The riding is good, the hurting is not. If you plan on biking a lot you should consider visiting a good bike shop, getting your bike fitted properly, and consider getting a women’s specific saddle.
I know, I was only joking. I’m not planning on serious biking but just a little potter around the park a few times a week. I’m taking the bike in for a proper service soon as the gears need some work so I’ll be checking out saddle options then.
Nine weeks, down 25 pounds. I was washing the car Saturday and had a devil of a time keeping my jeans up. They almost fell down when I was going back into the house. Now I’m wearing an old pair with a 2" smaller waist.
I hit that goal with a half pound to spare. Should be 154 this coming Wednesday.
I had a fantastic weekend. I had an Iron Man 2 date Saturday, so Friday night I dashed to the mall to buy some clothes that fit properly. (I’ve been wearing my years-old clothes all this time.) I got jeans and a t-shirt two sizes smaller than I normally wear. Didn’t have time to try them on, and it was mostly blind optimism that they’d fit. But they did, perfectly. Aw yeah. 
On the date, I had buttery movie theater popcorn and fried chicken parmesan, but I enjoyed both in moderation-- a handful of popcorn, and only half the entree. I filled up on iceberg lettuce salad and fruit and brothy soup before the parmesan came. I’d also eaten lightly throughout the day and had walked almost 2 hours around town and the mall, so I had plenty of calories to spare in my daily intake limit.
I’m most pleased I made these adjustments without really thinking about them, which is a sign that my good habits are becoming ingrained, which is what I really want.
84.2 kg (185lb) today. I think it will hold, though there may be a bit of bouncing. I am now confident that I will hit 83kg by the end of the month. I had to add another hole in my belt, another inch off my waist.
Here is something you may wish to try, if you are near (or at) your goal but struggling with reducing specific areas (for me currently, my belly). Try using an ice/gel pack on the area, 10-15 minutes twice a day, for several weeks. Research seems to show that subcutaneous fat cannot handle the cold, and chilling it kills off the cells (cite). 10-15 minutes is sufficient to cool the adipose tissue, without causing skin damage. I just slip the gel pack into my waistband next to the skin while I get breakfast in the morning and again in the evening while I watch TV. However, to get the chilling to some other areas, I am looking at making a proper chill vest with a pair of fitting lycra tops sewn together to make pouches I can slip the gel packs into to cover specific areas (to work on my moobs and round my kidneys). This will have an additional use as a chill vest for summer tri/running events (the cooler you can stay, the better your performance). At the very least, this will have the effect of making your metabolism ramp up a bit to keep you warm, but I don’t see this as a weight loss technique - it is more about helping reduce fat round a specific area. I think that it has worked for me, but I am also putting in plenty of hard yards in the gym/on the road/in the lake, so YMMV. However, if anyone wants to try it, I’d be interested in your feedback (but I accept no liability - this is experimental).
Si
I usually weigh in on Mondays, and I did, but I re-weighed myself today as I was sooooo close and I made it to 218.2. So it’s now a full 40 lbs since I started on January 4th. I’ve been pushing myself a little harder this past week to make the goal since I have been so close for a couple weeks. On Sunday, I joined a group and biked 39 miles in 3.5 hours. I was definitely pushed out of my comfort zone, but I’m really glad I did it. Last night, I was on the elliptical for over an hour and had to stop as my feet had fallen asleep. I’m trying to shake up my routines a bit as I’m wondering if they’re getting a bit stale. Any recommendations for the cardio side?
Yes, don’t over do it. Give yourself a break day every few days. Getting hurt will do more to derail your weight loss than anything at this point.
I have the same thing happen but after only 20 minutes or so. Is this common? Anyone else experience this? What do you do about it? It gets to be painful for me.
It can be common - because the elliptical is zero impact, you end up with basically constant pressure on your feet (unlike the short impact/long unweight of running, bikes and rowers are 50/50 push/pull). You need to unweight a bit on the rising foot, shuffle them about and move them a bit on the foot-well. Switching to reverse for a bit not only works alternative muscles, but changes the weight distribution on your foot.
Maybe look at some High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT or Tabata) style workouts - short, high intensity cardio. I like the rower for this, but the bike is good, too. Do 20 seconds on, 10 seconds rest for 4 minutes. But when you are going, really go for it. You are aiming to exceed your VO[sub]2[/sub]max, so it is way beyond what you could comfortably sustain for any period of time. You should finish up gasping and struggling to finish the last 20 seconds. But your body will respond to the pressure, and your aerobic capacity will improve, and you will burn calories for a long time afterwards. However, use your own judgment about whether you are ready for that level of cardio intensity. And if your gym has circuit classes, try one of them.
Rowing machines are good, too, for long cardio sessions.
