Newbie and general question

Hello everyone,

I've been lurking for a while and have decided to formally introduce myself.
I'm 29 and struggling to lose weight that I've piled on since my late high
school years. I'm a vegetarian and live in Australia.

I've tried seriously to do this several times before, but both times ran
into brick walls with my body rebelling. The first time I had managed to
shed over 25kg but developed gall bladder disease. I couldn't eat properly
or exercise for three months because of the pain and ended up putting all
the weight back on after I had surgery. The second time I lost about 10kg
and then developed rheumatoid arthritis which also prevented me from
exercising, and so I put all the weight back on again.

This is the third big battle and I've lost 17kg, and it's happening again.
Because of all the exercise I've been doing, my feet have become
excrutiatingly sore -- so much that it hurts even to walk around the house.
I've decided to switch to low impact resistance training and stationary
cycling instead of stepping and walking. I'm not giving in this time!

Has anyone else had experiences similar to these, where it seemed as though
their bodies preferred being fat and rebelled? Am I just being paranoid?

By the way, I have really enjoyed reading everyone's success stories and
think it's a great idea to post your progress regularly in a news group.
It's so motivational.

Rowena.

273 / 236 / 150

In article , diva ex machina
wrote:

Hello everyone,

I've been lurking for a while and have decided to formally introduce myself.
I'm 29 and struggling to lose weight that I've piled on since my late high
school years. I'm a vegetarian and live in Australia.

Hi Diva.
Welcome from Down Under.
What machine are you out of?
Hope our posts don't get confused!

--
Diva
*************
The Best Man for the Job is a Woman

"diva ex machina" wrote in message
...
Hello everyone,

I've been lurking for a while and have decided to formally introduce
myself.
I'm 29 and struggling to lose weight that I've piled on since my late
high
school years. I'm a vegetarian and live in Australia.

I've tried seriously to do this several times before, but both times ran
into brick walls with my body rebelling. The first time I had managed to
shed over 25kg but developed gall bladder disease. I couldn't eat
properly
or exercise for three months because of the pain and ended up putting all
the weight back on after I had surgery. The second time I lost about
10kg
and then developed rheumatoid arthritis which also prevented me from
exercising, and so I put all the weight back on again.

This is the third big battle and I've lost 17kg, and it's happening
again.
Because of all the exercise I've been doing, my feet have become
excrutiatingly sore -- so much that it hurts even to walk around the
house.
I've decided to switch to low impact resistance training and stationary
cycling instead of stepping and walking. I'm not giving in this time!

Hopefully as you lose weight some of the problems you're experiencing with
exercise will subside. The low impact exercise is an excellent choice. Is
swimming an option for you? I've taken water aerobic classes before and
find them very easy on the joints.

As another poster suggested, have you checked your walking shoes? The
right shoe can make a tremendous difference on your feet.

Hope to see you posting often.

Beverly


Has anyone else had experiences similar to these, where it seemed as
though
their bodies preferred being fat and rebelled? Am I just being paranoid?

By the way, I have really enjoyed reading everyone's success stories and
think it's a great idea to post your progress regularly in a news group.
It's so motivational.

Rowena.

273 / 236 / 150

On Mon, 22 Sep 2003 15:12:49 +1000, "diva ex machina"
wrote:

This is the third big battle and I've lost 17kg, and it's happening again.
Because of all the exercise I've been doing, my feet have become
excrutiatingly sore -- so much that it hurts even to walk around the house.

You might want to check with an orthopedist. I once had plantar
fasciitis -- got it from two days at a trade show walking around on a
concrete floor in flimsy pumps. It makes your feet hurt really badly.
It takes time to heal, but there are exercises that can help.

Meanwhile, maybe you can find some exercise that doesn't aggravate
your feet. Water aerobics should be fine for you. Or maybe something
like a stationary bike or an elliptical trainer. There is weight on
your feet with these, but no impact per se.

Hope you feel better soon!

By the way, I love your nom, "diva ex machina".

Chris

"diva ex machina" wrote in message
...
Hello everyone,

I've been lurking for a while and have decided to formally introduce
myself.
I'm 29 and struggling to lose weight that I've piled on since my late high
school years. I'm a vegetarian and live in Australia.

I've tried seriously to do this several times before, but both times ran
into brick walls with my body rebelling. The first time I had managed to
shed over 25kg but developed gall bladder disease. I couldn't eat
properly
or exercise for three months because of the pain and ended up putting all
the weight back on after I had surgery. The second time I lost about 10kg
and then developed rheumatoid arthritis which also prevented me from
exercising, and so I put all the weight back on again.

This is the third big battle and I've lost 17kg, and it's happening again.
Because of all the exercise I've been doing, my feet have become
excrutiatingly sore -- so much that it hurts even to walk around the
house.
I've decided to switch to low impact resistance training and stationary
cycling instead of stepping and walking. I'm not giving in this time!

Has anyone else had experiences similar to these, where it seemed as
though
their bodies preferred being fat and rebelled? Am I just being paranoid?

By the way, I have really enjoyed reading everyone's success stories and
think it's a great idea to post your progress regularly in a news group.
It's so motivational.

Lift weights. Build muscle. Speed up metabolism.

