Exercise frequency

Clockeeper

Banded 10 weeks ago, down 30 lbs. Have not started exercising and was beginning to worry about being stuck. This has been a wonderful read and kick in the a$$ for me. I will start today with 30-45 minute brisk walks 4-5 times a week. I'm not promising anyone but me. Writing it makes it real for me. As Bob Dylan sang, one more cup of coffee before I go.(early Sunday morning right now)

Thank you all for taking the time to tell your stories. It's been VERY motivating.

momagrant

Hi,
I joined a local fitness center about 8 weeks ago. I go 5 days a week. I have increased my exercise each week. I am now staying approx. 2 hours, I work out on every machine there. 2 miles on the treadmill, 1 mile on the arc trainer, 6 miles on the bike on level 6, and 3 sets of 12 on each machine that works all of my muscles. I started out very slow and worked my way up to what I am doing now. My biggest problem is I thought the pounds would just fly off, but they haven't! I am losing about a pound a week, sometimes 2, but mostly I gain a pound one week and lose it the next. I have a "Gladiator" Smoothie King smoothie between 1pm and 2pm and then a salad for supper, sometimes a small chicken breast or a baked potatoe, but never more than one or the other. I would like to know what I am doing wrong, and why I am not losing 2 to 3 pounds a week doing this. Is it possible that I am exercising too much, or is it time for a fill again? I have 3.6 cc's in a 4 cc band. I was banded on 06/06/2007. I have lost 60 lbs so far, and my one year date is approching fast. I really wanted to be at the 100 lb mark by my year anniversary. Anyone with suggestions on how I can lose this faster, please let me know. I am greatful for every pound that is gone! I do have more energy and my health has improved a lot! I am thankful! I guess just a little impatient!
Ok, hope to hear from someone soon.
Best wishes,
momagrant

josiebies

hi
before i was banded and reading this website i noticed there were 2 "camps". one were the people banded that weren't losing much weight. many talked about how the band wasn't working. they ate taco bell, mcdonalds, drank alot of alcohol and didnt exercise.

this scared me because i thought...here i am going to have surgery and not get anywhere....YIKES!!!

i then read about a group that were really focused on the totality of what is needed to be successful with the Band. these people tried to eat well nutritionally, journalled their food, exercised. when they "fell off the wagon" they caught themselves quickly and got back on the program

i decided if i was having this operation i wanted to be in the second camp. it hasnt been easy.....there were times i had to jump start my program since getting surgery

exercise has been key on several levels...

first it helped me to make better food choices. if i spent 2 hours in the gym busting my butt...i was less likely to eat the junk that was easier for me to eat. it also helped me mentally. lastly it really helped to give shape back to my body.

i do 2 total conditioning classes, 2 kickboxing and 2 spin classes a week. during cycle season i replace spin class with outside riding. i also switch it around not to get bored. i just hired a boxing trainer to replace 1 kickbox class.

this has been the experience of countless people that have gone before me as well as my own experience.

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Weight 270h/249s/157c/155g
Weight: H-highest S-surgery C-current G-goal
Height 5'8" Inches lost: 48"
Banded 3/30/07 Dr Hadar Spivak-Houston TX

Clockeeper

Well, I have stuck to my promise to get moving. Joined a gym 4 weeks ago. Could run 1/2 mile without stopping. My goal was to be able to run a 5K by this fall. Well, I've been running a 5K for over a week now. My daughter and I will be going to the gym in a few minutes. (I'll run a 5K) Here is my problem. In the past month and a half I have not lost a pound, even with a fill. Could I possibly be putting on one to two pounds of muscle a week and losing 1-2 lbs. of fat? I want to see the scales move, if you know what I mean.

I am making much better choices about what I eat, have not had fast food in over a month or two, hopefully will never eat that crap again. Any suggestions on getting the scales moving.

Bigb

I think it would hard to gain 2 lbs of muscle in a week. I don't have an answer for you cause I am facing the same problem. Maybe we just need to take a closer look at our diets. My weight can move a lot either way in a matter of hours much less a week.

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Clockeeper

I know what you mean when you say your weight seems to vary by the hour. I can be up or down 4-8 lbs in a day. I realize this is water, but it never goes down. I've been at 260-258 etc. for over a month and a half.

I must say I'm VERY frustrated.

Anyone with some suggestions?

Cerrin

Keep doing what you are doing. Plateau's suck. but as long as you dont give up and quit you will start dropping eventually.

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*whoo*Merry Losers!
Band date 12-19-07
Highest/Current/Goal 376/335/150

Clockeeper

I know I'm doing the right things and this morning maybe it's beginning to pay off. Got on the scales (which I said I wouldn;t) and was down to 254. I know it's only a couple of lbs. but that's the way it came on, guess that's the way it must come off. Needless to say it does make you feel better when the scales are moving in the negative direction. I'm hoping to be under 250 in a week or maybe two. Can't remember the last time I weighted less than 250.

Thanks to everyone for the encouraging words.

betrthnever

Hi all, I was told that exercise would be a must for the rest of my life. I get to the gym at least 3x a week but I do other things as well - get off the bus a mile from work, go up and down flights of stairs, walk, walk, walk & yoga. Working out isn't such a chore now, however, a part of me wants to be lazy so from time to time I have to push myself harder. I try to find opportunities - there's yoga 1x a week at work and the stairs. Always pushing myself. My weight hasn't moved all that much but I'm toned. Can't wait to see the scale move!!

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smsmithart

heres what i do .i work out 4 to 6x times a week.and before i started working out the scales did not move now im losing slowly but surely im down 20lbs and thats a small number for some but a big number for me ..i want to lose another 25lbs.i walk run on the treadmill several days a week
and some days i say just let me get my 30 min in ...

