Jachut

I'd suggest wearing a heart rate monitor thats set with your stats, not relying on the machines. Ellipticals in particular are inaccurate because you're not moving forward and it never fails to amaze me how many people proudly report they've burned 600 calories in half an hour, completely ignoring the fact that they're not falling down exhausted and dripping in sweat, irrefutable proof that they did NOT just burn that much, lol. And I'm sorry to bust yoru bubble, but there is no way you burn 600 calories walking 3 miles, it just isnt so. You'd be more likely to burn 600 calories running 10K. YOu dont need to get off the treadmill if you dont want to - the way forward from here is with intensity and honesty with yourself about how hard you're working. You want sweating, you want breathlessness, you want the burn in your legs. 65% workouts are a waste of time in the long run. When you're very overweight, they get you started. You have to start with what's doable, and walking on a treadmill is possible for most people. But the prime excuse people give for not exercising is lack of time and then they go and choose an exercise that they'd have to spend an hour and a half, two hours doing? It makes no sense. This slower for longer thing, it has pros and cons - yes you burn more of a percentage from fat but you burn way less calories (and fat overall). the only relevance it has is for people just starting out who would fall of the treadmill unconscious after running for five minutes. In that case, its way better to walk for half an hour. But you have to be prepared to ramp it up over time becuase it is not effective in the long run - above average effort will always produce above average results. Never hold onto the treadmill either, it negates half the workout. Find your 75% base level and add intervals of higher intensity activity that gets you to 85% or over - you can vary this from workout to workout, and the cardio coach volumes are GREAT for it (www.cardiocoach.com) some workouts you can do many short intervals, others you can do longer ones, ones that build in intensity, whatever. You're doing intervals, just up the intensity. Slower with incline or faster with flat - doesnt make tons of difference as long as you get your heart rate up. But high inclines are great for toning your butt and the back of your legs. And running/walking flat on a treadmill is the equivalent of walking downhill outside, always have about 2% on there anyway, simply to make the exercise more like what it would be on real ground. And add some weight training - it will never bulk you up, it will make you sexy and shapely, only dont do it the traditional way with sets and rests - you need to do compound exercises like squats, pushups, lunges that use lots of different muscles and you do say squats and without a break move to pushups so your legs can rest. You'll TORCH calories this way and build a really good body. And becuase you dont stop, it will be aerobic and add to the fat burning. Stay far away from the single muscle machines like the inner/outer thigh, the preacher curl machine, the pec dec etc. Waste of time for those of us looking to burn off that fat and lose weight, usefullonly if your goal is to just make single muscles big - which for a woman is not likely to be your goal andp robably wont work anyway. Hope that helps. It sounds a bit brutal I know but getting half your weight off is done with relatively mild changes, getting it ALL off and then some, that takes real guts and determination and you obviously want it or you wouldnt be asking. Much lighter and healthier, but still kinda chunky and flabby - keep doing slow cardio. HOT HOT HOT - high intensity cardio and strength training.

That's how I did it and what I still do. I got a band so I would never have to diet again. But truthfully, I'd have to say losing the last stubborn pounds DOES take a diet. But apart from that, never again! I eat all foods in moderation. I dont focus on one nutrient over another, they're kind of catching onto the lower carb thing here now, you hear more and more experts advising not to eat so much bread and Pasta and rice, but the focus here is more on fruits and vegetables, rather than Protein. Of course, my doctor advises me to get enough protein, but more to eat a bit of EVERYTHING on my plate, becuase if I fill up on the fish and eat little veges, it really isnt a very balanced meal. I eat healthy about 90% of the time, I allow myself to go off the rails occasionally and if I feel like popcorn at the movies, I have it! I like a glass of wine on occasion too. I dont cook differently for my family. I put more effort into shopping and cooking now though. I'll do things like make up a really nice salad - not fond of lettuce based salads, so I made these awesome ones on the weekend - an asian noodle slaw and a broccoli, feta and hazlenut one, and that'll cover a dinner or two and lunches for Doug and I maybe 2 days of the week. I preplan a lot more. I dont eat very many packaged foods - liek frozen dinner and prepared meals, but I never did. I dont do low fat or artificially sweetened either (apart from skim milk, hate full cream milk), if a food is high in fat or sugar, its not one to have too much of, I exercise moderation rather than sacrifice taste. Good quality, small quantity is my motto. Things like lite whipped cream in a can, ugh, to me whipped cream must be made from scratch and its best eaten like once a YEAR. If you have to turn it into something artificial like that, then its a food best not eaten.

