[trettegeani]

Bunko sounds fun!

And it's good our queen pushes us toward exercise. I really do plan to start something when I've got the weight off and my metabolism is reset.
Colleen

[Crundaangerge]

Bunko is such a blast and a dear friend that laughs so much is coming tonight - usually about 12 ladies and we laugh and laugh and laugh. Your daughter and you should join us next time you're in town.

Annette

[IamRobot]

We should do that!
Colleen

[virtuah]

Hey gang
I come from 15 hour vigerous (sp?) training hours a week, including swimming, biking an running. I have been majorly concerned about muscle loss, so I have been doing 20-30 minutes of resistance training to keep the pipes nice. As a personal trainer I have to agree with MSGdance. Exercise is important. (coming from a personal trainer). I checked my blood pressure today and it is 101/49 (which would explain when I do an hour of yoga I just about fainted).
In plan on hitting the gym harder tomorrow...a little closer to a recovery week, but I heard the longer you go on the HCG the better your energy. I am on day 8 so heres hoping,

[JJascaxal]

i know colleen and i could debate this all day long, and have... Yes, he makes that statement about people who were already exercising. but he never tells you, or even hints, that we should not exercise. if he didn't want us to exercise, i believe he would have said so. my take on both those paragraphs is that he encourages it, if anything. plus, we know a LOT more now than we did back then about exercise- and how it's CRITICAL for proper body functioning, on just about any level.

in regards to water retention, he's just explaining what might happen. but exercising does not make you gain weight! just like he talks about in discussing apple days, water retention is TEMPORARY.

let me say this, too. THOSE OF YOU WHO EXERCISE MAY LOSE LESS WEIGHT, BUT MORE INCHES. Fat weighs less than muscle. so if you are losing more fat, you'll actually lose less weight. Muscle weighs more- lose more muscle, and the scales will look better, but not your measurements.

i had a friend who is older than i am, and it totally frustrated me that she lost so much more on her first round than i did- UNTIL i checked her body fat. she had lost MUCH more muscle than i had!

yes, we all like to follow the protocol as closely as possible. but this "don't exercise" myth is much more harmful than helpful. BOTTOM LINE- the more calories you burn, the more you will lose, in the long run. i've known people who gave up exercise programs because they gained 5#, even though they lost an entire pant size!!! That is CRAZY. Are we not doing this in the long run, for our health? Fit muscles are also longer and leaner than those that aren't. So you will look better, feel better, and wear smaller clothes, the more you exercise. who really cares what the scale says, as long as you're getting smaller??

[nanyaHgoc]

msgondance....here here. I second that.

[SerycegeBunny]

This is my experience with exericse on the last round. I did exercise and I think it made a difference on how my the shape of my body changed. My muscles were really toned after-and I think that is from stregthening them throughout the diet. I think it's good to get some exercise so you are not starting over when the diet is done-it seems alot harder then. Everyone is motivated now to get the weight off but the key will be to keep it off after. So what a better time to get into an exercise routine now and continue on when you are done.

[Loonerisav]

You know, the idea that we can "let it go until we reach p4" seems a bit like "I'll start my diet tomorrow" philosophy. Muscle mass is like bone mass, we need to safeguard it. I stated above that I quit my excessive exercise routine....but to say you are going to wait until the weight is off to do any exercise is going to come back to bite you. You need to do as much as you can...and you need to constantly evaluate that to see if you can and should do more. Part of our problem as over weight americans is we tend to find the easy way out...the one requiring the least sweat. In the end, we all need to change our eating habits and our sweating habits to stay thin....might as well get used to both while on p2 and p3 and then keep re-evaluating through life, just as we do our food choices !! Barb

[cingularring]

great points, barb and crazymom! the key is not really what we lose in P2. the key is how long we are able to keep that weight off. it's obvious many of us struggle with that, in P3 and P4. i'm no different than most of you- i HATE exercise. i hate to sweat. but the reality is, is that i have to learn to tolerate it, even if i don't like it. after being on disability for 10 years, i'm starting with less muscle mass than most of you, and that may make it easier for me to tell that i have lost muscle while on hcg. a significant amount of muscle. i've been tracking my body fat since march (i've lost 76 since feb) and my muscle loss is about 30%. that's a LOT of muscle to lose. and the only thing that will build that muscle back, is exercise.

there are little guys in your muscles called mitochondria, and they are what produces your energy. the more muscle you have, the "hotter" your own personal furnace burns. the actual calories you burn off in a workout can quickly be negated by a few pieces of cheese. if that were the only benefit, it wouldn't be worth it. but when your "furnace" burns hotter, it means you burn more calories even AT REST. when you're asleep, when you're watching tv, etc. Having more muscle is what increases your metabolism. the higher your metabolism, the more you can eat without gaining weight.

