Are you looking for support on your health and fitness journey? If you are, then this thread is for you.

There are no expectations in this forum. Post as often as you like. Post anything that you feel is relevant to your own personal health and fitness goal. Here are some ideas:

• Monthly health and fitness goal
• Daily health and fitness goal
• Progress (or setbacks) in reaching your goal
• Personal stories about why you are joining this topic
• Healthy recipes that you feel others will enjoy
• Links to articles or books that you feel others would find helpful
• Food Choices (healthy or unhealthy)

Remember, your health and fitness journey is your own. There is no one program, method, or philosophy that is right for everyone. This thread is for support only.

Vicki, regarding the last thing you posted in July.....I agree that reducing calories is necessary because exercise is often not possible, or at least not the kind of exercise that really works the body. Remember I when I bought the push mower, I was excited thinking of how much exercise I'd get. Yeah, right. I couldn't do it! My yard is rolling hills and mowing was so hard that I had to rest a couple days before doing more of it. Stacking wood is exercise that is more doable. I'm going to be 71 and I just can't do vigorous exercise. So I cut down how much I eat. I think this is better anyway because I feel better when I eat less.   Besides, I hate exercise for the sake of exercise. I want to be accomplishing something with all that effort.  Since my last blood work, I'm re-focussed on reducing sodium and sugar, which I let creep up again. 

Happy August 1st everyone. I hope you all reach your weekly and monthly goals this month. I'm starting off August 1lb heavier than I started out July 1st. Not great, but at least it was no more than that. I've stayed the same weight (250 lb.) for 4 days now.

My goals for this month are to drop at least 5 lbs. It's my birthday month but there will be no cake this year. But I do plan to go out to eat somewhere on that day to celebrate, if at all possible. It has been simply too hot to be outdoors much so my walking has been limited to walking to the mailbox and back which takes about 10 minutes round trip. I have a slight incline up going and downward coming back so that pulls the ankle muscles a little and my lower back. But I'll be trying to walk more in the apt. instead of sitting so much.

Because I'm not very active my calorie intake will be under 1100 calories most days. If I have more calories than that then I'm certain to gain weight. I will be trying to cut the sodium as much as I possibly can. I'll be working to drink a lot more water each day. Right now I'm only drinking about 4 bottles a day plus I drink 3 cups of coffee a day (2 thermos cups full, which holds 1-1/2 cups). I'll be working to up my water intake to 6 bottles a day. Each bottle is 16.9 oz., so if I drink 6 bottles that'll be 101.4 oz daily. That should be more than enough to flush any added sodium out of my system. Once I can buy more groceries I plan to stock up on frozen veggies like broccoli and California Blend. I don't eat nearly enough veggies so frozen works best for me since fresh would go bad faster than I could eat them. And I still prefer foods I can nuke over regular cooking so frozen works best for that as well. This is what works best for ME. Everyone has to find what works best for you. No one plan works for everyone.

Hope to see everyone posting.

Hi Teri, I agree with you totally. When I eat more than about 1100 calories, my body, especially my stomach feels very heavy and feels like it wants to fall down to my knees. A very uncomfortable feeling. If I eat less, then I don't have that heaviness and can do more thru-out the day.

Back when Bob was still here and we lived in the house before moving into this apt., we had a lawn mower and I'd get out and cut the grass. Before Bob got so sick he'd get out and cut a few rows then leave the rest to me or I'd do a row then he'd do a row, back and forth til it was done. But it became impossible for him to do any as he got sicker so our landlord bought our lawnmower and took over getting the grass cut for us since we were good tenants. And now, here in the apt. they have lawn people come out weekly to cut the grass, etc. So basically my exercise these days is the walking to the mailbox or riding my exercise bike which is very old and doesn't show distance ridden or anything like that. Has no bells & whistles, it's one from the 60's, just good for peddling away. So when I get on it, I try to ride for 20 minutes each time. And I do have an exercise band that I can use for stretches although I haven't taken it out of the box yet. I used to love exercise and did a lot of it but a lot changed when I hit menoause plus I had a bad bike accident and wasn't able to exercise for months after that so I got out of the habit. Now I have to push myself to do anything. I know I'll never be as slim and toned as I was even in my early 50's, but that's ok. I just want to be healthier than I am now and according to lab work I'm healthier inside than I've been in years. I'm just having to work on the outside now to feel better over all. Know what I mean?

