Jachut

Monday: 7km run Tuesday: 1 hr 15 minute intense circuit involving treadmill running, heaviliy weighted squats and lunges, push ups, tricep dips, biceps, shoulders, back and abdominals - a very heavy, general body routine that I devised myself. Wednesday: 7km run Thursday: circuit again Friday: generally my day off Saturday: circuit Sunday 10km + run (gradually building distance as I want to do a half marathon). Then I generally have the next day off as I need it after the long run and start the cycle again on different days. I just generally follow that cycle.

Nothing really, just a realisation that I wasnt getting anywhere trying to diet. I felt out of control. Hitting 38 made me realise 40 was right around the corner, and that I really WAS going to be old, dowdy and unattractive if I didnt do something about it. Personality wise, that's just so not me. Life is just beginning and here I was winding down? No thanks. I just finally realised statistically speaking, odds were that I was never going to lose the weight and keep it off.

Honestly I know I've said it before but I think that all this obsession with Protein and not eating bread achieves is a lot of confused bandsters. The medical consensus over there baffles me to be honest. The sweet spot is different for everyone. YOUR sweet spot is that spot at which you eat a reasonable diet, can tolerate enough healthy foods to be well nourished, dont fall into reliance on soft and unhealthy foods because they're all that go down, eat till you're satisfied and continue losing weight. Simple as that. What someone else can and cant eat is completely irrelevant to you, how many calories someone else eats is completely irrelevant and for pete's sake there is NOTHING inherently evil about bread. It is entirely possible to eat bread and lose weight. If you choose not to, that's your business but I'm well restricted now (by my own terms) and I can STILL eat bread but sure as heck cannot eat donuts. Since I consider wholegrain bread a healthy food that I include in my diet, that's lucky I guess. If you're losing weight, you're restricted enough and that's really as simple as it is. And I really think that a good food/bad food mentality is not helpful for long term weight maintenance. All you need to remember is lean protein is good, you should eat LOTS of vegetables but if you eat bread, you shouldnt eat too much of it. Donuts, cakes, Cookies, chips and chocolate are very much sometimes foods, they wont kill you once in a while but are not things to eat everyday.

Oh and my routine is I do the circuit 3 x per week and 3 days a week i head outdoors to run - one loooooong run of 10km or so (which I'm gradually increasing) and 2 short runs of 5kms.

I would imagine there's a large possibility that once surgery swelling goes down (it took 8 weeks for me) that you could begin to feel better. Honestly, I'd hang in there for just a little longer. Its only been a bit more than a month. YOu could very well be still swollen and very restricted. A few more weeks could make all the difference. And you migth turn out to be someone who's just very sensitive, to fills and the like. I assume you're following your post surgical instructions to the letter?

Me too. I cant think of anything I'd less rather do than traditional sets and reps, I hate free weights with a passion. Machines I can cope with but I simply dont have room for a Bowflex or similar. With the circuit, if you know lots of exercises, just mix it round every few weeks. But bodyweight exercises liek pushups and triceps dips target multiple muscle groups at a time and are really a lot more convenient than 10 different exercises to target every muscle in the shoulder and rotator cuff, your pecs, biceps and triceps. There's also loads of great gadgets you can buy like doorway chin up bars etc that make it easy to do that stuff at home. Doug and I often do the circuit together too and just swap between the weights work and running, and sometimes we get out the boxing gloves and add boxing intervals.

Well I'm glad I'm not the only one who read it that way.

I hate weights too and lost most of my weight without picking one up. This is what I do to make it bearable and have gotten results and gotten used to it to the point where I'm probably ready to start a serious more traditional program. This is my weights circuit. Requires: treadmill (or skipping rope, eliptical, bike, whatever you like) weighted barbell (I use 20kg, I"m pretty big and strong) handweights of appropriate weight for you (I use 3kg) soft surface for abdominal work, etc. Get onto treadmill, set a brisk pace and a reasonable incline, walk 1km using handweights in following sequence: 32 biceps curls at controlled pace. Switch both barbells to one hand for heavier weight, do 16 biceps curls, 16 curls at top half of range, 16 curls at bottom half of range (ie. half way up), then do with other arm. If biceps arent burning, use heavier weights! With handweights do 3 sets of the following: 10 upright rows, 10 lateral raises, 10 shoulder presses. If shoulders arent burning, use heavier weights, lol. Your kilometre should be almost up, decrease incline, up the speed and run the rest of it. At 1km, hop off, pick up barbell, put on shoulders. Do 30 full squats, followed by 10 s-l-o-w squats, holding for count of 5 at bottom of the range, then 20 lunges each leg. Your heart rate will probably go through the roof. Hop back on treadmill and RUN 250 metres. Hop off, do 20 more squats with barbell, followed by 30 dead lifts and 30 barbell rows (where bending over you pull the barbell into your navel by squeezing shoulder blades together). Hop back on treadmill and RUN 250 metres. Hop off, do 20 pushups, brief rest, 20 more pushups. Hop back on and RUN 250 metres. Hop off, do 20 triceps dips on a chair, brief rest, 20 more triceps dips. Run 500 metres Hop off and do an abdominal sequence - I either do 20 full sit ups holding a 10kg medicine ball followed by 10 sit ups where I stop at half range, and by twisting side to side at mid range, tap the ball on the floor at each side of me, followed by 5 planks held for 30 seconds. OR I'll do a five minute routine on the ab roller, or just make up various crunches etc to try to target all the abdominals. Hop back on treadmill and do an easy 10 minute run. Get off and die. It really does work and I've worn my heart rate monitor to make sure it remains aerobic, I can hold my heart rate over 140 the entire time. So its cardio plus weights combined and I've certainly had toning results. Its all over and done with inside an hour and really makes weights bearable for me. But its a very general body program, targetted at muscle groups, not building of individual muscles.

