View Full Version : October Fitness and Weight Loss
The Storyteller
10-1-13, 2:49pm
I'll start this month's. :)
Still at 178, which is okay since my goal was to maintain it for the rest of September. Although, I maintained it more through sloth than conscious effort. I have exercised maybe two days for a past 10 days or so. :)
My October goal is 173 by October 24, so I have just a little over 3 weeks to lose 5 pounds. To remind, this will make a nice, even 50 pounds lost since I saw my cardiologist in April, and I see him again on the 24th. So, I'd better get crackin'!! :)
How about you? Anyone else have fitness or weight loss goals for October? If you are losing successfully, to what do you attribute your current success?
Good luck, all!
Jim
updated progress report...
Start/now/next goal/ultimate goal
223/178/173/165
I began a YMCA membership last week and am committing myself to at least twice weekly water aerobics class. If I can do it, I also will go once a week to the weight room. I've been slacking on the Weight Watcher plan lately. I don't know what to do to get re-motivated. Hoping the extra activity will inspire me.
Gardenarian
10-1-13, 4:45pm
I'm in! Continuing to commit to yoga practice everyday. I also want gradually to up the number of hours I walk per week - from around 6 to around 10.
I'm also going to try and eat more fruits and vegetables (maybe do a short-form food diary?)
I'm in, too. Goal 5500 steps every day, weights once a week and yoga once a week. This morning the scale was 200 (GREAT!!) So I would like to maintain that through this month. Plan- more vegetabes, more walks. In the last 4 years I've lost 25-30 lb. and am thrilled with that. Kept it off. So 5 lb a year...but maybe I can get to 195 by Christmas. Who knows...baby steps are the best way for me.
I have just gotten my 10% weight loss pin from Weight Watchers. Now on to the next 16 weeks. I got to Body Pump 4 times a week and cardio 3 times a week.
I have added extra weight in the body pump class and find my breathing is much better in cardio.
Husband has lost 30 pounds by following my eating plan and loves it. All except his pants are falling off.
Sept was a great month and Oct. should be great too.
The Storyteller
10-2-13, 1:31pm
I weighed in at the high end of 176, but I'm gonna call it 177, since it is so close to that. So, another one down for my October goal of 5 pounds. Three weeks to drop 4 pounds!
KayLR, watching health documentaries and reading books on healthy eating and lifestyles is helping me stay motivated. The most inspiring one I have seen is Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead (http://www.fatsickandnearlydead.com/), where Australian Joe Cross documents his 60 day juice fast and trek across America. I didn't start juicing (and have yet to do a long fast) for a month after seeing it, but just watching it got me motivated to start eating better. And I love the Y! My old, poorly equipped, dilapidated Y, with lots of classes and decent equipment. That keeps me motivated, too. One old guy (my age, in other words) visits the library and threatens to drag me over there when I miss a day, so there's that, too.
Sweetana3, I can relate to your husband. I needed new clothes 20 pounds ago, but have been holding out while losing so much weight so quickly. Didn't want to buy multiple sets of smaller fitting clothes, but now it looks like I am wearing clown pants so I guess it's time. :)
So glad to see everyone making progress. Keep it up, y'all!
Jim
The Storyteller
10-7-13, 10:46am
I weighed in at 176 this morning and yesterday, so only 3 pounds away from my October 24th goal.
I didn't actively exercise this weekend, but put in several miles and a lot of lifting on the farm, working with birds and fixing things up, getting ready for winter. Fall is my favorite times to work outside here. Winters are too cold and summers are way too hot and humid, spring is too wet (usually). So fall is the best time to do upkeep. And upkeep means exercise!
Albeit informal exercise. :)
updated progress report...
Start/now/next goal/ultimate goal
223/176/173/165
Storyteller, I love when my exercise is informal. Having trouble today as it is rainy. I'm working on clearing the garage and it doesn't involve many steps. I'm taking as many as I can- bine inefficient with the taking things to the basement. Actually I should spend a lot of time taking things to the trash can, but that is a different thread.
I had set my goal at 5500 steps plus a yoga and weights. I've held off on the weights as I scrubbed siding and did not want to aggravate my neck and shoulder muscles. Is that an excuse? I've had over 6000 each day so may just up my goal to 6000 steps and one yoga.
