A New You

March was Plague Month around here, I didn't walk much. I got back on the treadmill yesterday and did 23 minutes @ ~2 mph.--read more

View was of the last hour of 'The biggest Loser' Tuesday night. For some reason these people really motivate me to get up off of the couch and walk.--read more

Here's the new VFTT for February. Now that John's home I'm going to be even more accountable, since he's taken my self-care in hand. I sorta need someone to remind me to do stuff like, oh, eat.

2/2: 35 min @ ~2 mph
2/3: 36 min @ ~2 mph

I feel good before, during and after.

Yes! I'm back on the treadmill. What is working now is once again getting on the thing before I even come downstairs--first thing on rising. I have music on my iPod now and find that the time goes much more quickly than listening to podcasts or the radio, and I can go faster.

Yesterday I did 32 min @ 2.2 mph, and today I did 34 min @ 2.2 with a short burst up to 2.6 mph. And I felt FABULOUS.

How about a new thread for 2008? Anyone out there getting healthier?
-Jo

Here's the treadmill thread for October. I invite everyone out there who does a regular exercise routine--treadmill-based or otherwise--to log their daily activity here.--read more

I didn't walk Saturday (9/1), Sunday (9/2) or Monday (9/3), though Sunday we walked A LOT downtown on the way to the ballgame. I got too much sun, even though we sat in the shade, and was very achey Monday. It didn't help that we were very worried about one of our closest friends Sunday night and barely slept. (Long story I won't go into except to say it looks like this friend will be fine given time and rest.)

So today I got on the treadmill for the first time in September and did 30 minutes at 2 mph! I felt pretty good! I'm still really tired during the day and I cannot believe how swollen my legs have been lately. I have upped my protein and water intake and am hoping it may yet resolve.

I've also discovered that I need a new pair of walking shoes.

Since late March, when I left rehab, I've gone from:

40 supervised minutes of aerobic exercise (recumbent stair and treadmill, 20 min each around 1.5 mph) 3 days a week

to

30 unsupervised minutes of treadmill at 2 mph 4 days a week.

Lessee...times 3 carry the 1...I was doing 120 minutes a week in rehab, and I'm back up to 120 minutes from 60 minutes a week when I first started getting serious about the treadmill at home. But I'm at a higher intensity now than I was at rehab, so from now on I'm making actual progress rather than maintaining.

I haven't been as faithful as I've wanted to be on the treadmill, so this month I'm going to try getting on it as soon as I'm dressed. This morning I did that, and feel pretty good.--read more

I am doing Weight Watchers, but not in a group, doing it on my own. I was just wondering if anyone else does this? If so, any tips? Thanks!

KAK

I need to be accountable to someone, and so I'm going to post my treadmill times here daily. Today I did 20 minutes @ 1.6 mph.--read more

I just haven't wanted to write lately, I'm sorry. I feel cramped in the brain, cramped in the fingers, but not cramped where I should be cramped. I blame menopause. I'm in the "pause" part of it, if you know what I mean, and it makes me antsy. One gets used to a monthly rhythm, and when it breaks off, one starts eyeing the pg tests. One of which, in fact, I took, and no fears; I'm just having an extra-extra-extra long "pause."

Leaving cardiac rehab has thrown me for a loop. I no longer have that three-times-a-week external structure and I am notoriously, chronically bad at structuring my life myself. The first week after, I walked on the treadmill religiously. The second week, I was sporadic; I didn't feel well and I was just wanting to curl up in bed or in a chair and not do anything or go anywhere or move, really. Not because I physically felt bad, I just didn't wanna. But I have a treadmill, and we got a resistance band set and a set of hand weights. I'm outfitted but was having a hard time getting past some psychic inertia.

I haven't talked about it yet, but I've hired a professional organizer, someone who's good at working with chronically disorganized people with ADD/ADHD (all four of us) and who's worked with homeschoolers to boot. It's already helping, though it's tough sledding. I wrote her for help and she came up with the following solution:

Make my treadmill workout part of Josie's school time.

Josie brings whatever we're wanting to work on upstairs and sits on the edge of the bathtub while I walk. She reads aloud to me and we talk about what we're studying. At first it was Greek mythology; Jo is a fan of the Trojan War, as it happens. Today it was Egyptian and Sumerian history (from "Story of the World"). I'm able to help her with her pronunciation, of both weird proper nouns like Telemachus and Euphrates and more commonplace English words, and our discussions always end up ranging far afield of the topic, because it's me, and I can't help getting from A to B via Z and Josie takes after me, the poor thing. For instance, today's discussion of the Great Pyramid of Cheops and the Sphinx led to the Napoleonic Wars, since his men blew the nose off of it in cannon practice.

We've both come to look forward to this time; she enjoys the attention, the workout goes quickly for me, we are guaranteed at least some formal school time, and Jo is there if I have a problem--even though I don't think I will have a problem. I know not to exercise when I don't feel well, and my heart troubles don't just turn up out of the blue. Just so no one thinks I'm putting a big burden on poor Josie, she doesn't know I'm reassured having her there.

Last week I managed maybe one day on the treadmill; this week I did Monday, Thursday and Friday, and I know I'll be on it tomorrow as well. I only missed Tuesday because we spent the afternoon in the ER after a heavy mirror fell off the wall onto Josie's foot (contusions only), and Wednesday I was just pooped. So, on the whole, it works!

Why Handmade?--read more

Any others out there who want to find their "New You" this year?

OK, need your help and would like to know what you are doing to have a healthy and happy Summer. What are the New You things you can do for yourself?

