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So you are doing 50 minutes each time you workout? I also have not done any rest days. A couple days I only worked out once, but I've pretty much stuck to twice a day - a mile each time.
Clothes don't feel any different but I wear loose clothing.
I worked up from 20 minutes-50 minutes and 2%incline to 10% incline in 10 minutes and 2% incline increments each week. You need to vary your speed on the treadmill in order to challenge your body. Measurements are a good indication of making progress.
This article is one of many articles to use as a guide for treadmill workouts.
Does your treadmill have programs such as a weight loss program? If so, if you set the program, it will automatically switch the incline and speed for your weight loss.
OK---so I am not going to ask your weight--LOL--but let my give you some figures and you can extrapolate from those to see how many calories you are burning. And then I'll tell ya how many you need to burn to drop some el-bees.
A woman who ways 150 lbs. will burn about 125 calories for every miles she walks. So..with a very little bit of math we can see that she'll burn about 300 calories a day doing what you are doing.
The more you weight the more calories you burn doing the same exercise as someone who weighs less.
(These are actually kCAls, as in X1000, but we will go with the popular and not the technical jargon here).
So your new exercise routine is burnin' ya about 300 cals a day, which is the equivalent of a candy bar or a small slice of pizza.
And since you admit to have recently quit smoking--congrats on that, BTW--I am going to assume (please forgive if I am wrong) that you just might be eating at least that much more a day since you quit. Hey! it's OK, it is normal and still far better for you than smoking.
I just feel you are going to have to ramp up your exercise regimen a bit to see some pounds melt off.
You must get your heart rate up as well. You want to hit 70% of your maximum heart rate. This is your target rate. Take the number 220. Subtract your age. Now take 70% of that number. OK..the number you now have: 130 or whatever it is? That is how many beats per minute you want your heart rate to be, from exercise, for an hour a day, for 4-5 days a week.
Do this and eat clean and you can expect to lose 3-5 lbs. a month.
Good luck!
p.s....Drink lots of water, and do not skip meals!
I worked up from 20 minutes-50 minutes and 2%incline to 10% incline in 10 minutes and 2% incline increments each week. You need to vary your speed on the treadmill in order to challenge your body. Measurements are a good indication of making progress.
This article is one of many articles to use as a guide for treadmill workouts.
Does your treadmill have programs such as a weight loss program? If so, if you set the program, it will automatically switch the incline and speed for your weight loss.
My treadmill is kind of old and quirky I got it on Craigslist. I set the mph but it kind of jumps around for no particular reason, I try to work around it by just keeping up the same brisk pace and varying the incline. I may have to get someone in to look at it and tune it up, but will have to wait until next month's pension and SS come in.
I am NOWHERE near being able to run. I have a condition that affects my balance and puts a bit of wobble in my knees.
OK---so I am not going to ask your weight--LOL--but let my give you some figures and you can extrapolate from those to see how many calories you are burning. And then I'll tell ya how many you need to burn to drop some el-bees.
A woman who ways 150 lbs. will burn about 125 calories for every miles she walks. So..with a very little bit of math we can see that she'll burn about 300 calories a day doing what you are doing.
The more you weight the more calories you burn doing the same exercise as someone who weighs less.
(These are actually kCAls, as in X1000, but we will go with the popular and not the technical jargon here).
So your new exercise routine is burnin' ya about 300 cals a day, which is the equivalent of a candy bar or a small slice of pizza.
And since you admit to have recently quit smoking--congrats on that, BTW--I am going to assume (please forgive if I am wrong) that you just might be eating at least that much more a day since you quit. Hey! it's OK, it is normal and still far better for you than smoking.
I just feel you are going to have to ramp up your exercise regimen a bit to see some pounds melt off.
You must get your heart rate up as well. You want to hit 70% of your maximum heart rate. This is your target rate. Take the number 220. Subtract your age. Now take 70% of that number. OK..the number you now have: 130 or whatever it is? That is how many beats per minute you want your heart rate to be, from exercise, for an hour a day, for 4-5 days a week.
Do this and eat clean and you can expect to lose 3-5 lbs. a month.
Good luck!
p.s....Drink lots of water, and do not skip meals!
Guess I need to get a heart rate monitor. It looks like the treadmill had one at one time but it is long gone. According to your formula 220-65 (my age) X 70% = 108. So 108 would be my target, right?
For a while after quitting smoking, I did eat more, but I tried to keep it as healthy as possible, carrots, celery (OK, OK with a little ranch dressing). But now I'm back to normal eating habits mostly trying to keep the carbs low. I will re-double my efforts on the diet and maybe start doing some low tech upper body by lifting canned foods.
Baby steps, baby steps. I know myself well enough to know that if I try to do too much too soon, I will get discouraged and give up. I 'm so proud and kind of amazed that I have stuck to it so far.
Thanks everyone, (except Mr Snarky) for the advice and encouragement. I'm going to sign off for now. I'll try to come back with updates in the near future.
Weight loss takes years and years. Not 15 days. Not 15 weeks. Not 15 months. It's a way of life: diet, exercise, focus, execution, persistence, consistency, always, and forever. If being fit and looking good were remotely easy, 90% of the population would not look as bad as it does. It's hard! And that it is why it is worth it!
