Exercise

I could probably post this in the diet forum too, but it seems that more people follow this forum than that. I receive e-mails from My Personal Trainer and thought I'd share the tip of the day.

"Weight Loss Real Facts - To lose weight you should cut out 500 calories per day. All you have to do is bump up your activity and shave off a few calories. To increase activity every day: jog for 25 minutes (225 cal.), swim for 30 minutes (230 cal.) or bike for 45 minutes (233 cal.). To lose calories, cut out: 1 small order of French Fries (210-290 cal.), 1 individual size bag of chips (304 cal.) or 1 medium (24 fl. oz.) soda (291 cal.). *Calorie burning estimates are based on a 170 pound person."

I thought this tip makes it seem easier to lose weight and it comes at the issue from 2 angles, so if you have problems exercising you can try to attack the weight issue with diet and vice versa.

Thanx Jen,

I'm finally doing some serious things to lose some of the med induced weight I've gained & those are very helpful tips so thank you very much. I've started taking lamotrigine in the hope that I can reduce the depakote & maybe the seroquel too.

It has been really tough saying goodbye to my lovers: Ben & Jerry & Hagen-Daazs! What sucks is that I know its going to take a lot longer to lose than it did to put on. Unfortunately I like to see results very quickly...1thing that has kept me motivated so far is that exercising is making me feel better in general.

What is hard is that I have to do low impact when I really like to run & go hard. Its even hard on my knee to ride a bike...so it takes forever to burn the amount of calories that I want to. That's why I'm trying my best to diet.

What I REALLY need to do is join a gym that has a swimming pool & ride the eliptical machines...BUT its so much nicer to be outside.

lyman

Happy to help. Probably a stupid question, but do you run on the sidewalk or on a track? I don't know how bad your knee problem is. I found that I get shin splints when running consistently on the sidewalk, but if I use the high school track I don't. I also stretch a bit before and some after running as well. I agree that it is nicer to be outside. We have an elliptical machine in our basement that I use (or try to) during the winter months when it's too cold outside (although the basement gets a bit cool, too - I vow not to let it stop me from working out this winter). Do you have a sunny room where you can put an elliptical machine in your place? They are expensive, but I figured out that for me it ends up being less expensive in the long run to just buy one instead of spending the money on a gym membership. Some health insurance companies cover some or all of your gym membership fees (I know Blue Cross Blue Shield reimburses $150).

I am trying to recover from a cycle of depression. I've gained 10 lbs and i wasn't thin or fit to begin with. I am 160lbs and it is contributing to my depression because i don't feel good about myself. I am so busy and there is so much to always do....but i have started to make a list everyday (actually just started this two days ago) and walk at least 10-15 min a day. I want to do more, i want to feel better, and i want to lose weight to help feel better. Any suggestions you have to help me stay on track with keeping my to-do lists and walking everyday would be helpful. I really want to and i need help to keep this up.

My advice would be to find a buddy to work out/walk with. A buddy will help keep you motivated b/c you don't want to skip a workout when someone else is counting on you. Another option would be to take your dog with you if you have one. Dogs need exercise, too, so your dog could be like a gym buddy.

I was thinkin that me and my b/f should get back on a routine together again. We were doing P90X together but he had a horrible accident and was injured in the face and it has knocked us off track. I have walked everyday though the last 4 days for 20-30 min and i have felt better afterwards. I'll see how my b/f feels about getting back on it. Its been about a month since the accident.

Hi jd,

I'm sorry I haven't been on this thread in a while. I never answered your questions. My knee problem is such that I can't walk down stairs in a normal fashion but I can walk up stairs normally. Running is what I used to love to do especially on trails. I'm no longer able to run or jog & I'm not supposed to according to what two orthopedic docs told me. It has been over ten years since I've run...

I can hike, carefully when going downhill, ride a bicycle, swim, treadmill or elliptical. The results are much slower to show & I want instant gratification. It is a much harder road for me to get fit than it used to be ~ my meds don't help at all.

What it really is going to have to come down to is what you were talking about when you started this thread: less caloric intake. I'm working on what I put into my body as well. I was addicted to diet soda & it has been almost a month since I've had any soda. Haven't given up the Ben & Jerry's yet though.

I think it would really help if I got a workout buddy & joined a gym bc I suck at self motivation. I've gained 35-40lbs since moving to Utah & would like to lose 15-20lbs of it. Its going to be tough with winter & the holiday season.

I have exercised for a couple of weeks now...building my way back up ever so slowly.

How is your exercising going?

-cb-

I understand the self-motivation thing. When the weather was nicer, it was easier for me to get a workout in everyday. Now it's cooler outside and gets dark so early and I lose my motivation at just the time that I need to be exercising the most. As the weather gets colder, my mood usually falls as well. I tend to find more excuses to not exercise. Recently my workouts have become rather inconsistent, a few days one week, four the next, then 2, this week none yet. I haven't given up chocolate on my end (getting a bit cold for the Ben & Jerry's here, but choc. candy is another story). It's ironic that when I exercise I feel more inclined to eat well and am better able to resist sweets (chocolate is really the only thing I eat that's "bad"). If I don't exercise, I feel more guilty about eating poorly, but my mood also sucks so I don't really care if I eat well or not. The past week or so has kind of crushed my mood. It's good that I have a psych appt. on Thursday, even though I am tempted to cancel it b/c why bother w/talking when it doesn't help and isn't going to change anything. I've made myself keep the appt and not cancel it, but it's getting hard to resist the negative. All that said, I need to take my own advice from earlier and just get my butt on the elliptical, so I'm not the pot calling the kettle black, or whatever the expression is for not taking your own advice.

Jen it's true. you have to force yourself to do it whenever you're ready to be forced.
i just started going back. it's SO HARD!
esp b/c I've fallen in love with chow main. all that sodium makes it almost painful to run. among other things
just dragging myself (very grudgingly) to the gym a couple days a week so far I think has helped.
I ALSO feel more inclined to eat well when I exercise and am better able to resist junk (which for me is del taco and chow-main). I also have more mood problems w/o exercise.
i'm working on balancing this for now.
this is like the great American struggle I think.
for us maybe it affects us more? maybe we let it bother us more?