Buy yourself a double jogger, load it up with Water, Snacks for the kids and get outside and walk! These years are sooo hard and its exactly at this time that I gained most of my weight. I exercised when I had one, but with a newborn and a toddler, I became very sedentary. Running round with the kids all day does not count. I'd also highly recommend wearing a pedometer and making sure you get your 10,000 steps - but 10,000 a day is a pretty meagre goal for weight loss, you should get that just in incidental activity and then exercise on top of it. Seven is early, sorry to say. I know that feeling when you're spent and you dont want to exercise but there's PLENTY of time to head out for a walk or a run at that time of the evening, especially while its summer over there in your part of the world. Just get out the door. Within weeks I promise, you'll cope so much better with the exhausting challenge of raising children. I have to exercise at home - gym just does not work for me with 3 kids. I have a treadmill and some weights, and I do what I need to at home, at night, in front of the telly with my kids and my DH right there. A 2 year old, whooo, that's challenging though, treadmills and stuff can be dangerous with little kids around that dont know not to touch. I also spent long periods of time going to the gym and just putting my kids in the creche there while I was there. Is there a gym around with childcare? You also have two entire days on the weekend when your partner is around to do something for yourself, then if you get out for a good hour long walk 2 to 3 times a week you've made a great start. Pushing a pram is fantastic exercise! I hope I dont sound unsympathetic but really where there's a will there's a way. There is absolutely no reason to not take that time for yourself , you just have to make it family friendly. I really did look at it at first as I had time to sit on the comptuer for about forty minutes every morning, then I could give up that time and exercise instead. I'm sure you'd find there IS time during the day or you CAN get out and do it after they've gone to bed.

If you've got a relationship with her then I apologise unreservedly. That's wonderful for you. In that sort of situation I defy anyone to tell you that you cant marry her. You just didnt make it sound at ALL like that in your original post. You really made it sound like you wanted to "buy" a wife. And to be fair - I did point out that in that situation YOU would be exploited as much as her. Marrying someone from anothe race/culture/country, I have no problem in the world with that. Buying a wife, I do. And you did sound like that's what you were saying. If you've found someone you truly want to marry who also wants to marry you, then that's absolutely wonderful. It doesnt matter at all where she comes from or where you come from.

Forgive me but unless I'm stupid, your initial post is saying quite clearly that you have not met someone and nurtured a relationship with her, fallen in love and wish to marry. Wanting companionship and help to raise your kids is not wrong, but thinking you can just obtain it like a commodity is. You cannot seriously expect any modern woman on this board to not be offended by what you said in that initial post, it's exploitation of poorer races and cultures and you'll be used equally in return by women who want to escape their circumstances. You simply are not describing a healthy, egalitarian relationship. If you meet someone Asian and fall in love and marry for love, that's fantastic. Even if you go there looking specifically for that, I wouldnt blame you. But it really does rub many people up the wrong way to hear someone say "I'm lonely, life is pretty hard, the kids are hard work and I dont get the respect i deserve from my peers, think I"ll go and pick me up a nice subservient Asian wife". That's what it sounds like. If its not, then I apologise. This isnt about mixed race marriages at all, I'd hope nobody has a problem with that these days. Its about a relationship based on the wrong things. I dont keep up with US law by the way, I dont even live in America. But the law doesnt have much to do with a relationship based on love anyway does it? I'm sorry but just found the original post highly offensive.

The only good wife is one who wants to marry you. Not one you buy or seek through an agency. I wouldnt look twice at a mixed race marriage but really, exploiting someone who only wants you as a ticket to a better life is not really a recipe for happiness. And what is a good wife anyway? If you want obedient, meek and mild then you probably have to do without friendship, love and equality.

Hehehe. Actually boredom gets me too - I think that's more what will make a half marathon difficult, the training. I can run for about 45 minutes and enjoy it but after that I get so bored, I could literally fall asleep in mid stride! I was thinking of different routes- actually driving out of the suburb and running somewhere different.

I played a game of basketball the other night and that was awesome fun, the first game I've ever played, I grew up playing netball. It was awesome cardio, very high intensity. But I was VERY afraid of an injury, taking up basketball at 40 is a bit risky, lol. I'd hate to do a knee and not be able to run. I was only filling in though, so this wont be a regular thing.