Well, I was planning to do more yesterday but my back decided to have spasms. I think I was in a bad position when I did the RespErate the day before. But since I knew a walk wasn't going to happen, I went to Planet Fitness and used the massage chair. After that I did feel well enough to do the Nustep, because it has a full seat and cushions my back. I did 1000 steps there, so I'm happy with that, given everything else.

All this talk about calories gives me shivers. I probably could lose weight initially if I counted calories but it makes me think too much about food and what I can't have and it makes me miserable. Also I think it is ridiculous to think you should have the same number of calories each day. I certainly don't use the same amount each day. Some days I am hungrier than others and I do better trying to stay in tune with my body. But, sometimes I do count calories just to see a range I am in. Right now I am kind of counting sodium milligrams, trying to stay under 2000, though yesterday I didn't count. I went to Culver's to use my last coupon of July, which was free custard with a meal. I realize a fish sandwich is going to have a lot of sodium, but I at least did substitute on the side - I had broccoli instead of fries.

Daily Goals

• eat oatmeal or an oat bar 
• take BP reading
• take all meds and take beet pills
• walk at least 4000 steps
• declutter something 
• do the RespErate 
• Eat low salt

I did all of these yesterday except the 400 steps. I didn't get that many steps because of the back spasms. My back is a little better today, but I'm not sure about the walking. I will try a heating pad.

I just had to look it up.

640 mg salt in the fish sandwich, since I don't have the tartar sauce, 95 in the one scoop of custard I had.

So given what else I ate yesterday, well under 2000 mg of sodium.

I'm doing what I can to lower blood pressure. It isn't working (yet). But I am losing weight.

BP: 156/79

weight: 236.2

Today I had lunch with friends. I knew I was going to eat more than usual. We meet for lunch every Thursday. I'm going to cancel next Thursday, take a week off from dining out.  I won't fix anything for a supper tonight either. I'm sure not hungry!

I was foolish to totally disregard sodium the last few months. I was convinced that just drinking more water was enough to help my kidneys. But I see now that sugar, sodium, and water are integral components to managing my kidney disease.  What that means to me is that as much as I love bacon, I have to cut it way back because of salt. I haven't got my cholesterol results yet, so I imagine after that I'll be off bacon.  Live and learn. I don't feel depressed anymore about my decline in kidney function. I feel back on track. My blood pressure is now normal, so that's a start.

Its so hot and humid, for 2 more days! I'll be getting inside tasks done, hang the yard work!

Vicki, just wanted to follow up on your last post and agree with you. I'm glad you guys are educated, it makes me happy! Keep fighting the good fight.

P.S. I'm not sure how much walking you guys can do, but it's a great way to burn calories and fat. Especially if it's the only thing that you can do!

Thanks Scott, for understanding.  Tell us more of how you lost your weight and what worked or didn't work for you. We've all been thru this for a number of years but can always pick up a pointer or two.

Margaret, sodium is in almost everything these days. It's even worst than sugar in some ways. I know I can go a few days eating a very light sodium way and then eat something with a good bit of sodium and it's the first thing I taste, and it's so strong I almost gag. But after the first couple of bites I lose that sense of over load UNLESS something is severely salted. I've been known to throw something away because it was so salted I couldn't eat it. And sugar, I rarely buy anything sweet anymore unless it's ice cream or yogurt. I used to love chocolate anything but can't stomach it any more unless it's for the holidays. Then I might buy a chocolate cream pie. But I buy those in the 2 pack since it's just me, instead of buying a whole pie.

Teri, There's no way I could have bacon in the house and not eat it. I found out there's a lower sodium bacon you can buy. I used to get it for Bob because he refused to give it up. It still had enough sodium in it to cause problems if you ate too much of it but it was a better choice than the full sodium packs. I don't buy bacon at all now. But I am bad about buying sausage once in awhile and I know it's loaded with salt. So when I have that, then I try to eat salt free the rest of the day. And I drink more water.

Still holding at 250 for the 5th day in a row.

I've been wishy-washy on using my tracking app lately. Not on purpose, we've just had a busy summer. But I'm restarting it. My "week" in the tracker is Saturday - Friday, so tomorrow starts a new "week" for me. I'm still in my little plateau. Today I'm 1.6 lbs away from my goal. For several weeks now I've been anywhere from 1.6lbs - 3lbs away from my goal, and I think it's because I haven't been doing my detailed tracking. This tells me that when I'm ready to just maintain my weight, I may not need to track as much, but if I'm still trying to lose weight, I need to be carefully tracking because when I just "do my best," I'm just maintaining but not losing.