Mine is to think of food differently, I'm thinking of it as sustenance and fuel. And it should be a little easier because of all the fresh fruits and vegetables in season. We're starting to use our outdoor bbq again. Today I think i'm going to bbq some fresh pineapple. Yum. And I'm taking a vitamin that has nutrients you find in fresh vegetables and fruits and i can tell that it's improving my skin. --read more

How about a new thread for a new month for a New You. Lets fill it with "me" victories .

Are there no New You members right now? I'll have to read some back posts to figure out what's happened. Well, I'm here. And if nobody else posts, I guess this will become my personal "journal" to help me stay motivated and accountable for my New Me changes.--read more

I've never been one to sit down and watch tv, I'd rather read a book. I read the news online. I'm very much out of the loop when it comes to soap operas, Lost, Survivor, etc. Whats that? I don't even know the half of the channels we have on Dish Network. But, last year one night I watched a rerun of Project Runway and since then I've been hooked. I was happy to see Jay win and now I am so anxious to see who wins on Season 2 I can't barely stand it! I am MummaDee, I am almost 40 yrs old, I have an addiction. To Project Runway that is. --read more

After 13 years of marriage I am sad to say I lost my waist. This year I would like to get the old body back in shape and get on an exercise program. The kids are getting older and I'm hoping to figure some time for "me" and to stick to it. --read more

Hottest thing in European weight loss surgery: inserting a balloon into your stomach and filling it with saline.

Inserted down the patient's throat, a round silicon balloon is filled with a saline solution and remains in the stomach for about six months, when it is deflated and taken out before the material degrades.

"We introduce a balloon of half a liter volume (about a pint) in the stomach and inflate it so it takes up space and helps slow down the eating," said Dr. Nicola Basso, the obesity surgeon who performed the procedure on Campati in early January. "This causes a sense of fullness, and the patient is helped to lose weight."

The balloon, which also contains methylene blue to signal any leak, does not alter the shape of the abdomen and is too big to slip down into the digestive tract.

Basso, who has performed the procedure on about 700 patients in six years, said the technique allows an average drop of 33-44 pounds over six months, although the weight loss is often temporary.

"The efficacy of the treatment depends on how the patient is able to use these six months to change his dieting habits in a more or less stable way," Basso said.

Or, you know, you could just use those six months to NOT put a balloon down your stomach, change the way you eat and live, and deal with your underlying issues--things you have to do even if you put a balloon down your stomach.

If you MUST do something surgical, this looks to be a better, much less lethal intervention than gastric bypass surgery, which has a mortality rate of 1%--that means for every 100 people who have the surgery, one dies. But if you don't take responsibility for your life and health, it won't make a bit of difference; you'll regain at least some of the weight.

Here's an Idea: Change your lifestyle. It's nonsurgical and it's even free.

Listen, I've had a weight problem all my life, and an eating disorder. I've been on every diet known to mankind, I've done 12-step work around it, I've faced it all. My cardiologist even recommended gastric bypass surgery; I weighed 255 at the time, my weight had nothing to do with my heart attack , and I was losing weight. I dismissed it out of hand. Surgery is SO not a solution to the problem, and in fact I have lost 20 pounds since he suggested it, 40 overall--for once I'm looking forward to seeing him next month.

What it takes:

• The courage to face your underlying issues. I'm still facing them, but I rarely turn to food any more. For me 12-step work and the work of Geneen Roth were crucial.
• The willingness to figure out what nutrition works for you. This takes time and research. What works for one person will not work for another. What I have found works for me is eating later in the day and concentrating any grain- and sugar-type carbs to the last thing I eat in the day, if at all. I try not to snack. I don't do this perfectly, but that's my guideline.
• The responsibility to do things we don't necessarily want to do, like exercise (bleh) and research on our own health issues. If I had left my health to the professionals I would be dead now, and that's not an exaggeration. I don't mean you should ignore your doctors; I mean you should do your due diligence and become the director of your health care. YOU ARE NOT HELPLESS. It is up to you.

There is no quick fix. There is no miracle cure. There is no pill, no operation, no doctor that can do it. There is only you, and time, and work. And that's not as scary as it sounds. It's the most hopeful thing I have ever realized.

Categories: fat, obesity, weight_loss, gastric_bypass, health

I was just wondering.....

Are Jo and Jana still getting on well on the Food Diary site?

Is Jo still running?

Is Jana still drinking Dr Pepper?

Where are Jul, Kerri and Hope??

Don't even ask about me.....I've recently taken up baking. 'Nuff said.--read more

Come on everyone! Where are you?........ Come out and play!

This is what it must feel like to come back to *life*. To come back after a flood. To dry out and begin to feel the warmth of the sun. Who knew to be buried in clutter could actually be compared to being half-buried in water. Only with water, there is a definate crisis requiring a decision to gasp for air. Clutter allows you to go on walking or wading through life, sludging and slushing through, making a mess with every treacherous step, no matter how deep it gets.--read more

New thread time!

Jana

I know it's Memorial Day weekend for most of you, but that also means it's the official start of summer right??

I'll paste in Shaun's recent comment from the last thread so nobody loses it... next post.--read more

go back to the old thread if you're wondering why I'm starting a brand new thread already a few days before the end of the month and on a Tuesday (don't think any of us would benefit from a Monday startup anyway!).--read more

Hello all!

I've been turning about the idea of writing a book about my life's observations. My husband says I have an eye for the simple things in life and I feel I've always had a knack for imagery and symbolism in my writing, so I thought "why the heck not?"--read more

O-Kay, We've given the government their due...now let's start paying ourselves...with healthier choices, better nutrition, vitamins/supplements, plenty of water, and exercise! Cash-in on all those he--read more

Here's our new thread!