Its funny isnt it. I always enjoyed the gym but the time factor stopped me being consistent with it. I've never exercised as consistenly as I do now that I just head out the door for a run or turn my treadmill on and get the weights out. Having stuff at home has truly been the key for me, so much so that in our next home, room for a complete and really well equipped home gym is a must. Doug uses it all as well and we have three kids, the boys are 9 and 11 and in the next few years no doubt they will develop an interest as well, most teenage boys get into weights at some point or another. So I feel its a hugely beneficial thing for the whole family, and not a luxury at all to have a big home gym! I dont know why I dont just look at it gathering dust, becuase we've hired treadmills before and never used them. I dont know what was different this time.

I've never really thought about it but it would make sense in some ways. I wonder why they dont offer for that really tough preop phase? I've not taken anything since Tenuate way back in the 1980's, when I was a 16 year old - lord knows how any doctor would have put me on the things, I was all of 84kg, just barely overweight, let alone obese. Boy did they work, I lost weight very very easily, but I did regain it when I stopped taking them, and stop I did because they made me utterly psycho, impossible to live with and prone to vacuuming my bedroom at 4 am. I'd prefer not to take any drug I dont truly need, I'd rather get through the preop phase without them, but then I didnt have to do a preop diet so that's easy to say. Post op, honestly I didnt need them. I had no appetite at all and had really great restriction for about 8 weeks.

Nope. My libido disappeared with my first baby and never returned. Oh, we do it often enough and its good but do I ever actually feel in the mood? No. Maybe if I werent constantly cleaning up, thinking about meals, shopping for food, trying to fit in work, study, playing taxidriver to 3 kids, doing the rounds of basketball, school, kinder, footy, parties, friends, maybe if we didnt have an extra or two sleeping over every weekend, if I didnt expend all my energy running and working out, if I didnt have to paint the whole fricking house on my own, if my husband ever got home from work before 7.30 pm, etc etc etc, I might JUST have time to actually think about sex. As it is I'm a run of my feet mother of three, there's not much time for anything else. It was hard enough clawing back the me time to put into my own weight loss journey. Sex is very low on the agenda, sometimes Doug has to wake me up when its over, lol.

I've got a really good treadmill, and a 30kg adjustable barbell set, assorted dumbells between 1 and 5kg, a set of boxing mitts and focus pads, resitance bands (never use them, too easy), an ab roller, a yoga mat. We only have a small house, it takes up half our family room in what was once our casual eating area. I use these things to do a circuit 3 x a week, Doug and I often do it together. On the other days I prefer to leave the house and run outside, but sometimes I just run or walk on the treadmill. We do need a better weights set up, at the very least a bench but we have nowhere to put it, we just cant fit it in in this house, and we wont be moving for another year or two.

Clear liquids for me was just that, clear liquids, but it applied only for 24 hours after surgery, after that all liquids were fair game.

Glad you're feeling better!

Oh, I'm about to turn 40 by the way.

I've lost about 85 lb and am now at a healthy weight and I dont need plastic surgery. Would my body be improved by plastic surgery, yes. But I have no apron and no loose skin, I have the type of problems I would have had anyway. My tummy is perfectly flat, but is doughy from 3 pregnancies, I could do with a touch lipo around the hips, thighs and flanks and my poor old empty breastfeeding boobs, sigh. But aprons and bat wings and melting thighs, I dont have. My skin has shrunk back just fine. I look great clothed, no worse than a lot of other people naked but I wont be wearing a bikini on the beach.

My body fat reading is 23% on my scale, 23.5% at night. Its constant day to day. But I can tell you right now, that my body fat is higher than that. 23% would be fairly lean for a woman. Well I"m not overweight anymore but I have plenty of wobbly stuff on thighs and bum, I"m sure I've got a higher body fat percentage than that. Perhaps I'm selling myself short, as I"m downright skinny above the waist but I dont believe it.

Oh, that's such a horrid feeling, and it is embarrassing to feel that you felt so great and when you get that slap in the face reality of photos, its shattering. 50lb is 50lb and one day it will be more. YOu cannot skip the middle part unfortunately, you have to work your way down to goal and your achievement is enormous, try to be proud of that and realise that every single day you're working towards looking a little better. Even at goal weight, its hard to realise that some of those figure problems (I've got saddlebags, a droopy bum and cellulite) are just not going to disappear. I know we all SAY we're realistic about what we'll achieve when we go into this but I think most of us fantasise about looking perfect and for most of us, it just doesnt happen. And whoever said beauty is from the heart up above was right.

Its quite simple - if you're losing weight its not too much. As long as you dont feel painfully stuffed. What someone else eats is completely irrelevant. And if you're losing weight you dont really need another fill. You can have one of course, if you want to eat less but there's not a lot of point in taking in less nutrients if you're losing weight on a larger food intake. You wont necessarily lose faster either. What you're eating sounds good, its well balanced and its not a lot of food compared to what you probably ate before. If you're not PBing and having trouble and you're losing weight, I really wouldnt fix what isnt broken.