Health and Fitness

[jmkhalfmoon]

Hi All,

I skimmed this topic and thought some of you may be interested in this FREE, your tax dollars hard, at work site  http://www.mypyramidtracker.gov/.  This is a program designed to help you track your food intake and exercise.

I saw someone was interested in doing an Ironman...PM me if you have questions, I'm gearing up for IM number 2 and hubby's on number 4, but I won't bore everyone with that on this thread.

Keep up the great work and remember some exercise is better than none at all so don't get down if you miss a work out here or there...the important thing is to just keep at it.

[Tremayne]

Thanks, JMK, and feel free to "bore" us. We're here to cheer you on too.

[jmkhalfmoon]

IM Tip #1:
A Lord of the Rings movie marathon is great way to spend 4+ hours on the bike trainer in the winter on a Saturday afternoon.

IM Tip #2:
If I'm stuck on that bike trainer for a few hours on a Friday night, I'm drinking beer at the same time....carbo loading.

[Tremayne]

Love tip #1. Wonder if I could talk the gym into doing that 

[Synnovea]

Yikes!!!...Fest is playing havoc with my diet (well that and all the birthday celebrations in the past two weeks) (oh and the everything-deep-fried-on-a-stick Fair, too).  Too much rich bad-for-me food and drink, not enough sleep, too tired to exercise, losing motivation and willpower...spiraling out of control here.  ( ---take your pick  ) 

I'll have to re-read this entire thread from the beginning to get some motivation back methinks.

[Will Gamwell]

Since my last post my workouts have come to a crashing halt.  For the past two weekends I have been having issues with my lower back and have avoided exercise in order to allow it to heal.  It was feeling great on Friday and Saturday.  Then sunday night it became sore, and monday was not so great.  Just taking it easy and stretching the muscles 2-3 times a day. 

Otherwise my diet hasn't really changed.  My fiance and I bring a lot of food out to fest for the weekend that we usually eat and have kept our regular eating habits.  So no change in weight...up or down for that matter.

Sean

[Rahne]

First 12 weeks of biggest loser is done.  ended up with a weight loss of 13.5 pounds and lost 13 inches over all thanks to the trips to the gym.  We elected to start another 12 week run, it helps me keep my motivation if I know I'm accountable on the scale each week.  sometimes gives me just that little bit of extra will power to say no to the tempting treats that sometimes float around the office.

I did end up getting a sword at GLMF.  Not the one I originally was looking at because it was sold.  They got a new one that I liked much better though, but of course it was more expensive.

School is back in and that poses a new challenge for my work outs.  I'll have to be up by 4 any morning I'm going to the gym during the week so I can be home and through the shower to get my kids going by 6 so we can all leave home by 7.  May try to switch some of my work outs to the evening.  They have a Play room there for the kids so I can take them along if I have to.  Getting up so early gets a little tuff when I don't make it to bed before 10 pm a lot of nights.

[jmkhalfmoon]

Since my last post my workouts have come to a crashing halt.  For the past two weekends I have been having issues with my lower back and have avoided exercise in order to allow it to heal.  It was feeling great on Friday and Saturday.  Then sunday night it became sore, and monday was not so great.  Just taking it easy and stretching the muscles 2-3 times a day. 

Otherwise my diet hasn't really changed.  My fiance and I bring a lot of food out to fest for the weekend that we usually eat and have kept our regular eating habits.  So no change in weight...up or down for that matter.

Sean

Sean, did I read that you are running?  Be sure to stretch your hips, quads, and hams....they will get tight from running and pull on the lower back.  Also be sure to do sit-ups and "bird dogs" to keep the core strong.  Bird dogs are getting on your hands and knees and putting one arm parallel to the floor with the opposite leg parallel to the floor and hold for 10-15 seconds, relax and repeat.  This will strengthen those lower muscles in the back.

[Will Gamwell]

Noooo!  LOL!  No runnin' for me.  I hate running!  I stretch regularily as well as work my core muscles (including lower back... too many people neglect that).  Mostly it is due to an injury a couple of years ago.  Every once-in-a-while it just decides that it doesn't like me.

[Tremayne]

Was a good reminder for me, though, JMK. I've never heard of the bird dog posture. I love exercises that are easy to incorporate.

