h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Check it out...

http://public.fotki.com/azahar/trips/zoomers_magical/

Have been eating and drinking to excess for almost a week now - just another two days to go!

Nice that you made it to the hillbilly meet. Hyp is lovely.

Well then . . . Monday? It always *has* to be a Monday somehow . . .


az

Wow, what a great trip you had. The views of the Roman ruins were wonderful, also the waterfall off the cliff. Not as good as being there, but pictures are a wonderful substitute.

Monday sounds good to me. I guess that starting at the beginning of a week makes sense. I so over-indulged this weekend that I may start now. In fact, I have done pretty well today, in terms of intake. I have been running the sprinkler on the gardens and so I have had a lot of running back and forth. I guess that counts for something.

"It's Monday" in an annoying singsong call. How are you doing, Az? Are you ready to weigh? Ready to go to work?

Yesterday I weighed 196 lb. Eek. Ick. Last night I did 10 crunches and this morning my abdomen is sore. How disgusting is that. Today I plan to do 15 crunches. And walk 1.5 miles.

My son, who is 24, is presently doing his basic training for the Army in Ft. Jackson South Carolina. In the four weeks he has been there he has developed a 16 minute 2 mile run, and the ability to do 47 pushups in one minute and 52 situps in one minute. He has lost 10 pounds and all I want to know is, where is the Boot Camp for 53 year old women. If I had a drill instructor getting me out of bed at 4:30 am and making me walk everywhere I go carrying a 50lb rucksack, I guess I could get in shape too.

*Dammit! She remembered!*

I actually forgot it was MONDAY, but I'm still keen to get going. It's a bit hard to exercise when it's 45º but I reckon I can ride The Bike and do a bit of arm and ab work first thing in the morning (starting tomorrow - it's already 2pm here and way too hot for that sort of thing). Can probably manage a few crunches tonight before bed though.

For the moment my weight will remain TOP SECRET - I'll tell you what it *was* after I've lost the first 10 kilos, okay?

Right, off to make some salad now . . .


az

50 crunches and 15 knees-to-elbows thingys

Probably won't be able to walk tomorrow . . . or breathe.


az

And . . . http://azahar.wordpress.com/2006/07/10/stop-me-if-youve-heard-this-one-before/#comments



az

So far I have managed to walk the 1.5 miles I proposed to walk, during breaks between rain storms. I have not yet essayed the crunch thing. I believe that possibly doing 50 the first day is a little over ambitious for me. But I guess I could up the ante to 25. I also have been eyeing my 3 lb free weights. I moved a lot of rocks yesterday, so I bet I could do a set of weights and not feel too bad. We'll see.

Officially weighed in this morning . . . ewwwww!

Think it's possible to lose 25 kilos in a year?


az

Yes it is possible. The last time I went on a serious diet I did exactly that. It requires discipline that borders on the superhuman, and dedication to regular exercise. The problem is the human body's desire to remain at a certain level of obesity after it has experienced it. There is some evidence that efforts to lose more than 10% of your body weight are doomed to ultimately fail as after you lose more than that the "fat" hormone addiction kicks in and you start trying to gain it back. (Usually you are successful at this, beyond your wildest imaginings.) So, whatever your weight is, I suggest that you pick 10% of that as your goal to lose. Once you have successfully dropped that 10%, sit at that weight for 6 to 8 months on a maintenance diet, continuing your exercise program. Then cut your calories back again and start losing another 10%. When I lost my 25 kilos (which was about 20% of my original full body weight), I maintained that weight for about 1 month and then I began to put weight back on until I had regained about 1/2 of what I lost. I have been able to maintain that weight without difficulty for a year. so now I am in the process of trying to lose the weight I put back on. Perhaps when I succeed in this, I will be able to maintain that loss long enough to think about losing about another 10 pounds (approx 5 k). Right now, my good fighting weight of aound 160 lb (72.5 kg) is merely a dream, an ultimate goal that I am not even planning to reach during this reduction program. If I get to 79 kg I will be satisfied. So I wouldn't set too high a goal. It is better to lose it slowly and permanently than to yoyo.

Last night I did 20 crunches straight and 10 to each side. I am not even sore today, so I guess I didn't do enough.

Remember, no matter how ugly your fat suit seems to you, do not hate your body. You must love it no matter what shape it is in. After all, it is still serving you well, you are healthy and your lover loves you and you have to be in that body or die. Hating your body and hating your own self are very hard to separate.

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Eep, that's definitely not me. Though I think I'll be able to do okay with the regular exercise thang.

You see, I don't plan to go on a super-strict diet. Mostly I'm going to modify my eating habits somewhat and drink less whilst becoming more active. So maybe it'll take about two years to lose the weight. But frankly, even losing 10-15 kilos would be wonderful. And I'm pretty much going for a 'lifestyle change' thing, so if I plateau for awhile after losing some weight then I should be okay with that.

