<p>Just ate at Applebee’s and I was impressed. I had the Asiago peppercorn steak with a smidge of red potatoes and broccoli–all for 390 calories! Applebee’s could become my go-to restaurant when H wants to eat out…</p>
<p>Weight went up a smidge after the meals out last week/weekend, but its back to where it was on Sunday. I am going on a hike after work today, weather permitting.</p>
<p>Question- has anyone here done quigong? My knee is just starting to feel better, so I don’t want to do any activity that would require positions/stances that might aggravate it (ie stand on one leg, stand in a crouched or bent knee position for any length of time, etc). A neighbor is wanting me to try and I am hesitent .</p>
<p>Can I jump on the WLFD band wagon? I soooo need to lose some weight. I started a diet exercise program on Monday. It’s been a bit difficult with my DS2 on spring break, but I’m eating salads when he and I go out to do things. I’ve exercised twice since Monday and did some extra walking the other day, although I really don’t think it counts. My goal is to exercise 5 times a week to start, with plans to add in some extra walking once I get going.</p>
<p>I know from past experience that I need to exercise a lot to lose weight. So now I need to get into a routine and not talk myself out of exercise. I think the better weather will help. It will also help that DH will be out of town for three weeks–easier to keep bad foods out of the house and not have to worry about cooking for him too.</p>
<p>Help me stay motivated!! I have a trip in 5 weeks and would like to lose 10 lbs before we leave. Then another trip in July with the goal of 5-10 more lbs before that one. Must stay motivated!!!</p>
<p>Hello dummies! Cloudy at the beach today, and it is actually a little chilly : (</p>
<p>Keeping up with the walking. Found a nice walk along 30A, that I am happy to do on my own first thing in the morning.</p>
<p>Sticking to the healthy eating. Reaching for carrot sticks and edamame rather than chips and double stuffed oreos. only time I allow oreos in the house is when we are at the beach. 5 teenage girls just love them!</p>
<p>But … I can’t resist a nice glass of chardonnay. Had a few really good meals and one glass of wine turns to 2. I am sure I will be up in weight when I get back to Atl. Easier to control calorie intake when you are home.</p>
<p>H has ordered that my fav swimsuit has to be trashed. It is hanging on me. I did buy one new one from lands end- want to continue the weight loss before I buy another one.</p>
<p>Welcome Vamom- nice to see you from the awesome parents of 2015 thread!</p>
<p>Just read this and thought I would share:</p>
<p>Your real goal? Live the healthiest life you can enjoy, not the healthiest life you can tolerate. Yes, if you have weight to lose, you’ll have to make changes. But if you change so far from who you are and what you enjoy, odds are that it’s not a sustainable plan. Don’t aim for your so-called “ideal” weight; instead aim for what I refer to as your “best” weight, which is the weight you reach when living the healthiest life you can actually enjoy.</p>
<p>Read more: <a href=“Simple Healthy Living | livestrong”>Simple Healthy Living | livestrong;
<p>Beautiful day here in PA. Helped my spirits so much. I am pretty faithful about walking, but it makes a huge difference when the weather is nice. The sky was so blue, I felt like I was in New England. </p>
<p>I have been really struggling to keep up with weight lifting. I give myself pep talks, but my resolve is short lived. I think for now - while I am bogged down with caring for seniors -I am going to consider Gibson’s point. </p>
<p>I CAN manage a good walk 5 days a week. Walking is much better for my mental health and is much more relaxing. I have lifted since 1980, and while it has its benefits, it doesn’t help me to relax. I think I will not worry so much about goofing off. My eating is solid and I am maintaining my weight. I am going to try to focus on the positive and not beat myself up for not being as devoted as usual.</p>
<p>Welcome VAMom! I hope that you’ll find this community as helpful as I have. </p>
<p>When I first started, I could take off the weight I wanted to by eating healthy. Now, I am getting to the point where exercise is needed to keep the weight loss going. I have 6 activities that I do (tennis, bicycling, walking, C25K, weightlifting, core exercises)–and try to do at least 3 of them a day.</p>