i SOoooo want you all to succeed. and this program is wonderful. but in the long run, none of us will be healthy without exercise. my best friend looks healthy. she's 5'3" and weighs 125#. but she's not- her body fat is at least 10 percentage points over what it should be. so you can be the correct weight, and still be "fat".

i fight the exercise battle all the time, and know i'm never going to look like jillian michaels. with the CFS, some days i'm so weak i can barely make it from the bedroom to the living room. but when i have the energy, i try to do something. it doesn't have to be much. walk around the block. take the stairs instead of the elevator. do isometrics in the car while you're waiting at a red light. park a little further away from the store. ANY amount of exercise is better than none at all. find activities that you like that are not sedentary. grab a friend and get them to help motivate you. i'm not talking about hard work-outs in the gym for 2 hrs at a time, or killing yourself on a stairmaster. but just try to get MOVING. your body and your measuring tape will thank you!

most of the advice i give on here is from months and months of reading, researching the program, and learning from the experience of others on the forum. but this, exercise- this is my profession. if it's hard to exercise due to a physical limitation, try the pool. get some walking sticks to help take some weight off your your hips and knees. if you have specific questions, i'm happy to help- just email me. believe me- exercise is vital to being healthy, and for keeping your weight off in the long run.

[reaciciomarep]

btw, i strongly encourage all of you to get some kind of BF monitor. most of them on the scales are very inaccurate, but at least you have some kind of figure to compare from week to week. i use the omron BF monitor, available at amazon. it's cheap, has good reviews, and i've found it's fairly consistent.

http://www.amazon.com/Omron-HBF-306C-Fat-Loss-Monitor/dp/B000FYZMYK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=hpc&qid=1252722576&sr=8-1

[Mboxmaja]

I strongly encourage all of you to read and re-read all Margie and Barb have posted.

Margie is very passionate in her response because she has cited facts that are true in the Literature.

From personal experience I have maintained the same degree of exercise, some days just the thought makes me want to sit down and rest. But if you start now .....slowly... you will be so jazzed with your success. My body at this weight looks 10 to 15 pounds thinner than I am because of my exercise.

Pick up any magazine that has weight loss challenges or follows people who have lost weight. There is not one success story that is DIET alone.

Start with something easy...walking farther than you normally would. Parking farther away from a store, restaurant, theater. If you golf and ride in a cart.. then walk a few holes.

As Barb said..... "let it go until we reach p4" seems a bit like "I'll start my diet tomorrow" philosophy. Hasn't that been our Philosophy

Frankly I am quite surprise there is any Doctor that would say "Wait until you lose your weight to start exercising." We all intellectually know better than that. Possible what the Physician is trying to say is "Take it easy" if you never have done any exercise. But please do something.


Mary

[gettoblaster]

Ok I will start exercising next week.

[temansertewek]

oh doyle.... lord help us!

[nuveem7070]

I couldn't exercise while on P2, I tried so hard to though. I was actually in a good routine of doing TurboJam/lifting weights with Chalean Extreme but when I started P2 if I tried to exert myself I would get weak or throw up. The first day of P3 I started back doing TurboJam though! I had enough energy to do my daily activities just not heavy exercise. I have a friend who has exercised on P2 the whole time, an hour on the elliptical and lifting weights, yoga and jogging.

Laura

[Numbiydq]

I m sure none of us got heavy because we love exercise and we know diet alone doesnt necessarily work nor exercise alone so we need to find a balance there. I worked out almost every single day for three months prior to starting this protocol and by combining diet and exercise I managed to lose 20 lbs and stonewalled. No matter how I changed my exercise habits, faster, harder, slower, longer, didnt matter, wasnt going anywhere and then I started hcg and I quit exercising other than what I get at work and I know I dont consume enough to be able to do any strenuous exercise but I do feel like the walking and lifting, physical activity I get at work helps my progress even though I lose without any exercise, I feel like I lose more or better when i do work and get a lot of walking in. I did my first round before I went back to work and although i have lost very well on all rounds it seems like it is faster and more consistent on the second and third rounds in which I have been working consistently thus getting more exercise than sitting at home. I too am planning to step up the exercise when i get to P3, trying to get started doing just a little light stuff to perk up the girls and tighten things up, but I know in P3 is when you lose a lot of inches and firm up and I want to help things along this time which I hadnt done previously. Anyway i can help my body to get in better shape i am willing tomake some sacrifices including exercising more to keep the body I am getting.

