Weight loss support

Great night for a walk, very cool biut nice. Gloomy (yes sg is it gloomy :p) but one of those good nights. Luckily I live in the mountains so up and downs happen. There is no fla here. Got home, hit the weights and going to have a nice dinner with pengrah.

I have missed working out haha
 
I've been lazy on the gym in the last few days, but I've been walking and taking the stairs and cleaning so I've stayed active. Today going to go for a nice long brisk walk and then hit the gym for weights on the way back. Thought about some intense cardio at the gym, but I hate running in place, no matter what music I'm listening to.
 
I worked out last night for the second time this week. Yay! I did intervals on the treadmill, which make it so much more interesting: Warm-up, then intervals of 1 minute at a fast pace, two minutes of a normal pace, repeated until the cool down, which is a slower than normal pace. I don't run on the treadmill - I racewalk, which is more difficult and actually burns more calories than running because you have to always keep one foot in contact with the "ground" and it demands more energy, while running helps conserve energy (a good resource to learn more about that is the book Walking by Casey Meyers).

Anyway, did that for just 20 minutes, because it was the last hour before the gym was closing, and I needed time to go upstairs to work with free weights. I love strength training and am grateful that my ex taught me so much about proper form. Both this time and the last, I was the only woman on the free weights floor, and I could see the guys looking at me when I came in. Here they are groaning and grunting with their big machines, and this chubby, grey-haired old lady walks in. They probably expected me to work with only 5-lb weights. But after a few minutes, I could see them admiring the exercises I was doing and my form - which was mostly perfect! You don't see too many women in a non-bodybuilder-focused gym doing dead lifts for some reason.

Yay, this morning, my weight had dropped a little bit more.
 
I worked out last night for the second time this week. Yay! I did intervals on the treadmill, which make it so much more interesting: Warm-up, then intervals of 1 minute at a fast pace, two minutes of a normal pace, repeated until the cool down, which is a slower than normal pace. I don't run on the treadmill - I racewalk, which is more difficult and actually burns more calories than running because you have to always keep one foot in contact with the "ground" and it demands more energy, while running helps conserve energy (a good resource to learn more about that is the book Walking by Casey Meyers).

Anyway, did that for just 20 minutes, because it was the last hour before the gym was closing, and I needed time to go upstairs to work with free weights. I love strength training and am grateful that my ex taught me so much about proper form. Both this time and the last, I was the only woman on the free weights floor, and I could see the guys looking at me when I came in. Here they are groaning and grunting with their big machines, and this chubby, grey-haired old lady walks in. They probably expected me to work with only 5-lb weights. But after a few minutes, I could see them admiring the exercises I was doing and my form - which was mostly perfect! You don't see too many women in a non-bodybuilder-focused gym doing dead lifts for some reason.

Yay, this morning, my weight had dropped a little bit more.

Congrats on the weight dropping! That's always a great feeling :)

I'm really clueless with weights. What do you recommend for all over toning? Calves, butt, thights, hips, arms... everything. I'm doing good with the cardio. Either walking at a good pace for 45 mins to an hour or doing high intensity on the elliptical for 20-30 mins or 10 mins on the bike and 10-20 on the elliptical.
 
Congrats on the weight dropping! That's always a great feeling :)

I'm really clueless with weights. What do you recommend for all over toning? Calves, butt, thights, hips, arms... everything. I'm doing good with the cardio. Either walking at a good pace for 45 mins to an hour or doing high intensity on the elliptical for 20-30 mins or 10 mins on the bike and 10-20 on the elliptical.

Thanks!

Any woman interested in weight training should visit stumptuous.com. The site owner, Krista, has been sharing advice on strength training for women on her site (now a blog) for years and years. Krista has an awesome bod. Especially check out the "From Dork to Diva" section which explains in detail how to do the exercises correctly. My workout is very basic, uses compound exercises to save time, and is based on a routine that Krista emailed me years ago - it's an all dumbbells total body workout (I never liked doing upper body one day and lower body another):

Beginner, Full-Body 2: Get In, Get Out, Go Home

This workout is done either 3 x weekly, or on alternating days (1 day of workout, 1 day of rest, 1 day of workout, and so forth). You can even do this workout only twice weekly and see some gains, say on a Monday-Thursday split. Never do this workout two days in a row. Rest no more than 60-90 seconds between sets (you might want a little longer between squat sets).

squat 2 x 15-20
deadlift 2 x 15
standing shoulder press 2 x 12-15
one-arm dumbbell row 2 x 12-15
bicep curls 2 x 15
calf raise 1 x 15
weighted crunch 2 x 12-15
This routine takes about 30-45 minutes, tops. Those numbers mean how many sets of how many reps. For example: 2 x 15-20 means two sets of 15 to 20 reps each. Krista either has pics and instructions of each exercise or links to pics and videos on other sites. Not every site out there shows good form that protects the back.

