15 MONTH ROLL CALL!

Who is out there? How ya doing? I'm doing okay. I reached my goal of 160 somewhere in the last couple of weeks but now I'm up to 163. I've also been as low as 158. No fretting the temporary few pounds up. First time in my life, I can honestly say that. Been working on my heart rate training program. I've got a better feel for adjusting my body to either slow down my heart rate or speed it up. Overall been working out a fair amount to try to tone what I've got. We'll see how it goes. I'll keep ya posted on that. Food, I've been doing a decent job with things. Been able to keep the grazing to a minimum. That's all from here! Kathy

I'm doing ok too. I sometimes get discouraged but can usually snap out of it after a day or so. I'm down to 158.2 as of today. My goal is to get down to 140 and never let myself get over 150. I've been fluctuating between 157 and 162 for what seems like months but has only been about 3 weeks or so. Some of the women in our support group have been training together. Some of us just did our first half marathon recently and now we are going to train for a full marathon. My goal this month is 1) to walk/jog 15 miles and 2) increase the amount of jogging I can do. Usually I can only jog about 1/3 of whatever I do, I need to increase my endurance if I'm ever going to be able to do a marathon. This is what makes it discouraging is to know that we are exercising this much with so little reward in the weight/inches lost area. But, we all know that this is a lifestyle change and we have to exercise no matter what. Most of the time, I do ok on food. Once in awhile I have a problem with feeling like I'm just one big eating machine and I just want to eat and eat and eat. But then I have days where I'm not very hungry too. Hopefully it balances out. Kathy, you have done a great job and I know you'll be a long-term success story. Linda

Linda, Sounds like you are really doing great! Getting ready for a marathon takes a tremendous commitment even for those have been in relatively good shape for a long time. The fact that you did 1/2 marathon is tremendous! Try and be patient for the results...really sounds fantastic! Lori 384/235.5/199

Thanks Lori, Patience is not one of my virtues! I am proud of doing a half marathon but I'm really questioning myself about my sanity of even thinking of doing a marathon. On Saturday, we walked/jogged 11.7 miles up and down Table Rock Mountain and Shaw Mountain Road. So 1/2 of it was uphill, of course, 99% of the jogging was downhill. Anyway, I was dead tired and very sore when we got done. So, I'll listen to my body and try not to kill myself off. I have to live with these old bones and I need them to last. I think I may need to get more comfortable at the 11-13 mile range before I even think of upping it to 14 miles. We decided that we might cut down on the miles and work a little more on our speed. We averaged 17.75 minute miles which is too slow for marathon work. We need to be able to do between 12-15 minute miles which means that we need to be able to jog more. (12-15 minute miles are still considered slow.) But you're right, I just started in March and most of those out there have been doing it for years. So I can't expect to be able to compete on their level and I think I'm overdoing it at my stage. Linda

Linda, I'm so much in awe of your jogging. That's amazing. I would love to do a 5k let alone a half marathon or a whole one. WOW! While you might not think you are reaping the benefits of all your mileage - you really are. Have you calculated how many cals you are eating a day? I wonder if you are eating enough given the amount that you must be burning with the long workouts. Keep strong! Kathy

Hi Kathy, No, I haven't calculated my caloric intake. I know I should but I've never been good about journalizing my food. I mainly try to get my protein in and I really don't count calories. It is hard to wrap my head around the idea that I need to eat more but maybe that's my problem. I certainly feel like I eat enough, and sometimes too much, lol. I know that at a recent Run/Walk seminar, they told us to be sure to eat good carbs before any race or race-training day. So I make sure that I eat some oatmeal (I almost always add protein to it), or a banana and I make sure that I fuel up afterwards with some fruit or an energy bar. I try to make sure that my meals include a healthy balance (key word is try, lol). Maybe, I'll force myself to keep track of my food for a whole week and see how many calories I'm actually getting in. At the very beginning of my journey, my doctor said to forget about counting calories but to make sure that I got my protein in. Of course, he also gave us a list of acceptable foods to eat and, guess what, low calorie foods were on that list. In summary, they "counted" for us. Plus, we were eating so little early on that there was no way we could overeat. My friend and I did walk/jog on Saturday. We wanted to do 14.5 miles but we petered out and we did 11.7 miles but it was half uphill and we jogged about half of it which is the most I've ever jogged. I was pretty sore yesterday but feel ok today. What I really need to do and have been very lax on, is working on my core body strength. I really need to do some weights. I've become half-way addicted to this walking thing, I actually feel guilty if I go 1 or 2 days without doing it.

By the way Kathy, I meant to mention that a 5K was my first challenge. I was only going to walk it but one of my WLS buddies kept encouraging us and we wound up jogging enough of it that we averaged 15 minute miles. That was the first time I tried jogging since I'd lost this weight. I have to say, I enjoy walking more than jogging but jogging works different muscles and they say that walkers should do some jogging and joggers should do some walking. If you don't want to jog, try power walking. I think I power walk as fast as I jog, lol. Linda

15 Months Already! I am doing great.. Have managed to lose 110 pounds, not quite to my goal but the scale is still moving slowly but surely. I am down from a size 24 to a 12. It is amazing to me that I can now do 4 flights of stairs on a regular basis and am not dying LOL I too have problems with food at times, the carbs are just too easy to get down and keep down but I continue to try and place protien 1st and so far so good. Thanks Kathy for keeping us going and I hope that you and your husband continue to feel better . I love seeing what you have to say everyday! Yeah Maysters!! We are all GREAT

Hi Jody, Glad to see your post. Great success with your weight loss, You look lovely. Any news on the tt or ps??? Any luck with the ins. ??? Mary

Thanks for checking in, Jody! Sounds like you are doing great! I appreciate the well wishes! MAYSTERS ROCK! Kathy