Richard Ha writes:
I lost 1.4 lbs. this week.
My goal: To lose one pound per week for 39 weeks
Starting weight on 5/23/06: 214.6 lbs.
End goal, on 2/18/07: 175 lbs.
This week’s target weight: 203.6 lbs.
Today’s actual weight: 200.4 lbs. 7/23/06
I am 3.2 lbs. ahead of schedule
Since 5/23, I have lost 14.2 lbs.
On 5/23, my resting heart rate was 65 beats per minute
Today’s resting heart rate: 55 beats per minute.*
* This goes down as one gets into better shape. Lance Armstrong’s is said to be 32. George W’s was reported to be 47 beats per minute. Out of shape, mine is in the 70s. My best was 52 many years ago.
***
For about two weeks now, I’ve felt like I was hitting a plateau. The 1 lb./week weight loss was becoming difficult to maintain by exercising at a rate of 500 calories per day (3,500 calories per week).
I am eating more than I was when I started. If I compensate for that, I should have no problem. So I increased the time I spent on the elliptical from 40 to 60 minutes. This week I exercised 70 minutes everyday, which burns off about 1,000 calories per day. Because I was feeling exhausted, I took Thursday off.
I do this at a comfortable easy pace, but at the end of the time I am soaked in sweat. This is a huge percentage increase in exercise rate. I normally don’t increase this much. But it was either do this or diet.
I think this amount of work will allow me to continue losing weight comfortably. I plan to stay at 70 minutes for a while and I will increase intensity gradually as my body adapts to the increased work load. My goal is to lower my resting heart rate into the 40s. I feel that at my present pace, it will not go lower than 55-56 beats/minute.
Next week, I plan to add short bursts of higher heart rate training, maybe twice per week. I have been doing this sporadically and I think that is what’s most responsible for lowering my resting heart rate to 55 beats per minute. Otherwise, I think it would be in the low- to mid-60s.
In order to get my resting heart rate into the 40s, I know I have to work harder. But I want to take the easiest path to accomplish my goal. On the days I work harder, I will do three spikes of increased work for either three minutes or 45 seconds per spike—three minutes if my breathing coincides with every other step, and 45 seconds if I need to take a breath on every step.
It’s pretty simple, but it works for me. I hate to suffer for a long time. The rest of the 70-minute session will be spent at the low heart rate that I normally do. I get on and off the trainer whenever I feel it is necessary, and I know I need to work harder. But I don’t have to suffer needlessly.
Since I increased my exercise time, I have had a lot more energy. I don’t know what has come over me, but yesterday I told June that from now on I will do all the dishes.
It reminds me of the time several years ago when she went to Las Vegas with her parents. I had not had to fend for myself much before and so I was determined to show her that I could take care of myself. I figured I would use just one cup, one fork, one plate and I thought that this would be a piece of cake.
One day I looked around and decided that I would water the house plants to prove I could do more than just take care of myself. So I took the hanging basket and started watering it in the kitchen sink. Something was not quite right. Then it dawned on me—it was a silk plant.
I almost fell over. I had to call her in Las Vegas and tell her. We had a good laugh.
Here’s my chance to try again and get it right.