Clockeeper

HELP! I read the other day that jogging burns less fat than brisk walking does. Could this be true. The article said that jogging burns carbohydrates while brisk walks shouldn't get your heart rate and respiration rate as high and you burn more fat, could this be true? This information did say, yes you will burn more calories jogging for 30 minutes than walking 30 minutes, but more "fat" was burned in the walking 30 minutes.

Any truth to this?:confused2:

Sunshine2

Clockeeper - You know, I give up on listening to all the different advice, some say circuit train, some say do the HIIT and your burn my calories, then I read studies say you dont blah blah blah.

They key is find some type of exercise you like, if its running, do it. Your more likely to stick to it if you like it. I think you will have better long term success doing something you enjoy.

Some people love to run, some like to walk, others love to bike. Me, I can't run now that i have had knee surgery. I tried to cycling classes, hurts my butt and just can't do it, but I love the elliptical, so that is what I'm sticking with.

Any type of exercise is good, as long as your consistant with it, I believe that is the key.

Now to answer your question, from what I have read, running is the fastest way to lose weight, Brisk walking is better for your heart. For me, I can't do either, so I chose the elliptical, its a combination of both and it doesn't hurt my knees.

Best wishes to you

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Tonya - Banded 1/18/07 (3.9 cc's in 4 cc band)
248/175/145/
BMI 41.2/27.8/25 - Height 5'5"

Frustrated

I think the most important thing is to find something you like. That way you'll be more inclined to do it and not think of it as a chore.

For me I have a daily routine (well, every day but Sunday) where I will spend 30 minutes on the treadmill in the morning. For the first 6 months this was my primary exercise and anything else I did was a bonus. A good energy day. But I would hit plateaus and get frustrated and wonder if it was even worth continuing to exercise. The key to that is often changing your routine. But for me this half hour each morning became more than just physical exercise. It gave me 30 minutes of "ME" time. It started my day off well. If I did nothing else during the day, I could at least say I exercised for half an hour. So I had to find other ways to change things up.

Gradually I increased the incline and speed to make things a little more challenging. In the past 3 months I have also added other exercise sessions. I'm really working on my arms in the hopes of being able to avoid needing surgery for my bat wings. Tummy tuck and an inner thigh fix are inevitable so my focus is on my arms/shoulders/upper body.

I row for 20 minutes 3 times a week, I try to swim for 30 minutes at least twice a week and I lift weights for 30 minutes 3 times a week. I also take an hour long Aikido class 2 times a week.

Exercise has become quite the addiction. Written down it looks like I do quite a lot. But it doesn't feel that way to me. Not now, today, anyway. If someone had put my exercise schedule in front of me a year ago, I would have told them they were INSANE.

But you need to know your limitations. I will never be a marathon runner because my right knee won't tolerate any running. It's low impact exercise for me. If I didn't have the foundation of my 30 minute treadmill routine, I can't imagine I would have made any advancements in my fitness and energy levels.

There's one very important piece of equipment that I absolutely can't exercise without. It's my iPod. It sounds like a very new age, yuppy, trendy, unnecessary, over-priced, over-rated, insignificant piece of merchandise, but if I don't have it, I can't spend more than 10 minutes doing anything.

I don't know if 30 minutes of running is better than 30 minutes of walking, but I do know that it's better than 30 minutes of eating cookies.

__________________
Band Date: July 26, 2007
Dr Cribbins, Dallas, Texas

August exercise challenge - 19.5/31 hours

~Ruby~

Jachut

This is such a myth, and the thing that makes me about it is that even the personal trainers spew it forth - well you can get a personal training qualification on the back of a corn flakes packet in Australia!

Exercise performed at a 60 to 80% of your max heart rate (and for many people this means walking rather than jogging) will burn a greater proportion of fat than exercising at a higher heart rate. There's also the rather beneficial fact that you can probably keep doing it for the 40 minutes to an hour that's recommended.

So why would you run? Firstly, if you can jog that hour, you'll go further therefore you'll burn more calories in total. And even if you burn a different mix of carbs/fat, you'll burn MORE fat overall running for an hour than walking because of the fact that you burn more calories.

But more importantly, once you're conditioned to run - because undeniably running is harder and your cardiovascular system and bodily energy systems will adapt and become much stronger than they will even with power walking, you will eventually find yourself in a situation like this. When I wear a heart rate monitor, I find these days I am running but my heart rate stays between 120 and 140 bpm - my personal 60 to 80% range. So running actually becomes an ideal fat burning exercise, not a very intense one. I can talk while I run, I dont breath particularly heavily, it is definitely aerobic and in the fat burning zone.

But if I hadnt pushed it at first I never would have gotten here.

Now what would you rather, walk for an hour and burn 400 calories, or work at it till you can run for an hour and burn 800? If both are within the fat burning range, which do you think will help you lose and maintain weight the most?

Furthermore, interval training, where you have bursts of VERY intense exercise (like sprinting) blows them both out of the water when it comes to elevated metabolism and fat burning in the hours after!

So why not incorporate a bit of each. Have a few nice steady walks a week, and two interval sessions? Your fitness will increase amazingly with the interval sessions and you may wish jog either in future as you get fitter or now if you're already there.

I do know that I've NEVER had exercise results like I've gotten from running and I've been quite active all my life. I walked for long periods of time and it never ever gave me the results that running has. I have an entirely different body, one that is actually two entire sizes smaller than it was last time I weighed this much in my teens.

But of COURSE, all that comes when you're ready. If walking is a challenging activity then that's what's right just now. Its hardly as if its not valuable exercise!

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Jacqui

Clockeeper

excellent advise Frustrated! I will not eat cookies for 30 minutes anymore :biggrin2: