Just got back from my walk. Pulse rate is 120 bpm, maintained over 35 minutes walking at 3 mph. This is down from 132 - 138 bpm when I started my walking regime.
Question: Is this a good heart rate? Am I maintaining it long enough?
Day 9: FINALLY! I dropped four pounds from yesterday! I finally dipped below the damn 220 mark!
217! Woohoo! Keep going in this direction! It’s a long drive back home. I need more days like this, and the only way to get them is to keep it up!
Tip for the day, idea stolen from FlyLady: Get some post it notes, and stick them everywhere, everywhere, you’ll see them. Bright colours that draw your eye to them. Write down your goals, or reminders to yourself. When they start to fade into the background, switch colours around, put in new places, add new tips or more of the same. Don’t worry about it looking too cheesy or corny; they work, and that’s all that matters. My husband was particularly amused at the hot pink note stuck to the fridge: “Fill me with healthy food!”
Write your grocery list ahead of time, and not while you’re hungry. When you buy groceries, do not stray from this list! (this may or may not work for those of you grocery shopping for families, and cooking for spouses/SOs that don’t want to diet and want you to cook them their meals as usual, deep fried - I wish those of you willpower, and buns of steel.) 
I’ve been doing Weigh Watchers on the Flex Plan since 11/9/05 when I weighed in at 370.2.
I’ve lost a total of 31.4 pounds since I started. I have only had one week when I gained which was a 5.4 gain followed by a 13.8 loss. The week after that was no loss but I wasn’t expecting one after such a big loss the prior week.
My 10% goal is 5.6 pounds away and I expect to hit it by 2/8. If I don’t hit it then I won’t hit it until 3/1 because I’m going to Floirda from 2/9 to 2/14 and am not going to worry about staying 100% on program
(please excuse my lurking while I add my 2 cents)
The lower pulse rate (down to 120 from mid 130’s) is an indicator that you are gaining fitness. That’s good news, your heart doesn’t have to work as hard as it used to do the walk.
The bad news is that your heart doesn’t have to work as hard as it used to do the walk. It won’t work any harder than it has to, so you may want to increase your pace a little bit to get your heart rate back to the mid-130’s. You may have to check your pulse during the walk several times to make sure that you are not slacking (a heart rate monitor is nice to do this, but you can check it yourself). Once you start gaining fitness, it’s easy to think that you are working hard, only to look at your heart rate and find out you are slacking.
35 minutes should be fine, though you might want to mix it up a bit. Maybe a 20 minute walk at a high heart rate (150) once a week, and an hour walk at 120 bpm a couple of times a weeks.
One of my coworkers just nuked some bacon.
Aaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrggggggggggghhhhhhhhh.
Curses!
I got home last night and my roommate must have cooked something good, or the neighbors did, because the place smelled phenomenally like yummy grilled meat. It was hard to not turn around and go get something tasty at the deli around the way (trying to cut out the post-10PM eating).
Stay strong!
I have always thought that there should be a rule against nuking popcorn in the workplace, because it really is an unwelcome intrusion of scent. Bacon? Right up there with the top desirable but unwanted scents, and this from a 20-year vegetarian.
I have completed today’s science experiment, and have determined beyond all doubt that peanut butter doesn’t taste as good as bacon smells.
OTOH, I didn’t bop the coworker over the head and steal her bacon.
Small steps, twicks.
Oh, I dunno. I happen to be *very *fond of peanut butter.
I suppose it’s been about 3 weeks.
Still jogging 5 times a week (though one week it was about 3 times) for 6 km. It seems to be balancing out my edging on bad eating habits. I think I may have lost 1 pound. Which is good though I’d like to be doing better. I think I’m in a stagnant stage right now due to the winter. As long as I don’t gain weight in the winter, I’ll be set to lose it in the summer.
Well, I’ve been back to WW twice now.
Current weight 245.2, loss of 1.2 pounds since I started back, 34.8 pounds since I first started with them. I should not have stopped going!
Seems I was right. As of this morning, my stats are:
Starting: 360 lbs
Current: 220 lbs
Goal: ~150 lbs
I’ve lost 140 lbs (since January 2005) and have 70 more to go. I’m precisely [sup]2[/sup]/[sub]3[/sub] of the way there.
Amazing. Congratulations!
This morning I am at 7.5 lbs down since January 1. Ehh, better than a poke in the eye with a stick. Stupid body.
Good job, Aesiron - looks like you and are at about the same place. Same goal, as well. I just dropped about four pounds yesterday, after having gained some - ugh. Are you still taking Stackers? I just added Xenadrine a couple days ago, and that’s when the four pounds shed.
I’m just a little curious, and might follow your progress and compare it to mine: my mother always used to complain that men lost weight faster than women. I just want to see if that’s true. 
I know our starting weights were different, and you’ve been at this longer than I have, but for comparison:
Start: 225
Current: 217
Goal: at least 150, which is what I was in high school and I was wearing a size 8
Aesiron That’s just damn impressive. Good for you! I guess it works if you work it.
I suck this week. I only walked twice. Too much alcohol. Bad food choices. I am never going to make my goal of 175 by 2/2 if I don’t stop.
Johnny L.A. You might try a more vigorous swing of the arms during your walk to pump up the heart rate.
Meanwhile the rule of thumb is 220-your age is your age predicted maximum and to get cardio and fat burning benefits you want to maintain 60-80% of that number during your cardio workout.
But do take your heart rate while you’re moving. If you’re increasing your cardiac fitness your heart rate will recover very quickly which is good. Going from a jog to a walk my heart rate will go down by 12-15 bpm in just one minute so it does make a difference when you take the measurement.
Yeah. My normal routine is to take two Stacker 3s, a multivitamin, a calcium supplement, and a flax seed oil capsule with a glass of water after waking up each morning and then just watch what I eat for the rest of the day. My weight loss has been 99% diet with some walking (mostly just parking at the end of parking lots or walking short distances for chores or meals) being the only added exercise.
150 is about as low as I want to go. I’m aiming for anything in the 150-170 range.
And, sure… a little friendly competition is good. I have a $30 bet with my dad to see who can lose the most weight between now and his anniversary in May and between the two of you, that should be enough to keep me motivated.
You’re 5’7", aren’t you? That’s another similarity between us.
Yep, forgot about that one.
I don’t so much compete as much as compare; however, it does keep the motivation to do well, or at least stick to it, high. I have a bad habit of feeling down and binging at times. Or, at least, I have in the past. I think knowing how unhealthy I was this time gave me a little scare.
Well, I didn’t mean a straight-up competition but knowing that you will have to weigh in and if the other person is doing a lot better, it might strengthen your resolve. Or, if the numbers stay similar, make you try harder in an attempt to be the person with the better numbers.
I have a very hard time with binging as well. I love food and this diet goes against all that I hold dear but I don’t want to die of a heart attack or stroke before I’m thirty so it’s the lesser of two evils.
I’m feeling wimpy this Day Two of liquid fasting. It’s to be expected while I adjust to fluid and potassium levels. I’m babying myself by lying on the couch all morning, which is exciting my cats beyond comprehension. Do both of them really need to drape themselves over my legs and wash each other all day? My feet may fall asleep, but I’m loving it. As for compliance, so far so good. (I actually typed “so fart so good”, not a bad motto!)