purplemonkey

how do you know if you are overtrained?

I'm on vacation that week, so I'm planning on going. It'll be my first time, but I can't wait to meet everyone! See u then, Virginia

Friday--90 min on treadmill; 90 min weightlifting; 15 min walk. Saturday--60 minute treadmill Sunday--90 min treadmill Monday--45 min on treadmill; 45 min weightlifting; 100 crunches. Stepped on the scale this morning and in 4 days I lost 8 lbs...near about fell off the scale! I had been alternating between 800 and 1000 calories a day and focusing on the best workouts I can. Guess it's paying off. :eek:

Do crunches really help? I'm getting ready to start some ab work and was just wondering... Virginia

I saw my Dr. this morning and asked him about restriction after exercise. He said that it's due to dehydration...that we need to keep hydrated throughout the day and also to drink while exercising. Virginia

Awesome, awesome job, Julie! Virginia

I joined Planet Fitness here in NJ almost 6 weeks ago. It is such a wonderful atmosphere to workout. There are people of all sizes and ages and everyone is so nice and non-judgemental. The staff is fabulous. They have free classes you take with a trainer (up to 4 in a class) for developing your program, a class that takes you through the circuit and shows you the machines, a class for learning the cardio equipment, a class for upper body machines and a class for lower body/abs. I joined for a year with no money down and only 20 bucks a month, which also includes unlimited tanning and I can bring a guest with me every time I go. I really can't rave about this place enough. Try it and see if you like it!!

Planet Fitness is THE best!! I love it there...so much so I started going everyday!

I love those sublingual B-12 tablets...they disolve right into your blood stream. And I totally second an Iron supplement. I was severely anemic and my doc gave me RX Iron called Niferex. It's great.

Thanks for your postive words Losingjusme. I don't do interval training but I do mix things up on the treadmill. I break it down into 10 min segments and within each 10 min I will do 4 min at 2.5mph (my fastest possible speed, lol) with a 2.5% incline. Then I'll do 2 min at 2.0mph and 2% incline and then the last 4 minutes I do a 2.0mph with a 10% incline. It's one hell of a workout I can tell you, and changing it up like this pushed me right through the plateau I had been struggling through... Wish my legs weren't so noodly afterward, though. :eek: Keep up the great work! Sounds like the interval training is just what you needed. Virginia

This just popped into my head, BetsyJane...ur not drinking anything cold after exercising are you? The cold liquid will def make you more restricted.

Today: 1 hr and 20 minutes on treadmill 1 hr and 30 minutes weightlifting 5 minutes --elliptical (that machine will be the death of me!!!!) Virginia

Hi BetsyJane. It's funny that you say that because I have noticed the EXACT same thing. I get off work and go to the gym for a couple hours (treadmill and weightlifting). Then about 45 min later I am home and have dinner. I don't know why but the past few times I've worked out, I just am so restricted that it's impossible to eat. I haven't gotten a fill yet but can only imagine what it will be like after that...probably warm tea for dinner! Still I wish I knew why the exercise made me restricted like that. If you find out anything let me know! I see the doctor on Thursday, so I'll pick his brain a little. Virginia

I love the dairy queen sundae's...yum, hot fudge! But when I read the nutritional info and realized that I could eat a box of sugar free fudgsicles instead it was quite eye-opening. I do love the fudgesicles, so I don't feel like I'm totally depriving myself.

Hi. I'm a patient of Dr. Abkin in NJ. Does anyone know if St. Clare's in Dover does fills. I'm hoping I won't have to travel all the way to Morristown, since Dover is right around the corner from me. Virginia

Hi everyone. I can totally understand why most people go for their first fill 6 weeks after surgery. I was losing steadily for almost 4 weeks and then hit a wall. I'll go up a few pounds, then down a few pounds. It's been up and down like this for the 3-4 weeks and I'm tired of it! At the same time I hit the wall was when I started doing 3 hours of cardio and 3 hours of weightlifting each week. I don't know if there is a parallel there, but other than that I eat between 1000 and 1200 calories a day. It just doesn't seem possible that I am eating much less, and exercising and the scale ain't budging!! I am hungry a lot of the time, which is why I am dying to get a fill. I want to eat 600 to 800 calories and be satisfied. Virginia

I get my liquid protein tubes at vitamin shoppe. You can also find them here: http://store.bariatriceating.com/conewwhlipr.html

Thanks for the encouragement, losingjusme! It's good to know the elliptical is beatable...and I can TOTALLY understand the whole love/hate thing. I have a bad knee, so the workout I'm doing on the treadmill is starting to take it's toll and I will have to move to the elliptical soon I think. It's so funny though because I have to go so slow on the elliptical to keep my heart rate where it should be, that the machine thinks I'm pausing and will stop the stats. I don't know how anyone does that thing, but I will keep at it. I know what you mean about the calories burned! Yesterday I was doing the trailblazer treadmill program and did a max of 2mph and a 10.0 incline. OMG that incline! felt like I was trudging through quicksand, but it was racking up the calories burned. Still I only did it for 20 minutes! then it was 40 minutes doing manual. Lost another pound and it's great to see the scale moving again, even if it's only a little.