<p>Went on a challenging hike yesterday. I need new hiking shoes (can’t find my old ones ,but they were OLD). Down another pound. 1/3 of the way to goal! I know I can’t keep up this pace, especially with Passover coming, but its a great momentum. Also went to a BMI of 24.9. Yay!!</p>
<p>Welcome VA Mom–I’m on the same track as you. I have lost 10 lbs since the first of the year, with another 11 to go.</p>
<p>Hey, all–there is a great free iphone app that is a pedometer. You smart glas probably already knew this. It was shockingly accurate on my walk Tuesday.</p>
<p>Nothing beats swimming though. If you can swim non-stop for about 1.5 hrs every day even at very slow pace, you do not need to do anything else and do not need to watch your diet closely either. If you do not start consuming additional calories, but stay on your current diet, I quarantee weight loss. And the way you feel after that is unbelievable. If you can do it before breakfast/work and outside, it is even better. Downside - you will get addicted to that, promise!</p>
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A couple of weeks ago we ate at The Palm restaurant In NYC. It’s an old steakhouse dating back to the 1920s. They had steaks on the menu that came in at over 1000 calories! :eek: It did give us incentive to only eat half of what we ordered and in fact it took us two days to eat the leftovers.</p>
<p>I like weightlifting, but I hate having to get dressed, get in the car and all that hoopla. I’ve gotten sick of all the walks from my front door however though at least they change by seasons. I’ve been tacking on walks to other errands or when I’m out looking at jobs in other neighborhoods.</p>
<p>MiamiDAP, I never lost a pound the years I swam. But I didn’t swim for 1.5 hours either. Never really loved it either - it’s so boring. I did learn not to count laps and just look at the clock. </p>
<p>I have to exercise - I like to eat and drink far too much to cut back enough that I could lose weight while doing nothing. And besides it’s healthier to exercise anyway.</p>
<p>“MiamiDAP, I never lost a pound the years I swam. But I didn’t swim for 1.5 hours either.”</p>
<p>-Well, if you did not care for it, my guess is that you did not have the high after it either for the rest of the day. I stay clear of any activities that I do not enjoy. Great decision on your part to quit.<br>
Nothing makes me feel better, no fast walking, no gym. The closest how I feel after swimming is rollerblading and playing ping pong, but these are still way behind swimming. And I am really bad at it, my D. laughs at my swimming, but I love it. I exercise 2 hrs every day, but when I swim I need only 1.5 hrs (I am that slow) of swimming, I do not need to exercise any more .</p>
<p>Sustained swimming is very difficult for most people. Unless you are just floating down the pool for 90 minutes, good form is important or it simply tires your muscles too quickly. Plus, as mathmom pointed out, there is a huge boredom factor. That’s why many swimmers who use swimming as their fitness activity or are in triathlon training join masters’ swim groups so that the workouts are varied and you have company. The coaches also help you with form, breathing etc. The other problem is having access to a pool on a consistent basis. I know when I was swimming for fitness I was always scrambling to find places to swim while I was on business trips or vacations. </p>
<p>It is unrealistic to “guarantee” that something will work for everyone just because it works for one person. I know a lot of overweight swimmers!</p>
<p>My mother used to enjoy the kind of swimming MiamiDAP does and it was relaxing for her. She kept her head out of the water (not that easy to do!) so she didn’t mess up her hairdo. We laughed, too.</p>
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<p>Oh, I’m not THAT kind of weight lifter, LOL! I have a bar with some weights that go on the ends. (To put things in perspective, I have 3 lb weights on each end of the bar and that’s plenty for me for now.) I also have a pair of 3 lb dumbbells, 5 lb dumbbells and one 10 lb dumbbell. Also have some ankle weights.</p>
<p>So I can exercise in the house–no need for a gym at this point…</p>
<p>Swimming is something I never could master…with my mechanics, I couldn’t keep things going for a long period of time. But I am not a patient person–I also don’t like running. I’m amazed that I can tolerate bicycling…</p>
