Fitness Goals Support Group

I love my elliptical, haven't been able to use it much since I got it since I had major surgery. I started using it again a few days ago.

Last summer I lost some weight power walking. So right now I am doing both along with floor work and strenth/toning exercises.

I think pulling out the eliptical is a great start to getting healthy and losing weight, not to mention feeling good about yourself! My advice to you is to start out with realistic goals, maybe 3 times a week for 20 minutes. Don't try to overdue! If you hurt yourself, then you are not doing yourself any good. I think it is awesome that you want to make a change in your life. It might be a good idea to talk to your doctor though, because I know that often times it can be very difficult to lose weight while taking certain medications. Maybe your DR. can offer advice or recommend you to a nutritionist for help. As for diet, the best way to eat healthfully is to eat a lot of fresh fruits and veggies, whole grains, nuts, chicken and fish. Take out all of the yummy stuff that is great for the moment but add the weight later. Aka
:starchy foods, fried foods, sugary foods and drinks, fast food and grazing. Basically empty calories. It might be a great idea to log your food intake so you are aware and accountable for what you eat. It sounds like you are on the right track, and I wish you all the luck in the world. Take each day as it comes, and remember if you mess up, tomorrow is another day. Don't give up!

Thanks...now to go get my hubby to pull my elliptical out.

yeah i too have one in my garage! no worries thou, thinking of getting together with my sister to sell it on ebay. brand new, prolly only used no more than ten times...look at me, trying to sell myself on here...lol

an elliptical works all muscles, so your on the right track to losing weight effectively! but over time your body will get used to the same cardio movement, so you need to change up the daily rountine with other running or climbing the stairs. the body will recognize your new output and walLa more pounds lost...of course all achieved with eating non-processed foods :)

good luck and may the force be with you...

I would recommend rather than focusing on time on the machine, focus on intensity.

Try a 2-3 min warm-up at a moderate pace then ramp it up balls to the wall, until you can't do it anymore. Try an interval program on your machine if it has it. This is a hiit theory and it works! You won't be able to do it for more than about 4-5 min. but that's okay, you'll work your way up. It's not time consuming and you can surely fit 10-15 min into your day to exercise. Check out musclemania.com for a hiit template.

good luck.

Because your weight gain seems to be related to your medications, you may not be able to lose it all if you continue to take the medications.
See is your dr can refer you to maybe a dietition and/or nutritionist who can help you work with the diet side of things - remember that exercise is not the only thing you need to change.
Who knows - your dr may have an alternate med that you can take which does not result in a drastic weight gain.
I also gained nearly 50lb due to meds for a year, but I am now working at getting rid of the weight with diet AND exercise. I have not lost it all, and it's slow going, but I am definitely healthier even if I weigh more.

I think you need to learn to be patient with yourself in the journey to less weight. just do your best to fine tune your diet and eliminate foods that may be holding you back with losing the weight, and keep active.

Cardio that's got some good intervals will speed up your weight loss and you should be able to put that elliptical to good use, but it won't be enough.
Start some strength training because muscle is a good thing to have and will help you in losing more weight.

You will get out of it what you put into it. If you work hard at exercising, you will lose the weight.
Sadly don't expect to spot reduce, so that belly and thigh issue will improve as you lose fat overall. You are in the majority - the belly is the last to go for most people!

Stress works against you so just have fun and do tons of all sorts of activities.

I hope the class goes well.

The elliptical is a great way to start, because it is one of the most effective cardio machines out there, working many muscle groups at once. In a couple of weeks, though, you should change up and do a different machine or cardio workout (like Tae Bo or something), because your body gets used to the exercise you do repeatedly, and starts to work more efficiently, which means fewer calories burned with that particular exercise. I was just walking, then I was doing walking and recumbent bike, and now I have worked out an exercise schedule where I do treadmill and stairclimber one day, recumbent biking and rowing machine the next, elliptical next, recumbent biking the 4th day, and elliptical again the 5th. (Then I also do a light weight circuit). That way, I'm working lots of different muscle groups each day, and my body never knows what to expect, so the calorie burning stays high. Good luck with this!

Hugs! Can they switch you to propranolol and Wellbutrin?

Because of the medications I don't know what you should expect. I suggest that you engage in the weight loss behaviours and see what happens. And don't get discouraged. Its really important to watch our anxiety levels, because they dramatically influence our hormone levels and how we keep fat on our bodies. I know, I'm just like you with PTSD.

Suggestions:

1. Cut out all corn syrup. This blocks the hormone from telling your brain that you have eaten and actively causes you to feel hungry.

2. Cut out trans fats. These induce insulin resistance. That causes weight gain. Soy can cause weight gain in women as well because of the estrogens.

3. No artificial sweeteners. If you must use real sugar. Its safer. Diet sodas have been found to cause more weight gain than a normal soda. Try making your own with juice concentrate and seltzer water or club soda. It works great.

4. Eat veggies, good protein, good fats and stop eating not when you are full but when you are not hungry anymore. I know this sounds crazy. But, what I mean is there is a real difference between hungry and not hungry and full. Your tummy when it stops growling is no longer hungry. You could eat more but you don't have to.

Also don't eat too little. At least 1200 calories a day.

5. Yoga. or meditation. or both. I heard on NPR that it puts you directly into fat burning mode. I expected it not to work. The first evening I could only do 15 min. The next morning I had dropped four pounds overnight. Sometimes it doesn't feel like a workout.

6. Keep a journal. Use the Daily strength one or the fitday.com or spark people.com Journal your activity, food intake, and how you feel. Doesn't have to be long or every day. Just keep it up. Over time it helps with staying on top of the weightloss and stress.

7. Don't hurt yourself! In the beginning ease into the workouts. Try three times a week at a level 7 for 20 minutes. Warmup, stretch, workout, stretch again. for a little while until you think you can do more. Muscles take time to build and adjust to your new activities.

8. Watch out for asprin and ibuprofen. They slow down metabolism. Use only if necessary.

9. Exercise in the AM before your shower/you go to work.

10. Evening primrose oil, fish oil and magnesium to help with depression/anxiety/weightloss.

What is working for me now is calorie cycling thats where you skip dinner every other day. It keeps the metabolism up and guessing. And don't beat yourself up for any day where you don't workout or eat something that is not in your best interest. All that does is make you feel worse and to lose weight it really helps if we feel good.

Two podcasts to help with motivation (if you need it) Inside Out Weight loss and Sandra Ahten's Six minutes of Sanity. Both are excellent and free off of iTunes.

I had some success with Eckhart Tolle's A new Earth, it has helped with my flashbacks. Lavender baths seem to help too. Soak for just twenty minutes before bed. Works great. Helps with sleep.

Thanks everyone for your advice!

My DH just got my elliptical out on Sunday night, and I did my first work-out on it on Monday.

I am on a ton of meds right now, my big weight-gainer being Seroquel. And, I keep getting my dose increased b/c I get a tolerance to it. UGH!

I am on Propranolol. I was on Wellbutrin years ago, didn't help.

I have cut back on my Librax, which has an anxiety pill in it, and a anti-spasmodic for my Irritable Bowel Syndrome, thinking it will make me less drowsy during the day. I'm on day 2, so we'll see what happens.

I have some DVD's, Yoga and Aerobics that I can plug in and do. And, walk the dog too.

Hopefully, I can find some good ways to eat for me and my kids, w/o a lot of time involved.