Turning a new leaf -- First day on the treadmill — One Week Update!

[bushmaster1313]

One week update at post 26

Was feeling fat, tired and not young. The cardiologist said I could do any exercise I wanted. So today is day 1 with 15 minutes on the treadmill. Speed set at 2 of 12 and incline set at 5 of 12. Heart rate got to 120. The display said I only burned about 70 calories, but at least I wasn't eating while on the treadmill. Hope to keep it up.

Encouragement will be sincerely appreciated.

P.S. My primary said to not start exercise until being checked out by a cardiologist
P.P.S. I'd get thin and fit much quicker if shooting .38's, .357's, .44 Specials or .45's from classic handguns counted as cardiovascular exercise

 

[Craver]

You can do it. I lost 40lbs, only walked and drank lots of water. Try to have an idea to think about while walking. Some ideas make the walk fly by.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

 

[BC38]

Keep up the good work. THAT is the hard part - keeping it up.
My wife and I joined the local Y and go to a water-aerobics class.
I can't do treadmills or anything else that pounds the joints - my knees in particular. I have to go with low impact.
That's the great thing about the water aerobics. Essentially NO impact - but it is a good strenuous cardio workout.
Plus paying $80 a month for the membership keeps me going - since I'm paying for it anyway (I'm cheap).
Been doing it for over 4 years now.

 

[TripLeader]

Good work! The first couple of weeks is the hardest. Force it to become a habit and it will seem ordinary in the near future.

My opinion is diet is more important than exercise when losing weight. Don't stop exercising, but if you can drop a few unhealthy snacks, then do so. It will pay off.

 

[ExRanger714]

I'm not a Doctor and I don't play one on tv but . . .

I've heard that a pound of fat contains 3,500 calories.

Cut out or back off the pop or switch to diet. Restrict the salt shaker to guests only. Eat breakfast and skip lunch. No second helpings at supper. Black coffee if you can stand it. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! Put down the water only long enough to urinate. By cutting 500 calories a day I lost 50 pounds in a year.

I've got my exerbike (never tried a treadmill: that's what outdoors is for)
facing a window with a bird feeder outside. I also hung a faceted silver colored Christmas ornament in the hedge row and watched a bobcat stalk it.

You not only can do it, but you will do it, and you will stay at it or I will mock you in The Forum.

Good luck bro!

 

[ameridaddy]

....
P.P.S. I'd get thin and fit much quicker if shooting .38's, .357's, .44 Specials or .45's from classic handguns counted as cardiovascular exercise

Well, if you were down range at the time of all this shooting, your heart rate would go way up.

On second thought, stick to the treadmill. Seriously, in about a month you'll start feeling a little more zip in your step. Keep it regular, don't over do, and before you know it, you'll be doing several miles a day just for a warmup to other exercises.

 

[Broke Hoss]

01/17/17 quad by-pass. I went to cardio rehab afterwards. I really didn't feel challenged by their program, but still had 10% increase on stress test from start to finish. I've kept up exercising at least twice a week. I prefer walking outdoors, but used the department's treadmill during the winter months. I also started using the row machine then. I average 3 miles in an hour walking & can do 20 mins on the rower.

Alot of words to say I have faith in you because I did it myself. If nothing else, do it for those you love. I tell my wife I gotta exercise so I can continue to push her in her wheelchair.

 

[eveled]

Don't pay attention to the calories burned while actually on the treadmill. Exercising elevates the metabolism, and you burn more calories for hours after you stop exercising.

Good luck on your journey to a healthier you. I need to embark on the same journey.

 

[Tom S.]

Here's my personal experience, and since everyone it different, keep in mind it may not mean squat for you.

I bought my wife a treadmill one year, and the thing sat almost unused until I got rid of it after she died. For some reason, she - nor I for that matter - just couldn't keep a steady routine of using it. What did work was joining a fitness place. A mental thing, I'm sure, but the idea of spending $10 a month was enough to make us go there, almost daily, to work out. Money can be a strange motivator! The place we ended up at was Planet Fitness, and it is a bargain at $10 a month, but you can do even better, as they occasionally offer a special of $99 for a year. And it has the added benefit of having more than just treadmills. One note of caution: if you want to be really humbled, get on a stair stepper machine. Unless you are in great shape, it will bring you to your knees (metaphorically and perhaps even physically) in a matter of minutes!

