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Shaping up - Diet and exercise


Couch Tomato

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OK Clay concerts aren't really my inspiration here - my overall health is what's making me watch what I eat and add an exercise programs..but 3 months is a nice place to set some short term goals.

Any motivational speeches? Tips to help that green food go down better? I mean just how many ways can you make spinach. Any book recommendations? Cooking or health. I have the Walk Away the Pounds video which I like a lot. ANy others?

I'm going to start by giving up soft drinks and sweets. Easy. Also, BREAD and alcoholic beverages.... Lord help me I feel the pain already. Bread is my Achilles heel. That's what growing up down the street from a bakery will do to a person. No margaritas? No beer? No wine? Sigh.

Is 20 lbs realistic in 3 months? That's what I'm going for.

I'm actually exciting about this...I think that's a first step.

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Sigh...I should do it too cos I have been feeling just so tired and have had some really weird headaches and I do think I added some weight that I don;t need...my pants feel a bit more snug.

For me I don't really drink pop or alcohol and eat too much bread...what is bad is my midnight snacks...and the occasional fatty crackling chicken skins. But other than that we do try to eact healthy as a family. The downfall of Greg and the girls are the cookies.

But I am with you. I do not use the scale to figure it out though...just my clothes. I also may start with using our treadmill again...

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my goodness great minds think alike

Am starting a diet also Atkins I think.

I am all alone so its easy if you don't have to cook

for family.

goodluck everyone

Frankie :F_05BL17blowkiss:

I weigh 137 which sux so trying not to eat everything diet sux

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my goodness great minds think alike

Am starting a diet also Atkins I think.

I am all alone so its easy if you don't have to cook

for family.

goodluck everyone

Frankie :F_05BL17blowkiss:

I weigh 137 which sux so trying not to eat everything diet sux

WOW 137...I think that was my early 20's weight...

I tried atkind before...it worked pretty well for me...the hard thing was maintenance...

what I found easier to maintain was a hight protein diet but still with some high fiber products and olts of fruits and vegetables.

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my goodness great minds think alike

Am starting a diet also Atkins I think.

I am all alone so its easy if you don't have to cook

for family.

goodluck everyone

Frankie :F_05BL17blowkiss:

good luck Frankie...hey did you make it to Kim's party on Saturday? How was it. I was unable to attend but hope it was a raging success.

So on the health front...I feel I have a handle on how I should be dealing with my diabetes and cholestal. The food part is easy for me. Here comes the hard part - exercise!

I'm really going to try to cut way down on red meat - perhas once a week. We eat lots of chicken already but I need ot add more fish. But I swear, I can't just walk into a supermarket and find good fish. I barely trust their salmon with all that coloring pumped into it to make it look fresh. So I'm going to try to find a fish market so we can add more of it to our diet. I mean I love tuna -- you know..not hte kind all chopped up in cans but where the hell do you buy it other than a restaurant. It's so weird. So that's my goal for the week to find a good fish market. Hey Frankie, you're kina close to me..where do you buy fish?!

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According to my doctor, I should eat 12 shelled walnuts before my meals - the oil is supposed to reduce cholesterol and their is great protein in it. I was just pulled from cholesterol medication (blocked arteries kills everyone in my family - strokes and heart attacks) so I need to really start eating correctly now.

The best test for fish is your nose - if it smells bleachy - run, that is how they clean up old fish. They are pretty good in my local shopright (his daughter live across the street), I know the owner and he does get upset if something is old, they have a regular shelf clearing and off to charity before the expiration dates. So, I buy a lot of my fish at the shopright, not all fish markets sell fresh either - the one I used to go to closed, sigh.

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But I am with you. I do not use the scale to figure it out though...just my clothes.

That's how I judge it too - don't even own a scale anymore. Sadly, my clothes are yelling at me!

I would love to lose weight by tour time! I will be job hunting this summer also, so losing weight would probably help with my self-confidence if I ever actually got an interview.

My diet is pretty good. As many of you know, I am a vegetarian (I do eat dairy and if I am out and there is nothing to eat on the menu I will eat fish). I do eat pasta quite often, but only whole wheat pasta. I never use salt when I cook. I never keep sweets in the house because they are my downfall. I always keep chocolate soy milk around for when I get a chocolate urge. Its good, low in fat and high in protein. The best way to eat spinach to me is raw. I do eat a lot of salads. I do a lot of stir frys and find a lot of these meat substitutes are great. Morningstar Farms makes these strips that are essentially fake chicken and beef and online they have some pretty good recipes. I also use their fake ground beef in things like spaghetti sauce.