Gardenarian
10-7-13, 6:09pm
Not feeling at all well (dental problem), trying to do some stretches throughout the day to keep limber. Can't eat, so very tired, but did walk about three hours yesterday.
I managed to get down to 69kg in September, but I haven't made it to the gym for over two weeks due to a combination of horrible hours at work (several insanely long days in the lead-up to my former boss' departure) and smog (AQI was over 400 all weekend and the Embassy actually sent out warnings to stay indoors with your air filters on, ugh...). So some of that loss was probably muscle loss. I'm feeling dumpy and puffy. Not a good place to be in at the START of the colder weather -- usually I lose weight significantly in the warmer months. Blah.
BUT, I finally got a used bicycle and tomorrow I am going to start riding at least to the subway station rather than taking the bus. It should be a 10-15 minute ride each way, which is 30 minutes biking a day. Better than nothing and should cut some time off my commute. My plan is to try to build up my biking stamina -- maybe ride one stop further along the route every week until I can bike the whole way -- it is about 12 miles each way. Not sure how far I will get with that plan before it gets too cold, but worth a try.
Ihamo I am awed by your plan!
The Storyteller
10-9-13, 3:39pm
Lhamo, bicycling is excellent exercise. How cold does it get where you are?
I had a lot of exercise the last two days. I did three 50 minute back-to-back performances for kindergartners bussed in by the local area reading council, and two today, about a thousand kids from several school districts. These are high energy storytelling/puppet/magic/juggling performances that use up a lot of calories, so I don't feel too badly for not making it to the Y.
And this was a lot more fun than walking a treadmill. :)
Add to that, yesterday I filled a 16 foot trailer with furniture, shelving units, and work benches purchased at auction last weekend, which took over 3 hours, so that was even MORE exercise.
Food wise, have been doing very well last few days. Lots of fruits and veggies, very little meat (although had just a little of a pot roast last night), and no dairy. Feeling better and better all the time.
Tipped the scales at 175 this morning, so just two more pounds to reach my October goal before the 24th.
I think I can do that. :D
Two for two on my biking plan -- and I doubled my distance in just two days! First day I rode to the closest subway station. As predicted, it took 15 minutes. Quite a pleasant ride at 5:30 in the morning, no traffic -- but still dark. Must get a light and some reflective tape. Cut at least 15-20 minutes off my commute, which means I can leave the house at 6am instead of 5:30 and still make it to the office by 7:00.
This morning I had to drop some materials off at an event site that is right next to the station where I typically change subways, so I decided to bike all the way there. That is about 7km and as predicted took about 30 minutes. The air quality was HORRIBLE this morning, so I kind of doubted my decision for much of the ride, but I did it. Ride home was tough, though -- I had a long day at the office full of grunt work (cleaning up my former boss' 20 years of clutter and dust, ugh), and there was a strong wind and lots of traffic. My butt started hurting about 15 minutes into the ride. I made it ok, took about 35 minutes. So over an hour of decent aerobic exercise.
I'm also eating less because I'm so busy at work I sometimes forget to eat, and I haven't been taking snacks.
I may get extra cushioning for the seat. I need to make sure my butt has adjusted before I try much longer lengths. In any event the 7km RT cuts time off my commute, ensures I get a bit more exercise into my day, and makes it easier to run errands quickly on the way home, so I'll try to stick with that as a minimum most days until the weather gets too cold. Storyteller, it is typically well below freezing here from about late November through late February -- we use celcius and it is often anywhere from -7 or -8 down to -20. Biking is going to be a challenge in those temperatures, but so is sitting on an unheated bus, so maybe it won't be so bad. We'll see. Even if I can bike 6-8 months out of the year, that is a good thing.
The Storyteller
10-10-13, 5:16pm
Sounds great, Lhamo. A success already!
I know what you mean by the bike seat. When I was biking a lot, I was able to find a cushy seat that was much more comfortable.
Down 2.2 lb. this week from last week. Water aerobics helping quite a bit to get me over this hump.
The Storyteller
10-14-13, 12:28pm
Down 2.2 lb. this week from last week. Water aerobics helping quite a bit to get me over this hump.
Woohoo! Great for you!