Another great method of staying on track is partnering up. It's best if you can physically work out with someone, as you can drive each other, but even if you just make a pact with a friend, setting weekly goals an meeting once a week to see how each other is doing on those goals can provide the motivation that may flag when going it alone.

Remember that exercise is great, but it needs to be pared with a proper diet. Some people find they get hungrier when working out (my wife liked to stop at Dairy Queen after working out, yeah that was productive!). Eating healthy is just as important as working out.

Good luck on your quest!

 

[Muss Muggins]

Eat less, move more. Everything in moderation. The Muss Muggins Life Plan . . .

 

[Retired LTC USAR]

After my surgery almost 2 years ago, my cardiologist said to walk every day. Outside between 30 and 80 degrees. I have my treadmill inside where I can watch TV while I am walking. Makes all the difference in the world.

 

[federali]

Kudos to You

The science of diet, exercise and weight loss is far more complex than people in the weight loss industry would have us believe. I should know because of my unbroken string of failures trying to shed a bit of ballast.

Avoid starchy carbs which the body converts to sugar and avoid all artificial sweeteners. Their makers never tell you that the body doesn't know the difference between sugar and sweetener, resulting in the same insulin dump into the bloodstream and that causes weight gain. Diet this or that is total nonsense.

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

different things work for different people. If I had a place for a treadmill I would use it while watching the morning news. I don't so I walk listening to the radio, music or just nothing. Made it important and am now in the habit of doing 3.5 miles a day come hell or high water and don't feel I've accomplished anything until I do it. Trick it to MAKE IT A PART OF YOUR DAY. Make it a habit-something you HAVE to do. I know it's mind games but I've been doing it solid every day now going into my fourth year.

 

[Watchdog]

When I was a kid, my dad told me if I didn't straighten up, I was going nowhere.

So I'm not gonna walk on a treadmill inside, going nowhere, and fulfill dad's prediction. I'm just not.

In all seriousness, I walk several miles every day. I don't care if I'm burning x-amount of calories or if my heart rate hits 120. I walk because I enjoy it, and the only thing it costs me is time.

 

[snubbyfan]

Losing weight can be a frustrating thing. Sometimes it seems like it's just flying off and at other times you can't seem to lose any weight no matter what you do.
Just stick with it and it'll come off.
Keep to a daily caloric deficit and stay active.
My wife and I joined the YMCA. Go to spin class and workout with weights. At first we went 3 times a week. Now that we've pretty much reached our weight loss goals we go just twice a week. Also, we hike and bike the area mountain trails.




As you can see, it took me years and actually I've gone further than I imagined I would.
Now it's all about composition. I'd like to keep my weight pretty much where it is and make it more lean mass and less squishy, jiggly stuff.


On days when the weather's not cooperating, we have a home stationary bike and treadmill.

Check out my "Health and Fitness" thread.
Health and Fitness Thread

 

[ChuckS1]

Here's my tip. Eat fewer calories than you burn and the weight will come off. I use Free Calorie Counter, Diet & Exercise Journal | MyFitnessPal.com to track my calories and my exercise. I get on a treadmill at least 6 times a week for 45 minutes, running 3 miles and then walking until I hit 45 minutes, then a 5 minute cool down. I set the treadmill at an elevation of 2 for the running and then crank it to 15 elevation and a 4 MPH speed. The three miles I do at an 7:45 minute per mile pace. That burns me about 750 calories and then I try to keep calorie consumption to less than 2000 a day, giving me net caloric intake of about 1300 calories a day. You need to work up to it, obviously, but my point is you need to start slow and keep challenging yourself. It's not fun the first couple of months, but you get motivated when you see the weight start to come off.

The key is eat less calories than you burn. Doesn't matter what you eat or drink; it's all about calories. Heck, you could do it eating Twinkies and drinking beer as long as you burned those calories. Good luck.

 

[ladder13]

Make a lifestyle change, that’s the only path to long term success.
Excercise, both cardio and weight training, and healthy eating.

 

[josywales]

Agreed, you burn a good amount of calories, after the workout, simply by having raised you metabolic rate, etc.

