On to some lighter news

No - wait.  That's ten pounds per month.  No.  That'll never work.  I like the five pounds per month much better.  Let's stick with that and just weigh in heavy in August. 

- Zurf

Keep going, Zurf. I decided to take on this battle too just under a year ago. By Christmas I had lost 28lbs and have been hovering around that ever since. It can be hard, and holidays don't help, but we can do this.

Here's a plan Zurf. Now that the weather is getting nicer, you can hike farther to those untouched fishing spots in the beautiful mountains you frequent. Bigger fish, losing weight, being outdoors, you can't go wrong. Oh, and bring your travel guitar too.

I was doing good with two exercise sessions per day, one of resistance and another of walking or using my wife's elliptical when the weather was poor.  I had to back off to M, T, Th, F on the resistance exercises when I bumped up the resistance some.  My arthritic shoulder wasn't putting up with it, so I backed off to where it doesn't hurt.  The walking has been great. 

For food, I eat about five times a day, just little bits of something.  It's what my gastroenterologist recommended that I do.  Apparently, my tummy isn't happy with having much in it.   I try to have a slightly larger lunch, usually like a ploughman's lunch, or a bowl of soup and something crunchy, a salad, or on Friday's the full-on protein onslaught of buffalo wings.  I allow myself one treat per day on the days that I exercise, and booze counts as a treat.  So if I have a little chocolate, that's it.  Or if I have a cookie, that's it.  If I have a glass of wine with dinner, that's my treat. 

I've been slacking off a bit on each end, and need to reinvigorate.  The goal of reaching 230# by my physical in August helps.   Final goal is 210#, but I sincerely doubt that I'll ever make it unless I take up bike riding again. 

I like the way zguitar thinks.  Especially since he's telling me to buy a travel guitar.  I'd spend a lot more time in the woods or on the water if it weren't for Daddy-duty, but to some degree I can't give myself that treat if I want to spend time with the girls.  Getting the girls to the woods, well... it's a nice thought. 

- Zurf

Zurf, if what you're doing is working to keep you in the loss average of 2 lbs per week, then you're doing great!  I'm no specialist, but the suggestion is usually cardio every other day/ and toning on the opposite days as that... and take at least one day of rest.  Walking is cardio... sit ups are toning.  I get frustrated when people get so hung up thinking that they need to go to a gym and use weights that they forget to just use their own body's resistance sometimes.  Again, it sounds like you're doing great!  Zguitar is totally on the right track!    Although, I'm not so sure strumming counts as exercise!  LOL!

Selso... chances are you are not eating healthy???  I'd say step one is to write down everything you eat for the next week.  Literally, 5 M&Ms write it down.  2 dozen wings with 1/2 cup blue cheese dressing, write it down.  Then get to one of the websites that has the food pyramid on it and take a close look at it and see what you could improve upon with your eating habits.  Then, same as someone trying to lose weight... look at your physical activity.  You can't be hungry if you're not getting rid of the energy.  Exercise releases GOOD vibe feelings in the body that help you want to do better with your eating/and help with your emotional well being.  And well... there's a whole lot of emotional baggage that pushes us to not do so well sometimes.  Ridding yourself of some of that will make a world of difference too.  I think I sound rather presumptuous here, and I offer my apologies for that... just while there's usually underlying reasons and the nitty gritty of them is different for everyone, they are usually the same reasons at the heart. 

I've personally been on a heal my own emotional baggage kick lately... I do tend to implore others to do the same when I get this way, cuz it feels good to see the light and not just wander through the darkness wondering where the end of the tunnel is!    I think I sound a little crazy tho.  LOL!  So I'll stop there.  Good luck my friend!

Get married.
Seriously!

I was 130 for years and couldn't go any higher.
I got married and within 3 months shot up to 150.
Sitting stable at 160 now with 2 good sized meals a day.

Dm

that helps alot amy. thank you.

i'll never get married again. that and my ex wife was a terrible cook!

Did you ever try "reverse sit ups"?  Start in the sitting position and go back as far as you can without hurting yourself and then sit back up.  It's kind of opposite of a crunch.  This is usually the one they start new moms with after delivery. 

Would that be sitting on the floor with legs out straight? Will give it a (careful) try!

Thanks Amy, that would make more sense! Tried a few this morning, and it seems to work - now I need to check if I can play guitar at the same time. Could be a whole new thread - how to keep fit while you play...