Losing weight in 2004

“The thing about weight lifting is that muscle weighs more than fat. So, weight lifting alone is not really a recommmended weight reducer. It should be combined with diet and then the pounds will shed as well as developing muscle...”

“Tree- I think Wingding tried the Atkins diet. I think the only problem she had was needing the carbs for energy on the trail. Is there a way around that?”

“Went to a training session at the new U Chicago athletic center. Person leading the session was a wrestling coach. He recomended starting out on aerobics then moving on to weights. At first you won't be able to lift as much, but will build up to it. He likes the aerobics first because it loosens up the body for a good workout.”

“Trailtrekker, that is a really good question. And one I don't have the answer for right now. Being that I am sure to experience that concern, I think I will look into that. I will let you know as soon as I find out. First, I'll look through the book tomorrow to see if he approaches the subject anywhere (too tired to read now).”

“When I started lifting I did it under the assumption that I would be getting a workout by keeping my heart rate up for an hour and that the gut would go away from working my abs and back. I think I may have lost about an inch off my waist. I did notice a big increase in muscle mass...started getting some definition, etc. I assumed that I didn't lose weight because muscle weighed more than fat and I guess I'd be fine weighing what I weigh now so long as I lost inches--I'm just tired of the college born gut. This time I'm hoping the added cardio and the diet will drop the inches and some poundage. If I lost 40lbs of fat and then went backpacking...it'd be like hiking now without a pack--but the pack would be on. Good luck to you and Maple on your Atkins diet! I tried that once and got sick of it fast.”

“Will be getting back to Jazzercise at least 4 times a week for the aerobics part and plan on joining the the gym close to work for weight and strength work. I have to size down my food portions, too.I think that will help.”

“...I would think that your body couldn't properly operate with no carbs while backpacking since you burn around 700 calories an hour. I would assume that eating a small amount of carbs while on the trail wouldn't hurt your Atkin's diet too much. However, I am no doctor. Be sure to let us know what you find out Treebeard.”

“The other thing is, come to think of it, after the first two weeks, your carb intake is small, but no non existent. I think that if you go out on the trail, it would be smart to use your daily intake allotment for carbs for the hike and eat low carb meals. I think that you could balance it that way and not go over your allotment. But, I will check that answer tomorrow, as I am not sure about it...”

“About the weightlifting, Dub---

I think you are right and I am not surprised, as when I was working out earlier in the year, I found that I wasn't losing weight or inches, but gaining muscle definition.”

“Jan 5 huh--OK I can do that. It's the good food diet again--it works for me.

Sexy is good ivy ;)”

“Hey wait! We can just all go backpacking for about 3 months straight with some Clif bars and bagels- should lose, what, about 70 pounds?? :)”

“slightly impractical!”

“Fun thought anyway, trekker! :)”

“Good night, all. I will post on here tomorrow after I read up a little more...”

“I noticed the most definition in my arms...my tri's began to emerge from the fat and my bi's caused a little definition when I flexed. It was a real motivator to keep doing it. I read in a fitness magazine that shoulders are the best way to make yourself look muscular. Basically I want big arms and a big chest but no gut (heck, a small gut wouldn't be bad). I just don't want to do one without the other...I want to lose weight but I want to gain some definition at the same time. I could probably lose the gut faster if I did just cardio for several months...I dunno...gut or muscles or both slowly...decisions decisions.”

“Night Treebeard, see ya tomorrow.”

“'Night Tree. Let us know 'bout what ya find out.”

“Dub- You can build muscle and lose weight at the same time by doing aerobics. The more muscle you have the more fat you burn, right? I think a happy medium of wieght work and aerobics will do the trick. God, I hope I can do this. It's easy to sit here with a full stomach and talk sheet about all this!!”