My wife and daughter are discussing weight loss, as I write this. Weight watchers, counting points, this, that, the other. Geez.

This is so easy, a caveman can do it. But doing it, is where we fail.

I'm not a large framed person. however, I deal with GERD - silent reflux. The doctor said, cut back on soda, coffee, stop eating after 7PM, etc.

So I:

eliminated coffee (I was only drinking about a cup a day anyway)
eliminated soda. Wasn't addicted to it, but one a day
stopped eating after 7PM

Didn't a damn bit of exercise - just as before the new diet.

I returned to the doctor 3 weeks later. He said did you cut back, I said no. I eliminated everything. He read my chart and said, "I can see that." I had lost 17 pounds. By the end of week 4, I had lost 29 pounds and never broke a sweat. to this day, I've kept off 25 of those pounds.

I started exercising for two reasons. one, I'm cheating a bit on what I eat, but my diet is far from restrictive. two, I just want to get my cardio up.

The fact is, with discipline, anyone can lose weight, literally without breaking a sweat. If I'm being honest, most of my discipline came from anxiety that I might get Barrett's Esophagus. I'm too young, thin, and healthy to have that kind of ****! But I've done pretty well maintaining some discipline.

Another trap I use to fall into: exercising, but not having good food or snacks to grab afterward. You run the trreadmill all you want, a bag full of cheese curls will keep your scale right where it is!

 

[snubbyfan]

Here's my tip. Eat fewer calories than you burn and the weight will come off. I use Free Calorie Counter, Diet & Exercise Journal | MyFitnessPal.com to track my calories and my exercise. I get on a treadmill at least 6 times a week for 45 minutes, running 3 miles and then walking until I hit 45 minutes, then a 5 minute cool down. I set the treadmill at an elevation of 2 for the running and then crank it to 15 elevation and a 4 MPH speed. The three miles I do at an 7:45 minute per mile pace. That burns me about 750 calories and then I try to keep calorie consumption to less than 2000 a day, giving me net caloric intake of about 1300 calories a day. You need to work up to it, obviously, but my point is you need to start slow and keep challenging yourself. It's not fun the first couple of months, but you get motivated when you see the weight start to come off.

The key is eat less calories than you burn. Doesn't matter what you eat or drink; it's all about calories. Heck, you could do it eating Twinkies and drinking beer as long as you burned those calories. Good luck.

My thinking is quality calories. Eat a well balanced diet while keeping to a caloric deficit. For me it wasn't just losing weight but improving my health as well.

 

[snubbyfan]

Agreed, you burn a good amount of calories, after the workout, simply by having raised you metabolic rate, etc.

My wife and daughter are discussing weight loss, as I write this. Weight watchers, counting points, this, that, the other. Geez.

This is so easy, a caveman can do it. But doing it, is where we fail.

I'm not a large framed person. however, I deal with GERD - silent reflux. The doctor said, cut back on soda, coffee, stop eating after 7PM, etc.

So I:

eliminated coffee (I was only drinking about a cup a day anyway)
eliminated soda. Wasn't addicted to it, but one a day
stopped eating after 7PM

Didn't a damn bit of exercise - just as before the new diet.

I returned to the doctor 3 weeks later. He said did you cut back, I said no. I eliminated everything. He read my chart and said, "I can see that." I had lost 17 pounds. By the end of week 4, I had lost 29 pounds and never broke a sweat. to this day, I've kept off 25 of those pounds.

I started exercising for two reasons. one, I'm cheating a bit on what I eat, but my diet is far from restrictive. two, I just want to get my cardio up.

The fact is, with discipline, anyone can lose weight, literally without breaking a sweat. If I'm being honest, most of my discipline came from anxiety that I might get Barrett's Esophagus. I'm too young, thin, and healthy to have that kind of ****! But I've done pretty well maintaining some discipline.

Another trap I use to fall into: exercising, but not having good food or snacks to grab afterward. You run the trreadmill all you want, a bag full of cheese curls will keep your scale right where it is!

We started what's called, "Intermittant fasting." That is no eating between 7:30PM and 11:30AM. It's supposed to help your body burn fat and rebuild muscle. Is it really helping? Dunno but it does eliminate the evening snacking.