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Vernie
New Member
| Joined: | 4 January 2007 |
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| Posts: | 8 |
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Posted: 4 January 2007 06:31 pm |
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I am not normally very good at sticking to these kind of things whether they be new eating plans, keeping a diary, or anything in life really. I am however great at starting something new and have decided that this year may be a good time to grow up and stick with one thing that will ultimately lead to a better life-style. I am newly single having been in a relationship with someone for the last 6 years and feel that this is as good a time as any...
So, I am currently such a fat  that I am embarrassed to go out in public! I do exagerate but for me, this is how I feel and I truely hate it. I am 26, weigh 60kg (the heaviest I have ever been but aout 4 kg!) and am 156 cm tall. My goal is to get down to a managable 54kg and then we shall see where life takes us. I have always had the dream of being able to wear a white (the most unforgiving of colours) bikini and this is the year for it!
The plan is to keep my intake in check (I have never been good at saying no or eating only unprocessed non sugar etc foods so I am for realistic instead of the healthy eater of year award) and to go to the gym 6 days a week. I also have the most energetic 2 year old English Staffordshire Bull Terrier who I take for 2 one hour walks a day and they're the warp speed style walks as his sole mission in life is to get somewhere (no one has quite yet figured out where) as quickly as possible. It's nice to spend this time outside with him.
So, we shall see how things progress...I will be stealing tips from all the visitors to this site to assist where possible.
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Mountain Mike
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 4 January 2007 08:49 pm |
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Hi Vernie,
Loosing 6 kg is certainly do-able for 2007. You must have an attitude that you WILL do this...no trying.
I would suggest picking up Eat to Live and making changes in that direction, since it will improve your health as well as cause you to lose weight.
Good luck for 2007...when you've reached your goals, you will report in the "success stories" section, right? Complete with a pic of you in the white bikini??? No?
Best regards,
Mike
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Jeff_74
New Member
| Joined: | 29 December 2006 |
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| Posts: | 10 |
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Posted: 4 January 2007 09:50 pm |
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You can do this thing ! We all can, just dont give up, even you do slip up, just get right back on the right path!
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OWF
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 5 January 2007 05:19 am |
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Vernie,
WELCOME to the CPH forums!!!!!!!!! Congrats on your healthy decision! I applaud your realistic approach, because I know how hard it is to make "healthy" choices, so I believe in baby steps for myself anyway. Overall numbers are important to me too, at the end of the day, rather than that coveted "Healthy Eater of the Year" award! I don't think I would EVER receive that one!!! I love chocolate  and pizza  too much! LOL By the way...I LOVE that your terrier walks at "warp speed" WHERE is he going?? Does he even know? What a wonderful way to force exercise into your daily routine-see, THATS another benefit to convincing my husband to get a dog!!!
I am not a math genius so what is 60 kg in real life? Sorry.
P.S. I am so about the white bikini, but my fear of wearing one has always been SOMETHING else.....maybe they have better construction these days, but a few years ago when I tried one on.....it was borderline illegal??
Last edited on 5 January 2007 05:21 am by OWF
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Vernie
New Member
| Joined: | 4 January 2007 |
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| Posts: | 8 |
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Posted: 5 January 2007 03:12 pm |
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Everyone who posted a comment, thank you. It helps when you think that people firstly give two hoots and secondly, will hold you accountable for your failures. It's a bit like having a trainer partner who you don't want to let down so you drag your sorry arse out of bed to meet them at the crack of dawn ... I would kill for someone to challenge me like that in real life!
Mike:  I am allergic to camera's so I am not sure about the prospect of photographic evidence then again, I have to actually succeed in reaching my goal before I can start thinking about that! I would love to be able to post my "success" story as it's been a while since I last felt like I actually succeeded with anything. I will see if I can track down the suggested reading. I will is such a foreign thought at the moment although the dreams are there...
Jeff_74: You're so right. If we all support each other and if we have faith in ourselves and don't give up after a "bad" day, then a healthier world with less health issues. Head up, bums down and here we go.....
ObsessedwithFitness: Thanks for making me laugh about the bikini....so true in so many ways! It's definately a stick insect king of thing and I very much doubt that I will ever have the guts to pull it off in public but the idea of being able to it I chose to, that's a nice thought and worht working towards. 60kg is about 132lbs. Way too much as far as I am concerned....I may be muscly but I am not big boned and so I look disgusting..... I want to get down to 117lbs and then we shall see how content we are. It is great having a dog, not only for the company but the drive to go outside and exericse even when the weather is #%@&!. I love my George and I don't think that he will ever know where he is going ... the park, to say hello to the other dogs and cats, to visit the pet shops around my neighbourhood, to just run and run and run....I love that he is so enthusiastic about life. Definately get a dog ... more then one even if you have the energy. 