As to alcoholic beverages - red wine is good for you! Actually, my father's cardiologist actually recommended he drink a glass of red wine every day! I guess the trick is stopping at one!

Seriously, I am a firm believer in everything in moderation. To me, denying yourself everything you love makes sticking to a diet more difficult. Have a sweet once in awhile. Have a beer once in awhile. If you're good 80% of the time, you'll be doing well!

Ok, the question I am sure you're all asking is if I know so much about how to stick to a diet how come I am a fat pig? Good question and one I unfortunately know the answer to. I am the most sedentary person on the planet! I hate to exercise so I don't. If I spent half as much effort exercising as I do thinking of excuses NOT to exercise, I would be in great shape! Some of my excuses are valid. I can't afford to join a gym (and I probably wouldn't go if I could!). I can't afford and have no room for any in-home exercise equipment. The weather hasn't exactly been condusive to outdoor exercise. I have very limited time. I don't have an iPod (ok, that's not a valid reason, but I want one!).

Other people with busy lives - busier than mine - find a way to exercise so I know I should too. Other than walking, anyone have any suggestions?

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But I am with you. I do not use the scale to figure it out though...just my clothes.

That's how I judge it too - don't even own a scale anymore. Sadly, my clothes are yelling at me!

I'll admit that my clothes were the first thing to tell me that I needed to lose weight. Same thing with my husband. HOWEVER -- when my husband and I both came to this realization, we did buy a GOOD scale, and discovered the awful truth. We were both at almost at a nice round number, and neither of us wanted that. Now, we weigh ourselves once a week. It's not conducive, IMO, to obsess about the scale, but it is good to have some ideas of the numbers too.

As to alcoholic beverages - red wine is good for you! Actually, my father's cardiologist actually recommended he drink a glass of red wine every day! I guess the trick is stopping at one!

If you don't like to drink, red grape juice supposedly gives you the same nutritional benefit.

Seriously, I am a firm believer in everything in moderation. To me, denying yourself everything you love makes sticking to a diet more difficult. Have a sweet once in awhile. Have a beer once in awhile. If you're good 80% of the time, you'll be doing well!

Honestly, this is my downfall. I'm actually pretty good in moderation, in that I just never have been able to eat a whole 1 lb. bag of M&M's in one sitting, or 3 plates of pasta). For me, the problem really is serving size. When I cook (which I LOVE to do), I make sure it is a balanced meal, and have some sort of vegetable with the meal. But I love my red meat (sorry CG), and steak is a massive favorite. And of course, a serving of steak is like 3 oz. WTF?!?!? That's two bites. Sorry, can't do it. I also tend to pile on what looks to be enough to fill me up of other dishes, but turns out to be about 3 servings total. But I'm working on it -- my next purchase I want is a home kitchen scale to weigh my servings.

Ok, the question I am sure you're all asking is if I know so much about how to stick to a diet how come I am a fat pig? Good question and one I unfortunately know the answer to. I am the most sedentary person on the planet! I hate to exercise so I don't. If I spent half as much effort exercising as I do thinking of excuses NOT to exercise, I would be in great shape! Some of my excuses are valid. I can't afford to join a gym (and I probably wouldn't go if I could!). I can't afford and have no room for any in-home exercise equipment. The weather hasn't exactly been condusive to outdoor exercise. I have very limited time. I don't have an iPod (ok, that's not a valid reason, but I want one!).

Other people with busy lives - busier than mine - find a way to exercise so I know I should too. Other than walking, anyone have any suggestions?

Back to the story I started this post with. My husband and I both looked at each other and decided that enough was enough. So, there's one key -- find someone to work with you. My husband and I motivate each other -- there are days when one or the other of us just doesn't feel like working out, but the other will guilt the person into going. Point number 2: schedule the exercise, just as you schedule appointments in your life. My husband and I decided on 3 times a week (Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday) and we pretty much stick to it. It's a permanent part of our schedule now after a year.

As for where and how we workout -- look into a local community college. I'm lucky in that I work for one -- but that afforded me membership into their Circuit Training class. My husband had to pay the full tuition for each semester -- which was $95. (Mine was much cheaper). At the end of May, we will have finished 4 "classes," basically our workout sessions. You have to attend so many times in order to get an A, a B, etc. (32 visits gets you an A...and my husband and I hit that this week, with 5 weeks left in the semester). At this point then -- we can register for a yearly "membership," and it's MUCH cheaper than any professional gym. They have weights as part of the circuit training, plus elliptical machines, treadmills, and recumbent bikes. Now, every community college may not have something like this, but it might be something to investigate.

