Healthy & Fitness - October 2014

[LadyMaverick]

I'm hanging onto the established healthy habits with hopes they carry me through this extremely busy time. Buying a home, selling a home, selling a business and raising a grandchild plus the family & gazillion other things that suck up my time & attention.

I'm tired of losing the same ole 5 lbs. Over and over. But I keep reminding myself .....at least I'm basically holding steady and not gaining! This reminder doesn't help much though. I want this extra weight GONE.

Weight loss thougths.........Yesterday we were at the Birthday House meeting with the sellers. We sat and visited while waiting for the water to pump out of the pool enough to put cover on it. ANYway she very knowledgeable about health things. She is an RN and her last job was director of a hospice organization (she quit last month due to moving). She shared with me that she has lost 40 lbs in the last 6 months. (210lbs to 170lbs) I asked how she did it and she said she used Plexis (weight loss drink) some but mostly she just stopped eating until she is hungry. But what got me was.......her skin is hanging everywhere. When she moves anything (arm, leg, neck, etc) her skin swings and jiggles. This isn't a put down but more of an observation. Her quick weight loss sounds so tempting to me. But without exercise? That doesn't seem right. However, she is a highly trained medical person. So who am I to argue? She said she is going to lose another 30lbs and wants to weigh 140lbs. I don't know where I'm going with this observations. Fast weight loss results in several pro and cons. I have to admit to being a tad bit envious as I keep bouncing around the same ole 5 lbs.

[Harriet]

LadyM, that's a valid concern. Of course, there are many types of skin, and people change differently. When someone Teresa Tapp is helping is planning to lose a lot of weight, she recommends skin brushing, like they do in Europe, and alfalfa capsules. (Actually she just recommends them in general.) Also there are Dr. Perricone's several books on the skin and how to aid it. He would have good advice I'm sure on supplements and practical habits to help. I have one of his books here, but it's the one for the realm of general health. Still, I'll check it.

LOL. Well, let's admit he doesn't just have tips, he has in-depth courses! Even in this book his opinions and tips for skin go on and on. (And on.) And of course they would, since he is a dermatologist first. This book is 7 Secrets to Beauty, Health and Longevity. The fourth chapter is "The Skin You're In" and has subheadings of "The Shape of Things to Come", and "Eat Your Way to Firmer Skin". Basically, he seems to be blaming sagging skin on glycation, and by this he means the inflammation caused by high-glycemic carbs. He considers it in terms of protein deficiency. It happens in concert with loss of tone, elasticity and resilience. Anyway, even this chapter becomes a huge resource, so I give up trying to explain. He does go into depth about reversing glycation, though, and prevention of attachment of sugar to collagen. Lots to take in.

Matter of fact, I've got to read all this stuff about blood sugar in here.
Also teen acne. Hmmm... ...

I'm sure more recent books would have even more.

[Ramblinrose]

Point well taken LadyM...

As we age, our skin doesn't have the same elasticity as it once had. Loosing large amounts of weight without exercising does contribute to flappy skin. It is one of the reasons I am adding weight training to my program.

Long ago I met a gal that attened my exercise program and she had lost well over a 100 lbs. We were about 27 at the time. She lost her weight with WW and back then was told NOT to exercise until she lost her weight.

Bad Idea...her skin hung all over her...especially in her upper arms and through her stomach area. Just seeing her taught me a huge lesson. Right now my problem area is from my pelvic area to under my breasts.

I have a very good friend who not only is in the medical fieldl, but also coaches a HS girls soccer team. He has lead them to 9 state championships. Soccer season doesn't start until the first of Jan, but during the fall he has them focus on conditioning...which he tells me is one of the most important keys to winning games.

He recently saw a picture of me on FB and was concerned that I was ill...I haven't talked to him in a while...told him the weight loss was intentional, but was concerned about how my core area was not responding as I wanted it to. His assistant is the one who sets up individual conditioning programs for the girls and assured me his assistant who have some great exercises to do.

I am looking forwards to her suggestions.

My coaching friend and I have been friends since grammar school. We share many interests...he's a university professor among other things so teaching styles and our students always come up in our converstations. I have learned a great deal about coaching which I have incorporated into my classroom...but among many of the interesting things I have learned is about how teenage girls and their physical conditions contribute to their success on and off the field.

Here's something I learned...perhaps some of you already know this...I often tease him about having 35+ girls around. When clusters of girls spend great amounts of time together, their periods all start to show up at the same time...I already knew this. In his case the team's cycle all seems to sync at the same time...nothing like ragging women's hormones.

However this plays a very important factor when he is coaching. Seems that when a woman is on her cycle, it is a medical fact that her knees become at risk for greater injuries. This is true for all women athletes.

So by keeping that information in mind I find that post-menopausal women need to pay particular attention to their knees ...who knew???

Though my weight is down...I cut out the nuts I was eating...I can still pinch more that an inch...way more in fact. Gott address that

[Ramblinrose]

Though this site is part commercial...not the intent of my posting it here...I find the information that Ron Brown sharing worth reading.

http://www.bodyfatguide.com/LooseSkin.htm

You may not want a body like Ernestine, but this sure does prove the point about exercise and proper food.

http://www.aarp.org/health/longevity/in ... ength.html

And to be honest, only have to look at my mom for inspiration and knowing that exercise and food does amazing things for you in your later years.

