Diet & Weight Loss General Support #8

[livvy]

Argh! Trying to muster up the will power to not enjoy the cornflakes and sultana biscuits baking in the oven!!!

lol i totally sympathise! i think it was on about day 10 of my "no baking et al" diet (yay! up to almost 3 weeks!) and was making gingernuts with the baby and it took *all* of my willpower not to taste even one! but truly it is feeling so so so much easier now. they say it takes 21 days to form a habit and am on day 19 or 20 i think.

you'll get there!

mildez - yup am tallish too (not tall tall, but average tall IYKWIM) at about 170-171cm. and big boned too so although WHO guidelines for BMI say that someone my height can be as light as 53.5kg (dear GOD that is small!) i don't go below 60kgs without being unhealthy and look severely underweight if i do... (last time got down to 58kg after D&C so was really unhappy and just not managing to eat although didn't realise it, time before that was after wisdom teeth so mouth too swollen to eat).. and am a bit sad that i think i will never fit anything below a 14 again as hips were pushed apart by bub coming out - he was in a rush - natural birth without pain relief, only took 3 and a half hours! midwives asked if i was sure i'd not done it before, that made me laugh! :P

have a fabulous day everyone! is gorgeous and sunny today! who would have thought yesterday was so stormy, still windy though - but then this is wellington!

[ladybird11]

Tellytubby - I'm so sorry about the D&C hun, but I'm glad you're in here with us hun. Exercise does help release good endorphin's etc and they hang around longer and have less guilt factor than eating a Tim Tam anyday - honest - it's a proven fact. Are you with me on the Fat Chic Slim FB page hun? And are you happy with me offering some tough love sometimes? Just like to check first as some people aren't ready to face facts and need a more gentle approach...

Livvy - have you got a Heart Rate monitor? If you do a hard 30 min HITT session, continuing on with a brisk / gentle walk won't lessen your efforts. Though you will move down from 'fitness' training (generally anything above 80% of your HR maximum) into the 'fat burning' range (anywhere around the 60% - 79% of your HR maximum) you'll still be burning calories at a higher rate than if you didn't do the HITT session in the first place. Does that make sense? Any activity is GOOD activity (I'm tempted to wear my HR monitor during sex lol but I think that'd be too distracting lol, even if I put it on silent mode). Having a HR monitor helps taking the 'guess factor' out of exercise and can help you keep track of the calories you burn (+ or - 20%). I found my training was more fun when I could try and beat my personal bests each session - or at least make sure i'm on par with the previous session and not slackening off too much.

Belfie - You are shorter than me (not taking the pi$$ hun) so I think 55kgs is totally do-able for you. I've also found even second weight loss time around the weight will always come off the ab's last. Lol, we sound like mirror images. I'm also athletic build and my DH is not wanting me to go back down to 55kgs again, he said I looked to scrawny - he's happy with where I am right now (to be revealed shortly ). Now I'm going to stop telling him what I weigh otherwise he'll just say I look scrawny based on a number and now how I look, IYKWIM? Dunno about your budget but I'm so stoked with my weight loss that I've got an appointment with a 'fashion stylist' to help me pick clothes that suit my colour, shape and lifestyle etc. It's a bit of a splurge, but I also view it as a reward and an investment (not buying clothes that I wear once and throw to the back of the wardrobe never to see daylight again).
And I totally agree re - feeling fitter, stronger etc, I now feel like I 'glide' through my workouts (although it is still a damn hard workout IYKWIM?) and they give me more energy rather than sap it.

Mildez - not sure what the go is with your DH, but let me just ramble here...? You say 'you wish your DH was fat', so I'm assuming he is slim? I question his security - eg, would he / does he feel that if you were slim you might score some interest from other men, so by keeping 'not so slim' he doesn't have that insecurity? I notice a big difference in my DH's security now that I am slimmer again. He keeps saying he feels threatened that I'll run off with some other guy lol. I just keep reassuring him that won't be the case - the rest of the work he needs to do in his head, IYKWIM? I've heard lots of positive stories about MB's 12 wk Challenge - so I'm looking forward to hearing about your progress!

Ausgirl - 8 cms off your tummy is friggin great! Surely you'd be due to go shopping now too eh?

AFM - My waist is now 80cm's (I take the measurment over my belly button so it is consistent fyi) and I'm in the 60's now (60.8 as of this morning). So I've averaged a kilo a week for the last 8 weeks - and that's doing vigorous exercise every day since DD2 was 4.5wks. I've got 800 grams to go to my first weight goal. Then it'll be time to re-assess.