So, I have to say that I believe that I am cursed...yup, well and truly and not just in that paranoid kind of way but in the I have proof kind of way! It seems that every time I publish my plans for reducing my current giant proportions, it ends up back firing and that very day, I go overboard with the naughty foods! YOu know, the and  and , no not really the but I am sure that there was an elephant in there somewhere! It's almost as if I expect to fail once I have told someone that I proceed to self detsruct on the spot! And of course, as with many, I am a sad sufferer of the "once you start you can't stop" syndrome! Aaaagh....I hate being such a weak person. I need someone to box my ears everytime I go overboard, or even close to the edge.... so that the  doesn't win. Dammit, I want the bikini body so badly.....Right, no more wallowing in self pity, there are those who have it far worse then me and they manage, so head up and bum down and here I go, back on track.... when hungry, I will drink green tea as a distraction.
Serious question though, I am blessed (?) with the ability to build muscle very quickly and because I do not want to look like a short bulky person, I need a solution. I have tried the high reps with small weights but it doesn't seem to help and I end up looking like a sprinter andway. Thing is that it is nice to have muscle tone and I know that it aids in bruning more calories whilst resting as well being an added bonus so I don't want to give up doing some weights completely...
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OWF
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 5 January 2007 05:11 pm |
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Vernie
I am in the same boat. We are in the boat together. Rowing away.....
I am "blessed" with LOTS of muscle. I build RAPIDLY. Like within a 2 week period...um, yeah. Nice. Due to my father being a MUSCULAR shorter guy 5'7" 190 pounds of pure muscle, and my mother being muscular and 5'2" tall PLUS has a BIG BOOTY -my brother was a professional boxer at one point, and my other brothers (half brothers) excelled at Karate, Boxing and wrestling. It is IN my blood. I HEAR YA!!!
My solution (I tried EVERYthing) is to NOT give up weights ever!!! DO both cardio and weights. I use lighter weights though than I used to. I also do pilates (havent in 2 months cause of holidays and my schedule at work though) but that helps. Make sure you eat ENOUGH. I wasn't and I didnt lose muscle, I got flabby and I was hungry and angry all the time. Calculate your numbers and figure it out (Nir is the best at this! He is VERY helpful!) You need weights and resistance to tone. Otherwise you will always look bulky. I feel your pain! Keep going!!
People always have made comments like "Oh. you are skinnier than we all thought" WHAT DOES THAT MEAN??? I LOOK FAT IN CLOTHES but not naked???? WHAT??
Ha. LOL. People are weird. But ya gotta love em! Right?
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Vernie
New Member
| Joined: | 4 January 2007 |
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| Posts: | 8 |
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Posted: 12 January 2007 11:16 am |
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o.k., it has been a week since I started this and I am proud to say that I have been to the gym every day (except for Saturday because I teach swimming lessons and so I don't have the time)! I am happy with this effort evening if I haven't been as good with the other side of the weight lss equation - the food.
I have been doing the following at the gym. 20 minutes on the cross trainer to burn fat (so I work this rather slowly), 10 minutes rowing with a high resistance, 10 minutes of the stair master thingie and then a 5 km run with varying inclines in 35 minutes. And then stretching of course. If I don't do the run (I get terrible shin splints so have to be careful of agrevating them) I ride for 20 min, row for 20 min cross train for 20 min and climb stairs for 15 min. Over and above this, there are the long walks with my George every morning and evening.
My issue is that I want to improve my fitness and endurance levels but I need to burn fat as well and the two require completely different heart rates...if anyone has any suggestions, please do not hold back!
As far as the eating goes, I can't track calories consummed because it just makes me get all depressed and panicky and then I end up over eating and feeling #%@&! about it and then eating some more. So I try and follow the following recipe: breakfast (kellog's All Bran plain no milk) with a cup of coffee no sugar, a mid morning snack of rice things and nuts (pecans, macadamia and walnuts) - about a hand ful, lunch is a salad with one thin slice of smoked turkey and a boiled egg with yoghurt dressing, afternoon snack is 2 rice cakes with a cup of soup (taste depends on mood) and then dinner is normally either pasta with tomatoe sauce or steamed veggies with rice and the a cup of coffee and a treat (mostly chocolate). I am also forcing myself to drink at least 1.5 L of water every day along with a few mugs of green tea. The weekends tend to vary a bit but the general qty's and nature remains the same.
I am not sure if I am ever going to get to the white bikini stage but at the moment at least I feel that I aim regaining some control over myself. We can only try right?
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Nir
Senior Administrator
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Posted: 12 January 2007 12:23 pm |
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As far as the eating goes, you could try to tilt the balance slightly towards fruits and vegetables. You already eat some, but if you ate more of them and slightly less of the more calorie-dense carbs you eat (i.e. grains - cereal, rice, pasta) as a strategy for feeling full and avoiding calorie-counting.
Vernie wrote:
20 minutes on the cross trainer to burn fat (so I work this rather slowly) [...] My issue is that I want to improve my fitness and endurance levels but I need to burn fat as well and the two require completely different heart rates...if anyone has any suggestions, please do not hold back!
That is a common misconception. Slowing yourself down and working at a lower heart-rate on purpose does not cause you to burn more fat. It means you burn fewer calories and so the percentage of calories used up that come from fat are more. But that is silly.
