Heart Rate - Activity Intensity

Ok, so I found my answer on the WW website...

Here is the link if you are interested in the full article:
The Article

Below is the estimated formula for measuring your maximum heart rate:
220 minus your age in years.

So for me, that would be 220 - 29 = 191 MHR

Now the level of intensity is as follows:
40-54% of MHR for me that means 76.4 to 103.0 - Low intensity
55-69% of MHR for me that means 105.0 to 131.8 - Moderate intensity
> or = 70% of MHR for me that means 133.7 and over - High intensity

I got a comment about high intensity should be something that makes me breathe so hard I can't talk but I'm never like that on the elliptical. I am breathing harder than normal and am tired but am never so out of breath that I can't speak. I guess that's what the site means about "perceived exertion". The thing is my heart rate was over 150 then ENTIRE time.. and at many points was in the 160's. To be safe, last night I calculated my activity points at moderate activity so that I didn't overestimate but now it looks like I should have used the high intensity measure. What do you guys do?

I rode on it for an hour... NSV ...and a question

Ok, I know I'm a bit of a sicko and could have come up with a less provoking title..but.. naaaaaaah. :)

So, I went to the gym tonight as planned and thought I would do cardio for a half hour and then strength train on the nautilus equipment. I don't know what came over me but when I got on the elliptical and manually entered in how long I wanted to be on it.. I hit the little up arrows and when I saw my normal "30" I kept going.. 35... up, up.. 40.. 45. I have to admit when I saw that number I hesitated a little. But I then I said to myself, I did 35 the other day, why can't I do 45? And THEN I continued upping it until I got to 60 freakin' minutes! I pretty much negative talked myself thru the whole session. Instead of saying I could do it, I said "I think I can't, I think I can't". Remind me never to quit my job and become a motivational anything. 30 minutes in I said to myself, 'self, you've gotta be freakin' kidding. You've got 30 minutes MORE of this AND you're staring at stupid sports center on tv because your blind ass didn't notice ESPN was on the tv in front of my elliptical BEFORE you started.' I hate that. I don't know how or why but I kept going. And I kept looking over at the other tv screens while I listened to the tv on my mp3. The people next to me kept thinking I was looking at them. I know this because I kept getting funny looks from them out of the corner of my eye. Anyhoo... The last 15 I just about died but then the now so tiny Ricky Lake was on talking about her lifelong struggle with weight and OMG, maybe I haven't seen her in a while but she looks FANTASTIC. She started out as a size 24 (well who starts there?) and now after diet and exercise is a size 2 and weighs 120 something.. The story was interesting and inspiring at the very least. I mean, I have about 40 something pounds to lose before hit my goal but that's not impossible and some people would KILL to have only that much to lose. Guess in a weird way, even though it's a struggle, it's a blessing. Anyway, my point in mentioning that is good ol' Ricky was a good ol' distraction and while watching/listening to her story, I was able to finish up and barely notice :)

My question is... how do I count my activity points. My heart rate was above 150 the entire time. Is that high activity or moderate activity? HELP.

i no unnerstan eenglesh

That's what my scale said to me this morning when I prayed silently then cursed like a sailor. My t.o.m. BETTER be coming because I'm crabby, not sleeping well, and my ass gained 2.2 lbs. I'm gonna sulk because I'm a woman and feel I'm entitled to a "I gained weight despite working my ass off and EATING RIGHT even on Thanksgiving" grumble. Arrgh, maybe I'll try to squeeze into my size 8's anyway...then I could say I met my goal (aside from the magician thing) and be done with it. Ok, as I write my mood is getting better. Wow, women are crazy. I guess I better put some clothes on.. yes I'm sitting here in the buff... It's time to go to work. Gotta fly!

ps. I ordered my first pair of Spanx a couple of days ago. Fedex says he will bring them to me by Wednesday. I'm so excited! Any of you making your butts look better?

Bad Day

1. I have a migraine. For those of you that get them, I sympathize. I swear some days I just wanna remove my head from my shoulders. It increased on my drive home on the rainy and dark highway. I did make it home in one piece.

2. Tonight was my gym night which I skipped.. instead went for a 10 minute run/20 minute walk which I thought was better than nothing. I feel bad for skipping but I also felt bad for crating my dog all day (longer work day than usual). I ended up running her outside in the rain. For 30 minutes I forgot about my head hurting... how does that happen?