Seriously! Cardio is great, cutting calories is great, but muscle is where
your metabolism really is. Gain muscle, and you've created your own fat
burning machine. I lift 3 x per week, and I believe that lifting weights
has made a HUGE difference in my efforts. Cardio generally only burns
calories during exercise, but muscle burns all day long. Something like
35-50 calories per lb...

det

"Ignoramus23507":

In article , diva ex machina wrote:

snip my own story

This is the third big battle and I've lost 17kg,

outstanding, this means that you have the willpower to do it, the
question is how to do it right.

Thanks. I hope I'm doing it right. I've been seeing a dietician every 2-3
weeks since mid-May. Before I started seeing her, I was doing lots of
cardio exercises but no dieting and no resistance. Fixing that has made all
the difference.

and it's happening
again. Because of all the exercise I've been doing, my feet have
become excrutiatingly sore -- so much that it hurts even to walk
around the house. I've decided to switch to low impact resistance
training and stationary cycling instead of stepping and walking.
I'm not giving in this time!

sounds like a good idea to switch to low impact stuff. I have to ask
though, would your walking problem be solved by better shoes, or by
walking on grass instead of concrete/asphalt?

The shoes have made the problem worse. I have just bought new shoes and
arch support insoles to keep me on my feet until I can afford to go to a
podiatrist. I did see a GP about my feet and his advice was 'lose weight"!
)

Has anyone else had experiences similar to these, where it seemed as
though
their bodies preferred being fat and rebelled? Am I just being
paranoid?

In my previous dieting attempt, I dieted myself into having
perceptions that had little to do with reality. I dieted by eating way
too little and my brain started functioning not so well. I got scared
and got off the "diet".

Interesting. In what way were your perceptions 'unreal'? I've never had
anything like that happen to me.

By the way, I have really enjoyed reading everyone's success stories and
think it's a great idea to post your progress regularly in a news group.
It's so motivational.

It must be hard to be 236 lbs if you are a woman with a small
frame. So I sympathize.

It's better than being over 270! I've only just started to notice how much
of a difference to my appearance and energy levels losing that much has
made.

My feeling here is that you should spend considerable time finding a
physician specializing in sports medicine who could help you with
exercise.

That's a good idea. My dietician has given me some advice in that
respect -- she started me out doing 10 minutes of walking up and down a
flight of stairs every day, then moved it up to 15. I pushed myself to do
20. That's helped build my thigh muscles but my upper body has been
somewhat neglected. She also had me walking and/or cycling for an hour a
day, at least 5 days per week.

i
223/177/180

Rowena
273 / 236 / 150

"Carol Frilegh" :
In article , diva ex machina
wrote:

Hello everyone,

I've been lurking for a while and have decided to formally introduce
myself.
I'm 29 and struggling to lose weight that I've piled on since my late
high
school years. I'm a vegetarian and live in Australia.

Hi Diva.
Welcome from Down Under.

Thanks!

What machine are you out of?

Erm...

Hope our posts don't get confused!

Oops! Well everyone can just call me Rowena.

--
Diva
*************
The Best Man for the Job is a Woman

"Beverly" :

"diva ex machina" wrote in message
...

snip

Hopefully as you lose weight some of the problems you're experiencing with
exercise will subside. The low impact exercise is an excellent choice.
Is
swimming an option for you? I've taken water aerobic classes before and
find them very easy on the joints.

I like to swim but am too embarassed to show up in a swimsuit in public.
\

As another poster suggested, have you checked your walking shoes? The
right shoe can make a tremendous difference on your feet.

Yep, I changed shoes, and my feet do feel better but I think I still need to
go easy on them for a while.

Hope to see you posting often.

Beverly

Thanks!

Rowena.
273 / 236 / 150

"Chris Braun" :

On Mon, 22 Sep 2003 15:12:49 +1000, "diva ex machina"
wrote:

You might want to check with an orthopedist. I once had plantar
fasciitis -- got it from two days at a trade show walking around on a
concrete floor in flimsy pumps. It makes your feet hurt really badly.
It takes time to heal, but there are exercises that can help.

Interesting. Was that some kind of muscle/ligament damage?

Meanwhile, maybe you can find some exercise that doesn't aggravate
your feet. Water aerobics should be fine for you. Or maybe something
like a stationary bike or an elliptical trainer. There is weight on
your feet with these, but no impact per se.

I have an exercise bike that allows me to vary the resistance, so I've been
using the 'fat burning' cycle on that one.

Hope you feel better soon!

By the way, I love your nom, "diva ex machina".

Chris

Thanks very much.

Rowena
273 / 236 / 150

"determined" :

Lift weights. Build muscle. Speed up metabolism.

Seriously! Cardio is great, cutting calories is great, but muscle is
where
your metabolism really is. Gain muscle, and you've created your own fat
burning machine. I lift 3 x per week, and I believe that lifting weights
has made a HUGE difference in my efforts. Cardio generally only burns
calories during exercise, but muscle burns all day long. Something like
35-50 calories per lb...

det

Good advice. Do you lift weights at a gym or at home? How long do you lift
for? If you don't mind me asking, how did you start out -- what exercises,
duration, etc.

Thanks,

Rowena.
273 / 236 / 150