My mom, now 86, was active most of her life...she played golf and swam. But when she moved away from our home town at 47, she decided to join an aerobics class to meet new friends. That she did, but most were 20 years younger than her. After a while these girls decided to take up running and asked my mom to join them...and at 49 she did.

This began her love for running. My mom ran 3-5 miles every day, five days a week until she turned 78. That's when my dad's health got bad and she couldn't leave him alone in the house.

Not only did my mom start running at 49, but at 53 when she moved back home she made a new friend who introduced her to tennis...which became her second love. She took lessons and played three times a week until her friend moved away when my mom was 62.

My mom has remained slender her entire life. When I was growing up she was intent on us eating healthy. She made us eat breakfast...eggs or cereal, fresh squeezed oj or grapefruit juice, milk...mine had to be skim.. and toast. Dinner was always protien, veggies, a starch and milk. Two cookies were all we were allowed for dessert, unless it was pudding or jello...mine had to be sugarfree. She always made my sandwiches as a lettuce wrap. By the way did I mention she worked full time???

During the past few years I became very curious as to how she knew to feed us like that. Her only answer was it just made sense to her. Ok...maybe it was just the generation she was brought up in...but when I asked her about why exercise had become such an important part of her life her answer was quite simple...its the only time I had to be me. I took care of you, your father, our home, my own parents and I didn't want loose myself. It was my me time and all women should guard themselves well.

Not bad wisdom from a 86 year old woman...and as you know, whenever I go home and stay with my mom I always loose weight. Go figure

[FelineFriend]

Have eaten healthy all day. No b-day cake here for us today. Don't need it with diet restrictions on both DH's & my parts.

Did stretches, 1/2-hour walking, 1 hour light walking & 1/2-hour vigorous working in straightening up my office today.

So far, pedometer steps - at 5:30 p.m. Pacific Time- are: 8,368,so I'll be able to make 10,000 steps by bedtime, easy!

[Nancy]

I got my walk done this morning. Glad I had it off.

[Harriet]

Enjoyed that link and the video Cowinkie. Reminds me of a favorite saying of Richard Simmons when everyone in his video would be groaning. He'd say, "Gotta tone, gotta tone."

Twins' Mom, although I'm not having yogurts or kefir now because of acid reflux, I have definitely enjoyed the taste of kefir before. In fact, I liked it a lot and was disappointed to find out I'm one of the people for whom cultured milks are triggers. I don't need them for probiotics anyway since I take those.

I barely made my toning goal last week. yikes. Better week ahead, I believe.

[Ramblinrose]

Well my weight has bounced up a tad this morning. I strongly suspected this would happen trying to make this last few pounds disappear.

I drank almost a gallon of water yesterday.
I put 1.5 miles on my gazelle while talking to my mom
I attended my combat class which is a high energy and constant moving class
I at on plan and that didn't include any nuts

Got way over my 10K steps..17K according to my Misfit

This new weight loss/improve your life motivational class that I am now involved with encourages eash of us to "step out of your box" by doing things we aren't comfortable doing.

Like the challenge because physically I love doing that. However it occured to me this morning that I am doing something I don't usually do.

I am a sun following person... meaning I get up when the sunrises and I go down or stay inside when the sun disappears. I very seldmon venture out at night on my own. This has been my pattern for years. However since I've join this group I have broken that pattern by attending classes that are being held at night.

This week I will be out of the house for three nights...That is SO not me. Monday and Thur nights I am going to my combat classes and tonight I have a motivational meeting. I didn't give that much thought to it until this morning.

Here are two very short videos of my body combat class... and yes I wrap my hands like you see the girls doing. This is a "fight" class and wrapping my hands keeps them in the correct positions. Some people have started wearing small gloves that look like boxer's gloves, but I prefer to wrap mine. You can check out full videos of the classes if you want to see more by going to You tube and searching for Les Mills Body Combat.

One of the most interesting things about this people who are at different levels of weight or physical conditions do and love this class. Last night seven of my girls are MORE than a hundred pounds over weight and they can do the entire 55 minute classes. They are so inspiring to be around....

I Love, love, love how I feel after I've completed a class......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVw5s8G0Jww
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Les ... F19888A7D4

[Harriet]

Cowinkie, you didn't get the second posted, but two of the first.

My dd34 used to enjoy Billy Blanks videos that remind me of Les Mills. I know there are also home video DVDs of Les Mills classes. Is there a code name for a "beginner" one?

Appt with hormone dr. today. Takes forever to get to his far away office and wait, he has so many patients. But he is really very good. We shared a lot about exercise today, although he is the P90X guy, so he is "down" a generation in my family, since ds29 does that. (I believe he is actually older than me. At least he's white-haired, which may not mean much.) He has stopped "burpees" and I was able to tell him ds has, too. He finds them questionable for wrists, ds finds them questionable for lower backs.

I was disappointed to have white-coat syndrome so badly with new nurse and blood pressure reading not my norm. Don't know why she spooked me quite so much, but her demeanor was frantic and rushed. I thought I was over any white-coat syndrome by this stage of life, lol. But I felt the nerves heavily.

[Nancy]

What is white coat syndrome? When you get anxious before and during a doc. appt.

I was very afraid of needles so much so that I did not get reg. Check ups for yrs after the kids were born.