I'm still stuck at 175, but have until next Thursday to drop two more pounds. If I have to, I can go all green and up the exercise for a few days to shed a little more of this fat. If I'm not down to 174 by Wednesday, I think I'll do that. This is when the old mentality for "making the weight" during my boxing days comes in handy. :)
Speaking of exercise, this was another busy weekend for me on the farm, so I expended a LOT of energy. But, I'm not sure it gets my heart rate sufficiently high to be of much cardio help.
Which is where I need the most help.
The Storyteller
10-16-13, 11:30am
Update:
The scale hit 174, which means I only have one pound to go before next Thursday for a total weight loss of 50 pounds since April. So, I don't have to resort to drastic measures. But I'm still green juice fasting during the day today and tomorrow. I was going to close out the two days with just a salad, but think I will eat a regular meal with small portions, instead.
Still haven't gone to the Y this week. But, my evenings and mornings have been very active with taking care of critters. The meat chickens I am raising are doing better than any batch we have raised in the past, so I'm being very careful to make sure everything remains perfect for them. That's taking a lot of work, but the work is physical, and physical is good. :)
I really do need an incentive. I am stuck at 146 on the scales at WW and have drifted into another month of weekly membership. I think that this is having a detremental effect on my weight loss as I find myself feeling guilty for paying the monthly membership when I hear over and over that folk here in the UK are needing to use foodbanks to afford the weekly grocery shop.
I only need to lose 8 pounds to be at my WW goal weight but it is still sticking around. I watched a very good programme on BBC2 last week that explained that BMI indices are not the be all and end all. I sometimes wonder if I really have hit my plateau as I am 64! I have lost 32 pounds in total but it has taken me 2 years and at a cost of around £400 to WWs.
I don't go to the gym etc as I walk everywhere anyway. I don't drive a car. I also tend my garden and DH and I do most of our home maintainence ourselves - took down and cleaned guttering earlier this week - so except for the exercise bike (older model rescued from land-fill!) we don't do extra.
Your thoughts please.
sweetana3
10-17-13, 5:50am
You could try two things:
1. Track very carefully for one week and see exactly what you are taking in. Measure and write everything down as if it was the first week of WW.
2. Try to eat only Power Foods cooked simply for a week and see how that feels.
Several of us hit plateaus and found that we had gotten lazy about intake for the most part.
The Storyteller
10-17-13, 11:08am
I have lost 32 pounds in total but it has taken me 2 years and at a cost of around £400 to WWs.
I think you are looking at this the wrong way. I think losing 32 pounds at a slow and steady pace and keeping it off is an amazing accomplishment. The way I read the above is...
"I have lost 32 pounds in total and it has only taken me 2 years and at a mere cost of around £400!"
I look at the cost this way... I have purchased several weight loss and health books and films, and pay $26 a month for my Y membership. The cost of organic fruits and vegetables over conventionally grown is very high. But in exchange for those dollars, I have likely added years to my life and vastly improved my quality of life. I had pretty much given up and was moving into town from our farm so I could enjoy my last years (I have heart disease) and wait to die. But now I feel great, have moved back out to the farm, and am working harder than ever. How do you put a price on that?
Personally, I think you are going great. Maybe try a few things like eating more green vegetables and fewer calorie dense foods like meat and potatoes to jar your system into additional weight loss. Read Joel Fuhrman, Caldwell Esselstyn, and Dean Ornish. I don't know anything about weight watchers, maybe you already do all that. But just try something different in addition to WW to shake things up a bit.
And if that doesn't work, just continue to work at maintaining your current weight loss. That is the hardest part in the long run... maintaining. And the thing I am most concerned about. I think you are doing a great job!
The Storyteller
10-17-13, 11:20am
Speaking of which, I have reached my October goal of 173. That is 50 pounds since April 24th of this year. Now for the hard part of maintaining my weight as I continue toward my ultimate goal of 165. I'm going to take my time doing that, since I want to build muscle and cardio health as I continue to lose weight. I'm looking forward to seeing my cardiologist next week. I think he is going to be pleasantly surprised.
My other (and more important) health goal is to reverse my heart disease. I'm not sure how I could track that, but I'm sure my heart doc can fill me in next week. Based on how I feel and what I can do, it has probably already begun. I just need to nail down whether or not what I am doing is enough, or if I should do more and move even closer to vegan.
updated progress report...