Something else I've noticed my past few weigh-ins (I weigh myself every morning when I'm not traveling), I've noticed that if I did not drink my usual amount of water the day before, my weight is up. But on days I drink a lot of water and at least two hot teas to flush (plain tea, no sugar etc), then my weight calms down. So water and plain tea are a must for me.

And, my exercise is all over the place also because of travel. So, I will be back on my exercise routine tomorrow too.

So, in summary, my August goals:

- Get back to using my tracking app everyday

- Get back into my weekly exercise routine with cardio, strength, and yoga

- Drink tons of water and two plain hot teas each day to flush

My daily attempts to lower BP: 

Daily Goals

• eat oatmeal or an oat bar Aug 1 done
• take BP reading Aug 1 done
• take all meds and take beet pills Aug 1 done
• walk at least 4000 steps Aug 1 not done because I was treating my back tenderly, I did manage a shorter walk.
• declutter something Aug 1 done? I guess I did this if you count doing a bunch of laundry so a bunch of things are now put away.
• do the RespErate Aug 1 done
• eat low salt Aug 1 done... estimate 900 mg, I really wasn't hungry and didn't eat much yesterday. I only had two cheese sticks after reading label instead of my usual 4.

Results: BP: 148/86, better, but not where it should be, and yes, I know it takes time for the walking and breathing to show results. 

Weight... I don't even care right now since my focus is on BP, but it went down to 234.4

Teri, I need to add more water too. And I was shocked to learn how much sodium is in a soft drink! There isn't any in my sparkling water, but even a diet soda has enough sodium that I have to track it!

Scott, thanks for the encouragement!

Vicki, sodium and sugar are very sneaky! Fortunately, I don't like bacon! But I do like sausage, and we just bought some brats.

we went to the grand opening of a Kwikstar and though I wouldn't normally do grocery shopping there, they had grand opening deals that were too good to pass up. We got 3 big potatoes, a 3 pack of chicken tenders, a whole rotisserie chicken, a frozen pack of 5 brats, and a package of hamburger buns. Total cost: $11.50.

Heather, I definitely need to do that flushing too. But I'm already tracking sodium so tracking anything else seems too much right now. And I can't do the hot teas anymore because it sets off my rosacea.

You ALL are my heros, demonstrating perseverance and giving me tips!

Vicki, an easy way is to use something like the Mifflin St. Jeor Formula to find out how many calories you should be consuming. Then you can either decrease your caloric intake, increase your caloric burn, or both. I did both. Lost about one pound a week for about 60 weeks. I understand not everyone can track their food (financial reasons, lack of education, mental health conditions) and not everyone is bodily abled to walk a lot. It can be tough, and it can be discouraging. If you're struggling with tracking and exercise, I would suggest a simple solution: low fat diets. You don't have to eat certain foods per se, just stick to fruits, veggies, and lean meats. You can eat other things too, but try to avoid foods that you know are fatty (such as deep fried foods, donuts, cookies, etc.) Even doing something as simple as adding one protein shake per day to your diet can help a lot (I'd suggest powdered whey protein, it's the cheapest.) No matter what, you will always lose weight in a caloric deficit. The trick is just finding what works for you to get into that stage.

Thanks Scott. I do count calories most of the time. For the 6th day in a row I'm 250 lbs.

It sounds like everyone is going to be working hard on their goals this weekend and next week. Do your best and be proud of what you manage and be determined to do even better here on out. If you do your best then you can go to bed at night and rest easy. Have a good weekend.

The Mifflin St. Jeor calculator says I should have 1600+ calories per day.

I gain weight when I eat more than 1200 calories per day. I've looked at orher calorie calculators as well, all of which say 1600.

I found a site that I feel is reasonable. It says to maintain a weight of 200 pounds takes 1650 calories per day. That sounds right to me. It further says that to lose 1 pound per week (and I assume keep it off) requires 1151 calories per day.  To lose 2+ piunds per week (or as they call it extreme weight loss) 651 calories per day. I can't do that one. But this falls in line with my own dieting experience.  Here is the site. Take from it what suits you.

Calculator. net

https://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html?cage=71&csex=f&cheightfeet=5&cheightinch=2&cpound=200&cheightmeter=180&ckg=65&cactivity=1.2&cmop=0&coutunit=c&cformula=m&cfatpct=20&printit=0&ctype=standard&x=Calculate

Today is my lowest weight to date. I'm .7 away from my goal of being in the "Healthy" range for my BMI. Hopefully I can finally get there soon. As you know, my weight fluctuates, so a low weight today is not locked in, but eventually to fluctuating evens out.