Ug, TQ, last week was five days all about 43 degrees c (that's about 110 to you guys). It was utterly stinking. YOu dont want to come here at the moment. We have no freaking Water. We're on super duper strict water restrictions, after 12 years of drought, all our gardens are dead, we've got about 20% in our water storage dams, so we're down to the crud at the bottom, and we've got crud for a state government too - rather than build a new dam in East Gippsland where we had serious floods a year or two back that would have filled said dam, we're getting a desalination plant to suck water out of a power grid that cant even cope with a heat wave (half of Melbourne was without power last week). On top of that, the same stupid idiot government bought trains from a french manufacture, ignoring local producers, trains that cant cope with anything about 32 degrees c because their brakes fail - so hundreds of thousands of people stranded in the city in that heat with no public transport to get them home. But hey, lets let in a couple of hundred thou more immigrants to put even more pressure on our overstretched infrastructure! Vent over, lol.

I had a lot of sciatic issues, not caused by running, but definitely aggravated by it. To be honest, I just ran in some degree of pain for the first year - I figured I could have less pain (but not no pain) and be fat, or I could have some pain and be fit as well. Same deal with my heel, I just put up with the pain. Eventually I ended up seeing an acupuncturist, very sceptically I might add. He really worked miracles, but i had to set my half marathon goals aside for a while as I just couldnt seem to run more than about 10k without setting off another flare up of sciatica. At about that time, I started a new semester at uni, and having completed about half of a physiotherapy degree 20 years ago I have a pretty good anatomical and functional knowledge of the body, so even though I'm doing a teaching degree, I did Functional Human Anatomy as an elective. It got me thinking as we covered lots of stuff about how weak hip muscles can cause feet and knee problems, how complex the shoulder joint is and one small problem can have a whole chain of events etc. Anyway, I really started refreshing my knowledge and decided I needed to strengthen my core a lot more to run injury free. I have done a ton of work on my core, and in particular my glutes (the most problematic hip muscle usually) and a TON of stretching for the piriformis muscle - which is commonly a culprit with unexplained sciatic pain (I have no disc bulges or problems). Over the course of about 18 months I have become incredibly strong, I can do abdominal tricks that make everyone gasp, lol. My increased glute strength is noticeable as well and lo and behond, my running has improved out of sight. No sign of sciatic pain, my heel (which was a four year long problem and the main reason I got banded) is completely better, it is really surprising how a weak core can affect your body. To be a good runner, and to be injury free you need your abdominal, lower back and buttock muscles to be very strong and flexible. For women, pregnancy wreaks absolute havoc on this part of your body and most women who have had babies are in serious need of rehabilitation after pregnancy, but we dont push our bodies in general enough to even know we have problems. That's how I run injury free! And you can do it fat too, but most obese people are also in terrible shape, which is why they get injured. The weight itself is not the whole problem.

I've *almost* done it. I just have a bit too much residual fat/skin left on my stomach to really have a true siz pack. But I have quite obvious definition at the sides and miracle of miracles, I have those dents at the side of my buttocks too! Its purely down to low body fat. You need to be in shape, but I dont do ab specific training, apart from planks, but most of my strength work is functional training. I dont use weights often and I dont work single muscles, I do full body compound exercises lifting things like a sandbag and I have an incredibly strong core as a result. If I could get my body fat lower I would have the six pack, but it appears my upper abdomen is one of those stubborn pockets that I'd have to get really really skinny to eliminate. so yes, its possible. but it may require cosmetic surgery in the end to really make it visible. Obviously I'm female and i've been pregnant three times and born three big babies, so theoretically speaking, my muscles should be separated and I should have a pot belly. If I were the have the money for a tummy tuck, I would have an awesome stomach. Unfortunately those three babies have to be educated!