Start/now/goal
223/173/165
No loss at WW last night, but my muscles are quite sore from a workout I had the night before with a trainer at the Y. My leader says when your muscles are recovering (sore) they retain water and I am going with that rather than feel down because I had no loss. Next week I should show one.
Thank you for the replies and in particular to The Storyteller. I think it is a great idea to go back to basics and I will be doing that.
I think I have become a little too fixated on the fact that I must get to the WW goal weight of 138. I have been managing to maintain the weight loss for months. I am able to move around more easily and my BP is much better. I still need to take my 2 BP meds each day but I have been able to ditch the migraine med (I used to take 6 per day of one tablet) in favour of a different one to be taken only when I need it.
I think there is also something to be said for eating more and losing weight strange as it might seem.
My exercise today has been walking and washing windows!
I have not read the suggested authors but will take a look on line for them.
I did a big batch of cooking today and changed two of my recipes. I cooked an apple crumble but made the topping with cumbled up Oatibix - like Wheetabix but made with oats. The apples are from our garden. I also made a large batch of roasted tomatoes (some from the garden)and peppers. We will have those tomorrow with fish and leftovers can be a WW "zero points" soup.
Thanks again everyone, I hope to be able to post a loss next week or at least a more possitive outlook!
The Storyteller
10-19-13, 6:43pm
I saw my family care physician yesterday about lower back pain. Last time I visited I weighed 230+ by his scale (all those heavy clothes). This time I weighed 180.
He didn't say a word about it. Even after I mentioned my change in diet, in case the back pain could be the result of some of my meds which were prescribed when I was eating SAD. I guess I expected more of a reaction.
A lot of the stuff I am reading talks about how ignorant most doctors are of nutrition and its effect on our health. Funny how I never noticed it before. This time it jumped out at me as glaringly obvious. Compare that to my cardiologist who talks about diet and exercise every time I visit him.
This guy has been our family doctor for 15 years, but I think it is time to get a new one. One who knows a little about nutrition so he or she can prescribe something other than pills and bed rest. Maybe I'll start a new thread on how to go about doing that.
Discouraging.
Sorry you had a discouraging visit with your family care person, Storyteller, but at least this has been the spark to get you to look into finding someone who is more suited to your needs/philosophy. I hope you can find one. It is really important to have care providers who understand your needs and work to support you in reaching your health goals.
The past week was pretty much a washout exercise wise. DH was travelling, and our helper is having a hard time getting to our place in time to get the kids up in time to ensure a non-stressful morning prep routine, so I decided to stay home a bit longer, get them up and started with breakfast, and then get a taxi to work. So no biking. And long hours at work made it difficult to get to the gym. That combined with the recurrent air pollution here (Friday, the day I stayed home to work and could have more easily made it to the gym, the levels were at 300+...) is making it difficult to hit my goals. DH is back late tonight, so I should be able to use the bike at least 3 times this week (tomorrow morning is out as I have to drop DS off for a school trip at 4:15am, and Wednesday is out as I need to be in the office from at least 8am to at least 9am for scheduled skype calls to colleagues in headquarters. Well, I'll just have to do my best. I do noticed the drop in my energy levels when I am not getting exercise, so need to find a way to work it into the new job routine.
The Storyteller
10-25-13, 1:50pm
Well, that was fun.
I visited my cardiologist yesterday and it was a much better experience than with my family care physician. He was flat out excited. I tipped his scales at 180. My last visit had been 230.
"50 pounds! Why didn't you do that 15 years ago?" Good question, doc. He then paraded me out in front of his nurses and PAs and they were equally excited.
He asked me how I did it. I told him lots of fruits and vegetables with no dairy or processed foods and very little meat, maybe in the evenings. He said that is exactly the way it should be done. He said he hadn't read Joel Fuhrman, but went on to describe Fuhrman's diet to a T as a good way to eat (heavy on plants, low on meat and then mostly as an ingredient rather than a course). I also told him I was exercising regularly, and doing a lot of walking and physical work on the farm. He wanted to know if I felt different, about chest pain or tiredness, and I could truthfully tell him no.
I told him I was reading Ornish, Fuhrman, and Esselstyn and wanted to know what he thought of them. He dismissed them and said it was more important what I did than what I read, and I am doing exactly the right thing.