Teri, I have found the same as you to be true. In my tracking app, I typically eat 1100-1200 calories a day. Some days I'm around 1400-1500. My goal is watch my "bites" on Healthi, and my calories are what they are, and this is where my calories are at the end of the day. And this has worked. Not all calories are equal either. For example, I used to eat a small chocolate mint Andes candies after dinner. In plain calorie terms they have like 40-50 calories, so you'd think they're not too bad. But when I tracked them, they had like 2 bites. I can eat a bowl of sugar free jello to get a sweet treat for pretty much no bites. Things like that. Just making little switches has worked for me.

In other news, I had a happy moment of truth yesterday. My old work clothes from a few months ago are too big now, so I pulled out my pre-Covid work clothes that have been too small for a few years, and....they all fit! Holy moly, they all fit. There's a skirt in there I've been periodically trying on, and it was tight as heck back in April. And I even tried on in May/June, too tight. But yesterday, it fits. I'm going to wear the heck out of that skirt! And now I barely need to buy any new work clothes because I went "shopping" in my own closet.

Teri,

The Mifflin St. Jeor calculator is what we use to help our patients at the weight loss clinic. We've never had any issues with it. And it it overseen by a physician and several dieticians (I'm one of them). But keep in mind that's assuming that "little to no exercise" is just that. It's assuming you're able-bodied, doing regular things like walking every day, or household chores (which you may not be able to do, and that's ok.) When I plug in your information into the MSJ calculator, the BMR comes out to 1300. That's the number you want to be looking at if you're unable to exercise. So if you're gaining weight at anything over 1300, it makes sense!

Congratulations Heather!

Thanks, Scott!

Weight was the same this morning, BP a little bit down, but will probably be up tomorrow as I ate stuff I probably shouldn't have. But it was yummy. Pretty sure I stayed below my sodium limit but way too much sugar.

Why is there Halloween candy in stores already?

I tried that page Teri, and Scott, and it seemed reasonable, but I don't really count calories anyway. As long as I watch what I eat, so not too much sodium or sugar, and when I eat, so the body gets a long break from digestive work, I do ok. I'm pretty sure my average calories are fine, but one day I might eat 1000 calories , and the next day 2000. I believe in listening to hunger for the amount I eat. I don't expend the same amount of energy every day, so why would I eat the same amount of calories each day? Part of the problem right now is that I need to build up more muscle so my resting metabolism is back where I had it before knee surgery.

Heather, great news! I have similar clothes in my closet that were just a bit too tight last year, but by the time I'm going to the office every day again, not till January, I'm hoping I can shop in my closet and have "new" clothes. So to hear that you achieved that gives me hope! I just want the 16w pants to fit. My eventual goal is size 14, but that can wait.

Hi Margaret. I wanted to touch on what you said here: I don't expend the same amount of energy every day, so why would I eat the same amount of calories each day? Part of the problem right now is that I need to build up more muscle so my resting metabolism is back where I had it before knee surgery.

It doesn't work that way. It's a cumulative effort. That's why people can have cheat days and not gain weight. Eating heathy is a big part of it, but it will only get you so far if you're not monitoring your caloric intake. But you are correct in knowing that more muscle = more caloric burn while sedentary!

My weight is up just slightly this morning from 250 up to 250.8. I stay at 250 for 6 days.

I like this discussion going on. I haven't checked out that website yet, but I will. I know my biggest issues are portion sizes and sodium. I really don't eat a lot of sugary stuff anymore. But the sodium gets to me big time. I really need to start eating more veggies but I'm not a fan of most salad veggies. I prefer cooked veggies so when I go after more groceries I'll buy up some frozen veggies that I can nuke in the microwave. For me, that's better than fresh since it'll last longer and there won't be any waste. And I plan to pick up some canned greens that I drain and then add a little apple cider vinager to. Good fiber and I'll be getting more roughage. And those will have a lot less calories than some of the foods I've been eating, like soups.

Down 3 pounds to 197. Imagine that? Back away from cookies and salt and see what happens!

WTG Teri !!!

I thought I posted yesterday but I guess I never hit submit.

i made poor food choices all weekend, and BP was up this morning. Today I went shopping and bought baby carrots so I can snack on those all day. Tracking sodium: I have had 1300 mg so far today, and I'm pretty much done eating for the day though I might still have a carrot or two.

i have faithfully done the breathing exercises, but not all of the knee exercises. Today was very busy and I'm about to go to my next thing, but tomorrow the temp should go down so I can walk.