Health & Fitness

LK, I tried to post this several time yesterday, but couldn't. Looks like Gath has fixed the problem. Take heart, my scale hasn't changed since my report Monday, but I still feel good about my progress because I've had 4 good exercise sessions and no beer. I've been giving in to the 'hungries' more than I should, but I'll get that under control too. There's always something to work on. I figure if you're ok in your head with what you are doing, the scale will take care of itself.

And rosemary, I'm drinking lots of water.

I have today walked 8234 steps bringing my total so far to 111,989 leaving 138,011 to go before january 31st so I'm on target all being well.
Tomorrow will finish week 2 and I will weigh in on monday morning. (for those in Oz it is still saturday evening here)
Hope everyone else is doing well

Thus far, today has really been a good day. I checked my waist measurement and discovered that I have lost a whole inch! Wooooohooooo!!! The walking and water is working. I had a great workout at the gym and burned quite a few calories, but no hunks were there, so I didn't get to burn those extras from peeping at them. Darn and double darn it!! Hope this has been a good weekend for everyone. You Aussies should earn some extra brownie points for sticking to the exercise of choice in the kind of heat you have been having. Just goes to show that once you make up your mind, you can do anything! United we will win our battle! Hang in there everybody!

Tip of the Day. Take it easy with your salt intake. When I had my heart attack I was immediately put on a 'No Salt' diet. Breakfast my first morning included porridge and boy, salt free porridge tastes disgusting. From then on I was on a 'No Added Salt' diet which means that salt can be used in cooking but not sprinkled over the food. I have kept that up. In my case, excessive salt causes fluid retention causing all kinds of nasty things, including an increase in body weight. Get some good medical advice.

Ian/sydney~ I tried to see the picture that you referred to on these pages, for looking on your page, of a picture of yourself.
However, it wasn't anywhere on your page, or flickr', no big deal. Just curious. Is there somewhere else to see your picture?
BTW~ I LOVE YOUR PHOTOS!

anew, there is no photo of myself anywhere. Dunno why, perhaps I prefer my privacy. Col is the only one who has met me and I guess she can attest to the fact that I am a reasonably normal person. (Please Col) (There's a bottle of fine red wine in it for you)

50 min walk today with a drop to the river and a climb to get home again, still a bit stiff from the bike ride yesterday but feelin good! no weight loss yet... next challenge to keep the eatin reasonable eh. easy to report the 'good' things here and just keep mum about the naughties! hmm.

Just back from a 4200 step walk in 30C heat still at 8pm
hoping the weigh in goes well in the morning.

just for the record we are at sunday evening 14 Jan 10.50pm...

well done rose you do test my powers of arithmetic with all those steps!

must be round 4km??

and yes i know it's not important if you wear a thingy but for those of us that don't, i do it in kilometres?!

CARDIAC UNIT DIET
1st day:
Breakfast-Black coffee, 1/2 c. grapefruit juice, 1 slice toast, 1 tbs. peanut butter.
Lunch-1/2 c. tuna, 1 slice toast, coffee or tea
Dinner-2 slices meat(3 oz. any kind), 1 c. green beans, 1 c. beets or carrots, 1 small apple, 1 c. vanilla ice cream or yogurt.
2nd day:
Breakfast-Black coffee or tea, 1 hard boiled egg, 1 slice toast, 1/2 banana
Lunch-1 c. cottage cheese or tuna, 5 saltine crackers, water
Dinner-2 weiners, 1 c. broccoli or cabbage, 1/2 c.carrots, 1/2 banana, 1/2 c. vanilla ice cream or yogurt, water
3rd day:
Breakfast-Black coffee or tea,5 saltine crackers, 1 slice cheddar cheese, 1 small apple.
Lunch-1 hard boiled egg, 1 slice toast, coffee/tea.
Dinner-1 c. tuna, 1c. green beans or cauliflower, 1 c. beets or carrots, 1 c. cantalope, 1/2 c. vanilla ice cream, water.
This diet works on a chemical breakdown and is proven to work. Do not vary or substitute any of the foods. Salt and pepper may be used, but no other seasonings. This diet is to be used 3 days at a time. In 3 days you will lose 10 lbs. After 3 days of dieting, you can eat your usual food. DO NOT OVER EAT!!!!! After 4 days of eating normally, start back on your 3 day diet. You will lose 40 lbs. in 1 month.

Whew! Well, there it is. And here I am, back to the land of the living. Had a severe case of strep throat on top of an upper respiratory and sinus infection. Thought I was going to die. Nearly hospitalized. Two shots, one in each hip and oral antibiotics and I am on the road to recovery.

