Health and Fitness July, 2015

[Nancy]

Did a long walk at six today the weather was perfect!

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Took a walk to the store after dinner. Much prefer walking when I have an errand to run. Biking along the river, I don't mind if there isn't an end goal, and sometimes I have the energy to walk along the river, but those tend to be longer walks that require more time. The goal with walking club (which is just around the block but it is a long block) is gossip.

[Harriet]

Does anyone have one of those beds that has two independent sides - adjustable bed? I wonder if that would be together enough and apart enough at the same time, to be good for the sleep of a couple. As far as sheets, this would require more work to make up the beds, I suppose. Assuming one large bedspread, the bed probably doesn't look any different until bedtime?

[LadyMaverick]

Our king size bed is made up of 2 twin beds. We used to have a king size mattress but years ago we made the switch to twin beds and have never regretted it. The beds are together and share bedskirt & duvet over the top of both beds. When the beds are made, they appear to be a regular king size bed. I can easily handle a twin mattress myself (flipping & rotating regularly). Putting on sheets is easier than a big bed (IMHO). We have six beds in our home and they are all twin size. Two rooms have single twin beds (LO's & DGD4 bedrooms) and the other 2 rooms have double twins treated as king size. I am totally sold on twin size for a number of reasons. I can not see any reason that I will ever have any other size of bed.

I am still tracking my food. My weight is slowly coming down. very slowly. I am still battling late night binge eating. It is emotional based. I got to get a handle on this!

[helia]

Thanks Kitty! Size 2. . Wow! I don't think I ever wore size 2. I think I just skipped right over that size when I was growing. I'm 5' 7.5". Well, actually, I think I've shrunk 1/4 of an inch. . .

Weight is coming off very slowly here too, LadyM.

I think it would come off faster if I was technically overweight. . . . I just looked at a healthy weight chart based on one's frame, and I think I'm actually above the weight for my height and frame, which I think, by their measurements, should be small? Ack! So, maybe I actually am overweight. Scale at home said 148.5 first thing this morning. Sometimes I'm discouraged by the slow pace, but I'm also encouraged by the consistency of the direction things are moving.

Yesterday, WW said I'd lost another 0.4 lb. It had been a heavy week of social eating (5 times with groups of 8 - 12 people each time), including 2 celebrations, so it could have been worse.

My jog yesterday was the new norm. 30 minutes, 2.3 miles.

I'll try to go for a jog this afternoon. I have some errands to run and then small group at 5 pm, so we'll see how the time goes.

I had to do a lot of convincing to get dh to agree to a queen bed. He'd never go for a king size bed. At hotels, he's often mystified by them, and the space is wasted on us. LOL! He sleeps as close to me as possible. We're not big people either.

I think we have 6 beds too, including the futon and the new convertible bed. That would be MBR - queen bed; dd17's room - twin; ds' room - 2 twins; dd19's room full size futon; play room - convertible queen bed. The beds are European style, so no box springs. Dh has made all the bed frames (including the futon), except for the new convertible bed, so they have a lot of wooden slats across the base to support the single mattress, and they all sit lower than the typical bed. A lot of rambling, but no, Harriet, we haven't tried that type of bed.

[RunKitty]

I tried the calculators for determining body frame and in the wrist one I was large frame! In the elbow one I was medium, which I think is probably correct. The weight range seems way too high for the large frame. I know I neither feel nor look good at those weights. My wrist measurement may have been off though since my cat was "helping" with the tape measure. Or, maybe a just have fat wrists..... I am only 5'0" so any extra weight looks a lot worse on me than it would on a taller person.
Losing gradually is the best way. When I reach a new low, I record it in my running log. I weigh every day and if it goes back up, I don't record that weight. I just wait until it drops back to a lower one. That way I don't obsess about the fluctuations and can see the overall trend of weight loss.

[lucylee]

I'm a late arrival this month, but here goes:

Jan. -- (first day of the month weigh-in) 165, exercised 11 days, approx. 11 miles
Feb. -- 165, exercised 5 days, approx. 5 miles
Mar. -- 165, exercised 9 days, approx. 10 miles
Apr. -- 164, exercised 9 days, approx. 13 miles
May -- 164, exercised 12 days, approx. 13 miles
June -- 166, exercised 9 days, approx 10 miles
July -- 164.5 (and if I make it a mile today, I'll have 2 miles for these first 11 days... )
* sheesh *

I guess it took me a week to get over my 3-day trip to Atlanta. We were back home on the 3rd, and this past week has just been a big blur. But I am re-energized now, and I am heading out to walk at least a mile right now. 90 degrees or not! (Actually, weather app says it is "89, feels like 97").

[helia]

WTG with the walk, lucylee!!! But be careful with the heat. You've walked a lot of miles.

LOL at the kitty help with measuring, kitty!

By both methods, I have a small frame. That means my highest weight should be around 136? Hmm.... I don't know if I agree with that. I felt quite comfortable with 142 - fully dressed with shoes on - which is still my current goal. Weight charts include clothing, right? My BMI is within a normal range right now.

Regarding the frame size charts, isn't it possible to be medium or large framed but have a small wrist and/or forearm bones?

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

At WW my weight goal is 140. So I kept it for this time around. Possibly because if I stuck by my favourite number, 132, that meant I'd have 60 pounds to lose, and 50 pounds was scary enough.

I'm now 5'4" and tiny wrist so always thought I had a small frame.

At 140, I look OK. At 132, I feel good and can see that I look good. I was 118 last year of high school, 128 when I got pregnant with dd (age 24) and about 132 when I got pregnant with ds (age 27.) I got back to 132 3x after ds was born. The last time was the year before I was disable by my back, so summer 2004 through to Jan 2005. I had been doing Curves and was physically smaller than the previous time I was 132 and everyone told me I was too skinny when they'd hug me.

If/when I get back to 140, I'll have to make the decision whether or not I'll go lighter. Both times I did WW to get down to 132, I'd start maintenance but continued to lose weight until I got to 132, then stayed there so I take it as a sign that is my lowest attainable weight. The second time I was eating well over 2000 calories a day just to maintain my weight.

At this point, those weights seem impossibly far away. So my current goal is 174, no longer in the obese category. Then 161, the weight I was when I took sick with hepatitis.

[helia]

I think it gets harder and harder to lose weight, Kathryn. I know my body is not responding the same way to the WW program that it did when I was 31. Your goals sound healthy! I've actually considering changing my WW goal to something slightly higher, like maybe 145.

That is a good question: How do we establish a good and healthy goal weight? Honestly, I feel good at my current weight and I think I look pretty good too, though the tummy isn't as flat as I'd like. (Is it for anyone?) Dfriend said I looked like I'd lost weight, and dh insists he can tell too. I'm also wondering if I have gained muscle mass, which is skewing my weight. OTOH, after looking at the frame charts and reading here, I'm also wondering if maybe my ideal weight IS lower than I think. I was about 135 as a young adult, before I got married. I gained weight after marriage and then lost some and was 142 (fully clothed w/ shoes; I think about 139 w/out anything on) before I got pregnant with ds. In high school, I remember weighing 119, but I also graduated high school at age 16, so I was on the young side. Yes, I was rather gangly as a teen. I was 5' 7.5" at the time.