Si
At my official weigh in yesterday I was at 191.8, down 50.2 lbs from New Years. It came much quicker than I expected, but it is welcome none the less. I also had my annual physical yesterday and the doctor was pleased. She said I had a “runner’s heart” which made me happy. We agreed that I still have some weight to lose, another 20 lbs would make her happy, so I’ve still got work to do.
But I’m going to be happy with this for a few minutes.
Telemark, that is a great result in only a few months and definitely something to congratulate yourself for. You have acknowledged that you have more work to do, and that’s fine, but for now you should be giving yourself a big pat on the back for what you’ve achieved so far.
I went to Fat Club last night and I’d gained a pound. Oh well. Today is the start of another week and hopefully a bit more time for cycling. I need to get back on my diet plan as things at home have been haywire recently due to a family bereavement. Now that things are settling down again, I should be back to normal pretty soon.
Last week: 203.90
This week: 203.32
I’ve kind of leveled out again. That doesn’t matter. What I’m trying to learn is perserverance. I will not let myself get discouraged. I will not let the fact that I ate way too much pizza on Tuesday stop me from working toward my goal. Climbing back in the saddle now.
On another note, I saw my dentist yesterday. Yep, she is not at all happy about my flossing habits
Down to 153.5, despite baking chocolate walnut banana bread and eating it for breakfast and dessert every day since Tuesday. Next time, I’m giving away half.
I had a bit of a revelation this week. I’ve been so focused on losing some fat weight that I’ve forgotten how incredible the human body is - I’m putting in a hedge, and I did a lot of digging every day. The first day I was awfully sore, then the next day I was already getting used to doing hard physical work. I’m still overweight, but there’s a lot more to my body than being skinny, and it wouldn’t hurt to appreciate that more.
Well I let things slip a bit. After my last update of hitting the -50 mark, and getting a job I took a bit of a chance to celebrate, Then with the red wings in the playoffs My lapse period grew, and my bar visits got back to about every other day, and the no smoking thing really went nowhere.
But The Wings are out of the playoffs, the job is settling in, and my health care is active which takes the last big stress out of my life, plus the weather is great finally for a couple weeks it looks like. And actually I was still maintaining, just not losing, so I didn’t lose ground, I just didn’t make any progress this last month. But now it’s back in the trenches on my plan. 
I am nearly down to my pre-winter weight! I ate so badly for a few months, just starting after Christmas. I still have some bad habits in the evenings, but at least I’m not munching all day! I am back to jogging two miles 4 days a week and things are starting to shape up. I want to start lifting again, but am having some pain in my shoulders and arms, so I will wait.
I’m having an enforced week off exercise because of a cold and some family dinners. The family commitments also mean that the last 3 out of 5 dinners have been at restaurants. So even though I broke the 52kg mark (51.8kg) I’m anticipating some weight gain. Plus I eat like crap when I’m sick (today and yesterday’s lunches: a bag of Kettle chips) and crave carbs like crazy. But I am looking forward to an excuse to rest - I’ve been pushing myself pretty hard and a few days of bumming around is probably what my body needs.
I did my first 5k race this morning. My time according to the clock at the end was about 35:40. I was secretly hoping for a sub 35 min time but at least I ran the whole thing. I did 3.3 miles last Friday at 35:05 but that was an evening run which are easier for me than morning runs.
My weight this week remained the same as last week according to my “official” scale even though I went back to my pre-vacation diet. I have a cheaper scale that shows a loss of a pound. I was really hoping and expecting to see a loss. Oh well, maybe next week.
New fitness challenge at work! We weigh in this morning. I’m impressed with myself. After being really depressed and just doing maintenance stuff, I only gained 2 pounds since March 29th. I can attribute that to my monthly cycle.
Sooo…
From June 15, 2009, I’ve gone from 398 pounds to 320 pounds. I’ve lost 5 inches from my chest, 3 inches from my waist, 4 from my hips, 1 1/2 from each arm, 4 from each thigh and 2 from each calf. I’ve also gone down 2-3 clothing sizes, depending on where I shop. I can buy pants off the rack at Walmart again. Better yet, I haven’t needed an electric buggy at the store since last July, and haven’t used one since last June. (Yes, I still could have used one for that month, but decided not to.)
I’m thinking about joining Weight Watchers now, but I’m doing good right now with what I’m doing. With all the support I have, I can’t go wrong! Now people here at work are trying to plot how to take me out. I’m the one to beat, and they’re going to have to work really hard to do it!
All the best Juliana - stick with it.
I couldn’t quite hold at 84kg - a birthday dinner out and (serious) chocolate cake to follow means that I have slipped to 84.5kg. Not much but it means working extra hard to hit my month-end goal. No matter.
I did scare myself at the gym, though. Not only did I manage a 6:30 mile on the treadmill, I got on the rower for an average 2500m/10 minute row, and did it in 9:20 without pushing myself hard - that’s 5 seconds/500m off my previous best row. I think that I am doing something right, and that a 9 minute 2500m is possible in the future.
Si