Oh, I wanted to add that I can email this diet to any one who wants it. I like all the foods on there except grapefruit juice. Ian, does this look like anything you've been put on? Curious of your opinion.

9701 steps today. Checking in early my left foot is killing me. As my trainer shoes were looking the worse for wear I got out my old leather hiking boots from the back of the closet - now I remember why I put them there. Going to soak my poor feet then shower, slip into something comfortable (and warm) and relax and watch a DVD.
Back later

tricia I am surprised at there being grapefruit juice on this cardiac diet. My husband takes medicines for both high blood pressure and cholesterol and one definite no-no is grapefruit in any shape or form. I believe it has adverse effects.

tricia, I have to be careful how I answer your question because I am not a nutritionist. I think the essence is what works for you. Our diet is not as fixed as yours. We are careful to buy foods that are low in fat and salt and always look at the label. We have fairly rigid food labelling laws here in Australia.
Beware of foods that are called 'Lite' because sometimes that means light colour.
I snack on fresh fruit or rice cakes (with a suitable spread) to put some variety into my life.
We try to eat fish twice a week, be it tinned or fresh.
We limit ourselves to about 100g of lean meat each in a meal, but that's not rigid.
But the other important ingredient, I think, is exercise. Walking is better than no exercise. But we do three quarters of an hour of aerobic exercise three times a week, under supervision, at a gym. But like all these things involving lifestyle changes - make haste slowly. It has taken me six months to work up to the exercise levels that I am now achieving and I still have a long way to go. Whether I push myself further will depend on how my heart responds - I see no point in being a fit,healthy corpse, but I would like to live longer.

I forgot to add - salads are good, but watch the dressing.

I was puzzled by the grapefruit since I take a medicine that specifically forbids it, and the only two I take are for blood pressure and cholesterol. I was also surprised by the wieners (I've heard them called little cholesterol bombs), the eggs (the yolks are supposedly high in cholesterol), and the ice cream which is presumably high in fat. I would think a cardiac unit diet would be pristine.

This is my second attempt at posting. GannieMo's experience of her feet hurting because of the footwear she used, while I'm sure is quite uncomfortable, also acts as a great reminder that we should be careful to wear comfortable sneakers and clothing and layer our tops, so we can add/ remove tops as needed.You can suffer from from heat stroke if you try to exercise during the midafternoon, etc. I think we know the common sense precautions that should be taken, but we can also overlook or just forget something simple which seems to have happened with GannieMo.

Ok since that worked I'll repeat my first post. My walking yesterday resulted in only a mile and a half for Jazz and I. I did get to the gym and had a great workout. Today due to an early meeting before church, rain, and coming down with a cold, we just walked a quarter mile this a.m, and that will be all I can manage this p.m since I am also suffering with being conjested. The food and water intake remained good. Knowing my body as I do( I've lived with it for a long time now)I find its best for me to slow down my exercise, and only do as much or as little as I feel up to until I get past this period. I can then return to my former practices. This might mean it will take me a little longer to lose weight, but as long as I maintain the food and water intake level, I should be okay. I have to work it this way because I become breathless otherwise, and create unnecessary body strain. You know you are in BIG trouble when you can't breathe, and I like to breathe!!!lol Hope everyone continues to hang in with whats working for them. The longest journey starts with a single step, and we all have taken that first step!

Loza
I actually count the steps cos my pedometer needs a new battery!! need to use all my fingers to remember my count!

Sounds like a busy sunday for you all.
Tricia, Mama
hope you are both feeling better ... you are all in the middle of winter chills and viruses over there and best to stay warm and get well before exercising outdoors.
I have to agree with Ian
what works for some wont work for others, so find out your best action plan and then stick to it, vary your exercise occasionally for more impact and build up dont try to run a marathon at the start.
cheers
water of course

3 hours later feet feeling fine. Have even been out with dog for last walk of the day - only 1000 steps. My walking books were fitted and are supposed to be some of the best but my feet just don't agree. Off to Bordeaux on tuesday for a day at the sales so may look at some new walking shoes with a spring in their step !!!!

Ganniemo
glad your feet are feeling rested. good shoes for walking or exercising in are imperative.
have completed my weigh in for this week, minus 2.4 kgs, with more details posted on my page.
Was a good reward for a lot of hard work and I know it will slow down soon and become much harder to lose.
But at the moment I am feeling good.
good luck to those weighing in northern monday time but if you are feeling better then it is working regardless of weightloss, it will eventually start to drop off.
cheers
water of course

One more comment on the cardiac diet. I sent it to my daughter who is a nurse and used to work on the cardiac hall. She only commented adversely about the salt. It was her understanding cardiac patients should avoid salt as much as possible.

