without being totally rude to those of you who are working out for the first time in years... is there anyone out there who works out regularly?
i played sports until college (scholarchip athlete). my first weight prblem was after my 1st son was born when i was 20. i went through an entire volleyball season at 172 (i'm 5'4). so exercise alone was not the key. i joined jenny craig after his 1st birthday, ther i learned portion control and was back down to 140 in 6 months. the came baby #2 and he put 40 lbs on me but they were gone 9 months later. baby #3 only gave me 17 lbs so i walked out of the hospital at prepregnancy weight. baby #4 was a total surprise as we had a vasectomy a year prior. she put 45 lbs on me, plus 10 i was lugging around. i coached a volleyball camp when i was 3 months, and walked 2-4 miles the entire pregnancy. when the weather got cold i went to the gym. but she still did a number on me. now that nilk supply is established, i've begun LC. i would like to lose about 30 lbs. hitting 30 yrs old last year didn't help i'm sure. i currently aim for a minimum of 30 minutes a day walking. add to that nursing, housework, yardwork, and the occasional kickball game and i'd stay i'm very active, just not vigorous.

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Xiomara
Goergia, USA
5/3/05, 180 lbs

You are my friend when you can guard my failure,
challenge my thought, and celebrate my success.

Turning 60 didn't help a lot either!! I've been working out for 3 years - I started off measuring how many paces I was putting each day - less than 300! :(

I started small - just parking my car a further distance from anywhere I needed to be - and walked. The paces built up - I now clock 10,000 daily. I also bought a small home gym.

Now I walk between 5-6 kilometres daily, do weight resistance training and ab work on my home gym for 30 minutes daily and 30 minutes of stretch-a-robics daily. If its raining (really really badly) and I have to miss my walk - I do 20 minutes of stepwork instead.

I couldn't give the exercise up now -and I think 3 years proves I'm a stayer with it - at 63 - its not always what I feel like doing!

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The fox is wild!



5'3" Maintaining 121-125
Original weight 198 +

I've been a regular exerciser for many years. I have a large collection of fitness videos, and do at least 30 minutes at home every day, alternating cardio, weight training, yoga, rebounding. Lately I've been adding some outdoor running, because I signed up for a rather challenging (hills!) 5K the first weekend in June.

I also ice skate--more in winter, when I can skate at lunchtime on an outdoor rink near where I work. I try to keep up my skills at an indoor rink over the summer.

Right now, I'm working hard on arms and shoulders, getting ready for those skimpy summer tops. No mudflaps for this gal!

I'm 58 1/2 y/o, at my goal weight of about 135, give or take, using Atkins. I have a sitdown job, so I like to walk at lunchtime.

Sounds like you have a very full life! Hope you enjoy your kid-free vacation with DH coming up. You deserve it!

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Barb L.
Atkins since Jan 2003
Maintenance as of 4/05


My Fitday Journal

I have a Gazelle, which I love. I also bought an $1800 home gym for $300 recently and love it, too. And I like to walk when someone will walk with me. The gym is just not the right place for me.

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O hey yeah - I went into town to the gym for a year - just to be sure I knew how to do it all properly. Then I went and bought my own basic home gym - basically because I didn't think walking on a treadmill was as good (or as nice!) as walking on the beach in the sunshine. Also - if I went to the gym in town - I didn't have enough time in the day to get to the beach as well - but now I can do both everyday. My gym was 1,200 (AUS) but it was well worth the investment - a gym membership cost 1,000 (AUS) annually for hub and myself - and we only went 2-3 times per week - now we can use the gym everyday AND walk as well!!

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The fox is wild!



5'3" Maintaining 121-125
Original weight 198 +

Walking on the beach every day! Now wouldn't that be great!? I only have to drive 1500 miles (that's east) to find the nearest ocean.

However, DH and I spend most of September there, so I have great days to look forward to.

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Barb L.
Atkins since Jan 2003
Maintenance as of 4/05


My Fitday Journal

Wow, its great Ive come to this thread. Ive been contemplating investing in a home gym myself. The Y is great but I feel I can get more workouts with a home gym. But I do love the classes there and the friendships I've developed. Ive even contemplated taking the fitness trainer course and perhaps doing that as a parttime job or something. Maybe specializing in Taebo, kickboxing or something, that is my favorite class.

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Started LC 1-10-04

302/199/160, 103lbs down, 39 to go, simply remarkable.