[livvy]

Livvy - have you got a Heart Rate monitor? If you do a hard 30 min HITT session, continuing on with a brisk / gentle walk won't lessen your efforts. Though you will move down from 'fitness' training (generally anything above 80% of your HR maximum) into the 'fat burning' range (anywhere around the 60% - 79% of your HR maximum) you'll still be burning calories at a higher rate than if you didn't do the HITT session in the first place. Does that make sense?

lol...uuum, no i don't have one. and that went *way* over my head! have never been a gym bunny or exercise fanatic, so am not really up to speed on all the lingo lol! so is lower heart rate better for fat burning? so like walking better for fat burning that doing intervals? or was it the other way around? sorry sorry sorry for being dim lol!

oh and are they something that has a battery to be work on your person? if so i might have to pass on it as have a high magnetic field (i kid you not) and make all things with batteries (laptops, cellphones, watches etc) stop within about two months of meeting me... is very sad and rather annoying!

[ladybird11]

Oh wow - Livvy! Um, yeah, it can also function as a watch. No worries - we can do it old skool style .

220 minus your age = X (we'll use me as an example as I can't see your age on your sig lol). So 220 - 31 = 189.

189 is my heart rate maximum (if it beats faster than that I'm in trouble lol!).

Then you just work out what each % is eg if I wanted to stick to a 'fat burning' range I'd aim for 70% (70 divided by 100 multiply by 189 = 132 beats per min).

How do you work out if your heart is beating that fast during a workout? Well you do have to slow down a bit (but don't stop entirely, just walking around is fine - this prevents blood pooling around the heart). Find your pulse and count the beats for 15 seconds. Multiply that number by 4 and it'll give you the number of beats per minute. So I'd want to reach the number 33 in that 15 second count to hit 132 beats per min to KNOW I'm working out at 70% of my maximum heart rate. If I only reach 30 beats per min I know I'd be just under that 70% - but still in the fat burning range etc....

I hope it's not all gobbledegook to you - I've tried explaining it as clear as I can.

My tip is to work out what 60%, 70%, 80% and 90% of your heart rate maximum is - write it down and before long you'll have a really good idea on where abouts what level you are working at...I hope this helps hun!

[belfie]

Aaah Leesa, you remind me I should get more scientific. I do have a HRM, but the battery is flat and I ...erm... haven't done anything about replacing it . Interesting re your DH & the numbers, I think mine would be exactly the same if I said I wanted to be 55, and yes I truly am shorter than you good things in small packages (I know you weren't taking the pi$$ ). As for your loss, woo hoo, you go girl!!! Congrats! I'm so excited for you!!!

I have a confession. I'm jealous of your waists. I can't believe everyone seems to have a smaller waist than me lol (I know I shouldn't compare... but you know ). I'm still on 87cm, and that's with a BMI under 24!!! I read s'thing the other day about a study where folks who drank diet soda had a much greater increase in waistline over 10 years. And diet coke, well that's my not-so-secret vice . I love my diet coke. But I've decided to cut it out for 30 days and see if I notice a greater improvement in my waistline, honestly I've nothing to lose. But interestingly I'm on day 3 off it, and I'm like a cat on a hot tin roof - soooooo edgy/grumpy/jumpy/snappy. So I'm 'fessing up in here to try & keep myself honest. And I do feel a bit embarrased/ashamed. Help me to stay off it pls pls!

[livvy]

oh belfie! that's no good... i have to say i used to like coke and would drink it with takeaways quite happily (this was years ago), and then just stopped i can't remember why...possibly one of those science experiments with the tarnish off copper with coke... or a tooth hanging in it for week... that kind of thing! but now if i taste it it is sooo sickly sweet, i can't stand it! so am certain it's possible! well done you for giving it up! sounds like how i was with baking lol!

lessa, am 24 but turn 25 in just over a month so am going to go with 195. so for the 15sec counts do these numbers sound right: 90% - 44, 80% - 39, 70% - 34, 60% - 29? thank you so much BTW!

well, am feeling super virtuous today with eating (after last night's curry lol), hopefully will keep it that way as ought to do some baking and fill the tins...

[Mildez]

Leesa I wondered that my self if DH wanted to keep me fat for a reason. My husband is very thin. He was 70kilos last time he weighed himself years ago and his thinner then that now (his 6'4") His the jealous type but his not insecure in our marriage at all if you can be one but not the other.

Tellytubby your doing so well. I don't think I could have resisted.

Belfie I am so going to have to give up on my coke zero if thats true about the added waist line. Your waist is way smaller then mine. My BMI is about 27 I think and I just did my waist and it was 97cm. I expect if I did it first thing in the morning it would be smaller. That was measuring from my belly button and not pulling the tape. It was loose. I have no idea how to do measurements. Its not something Ive done before.

Well of to sneak in a walk and then I can come back and update my lack of progress.