“You're probably right trailtrekker...however, doing it that way would require a lot of time. When I lift it takes me 45 minutes to an hour. Add in 30mins to an hour of cardio and boom! I've doubled my workout time! Plus you kinda have to do them at different times of the day, cardio in the morning, lifting in the evening...that way your muscles aren't too tired for exercising. But what am I complaining about time for, I'm unemployed!”

“Heck, then , you COULD go backpacking for 3 months!!”

“LOL...if only I didn't have school! I was just thinking about that today as my dad told me I should stop backpacking until I graduate that if I backpacked more I would lose weight.”

“Oh well!
I'll be thinking about us all stuffing our faces on Jan 4th! hahaha! We're doing a car camp in Anza Borrego and have a big Mexican pot luck dinner planned for that pre-diet Saturday night! However, won't feel too guilty if we succeed on bagging Indianhead. Should be a tough one and I will have earned that feast! :)”

“Over the past year, I've slowly gained 10 lbs, then in December, another 10. Too much good times. Yuck. I'll need to kill that. Spent to much time in the car on weekends looking for land to build on. I'll bet I lose pretty good when I start building. I wish you all well, wish me well.”

“To start:

Food log, shooting for 2500 Cal./day, 10% fat, balanced, fresh and healthy.

XC ski or hike 4x per week

After a couple of weeks:

Bike 2x per week

Strength train 2x per week.

Shift to maintanence.....

Keep it up till I die”

“Good regimen, Pathie! But, how are you going to have time to hike or XC ski 4 times a week? Man, my hat's off to you if you can pull that off.”

“I talked my wife into getting me a Tram pass for Christmas. That gets me into the cool mountain tops in summer and snow in winter. 10 minute drive, 20 Tram ride. No driving around the mountain or worry about paying each time. All I have to worry about is getting my money's worth. ;-) For an hour at least, I can get in two days during the week and two days on the weekend. I'll make the weekends for at least four hours-I am good. I can work in two biking days in the morning or evening, during the week.

I don't think I am going to wait till the 5th either. This coming week is a good one for me to work into a routine.”

“I used to be able to get as much activity as Pathman, when I lived in Auburn. Plenty of acreage out back. Soon where we will build our new home, we'll be able to do it again!!! But it will include plenty of kayaking on the pond in our front yard.”

“Hard part for me has been living in the suburbs. It is so uninspiring. I hate walking or biking the neighborhoods. Getting into the mountains will be very good for my soul.”

“well, I'm in. I planned to take off a ton in 2003. Didn't happen. Can you say NO WILLPOWER??!

Treebeard, I've got the South Beach diet book. They have you cutting out carbs completely the first two weeks, so as to get your internal system working/thinking differently. Supposed to take away some craving for carbs, I think...

Then, you work some lower amount of carbs back into the diet. I don't think it's supposed to be as harsh as Atkins. Oh, although they do knock out fruits and vegetables for the first two weeks, too.

Guess I better start reading it!!!

>8-O

I "blossomed" in 2000, when I went unemployed for 6 months. Right now I stay at the same weight all the time, it's not up and down. So... perhaps if I just got down to an ideal weight, I'd stay there with little effort?!?!? LOLOLOLOLOL!!! Right......”

“What I outlined about is from Fit or Fat, Covert Bailey It worked for me before. I came across him on PBS several years ago. From a health point of view, it makes great sense. As lizs said, motivation is the key. Getting out on the trail is the motivation required to get me to exersize. Eating right comes much easier when I am getting outside and feeling happy, happy, joy, joy. The food log also helps me face just how much junk I can toss down without thinking.”

“If I jump on this boat, will it sink?

Gotta lose weight too, so I can keep up with "horn toad" gremlin and "sore shins" Pennsy.

A couple friends at work have been on the "no/low carb diet" - Atkins, South Park - call it what you will. They told me that with a low carb reservoir in their body, they are "bonking" much earlier during exercise. My suggestion would be sipping on some watered down juice during exercise. We're all gonna look great by the summer!!!”

