Take care of yourself

agateguy · Aug 24, 2008

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

I'm slowly plugging my way through this thread, but want to comment on what I have read so far.

1. I've heard the arguments against diet soft drinks myself. They are listed as a core food in Weight Watchers' Core Plan, but I'm sure WW doesn't really intend for you to gulp down a hundred 2-liters a week. I'm not even sure 1 2-liter a week is all that good for you. If aspartame keeps you from burning calories, then it's time to drink water, I guess. I really would like though to keep drinking diet soft drinks and black tea sweetened with Equal - in moderation.

2. I'm up to 33 minutes on the treadmill and am now starting at 3 mph, ending the work out at 3.3 mph. I'll probably keep that up for another week, then decide whether to up it to 36 minutes or increase the speed. One of the WW books I borrowed from the public library suggested that beginning walkers start out at 10 minutes a day, upping the time by 3 minutes per week.

What I'm wondering now is where to stop? If I do 35, 36 minutes moderate to high pace on the treadmill, and walk 10, 15, 20 minutes at other parts of the day low intensity (without stopping), will that suffice for the walking part of my weight loss regimen? Or should I start preparing instead to begin jogging, or running? I'm happy to spend 45 minutes a day walking, and up to another hour in the weight room 3-4 times a week. I really don't want to spend 5 hours a day in the gym.

Smallpotatoes · Aug 24, 2008

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

agateguy said:

I'm slowly plugging my way through this thread, but want to comment on what I have read so far.

1. I've heard the arguments against diet soft drinks myself. They are listed as a core food in Weight Watchers' Core Plan, but I'm sure WW doesn't really intend for you to gulp down a hundred 2-liters a week. I'm not even sure 1 2-liter a week is all that good for you. If aspartame keeps you from burning calories, then it's time to drink water, I guess. I really would like though to keep drinking diet soft drinks and black tea sweetened with Equal - in moderation.

2. I'm up to 33 minutes on the treadmill and am now starting at 3 mph, ending the work out at 3.3 mph. I'll probably keep that up for another week, then decide whether to up it to 36 minutes or increase the speed. One of the WW books I borrowed from the public library suggested that beginning walkers start out at 10 minutes a day, upping the time by 3 minutes per week.

What I'm wondering now is where to stop? If I do 35, 36 minutes moderate to high pace on the treadmill, and walk 10, 15, 20 minutes at other parts of the day low intensity (without stopping), will that suffice for the walking part of my weight loss regimen? Or should I start preparing instead to begin jogging, or running? I'm happy to spend 45 minutes a day walking, and up to another hour in the weight room 3-4 times a week. I really don't want to spend 5 hours a day in the gym.
Click to expand...

Interval training is a good way to get a better workout in a limited amount of time.

The Big Ragu · Aug 24, 2008

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

agate, Take it slow. If are not in very good shape yet, be patient and just keep walking and up the intensity SLOWLY. Week by week if you have to and in small increases. What you are doing is healthy and making you start to work already, so don't feel like you have to do crazy increases all at once.

Taking it slowly is also not just a matter of not winding yourself, which will make you more likely to quit. If you try to run before your legs are conditioned for it, you can hurt yourself pretty badly. If you have the treadmill at 3 mph right now for a half hour, work on two things: Increasing the pace little by little and walking some on an incline. You will raise your heartbeat and push yourself a little more by walking on an incline some days or mixing it into otherwise flat routines for a a few minutes.

Eventually, though, when you are finding the 3 mph or 3.3 mph walks easier than they used to be, pick it up to 3.5 mph and then 4 mph, etc. Everyone is different. You might be able to make the increases every few days or it may take a while. Don't get impatient. You will make progress if you stay at it, and when your conditioning really kicks in, you might make some crazy gains all at once.

Somewhere around 4.5 mph or so, most people will find themselves in a very light jog. Aim for that as your crossover into running. So your legs and feet can get used to it, I would suggest sticking around that pace for at least two weeks before upping the intensity, even if you feel your conditioning can handle more. If you injure your legs or give yourself shin splints or foot problems because you didn't ease your body into running, you won't be able to do anything and it will set you back. Let your body adjust to what you are doing to it.

