rorysmom

good wishes! i have a treadmill and a rebounder. i love them both. i exercise anywhere from 40 - 50 minutes at a time and usually 6 days/week. sometimes twice per day. it is long, moderate exercise--more endurance than anything. both really work my legs (i always do a steep incline on the treadmill) and my heart. and i burn the same amount of calories that i would if i went at it harder, but for a shorter amount of time. so put in as much time as you can--up to 60 minutes at a time--but moderately. to where if you were talking, you could start the sentence, but it would be kind of difficult to finish it. i also have some core secret videos that are really good for functional fitness strengthening. and i will also grab dumbells and do some arm exercises while i'm on the treadmill. i don't walk and swing the weights though. that can put too much pressure on your wrists. i will step on the sides and do 12 - 15 of a move, put them down, and start walking again. if you intersperse this with walking every two minutes or so, you'll get a great interval workout!

thanks, chichigirl. i just don't want to come across as a know-it-all or as a person who doesn't really have weight issues (i will always have them!). sorry to hijack! edited to add: i really LOVE the support here. WONDERFUL.

i agree with y'all. i also agree with something that dr. phil said. he said that we begin coping behaviors for one reason, but often end up continuing them after the problem has been resolved. until age 16, i overate out of boredom, loneliness, and stress. once i was able to work through most of it--mainly through journaling and watching oprah, ha!--my eating habits self-corrected up to a point. i found other was to relieve my emotional stressors. however, i still overate sometimes. still do. it is quick, easy, and fun to do. but i know when it's happening, and i'm able to talk myself out of it most times. it's hard y'all. BTW, i don't participate on most threads because i don't feel like i'm a real part of the community. y'all have all been real nice. but if there is anyone who is uncomfortable with me being here, please tell me. thanks.

i'll meet you at 70/30! tztmama, i think that you could change your metabolism, over time, through diet and exercise so that you could eat more than 800 - 1000 cals/day and either lose weight or maintain. if you're interested, pm me.

anwyn, not argumentative at all. yes, there is afterburn. but it doesn't burn enough calories to offset much more than a candy bar. i'm not dissing exercise at all. and added muscle; you're right, it does help to burn more calories. however, all of the extra burn from muscle building and from aerobic activity cannot make up for, let's say, two high calorie meals in one week. for example: say you burned 700 calories per day, every day, for one week, from exercise, that's 4900 calories. (that's also a lot of commas :straight ) that can be undone, or severly diminshed, by eating too many calories. and since 3500 is the magic number to lose a pound, there's not much wiggle room there. and burning 700 calories from exercise is quite a bit. now it's true, the more weight you have to lose, the less calorie restriction is needed. but when you get down to as much as 40 pounds to lose, it becomes a real math game. and don't even get me started on the ten-pounds-or-less range. that is truly an exercise in exasperation. if you're interested in fitness talk, check out www.videofitness.com. as the name suggests, the message board is mostly about fitness videos, but they also talk about the scientific aspects of weight loss.

and by diet, i mean in the "healthy lifestyle" kind of way. exercise is extremely good for what ails us. but limiting calories and eating the right sorts of foods is much more important for weight loss. in my experience, and the experiences of most folks on my fitness boards, calorie restriction accounts for as much as 85% of weight loss success. we can simply eat far too many calories, from good and bad foods, than we realize. and actual aerobic activity (accounting for "afterburn too) burns a few hundred calories at most.

interesting study. but not representative of anything based on race. five people is just not a large enough sample to measure an issue as multifaceted as weight loss. a more likely finding in a weight loss study would be that AAs had, on average, a higher weight and BMI before, during, and after weight loss because we are generally larger/bigger boned/heavier/have more muscle mass than other races. but that's something totally different than having success with the lap band or any weight loss regime for that matter.

my aunt is AA, and she's doing well. i doubt that there is much statistically significance difference, if there is any at all, that would make it more difficult for AAs. diva is right, it does come down to food choices. perhaps they are struggling more because they are still eating some soul and southern food: fried, gravied, smothered and such?

i know that there was a lap band doctor who posted to a recent thread. sorry, but i can't find the name/thread. dr., do you think that lap bands will ever be approved as a preventative weight-loss tool for people who are not currently obese or overweight, but have a history of it? thanks.

thanks ladies, i'm not seriously considering it, but i am hopeful that it will gain wider approval in the future.

ahh. ok. yes, i would be peeved. since it's the first time she's betrayed your trust, maybe your reaction will ensure that it doesn't happen again. but i'm sure you'll give her a big hug/kiss again. sometime. tahoe sounds fun!

could it be that your mom thought your sister was referring to the LB surgery?

thanks everyone for your interest! yes, dr. hekier, that's it. my personal history of obesity is a 60ish pound weight loss one time and four 20 - 30ish pound losses. one of those was from pregnancy and another from medicinal complications. my lifestyle has changed such that it does not "allow" for that much weight gain. i do love to exercise and i eat healthfully most of the time. but i can see dealing with a 10 - 15 pound weight gain/loss at any given time. it's just too darn easy to move too little and eat way too much. and it doesn't take much of that to gain 10 pounds!! an aside: i began wearing a pedometer about a month ago, and i was shocked at how few steps i took on a day that i didn't exercise. i realized then that is why my "last 8 pounds" weight loss has been so slow. and that i must do some sort of activity everyday--doesn't have to be intense, just long--to make up for the fact that my job is so sedentary. so i'd be interested in having a lap band to help with those up/downs. it quite possibly would remain unfilled most of the time. but i'd get a fill when i needed to lose 5 - 8 pounds. so, whaddya think?

hello, i found this awesome forum while searching for lap-band information for my aunt. last october, she told me that she was planning to have GB. when i asked her if she'd heard of LB, she said no. well, i proceeded to track down and give her as much information as possible. from our discussions, she decided that the LB was for her and convinced her doctor of it as well. since her surgery on 11/22/04, she's lost 75 pounds! she has between 200 - 230 to go and is determined to reach her goal. the lost 75 pounds has already resulted in a better quality of life, and she has hope that she can finally get her weight under control. and she is extremely grateful to me for turning her on to the band. she never felt quite right about GB, but didn't know there was another option. so why am i posting and not her? HA! well, she isn't an internet chatter and i am. but i did want to register and say that i understand your struggles, and i am inspired by your successes. and even though my weight struggle is 10 pounds (well 10 pounds now, but it has been as much as 70 pounds in my life and 30 pounds 2 or 3 times) i have felt/and feel a lot of the same emotions about weight, weight loss, food, nutrition, and exercise as you do. and can i tell you something? i truly believe that LBs will someday be approved as an elective surgery for weight maintenance. i know that i would get one. and i am convinced that some celebrities already have. well, that's all. thanks for being such a great resource.

oh, thanks!

thank you.