3. I weighed myself (the night before my WI) and the scale was UP 2.2 pounds. I'm not happy about it because I stuck to my points, exercised last week.. I just don't get it. Talk about wanting to give up before you begin.

Sorry to be a bummer. Just needed to vent. I'm gonna hop in bed in a few. I'll quit while I'm ahead... Blog again soon...

Black Friday!

Wow, I am completely out of whack today!

First, Thanksgiving was crazy, chaotic but a lot of fun. There were people everywhere doing something, whether in the kitchen helping (or just getting in the way) to the living room with just the boys watching some football. It was wall to wall kids too! But even though I escaped a few times to "have a rest" in the guest room and Mel and I at one point were hiding in another part of the house (while we listened to the search party look for us), I love a crazy Thanksgiving. My morning started at about 6:00 am yesterday and I didn't get in until about 10:30 pm. Oh yesterday I brought over a homemade cheesecake to my neighbor. I felt like such a nerd.. I couldn't just think of it like I was doing something nice.. I just felt like a big cheese ball. But anyway, my neighbor was really sweet and made the moment of the handover not as awkward as I dreaded. Yesterday I did really well with my points only dipping into my flex by 3 or 4 and that included dessert. Yay! I hope the scale reflects this come Tuesday morning.

Today, at 4 am, Mel and I braved our first Black Friday shopping spree. We hit Kohl's which was a MADHOUSE. The line to check out wrapped around the back of the store BOTH WAYS. I'm kinda a nut about crowds (don't love 'em at all) so I pretty much felt nauseous the whole time. We were LOST, no experience with this kind of shopping. We saw some pros.. one woman brought her own large box (clearly she thought about about the whole "too many people, not enough carts" thing). We ended up with some great stuff. I ended up buying a really pretty pair of diamond earrings for my mom for 69 bucks (reg. price $200)!!! I'm still a bit lost about who I'm buying for and what I'm getting them, but I did at least make a start. We hit Target (which we love but weren't impressed with the "big sales" they've been boasting about), Best Buy and then a quick stop at Old Navy in the mall. I got back home around 9 am, climbed into bed and slept until about 12. I lay in bed for a LONG while then got up and went to the gym and kicked the elliptical's butt for about 35 minutes.. WOOT! Came back home, had a bit of Turkey Day leftovers and then back to bed. Which leads me to now... :)

I have about 8 points left so I think I'm gonna go get a snack, have some tea and chill in bed watching tv. Aaah....

I hope you all had a safe and Happy Thanksgiving! Talk to you soon.

Feasting and football...

I'm headed over to my Melissa's house in about 30 minutes and am bringing with me a bird (one of two).. talk about PRESSURE, also my homemade cherry cheesecake, brownies and cookies. Luckily I have a bunch of flex points left for today. I don't plan to use them on dessert though.. I'm a meal girl.. turkey, potatoes, gravy and STUFFING. :) I hope I get to take a little turkey home with me so I can make some soup and sandwiches.

So, I should tell you what I'm thankful for... many things, family (even though they can't seem to pick up the phone to call me), friends, my job, my home, my doggy & kitty, my life... But today I am thankful for Melissa because this is my first Thanksgiving with her. She has been my best friend for about 10 years and she has stuck closer than a brother. She is a wife, mommy to four little ones, and a faithful friend. She is forgetful but that comes in handy when it comes to others flaws because she seems to see right past them. She cares about the important things in life, like family and friendships.. all else is not even a close second. She is unique, can make me choke with laughter, we can finish each others sentences... But above all this, she has a heart of gold and there is none like her.

Down!

Weighed in this morning at 181.4 which means I'm down 1.4 - yay, it stuck! Woot!

Hope you'll have a great day!

1.4 down but my WI is tomorrow...

Quick post before bed...

I've been weighing myself daily and to be honest, it's driving me a little crazy AND I think stirring up old eating disorder haunts. I think it's not the wisest thing for me to do so I'm gonna abandon the daily scale torture and resume my once a week thing. Btw, I've been the same weight ALL week (182.8) until tonight... Before I went to the gym I stripped down to my skivvies, crossed my fingers, exhaled and stepped on. I'm down but it technically is not my WI day so tomorrow I will report official results.

