Recumbent Bike!

I did it! I dropped $2000 and bought a big ole honkin recumbent bike. The thing is huge. It takes over 1/4 of my family room, but I'm thinking it's just what I've needed for a LONG time. It has a place to put the magazine or book, a cupholder and even a place for the tv remote. It has more programs that I'll ever use. You can't ignore it because it's in the middle of the house!

I like a recumbent bike because I can jump on it 2 or 3 times a day and I don't even need SHOES. It makes me short of breath and a little sweaty but not so much that I dread doing it. It's OK for my knees and ankles. I'm having a little trouble in that my tushie is sore. The chair part is not totally comfortable for a woman of my SIZE, but I put a cushion on it. The back is adjustable and has good lumbar support. It's a True ES90. Do NOT write me if I could have gotten it for $800 on Amazon or something. I just want to stay ignorant and happy. 

I wanted one that would go up to 350 lbs. Lots of them say the maximum size is 300. Of course, I don't plan to BE this size for long, but sturdy seemed important to me. (plus I liked the cupholder...)

Anyway, wish me luck with this thing. My husband will divorce me if I don't use it now that we rearanged the house for it. I am SO CLOSE to losing my 10%. My plan is to bike, drink dieter's tea and take Lasix until I make goal. I want my stupid surgery!!! I've told all my friends and family to give me potassium if I collapse, but I actually I'm a nurse and I won't be TOO careless about this. Have a good weekend.

YOU GO GIRL!!!!  Ride that bike!!!!!  I think its great that you got something you could exercise on!!  Just put your favorite show on the TV and ride till its over...

Good luck!!!!

Those are so nice! I'd love to have one but I just don't think we have room for it.

You are so close to being ready! Good for you!!!

These things are size of a loveseat, so they ARE a space problem, I can do 15 min at a time. I'm telling myself that I need to do it 30 min MINIMUM every day. So far so good. The time goes fast if there is a riveting tv show or a good magazine. Haven't tried serious reading while on it.

Anyway, I'm very pleased with my purchase and think that it is what I need to be successful. I did 2 types of gyms and they were good for a while, but I dreaded going. They keep saying to find a form of exercise that is enjoyable. Guess this is mine. I'll need to do some arm stuff and some walking to get a complete program going. I have some hand weights.

Good for you!   That's the one thing I haven't done yet - exercise much.  I'm walking more than I was, but that's not a lot.  I think the bike will really help you. Congratulations on a smart decision.

Mary, one of my big goals is to be able to walk and stand enough to fly to LA to visit my daughter. I'm told the parking is bad and you have to be able to walk a LONG ways to see things or go to a restaurant. I'm also told the LAX airport is pretty horrendous. I'm not sure my joints will let me DO this, but I'm hoping to get skinny enough to get my butt in an airline seat and then fit enough to sightsee once I'm there. We'll see. She loves that darned ocean and so I don't think she's coming back to the Midwest. She's got a good job there, so I'm happy for her, but I miss her!!! 

I love my recumbent bike! I try to do it every weekday morning. I watch DVDs while I ride in the morning before everyone gets up. I get to watch all those girly movies my husband hates.

I never wear shoes. Eventually it will help your tushie start to melt.

Enjoy!!

Thanks Patti, I look forward to peddling off over 100 lbs like you did! Yes, there was biking in my nightgown this weekend. Love it.

I'm told by people who've taken spinning classes that your butt gets tougher or something. That would be good. I had to kind of squootch down so the bike hit me in a different place part of the time. I maybe should have paid closer attention to the seat before I bought, but I live in a medium size town and didn't have a lot of choices. I'll work it out. I feel BETTER and stronger already.

 Good for you, making an investment like that can be a huge motivator.  At least it was for me, I opted for an elliptical and to make you feel better I spent nearly three grand b/c of the weight limit requirements I had.  I tell you when I first got it I was lucky if I could do 5 minutes on the thing before my legs were numb and I was out of breath.  But I stuck with it and lost allot of weigh pre-op and gained the confidence to get into a gym for some strength training as well.  I have to admit that I have been lax in using it lately and am looking formward to spending more time on it now that winter is coming upon us and the day's are getting shorter.  I am sure that your investment will be well worth it.  Upside on the expense is that it is a great investment in your future.  
I have been through LAX many times and at my heaviest as well.  I always ensured that I had plenty of time to get through the airport and having traveled from the East Coast I usually just took my time getting to my rental car when I arrived in LAX.  I did not find it as bad as Miami or O'hara though.  
Your bike will help you get there, just be sure to mix some walking in as the muscle requirements are a bit different for biking vs. walking.  The bike will help you build stamina.  Start adding a minute or so week and work it and you will do great.  Think about some protein shakes instead of meals to replace and help boost your weight loss.  

Rooting for you and getting you in that plane to LAX as a travel lover here!  

Keep up the good work and congrats on the huge progress in making another investment in YOU!

Cynthia, what a nice e-mail. Thanks. My husband has visited our daughter in LA and he just tells me, "you can't do it," but I hope to surprise him. I have a doctor friend who is telling me what you are telling me: I need to add weight bearing exercises to the program. So I need to start walking more. I'm pushing myself to walk more at work and am starting to go to some of the bigger stores to walk around, soon I will try walking in my neighborhood.

I think the biking improves my mood and makes my knees better.

My husband was SO against me getting this. I had the money but he thought it was too expensive and he didn't want it in the house. Now that I have it, he's been super nice. He e-mailed me at work to see if I wanted to go out to dinner tonight. We had some Thai food and I brought most of it home. It was delightful. I'm glad I was forceful and told him I was getting this anyway. You just never know about people; I think we need to take care of ourselves and not let things get in our way if they are reasonable.

I agree that subbing some protein shakes for meals is in order too. If I ever tackle LAX I will write a biggie message on this board. I've been trying to get there for almost 5 yrs now.

You are doing WELL in your weight loss. Amazing. Congrats. I did the elliptical a few yrs ago and found it to be HARD. I admire you for taking it on.