Depending on the shape you are in, a half hour at that pace might be too difficult right now, so build up to it by shedding weight and getting used to the exercise--a bit faster every few days or every week, with some incline mixed in to get your heart used to working harder. Keep upping the pace as you lose weight and get into better condition. If you can get yourself to jogging at 6 mph, you will be running 10 minute miles, so getting through that mark is a great motivational goal. A half hour at 6 mph is also a 3 mile run. I don't know if you are the same, but things like that motivate me. If I was ready to do a half hour run at 6 mph, I would set the thing to 6.1 so I can say I ran a sub 10 minute mile.

One tip for when you get to jogging and then running. When I run on a treadmill, I actually prefer to run on a slight incline. It is easier on my legs for some reason, and people say it also better approximates running outdoors, where the surface isn't perfectly flat and you have wind resistance and you don't have a belt propelling you along.

agateguy · Aug 25, 2008

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

The Big Ragu said:

agate, Take it slow. If are not in very good shape yet, be patient and just keep walking and up the intensity SLOWLY. Week by week if you have to and in small increases. What you are doing is healthy and making you start to work already, so don't feel like you have to do crazy increases all at once.

Taking it slowly is also not just a matter of not winding yourself, which will make you more likely to quit. If you try to run before your legs are conditioned for it, you can hurt yourself pretty badly. If you have the treadmill at 3 mph right now for a half hour, work on two things: Increasing the pace little by little and walking some on an incline. You will raise your heartbeat and push yourself a little more by walking on an incline some days or mixing it into otherwise flat routines for a a few minutes.

Eventually, though, when you are finding the 3 mph or 3.3 mph walks easier than they used to be, pick it up to 3.5 mph and then 4 mph, etc. Everyone is different. You might be able to make the increases every few days or it may take a while. Don't get impatient. You will make progress if you stay at it, and when your conditioning really kicks in, you might make some crazy gains all at once.

Somewhere around 4.5 mph or so, most people will find themselves in a very light jog. Aim for that as your crossover into running. So your legs and feet can get used to it, I would suggest sticking around that pace for at least two weeks before upping the intensity, even if you feel your conditioning can handle more. If you injure your legs or give yourself shin splints or foot problems because you didn't ease your body into running, you won't be able to do anything and it will set you back. Let your body adjust to what you are doing to it.

Depending on the shape you are in, a half hour at that pace might be too difficult right now, so build up to it by shedding weight and getting used to the exercise--a bit faster every few days or every week, with some incline mixed in to get your heart used to working harder. Keep upping the pace as you lose weight and get into better condition. If you can get yourself to jogging at 6 mph, you will be running 10 minute miles, so getting through that mark is a great motivational goal. A half hour at 6 mph is also a 3 mile run. I don't know if you are the same, but things like that motivate me. If I was ready to do a half hour run at 6 mph, I would set the thing to 6.1 so I can say I ran a sub 10 minute mile.

One tip for when you get to jogging and then running. When I run on a treadmill, I actually prefer to run on a slight incline. It is easier on my legs for some reason, and people say it also better approximates running outdoors, where the surface isn't perfectly flat and you have wind resistance and you don't have a belt propelling you along.
Click to expand...

Ragu, thanks for your excellent, very helpful reply.

Yesterday I felt run down, tired. I had to work late; when I hit the treadmill afterwards I just didn't have it. 3 mph all of a sudden felt like too much, too fast, and my ankle started bothering me. I remembered your advice about listening to your body, and so after slowing down to 2 mph at 6 minutes, I shut it down at 12 minutes. I'm planning to walk 30 minutes, low intensity, this afternoon and then go back to 33 minutes, 3 miles beginning, then up to 3.1 miles after maybe 15 or 20 minutes.