BTW, after doing this for a year, and not changing eating all THAT much -- I've lost 15 pounds. My husband lost 25 (damn him). Now I've got start with those portion sizes...

I think they key is finding something YOU enjoy doing, and then just simply doing it. It might take a while to find the right thing, though.

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Hi, yes I did make it to Kim's and Lois's party it was a huge success we raised $1'070 I believe that was the final total,

Hope everyone is having success with their diet,Haven't started mine yet going to LA Mon. won tickets to dress rehearsal for AI6 not a big deal just something to do.

wish our BF would be there :rolleyes:

Frankie

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ok as always I started off great and have fallen into complacency. I've recommitted to this and today am working on a meal plan. Tomorrow I go shopping and starting monday I plan to follow the food plan which includes snacks. It's not crazy...using food I normally have in the hosue. I'm sticking to a certain calorie intake and throwing in more veggies everywhere I can. For instance on the two days I have eggs (I usually do 1 egg and then add some egg substitute) for breakfast..one is a veggie omeltte and the other is scrambled eggs with mushrooms. I have oatmeal a couple of days..which I absolutely love..Total the other two days (which I've learned to tolerate with fruit. I have Canadian bacon twice a week and it's my only breakfast meat. I mix and match yogurt/fruit/etc.

Now to work on my lunch menu heeee..

THe exercise is where I'm going to have to really take command. What I want to do it get up in the morning and do the treadmill for 1/2 hour each morning. Why is that so freakin' hard. I just need to get into that habit. Then do my 3 or so days a week with Amy..and a nice hike or something on the weekend. Geesh, that is not a lot. We'll see how it goes next week.

ETA: The last time I went to the doctor I got the diabetes is the silent killer speech from my doctor. All of my numbers were out of whack... I did bloodwork yesterday and everything has improved and is going in the right direction. Not just my diabetes but also my cholesterol..I think the walking has really helped there. Still have some work to do but I feel like things are getting better.

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I just discovered this thread. I've been posting over in the CH weight thread for about 6 months, it would be great if we could get some interest here too!

I started trying to lose weight back at the end of February this year, after my doctor gave me the speech, and my goal was to lose 28 pounds by July. I managed to hit it, but haven't lost any since. I use the website http://www.thedailyplate.com to track my food every day, and it has helped me see where my calories are going. It also has helped me to up my fibre intake, since it tracks that as well. It allows you to enter some personal information about your sex, height, weight, and weight loss goals, and then tells you how many calories you should eat each day to be successful. It also allows you to enter your activity (i.e. walking, swimming, whatever type of exercise you partake in) and then deducts those calories off of your daily total. And the best part - it is free!

I was walking between 30 and 60 minutes a day when I was losing weight. Right now things have gotten so hectic I have been concentrating on just maintaining my weight loss, and I haven't been walking as much. Once things get more settled (hopefully in the next few weeks!) I will start trying to lose again.

I came across this neat article today about weight loss and Clay:

http://www.theweighwewere.com/Read-Weight-...l-thurmond.html

Thought y'all might enjoy it!

Edited by luckiest1
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I'm 5'10", not small boned, and have always been able to keep my weight at bay but about 5 years ago something went wrong with my metabolism, gained 30 lbs, my knees were destroyed by Rheumatoid arthritis, I lost my DLWH and I stopped playing 18 holes of walking golf almost every day.

Long story long, knees were replaced by titanium, rheumatoid arthritis is controlled by new drugs and I went on Weight Watchers. Now I work out on the elipitical and treadmill for 40 minutes, 5 days a week, 1 hour of water aerobics 2 days a week and work on weights 3 days a week. My butt is dragging but most of the fat has come off of my body and I've lost 13 lbs. I'm unable to lose much more weight without cutting way back on food and with all of that exercise I need the food. Weight Watchers is a wonderful diet because you can eat anything you want as long as you stay within the points system. I've lost a couple of sizes and can fit back into some of the golf shorts I used to wear.

Aside from all of this, my body is tired but my mind feels soooooooooo good.

I know, who gives a shit, but health is definitely the key to happiness!

Play, you'll know when you are ready! It's a very personal issue and no one can tell you what, if, or when to do it. Good luck.

Luckiest1, now that you are an admin, maybe you can influence some of the post ho's to come over to these other places to discuss this stuff, books, entertainment and the like. I've probably overstepped my bounds as a stupid newbie but it's so much easier to read about this kind of stuff here rather than the main board. And it's all interesting stuff.

