VeryHappy- Yes, the argument does get made that obesity is a disability. These days it is easier than ever to argue disability for almost anything under the “new” ADAAA.
<p>Nice pace BC! That’s my goal, currently at 11 min. mile. </p>
<p>I think we need to be more health conscious in general in this country. Maybe more
wellness programs initiatives/incentives.( not govt! private thru companies) Personally I dont want my insurance premiums to be higher because most others dont want to move more and eat less.</p>
<p>I don’t know that incentives work all that much. Everyone has motivations that work for them and for me personally, fear is a great motivator. Tell someone that they will get diabetes in one month if they don’t clean up their act - some will act, some won’t. If you study diabetes, it should scare the crap out of you if you’re otherwise moderately healthy.</p>
<p>Some people are motivated by the social aspect of working out and groups may work well for them. Some are motivated by competition, self-competition or competition against other people. Some like team sports. We tried wellness center incentives at work. I think that we found that people that exercised before keep exercising. People that didn’t exercise before tried it out and returned to not-exercising. The money aspect wasn’t a big enough motivation as we’re generally well-paid.</p>
<p>Some of my in-laws never took active steps to stay healthy. They assumed that if they had a problem, the doctors would “fix” it. I’ve got diabetes? Oh, they’ll give me a pill. I’ve got a lump in my breast? Well, I’ll wait until it bothers me before I have it checked out. </p>
<p>Not surprisingly, these in-laws are now deceased. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>I suspect depression played a big part in how they “managed” their health.</p>
<p>I think that is the general attitude VH Just give me a pill and the remote.</p>
<p>I guess all we can do is try to set a good example for those around us. Diabetes does run in my dh’s family, lost his brother 8 yrs. ago. My dh just lost 25 lbs. when his blood sugar
and AC1 levels got scary. He finally goes to the Health Club with me.
And it worked! ( the weight loss) His story sounds similar to yours BCEagle.</p>
<p>My ds is considering a career in medicine because of his recent interest in being Healthy
So… we do what we can. We are eating almost no processed foods anymore, everything from scratch and fresh. Isnt it amazing how one can get lulled into that convenient,
unhealthy, cheap, processed food coma?!</p>
<p>I think that most people don’t understand how serious a problem diabetes is and how it impacts your mortality. I didn’t know what it did to you until a few years ago - basically fear can be a great motivator.</p>
<p>The economic downturn helped too - I didn’t want to be looking for a job looking out of shape and overweight.</p>
For me, it was reaching the point where the clothes sized required to be able to zip and buckle and button stuff was just disgusting. That and feeling like I was going to keel over dead if I ha d to walk somewhere. I didn’t have any hopes of getting thin or fit or anything. I just knew that I had to do something to stem the rising tide.
<hr>
Speaking of weight, I’ve long suspected there’s little short term correlation with diet and exercise, i.e. what you eat today or how you exercise today probably won’t determine what you weigh tomorrow.
I’ve just gone three days without exercise for the first time since I can remember. After being at a steady 161 to 162 range since the first of the year, I’m back below 160 for the first time in 2012 this morning. Almost makes me think that strength training was making me retailn fluids in the muscles or something. Of course, when I workout now, I might be back to the 10 pound dumbbells!
I should write a book: STOP EXERCISING TO LOSE WEIGHT FAST!
Actually, it feels pretty good. I probably should schedule these little workout breaks more often. All part of the learning curve with the “maintenance” phase, I guess.
<p>I graph my weight every day (I have a digital scale accurate to 0.2 pounds) and it amazes me how much my weight can swing from day to day - 3 or 4 pound swings over a couple of days is not uncommon. I haven’t been able to correlate it to any specific thing.</p>
<p>As long as the overall trend is down, I’m happy.</p>
<p>I think that taking breaks allows your body to heal various parts that may have sustained damage over repeated workouts and that that healing process may use up calories. Maybe long naps help out there too.</p>
<p>I’m back on 1100-1300 calories this week. I have been doing 3K on Friday and Saturday, 2K on Sunday and 1100-1300 on Monday - Thursday for last week and will try it again this week.</p>
<p>My DriFit t-shirts are getting loose around the middle which is why the fitted running shirts are attractive. The material in the running shirts do not give - basically they either fit or the don’t. You really can’t stretch them out like the regular t-shirts. I don’t think that I’m ever going to wear a S just because of my shoulders (one of those tennis things). But it is nice when the middle doesn’t feel like a bag.</p>
<p>That happens to me too. My weight had been stable at just under 180 and I’m working on pushing it down to 170 though I’m not in any particular hurry to do so.</p>
<p>My goals are to tone, keep bones healthy, produce endorphins, maintain a good energy level, and maybe one of these days work up to a 5K. This year I’ve been walking though, not running, so I’d have to decide to get on the stick. I suppose it <em>might</em> be doable by fall if I made the effort, but I’m not sure I’m that motivated. I would think that at least a mile to two would be doable within that time-frame, should I decide to run, of course, lol. I’ve been pretty content walking.</p>
<p>Couch to 5K seems to work very well. I think there are a couple of big leaps in it, and I caution to NOT get discouraged and to scale down some of the leaps if you want. I assure you the 5K will still be doable.</p>
<p>In my last 5 days before the marathon. With the WildChild move/trip to PA this past weekend I haven’t had time to think about it much, but I’m pretty nervous, even with no time goal. I hope it goes reasonably well for my daughter. It might be a little warm, although it starts at 6:30am (ugh). That’s eastern time so it’s my 5:30. Maybe I can sleep through most of it???</p>
Depending on your fitness level, it’s quite possible that brisk walking, especially if you can find some hills, will provide plenty of fitness benefit for the foreseeable future. I would not feel any particular need to run, just from a fitness standpoint, until the point where aggressive walking no longer provides a benefit.
It’s not the most important issue in the world to solve, but I wish scientists would determine what causes those weight fluctuations, without always blaming “water.”
I have never forgotten a very very very old New Yorker cartoon:
Stout older woman stands on scale, holding a box of chocolates, and announces, “Why, the whole box wouldn’t even add two pounds!!”
Just give me a pill and the remote.</p>