I just got a new battery for the scale. Not too bad. I’m working to lose five pounds by Labor Day.
I do use a Fitbit and count every step during the day. It has a feature that tracks ‘Active Minutes’. I just took the dog for a one hour walk and my Fitbit only recorded 31 active minutes. When I walk without the dog, about 80% of my minutes are counted as active. I like walking with the dog a lot better, but she does like to stop for potty breaks and visits with other walking pups.
@oregon101, in yoga, one of our poses involves lying on the floor and trying to minimize the space between the small of our back and the ground. Gravity helps in this position. The instructor is amazing at how much she has reduced the space for her. Mine is pretty much constant, but I do try to see what I fan do.
Even the frozen sculpting liposuction makes me nervous. One wonders if some unintended damage nay occur with the freezing and procedure.
I would encourage everyone here to check out this new calorie/weight loss “calculator” recently released by the NIH (National Institute of Health). It has you enter more detailed info then most “calculators” and I like that it allows you to pick a date you want to lose a portion of weight by - I think this is especially helpful for people to see that the road to losing weight consistently but slowly is in some ways easier - if I see I have to cut 500 calories a day to lose 5 pounds in 2 months or I could cut 250 calories a day to lose 5 pounds in 4 months, I’d prefer the less painful, slower method! ALSO: it shows you how many calories you need to eat to MAINTAIN weight - people need to see this. Losing weight and keeping it off means you will NEVER maintain the current eating lifestyle you are currently eating if you are overweight. There IS a happy medium!!!
Thanks, a basket. I got 200 calories less for 2 months.
My vice is alcohol, my reward after a day’s work.
I have a really hard time breaking a sweat or even getting my heart rate elevated. The docs tell me that the cardiac meds I’m on have the effect of lowering my normal HR by about 30 points, so that a 110 HR for me would be 140 without the meds (and 140 would be in my target range). My temp regulation seems off since all my cardiac excitement and it’s hard to get a good feel for how hard I am working. I do know I need to get back to the full routine instead of just focusing on my step count.
How intense is zumba (and in what ways)?
Here’s what I would say about Zumba.
You are going to be pretty much in perpetual motion - so, moving all the time. You can obviously kick it up by moving faster/lifting legs or arms more, etc. - or you can tone it down. Music is a major part of zumba so decide if your rhythm makes exercise easier or harder for you!
My vice is a night time snack. I want it and I have it! So I just have to control the quantity. I will have the ice cream but just a small scoop. I will have the cupcake but choose a small one. I love all baked goods so just take the smallest portion I can be satisfied with and eat it very slowly. If it’s popcorn or something salty, measure it out and again, eat slowly.
@CountingDown - Zumba is pretty popular in my area - there seem to be different levels. You might want to try a “Gold” Zumba class first - it’s oriented towards those easing back into exercise or an older population. I am not terribly coordinated, so if I were going to do Zumba it’s the class I would do first.
I have been to exactly one Zumba class. The movements were EXACTLY like the old aerobics classes of the 80s. Only the music was different. I assume that was just an out of touch instructor, right? Aren’t the movements supposed to be different?
Missypie, I thought the same thing – I went to two zumba classes and thought that it was just like aerobics renamed!
My experience with dance aerobics (which I assume is similar to Zumba) is that you really have to force yourself to make it a good enough workout. I never picked up my feet enough or jumped high enough to really break a sweat. I enjoyed the class and the people - did it for years until the teacher switched to only evening classes, but I think I’m better off on the elliptical where I at least try to do some intervals or walking where I like to go fast.
My vice is cookies - can’t eat one. I rarely buy them, but did have Girl Scout cookies this year and from time to time someone will make choc chip cookies. I can eat tiny portions of other desserts and be happy. DH brings back chocolates from trips and I eat them one a night never more. We’ve relegate wine to weekends and celebrations and I just considered it part of my eating plan - I don’t need to lose weight so fast that it gets cut out.
My vice is any thing with sugar in it, so I am trying to stay away. I bought girl scout cookies this spring because I just love the peanut butter sandwich ones and oh yeah to support the scouts. opened the package, took out four and then put the opened package in the break room at work where they quickly disappeared.
I try to pair my pleasures (chocolate, ice cream, pasta) with habits I’m trying to create. Ice cream? Arrive by bicycle. Chocolate? A small piece after a run. Pasta? Park a mile away and enjoy the walk to the restaurant.
It sounds silly, but there is sound research that pairing such things makes BOTH more pleasurable.
I think Zumba is great if you are the right kind of person. It doesn’t do it for me -because I am too intimidated by choreography and don’t enjoy dancing in public. My experience is that the instructors and participants are usually nice and if you enjoy dancing you will like it. The music is really fun. You can find videos to look at online to give you an idea of what it is like. I don’t think it is as intense as a cycle class or a class with weights -but movement is good. The choreography is good to exercise your brain and we work out harder (most of us) when we work out to music and with a group than we do alone.
I have a sugar problem. I know I should quit cold turkey -but I lack the discipline
This is one of my favorite “zumba” workouts to do at home in the winter when I can’t run outside and don’t want to travel to the fitness center - LOVE IT!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9raJrc-X9k
It’s pretty high energy.
That looks fun -Thanks
Loved Zumba and used a home DVD’s for a good while. The only place I could do it at home had carpet and I found my knee would twist. Went to a few classes. I hated the Golden as they spent a lot of time resting. I eventually found the regular too fast and the last instuctor was nasty, the class was too big so I stopped altogether.
I think it is great for getting your heartrate up and in a good class no one cares if you have good footwork or can move your hands and your feet at the same time. If you are interested you should try it. Also consider doing just at little at home to get some idea of the basic movement.
Some of the zumba music is painfully LOUD, even from very far away and makes us run in the other direction. I don’t like the assault on my ears and would need earplugs or something. Makes me wonder if the instructors are deaf or they think the participants are.
I can’t seem to make myself eat slowly, so I started taking tiny little bites, which helps. Tiny, as in pea-sized. I’ve convinced myself that a pea-sized peice of cake tastes just as good as a normal-sized bite (it actually does). So if the piece of cake is 1/3 of a normal serving, but it takes as long to eat as a normal serving, and tastes just as good, it seems to satisfy me and I’ve consumed 1/3 the calories.
I actually picked up this trick to look more lady-like. I was watching a scene of TBBT where Penny is eating at a restaurant, and I noticed she was eating literally one pea at a time.