Holly's journey

[Admers]

Hi Holly,

I have read through this thread a few times now and apart from my own words of encouragement, there is little more that I can add to the already excellent posts here.

I never had weight problems until my middle years when the stress and worry of having to cope with various little life problems, gradually turned me in to a comfort eater.

Five years ago, when at 65 and highly embarrassed again, as I struggled to fasten an airplane seatbelt, I thought, “ I’ve had enough. “ That was the turning point.

My husband, Richard has been rowing for many years and he finally managed to persuade me to start. By rowing steadily ( okay slowly ) and consistently and eating sensibly and a little less, ( I never told myself that I was dieting ) it took me about two years to lose 70 pounds.

Instead of telling myself that I needed to lose a lot of weight, I didn’t look beyond 7 pounds; lose that and then don’t look beyond the next seven … and so on.

Holly, I’m starting to waffle now, so very quickly let me say how much I love rowing, it’s a joy and physically and mentally has helped me so much - I should hate to go back to the overweight, pre-rowing me. I do hope that it will help you also - my only rowing advice is, be consistent.

There are plenty of other things that I want to say to encourage you but I really think that I need to shut up now.

Wishing you every success Holly - effort, patience and being proud of yourself will result in success.

Almost forgot, if you have the time and inclination, then homemade cheeseburgers are very easy to make.

Jill

[Holly62]

Hi Jill, really good to read your story too, I don't think you waffle on at all.
Yesterday my team decided to have a McDonald's for lunch, where we all pool our lunch money and someone goes out and gets as much as they can from the saver menu, four weeks ago I would have been there, but the concept 2 has given me willpower and determination, they then proceeded to torture me by wafting cheeseburgers in front of my face, however I'm made of tougher stuff these days, and refused all attempts, adding massively to my feelings of dignity and self worth.
I'm continuing my 2500m rows on my days off, integrating the concept 2 into my normal routine, and I'm feeling so much more.... Me, if you know what I mean, and not the slug I'd become.

Now, that's waffle Jill
Holly

[Holly62]

Really angry with myself today, just couldn't get past 1000m.

I've just got to say that there will be bad days as well as good, and as this is my first bad day so far, I'm not going to be down hearted.

[dykebert]

Hey Holly,
Congrats on doing 1000m when you probably didn't feel like doing anything at all!

When I have those days I try to remember that those are the days I'm actually making the most progress! I'm doing something rather than nothing, and the fact that it's difficult actually means that I'm making progress!

Sharky
keep on rowing, just keep rowing

[Tenshuu]

Really angry with myself today, just couldn't get past 1000m.

I've just got to say that there will be bad days as well as good, and as this is my first bad day so far, I'm not going to be down hearted.

1000m is still greater than zero.

You'll get some great recovery out of the rest of the day. Nothing wrong with a bad day, it's just normal.

[DavidA]

Hi Jill, really good to read your story too, I don't think you waffle on at all.
Yesterday my team decided to have a McDonald's for lunch, where we all pool our lunch money and someone goes out and gets as much as they can from the saver menu, four weeks ago I would have been there, but the concept 2 has given me willpower and determination, they then proceeded to torture me by wafting cheeseburgers in front of my face, however I'm made of tougher stuff these days, and refused all attempts, adding massively to my feelings of dignity and self worth.
I'm continuing my 2500m rows on my days off, integrating the concept 2 into my normal routine, and I'm feeling so much more.... Me, if you know what I mean, and not the slug I'd become.

Now, that's waffle Jill
Holly

Congratulations on not getting sucked in by your team.
Good luck with your continuing progress.

David

[Holly62]

It's been a funny week, worked over the weekend so I didn't row and yesterday when I should have rowed, I didn't. All kinds of rubbish excuses for that, none of them valid, so I got a grip.
Reduced my rowing to 2000m a workout, and I'm sticking to that for the rest of the month, I think I was getting over enthusiastic and overdoing things for my level of fitness.
On the plus side by some miracle I've lost 14lb in weight, which is nice.
Well, yesterday's news is today's chip paper, every day is a fresh start, 2000m in the bag, and on we go

Holly

[Tenshuu]

It's been a funny week, worked over the weekend so I didn't row and yesterday when I should have rowed, I didn't. All kinds of rubbish excuses for that, none of them valid, so I got a grip.
Reduced my rowing to 2000m a workout, and I'm sticking to that for the rest of the month, I think I was getting over enthusiastic and overdoing things for my level of fitness.
On the plus side by some miracle I've lost 14lb in weight, which is nice.
Well, yesterday's news is today's chip paper, every day is a fresh start, 2000m in the bag, and on we go

Holly

2000m Is a good distance to stick with! In the future when you feel like you really want to increase the distance a little bit, start with only 500m increments added to the workout, and stick with that distance for a week or so, if you feel that's a good distance still, do it another week - Or see what your average completion time is for those sessions, and maybe the following week do a workout based on that time, rounded up to the nearest minute + 1 minute.

1 minute increments are smaller than 500m increments, so if that feels easier to adapt, it might be a good place to start when you decide to increase your workout volume.

