The readership has spoken!

Well, that settles it then. MS150, here I come! Thanks to everyone who responded.*

Since registration is expected to close any second now, I actually signed up after the first few votes were unanimous. I also made a hotel reservation in La Grange (well, Bastrop, actually). I'm not really much of a camper, and I can't imagine I'd enjoy riding 80 miles and then sleeping on the fairgrounds with 12,000 strangers. Of course, I've got 5 months to cancel with no penalty, so I can still decide to suck it up and get the full MS150 tent experience if I so choose. I figured I'd better book a room now, though, because it took me most of the afternoon yesterday to find a hotel on the shuttle routes that even had any available. I imagine that if I searched again toward the end of March (the cancellation deadline for my hotel, not sure about others), I'd probably have a good shot of finding a room. But why take that chance, eh?

So now all that's left is fundraising and training, and maybe finding a team. I'm sure I'll have more to say about that in the next few months.

*On a sort-of-pathetic note, I was delighted to see 12 responses. That's about twice as many readers as I thought I had! Don't worry...I won't let it go to my head. ;)

hey, why is your target HR zone so huge?

Rob asked me last night where I got 120-170 for my target zone, since that encompasses, like, 3 different exercise zones.

I think I went into detail about it somewhere...let's see if I can find it.

*I'm sailing awaaaay, set an open course for the virrrgin sea
I've got to be free, free to face the life that's ahead of meee
On board, I'm the captaaaain, so climb abooooard
We'll search for tomorr--* [hold music...the Eric Cartman version]

Ah, there it is. Quote:

Target ranges seem to be pretty subjective, anyway. For my age (31), the M32 sets my target range at 126-161. During the average OwnZone calculation, it was setting between 110-140 and 125-155. After reading Kristi's latest post, I went to the target zone calculator on Polar's website, plugged in my morning resting rate, and it gave me 139-177 (60-90%) as my target range. So, um, which is it guys? To get my 120-170, I just sort of carved out a chunk in the middle of all of them, and that seems to be working for me for now.

So, there you go.

Now, that's not to say that I shoot for that whole range with every workout. Short cardio workouts, I like to be in the 140s-160s. I have grudgingly accepted that running is going to take me into the 170s and low-180s. For the recovery workouts (the walks and rides on strength days), I try to stay below 135. Strength workouts, I shoot for 110-140.

So why don't I just change the damned range for each workout? Because it involves pushing a couple little buttons a lot of times, and I'd rather have a big range for all my various workouts (with a target avg HR in mind) than several little ranges that I have to configure every day.

I KNEW it!

You scored as Strawberry Shortcake. Don't stand for that new version crap. If you go shortcake, go shortcake all the way. . . Strawberry Shortcake 75% Heman 75% Shera 58% Voltron 50% Smurf 33% Thundercats 25% Transformers 17% Which 1980's Cartoon Character are you? created with QuizFarm.com

I love that I could have gone either way between Strawberry Shortcake and He-man. In the end, the deciding factor was that I liked desserts more than I wanted a tiger sidekick. :)

I watched both their cartoons when I was a kid, but I only collected the Shortcake dolls (none of which I still have, alas). Truth be told, I liked She-Ra better...I think that was the one that had "Looky"--the weird little creature that would hide in the scenery of every episode. You'd try to spot him through the whole show, then they'd point out where he was at the end. I LOVED that. Maybe it was on Dungeons and Dragons, though, now that I think about it.

I also loved Great Space Coaster.

(found at curmudgeonry)

UPDATE: I don't know why the result graphic is overflowing my white space. I tried adjusting the width, but I'm apparently web-retarded. It's not bad enough to make me take it down, but if it's bugging anyone else, sorry. I have exhausted my vast* HTML knowledge, and could not make the thing smaller.

*where "vast" = "nearly non-existent".

qod

my inspirational quote of the day, from diet chick:

But that's alright. That's what New Year's Resolutions are for. For now there's Reece's Christmas Trees.

Preach on, sistah.

(Though she's in maintenance and I'm not, so I can't afford to live by that philosophy yet. I'll have to chain myself to the diet wagon through the holidays, like it or not.)

weigh-in wednesday

it's that time again...and so how about this week's WIW question?

Where do you stand on weight related surgery? Are you in favor of it? Why or why not? Do you agree with it in certain circumstances and what are those circumstances? Would do you it if you had to?

I believe that it depends on the type of surgery it is, and it depends on the health of the individual. If we're speaking of just weight-loss surgery and not cosmetic surgery, I'm for it for the morbidly obese whose bodies have been unresponsive to other treatments. I don't agree with it as a first-try kind of thing. If a person has a BMI of over 40 and has tried to do other things to control his/her weight, then I'd say stomach-stapling or that band thing (I don't remember the name of that procedure off-hand) are options to consider. I also think that if there is an urgent medical need for quick weight loss, then it should be done and insurance should cover it. However, I think that it should only be considered after all other options have been exhausted. The risks are high, and recovery can be painful and long.

As for it ever being an option for me, if I had to...it's really a moot point. Since I have never been more than 80 lbs overweight (BMI of 36, I think), even at my highest, I'd never have to. From a strictly emotional standpoint, I don't like the idea. For me**, opting for surgery reeks of weakness and failure. I know that I can lose weight without it, if I just put in the effort and be patient...having surgery would be giving up, admitting that I couldn't go the distance the way thousands of others had. Maybe it's a bad thing, but my pride won't let me do that.