My next questions was about particular diets. He said the best diets for heart disease were vegetarian and Mediterranean. Didn't think much of the paleo diet. I brought up vegan and pulled out the AARP magazine with the Bill Clinton article. He opened the article, glanced at it, closed the mag and said "Don't do anything Bill does." My wife laughed and said I'd better not.
But what he meant was, Clinton says one thing regarding diet, but does another. And he is always changing from one diet to another. He said vegan would be fine and safe for me, but is not necessary in my case to reduce heart disease. He said what I was already doing was sufficient. Just do it more.
He then went on to elaborate and expound on the Mediterranean diet, which is apparently what he most often recommends. And he told a story.
When he came to America for medical school, he quickly became Americanized in his diet choices. He returned home on break, he asked hist mother to buy and cook him a steak. She bought a nice thick juicy one, and he cooked that up and had picked up some French fries, plopped them all down on his plate at dinner and started to eat.
His parents just stared at him. "You're going to eat it like that?" asked his father. Yes, this is the way we eat in America. His parents looked at each other and back at him. "But where is the food?" This is food, he said. "No, that's not the food. That's just meat. Where is the food?" This is food. "No! That's meat! You need to eat food!" I think the point being, meat isn't food (certainly not a meal) in itself, but an ingredient that goes into food. And that's how he wants me to approach it. Eating meat as a main course is okay occasionally, but not often. He said he eats a burger maybe 5 times a year now.
He is very pleased I raise and eat my own chickens.
My wife then asked about my weight, afraid I had lost too much. He said a good weight for me would be 160. I told him 165 was my goal and he said that would be fine.
I also asked about my medication, if perhaps I needed to modify it due to my weight and new diet. He doesn't want to change anything until I have maintained this weight for at least a year. He has been seeing me every 4 to 6 months. Because of my diet and lifestyle changes, he set my next appointment for a year.
And a very good year it will be, too.
To celebrate, we ordered Chinese and I planned to pig out. I couldn't. Instead, I ate my normal small portions heavy on the veggies.
This morning I weighed 172.
Storyteller, That is a great description of your experience. I'm glad the cardiologist was positive...unlike the GP. Sometimes people don't realize what a difference some praise will do for a client. You should be very proud of yourself and it sounds as if you have changed your habits enough that you will be able to keep it off. Congratulations again!!!
Applauding you here, Storyteller! Awesome progress! I'm excited for you.
Down 1# this week. I have been going to the gym and working out for 2 wk now since the pool has been closed for remodeling. Even though I haven't lost much weight (2#) I fee much stronger and although sore, I feel like physically, I am becoming firmer. That is a motivation in and of itself.
Is your cardiologist Chinese? Because that story would fit here in two ways:
1) Cooked dishes here are typically called "cai". Vegetables are "shucai". With a few exceptions, primarily small appetizer type dishes, almost all "cai" contain a large amount of "shucai". The idea of a meal that did not include vegetables, preferably of different colors/textures/tastes, would indeed seem very strange to most chinese.
2) The other thing that is VERY prevalent in the thinking here, is that you must have some kind of "staple" food or it is not a proper meal. This is typically noodles or rice. The word for it is "zhushi", literally "main edible". And you eat one staple or another -- rice or noodles, noodles or bread, bread or rice, etc. And, in China, this is very much connected to where you are from -- Northerners are stereotypically more fond of noodles/breads and southerners rice. This is so engrained in the thinking that one of the first questions you are often asked when meeting someone as a foreigner here is "do you guys eat rice or noodles." Saying "both" or (heaven forbid) "neither" really throws people for a loop. A low carb diet is really hard to explain to people. We've been harping on it for my inlaws -- FIL has early stage diabetes, MIL has a lot of different health issues that would probably be helped by a more plant/lean meat/good fat based diet, and several of my SILs and BILS struggle with weight issues, diabetes, gout, etc. Every time we say "don't eat so much rice/noodles" (our family eats both -hah! So much for the stereotype...), they kind of look at us like we've grown two heads.
Obviously the first situation lends itself toward eating more veggies. The second, makes eliminating carbs a challenge here. Doable, but you are swimming upstream. Not to mention the fact that food here is generally pretty tasty. You should come over and have some REAL Chinese food sometime, Storyteller!
try2bfrugal
10-25-13, 6:49pm
Well, that was fun.