Restart- 8-19-07
242/226/160


405 points to date ( HOLIDAY CHALLENGE )

while home gyms are great, those of you who do go to a gym will understand my next couple of statements.

if you've every been on a piece of equipment, say the treadmill, on a crappy day find that the minutes just lag on by? but when your chatting about the latest episode of desperate housewives with the woman next to you it'll be 45 minutes before your realize it. maybe it just me and my lack of adult interaction throughout the day makes me a chatter box when i get around adults. lol.
also, i have come to love the aerobic weightlifting classes (light weight (-10lbs) and very high reps (2 minutes worth). i love this class. it not only gives me inch results very quickly but the fast past of the music gets me lifting faster and longer than i would do myself and my heart rate is up as well.

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Xiomara
Goergia, USA
5/3/05, 180 lbs

You are my friend when you can guard my failure,
challenge my thought, and celebrate my success.

Class is great for inspiration. I always used to enjoy group aerobics (step) with an instructor. It's more convenient now for me to workout at home, but that's why I use videos--for company and for music.

One of my favorite home workouts is Bodypump. It's aerobic weight training with great tunes. It really perks me up, especially on days when I don't especially "feel like" working out.

I don't like to walk or run with a partner, however. I hate trying to keep someone else's pace. I like being able to choose my route at whim, and I like thinking my own thoughts, especially concentrating on breathing, stride, intervals, or whatever else I choose. But I can see that having a chat with a neighbor on a treadmill could be fun and energizing.

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Barb L.
Atkins since Jan 2003
Maintenance as of 4/05


My Fitday Journal

body pump-that's what they call it at gold's gym. now i'm a member of a local small gym where the class is taught a bit different. so instead i do the bodypump style with my headphones on. its still more challending when you follow and instructor who pushes you.

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Xiomara
Goergia, USA
5/3/05, 180 lbs

You are my friend when you can guard my failure,
challenge my thought, and celebrate my success.

Barb, you're right....exercising (walking) with someone else is kind of hard if you are at different fitness levels or want to choose different strides, etc. I walked with a lady last year and we were at about the same level and had similar interests (kids and lowcarb), but I went walking with some of my Dr.Phil group members last Saturday and it was very apparent that we were all at different levels. I talked the whole time and barely broke a sweat. The chronic exerciser was just humoring us. The heaviest one was sweating profusely and out of breath. The one with the liver problem wanted to stop 30 minutes in and go eat. Maybe that wasn't such a good idea!
I would really like to choose about 10 really good (80's) songs...you know, very uptempo disco to have burned onto a CD. Then my friend (the chronic exerciser) could work up an aerobic routine to the music. It would feel more like dancing to me and I'd love it (or learn to HATE those songs!).
I ususally wear 5 pound weights on each ankle, and carry 3 lb. handweights when I walk, trying to get all the advantage I can out of those walks!

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Maxibee, I don't like to sound officious, but those 5 lb weights on your ankles are not a good idea. That's a huge strain on your knee and hip joints. To add weight intensity, I sometimes fasten my ankle weights end to end with the velcro straps around my waist instead.

For outdoor walking and rebounding, I use some 60s, 70s and 80s pop music that I bought on tape from collagevideo.com. The ones I have for fast walking are 142-155 bpm or something like that. I like them because they give me an even beat.

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Barb L.
Atkins since Jan 2003
Maintenance as of 4/05


My Fitday Journal

Barb, I had heard that before....but I'm on my feet all day squatting and lifting, I also do weight training on the home gym. The ankle weights don't seem to bother me as far as pain or soreness goes. Is it something that shows up later, like wearing down cartilage or something?

I could do the weights around the waist (if they'll reach!), but more likely than not, I'll be inside for a while: the Texas heat has hit with a full blow....we were up to 99 already! I think it's time to crank it up a notch on the gym.

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Maxibee, YMMV. I put "walking with ankle weights" in GOOGLE, and this is just one of several sites that popped up:

http://www.adventuresportsonline.com/weights-walk.htm

The only people recommending ankle weight were the folks selling them!

The consensus seems to be--to increase the burn, walk faster. Ankle weights slow down your pace and put strain on your ligaments. Same goes for handweights that inhibit free arm movement.

You're relatively young (I looked up your stats). The weight work you do counts a lot. But your joints will thank you later if you cut out the ankle weights while walking.

__________________
Barb L.
Atkins since Jan 2003
Maintenance as of 4/05


My Fitday Journal