Very fit and very fat !

[jayjay]

I just took my resting heart rate and it is about 62 (in my fit 20's it was 72). Last week I had my bloodpressure taken and it was ideal perfect. I'm 46yrs. I dont' get this. You'd think for a person who is presently over 31% body fat and middle-aged the resting heart rate would be higher. I guess I need to just count my blessings and realize that I have a corvette engine in a cadallac body Probably even at my fittest, only about 10 years ago, I was not low body fat. I have a lot of muscle to my smallish frame, averaging out to be 'medium frame'. Sheesh.... need to get a little bit more dialed in.

So, ladies, I sure could use some help being steered in all of your favorite websites, in a no-cost direction as to figure out target heart rates and ideal daily calorie deficits for long-term weightloss. I am giving myself a year to lose to 130-ish, from 172 (this morning). Maybe my ideal body percentage for athletic female would be lower weight, but hey, I just want to have a happy life, a normal relationship with food, and not exclude any food groups or favorites. I just want to be in the Average, and keep it that way for life. Websites for heart rate calculators? Calorie expenditures that are more accurate than "bicycling fast, or slow". Maybe I should invest in a heartrate monitor, but extra gear and gadgets just make me frustrated and are against my grain. I have a good idea what 'working hard and my heart beating fast' is... and I figure if I climb an hour at a slow pace (eventually moderate pace) on the steep mtn which I live, while talking to myself , then that's about right? I like doing things for free, and the old-fashioned way.

[Nokomis]

My husband and I have seen huge progress since we started tracking our caloric intake. So far, www.thedailyplate.com has been the best (free) tool for doing this. (Much more comprehensive than fitday.) I can add food, make meals from added foods, and upload recipes to figure out much more accurate data.

The site seems to do a good job of identifying your base metabolic rate, to provide a good starting point. While it tracks calories burned (many cycling speeds provided, along with hundreds of other activities) we've found that the caloric output they calculate is much higher than our output on a powertap. I normally go down one or two levels of exertion in cycling descriptions to match my actual output.

Good Luck!!

[velogirl]

when I was very hypothyroid, I was very fit and very fat. my morning/resting HR was in the high 30s or low 40s. and my body fat was probably in the 30-40% range (never tested during that period). of course, my low HR was due to being hypo, not entirely due to fitness. just something to think about.

my favorite free online site for exercise and weight-loss is http://www.fitday.com