<p>My idea of fun is tennis…competition, strategy and fun. But then there is too much starting and stopping in tennis–not the sustained work like running, swimming or biking.</p>
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<p>Well, there’s truth to that. But looking at things from a calorie view–I scoped out swimming (general) as using 574 calories an hour. 1.5 hours would chew up 861 calories in a day. If one were to eat anywhere near a healthy diet, it would be hard not to lose weight. </p>
<p>Congrats, jym on reaching “normal” BMI!!</p>
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<p>I can absolutely guarantee you that MiamiDAP is not burning 861 calories while she swims. That would take aerobic level effort with elevated heartrate. I burn about 900 calories in 90 minutes of running- and I’m RUNNING, not floating down the pool.</p>
<p>The most that could be said is that it is 90 minutes where you are probably not eating! Although, when I swam masters’ we did use some sports drinks during long workouts.</p>
<p>OK, I am new to CC and to this thread as well. I am a 47 year old female with a rare form of leukemia, which is now in remission, but will come back. I was always a runner until I ruptured my achilles, then I got sick. Once I was on the mend I started doing Insanity! OMG, I was in love. Now, as I said, I was a runner, so the “class” thing at a gym was not my thing, and I had never done a video type program. I have been doing Insanity and P90X now for a year, just on and off, and what a huge life change. You have to be committed, but it’s hard not to when you see your body changing right before your eyes. I wear a heart rate monitor when I am doing Insanity, and in some of the workouts, I burn anywhere from 500-700 calories in 45 min… I know, you sweat your butt off, no really, you sweat your butt off! I konw they are not for everyone, but I used to think they were for me. 
Any others out ther?</p>
<p>Well, I have to stay out of the gym for the time being according to my new physical therapist. I injured my back (don’t remember doing it and don’t know how) and have been out of work for two days.</p>
<p>It is so frustrating (and painful)! Just when I was really getting into a routine. Not to mention that I am bored and every food in the fridge is calling my name.</p>
<p>"Swimming is something I never could master…with my mechanics, I couldn’t keep things going for a long period of time. But I am not a patient person–I also don’t like running. I’m amazed that I can tolerate bicycling…</p>
<p>-Again, it shows how different we all are. I cannot tolerate bicycling…more so scared of being on a bicycle and having picture in my head of falling with bicycle on top of me hitting my body really badly…the funny thing is, one person on a bicycle almost called me crazy for rollerblading. It totally skipped his mind that I am on a ground while rollerblading and he sits on a bicycle. </p>
<p>Any way, I am for doing what you enjoy and quit doing what you do not. Life is way too short, we shuold enjoy every minute of it. Again, I have been going to gym for about 3 decades. pretty much every day. I stick only to machines that proven not to hurt my body. Do not do anything that produces negative results, it is not a point. More so applicable to people with some medical contidions, joints conditions…etc.</p>
<p>Back used to be a huge problem, one time I even ended up in ER on a streatcher, the worst trip possible as I felt every tiny stone on the road. Chiro was the best for me. He taught me so much that I never had to go back. I have been OK since, but I know if I do not loose some 10 lbs quickly, I will feel my back very soon. Very simple physics in my case, my weight all goes to my stomach, the worst possible place. Stomach is carried on back muscles. Abdominal exercises can help only so much.
BTW, when I absolutely could not do anything because of my severe back pain, I could still rollerblade. Swimming is what made back pain disappear completely.</p>
<p>The other thing I hated about swimming (I swam at the Y while my kids were in nursery school) was that no one swam at my speed. The fast lane was always just a big too fast, and the slow lane was way, way, way too slow. I also think that swimming because it cools you down, makes you hungrier. I’m not a big fan of getting hot and sweaty though, so that’s a huge plus in my book.</p>
<p>I do have 15, 10 and 4 pound dumbells and a 15 pound kettleball at home for when I don’t feel like trotting off to the gym. But I don’t really have a good exercise room.</p>