Experiment with how heavy to go with the weights you use. Since I'm starting out after a lo-ong time not working out, I'm going pretty light. For shoulder press, and because I have cranky shoulder joints, I use 7.5 lbs (I'm talking in each hand); bicep curls, I use 10 lbs; for all the other exercises, I currently use 20 lbs. Although the standing shoulder press works the triceps, sometimes I throw in triceps extensions with very light weights, like 5lbs. I will also occasionally add walking lunges to practice balance (I know I said this is only the second workout I've done in a long time, but I used to do this regularly 4x/week). Women are usually stronger in the lower body already, so it's fine to have more upper body exercises than lower.

There are some classic books I recommend (some are out of print but can still be found):
*A Woman's Book of Strength - Karen Andes
Flex Appeal - Rachel McLish
Fit Happens - Joanie Greggains
The Interval Training Workout - Joseph and Kimberlie Nitti
Stronger Abs and Back - Dean Brittenham
Fat Free and Fit - Cory Everson
No More Aching Back - Leon Root
Goodbye to Bad Backs - Judith Scott

*If you can only get one, get this one!
 
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I need some motivation to get my butt out the door for derby tonight. Bad couple of days at work and I'm just not feeling it.
 
Finally, down 4 1/2 lbs.:D

I've been doing well these last 3 weeks, with getting my walks in 3-4 days a week for an hour at a time. Food has been all over the board, but getting better. I seriously don't do well with drastic changes and have to take it one step at a time and gradually cut stuff out or add stuff in (excersise). It does seem to work best if I start with the excersise, because without it, nothing works.

I've been weighing in every week with absolutely no change, then today, I'm down 4.5lbs. I forgot, but this too is normal for me. I can go all month with NO change, maybe even up a pound, then WHAM all weight loss shows up after my period is over.
 
Finally, down 4 1/2 lbs.:D

I've been weighing in every week with absolutely no change, then today, I'm down 4.5lbs. I forgot, but this too is normal for me. I can go all month with NO change, maybe even up a pound, then WHAM all weight loss shows up after my period is over.

YEA!!!! Good job and way to stay focused! I am the same way as far as Post Men weight loss!
 
I can go all month with NO change, maybe even up a pound, then WHAM all weight loss shows up after my period is over.

Yup, me too. Made me crazy til I figured that out. Now I do'nt even get on the scale til after the period. ;)

Congrats on the loss!!! :)
 
Haven't had a chance to walk in a few days - been too busy. Downloaded an app on my iPhone today called Couch to 5K that I hope to start tomorrow. It gradually ups your interval training over 9 weeks. IF I can do this - there's a 5K here in September. I've never been a runner so . . . .

I've decreased the amount of Diet Coke I get at work from 2-3 a day to 1. The rest of the day I drink water or milk.

Small changes . . .
 
I did it!!! I started my 5K training today (using the iPhone app I bought C25K - Couch to 5K)

It leads you through 9 weeks (3x/week) of interval training.

Today was Week 1 Day 1 - 5 minute warm up, then 20 minutes of alternating 1 minute of running/jogging and 1 1/2 minutes of walking, (it counts down the time for you and tells you when to switch) and then a 5 minute cool down. Total time is 31 minutes and I walked 1.70 miles (it has a GPS tracker.). It probably was more like 2 miles but a few times I jogged in place. You can add your favorite workout music to listen to. When you are done - you can take notes in the journal and post to Facebook or Twitter.

As I stated in my first post - I fluctuate between 260 and 270 - which is considered obese. I am soooooo not a runner and never was even when I was skinny. So - the first few times I had to run/jog was really hard. But it did get easier. I jogged today and will eventually work up to running.

During my cool down, I was feeling so upbeat and positive that instead of walking, I danced home (to Sexy Back by Justin Timberlake!!) I can only imagine what my neighbors thought! Haha! Surprisingly - I'm not sore at all (though I know it might hit me tomorrow.)

When I walk - I like to listen to Pink, Gwen Stefani/No Doubt, Adele, Black Eyed Peas, Smashmouth, Barenaked Ladies, Florence and the Machine, Cee Lo Green, Duffy, KT Tungstall, and Katy Perry.

What music do you like to listen to when you work out?
 
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