“hey bobo, haven't you heard, FAT FLOATS!”

“Jan 5h is a good time to start again this yr. The holiday food will be gone, I can get back to the gym 2 nights a week and on Sat. I only gained about 3-5 lbs so far over the holidays. My goal is to be 180 lbs again which according to weight charts is still to heavy for me.”

“The weight charts say I should weigh 195 but I am comfortable at around 215 so that's what I am aiming for. I stayed steady over the holidays.

I am trying to rely on walking and hiking as my primary exercise. I don't have the time or money for the gym right now with baby #2 on its way.”

“That was a good link Pathman--I found some do it at home exercises that suit me--my legs are great but my upper body is weak and I think it may be contributing to upper back pain.”

“I think this year I'll concentrate on changing my eating habits (smaller portions, healthier snacks) rather than beating myself up because I'm not getting to the gym enough or shedding the extra pounds I've got. I think healthier eating is really key for me, I eat horribly. Some cardio work and a bit of lifting should help as well.”

“Pathman - cool site. I used to enjoy running as my primary aerobic activity but I have ITBS and my right leg always hurts and I was afraid I was going to cuase permanent damage that would hurt my hiking future. I have struggled to find a convenient subsitute that gets me as "winded". I know walking is good, but I can never get my heart rate up like I could with running.

Maybe I'll try running again, just not as long.”

“I wear weights and walk very, very fast on steep hills to get my heart rate up.”

“When I'm trying to lose weight, sometimes I keep a food log and an exercise log in the same place. I use a little spiral-bound notebook and record everything I eat and every bit of exercise. It makes me think twice about a nibble of some treat someone brought to work if I'm going to have to use a line of my little itty-bitty notebook to record it. And when I look at the food lines compared to the exercise lines, it's easier to decide to take the stairs or walk during break so I am not using a disproportionate number of food lines compared to exercise lines.
Also, I make exercise a priority and walk an hour before work 3 days a week and at least that long, usually a lot longer, on my 3 days off a week.”

“I keep a spreadsheet with a similar data as a log - I like pretty graphs.”

“Got in 2 hours of XC skiing yesterday. The snow isn't very good yet, but it was nice to get out. Work to snow=45 min.”

“Did I say make exercise a priority? And walk further on a day off? And here I sit cruising through TT when I know I have to be in the house this afternoon waiting for the Comcast installer. Off I go.”

“Years ago my mother taught me to park as far away from stores and such as I can-- it helps and I do it.

I have another rule for myself I have posted here before which is to never, never avoid the stairs in my house--I go up and down from 5 to 20 times each day. I think this is why I can always hike grand canyon even if I have had little exercise for awhile before I go.

The other thing I do is to hike alone from time to time--I did this the week before Christmas when the weather was nice--spent three days in my canyon and saw a new area.”

“Found the picture that I'll use as my inspiration.

What a gut!”

“Hey Path! That was our hike in Cold Spring, wasn't it? Well, glad to see you got the 'jackrabbit' start over us, P-man! Good luck with it. I have been lining up the diet and recipes. Now, to do some 'different' type of food shopping than I am used to.

As far as the question i was discussing with trailtrekker and Dub the other night about carbs on the trail:

I couldn't find a direct answer to that, except to say that it weems there is a little room on this diet to eat your carbs when hiking and perhaps eating lower carbs for your dinner. You can compensate in ways like that. If I can find a more direct answer, I will let you know. Best of luck to all of us! Hope we all look good when the warmer weather comes...”

“ glad to see you got the 'jackrabbit' start over us, P-man! Good luck with it

I wouldn't say that. Holiday food and spirits are still flowing and we head to Taos which means more good food and more "spirits". A head start on the exersize is all, and for me that means hitting the trail or the bike more.”

“Ok, Path. However, you are still one workout up on me, my friend! :)”

“Someone sent me a great picture last year--i will send it to you Tilt and perhaps you can post it for me.”