[Yartonbler]

Just playing guys,

I used to thrive on exercise and have a very physically demanding job as well. Thing is I don't know how to do anything in moderation. If I am not pushing the envelope, maxing out heart rate, struggling to keep going I don't feel like I am doing anything. I have to have that sense of accomplishment and challenge.
This caused me to excell in sports and has caused me to do things to hurt body as well at times. Still got a few of those injuries. I know, I know I shouldn't be that way. But that is how I am put together. 48 years old and still have muscles that people are suprised by when they see my arms in a short sleeve shirts. (which I don't show often)
Its just this stupid stomach that gets big. But not anymore!! Stomach gone but still need to start exercising again.
Wish I had your comercial stairmaster kats! I used to stay on that thing at the gym for 65 minutes at a very hard fast climb. Loved it. It is my exerciser of choice cause it really works you hard. Reminds me of running bleachers in football practice for so many years in the hot august sun in full pads.
I guess I just need to find a happy medium now that I am getting older so it isn't just all or nothing with me. But as hard as you guys may try to encourage me to do some little piddly exercise routine coz "it is at least something" it aint going to happen. Need something with a challenge, hard enough to feel the workout really good, but something I will do everyday.
Kats will you mail me your stairmaster?

[DoctorTDent]

doyle- maxxing out your heart rate can actually be counter-productive. there is a point at which exercise stops being aerobic, and starts being anaerobic (not using oxygen). rather than just saying that you're "all or none", and that's the way it is, how about shifting your thinking and deciding that learning to do things in moderation IS the challenge? just a thought...

michelle- reaching a point and getting "stuck" is not uncommon with exercise. that's one reason you need to do a large variety of activities, do different types of programs, use different machines, etc. For people who always do the same type of exercise, your body adjusts. This is why programs are so popular now that feature "muscle confusion". when you're working your muscles in different ways all the time, your body doesn't have time to adjust.

btw, something i forgot in earlier posts. as we age, we lose muscle every year just because of the aging process (it's called sarcopenia). so if you do nothing, your percentage of muscle mass will decrease on it's own. this is why many people get confused, because they are at the same weight they always were, but their clothes no longer fit. they are actually "fatter" than they were before (percent wise) but because muscle weighs more, their weight stays the same.

here are a few comments from an article i found:

As a rule, muscle mass declines with age, starting in the 40s and picking up speed after about age 50. Then the typical rate of muscle loss really begins to outpace the rate of muscle gain, so that there's an increasing net deficit....

The tool that everyone agrees works to shore up muscles: exercise, at every age. Ideally, that would include both a basic, progressive strength-training program as well as an aerobic fitness routine (like a brisk 30-minute walk every day). "healthy
muscle is not only about being stronger and bigger," ......

some data suggests that men who lift weights a few times a week in their 50s and 60s can maintain their muscle mass, not simply slow the rate of decline, in those years, she says. But to be healthy, muscle tissue needs to effectively store glycogen and have capillaries that infuse it with blood, both of which are aided by the aerobic component.

Researchers are also investigating the role of nutrition. Insufficient protein, especially if it's accompanied by insufficient calories in general, can contribute to sarcopenia............There's a debate among protein proponents over how much to eat, expressed in grams per kilogram of body weight, but the simpler rule of thumb is to eat small amounts of protein distributed throughout the day, he says. Aim for 4 ounces of quality protein, like fish, chicken, beef, or dairy products, three times a day, to maximize muscle growth.

[Tic Tac Took]

Excellent post Margie.....

Mary

[larentont]

The exercise thing was the one thing that convinced me to try this. All Dr. S talked about was resetting the metabolism. That's the beauty of this protocol. I've gone the exercise/diet route too many times to count. It never works for me because my metabolism is just too screwed up. I was on a routine where I walked with weights for a hour a day and also did weight training three times a week. I lost five pounds over four months. And that was with dieting. So it's not all about diet and exercise. If there's one thing Dr S talks about more than anything, it's the metabolism. This protocol just kicks that excess weight to the curb! :-) Love that! Just love it.

Just one more thing to ask Dr. S about in heaven! :-) I'm sure Margie is right and it's better to exercise. But I really don't think it's necessary with this protocol. AT least it hasn't been for me on my 2 rounds. And I love that this actually works without it AND I feel certain it's resetting the metabolism to my lifestyle. LOL My husband didn't exercise either and it really reset his metabolism. He's maintained for 3 1/2 mos now. So this protocol WORKS!
Colleen

[hauptdaunnila]

Modom69, you and I have rather physical jobs...lots of time on the feet, bending lifting reaching, etc. I judged my need for additional activity based on the type of day I had. If I had alot of short cases in a room where I was wearing 15 pounds of lead protection for 8 hours, I didn't need anymore that day. If I was doing a long tedious procedure where I was mostly sitting, monitoring one patient for 8 hours, then I got out and walked when I got home. I went on vacation between round 1 and round 2 and we did alot of hiking, like up mountains and stuff. Hubby was impressed with my stamina and strength. He was wondering also if I had lost muscle mass, but I showed him!!!!

I know I was really careful to make sure I got enough protein on protocol. I will admit, if I was really active several days in a row, I would throw alittle extra chicken into my lunch salad. That was my way of making sure my muscles got what they needed. I know it isn't strict protocol, but it worked for me. And as I said, I tend to be pretty active so I had to be careful.

Barb