But I seriously want to drop those first 10 kilos as fast as possible - at least the first 5 kilos should come off fairly quickly.

So I'm trying to focus on DOING MORE rather than obsess about food intake. Today I did 10 full sit-ups, 50 crunches and 15 knee-elbows. Then half an hour (9 kms) on The Bike - bit of a slow pace, but I'm sure it'll pick up.

I've also got some small weights and know a nice little 15-20 minute workout for my arms and shoulders that I want to start doing every day.

Also, Nog and I are planning to start our two-hour morning walks again on the mornings I don't have early classes. We'll have to be up and out quite early because of THE HEAT but we did this all last summer and it was quite nice. Thing is, although Noggin is quite slim, I think I'm actually fitter than he is. For example, he could barely manage 10 crunches yesterday and didn't even try today. So the extra exercise is actually good for both of us.

<>

Oh, don't I know it! That's kind of my main motivation for this. It's very hard not to feel totally disgusted with myself when I look in the mirror. Anyhoodle . . . nice to be doing this with a friend.

Be sure to stop by the blog as well - some good comments there.

az

For the record - woke up this morning feeling like a Mack truck had driven over my belly! But still managed to do another 50 crunches and ride The Bike for half an hour this morning.

How are you doing?


az

For the record - woke up this morning feeling like a Mack truck had driven over my belly! But still managed to do another 50 crunches and ride The Bike for half an hour before my first class this morning.

How are you doing?


az

Oops, double post. They said the first one hadn't gone through because of Server Too Busy issues . . .

az

I had to wait for a while to get the server to work for me this morning. I guess people are just getting off work over in the UK or something?

I got my 1.5 mile in yesterday, and did 35 crunches plus 15 lateral crunches on each side. No weights, though. I did plant six iris plants that just came out in my front garden though, and that required removing three irises that had gotten very large, and digging up the beds where they had been, and taking the old rhizomes out to the grind pile.

I don't feel too bad. Apparently I am in better shape than I thought. I do not have a bunch of sore muscles. But I haven't lost any weight in the past 5 days, in spite of being very circumspect about my intake. Very frustrating.

Ah well, don't give up. I actually don't expect any weight loss in this first week because I am mostly focussing on DOING MORE. Yes, am also eating a bit lighter and drinking less but I'm kind of more interested right now in general fitness, you know?

Maybe it's just me, but other times in my life when I lost a lot of weight I focussed most on being more active, not on food intake - which seems to almost take care of itself once one starts enjoying the 'more active' thing.

So, thanks to you, I'm starting to listen to my body more now - it really has a lot of interesting stuff to tell me.

az

Boy, hootoo must be busy this morning. I'm getting all kinds of "Server busy" messages. Must be the situation in Beirut causing all sorts of chat.

Anyway, I just wanted to report aht I got my 1.5 mi walk in again yesterday. Ruby is starting to really like this new habit, and she is now learning "Heel" so it is serving a dual purpose. I also did a very short set of light weights for my upper body, 40 crunches and 20 oblique crunches on each side. I am still not sore, so I must be escalating the exercise regimen fast enough but not too fast.

I too am watching what I eat but not obsessively. Mostly I am trying to avoid eating between meals, which is my big downfall. Also, evening snacking which is less tempting since that is when I have been walking.

Today I have lost 2 lbs, 1 whole kilo! Hurray!

Another 1.5 miles. 50 crunches plus 20 lateral crunches on each side. No weights. Ruby thinks the new regime is splendid and gets terribly excited when she sees her leash.

45 degrees??? How do you stand it? I'm afraid I would be pushing Azar off the cold towel and sitting on it myself.

Ah, stop showing off!

I've not been able to do much more than daily crunches the past three days due to THE HEAT - you can read about it here:
http://azahar.wordpress.com/2006/07/15/way-too-hot/

The last two days I had to get up extra early to do some recuperation classes with a student - so barely time for crunches, and no way no day I could get on The Bike or do anything else even remotely strenuous after I got home.

Perhaps all this extra sweating is doing me some good?

az

I have no information on how many calories we expend sweating. I would caution you to make sure that your electrolytes stay balanced in all that heat. Heat exhaustion is no joke. If your sodium/potasssium balance is not correct you cannot sweat and so you cannot bring your core temp. down naturally. And how do you do that anyway when the temp is hotter than your proper body heat? Be careful, stay well.

Az, I guess it could seem like I'm a show off.

However, I did not weigh myself this morning and it will be interesting to see where I am after today. Jim made sticky buns and that is what we had for breakfast. . . And then I had another one for my mid morning snack. Plus there are ripe peaches right now and we had a peach margarita this afternoon.

But I still have time to take Ruby for a walk. I figure about ten miles ought to do it.