Notice the theme here? Patience, realistic goals and s-l-o-w running and progress will get you there. the people who didnt do that arent answering this thread, coz they're probably not still runners, lol.

I'm a dedicated home worker, I dont hate the gym but I dont find it very convenient. I also think half the time in many gyms what the trainers give you to do is a complete waste of time, they're still indoctrinated in the old low intensity cardio routine, and you get the exact same workout as everyone else there, unless you've got a really good trainer. Start the fatties off with treadmill walking and a few machines that work the big muscles of the body, you know the routine. It used to annoy the crap out of me, I wanted support, I wanted to WORK but they just didnt have the knowledge - I knew more myself. Since I bought myself a treadmill I've never looked back. My weekly schedule changes around, i do what I want but the past week is a good example: Sunday: Cardio Coach Vol. 8 - 62 minutes, 850 calories burned, 5.5 miles (including long stretches of running at 6 mph up an incline of 5) - www.cardiocoach.com Monday: home circuit using treadmill and a 10kg sandbag - mixed sets of exercises (squats, lunges, dips, pushups, various core work, chest press, lat pull down all using the sandbag instead of a barbell - MUCH harder and recruits all your stablising muscles - google sandbag workouts and see!) that was an hour Tuesday: day off Wednesday: ran 5km to school (my daughter wanted to ride her bike) then ran 5km home. 8km walk that night with DH. Spent a big part of the day sunbaking at the beach :-) Thursday: still hot, went to the pool. Swam 40 laps of the 50m pool (outdoor pool too, lovely), sunbaked for a few hours. Getting nice and brown! Did a circuit that night again, this time at the playground with the kids - used playground equipment to do stuff like chin ups, pull ups (assisted ones), swung on the monkey bars, practiced getting up onto the monkey bars (GREAT shoulder and core strengthening and yes, I can still swing my legs up and get on a monkeybar at 41!), in between running the 300 metre perimieter with my 50lb daughter having a piggyback - HARD work! Friday: Cardio Coach vol 6 on treadmill - bit easier than 8, 40 minutes, 7kms. Saturday: 10km walk with DH. Sunday: nothing. Now, I've built up to that over a period of 3 years. That probably sounds intimidating for someone just starting out. But it is possible to get there, and it shows its possible to get awesome workouts without ever going near a gym. I am so fit these days I feel ready to just burst out of my skin, its a wonderful feeling. Theres some GREAT DVD's I want to get too - Cathe's Intensity series looks good, some good circuit type workouts there, I have Jari Love's Ripped to the core, which is a great workout - if you visit www.collagevideo.com rather than just your local Kmart or whatever, there's some really serious DVD's around that offer awesome workouts. Friday

YOu could use cardio coach on an mp3 to walk to - ww.cardiocoach.com. I run with this, its great on any machine too - its a guided interval workout, so if walking is where you're at, you can use the more intense intervals to walk REALLY hard, or do a gentle jog during those times. Depending onwhich volume you purchse, its 40 minutes to an hour, and time really flies. The music is great and the coach is really inspirational. I love it, its so much fun! and if you truly put in effort at the level recommended (its easy to figure out) then your fitness will burst through the roof, its extremely effective.

This morning Eliza wanted to ride her bike to school, so I ran with her - 5kms there and 5kms back. quite easy because of course, I had a break in the middle whilst I put her bike in the rack, played with her int he playground till the bell rang and saw her into her classroom. Only problem is they're doing roadworks out on the main road and i had to run UPHILL (so puffing like a steam engine) past about 50 workmen. Sheesh. Talk about feeling on show. Now I'm going to the beach, its hot and sunny and the kids are safe till 3.30.

I thnk it depends on your personality. I like chatting on here, having a few spirited debates on various issues etc. I dont find I need "support" at all other than knowing that others go through the same things, and i know I wouldnt attend a physical support group, I hate that kind of thing! I never went to wW meetings either, sitting round talking about stirring jelly crystals into yogurt as a treat doesnt ring my bell (the one meeting I did go to). So for me, it'd have to be online, for companionship more so than support.

55 minute circuit, a bit disjointed as Doug and I did it together.

Not necessarily. I can finish an hour of cardio with energy still left. In fact when I used to go to the gym I used to do half an hour of cardio before and half an hour of cardio after.

