Staying the Course -- 04/04/2016

[Superbob]

Welcome to the first full week of April, Staying the Course. I was just kidding about encountering a bear last week (a poor attempt at an April Fool's prank -- just trying to stir things up here); however, Ellie and I did encounter a coyote last night. Between Ellie Mae's growls and my brandished walking stick, it didn't want to take us on, though it did continue to stare at us. Kind of disquieting that such creatures are lurking out there. Maybe I need a bayonet to afix to my walking stick, ... or whatever.

Anyway, my big news is that with my Incredible Walking Dog as my personal trainer, I continue to lose weight -- now down 15.5 pounds since Ellie adoption the first week of January. Have an appointment with cardio Thursday -- if her scales don't give me credit for this loss, I am going to be mightily ticked off.

Hope all of you have a good week. Stop in and let us know what you're up to when you can

Cheers,

Superbob

 

[RTZdad]

Hey Superbob,

Keep staying the course my man! After a brief detour, I have decided to join you. I am using my latest anniversary as a wake-up call to lose back all of these pounds that have returned. Congratulations on your 15.5 pound loss. I have challenged myself to lose 50 pounds by October. (It makes it more real if you write it down somewhere, right?) There it is. I now have announced my intentions to the Universe. I can do this. Have a great week. I'll try and do the same.

Tom

 

[Superbob]

Welcome to our merry band of Staying the Course brothers and sisters, Tom! Looking forward to following your progress toward meeting your goal -- and congrats on setting that goal. As you may have noted, we are very informal here and talk about a variety of things going on in our lives. But weight is a concern most of us have, and this is a good place for setting goals and tracking progress and sharing ideas. Will look forward to your observations.

SB

 

[honeybunny]

Happy Monday! And shame on you for the bear joke! I fell for it

Congrats on the continued weight loss. How long, far, and fast do you walk on your outings? I lost almost nothing doing cardiac rehab three days a week, and that is the most weekly exercise I've done in a long time. I'm committed to my Active for Life participatation at 20 min. x 5 days/week and have been able to meet that goal for the past two weeks. No weight loss but I am doing my heart muscle good.

 

[epstns]

Well, it looks like SB is about the only one here who "celebrated" April Fools' Day. Well done, SB!

I received one "trick" email - from the restaurant site "Open Table." We use that site for restaurant reservations at home and away. Their joke this year was to send all of their active mobile users a message that they have now developed "lickable" pictures on their web site. All the user had to do was to bring up the picture of the restaurant's meal, lick their phone screen, and the user would know just what that dish tasted like. I wonder how many people sheepishly licked their phones during the day.

Tom - When I posted in your anniversary thread, I was thinking of inviting you to join us over here. As SB said, we're very informal, but the spirit is strong. Whether we have a lot of weight to lose or just want to contain what we have, we all enjoy the companionship in the process.

Speaking of which, I'm still in a holding pattern with my weight. I am hovering within a 1-2 lb. range, trying to add enough activity to my daily routine to get rid of my "winter weight gain." It is always slow at the start, but I'll stay with it. These days, if I can get outdoors for a walk 2 or 3 days in the typical week, I'm doing well. We still had snow flurries yesterday, and it was just plain nasty outside, so no walking. I do keep up my gym routine all year, so the walking is the only way I can add extra activity to try to lose the pounds. I still feel it will happen, just not sure how long it will take.

 

[Superbob]

It's not that my dawg walks are of great distance or speed -- it is that they are twice a day, and resemble interval training -- speed up, slow down, speed up, slow down -- to suit the goofball Ellie dog's whims. Plus, while mourning for Sadie the last half of 2015 I exercised little and the weight packed on, and so now comes off fairly quickly. Sustaining more loss will be the trick, but walking twice a day helps.

 

[RTZdad]

My first day back on the grind resulted in a good deal of exercise. Day one was a success. We shall see if the scale agrees. Thanks for the welcome SB. I'm glad my buddy Epstns is a regular here too. I look forward to speaking with you all on a regular basis.

 

[Superbob]

My first day back on the grind resulted in a good deal of exercise. Day one was a success. We shall see if the scale agrees. Thanks for the welcome SB. I'm glad my buddy Epstns is a regular here too. I look forward to speaking with you all on a regular basis.

Sometimes it takes the scales a while to register progress, as you likely know. Just me, but I find it works better for me to weigh no more than once a week, and sometimes every other week, so I don't get depressed when progress seems slow. Steady and patient wins the race.

 

[RTZdad]

Exactly right SB! This morning I went over to the scale but decided to wait to measure until next week. Why spoil the mojo? I would hope that a meaningless reading from a scale wouldn't be enough to deter my newfound desire, but why chance it? I'll take a peek next Monday and see how I've done. Until then, I'll stay the course. Have a great day.

 

[epstns]

I sort of envy you folks who can just walk past that scale. I can't -- I'm conditioned from many years of advancing stenosis, then from monitoring my new valve. My cardio wants me to call him any time my weight increases by more than 3 or 4 lbs. within a couple of days. We're monitoring for fluid retention, as CHF runs in my family.

That said, I try not to get too wrapped up in the reading of any one day. I watch for trends, ranges, and also seasonality. I usually gain 5 or 6 lbs. over the winter months (I attribute this to less activity and diet changes), then I tend to lose those pounds in the late spring, and hold steady through summer and fall. If I am on the trend line by season and within my normal range for that season, I'm happy.

I can't wear my old army uniforms (from 1970), but I'm not that far off.

 

[Cooker]

Not much new Trying to get back on track but I crave sweets in the late afternoon. Sweets are my weakness and I really need to get it under control. DW makes great fruit salads to try and give me other options but I don't take advantage of them the way I should.

I start each day with great resolve which seems to dissolve by late afternoon. It seems the older I get great food is a major part of our social life and what tops of a great meal better that a great dessert and a great cup of coffee.

 

[Superbob]

Eating late at night is my weakness too, Cooker. I try to substitute a piece of fruit for baked sweets -- maybe the key for me is what we have around. I try to keep a variety of fruit stocked, and the mini containers of peanut butter for dipping as a little taste treat.

My cardiologist and her staff were amazed today that I have lost 15 pounds (12 by their scales, but their reading is when fully clothed) since my last appointment in December. I told them how Ellie, my rescue dog, is totally responsible as my personal trainer, and the nurse said, "Who is rescuing who?" Good question. I told them that my goal is to lose another 10 pounds by the time I see them for an echo in October. It will be a challenge to keep up the two-a-day dawgwalks during a South Carolina summer. I am a night owl, but I am going to have to learn to get up near daybreak for walk one, and then do walk two as the sun is setting. Where there is a will, there is a way. I've got something working and need to stay the course.

The community pool is now open, too. When it warms up just a bit, hope to add some aqua exercise I learned in my recent aqua therapy classes. One way to beat the SC heat.