Health and Fitness, January 2012

[Lynlee]

Kathryn - Having met you I didn't think you were "big" . Finding your own healthy weight is the wtg I think - It may be different from what a book says.
When I was young I was mostly 7st (almost 45k). On the way back from guardia I got to that 7st point relatively quickly once the bug was out of my system and stayed at 7st for years. Mostly just on sugar free for hypoglycemia which was bad then too.. I forget - may have been no white flour as well. I prefer the 50 -52K zone because I have there is room for fluctuation without it getting serious if I lose a few with some bug.

Just been playing with the converion calculator - K = st. Interesting.

Does anyone have any suggestions for talking to someone morbidly obese, and still gaining. My dd and I both have (different) people in our lives who use the "you wouldn't understand" line and don't see it as a problem. The one I know has trouble moving. (dx chronic fatigue) but if I tried to move that much weight about I don't think I could do it either. DD's friend want to go O/S with her and dd is thinking no way.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Lynlee, when I met up with you, I was within 2 kilos of being medically obese according to the BMI calculators. I still have almost 10 kilo to drop before I stop being medically overweight.

At least in the US (a culture which permeates the first world through their media) I think the concept of what overweight looks like has been lost. As well as the concept of what a reasonable serving size is. At the grocery store we go to for lunch in upstate NY, the MEDIUM soft drink is 32 oz (1 liter.)* At least other cultures have not yet accepted that reasoning.

So researchers say that being 'overweight' ups one's risk for disease but I don't think people understand what 'overweight' looks like. In US terms, I'm currently wearing a size 14 pant and a size medium top. That doesn't sound overweight, I'm no longer shopping in the plus sized section of Walmart but in fact I won't be at a healthy weight until I'm in a size 10 pant (my top won't change because I carry almost all my weight below my waist.)

*It amuses me that it is so psychologically hard to drink 64 oz of water a day but there's no problem drinking that much soda. A lot of it is pricing. That 32oz drink is included in the meal price but 8 oz of juice or milk isn't. In Danish grocery stores, Coke, etc., is terribly expensive (about $3.5 for 1.5 liters) but the same amount of sparkling water (often with a light flavouring but no sweetener) is only $0.75. They are using their tax system to assist people in making healthy choices, anything processed with sugar is taxed highly in Denmark, for example.

[Harriet]

Lynlee, I thought about your question at first and didn't know what to say. But now thinking, perhaps going at it by just having conversation about general health subjects that touch on overweight. There are so many. You could bring up your own challenges in whatever way they might relate to weight/size for people and be general. For instance, subjects from blood pressure to exercise to just how one feels all have to do with weight/size. You don't have to aim right at the weight problem to start talking about it.

Best wishes to you trying to find a way to help. There is truth in the "you wouldn't understand" thing sometimes. My mother used to say that to me and I thought she was wrong. As I grow older I find myself understanding her lessened abilities, and why she would drive us crazy by wearing the same clothes so often, leaving others unworn because attractive as they were, they didn't feel good.

Absolute WORST offender is Hardee's(/Carl's), Kathryn. Their "medium" cup size will not fit in my (Ford) vehicle cup holder, so if we forget and buy one while driving someone has to hold it, or we have to ask for a cardboard cup holder. Every time, someone invariably says, "I'd hate to see the Large!" LOL And the servers apologize, you know, but that's what you ordered!

Yes, showing up is a step that matters hugely. We have to keep "showing up" to our commitment mentally, and no one really knows if we're showing up to that but us.

[Lynlee]

Kathryn - I think most important is to do what we inherently know needs doing. The good news is that you are a pear not an apple shape. I can understand wanting to trim down some more - and it being difficult to shift it. I think giving up trying is where the danger creeps in.

Harriet - I guess its true (not understanding) - I don't know. But I do know theres lots of extra difficulties in being larger.
When I've mentioned fuel in and energy out its been a red rag. She gets that I've had chronic fatigue/ another dx of fibromyalgia - seems ok atm. Its just I wasn't maybe 4 times my actual weight in that battle. And if she stays doing little, it is easily doing even less. I'll try visit again this month. The hug I gave her she said was the first in a long time. Maybe thats the connection with living. Ph goes unanswered.
dd's friend... criticizes dd for needing regular food times and exercise to stay on top of things. Couldn't keep up when dd walked slowly in the highest of high heels. And dd does not want to be squished into sharing her plane seat with someone who does not fit in a single seat lounge chair. That will be for her to wrangle with her friend. I can only wish her luck.

re serving sizes . dsil was talking of this in US. He had to learn to leave what he shouldn't eat. Or they would feed him more. He is short and slightly built. regular drink/bottles are 600mls = one of our old pints. I just buy water if I'm out so thats simple. Recently I bought an asian meal. chicken veg cashews. rice tub as well. take away. It fed me 3 meals. and I was not stinting on my servings.