The gym is creating quite the burn... my arms are already killing me which is a good thing. My legs.. I feel like I've been riding a bull. I think I saw someone look at me like they should offer medical assistance. But I did it.. 2.25 miles on the elliptical. Can't wait to start running that!

Anyone excited about Thanksgiving? I'm not a big overeater.. I'm a one plate kinda gal, but I pile it high. :) I'm headed to Melissa's for Turkey Day.. What is your biggest downfall on T-Day?

Apple Crisp

Hi ya'll...

Hope you all are enjoying your weekend. I am loving mine. Just spending time in the kitchen when it's cold and gray outside is really a joy to me. Managed to do a few loads of laundry (why can't the dryer go as fast as the washer), baked apple crisp twice (the first time the crumble was dough-y) and now am here. I found this recipe here and with a few modifications, it can be very points friendly. I made the recipe without straying and it turned out pretty darn good. I added up the calories, fat and fiber for each ingredient. Serves 6 (I made 7 because I put some in a mini loaf). The point value is based on serving 7. (250 cal/10 fat/4 fiber) = 5 points

The next time I make this I will use Promise Fat Free margarine (which I just found is not too bad). This will knock about 100 calories from a serving and 6 fat grams. So you'll be looking at about 2.5 points for each serving! Now that's a treat!

Martha Madness

So the fall/winter time brings out this side in me... a cooking, baking, domestic side. I have this friend that I call "Martha" because she is always making things like Chicken Bruchetta and then says "it's easy"... you just... and then rambles off 19 ingredients I've never even heard of, let alone would I be able to find them in my local grocery store.

Well anyway, today I had a Martha moment. Some of you know that I have a fond taste for Indian food. Well, last week Melissa's nanny (who is Indian) made some Chicken Tikka Masala and I haven't been able to get it out of my head since. Indian food is usually really high in points and since I'm in a dedicated frame of mind (to WW) I wanted to see if I could find a lower point alternative. So I scoured the good ol' interweb for a recipe and found one here.. I made some adjustments to the recipe, eliminating the salt, replacing the heavy cream with light cream and using Promise Fat Free butter instead of real butter... I also replaced the yogurt with nonfat yogurt and voila.. you have a Chicken Tikka dish with a little bit of a kick but less points but great taste. Oh, I also used one less chicken boob and kept the serving size to 4.



This is 7 pts per serving and with a half cup of brown rice.. you have a 9 point indulgence.

Sweatin' to the oldies...

Editor's Note: The person in picture number two is a random lady in full makeup, hair and WHITE jeans. Oh, and she's either texting or playing a game on a cell phone.

So, with my boss out of the country this has been a h - e - double hockey sticks of a week with lots of stuff on my shoulders. Simply put, it means that I've been keeping an eye on every department. Lots of stress and I'm learning about me that when I'm stressed I eat. But even though it's been a crazy week and I have used some, ok most, of my flex points, I still have stayed on point.

Now, I've been weighing myself everyday, looking for even the slightest change in the scale and the damned scale hasn't budged even as much as a tenth of a pound. Not frustrated yet, as I just started doing this neurotic daily WI this week and my WI day is technically on Tuesday... I started doing this because I noticed that a bunch of other fellow bloggers do a daily weight tracking... Maybe I should make a pro/con list for this and see if it's worth it for me...

I know some of you THOUGHT I was working out on Thursday but craziness happened and we weren't able to make it.. so we went tonight. It was TOUGH and I swear I thought I was gonna die and at one point Melissa made me laugh so hard I really felt like I had swallowed my lungs... all of this while on the elliptical. I think I should share with you my joy...

While some are sweatin' to the oldies...


















Others arent...

If you're a boy, get out of the women's gym!!

Maybe because we were all wearing "workout" pants, he didn't notice that we were all girls but the subject above was my thought when there was a GUY in the WOMEN's gym last night. I kept singing in my head the "one of these things just doesn't belong.." song.

Oh yeah, NSV... made it to the gym AGAIN... 2x in one week AND did 10 minutes extra on the elliptical without having a heart attack. :) Yay. Me and Melissa are going tomorrow too.. I'd better watch out or this might turn into a habit or something.