I'd really really like to do a tri, but the bike bit is a problem for me. Just dont have the $$$$ at the moment - school fees, need a new house, only have a carport, not a garage and no room in the shed for a bike for me (we're bursting at the seams). I can run a good 15K. I can swim 2k no problem, and I'm sure it wouldnt take me long to build up cycling distance. What are you competing in Mac? This is what I always wonder about. I've lost enough weight now, that i have a speedo swimtop with a very strong shelf bra that I *might* be able to run in but I usually run in a high impact sports bra. Do people swim in a bra and then get out and run? What do you wear on the bottom half?

that's sort of how it works in australia. Most of the op is paid for by a combination of Medicare (our public health system) and our private health insurance and before the surgery, you pay a fee of $3000 to $5000 to the surgeon. This ensures that all aftercare visits are bulk billed - which means the doctor charges the scheduled fee only direct to Medicare and nothing comes out of the patients' pocket. And any revision surgery will be cost free also. This has been discussed on here before and everyone thought it was a scam - but if it allows you to come and go for fills and whatnot, I dont think it is. The way people have to fart around to get fills, wait for unfills they needed like yesterday, shell out hundreds of dollars, well, lets jsut say I think its a lot of the reason why America has a worse track record with band success and a higher incidence of problems than Australia does. the band requires heavily on aftercare to be successful and if this makes your aftercare completely easy and cost free then its a good thing. But you dont say that specifically. DOES it cover fills and doctor visits? Because I wouldnt pay it for nutritionists, a support group and an exercise centre - I dont even USE any of those things. They're the sort of things that suit some people personality wise but which many dont use, enjoy or need.

another great point - you didnt care about yourself, so others didnt either. There's definitely something to be said for the signals you send to others too. After you've been at goal for a while, its kind of weird but you stop thinking of yourself as fat and you will leave these kind of issues behind. But boy, there's a lot to be said for snubbing some of those people back now you have the chance :tongue_smilie:Think of it as free therapy!

When it's good, its really really good isnt it? I have had a dream run with my band. I lost weight slowly but steadily and well, I've never had problems with restriction, I dont vomit often, I can eat everything, I lost 120% of my excess weight and I have never had a single complication. I've been so so lucky. So of course, I love my band and think its the best thing ever.

Wow, look at the poll result - its very evenly spread isnt it? Just goes to show how different everyone is.

Basically people ARE shallow and its up to you whether you want to forgive them or not. But you'll never know if the people you meet now would have liked you 87lb ago, you have to just get over that. But think about it from this agnle - I think you make a point in that it was like you were sick with the plague before. I think you have to cut people some slack with their fear of obese people. I mean, there's no excuse for thinking someone is dumb becuase they're fat or they have no feelings, or being rude or insulting to anyone, fat or thin. But it is a fact of life, that people are not going to gravitate towards you if you're very fat, they're probably not going to find you attractive. Obesity IS a disease and its human nature to avoid disease if possible, I think it goes deeper than social niceties and is basically an instinct to avoid things that you fear are detrimental to your own health. Even people who are obese themselves can display these characteristics. OK, the logical mind knows you cant catch it but in choosing a mate, people make all sorts of instinctual, unconscious appraisals of potentials and I truly think being very obese is just one of those black marks against you, not because the person is ignorant or bigoted, but simply becuase it is not human nature to pick a mate who is going to pass on poor genes. Even when you're thin and buff, you arent going to be everyone's cup of tea because on a genetic level, you're just not going to ring the bells of someone who's genes may combine poorly with yours. Everyone faces this, not just obese people. Plenty of people have been through unrequited longing for someone who just doesnt return the feeling. Its hurtful and soul destroying, but there's no getting around it. Society is not going to move to embrace obesity as attractive, because its not a healthy, normal state for the human body. So you're doing the right thing - you're doing something about it for your health and longevity and as a result, people's attitudes towards you will change. Its also a bloody impressive feat and people will have a surprised, renewed admiration for you for it, enjoy that becuase you've earned it.

