<p>Welcome, obsessmom!</p>
<p>Thumper, are you eating extra points for exercise? If not, then you are probably eating too little, given that you are not eating the bonus points.</p>
<p>I am losing weight on WW without exercise…and it is a conscious decision. In the past, I have exercised in concert with my ‘diet’. I found that exercising complicates the process for me. Sometimes with exercise, I am more hungry…so I end up eating more, some times I eat more because I think I can (because I am exercising), sometimes my weight goes up when I exercise (muscle, water weight, etc.) - therefore I get frustrated and give up on everything. </p>
<p>This time I decided to see what happened if all I did was modify my eating. I am not actively exercising, but I do try to keep moving. I’ve noticed my weight stays much more constant - I don’t see day to day fluctuations like I did before with water weight, muscle changes, etc. </p>
<p>I am losing .5-1 pound per week consistently and I can contribute it solely to modifying my eating habits. I don’t intend to not exercise forever. Once I get down closer to my goal weight I will add exercise in slowly. </p>
<p>I am sure many of you will disagree with this method but it seems to be working for me and I have lost nearly 20 pounds, reduced my blood pressure and cholesterol. </p>
<p>I wonder if anyone else thinks that heavy exercise can mask what is going on with your weight loss efforts?</p>
<p>I think that exercise can be a confounding factor if weight loss is the goal, because reducing food intake while increasing exercise should, in theory, lead to loss of fat but gains in heavier muscle. So the numbers on the scale may not move down quickly. If the goal is better health, then I think that exercise is important. But the philosophy of this thread is for each of us to find our own way to better health. I’ve lost 10.5 lbs in 3 months with some “good” periods and some not so good periods, but the scale keeps moving down. I have not been able to incorporate regular exercise despite my belief that it is important to do so. </p>
<p>In any case, wdaveo, your plan is working for you! And, without intending to do so, I’m pretty much following the same plan - reducing food intake without heavy exercise.</p>
<p>I have been doing Weight Watchers on line for about 6 weeks and have lost 14 pounds. I try to eat as many of their “power foods” as possible, including lots of fruit and veggies, and minimize things that don’t fall in the power food category. I also make sure I get 3 servings of non fat dairy a day. I am eating no desserts, almost no bread, etc.</p>
<p>I also do not use all the daily points they allow me because I don’t think the point total factored in my “advancing” age. Thumper- maybe your daily point total is too high? Just a thought…but anyway, good luck in finding the key that works for you…we are all in this together!</p>
<p>Well…my daily WW point total is the minimum…so it’s as low as WW’s goes. I’m thinking I’ll keep up as I have been and see what happens. I only really have 10 pounds to lose…to get back to my goal…and only 8 to get within 2 pounds of my goal. I’ll get there…they say those last 10 pounds are the hardest to lose…and I’ve already lost them at least 10 times…probably more like 20. </p>
<p>I am doing the cardio at the gym…30 minutes treadmill at 3.5 mph, and 30 minutes on the bike at 8 mph. My hope was to firm up my legs and thighs…and improve my overall health. </p>
<p>Maybe I just need to be prepared for a slower weight loss this time.</p>
<p>Thumper, absolutely the last 10 pounds are the hardest - your body is “almost” there and isn’t as quick to let go of more as fast.</p>
<p>You always have to take into account your situation and not others. You are on WW and have 10 lbs to lose. Another poster here on WW may be 30, 50 or more lbs away from their goal. They may have just started out. Their situation is totally different from yours.</p>
<p>You keep at it. You will SAVOR the joy of each of those last pounds that comes off!</p>
<p>Been home from work for an hour and have spent the entire time surfing CC and eating an apple instead of exercising. I’m going upstairs to change my shoes and go on a long walk. Thanks for keeping me going,ladies.</p>
<p>Im’ going for a walk too. it’s beautiful here today (finally). No racewalking for me though. My sister told me that I run funny when i was about 15 and it stuck. I’m self conscious even at the gym!</p>
<p>My new running shoes arrived today, and after weeks of being laid up due to injury, today was my first without pain! I’m going to try race walking tomorrow and REALLY try not to overdo it. And I see wdaveo’s point: I have lost a lot of weight (for me) while I’ve been laid up. Really shocked me. Now, I’m within a couple of pounds of my goal since I only needed to lose maybe 10 or so pounds to fit into my clothes. I’ve pretty much lost it all in my waist which is where it needed to disappear – and all because I’ve reduced my carbs thanks to y’all!</p>
