Stubborn extra weight/fatigue

[witeowl]

In addition to my response earlier in this thread, I'm taking iron since am a bit low here after had blood tests. Body not used to extra shot of iron at this time.

A point of order (not to you, shootingstar, but to others): Don't take iron supplements without a doctor's order after blood tests. Iron toxicity is a very real possibility, as our bodies cannot expel excess iron.

[e.e.cummings]

On Friday I went for blood tests that included checking my iron and thryoid. Let's see what comes back. I discovered something new this weekend - I spoke to my mother and she told me that she had thyroid disfunction, for which she is taking medication. I had no idea - my mother is in fantastic shape for her age, absolutely no weight issues. She is the last person I thought had a thyroid problem.

I also have an appointment with a nutritionist on Tuesday. Whichever way the tests come back, it won't hurt to look at little harder at my eating habits.

Knocked back with the cold this week, all I wanted to do was sleep, which I did a lot of. No cycling this week - I am hoping to be on my bike soon!

[tctrek]

e.e. -- hope you find out something! Sometimes it is like-mother, like-daughter -- my mother and I both have hypothyroidism. Many people blame weight problems on the thyroid, but when it is treated properly, it is probably not the cause of weight issues. I've been treated for thyroid disease since 1997 and historically blamed my weight issues on it. Now, I know my weight issues are what I eat ... just took me some time to "own" it.

I used to think that if I worked out a lot and rode my bike a lot that I could eat what I want. But what you eat has more to do with your weight than how much you exercise. The nutritionist can help you to balance out the exercise you do with the food you eat and make sure you are eating the right type of foods and the right amount of calories.

[Dogmama]

I used to think that if I worked out a lot and rode my bike a lot that I could eat what I want. But what you eat has more to do with your weight than how much you exercise. The nutritionist can help you to balance out the exercise you do with the food you eat and make sure you are eating the right type of foods and the right amount of calories.

+1. Read the stuff about how long it takes running on a treadmill to burn off one oreo cookie. Ugh.

Lots of good advice. Here's more. When you get back on your feet add in weight training. Muscle burns fat at rest. Fat burns nothing at rest. You look better nekked with muscle. And I ain't talking no pink weights. Lift something that makes you grunt after 10-12 reps. Then do it again.

I see lots of fat-skinny women at my gym. Mainly the cardio queens who work out like crazy on the ellipticals and go home. Young girls who have almost no muscle & probably a fairly high body fat ratio, but they look good in the Calvin Kleins. Until they get a little older and menopause creeps up...BWAHAHAHA....

[indigoiis]

+1 on the weights. And you don't have to go to a gym. Check out http://www.stumptuous.com/

[shootingstar]

It's not simple to accept one's body metabolism changes as one ages. Someone asked me the other day, a non-cyclist, who is trying to lose weight and she is 50 like myself: 'But if your body burns food more efficiently as you exercise more, that means you always have to exercise (meaning exercise nearly daily).'

Yup. Can't escape that fact. However it helps a whole lot for cycling-enthuasiasts to think of many years of cycling ahead..or similar.

Now, when someone hasn't seen me for several years, they say: "You haven't changed much..meaning my body shape."

Sigh..if they only knew how more effort, megalots more effort, to maintain a healthy weight now compared to 15 yrs. ago-- exercise, permanent diet changes (hopefully), timing of meals, etc.

[Dogmama]

I

Sigh..if they only knew how more effort, megalots more effort, to maintain a healthy weight now compared to 15 yrs. ago-- exercise, permanent diet changes (hopefully), timing of meals, etc.

So true. I'm a person who works out in the early morning. As the day goes on, my enthusiasm fades. Very few people are willing to hit the gym or get on the bike at 6AM. I've done it for years, so it's a lifestyle.

[tulip]

So true. I'm a person who works out in the early morning. As the day goes on, my enthusiasm fades. Very few people are willing to hit the gym or get on the bike at 6AM. I've done it for years, so it's a lifestyle.

That's the best thing about commuting by bike. Most people have to go to work, and getting there by bike can be the best way to do it. It becomes a habit, a very healthy habit.

[lph]

Re exercising daily: It helps if you consider that our bodies were built for daily activity, almost constant movement, and thrive on it. Thinking of "exercise" as yet another daily chore that has to be done makes it sound so depressing. The truth is that we weren't made to sit around on our butts for very long and our bodies deteriorate if we do so...

[limewave]

Re exercising daily: It helps if you consider that our bodies were built for daily activity, almost constant movement, and thrive on it. The truth is that we weren't made to sit around on our butts for very long and our bodies deteriorate if we do so...

I have been thinking about this a lot the last few months. I work in an office and sit all day. Recently I've started setting an alarm every 50 minutes. That's a reminder to me to get up and take a loop around the office building and to find an excuse to walk up and down the stairs a time or two. It's made a big difference.

[shootingstar]

Re exercising daily: It helps if you consider that our bodies were built for daily activity, almost constant movement, and thrive on it. Thinking of "exercise" as yet another daily chore that has to be done makes it sound so depressing. The truth is that we weren't made to sit around on our butts for very long and our bodies deteriorate if we do so...

Certainly I don't view cycling as a chore, but more as a "drug-inducing" activity because of the endorphins. Even if I have to do an errand, my attitude does tend to be: it's alot faster to get there no matter how slowly I cycle and I can carry more weight effortlessly coming back home. Bike is a necessity for us folks who don't have a car.

True that our bodies need physical activity daily. I've had several jobs where my work included getting up from computer desktop several times each hr. or at most nearly every hr. and it never bothered me. I welcomed it since jobs have been client-focused which accounts for multiple interuptions throughout the day and doing something/demonstrating something for them.

Over the years, I tried to encourage other staff in the department to be grateful that their jobs isn't just data entry, but much more diverse where it requires them to vary their tasks and change their physical activity/get away from prolonged viewing of the computer screen to do something else on the job.

[Crankin]

Shootingstar, I could have written your post. It takes SO much more to "look the same" as I did 15 years ago. I made a big adjustment in my eating about 5 years ago; while I never ate "badly," I was still eating the same high carb/low fat diet (good carbs) I ate in my thirties, when I was teaching 5-7 aerobics classes a week. I started looking pudgy at around age 45, even though I was still active. Started cycling a couple of years later and also found that changing up the routine also is necessary now.
I taught aerobics at 5 AM for 5 years and continued working out early in the AM until last year. Since I no longer have to get up that early, I exercise when I want to... I have to be disciplined, though. And all those 6-7 mile trips on my bike for errands add up. As long as I am moving for at least 30-40 minutes, it's good.

[lph]

Certainly I don't view cycling as a chore

No, I meant your friend who sounded like she was surprised or put out by the fact that you "always have to exercise".

but more as a "drug-inducing" activity because of the endorphins.

Yah, me too