Let us use a simple numeric example to illustrate this concept. Let us say that you work slowly, and burn 100 calories, and 40 of them are from fat. So that means 40% of the calories you burnt are from fat. Now let us imagine you don't "hold back" and you work out as vigorously as you can whilst still maintaining the original length of the workout. Now you are burning say 160 calories - maybe 45 of them are from fat. If you look at it as a percentage, it now looks worse "oh no, only 28% of my exercise calories are fat burnt" but the point is that you are burning more calories (the rest come from glycogen - i.e. carbs) so you are helping to create a calorie deficit and at some later point throughout the day it all evens out. Your extra deficit will cause you to lose more body fat [even though it might not be during the workout itself]
So please don't hold yourself back.
There is another issue anyway. Let us say you were aiming to have your heart rate at 70% of maximum. There are two formulas for determining this target. The simple one: 0.7 x (220-26) = 136, and kravonen 0.7 x ((220-26) - 65) + 65 = 155. As you can see, the more accurate kravonen formula sets your '70% target heart rate' at a higher number thant the less accurate linear formula.
(for the purpose of illustration I assumed that your resting heart rate, measured first thing in the morning, is 65 beats per minute)
Hope this helps.
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Vernie
New Member
| Joined: | 4 January 2007 |
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| Posts: | 8 |
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Posted: 15 January 2007 02:44 pm |
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Nir, thanks for your good advice about the intensity of the work outs. Your logic makes a whole lot of sense and quite frankly, I am relieved that I can now work out at the speed that I enjoy instead of dwadling along!
So, I have come to a point where life sucks and I am beginning to wonder why...why do I bother? I mean, I am giving up things that I like to lose weight and "look" good and nothing is changing and I think that maybe it is simply time to face the music....I am a tubby person! Suck in the gut and deal with it! BUt I can't so I am trying one last time and if there are no results then I am going to give up on it all and just enjoy life, eat what I want, exercise as I please without agenda and just think about being hit by a bus!
So, I have 2 weeks until my birthday and I will be ultra good until then (and honest about it too) to give losing this extra weight a real shot before I throw in the towel.
Plan: I won't eat pasta but will instead eat tuna salads, I will eat no sweets or chocolate in any shape or form, I will go to the gym 6 days a week without complaint and I won't eat anything after 8 pm to give my system time to do it's thing before I go to sleep at night.
I should be able to lose 1 kg in 2 weeks right? I have become so depressed by this all that I need to see some silver lining or the cloud is just going to burst and a storm will break forth!
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tidesong
Senior Member
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Posted: 15 January 2007 04:44 pm |
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1kg in 2 weeks is a fairly good pace. If you are already getting in a good amount of exercise (and don't stop lol you sound like you're doing great in that area) then changing what you eat would be a little more important for you to reach your goals.
As Nir says, veg and fruits are awesome stuff. They really do fill you up except perhaps psychologically it feels different and you might feel unfufilled, the first few days that I ate more of those and less of other things I always felt more miserable before my intake of fruit and veg than after I ate them... if that makes sense.
Well goodluck on making good choices :)
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Vernie
New Member
| Joined: | 4 January 2007 |
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| Posts: | 8 |
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Posted: 25 January 2007 05:34 pm |
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I have been rather bad this last week and I am feeling the weight of the guilt on my shoulders and it's making it all not worth while and I really, really wish that I could go back in time....basically it's all rather #%@&! at the moment and I am not seeing the light at the end of the extremely long tunnel that is in front of me!
How the #%@&! does one stay motivated? 
I hear what you are all saying about the fruit thing and don't get me wrong, I am the first person to reach for the fruit when it tastes like fruit! I live in the Netherlands and apart from berries, strawberries and the occasional good orange and pear, they have no edible fruit. Everything is spryed with chemicals, kept in the freezer (meaning that it goes bad three seconds after leaving the shop) or completely without taste. I come from the southern hemisphere originally where fruit is fruit, great taste, non chemicalised etc... making it rather difficult for me to bring myself to spend very hard earned money on the garbage that is available here. Having said all of that, I do try and eat fruit when teh chance presents itself.
Due to the fact that I am still a fat and have no self control, I am trying to take my anger out at the gym by forcing myself to go 6 days a week and to burn atleast 600 cal each time. Hopefully, it will have a positive effect if I can keep my fat hand out of the #%@&!ed cookie jar for long enough! Not a happy perosn at the moment! To make matters worse, it is my birthday on Saturday and all I feel like doing is crying....
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Jon Miller
New Member
| Joined: | 18 April 2006 |
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| Posts: | 258 |
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Posted: 25 January 2007 06:23 pm |
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I thought the point with the fat burning zone and cardio zone is that if you work out too much in the higher zone, you get hungrier, and so are more likely to eat again. If you are in the fat burning zone, you aren't using as much energy and so don't feel as hungry.
This energy thing has other results as well. I know that for myself, after a bit of cardio I run out of energy and can't go on. I can, however, walk for hours more, burning calories (at a higher than rest rate) all the while. The idea of fat burning is that that is a point which you should be able to keep up for a long period of time, as it isn't as much of a workout (doesn't require as much energy) as cardio (higher rate stuff).
If I had the time, I should go for a hike every day (for 4+ hours). The issue is that I don't have the time...
Jon Miller
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