OP, look at what that 2 miles a day is getting you. One mile burns *about* 100 calories. It varies a bit, for diiferent people if course, butt 100 is a good "rule of thumb". Now, if you are doing this twice a day, say, 200 calories, then in a week you have burned an extra 1400 calories. Two weeks, and that isn't even going to burn off one pound. If you also were to eat a bit more, thinking that you had "earned it", well, you see where I am going. You need to increase that mileage, I would say to a minimum of 3 miles a day, and be absolutely certain that you are not increasing your calorie intake.
OP, look at what that 2 miles a day is getting you. One mile burns *about* 100 calories. It varies a bit, for diiferent people if course, butt 100 is a good "rule of thumb". Now, if you are doing this twice a day, say, 200 calories, then in a week you have burned an extra 1400 calories. Two weeks, and that isn't even going to burn off one pound. If you also were to eat a bit more, thinking that you had "earned it", well, you see where I am going. You need to increase that mileage, I would say to a minimum of 3 miles a day, and be absolutely certain that you are not increasing your calorie intake.
Someone who has not exercised or walked for a very long time cannot just get on a treadmill and walk for 3 miles each day without working up to it.
They will be exhausted, they will possibly injure themselves and they will not return to the treadmill because they will be exhausted and possibly injure themselves.
This has to be worked up to at a comfortable for them physically level otherwise it will not continue past the first day or so.
And 2 miles per day in addition to cutting back on daily calorie consumption works great, slow but great.
I lost 500 pounds doing that and it took me a few months to work up to the 2 miles daily because I had not exercised and I weighed more than 650 pounds. It was an absolute necessity that I take my time working up to it and I was also not able to physically drop my daily calorie consumption all at once.
The time frame it took me to lose that much weight was years however, I did not have surgery, did not join a group, use fake food from a program and have not gained the weight back following a "fad" diet.
It was a complete lifestyle change that has lasted more than 20 years for me because I worked up to it at my own physical comfort level, slowly.
Someone who has not exercised or walked for a very long time cannot just get on a treadmill and walk for 3 miles each day without working up to it.
They will be exhausted, they will possibly injure themselves and they will not return to the treadmill because they will be exhausted and possibly injure themselves.
This has to be worked up to at a comfortable for them physically level otherwise it will not continue past the first day or so.
And 2 miles per day in addition to cutting back on daily calorie consumption works great, slow but great.
I lost 500 pounds doing that and it took me a few months to work up to the 2 miles daily because I had not exercised and I weighed more than 650 pounds. It was an absolute necessity that I take my time working up to it and I was also not able to physically drop my daily calorie consumption all at once.
The time frame it took me to lose that much weight was years however, I did not have surgery, did not join a group, use fake food from a program and have not gained the weight back following a "fad" diet.
It was a complete lifestyle change that has lasted more than 20 years for me because I worked up to it at my own physical comfort level, slowly.
THANK YOU! You really do understand where I am. And huge kudos to you for your amazing weight loss and maintaining it! You inspire me!
I'm going at a pace that suits me and everyday I'll add another little challenge - another tenth of a mile, lift canned soup, increase the incline for 5 minutes, etc. That's the only way I won't get overwhelmed and discouraged.
^^^ I think barring an injury or being severely overweight, most people can walk a lot further than they think they can. Walking is pretty much what humans do. It's just hella boring on a treadmill so people lose their mind and can't stand to do it for more than a half hour at a time. The main hazard is getting blisters on your feet, not exhaustion or other form of injury.
Congrats on your weight loss, that is pretty impressive.
I went from absolutely no exercise to working out twice daily on a treadmill. Have worked up to 1 mile in 21 minutes twice a day. Pace is 3 miles an hour and 1.5 to 2 incline. Shouldn't I see some - even 1 or 2 pounds of weight loss by now? I'm getting a little discouraged. People told me it would start to melt off relatively soon.
I don't expect miracles, but something. Am I being too impatient? Any encouragement and success stories would be most welcome.
First of all congrats on your program. I've always thought that 15 days is an important threshold in trying to establish any new habit. A martial arts guy once told me that if you can do a thing for 15 days, you can do it the rest of your life.
However it is just a start. It's too soon to expect results. I'd suggest trying to increase your pace. Start by doing the last two minutes of your workout at a 6mph jog, and add two minutes once per week. Jog pace is going to be more enjoyable on the treadmill anyway. IMO you risk quitting from sheer boredom if you don't try to push the pace a little. 6mph is 10 minutes per mile, and is not a fast pace.
I suggest that you might be better off doing one 42 minute session than 2 21 minute sessions. Your body has several energy systems--one is anaerobic, used for very short, intense exercise (e.g. sprint). One is glycogen (carb-based) used for less intense exercise as you're doing. A third is using fat as energy, which obviously is what anyone seeking to lose weight wants to tap into. The problem is that the body tends not to use this system until after 30 minutes of exercise, which you are never hitting.
The energy for aerobic metabolism comes from two sources glycogen (muscle and liver glycogen, blood glucose) and fat. Aerobic glycogen conversion is the most readily available source of energy and the primary energy source up to about 30 minutes of exercise. After 30 minutes, fat has been mobilized from fat stores and becomes a major contributor.
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