Weightingtolose, keep in mind that your body can only absorb between 20 and 25 grams of Protein at a time, so you won't do much benefit (in my opinion) by having a 50g Protein Drink all at once. I have tried the bottled isopure and thought it was horrible. It's no fun if you've got to choke it down. I really like the AdvantEdge Carb Sense creamy chocolate. It's not bad and it even satisfies my chocolate craving. For a few weeks after my surgery I had a really hard time getting all the liquids I needed, so the thought of having to drink the shakes was not appealing. ........I rave about the liquid whey protein test tubes wherever I go because they are a great option. It is a 3oz testtube, and you can choose between the 25g and the 42g protein tube. I buy the 42g and split it. I'll drink half in the morning and half in the afternoon to tide me over until dinner. By splitting it, I get 21g of protein at only 88 calories! And because of the protein, it really fills you up. A word of caution though--the orange is sickly sweet. I like the grape and fruit punch best. Virginia

I was sailing along, having lost 49 pounds within the first month of surgery. Then things tapered off some. I'm guessing it's in part because that's when I started getting more hungry...but even my "more hungry" only gets me between 1000 --1300 calories a day. The other thing that has changed is that I started working out. I do an hour of cardio and an hour of weightlifting 3 days a week. I did get away from using those Protein test tubes and I think that was a big mistake, so I'll remedy that this week. It takes many more calories in food to get that protein-full feeling, whereas with the test tube it was 88 calories for 21g of protein. It's really hard not seeing the scale move. especially knowing that I work out really hard and don't eat a whisper of what I used to. But I'm in this for the long haul so I'm not going to let it get me down. Plus there's nothing like that drive home from the gym, when the sun has just set and the windows are open and the music playing...and that wonderful endorphin euphoria. Stay strong! Virginia

I'm a big gal so I go to the gym 3 times a week (mon, wed, fri). I do one hour on the treadmill at about 2 miles an hour at a 2.0 incline. They have the pulse sensors so I push it to keep my heart rate in the 150's and every ten minutes I'll ramp up the speed and the incline for 5 minutes. It's a great workout for me. Then I spend an hour doing weight lifting. I'm thinking of adding another day of cardio on sat or sun. I'd love to do the elliptical but it destroys me after just a few minutes. it's very disheartening but I'll keep pluggin away. 3 miles in 30 min on the elliptical, Alexandra?? WoW! Virginia

What's the difference between spinning and a regular exercise bike?

Hi Marchies! Last night was my first time eating out at a restaurant...went to a suprise birthday party at a restaurant right next to the lake. It was so beautiful esp when the sun was setting. Anyway, I was a little worried about what they would be serving and stuff but I did pretty well. I had a little smoked trout for an appetizer...never had trout but it was really good. Next was salad. I was worried about that because I've not tried lettuce since my surgery. Had a couple bites of that and no problem. Got baked sole for dinner and took that home after a couple bites. All in all, it went really well and I was so relieved. I posted this question as a new thread but got no replies...I was wondering if anyone has lived with the band unfilled and was successful with their weight loss. I know the doc's say that we really see the weight loss after the fills but I was just curious. Thanks everyone. Soon we'll have to be Marchies in May! Virginia

Hi Deanna. I know exactly what you mean! Hey, your current weight is where I'm almost at, so it's YOUR before picture that I would have killed for. We are almost the same age and have the same goal weight! How funny! Good luck on your surgery. It's worth it and I know you will be so happy when the weight starts coming off. I know I am. Please keep us informed on how you're doing. Virginia

I usually have one Protein shake a day (the EAS Advantage carb sense chocolate, yum), after a cardio workout or before weight lifting. The fitness trainer said that was the best way to do it...cardio needs done on an empty stomach and with weights you need the protein in you before you start. But anyway, that has worked well for me. Now that the weather is getting nicer I'll probably switch on and off to the nectar Iced Tea. It tastes just like iced tea and has 15 grams of protein per serving. Virginia