plated weight wise, 126, but now it’s all about fit fit fit</p>
A few years ago I weighed 192 pounds. I cut back on pizza and pasta and stopped eating cholcolate for a year. I dropped to 160 pounds which is a good weight for me.
I started eating chocolate again and now my weight is up to 178 lbs. which is not a good weight for me.
I am writing this because I need to stop eating chocolate. If is post this I won’t eat chocolate tomorrow…which is a start.
<p>Maintaining weight is a whole 'nother kettle of fish. I lost a good chunk of weight ten years ago, got down to a good weight, and then put it all back on and then a whole bunch more. In retrospect, I can now see that I viewed it as a diet and then ending the diet. This time, I’m really trying to just continue with the same diet that got me here, except a bit higher calorie to replace the calories I was burning from stored fat.</p>
<p>You are really, really smart to attack it now. It can really get out of hand.</p>
I am not eating a low carb diet, but I am maintaining a low body fat percentage. I do exercise (a lot, both cardio and resistance training), but not at the marathon level. But I do eat both carbs and fats much more selectively than most people in the US.
Also, most people in the US eat a diet that is both high carb and high fat ( = high calorie). And most people in the US eat the worse kinds of carbs and fats.
<p>Thank you all for your good wishes. I am a bit bereft right now but I’m giving myself until Monday. At that time I’ll get back on the horse and figure out the next chapter.</p>
<p>OK, friends. Hijack over.</p>
<p>Couldn’t do the box jumps at the CT gym yesterday – again. I really have a block against using the stool they have, instead of the real box I used in NJ. Actually, the stool might be an inch or two higher, as well. This is my new challenge. (Well, one of them, anyway.)</p>
<p>I hear ya. I am currently wearing a completely brand new wardrobe, top to bottom, because I threw out all the clothes I owned this size just over a year ago, when I had already lost 50 pounds. It kills me some of the stuff I got rid of (winter coats, pants, shirts, etc.).</p>
<p>So, I’m hesitant to pitch stuff that is too big for me now. I’m drawing the line, I think at keeping one size up. For example, I wear a mediium shirt or sweater or fleece. I’ll keep LARGES, but the XLs, go. I’m wearing 32 or 33 inch pants. I’ll keep 34s, but the 36s go. And, so forth. You don’t want to throw away perfectly good, mostly new, clothes, but you also want a hard limit to stop you when the pants get hard to button!</p>
<p>What do you like to do for working out? We do a wide variety of things
here to burn calories or not consume them in the first place.</p>
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<p>I think that we have to put systems in place for maintenance and have
to do frequent monitoring. I’m spending at least an hour a day working
out (I do take break days as do we all except for one super runner
here where a break is only running two miles) and sometimes up to four
hours. There are a few studies indicating that fairly intense and
regular exercise are a key to keeping the weight off after losing it.</p>
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<p>You’re welcome to hang out here.</p>
<p>BTW, a lot of people are trying to lose weight out there:</p>
<p>I kept clothes one size larger than my lows. </p>
<p>A 32 inch waste is awesome.</p>
<p>Lowest I got was 34 inches.</p>
<p>I am up to 36 inches now and I won’t go higher. I would like to go back to 34 inches…so…time to eat better.</p>
<p>On the positive side…I have no interest in eating pizza. I can cut pasta
down to whatever I need to cut it down to…</p>
<p>On the negative side…
I like bread…</p>
<p>For some reason…I am not liking salads as much as I used to …One reason I think is because I prefer wine vinegar over balsamic…and when I go out to eat…balsamic vinegar is much more prevalent. The other thing is…I guess I don’t like vegatables as much as I used to…and I used to love veggies.</p>
<p>But my real downside is desserts and really chocolate. Moderation doesn’t work for me because moderation leads to gluttony.</p>
<p>I guess I am going to have to give up chocolate again…</p>
<p>As far as exercise goes…what works for me is walking 5 to 10 miles a day…,with the occasional 15 miler thrown in…so…I am going to start a walk shortly.</p>
<p>I think 34 inches is reasonable for me…I would love to go to 32 inches…but I have done two major weight loss programs over the last ten years and 34 inches was it…</p>
<p>I am starting from a lower level this time… Around 178 pounds…so I am breaking the pattern of higher highs in weight…if I can get my weight down from here.</p>
<p>I like chocolate too. But I limit myself to dark chocolate and very small quantities. We don’t practice deprivation here - we have our little treats from time to time but they are little treats. I like the samples at Trader Joes. Sometimes they have stuff that would never be on my regular diet but just a small portion of something yummy. One thing that I remember from last October is Pumpkin Ice Cream. A very small cup of it - really nice - and that’s all that I needed.</p>
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<p>That’s a pretty big commitment on exercise.</p>
<p>Scientifically speaking, interval training is probably far more effective in getting the fat burn in a shorter amount of time. I know that interval training is more effective than running yet I run because I like to run.</p>
<p>idad’s approach is more efficient and effective than mine in terms of time spent but I think that it’s important that you enjoy what you’re doing. I do some interval work at home (you really don’t need a lot of equipment), and moderate strength training at home and at the gym but I do know that I could be more efficient with time.</p>
<p>I think that convenience is a big factor too. We have a gym, a table tennis room and an aerobics/fitness classroom (equipment, mirrors, windows, video and audio, etc.) at the office. I also belong to the Y and there are two facilities on the way to work. If I want to workout, I don’t have an excuse not to.</p>
<p>If time is a factor, working in some light interval training could be an effective way of dropping a bit more fat.</p>
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