contest!!!

[KathyPrulhiere]

JJ

The scales will make you crazy--there is no doubt about it. I've been up four pounds for several weeks with no reason except too much salt. This is not a new problem for me, and I should know better.

Now my weight is coming back down where it belongs. When my weight went up, my first thought was, "I might as well eat that chocolate candy that was given to me at Christmas." Now, tell me, how does that make sense? Thankfully I didn't go on a chocolate binge (ate frozen grapes instead). I need to get rid of that candy!!

So, that said, hang in there. You are going to do great. Just signing up and listening to all those boring speeches proves it. 

Blessings,

Kathy

[crickadoodle]

Kathy -- too much salt is a very good reason to be up 4 lbs.  I think that the weight you tend to lose in the beginning of basically any diet is because of less salt.  You lose lots of water and salt makes you hold more water weight.  I know that when I eat more salt my weight goes up.  Oh, that candy is playing tricks on your mind, so throw it away.    It isn't worth the torment.    Is it? 

[KathyPrulhiere]

Hey Crick,

You are right.

Kathy

[jjelli]

Hi Everyone!!
Update on contest....slow starter.  This am I weighed in at 173    that 7 lbs down        Also I started walking (finally the weather is getting a little better) and going to exercise class on Mondays.  I think I better kick it up a notch on the walking....don't have much time left.....jj

[KathyPrulhiere]

jj,

ATTA Girl!! 

Kathy

[julie409]

JJ - that's fantastic!

Just keep doing the right things and the weight will take care of itself! 

Julie

[jjelli]

        Thanks Kathy & Julie       

[patns]

Wow that is fantastic! Now when you start the exercise plan it will be another boost for weight loss.

[jjelli]

I'm still here    went to exercise class last night...whew  we did an extra 20 minutes of exercise,  total time hour & a half.  I also won an exercise DVD  by the Biggest looser...now I can loose 20 #s in 30 days  (right)  Says so right on the package!!!! its the small print that gets ya...thats where it says you really have to work at it  Ha!    jj

[KathyPrulhiere]

jj

Been wondering where you are. Glad you are getting interested in exercise.  It has helped me lots. When is the contest ending?  20# in 30 days. Wow. That is some promise.

Kathy

[jjelli]

Hi Kathy, 
Been here, just lurking.  The scale isn't cooperating      as fast as I would like.  Must be building muscle    . I do feel better and slimmer when I do exercise.  Wonder why a person just don't do it more often.  I think another reason the scale isn't moving much is that I've been grazing...on fruit. i eat frozen grapes and oranges.  Now I'm just going to eat a meal time and if that hunger strikes, I'll just have a grape or two to tide me over to the meal.  And now this weather.... rain for several days.  I'm gonna try the new exercise tape.  jj

[KathyPrulhiere]

jj,

Remember, the contest is only part of your life. Muscle not only weighs more, but burns more calories. In the long run you are way, way ahead. Muscle makes you look and feel so-o much better, too. So keep up the good work in spite of the scale.

When I only lose a pound or two, I think of something that weighs that much and try to figure out where it could have come off my body. Take a pound of butter for example.

Each quarter--hmm. 1 quarter off my back (you know, the part that bulges over the bra). One off my tummy, one off each upper thigh. Not so bad. If I'm always thinking ahead to the day when it is all gone, I get discouraged. I've lost 15 pounds so far. Think of 3 five pounds of sugar packages. (Good analogy, right? ) I'm so happy that I'm not carrying that around every day any more. Praise God!!

Hang in there. Still rooting for you. I think you are doing great!!!

Kathy

[crickadoodle]

Reading about the muscle weight made me wonder -- how fast is it even possible for muscle to grow on you.  Like, I'm sure you need to do weight training for a while before you even grow a pound of muscle.  I've never seen statistics on this and am curious about it now.  I'm wondering if I can Google this.  If so, I'll report back.  We probably worry about "weight gain" that is muscle more than is possible.  Now, I do find I gain weight when starting an exercise program and I'm sore.  The soreness makes you retain fluid, I read once, so that would be extra weight.

[jjelli]

Oh...Burst my bubble...      Thought it was pounds just exercising once....   
        just kidding!!!  Thats very interesting makes me wonder to.  I did an arobic class years ago for 12 weeks and by the time it was over, I could tell my muscles were toned.  We had about five inches of heavy wet snow yesterday so that put a damper on the walking for a day or two.  I'm gonna try my exercise video today. Have to do modified jumping jacks. Thanks for the information and again just kidding about my bubble.  jj 

[julie409]

JJ,

Glad you are committed to the exercise. That will really keep your body in the best health possible. Even if you cannot walk outside, you can always find something to do even if it is just dancing to some music.  Have fun with it! 