[Nancy]

Did my walk and time on the ex. bike today but really did not want to and had to force myself to get up and get my coat on but weather was nice and warmer than yesterday so I enjoyed it once I got going.

B.S. was #213 today when I got up sigh about a hundred points higher than I'd like it to be.

Speaking of serving sizes on the thing I log with a cup was a serving that's a lot I thought I was having a lot when I had a half of a cup.

Did my ex. bike today [mon.] no walk and some yd. work, & house work for my ex.

[bittersweet]

Here's another thread I'll be making a lot more use of this year! With a goal of (a) losing 40lbs, and (b) completing a 5K in late September (including running half of it! ), I'm going to have to do some serious planning, and IMPLEMENTING! I'm great at planning...it's the follow-through I have issues with.

One thing I'm going to start doing is making better use of the calendar - whether online or paper - to plan what's going on what days, and then planning workouts/exercise/outdoor activities according to my work schedule and whatever other activities are going on. I have a membership at the local rec centre (actually, I can use almost any rec centre in the city!), so there's no excuse about a class I want not being available (the membership includes drop-in exercise classes such as aquafit).

Three things I really need to work on to improve my health are...

1. Taking my meds EVERY DAY!!
2. Getting at least 7-8 hours of sleep a night
3. Drinking at least 6 - 8 glasses of water a day.

[Harriet]

The membership sounds wonderful, bittersweet. Very convenient with some built-in protection against ever getting bored. It'll be interesting to hear the fun you have with this!

Sleep - I read by Dr. Christine Horner an article in which she said if you want to add time to your sleep time for health's sake, adding on at the beginning of the night is more helpful than adding time the next morning. Here is the pertinent quote: "If we, for instance, go to bed by 10, we have higher levels of our sleep hormone melatonin; there's a spike that occurs between midnight and 1am, which you don't want to miss because the consequences are absolutely spectacular. Melatonin is not only our sleep hormone, but it also is a very powerful antioxidant." Of course, lazing in bed in the morning is good for the attitude.

I'm so happy to report that I really upped my usual exercise this evening to 65 minutes. I did the T-Tapp stretch, then switched DVDs to the Richard Simmons Sweatin' to the Oldies 2, which is an hour of warm-up, 25 mins aerobics, light arm weights, and floor. Some people think he gets silly. I choose to think he gets enthusiastic. SttO2 is undoubtedly his best effort, IMO. The intensity you feel is not as much as T-Tapp of course, but the moves are safe and really different. I almost did Bob's Biggest Loser BootCamp instead, which was a gift I haven't opened yet. Maybe I'll glance at that one another day this week... not sure. You do different levels over 6 weeks. Mostly I want to stick with T-Tapp.

Had a meatless Monday effortlessly.
Had an apple for breakfast. Yogurt with honey. Potatoes HRH fried in coconut. Noodles with tomato and parmesan. Chocolate pudding.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

I deliberately didn't show up on Monday, in order to rest my back. But I did take a walk later in the day.

Yesterday I didn't show up due to time constraints. And it was a relatively lazy day, just one trip around C ostco. I didn't even have to lift and carry boxes at the Resource Centre, someone else did it for me and I did research instead.

I ate poorly at lunch and better at dinner except the dressings were already on the salads and I would have been fine without them. Had pie and squares but reasonable size servings of each. When I got home I had two more servings of fruit and then crackers because I was still hungry. Got barely enough water through the day but enough. Only half my milk, though.

The jaw doctor said I was right not to eat carrot sticks but I can cut them up small because it is the biting, not the chewing that is bad. He gave me the green light to try popcorn but to be cautious with that because we have a tendency to grind it, not chew it. So I will reintroduce two of my favourite foods (and hopefully will replace the chips and cheezies which have been my salty/crunchy alternative.)

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

I'm up a bit earlier than yesterday and on the treadmill. Yesterday was a lost cause except I got the presentation written and that was important. Getting it done earlier, rather than later, will give me breathing room next week and that's important because the meeting is at my house after volunteering in the morning in town, then hair cuts in the afternoon, so Tuesday is a lost day for me.

I did work out yesterday but my sister called so I wasn't using music but just talking to her. Because it is a treadmill where I set the speed, I had to keep up with the speed so no music didn't slow me down.

I need to weigh myself since I haven't since my TOM arrived. Nor have I stopped eating.

I did try popcorn yesterday and it was fine.

My eye inflammation seems to have been nipped in the bud. We'll see, sometimes it just moves to the other eye.

[Nancy]

I did 2 mi. in the morning and three mi. in the afternoon on the ex. bike. It was too cold to walk outside w/ dgd here.