Exercise?

Do you (or have you) made a substantial increase in your exercise routine so that you are able to eat more calories throughout the day? It seems like I can eat so much more right now so I'm really trying to up my exercise so that I can eat the increased amount of food without having to feel guilty or gain weight. I guess right now I feel that I'd rather exercise more than give up the food~KWIM??? Tracy B 328/154 5'9"

I have been exercising since before my surgery - mostly cardio: walking, running, elliptical and a few weigh machines. At the beginning of the year I started increasing my weight training, crunches, push ups/pull ups, lunges, squats, lifts - and have put on a good bit of muscle in my arms and legs. At the end of February I went out for my LBL and was worried that the 1500-1800 calories I was eatting was going to make me gain weight since I was not exercising. Aside from swelling/water weight it did not. Once the muscle is built you gotta feed it. To build more you need more protein. The say 3-4 weeks of no weight training and you will start to lose muscle. So at 3 weeks I was back walking and 4 weeks I was doing upper body, and by 5 weeks I was doing lunges and knee raises. I had a few days of up to 2000, and a few really bad days of up to 3000 ( a moderation issue / peanut butter witha spoon straight from the jar all day long...sigh). Again those slips did not permanent damage most likely because I go to the gym 6 days a week, 1 1/2 hr straight cardio 3 days, 45 min cardio plus and hour of weights etc the other 3 days. I fluctuate between 154-158 any given day/time. If it stays on the high end I look at my journal and find one thing to eliminate and try my best to steer clear of it. Last week I tossed the popcorn. This week I tossed the raisens. I just signed a contract with a personal trainer Monday...the head trainer said he wanted to train me himself and monitor my journal. He said he is gonna make me hurt LOL, I said go for it. They sell these size journals that have columns for fat/carbs/protein/caloires, time of day eatten, exercise down/reps/weights, amount of sleep. My journals are blank notebooks, and I tracked exercise, calories, protein, and fluids. With the new journal I see even more...the carbs = 6 mini boxes of raisensover the course of a day 66 carbs bad! My body was using all of this and I was/am maintaining. My goal is to lower my % body fat even if it means putting on 5-10 pounds of weight, because I am comfortable knowing those 5-10 pounds of muscle will eat my bad food days if I maintain the muscle. I will still freak out about the scale, but I will live as long as I see results in the other number. Right now its 24.6%, it was 50% pre-surg, I want it to be in the 18-20% normal range, preferable

got a question for you. Preface: I understand we burn more calories when we weigh more when performing X exercise for X duration at X intensity. My question or statement is this... 2 months post op I was able to exercise at 80% intensity for a longer period of time than I can now. I weigh less, have more muscle, but can't seem to sustain like I did when I had more weight (100 pounds so try to tell me it was all muscle ) When I go to the gym, I simply can't walk 40 mintues anymore... it kills me. Granted I have increased the incline and speed (6.0 incline at 4.5 mph) I ask folks around me who look experienced... and they seem to think it just might be plain boredom... I don't know. I think it is something else... As for your cardio... 1 1/2 hours straight of cardio? what are you doing? A class or working machines such as stair/eliptical/treadmill ... what? Good golly that's a long time. I used to could do 45 minutes on the treadmill, now it breaks me to do 25! I'm going backwards! Advise with the advice

What makes you stop...pain in a specific area or joint, boredom (honestly..it happens - I take a book), shortness of breath, or an overall pooped and can't go no more? If there is pain definitley consult a doctor; if it's boredom (because watching skinny minnies and buff hunks can only hold ones attention for so long) bring a book, magazine, or maybe and audio book or cd (got a Cracker Barrel restaurant near buy? they do trade ins when you finish an audio book); and if its an over all pooped out fatigue you need more fuel - I have 20 grams of some sort of protein food or supplement 2 hours before the gym and an apple (carbs to burn) on my way there. You may want to mix up your routine. Too much caffeine isnt goof for us, but a cup or two a day is okay, and some form of caffeine before working out is good boost to get you through. My chiro doesnt recommend incline if you have back or knee aches, maybe you are pushing too much on that area, try some of the different setting and train programs at lower levels. Do you run/jog? At 4.5 you can do a nice warm up jog. And definitley have some protein with in an hour after working out. I do 60 mins on the elliptical trainer in x-train reverse mode (this is forward 5 mins , backwards 3, etc never more than 10 minutes in one direction), then cool down for 15-30 minutes walking on the treadmill. Its a bit of compulsiveness I have, I got to 720 calories on lever 7 x-train and now anything less means I am a slacker, so my cardio goal is 700-800 between any machines. I read my school books or a novel or a magazine when I am not staring at other members lol. On the other 3 days I do 15 mins on the stairmaster, and an hour weight train etc, and 30-45 mins cardio after (cause the trainers said so - I used to just go home after my weights and lunges and stuff). If you can get a work out buddy to run your mouth with, an hour goes by so much faster when you arent staring at the numbers. Or place a towel over the numbers. Maybe stop when you feel done, go ride the bike or do some matt exercises then come back for 15 more minutes and walk. Change it up a bit. Hope something helped. I hate the cardio. Its the calories I am obsessed with. I love the weights and floor exercises. I do not do any classes. Mic

Someone else had mentioned I probably need fuel... I don't eat prior to working out. I try to "obey" the rules and have only 3 meals a day and one planned "intermezzo" .. I don't even call it a snack... but you know what i mean. Overall out of energy really... kind of a lack of motivation... Elliptical kills my knees, running causes some injury... I've tried it several times... interval power walking is my alternative... but I do desire to run a 10k... so my speed of 4.5 -5 is about tops because after that your feet are leaving the ground simutaneously. Xtrain reverse mode? I guess you can only do that on an elliptical? I was wondering about that new walking /jogging machine from nautilus.... http://www.nautilus.com/catalog/productdetail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524441760944&FOLD ER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302029457&bmUID=1147407367895 I read books too, stairmaster I'll give a try tonight. My routine used to be 45 minutes on the treadmill (sometiems interval work) about 30 minutes on weight lifting and 20 minutes in the pool of constant movement ... Yes that helped... I'm sure a buddy would make things go along very well as well. I'll keep that in mind.

Tracy, I have been an avid excerciser since my surgeon released me. I never thought about athe ability to eat more rather to build muscle and gain strength. The other aspect i was thinking ahead was having the ability to maintain my weightloss. I have have found that over a period of time that I need to change and increase the amount of resistance. Muscle adapt easily to a routine and need to be pushed every 12 weeks. Mary 415/163