Julie

[jkate]

JJ ~ I noticed that you and I are the exact same age. (Well will be on April 6th) Interesting that we are at the same place in this time in our lives. I think that my metabolism has slowed soooooo and that I have been the same weight for so long that my body is really trying desperately to hold onto it!

Kathy ~ 15# is very encouraging!

Julie ~ I also noticed that you are the same age too - we have things in common. You are doing so much better than me and I used to be very competitive so maybe that will kick me into high gear to get with ya!

I rented a dvd from the library yesterday (cardio) and it has to be back in a week so I am going now to try it out. Hope you all have a blessed weekend.

[julie409]

Hey! 3 Aries joined together can make anything happen. I go over the wall on April 9th! And my goal is to be stunning in my birthday photos!     Or at least as stunning as I can be.

I have been struggling for a while now. I have been losing and gaining the same 5 - 6 lbs since Christmas and that is much too long to be yo yo ing. I am at a weight where my body is verrrryyyy comfortable having been at that weight at various times in my life and for long periods. As soon as the winter kicked in, I was greatly challenged with the shift in available foods. 

Anyway, I am motivated to keep going and going back to basics. I was thinking of starting up the PURE thread again and adding exercise and calling it LDL Hard Core - or something equally obnoxious!

I thought we could work on a point system for the exercise and also have points for each day you follow LDL PURE.  Everyone could pay Homage to whomever got the most points that week. What do you guys think?  It would not focus on the weight loss but rather doing the right things to get there. Would this motivate anyone as we start the first day of Spring? 

Julie

[jkate]

Julie ~ Oh wow we will be celebrating our birthdays right there together! Yea I love your idea!

I did my exercise DVD for 30 minutes and it was great for beginners workout that gets your heart rate up there. I left it in the DVD player so that I could maybe get back to it later but right now I am cooking some broccoli for lunch and ate some baby carrots and planning to serve up a delicious salad. I make a mean salad. So too bad we are not already in the program  - I could rake up some points today!

[crickadoodle]

OK, I Googled about amount of muscle weight you can gain and of course there are lots of differences in opinions.  So, what's new?    Some say you can gain 5 - 15 lbs. a year max, then this other site said that when you are eating lots of protein and in a good weight training program you can actually gain 20 - 30 lbs. in a 12 week period.  I'm sure that is for men who are really pumping iron to get there.  I also read that people who are new at weight training can gain more muscle weight than those who have been doing it for years.

Now, Jjelli, if you are doing aerobic exercise, you are not going to gain muscle weight and sometimes you actually lose it.  You will get toned, but not full of muscles.  I know this is true, because I would walk like 5 miles a day -- before LDL -- and my husband would tell me that it wasn't making me stronger -- in other words, I wasn't getting more muscles.  I thought he didn't know what he was talking about.  I was exercising, afterall.   Then I read a book about it and tried doing some strength training.  Well, I had noticed that it was difficult for me to walk up the stairs without holding onto the rail.  After I started strength training I found I didn't need to hold onto the rail to walk up the steps.  Today, with regular strength training, I can even jog up the steps without holding the rail.  I love that and feel so empowered to be able to do that.  

Now that I've lost my weight with LDL, I have some people saying to watch out that I don't lose too much weight.  Now, they mustn't know how well I eat!  I'm confident I won't lose more than is healthy.  I am curious to see how much I'll weigh at my lowest and then I'm also curious to see what I can gain in muscle -- which probably will make my weight higher, but healthily higher.  You can have a higher weight, but be smaller and more fit because muscle weighs more than fat -- which got us on this topic in the first place.  It is all a journey in fitness for me.  The truth is I'm more fit than I've been in ages.  Not only have I lost weight with LDL, I've also gained strength with some strength training.  I do also walk, but it is no longer my sole exercise.

[crickadoodle]

Oh, I just found this online.  It explains what I was saying really well.:

Strength training is exercise that uses resistance - to strengthen and condition the muscular system. This can be achieved with resistance training machines or free weights found in your local gym. The amount of resistance a muscle has to work against determines how strong it will get.

Strength training is not running on a treadmill, riding a stationary bike, or using an elliptical machine. Although those types of aerobic machines use "resistance" to increase your workout intensity, it's not the same as strength training and will not strengthen muscles.

Any exercise that involves contracting your muscles many times with little or no resistance such as walking or cycling doesn't prevent loss of muscle mass. Runners still lose muscle mass even if they're highly active. When challenged by strength training exercise your muscles and bones are continually forced to renew themselves, sweeping out old, degenerated cells and rebuilding new tissue that is younger, stronger, and healthier.