The party's over.

This post is awesome!  As a new sleever (almost 3 months out) I try to remember that this blissful period of "free" weight loss won't last forever.  I joined the gym today actually to start building some new exercise habits and ditching my excuses.

You have answered many of my posts and offered great advice and support!  I offer you the same and wish you luck with the next part of your journey.

You go girl!!!

Thanks! And good on you for joining the gym. Good luck!

psychoticparrot

I applaud you for looking at this clearly and seeing how things have slowly gotten away from you over time.  It happens to most of us! 

As for the weight training - you don't need "weights" to build muscle.  You can use your own body weight with resistance bands.  I've gained a lot of muscle and definition over the last 18 months simply following a program of 2-3 days of resistance band training (1 day upper body and 1 day lower body).  

Here are the long bands that I use at my gym - we also use the figure-8 bands and the small circle bands.  They are good quality!  Resistance Bands

Gwen suggested resistance bands, and I ordered some from Amazon almost immediately. But I'll put the brand you recommend in my permanent file in case the Amazon bands are less than perfect. Thanks.

psychoticparrot

You can do this...with your plan you are well on your way. 

Another idea about the weights...since you have to drink water anyway, you might be able to find quarts or gallons of water that you can use for weights.  You get to drink the water when you are done...BONUS!! 

Good luck with whatever you choose!  Oh, and I sure hope you are going to have internet access in Nicaragua.  I will miss you if you aren't posting here! 

Surprisingly, Managua (the capital of Nicaragua) has very good internet service almost anywhere you go (my husband was there for two weeks last year). I'll stay in touch. I need my peeps!

psychoticparrot

I think you have the right idea. My suggestion would include to weigh, measure, and track everything if you are not now. Then with your exercise try putting this at the time of day (if possible) when you tend to have the hardest time staying on plan. For me, by far that is in the evening- not only was I moving, but I wasn't near the fridge :)

Walking hills BTW is actually a great calorie burner, particularly if you are going cross country. It burns far more than just regular walking. No weights needed! 

Thanks for your advice about timing the exercise. The time of day when I am tempted most is from about 3pm-6pm. Nearly always, a cup of black, unsweetened coffee along with my vitamin gummies is just enough to get me through it safely. But now that I'm finally exercising, if the coffee doesn't do the trick, I'll just take a nice long walk. 

I not only plan to walk around a lot in Nicaragua, I want to go up an active volcano and look into the caldera. By "active," I don't mean "erupting"! The idea's a little weird, granted, but I've always wanted to do that. There will be a lot of uphill walking involved. I just hope it won't include a lot of downhill running if the volcano decides to send a plume of ash and lava into the air!

I don't plan on any cross-country trekking in Nicaragua, but walking there will help me get in shape for one of my bucket-list ambition: to walk the Camino de Santiago, which is a 500-mile ancient pilgrimage trail across northern Spain. The trail ends at the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela, where the remains of St. James are said to be held. I'm not religious, but if I get the chance to go, it will be a true pilgrimage. The surgery has put that goal into the realm of possibility. I'm so grateful.

psychoticparrot

I'm with you, I gained 1lb, haven't lost in 3 wks. Haven't been to the gym in 7 days. getting up to go to bathroom and head to kitchen for a snack wt? Oh no, I am putting myself in check, I'm taking control right now infact last nite I left a bottle of water, no food at 3 am. I feel so close yet so far. 30 more to go.

You go girl! Get a plan in place and hit it hard.  I imagine once you see few lbs come off it will be easier.  I am only starting out.  Thanks for sharing this important for all us to hear.

Sheila