Seeing you come back to your thread and keep up with us tells me you're still motivated and putting in a great effort. 14lbs is no small feat, you should be super proud of that - that's 14lbs extra pounds you don't have to carry around every day. Pick up something around 15lbs and just mentally compare that, feels kinda good when you really frame a reference to what 14lbs feels like.

Keep coming back!

[Cujo]

Hi Holly:

Congratulations on losing 14 pounds! After reading your story, here’s my $.02. . .

I’m sure you already know that smoking is something that you’re going to have to drop. No matter how much you think you enjoy it or how relaxing it might be for you, that’s just the nicotine talking. Have you considered trying nicotine lozenges? They make them in 2mg and 4mg varieties. My friend quit smoking by using the nicotine gum/lozenges because it satisfied his nicotine cravings. Since you’re starting an exercise program, this might help you out by getting rid of the carcinogens and carbon monoxide.

Also, regarding weight loss. . . Probably a half dozen of my friends tried the ketogenic “diet” and were down to their goal weights within months. None were too obese but most had 10-30 lbs or so to lose. One guy has to lose around 80 lbs and he is down almost 40 since last December. Once they dropped the weight, they started exercising regularly and have been watching their carb intake. They’re in maintenance mode now.

You mentioned that you have coffee with cream and sugar in the morning. That hit of sugar in the morning spikes your insulin. How about adding a little bit of heavy whipping cream to your coffee? If you need to sweeten it, add a sweetener like stevia since they say artificial sweeteners are bad for you. BTW, I use Splenda which probably isn’t the best.

Your one meal a day with piece of fish with a salad sounds great! You said that it works for you but is it really sustainable in the long run? The reason that I say that is that here in the US, there was a TV show called, “The Biggest Loser.” In this show, they restricted the participants calories and made them exercise like crazy. Sure, they initially lost a lot of weight but it also slowed their metabolism. Most ended up gaining all the weight back and then some. Hence the term. “Yo Yo Dieting.”

With the ketogenic diet, you eat little to no carbs and eat healthy fats. The healthy fats (olive oil, avocados, etc.) leave you feeling full. Sure, you still have to watch your caloric intake but it’s a lot easier and doesn’t leave you feeling hungry. You just eat to satiety and watch your carb intake.

Like I was saying, this is just my .02. Don’t approach it as a diet, just as a new way of eating. Good luck with everything!

[Holly62]

A nice routine week this week, may there be many more like it. I've rowed 2000m four times and my time has reduced by a minute and thirty seconds over the distance, so progress is being made.
In addition I've lost a further 4lb in unwanted flab.

Feeling like I'm actually getting somewhere now. The trick that worked for me was building a routine, and making the concept 2 part of that routine. Life changes in small increments

Holly

[Holly62]

Hi cujo, thank you for your kind words and support, I'm following Dr Fung, and therapeutic fasting,
https://youtu.be/tIuj-oMN-Fk

I'm very much aware of yo yo dieting and that reducing calories and ramping up the excersise is a short term fix, Fung goes into this in great detail, great advice from a great guy.
I've suffered greatly from yo yo dieting, which leaves you feeling terrible.
As this is a two pronged attack, I've ramped up the excersise and stuck to a rwo hour eating window, in the evening, because there is no way I can go to bed hungry.
One meal a day, really makes you think about what you put on that plate. If I eat burger one day, I have to eat fish and salad the next or I'm just not getting the nutrients. Oily fish like smoked salmon has also reduced my arthritic pain, a bonus.
As this is the reducing stage, I'm obviously eating reduced calories, with my one meal a day.
Omad is here to stay for me, its part of that good habit forming routine I'm getting into, I don't get hungry during the day, and food tastes so much better. Obviously I'll seriously have to think about upping the calories in that meal when I get to the maintenance stage. I do allow my morning coffee with sugar and creamer, life wouldn't be living otherwise.

Ooooh and now the smoking, I once gave up for a year, on patches and will power, but having an unhealthy food addiction, and excersise avoidance, it didn't take long to gain 40lb as you can well imagine.
Which is why I need to get the excersise and food elements in place first, for me to have the best chance of success. Thats the nicotine talking I'm sure. Cigarette addiction is a monkey on my back, which I will be free of.

I did consult my GP and a nutritionist before commencing on my journey, I'm of a certain age

Holly

[Tenshuu]

A nice routine week this week, may there be many more like it. I've rowed 2000m four times and my time has reduced by a minute and thirty seconds over the distance, so progress is being made.
In addition I've lost a further 4lb in unwanted flab.

Feeling like I'm actually getting somewhere now. The trick that worked for me was building a routine, and making the concept 2 part of that routine. Life changes in small increments

Holly

1:30 progress on your times is huge. Proud of you.

The small changes being built into a routine over time are so important. Great job Holly.

[Holly62]

And another week goes by, all going to plan, 3lb lost, rowing continues to get easier, my 2000m time is now 11.30, not a sprint by any stretch of the imagination but a good part of my new life regime.
Feeling good and adjusting.

Holly

[Holly62]

https://youtu.be/WXh1tW16V-8

I'm using this three minute forty second clip from Ben hur to inspire my workout, which I add to the end of my 2000m.

Got to keep it fun

Ramming speed.

[Parky]

LOL, Holly.

I was watching that clip and what was playing in the background (on the Pooter)

Queen - Under Pressure!