Sorry for the late post.. cuckoo day at work and the boss is out of the country so I'm doing my best to do my best. I've been reading your posts. Hope mine are keeping you amused. :) Oh and TAKE MY POLL. :)

Doggy Treat Anyone?

So, I'm reporting my weigh in today as a starting point because when I started WW last week I refused to get on the scale. Like you haven't done this. :)
The scale said 182.8 lbs. I was a bit frustrated this morning because that's the highest that I think my weight has ever been that I've known about and wow, what a long road I have to get to my goal... one day at a time right?

I have two funnies today.. one is a joke I heard from a co-worker. The other is a true story that happened today.

First, the joke (hopefully no one gets offended)
Three reasons why I think Jesus was black: one, he called everyone "brother"; two, he lived at home until he was 30; three, he couldn't get a fair trial.

Now the story:
I brought my doggy to work today which she loves because she gets to hang out with mommy all day long. She is a bit apprehensive toward men but seems to relax around the guys that are in the office. Well there is this one particular man that she growls at and he just thinks he can get her to warm up to him. I am always telling him to give Polly space. He's one of those that is convinced that every dog loves him. Well, not Polly. So once again she was growling at him so I gave him two treats and said "maybe this will help"... Well after a few minutes he said "this is supposed to help her like me?" and that's when I noticed he was chewing on something. I said "are you EATING the dog treat?!?" He said, "yes, I thought that it was for the dog to like my breath"... He continued to chew on it for a few minutes and when he realized it was intended for him to FEED TO THE DOG he went outside to spit it out. When he came back inside I said "where's the other treat?" To which he replied, "I threw it out. You can't give a dog that. It tastes terrible". AS IF! That is some sheer brilliance.

"If you're nice to Tina, she will treat you like gold..."

This is what my boss said to a fellow employee who usually acts (to me and everyone) like a complete douche bag. I apologize in advance for my feisty-ness but sometimes especially in the case of this particular person it's warranted. My boss went on to say ".. if you treat her like crap, then you'll get treated like crap back". I was talking to my bff and she said "um, shouldn't he have replaced "Tina" with the word people?" I agree. She's right.. what about the golden rule? Now there was a time when I was less stand up for myself-y and more doormat-y. But I'm a big girl now and I'm not one for taking $h!T from people. Every now and then I'll keep my mouth shut but usually that's because someone has slipped me some serious dough (joke). The funny thing is the ones that I stand up to usually go all whiny and tell on me and result in me getting a lecture. Which is what happened.. I got a lecture as a result of the whining.. but I guess we both got a talking to.. Recognizing each other's value.. etc etc. Anyway, just a teeny vent was all.

So I'm home now and I'm walking around like I was in a bull riding contest last night. DIRTY! Get your mind out of the gutter. If you read yesterday's post, you'll know I revisited my old weight loss stomping grounds.. the gym. I did that press thingie between my legs at 50 lbs a pop for about 70 reps and GOOD LORD my inner thighs are KILLING me. It wasn't too bad this morning, a little sore but not the ridiculousness that I'm showing in my not so sexy stride. Hopefully tomorrow I'll feel better because Mel and I are hitting the gym tomorrow night. That's right folks.. that would be TWICE in one week. :)) I knew you'd be proud.

Last night I made a really yummy apple crumble with a low points value. I'll have to post the recipe later. Tonight for dinner I'm having a cuke & tomato salad (with olive oil/red wine vinegar); 3 oz of sirloin; brown rice.. Doesn't that sound YUMMY! I can smell the steak so I'd better run back to the kitchen.

Tomorrow's my weigh day.. wish me luck!

Paco's Tacos

So for those of you who are familiar with my writing you know at least two things about me. 1. I love food. 2. I love TV. I was watching Til' Death a few weeks ago and btw, I'm gonna be pissed once the freakin' rerun thing starts happening. Strike, bike. Hell, I'LL write for them. :) Sorry.. no tangent intended. On this one particular episode, Joy is paying bills and Eddie is giving her a hard time about money spent for something she doesn't use ie. her gym membership. He asks her if she even remembers where it is. Her first response is "It's on the corner of Bite Me and Suck It".. hee hee. Then later on she says "I know EXACTLY where it is.. it's right across from Paco's Tacos".