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Hey Toots - your story is an inspiration. My problem is not food...although yeah I love it and every now and then I need comfort food like uh that chili cheese burger I had the other night with Muski.... ahem... and I can pass by a peice of chocolate cake, not a problem. Yes I'll drool over it but I can walk on by. My problem is exercise. I just can not get into any sort of regiment. And lord knows I need to do it for my health. Last night I laid on the couch and put my feet up and mom almost had a heart attack because they were swollen. I hadn't even noticed. Just another sign that something isn't right. Anyway, I'm going to try to start again - this weekend. It's just so hard.

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Hey Toots - your story is an inspiration. My problem is not food...although yeah I love it and every now and then I need comfort food like uh that chili cheese burger I had the other night with Muski.... ahem... and I can pass by a peice of chocolate cake, not a problem. Yes I'll drool over it but I can walk on by. My problem is exercise. I just can not get into any sort of regiment. And lord knows I need to do it for my health. Last night I laid on the couch and put my feet up and mom almost had a heart attack because they were swollen. I hadn't even noticed. Just another sign that something isn't right. Anyway, I'm going to try to start again - this weekend. It's just so hard.

The more exercise I did the more I wanted to do. I really do think it becomes an addiction. Can't tell you how much better both mind and body feel maybe part of that is pride that you care about yourself enough to take control.

You don't really need to do that many minutes. just do it regularly. If you have a gym and pool near by you may want to start a water aerobics class. It makes you purr.

I'm lucky that my exercise facilities are in the community where I live so it's just a short hop to work out.

Do you have high blood pressure? Fogot to add that I developed high blood pressure during all of that stress so I take a pill every morning. Stress is a killer!

Good luck Couchie.

Edited by Toots
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Yay, a thread about food and exercise!! I can get into this.

Don't hate me, but I just need to loose about five pounds. But see, the thing is, if I don't keep on top of that five pounds, pretty soon it's 10, 15, 20 or 30 pounds. I lost 30 pounds eight years ago, and have kept it off for the most part by exercising regularly and being careful about what I eat. It was sooooo hard to develop an exercise habit as an adult, because I have asthma. As a child and teenager my asthma was pretty bad, so I really couldn't exercise at all.

I finally got myself into an exercise habit when I decided eight years ago that enough was enough, I was going to loose the weight and keep it off. I've stopped exercising from time to time when I've been sick, and it's hard to get back in the habit, but I'm always sooooo glad when I do. I feel so much better, physically, emotionally, and mentally.

Two things that have helped me keep exercising - an exercise buddy, and clack. Hubby and I go to the gym together four times a week or so. I either get on the elliptical or the treadmill, and watch Clay videos on my treo. Wow, the videos really make the workout go by fast! I don't even think about the time that much, 'cuz I'm having so much fun giggling or thudding at Clay. After aerobics, I strap the treo onto my upper arm and listen to Clay sing while I lift weights. I've been working with a personal trainer to learn new ways of working on the weight machines, and to keep me motivated. Building muscle really helps to keep the weight down, because muscle is more metabolically active than other types of tissue.

Anyway, Couchie, I wish I lived closer to you so that we could exercise together sometimes! Good luck with the exercise. Let us know how it goes, okay?

And if anyone has any suggestions about how to resist chocolate, please let me know. I LURVE chocolate. And people keep it around at work all of the time, darn it!

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Hey Gibby, good for you with your dedication to a healthy way of life. I do hate you for only needing to lose 5 lbs. Such a bitch babe!!

I also have asthma, mostly a problem when the grass pollen is high or someone gives me a cold. Other than those times, it doesn't usually bother my workouts but if I feel short of breath a quick shot of the rescue inhaler usually fixes the problem.

Did you notice that your asthma was better when you started the exercise? My ability to breath deeply improved by leaps and bounds because of the elipitical. Do you remember the first time you got on that machine? 5 minutes just about killed me but it doesn't take long to push that time up. I usually split 40 or 45 minutes between the elipitical and treadmill. I also just started a new weight program to push it up a notch. The trainer says you have to switch your program every few months. It's working because my shoulders are sore and today is the day to do weights. Ugh! Yeah!

How did you lose the 30 lbs? I'm finding that although the last 15 lbs are not easy to get rid of it's o.k. for now because the fat is falling off.

Agree that you need a workout buddy to start a regimen. You also need some good entertainment to keep you occupied thru the grind fun. That's why we have Clay's beautiful voice to entertain us.

As for the chocolate....don't get carried away now! Dark chocolate, which happens to be my favorite, is said to be healthy. For we asthmatics, the caffeine is a good thing. Just love it when I can justify my two favorite vices, coffee and dark chocolate.

