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Update on my progress. Cut back on wine limiting drinks to one day a week. Walking everyday. From a starting weight of 233 I am now at 220. With thanksgiving and Christmas coming it will be tough. Thanks for your input and support.
It took you over two months to lose 13 pounds. Not much of an accomplishment, but definitely an accomplishment. It means you're able to lose weight, cut back on things you know you shouldn't have, and get moving.
So now cut back on something else, and add in some variety to your exercise.
Suggestion - an "old lady's version of suicide sprints". A suicide sprint is where you sprint (run as fast as you can) a short distance, pause just long enough to turn around, and then walk back to the starting point. Then turn again and sprint 50% further, turn around, and walk back, and repeat til you've gone around one city block. It's called suicide sprint because it is MUCH harder than it sounds and causes palpitations and you're sweating bullets and feel exhausted when it's over.
An old lady's version: do the above but instead of running as fast as you can, power-walk. Powerwalk up, turn, walk briskly, but not power-walk, back. Bend the knees as you propel yourself forward, swing your arms, roll your feet from mid-sole to toe. It's almost like running but your feet do most of the work instead of your hips doing it. Much safer for us old folks, less likely to trip, less brutal on the knees and hip joints, and even easier on the feet. You'll still get your heart rate up and still sweat but you won't feel like you're at death's door when you're done. Great exercise for the butt and backs of the thighs, which you absolutely need when you age so you can get up and down from a chair (my dad can attest to why that's so important - he needs help to get up and down from a chair and regrets that he didn't keep his lower torso in shape when he was able).
Limit yourself to one piece of bread per day. Any piece. It could be a deli roll, or a piece of toast, or a slice of pizza (that is a bread, whether you want to admit it or not), or a piece of naan, or a small pita pocket. Consider you get bonus points if it's a pita stuffed with wonderful things like crisp lettuce, diced tomato, a few chopped calamata olives, a heaping tablespoon of crumbled feta, a little chopped onion, fresh-made tahini dressing with garlic and lemon juice, and a sprinkle of parsley.
If you drink soda every day, reduce it to twice a week. If you drink sugar-free soda, just stop drinking soda, period. It is doing nothing for you at all, in any way, shape, or form. At least with regular soda, you get some energy from the sugar carbs and the satisfaction your body feels when it consumes real actual sugar.
If you eat pasta every week as a main dish, then eat it as a side dish instead. A big plate of macaroni with two golf-ball sized meatballs? Switch that to a small plate of macaroni with three or even four golf-ball sized meatballs. Plus salad. No croutons.
Do you like ice cream? Great. Have a scoop every week. A single scoop. No extra toppings. Real actual dairy ice cream. Are you lactose intolerant but love ice cream? Oh well. No ice cream for you. If your body doesn't like a thing, then stop trying to figure out a way to eat it. Just stop eating that thing, don't substitute something else. All that does is make you eat extra of the something else while your body laments that it can't get what it really wants. That's why you see a lot of overweight people at the frozen yogurt shop.
Update on my progress. Cut back on wine limiting drinks to one day a week. Walking everyday. From a starting weight of 233 I am now at 220. With thanksgiving and Christmas coming it will be tough. Thanks for your input and support.
I don't know what your temptation foods at Xmas and Thxgiving are. Maybe you could develop some new, healthier ones to make your favorites. I was never interested in turkey stuffing, nor in gravy. Ugh to both. The only thing I had to give up was mashed potatoes. So I fill my plate with turkey, salad, string beans were common for the holidays in the extended family. A small amount of casserole if there is some. Easy. Got seconds on turkey and veggies if still hungry. Skip the dinner rolls. Maybe just a small bit of dessert, if any. Enjoy fruity tea with cream for dessert.
You can do it, if you psych yourself in advance. Maybe add some avocado slices to the salad, as your special treat, instead of turkey stuffing or gravy. Or spread some nice, garlicky guacamole on your turkey instead of gravy. Get creative! Yum!
Suggestion - an "old lady's version of suicide sprints". A suicide sprint is where you sprint (run as fast as you can) a short distance, pause just long enough to turn around, and then walk back to the starting point. Then turn again and sprint 50% further, turn around, and walk back, and repeat til you've gone around one city block. It's called suicide sprint because it is MUCH harder than it sounds and causes palpitations and you're sweating bullets and feel exhausted when it's over.
An old lady's version: do the above but instead of running as fast as you can, power-walk. Powerwalk up, turn, walk briskly, but not power-walk, back. Bend the knees as you propel yourself forward, swing your arms, roll your feet from mid-sole to toe. It's almost like running but your feet do most of the work instead of your hips doing it. Much safer for us old folks, less likely to trip, less brutal on the knees and hip joints, and even easier on the feet. You'll still get your heart rate up and still sweat but you won't feel like you're at death's door when you're done. Great exercise for the butt and backs of the thighs, which you absolutely need when you age so you can get up and down from a chair (my dad can attest to why that's so important - he needs help to get up and down from a chair and regrets that he didn't keep his lower torso in shape when he was able).
I've been hearing more and more about the benefits of sprinting.
Update on my progress. Cut back on wine limiting drinks to one day a week. Walking everyday. From a starting weight of 233 I am now at 220. With thanksgiving and Christmas coming it will be tough. Thanks for your input and support.
You can still eat the traditional staples at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Just take only half of what you would normally put on your plate of each dish. It's all about portion size.
I've lost roughly thirty-five pounds since the beginning of this year, solely by cutting my portion sizes, with the first twenty-five pounds of that occurring during the first three months and the last ten pounds slowly falling off over the last six months. Of course, being only twenty-three, the weight came off about as easy as it came on!
I'm 5'8" and I started this year at around 178 pounds. I'm down to a consistent 143 pounds, with mild fluctuations of a pound or two in both directions depending on what I do and do not eat. The important thing I'm doing is maintaining my weight loss, as I'm done losing and do not want to gain any. That's something you'll have to master, too, and should keep that in the back of your mind.
I've been hearing more and more about the benefits of sprinting.
Sprinting is great if you're an athlete. Not so great if you're not. It's very hard on the knees, it's a strain on the respiratory and cardiovascular systems, it can be hard on the feet and middle back as well.
Suicide sprints are not the same as "sprinting" as a regular exercise or athletic skill.
It's basically - walk to the edge of your property line, then run as fast as you can back to your front door. Then walk to the property line, and around 10 feet further. And run as fast as you can to your front door. Rinse and repeat until you've gone to the next door neighbor's -other- property line and back, then you're done.
It causes you to sweat profusely, find difficulty in catching your breath, and some people pass out doing it. That's why they're called "suicide sprints."
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