I remember sliding down under my covers because every month my gym faithfully takes 81 buckaroos from my account and I faithfully don't go there. We've had a nice little arrangement it seems. Until today. I'm slightly excited because this morning for about 55 minutes, I made good use of my gym. Oh, I'm talkin' elliptical machine, nautilus equipment, stretching... Now, my goal is to at least walk in those doors once a week. At this point managing to get in there more than that is cake (low fat with sugar free taste free frosting of course).

Weekends = Do Nothing = I love it!

First, I have to give a big ol' thank you to Swizzlepop. I just can't believe how sweet she is to post on her blog about me. I don't do this often but I feel the need to give her an interweb hug... ((((((((Swizzle))))))) You're the best!

So, you're here because of curiosity, an accident, were directed by my Weightwatchen pal or you just plain stalked me.. whatever the reason, thank you for stopping at my page and lending me some support. I do need it for sure.

The other day I was walking down "When I Was Skinny Lane", looking at old pictures, thinking about just how tiny my waist used to be and then I realized, hell, why can't I do that again? I don't have to let my life be a contest to see just how big I can get (that's from Kevin James' standup). I think sometimes I get on this losing weight kick (trust me, I hope it's not just a kick) because I totally get sick and tired of myself and just *have* to do something about it. Ya know?

Today was another good day. This one day a time thing was a pretty inventive idea. If I don't worry about tomorrow and give myself a break for my yesterdays, then life, my weight, my stupid household chores will all be easy (or just a tad easier) to deal with.

Can I just say how much I love lazy Saturdays? Wearing my slippers that scream HOT SEX (NOT), sweatpants, oversized tee... I love dressing up but I love NOT dressing up too. :) I spent part of the day cooking (homemade chicken noodle soup AND crockpot chicken stew with potatoes, green beans, carrots and onions) and the other part I spent IN BED. I watched tv, took a nap, made a Target list (that would be a "go to Target" list), typed a few sentences on a book I'm starting and now I'm here. Does that sound like the perfect day or what? I love a lazy weekend.

Fallen off the fat ass wagon...

So, I'm home watching Oprah, ok now it's the evening news because for once I got to go home early and didn't work a 90 hour week (ok, I'm exaggerating)... The Osmonds were on and oh they are all so cute. But anyway, I digress.. Today I worked until 11:30, went to the grocery store, (100 bucks, not too shabby) and prepared for another week of eating right. Ahem. And now I'm home, in my cozy yet at the same time a bit chilly home..

So this is where I am.. sorta having a love/hate relationship with the fall, holidays and you guessed it, my weight. Now the fall is so beautiful and Melissa and I were talking about this yesterday.. if we're not careful, we may just drive off the road with all the tree admiration going on. See attached (please excuse the low quality pic. It's my camera phone) But back to the love/hate thing..I realized again that this, my weight, is something I'll always face, hopefully not always at this size, but it will always be work, sometimes it will be harder than others. That kinda sucks. I started WW again... I can look at that last statement two ways. What a loser.. I had to start ww again because my butt refuses to stop spreading everytime I down a pan of brownies OR I could say YAY, I have it in me to do something about my weight struggle.

I kind of had a realization today when I was arranging my fresh flowers.. after trying to make them look "perfect" I realized that I'm a little too hard on myself.


I think I have some things to be proud of:
1. I started WW this week, Monday to be exact and to date have only used 2 of my Flex Points. So we could say that I'm having a good week.

2. Twice, maybe three times this week I had to deal with the office "ordering out". Oh, it was tough.. they ordered from my now favorite Chinese place and they kept torturing me. So mean! Or maybe they are teasing me because they are blind to how big my butt really is and they think I don't need a diet. :) But anyway, I ate the lunch I brought and that was that!

3. I went grocery shopping and bought all good stuff. I did buy brownie mix but I always bake for the guys on Wednesdays so that doesn't quite count.

4. I actually THOUGHT about the gym today. I'm thinking I may make an appearance tomorrow or Sunday. Haven't decided which day yet.

5. I made it back to my blog. I think it's good for me to write here, vent, share, receive and give feedback..

Thanks to those who even thought about my teeny tiny blog and gave a rats ass about how I was doing. I never forgot about my blog or you guys. I just felt a bit guilty that I had fallen off the fat ass wagon and didn't quite know what to say.

Hopefully I'll be entertaining both me and you with my writing for many months to come.