I will say that I'm not close to the shape I want to be in, which is lean, fit and healthy. There was a time when I would have seen last night as a major setback, but my mindset now is that it is a bump in the road, and that it would only be a major setback if I used it as an excuse to quit, which I won't. I want my body to lose weight and get in shape, I want to train it to get fit, but I don't want to injure or kill it in the process

4.5 mph to me right now seems impossible. But a couple of months ago when I started by walking once around the block, 3 mph would have seemed impossible. You're right; it is small increases. I'll probably step back to 3-3.1 mph, then build up slowly to that magical 4 mph mark, then from there build towards light jogging, and jogging, and running....

Italian_Stallion · Aug 25, 2008

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

Bravo, agatedude, bravo.

You'll get there. There will be bad days. There will be days when you'll think you can take on Ivan Drago. There will be days when you'll wish he'd knock you the heck out and save you the aggravation.

In the end, though, you'll win this one. I know this because, well, I'm going to ride your ass like I'm Mad Jack and you're Number Seven. </endofstrangeGrizzlyAdamsreference>

agateguy · Aug 25, 2008

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

Italian_Stallion said:

Bravo, agatedude, bravo.

You'll get there. There will be bad days. There will be days when you'll think you can take on Ivan Drago. There will be days when you'll wish he'd knock you the heck out and save you the aggravation.

In the end, though, you'll win this one. I know this because, well, I'm going to ride your ass like I'm Mad Jack and you're Number Seven. </endofstrangeGrizzlyAdamsreference>
Click to expand...

LMAO, Stallion ;D

Thanks for the advice on interval training, too. I'm close to pulling the trigger on weight training, but want to talk to one of the company's personal trainers before doing so.

sohel02 · Aug 25, 2008

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

A couple of sets targetting each muscle group does wonders for your heart, your health, and even your appearance. It's not the be all and end all, and the results aren't visible as fast as you might think, but it's the biggest thing you can do to help yourself and goes a lot further than just mixing in a salad or jogging. In fact, lifting is better for your heart than doing cardio work is. Of course, I don't mean it's okay to just stop doing all of that now.

Italian_Stallion · Aug 25, 2008

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

sohel02 said:

A couple of sets targetting each muscle group does wonders for your heart, your health, and even your appearance. It's not the be all and end all, and the results aren't visible as fast as you might think, but it's the biggest thing you can do to help yourself and goes a lot further than just mixing in a salad or jogging. In fact, lifting is better for your heart than doing cardio work is. Of course, I don't mean it's okay to just stop doing all of that now.
Click to expand...

Well, since it's your first post, I don't know what to think. But it's well-documented here that weight training is an important part of any exercise program. Cardio is a great tool for burning fat. I'd say it burns fat more effectively than weight training, and I believe most of the data will support that.

Cosmo · Aug 25, 2008

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

Resistance training burns calories at rest ... the more muscle you have, the more fat you'll burn at a resting state. The best workout regimens mix resistance and cardio.

21 · Aug 25, 2008

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

Cosmo said:

Resistance training burns calories at rest ... the more muscle you have, the more fat you'll burn at a resting state. The best workout regimens mix resistance and cardio.
Click to expand...

Exactly. Cardio and weight training have completely different benefits, and each helps the other. You can do either or both, but you'll see more results, faster, with both.

Italian_Stallion · Aug 25, 2008

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

Cosmo said:

Resistance training burns calories at rest ... the more muscle you have, the more fat you'll burn at a resting state. The best workout regimens mix resistance and cardio.
Click to expand...

I agree. But I'm confused.

If I burn more calories at rest, don't I need to eat more calories?

Because, that seems like a logical conclusion.

To further confuse things, my BMR is about 4,000 calories. I eat about 1,800 calories a day. I burn about 1,000 a day. Does this mean that I'm providing only 800 calories of fuel when my body needs considerably more?

Idaho · Aug 25, 2008

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

My resistance training now involves 8-percent grade climbs for 10-20 miles at a time. Gravity is not my friend when I'm going up hill.

After the big ride, I'll get back into the weight room on occasion.

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Take care of yourself

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