I would have said consistency was all that was required till 2 months ago too. In fact I totally agree dobermanmom that it is definitely the MAIN factor in having success with weight loss and exercise. You can make relatively small changes and if you stick to them, they'll show results more than big changes that dont last. I got 2 years good value out of long slow cardio - nice easy looooooong runs of an hour or more. Totally enjoyable, relaxing, no harder than walking once you're fit for it. But over the third year I really plateaued out, didnt lose any weight (didnt need to) and didnt get any faster or better. Two months ago I decided to change it around and went back to really hard interval training and circuit training. Woweee, whodathunk I was missing out on all that? In 2 short months, I've lost no weight (but would have if I'd only been more consistent in my diet) but have gone down probably half a dress size (which is a lot when you're already thin and just pushing the outer limit of your current size) and wait for it - I have a six pack! OK, its got a bit more fat than ideal on it, but you can see it, I have muscle definition in my stomach. AND - this really excites me, I have that dent in the side of the buttocks now!!!! so yes, consistency is key but you still need to try different things and change stuff around.

Cardio Coach Vol 8 on the treadmill - 62 minutes, 5.5 miles, 950 calories thank you very much! Woot. That'll get rid of the 2 pieces of pavlova I ate yesterday. I've been getting up the nerve to do this volume and it kicked my butt. Looooong hill challenges - two 8 minute sections 6 mph at an incline of 5 were among the unique tortures to be found in this workout. But not even sore today. I love how strong my body is nowadays that I can push it like that but recover immediately.

Hi Puddin! I have EXACTLY the same problem. Not so much the moodiness but my DH professes to want to do a half marathon, he says he wants to run with me, he wants to do circuits with me. But he's so fricken lazy! I hold myself back for him, put my own goals on hold so I can train with him, becuase he wont do it by himself, and then he pikes every night and ends up going for a sort of run/walk once a week. This has been going on for months now, he could easily have been running a solid 8km if he would only put the work in. We're very badly matched for this, he needs to stop coz he's puffing, he has a blister etc etc and this sort of thing I just have no patience or sympathy for, I did it, so anyone can. If I stopped every time it hurt a bit i never would have achieved anything. Mind you I didnt scream during childbirth either, i didnt even think it hurt that much, lol. I've realised that he really isnt ever going to run with me. He's just never going to really be into fitness and exercise - he'll walk to stay out of the cardiac ward but he wont get super fit. So I make myself available to do what he wants to - walking mainly, and I'll lead him through a circuit when he wants to do that and hope for the best, maybe one day it will click. At least he's finally lost a good 20kg with his band. He's finally seeing that exercise can work. And whilst i'm doing that, I continue to push myself further, harder and faster in my own time, I either get up early in the morning or do it during the day if I'm home to do so. I figure at his level, if I've already run in the morning, I'm easily fit enough to run/walk/stagger with him later in the evening. And like you say, I just dont really push my victories. But there's race season coming up here and I am NOT missing out on all my races to walk them all with him. I draw the line there. I will walk a couple with him and others if he wants to do, we can start together and I'll meet him at the finish. It is utterly not fair for you or I to have to give up something we really enjoy to cater for fragile male egos.

I've done some pretty darn strenuous exercise (think liftign 20kg sandbags) and I've never injured my port.

Whilst I've got typical caucasian hair, its quite delicate and dry. I wash it most times with conditioner only. Take some el cheapo conditioner - a normal or oily hair one, not a really moisturising one, use quite a lot and really massage your head with it, then rinse rinse rinse. It will clean your hair suprisingy well. It tames the frizz for me, not using shampoo all the time. I wash with shampoo twice a week only. When I googled this, it seems to be something that works well for black hair. It might take your hair a week or two to get used to it, but eventually you wont feel greasy. Switch to every second wash, then every third and so on.

I think you're doing really well! Over time, too, you get fitter and are able to undertake a much more intense exercise routine, which can make a big difference.

Yes, lol, my tastes run to Aussie pub rock, I'm never much help with these threads. But my advice - BE CAREFUL. I took DH's ipod for a run a week or two back, becuase mine needed changing. He had The Best of ACDC on his. It darn near killed me. I reckon I ran at 20km per hour, roflmao! The music you choose has a big impact on how hard you work.