<p>I was at the gym today (yes, I go BEFORE work! Aren’t I awesome?!) I saw a woman with another woman and a man and she was training them. I assumed that she was their private trainer and I was kinda spying on them. She noticed and asked if I wanted to join them Apparently she is there every Tuesday at 6 am and does small group training for FREE! She works for the gym and they provide it as a service. I told her I will see her next week. Hopefully I can keep up!</p>
<p>Thumper- How is your heart rate while you are doing your cardio? I suspect you might want to bump up the speeds on both the walking and biking a little and that could help your results. I’m not saying to be gasping for breath, but try to get out of the comfort zone a little if you aren’t already. You want to elevate your heart rate up to the top of your aerobic zone.</p>
<p>Nice perk EPTR! Free training - YES!</p>
<p>Packed my breakfast and lunch today for work - tried to pack with low carbs. Have to kick this habit lately of indulging a LITTLE too much with inbetween meal garbage and nightly mini-binges. </p>
<p>Between breakfast and lunch I packed: almonds, apple, peanut butter (for the apple!), dubliner cheese, veggies for some buffalo chicken dip I made and another dip of a homemade salsa type dip (thicker though). This should get me through until dinner. Daughter requested General Tso for dinner - I will make it but I will not eat the rice - instead I will make the spaghetti squash that has been waiting on the counter! </p>
<p>If I can keep to the food above, I will allow myself, if I want it, a SMALL treat at night. Wish me luck – I know that if I can get through a few days of this type of eating, I can be on track again!</p>
<p>Thumper I think MOWC might be right that you need to bump up the exercise piece. I’d do it by adding intervals, not just trying to go faster overall, but do a few bits of all out exercise. I also strongly believe that us 50 year olds need to do some weight bearing exercise, cardio isn’t enough.</p>
<p>Ha ha ha…FIFTY year olds…you are babies!</p>
<p>I have to be careful on that treadmill and bike due to a knee problem. My heart rate is about average 112 for the 30 minutes on the treadmill. I’m not huffing and puffing but it’s work for me (our of shape for sure).</p>
<p>Weighed in this morning and lost 1.2 pounds this week. Moral of story…do NOT weigh yourself more than once a week. I suspect it’s going to be slow going, but I’ll drop these ten pounds before Thanksgiving. And with my new exercise regime, I’ll firm up too, I think.</p>
<p>^Either that or weigh yourself every day. I’ve been up and down 3 pounds this week. I don’t myself crazy about fluctuations, since I know they are par for the course.</p>
<p>I’m well over 50, but under 60. I don’t know what sort of shape you are in of course, but I try to make my aerobic work out average around 130 with interval around 160. My heartrate doesn’t go up that high for the half hour of weights though.</p>
<p>130? OK…I’ll work my way UP to that…</p>
<p>You need to know your max heart rate and everyone’s is different. The max is NOT a sign of fitness. Resting heart rate is, however. My max is around 185 and my aerobic zone is 135-148. Resting HR is about 52. These are key numbers to know, because the formulas are way off for most people. With knee problems, Thumper is going to have a hard time finding her max, unless you can really push on the bike for about 5 minutes until you can’t stand it anymore and see what you get up to. Then we can figure out a target zone for the daily exercising. </p>
<p>Another option is to be working hard enough so that you can talk, but not chatter away. Partial sentences.</p>
<p>How do you figure out those numbers, MOWC? My resting heart rate is 60 - I just measured it and I’ve been sitting for a while, but have consumed some caffeine. I am not in good shape.</p>
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<p>HMMM…part of my motivation in going to the gym is it give me time to chat with my friends who are also going!</p>
<p>NYMom- It is best to take your resting heart rate before you even get out of bed in the morning. That is the most accurate reading. As you pointed out, caffeine and just moving around can raise it. The max is harder to do. You really need to push yourself to the point of exhaustion, if only briefly. For runners they suggest that you do a set of 800s on the track. A max stress test by a trained physician or tech will also work, but it can’t be the kind where they stop you because they “think” you have reached your max.</p>
<p>Once you have those numbers, there are formulas that back out the resting heart rate from the max (and do something with age, too). I don’t want to confuse anyone, but it’s all over the internet. Then you can calculate your exercise zones.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.briancalkins.com/HeartRate.htm[/url]”>http://www.briancalkins.com/HeartRate.htm</a></p>
<p>I like to chat, too, 
but some of the time you need to be pushing yourself more in order to get the benefits. Easy time is OK, too, though.</p>