01/14 10:00pm CST (the 15th for most of you)
Hi Everyone! I have gotten through all the posts from the last couple days (an additional 60 or so since I was last on here). I am another half pound lighter this week. Pretty sad baby steps here. I am going to up my water intake this week to help things along. I normally drink about 8 cups a day and I'm going to TRY to drink more. Very difficult when I'm chasing after 2 little boys. I can't leave my water bottles around the house to swig as I pass them, as they make very fun squirting toys. Did you know that Berber carpet takes about 2 days to dry?

On the salt issue. I don't have a problem with high blood pressure. When I asked my doctor this past week, he told me to sprinkle salt on everything I wanted. I have low readings most of the time, so I just put it on whatever would normally have salt and don't overdue it. I do, however, have a problem with high triglycerides (that's the cookies and cake talking) and my good cholesteral is too low for doctor's liking. My blood work came back and since last year my triglycerides have lowered from outrageous to barely in the high catergory. Also my good cholesterol has risen just a bit and my bad cholesterol has lowered into the average/normal levels. YAY ME!!!

I want to thank everyone who has posted the wonderful thoughts, information, types of diets, and especially the encouragement! Only 2 and half more pounds and then one month of maintenance before I kick the smoking habit for good! I will soon have a 'before' picture on my flickr page, as well as a few 'on the road to weight loss' pics. I will post my page info (if you don't have it already) as soon as I have those loaded.

Keep Up The Good Work Everyone!

Okay, I think I got it to work.
Check out my 'before' picture on flickr.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/acorn_wisconsin/

I hang this pic on my fridge as a reminder of what I don't ever want to look like again!

Angie, thanks for sharing your photos. What wonderful progress you've made. Congratulations.

OK Weigh in over; results
Week 2 loss 2.1 Kg
week 1 loss 2.4 Kg
Total gone forever 4.5 Kg (9.9lb)
waist loss 6 cm (2 notches on my belt)
hips 9cm
Yipee yahoo
Going to the sales in Bordeaux with girlfriend tomorrow, may have to treat myself to something nice!

Mo
absolutely fantastic. your hard work rewarded so far. you must be feeling healthier too.
cheers
water of course

Mo - that is brilliant! Something noice? lemme see...have the french invented fat-free hocolate croissants yet? otherwise, go for a pair of walking shoes...sounds like you're giving your current ones a real pounding!

Cheers to you MO!!!

I am taking a new approach this week. Eating a small portion of oatmeal for breakfast (don't normally eat breakfast) and trying andre's suggestion of some hot water with lemon to get the metabolism started, here is hoping it is more than a pound!

Weigh in report: I lost one pound this week, so I'm now down six. More details on my page.

Congratulations to GannieMo. Well done.

testing

2nd try- Congratulations to all who have been so successful in driving their scales down and changing their body. Really great effort by all. My weigh in total results for the two week period are: 2&1/2 lbs, and 1 inch from my waist. I am very pleased since this is good for me. I also take this opportunity to point out that while we cheer(barrack?) each other on their total losses, we must be careful not to unfairly compare our loss totals with that achieved by others.Our goal is to change the way we think about food and exercise in relation to how we look and feel, in order to become healthier forever. Therefore we need to remember that age, gender, methods used, amount and types of exercises, time spent exercising, and starting weights all influence the amount of weight that is lost by an individual. We are all sending the scales downward and slowly reshaping our bodies inside and out. We are in better shape than we were two weeks ago. Hey gang, WE ARE ALL WINNERS! Keep up the great work!

Agreed Mamacita, but the encouragement definitely helps. I have never managed to lose weight on my own (except when I gave birth to my son!).
As long as our support is always positive, a virtual pat on the back. Even if the scales remain the same for a week or so we must all be healthier now than on New Years Eve. I know I am. I still walk for the same time but am walking so much further. Off to the sales tomorrow. My treat for this week. This girlfriend and I first did this 18 years ago. Haven't managed it for a couple of years so tomorrow should be fun.

Mamacita2, I agree with you completely. When you are changing habits of a lifetime don't try to do it all in one week - it takes time, self-control and more than the average amount of patience. But don't despair, you will be rewarded in the long run. Stick with it because in the end it is worth all the effort.