I visited my cardiologist yesterday and it was a much better experience than with my family care physician. He was flat out excited. I tipped his scales at 180. My last visit had been 230....This morning I weighed 172.
Good work. That is really exciting.
I am down 2.5 pounds in about a week. I noticed that I really only lose weight when my diet is more or less mostly alkaline (fruits and veggies) with some meat and iron pills. I have also been having peppermint tea at bedtime to try to sleep a little longer than I usually do, which is normally only about 6 hours a night, sometimes less.
It has been like a puzzle trying to figure out what works for me. Even eating almost all veggies and walking 15K steps a day wouldn't budge my weight. I just got cold and tired. I really seem to need the extra iron pills and at least some meat.
I was thin most of my life until I got anemic and them somehow my metabolism changed. I used to be able to go to Fresh Choice and have 4 helpings of food while a chubby friend in weight watchers would look at me eat and try to figure out how she could eat so carefully and not lose weight while I could eat so much and not gain weight. I do think there is a lot more to weight loss than just calories or even carbs.
sweetana3
10-25-13, 8:54pm
I have continued to lose about 1 to 1.5 pounds a week. Exercise is continuing.
What I have noticed more than anything is that I can pick up items from the floor, get up and down from the floor and do the stairs much more easily. I was the only one who could look at the boxed sale items on the floor of our quilt shop booth.
My absolute favorite meal now is blood orange greek yoghurt with homemade granola in it. Heaven in a bowl. No more flour in the kitchen and I am going to give the sugar away. Cannot see myself baking anything anymore.
Now it is a very occasional treat to have a croissant (only one) or to eat out and I no longer want to eat something "because it is there".
iforonwy
10-26-13, 12:30pm
Great encourangement reading about how you are all getting along.
Well I lost half a pound this last week so the 1.5 pounds that came on during my vacation are now long gone.
Sweetana3 I had to laugh at
What I have noticed more than anything is that I can pick up items from the floor, get up and down from the floor and do the stairs much more easily. I was the only one who could look at the boxed sale items on the floor of our quilt shop booth
This is what I notice the most I can get up and down so much easier these days. That's how I manage to find the bargains on the bottom shelf in the supermarket!
I have been eating much more fruit and veg over the last year. Our supermarket - I can walk there in 20 minutes and then another 20/25 back (up hill) - seems to have a new management team. They are discounting fruit and veg instead of the great scandal of it going to waste. This last week I came home with a kilo of bananas, a kilo of tomatoes, a kilo of mushrooms and 3 organic red peppers all for a total of the equivalent of 29cents. It would have been 9 pence more but the cashier scanned the wrong label on the tomatoes and so over charged me. The rule of the supermarket means that I had them for free plus twice the difference in the amount I was overcharged!
try2bfrugal
10-28-13, 4:37pm
I have lost four pounds in about a week and a half. One of my family members wanted to go on an anti-Candida diet, so I have been cooking mostly those kinds of foods and eating them as well. I have been eating carbs just not bread or dairy, and I did cut back on sweets and fruit.
Plus I have been continuing with the iron pills, peppermint tea and magnesium water.
I don't exactly know which things I am doing that are specifically causing the weight loss, but this is more weight than I have ever lost in a week and a half from counting calories, exercising more, the Fuhrman eat to live diet, the Volumetrics diet or anything else. And I have not been hungry.
The Storyteller
11-6-13, 3:32pm
Is your cardiologist Chinese?
No, I've never asked him but best I can tell is he is Lebanese... at least, his surname is Lebanese.
I find in my reading this is fairly common, though. There are many areas of the world where the common food is more plant based than animal, at least until they take on elements of the Western diet.
Sorry to post in the October thread, just wanted to answer your question. :)
The Storyteller
11-6-13, 3:38pm
Quote Originally Posted by The Storyteller View Post
Well, that was fun.
I visited my cardiologist yesterday and it was a much better experience than with my family care physician. He was flat out excited. I tipped his scales at 180. My last visit had been 230....This morning I weighed 172.
Good work. That is really exciting.
To clarify, I weighed 180 on his scales in street clothes, 172 on mine in my jammies. The day before I weighed 173 on my scales. I didn't lose 8 pounds in a day.
If only it was that easy. :)
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