Couchie, hope we can motivate you from long distance. Come join us in the gym and tell us about it.

In the time it takes for you and Muski to eat a chili cheese dog and down a few (?) beers you could be working out.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN I'M BANNED FROM THIS BOARD?

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In the time it takes for you and Muski to eat a chili cheese dog and down a few (?) beers you could be working out.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN I'M BANNED FROM THIS BOARD?

bwah..you know Muski and I started off great when we were walking together... although I know I was holding her back cuz I was really starting from WAY WAY WAYYYYYYYYYYY back. The most exercise I get now is getting up from my desk to walk to the other room to get my print job off the printer. They keep telling me I can move the printer to my office but I realize it's my only source of exercise. :cryingwlaughter: And even with the bit of exercise I was doing..it really helped my cholestorol numbers. I could see the differece. So I'll try to start again today... I have a small gym where I live and a pool. Here I go again.

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Hey, everyone... I just discovered this thread and I am sooo here! I regained 40lbs after a car accident and I need to get back into my size 10s.

Couchie... put video/cd of Clay singing fast songs and dance for 20 minutes a day or so. You don't need much room to move around for that and you can work up from barely moving your feet to really flinging yourself around. When I can't get outside that's what I like to do.

Great technique when you eat your emotions... write them down instead, then tear up/burn/flush them when you are done. Roll up a towel and beat the end of the couch. I've done both and more and I have gotten past that problem, after many years of work, but self-indulgence is my problem and it's time to stop!

Oh... another technique... deep breathing. We shallow breathe most of the time and never get enough oxygen... oxygen burns fat. So, 20 minutes a day of breathing in as deeply as you can and then breathing out as deeply as you can not only helps burn fat, but honestly makes you feel better cause your poor body gets the oxygen it is always craving. Toots, add this to your regimen and see if your tiredness gets a little less!

I lost 50lbs 3 years ago, now I just have to do it again... dang car accident. 17 yr old girl lost control of her car and sideswiped me and I spun into the guard rail... both of us at 70mph. Was like the teacup ride at Disneyland. I'm ok now... finally... and it's time to re-lose the weight.

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Liney, I need to lose fifty pounds too. Thanks for the tip. I think the key for me is the mornings. I need to totally get into a different morning routine which means I need to go to bed earlier. heh. But this jumping out of bed at ater 7 when I need to be at work at 8 gets my day off on the total wrong foot with regardings to eating, exercise and taking my medicine.

I'm gonna try to start there.

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Liney, thanks for the tip on deep breathing. I do breath deeply during my workouts because of the intensity but will concentrate more on making sure I do it. Love the dancing for exercise, it's fun and makes you feel so good.

I've added some food every day because of the fatigue and it has helped my tired butt but it makes the last 15 lbs hard to get rid of. I also make sure to eat well before exercise and not after.

It's neat that we can all help each other cuz it's really hard to maintain good health as we age.

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.

I've added some food every day because of the fatigue and it has helped my tired butt but it makes the last 15 lbs hard to get rid of. I also make sure to eat well before exercise and not after.

I was going to ask about this? Is this always the way to go?

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.

I've added some food every day because of the fatigue and it has helped my tired butt but it makes the last 15 lbs hard to get rid of. I also make sure to eat well before exercise and not after.

I was going to ask about this? Is this always the way to go?

You mean eating or working out? I've read that eating before you exercise gives you more stamina and it does seem to work for me. Of course you have to be careful what you eat or it's likely you will get sick.

If you mean working out so hard, my mother died of a sudden heart attack when she was in her early 70's for not real obvious reason. Don't know if she had high blood pressure, high cholestrol, et al, because she didn't tell anyone if she did even tho we were close emotionally she didn't live near me and we only saw each other 2 or 3 times a year (which I sadly regret). My mother was thin but did not exercise at all and she smoked. I don't smoke (used to) and I'm not old enough to worry that I will drop over dead, but I do have most of her genetic traits and seem to gather more as I age. My doctors told me to work out 60 minutes every day, 7 days a week. I can't do anymore than I already do but it's a hard realization that the genetic clock is ticking (not the obvious one) and I don't want to drop over with a heart attack too soon in my life. As I told you earlier, I went thru some of the worst stress anybody could endure and my health suffered as a result. The only way I could crawl out of that was to exercise and keep my mind and body healthy. I'm good now!

I know that your mother has health issues at an early age but don't know if you have her genetic traits like I have my mothers traits.

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