**Not necessarily for everyone who might ever consider this surgery. I have never been classified as morbidly obese, and (God willing) never will be. I cannot speculate what that would be like, and maybe for someone who is dangerously large, this would be more like a step in the right direction and less like giving up on other means.

weigh-in wednesday thursday

I'm feeling posty today, so let's go ahead with this week's Weigh-In Wednesday question:

How do you feel about weight and fitness in regards to your lovelife? Would be involved with a person who weighed the same or more than you?

I used to be attracted to tall, fit guys, despite my body being the opposite of tall and fit. I think it had something to do with my brothers all being tall and skinny, and looking up to them. That said...weight was never really the issue as much as height. I was always more likely to be attracted to an overweight tall guy than a short thin one. It's important to me that a guy be taller than me...there's just something sexy about having to look up to kiss someone.

Also, a guy at 5'10" and 185 looks a lot different than a woman at 5'5" and 185. I've always been a little disturbed when dating men who weighed less than me. They always seemed frail. If I had to choose an ideal, I think it would be between 5'7" and 6'1", 180-230 lbs. Someone substantial.

When I met Rob, he was about 250 to my 175 or so, and I've never had a problem with his weight. If I had met him when I was 16 (before a twice-failed relationship, two other jerks, and a kid), I'm not sure that I would have been attracted to him then. At 22, though, I was ready to value personality over size. He does look better at 210 - 220 than he does at 250, but it's always been a non-issue. I haven't been at anywhere near a goal weight since he's known me, so if he's willing to see the positive in my body, I can see the good in his.

Besides, he's pretty cute at any size. Or I think so, anyway.

geek out

I just got an email from active.com (have a membership to sign up for events and stuff) about this.

The bodylink stuff is beyond my workout equipment budget, but that data recorder thing sounds pretty damn cool, doesn't it?

The Timex® Data Recorder collects precise information from your Digital Heart Rate Sensor, Speed + Distance Sensor, or both devices at the same time. Through the simple USB connection, data can be later uploaded to your PC, and used with Timex® Trainer software to chart your progress, achieve your goals, and maximize your workouts.

Mmmm....charts. Not that I'd ever actually USE it even if I did have enough spare cash lying around to buy it. And of course, I'd need all the other bodylink stuff too, then, wouldn't I? Shit, I'd probably have to take out a loan or something. Or stop eating for a month.

Weigh-in Wednesday

I've been meaning to start answering the Weigh-in Wednesday questions for a while, so I figure this is a good time to start. This week, Carla (or Kristina, actually) asks:

Serving sizes vary so much from label to label. What food has a serving size that really surprises you, or what food really challenges you to stick with it's serving size?

Ben & Jerry's ice cream. I about fainted when I realized that the serving size was not actually the whole pint. :) I'm pretty good at staying within the 1/2 cup serving size, though--on the rare occasion that I bring the stuff into my house.

a response

I got a comment on the last post that I thought I should respond to. I started to respond there, but it got too long so I decided to just post about it. Here's a portion of the comment, from chantal (go here to read the full comment):

I read a bit of your journal and I don't know why I'm writing this, but if you want to lose weight please stop eating candy and desserts and fried food and pizza.I'm not trying to be mean, but I know you want to see results, and you have lost some, but if you try to eat low fat foods and lots of fruit, vegetables, and water, than you will see results.

good advice, and nothing that I hadn't heard before. The tone bothers me a bit, but she means well.

Here's the thing, though. Those first 26 lbs? I lost them eating candy and desserts and fried food and pizza. I just ate less of them than I would have if I were not trying to lose weight. I did it this way because I had tried losing weight by cutting out these foods, and I was never able to keep it up for very long. Since I knew I was going to be trying to lose weight for a long time, I had to use a plan I could follow for a long time. In my case, with my personality, the answer was "no" to any plan that told me I couldn't have any particular food. "All things in moderation" has become my motto. And for 26 lbs, it's worked. I've stagnated a bit over the past couple months, but mostly it's because I've been eating more calories, not because my diet is any unhealthier than it was at the start.

You see, I believe weight loss is all about the math. According to most maintenance calorie calculators, my body needs roughly 2100 calories to function on an average day. If I eat less than that, I'll lose weight. Whether those calories come from broccoli or pizza, it's all the same from a strictly body-fueling standpoint. So I eat what I like. I may have to eat less if I choose the pizza over the grilled chicken and string beans, but that's my choice. I may feel better if I eat the apple instead of the pudding, but again--I made a choice. Whether that choice is based on nutrition or emotion depends on the mood of the day.

That said, I have made some subtle changes to my diet...they're just not readily apparent to those who didn't know me before. For instance, I hardly ever eat hamburgers and french fries anymore. I was never overly fond of them to begin with, and they just aren't worth the calories. I also eat much smaller portions than I used to. I eat out much less often. I do much less boredom eating. I eat slower, and stop when I'm full. I drink a lot more water. They're little things, nothing drastic. But they're all things that are going to make it easier to maintain my weight loss, moreso than temporarily cutting out fried food or candy would.

Chantal did say that she had only read "a bit" of this journal, so I can see where she's coming from. Stumbling upon this site for the first time and reading the last couple weeks of diet logs, I'm sure people wonder how I ever lost any weight at all. I'm not here to be a role model. My "plan" is not for everyone, and I don't recommend it to anyone. If you can handle a low-fat, high-fiber diet for an extended period of time, I say go for it. You're going to feel better and probably get faster results than I am.

I do it this way because this is what has been working for me. And as much as I bitch, it's still working. If I can get my butt in gear and work out some this weekend, and keep my eating pretty clean (easy on the sodium, carbs--to minimize bloat) on Tuesday, I should be able to get a sub-190 weigh in on Wednesday. Not because I'm cutting out fried food, or pizza, or candy, but because I'm taking in less calories than my body needs. If you ask me, it's really just that simple.