My bit of jogging did irritate my stomach issue, though I did a fine job of consuming enough h2o to avoid dehydration. So I'm going to wait a week before trying again. It's strange to me that this happens. Maybe the jogging pulls apart barely healed ulcers? I'm thankful I'm not back to square one anyway.

A friend gave me a tip that licorice helps with ulcers and is a mild laxative (looked it up on wikipedia for confirmation). Beware the common candies--they have little to no real licorice in them. She said she had been eating kookaburra licorice that she got at a candy store. I'm going to try the local natural food place to see what they've got.

[jmkhalfmoon]

Has your doc put you on antibiotics for the ulcers?  Not to tread into HIPPA issues, but you brought them up.

[Tremayne]

I'm not concerned about talking about my health issues--in fact, I consider it healthy to do so.   

No, I was not put on put on the antibiotics most effective for the pilori bug because I tested negatively for it. So despite having classic symptoms, two doctors declined to put me on antibiotics. I suggested to each that if science has identified one bug that causes ulcers that there could be others we have yet to identify so why not give me a run of the antibiotics. And there's always the possibility the test was giving a false negative. But neither would go for it. I did try some antibiotics I had left over from when I had lyme disease but did not feel they were having a positive effect. So I've been taking prescription antacids and drinking ginger tea. I'm now able to hold acid and nausea at bay mostly with over-the-counter antacids. Happily, I feel like I'm already recovering from whatever stress on my stomach the jog caused. I'll do the once a week belly-jiggling exercise for a month and when I no longer suffer any ill effects will do it more regularly. Really, I'm just very happy to be feeling well enough to even want to jog.

[Elennare]

I'm almost done moving!  Hauling boxes and such up to a 3rd story apartment sure is good exercise.
Wedding planning is coming along, though much slower than it should be.  But it's getting there.
I have plans to start going to the gym regularly.  My little brother is going to help me figure out a couple sets of weight lifting exercises to do on different days, and then I've got some cardio stuff I'm going to do at home on non-gym days.
My current goal is to lose 10 lbs by mid-October (before my wedding).  If I work really hard, I think I can do it.  2 lbs a week will get me there.

[Elennare]

Blargh.  After seeing gains in the weight-loss department, I gained 3.5 lbs back this week.  I am not too happy about that, especially since I have about a month left before my wedding, +3.5 lbs a week is NOT the direction to be heading.   

So, I'm going to do something a bit stupid.  Crash diet.  But I'm going to try to be healthy about it (as much of an oxymoron as that is).  And, yes, I am VERY well aware of the fact that this is a very bad way to see any sort of permanent weight loss, but right now I just want to look good for my wedding.  I'm very tired and stressed right now because of all the crap I've got going on, and I am just getting really frustrated with my weight loss attempts thus far.  (For the record, my current plan is for slow, permanent weight loss, and in the long run it's working, I just need an extra little push right now, even if it all comes back as soon as we get back from the honeymoon.  But I'm kinda hoping it won't, because I'll still be keeping up my healthy eating and exercise.) 

I am planning to have an energy bar for breakfast, energy bar + soy yogurt with granola and/or fruit for lunch, and a big salad with lots of veggies and shrimp/tuna/other lean protein for dinner.  Lots of water/green tea to drink  In addition to the exercise plan I'm gettin in place this weekend.  So, trying to eat healthy, filling foods that don't have tons of calories in them, and hopefully get all the nutrients I need.  Thus "healthy" crash diet.   

Can any of you fitness gurus recommend a good energy bar?  I was thinking about using Clif Nectar bars, because they're very filling, have 2 servings of fruit in them, are only around 160 calories, and taste great.  But, I haven't had many energy bars, so there may be better ones I don't know about.  One other stipulation in my request is that any recommendations be dairy-free, as I'm allergic to it.

Thanks for listening to my rant.

[Tremayne]

Elennare, how is your crash diet going?

I've been walking my 3 dogs 3-4 times a week. I expect that's 1-2 miles of exercise depending on which route I take with each dog. My stomach problem still has not completely resolved itself so I may end up going back to the dr about it. It's not intolerable during the normal course of the day but it does keep me from jogging.