Exercise, My Progression

Exercise, My Progression

Exercise was a critical component in my 110 pound weight loss.  I always exercised a little.  I was always physically active.  I entered my first diet contest with the strong belief I could win.  I mapped out a plan to get there and told myself for the 60 day contest I would go to the gym every single day, except Christmas.

This picture was taken about 10 days before the diet contest started. 

At the time this picture was taken I had already lost about 35 pounds. 

At the start of my weight loss journey, prior to entering weight loss contests I weighed 272 pounds.  At that weight, the only thing I could use at the gym was the exercise bike.  Even then I enjoyed the elliptical machine, but after 10 minutes my calves hurt too badly to stay on the machine.  Once I hit 250 I could stay on the elliptical for an hour.  For a long time, and very many pounds, I rotated between the stationary bike and the elliptical machine.  I would have only done the elliptical machine because I love it.  It is fun, like dancing.  “Why not just dance?” you might ask.  Because now, using the elliptical machine at the highest incline and resistance is building a lot of muscle in me.  I alternated between the elliptical and bike because a co-worker knew I was using the elliptical and she asked if I was still using the bike.  I said no.  She said when I used the bike you could see my leg muscles developing and the elliptical developed other muscles.  That’s why I alternate.  That being said, I am a firm believer the best exercise you can do is the one you will do.  If there is only one thing you will do, do that one thing, it’s better than nothing. 

Now I alternate between the treadmill, exercise bike, elliptical, rowing machine, the circuit machines, Zumba, cross fit, body works, swimming, yoga.  At home I use free weights, floor exercises and yard work.  I increase resistance and incline on the machines.  I use the treadmill on the highest incline, same with the elliptical.  I use the Precor elliptical on the highest resistance.  I use the Life Fitness elliptical right about the middle, it’s a much harder machine.  If you hurt the next day, lower resistance.  If you have burning or sore muscles, do something that uses different muscles. 

I have considered using trainers.  I have talked to a lot of trainers.  I am sure there are good trainers, but I have found trainers and their programs are like reading diet books, which I have been doing for 40 years.  They disagree.  They can’t all be right.  I am telling you what worked for me.  I urge you to take what I tell you and find what works for you.  The results of your effort are quantifiable, measurable.  A scale and a tape measure tell you if what you are doing is working.  If what you are doing is not working, try something different.

As I write this, I am currently getting to the gym at least 4 days a week an hour a day.  I frequently get in more.  I use free weights at home 3-4 days a week and do abdominal floor exercises at least 4 days a week.  As my weight has gotten lower, but is still not as low as I want it, I view it as the more the better.  I do not think this schedule is over doing it.  I have not “found” the time to do more than this, but I don’t think it would be a bad thing.  I was talking to a doctor last week to who told me she commits to a nine hour weekly work-out schedule, and then she looks for more.  She has no weight problem, nor did anything in her physical appearance make her look like she worked out that much.   

I did not make it to the gym all 60 days of that first diet contest.  I ended up getting a bad cold.  I kept working out on that cold.  The cold got much worse.  You’re not supposed to work out on a bad cold.  Your body needs the same immune system to heal the cold as it uses to repair your muscles.   I bet I lost a solid 2 weeks at the gym.  I still won the contest.  Here I am at the end of that contest:

This is how I look today.

Your weight problem does not go away because you lose weight.  It’s like having braces, your teeth always want to go back to the old position.  My body has a tendency to hold on to weight.  Exercise has so many benefits.  It gives me energy.  It helps keep the weight off.  It helps me sleep better.  It shapes my body.  It makes me strong.  Here is a powerful, attention grabbing benefit, Barbara and I weigh about the same and are the same height.  I am a size 8.  She is a size 16.  If that doesn’t speak to you I don’t what will.  Exercise for weight loss is not a single incident.  It has to be incorporated into your life as something you do.

Fat Genes

Do I think obesity is genetic? Possibly.  Do I think there are people who are predisposed to being fat?  Yes.  Do I think that if you’re fat you can’t lose weight? No. 

Meet my great-great grandmother, Ella Buck Eggert Jacquemann, shown here with her son, Larry. Most people have 16 great-great grandparents. I have pictures of 14 of my great-great grandparents. She’s the only one who was fat

Ella didn’t like being fat. She disliked it so much she went to a doctor. He gave her a weight loss drug, and it worked. She was so happy the drug worked she increased the dosage. It killed her in 1925 at age 45. She was greatly missed by her only son and granddaughter. Her granddaughter, my grandmother, told me stories about her.

Her son, Larry, was also fat. He got so fat he had trouble walking. People loved Larry Eggert. He died the year before I was born, but I met many people who loved that man. He was kind, generous and fat.

Larry’s only child, my grandmother, Audrey, was also fat. She didn't like being fat.

She was also kind, loving, generous and devoted to her family.

I was thin when I entered First Grade

I was the fattest kid in the Second Grade

By the time I was 8 years old my mother and grandmother were aggressively dieting me, trying to fix the problem, it didn’t work.  I got bigger every year.  This is my Fourth Grade picture.

            It didn’t work for them. It didn’t work me. My grandmother and parents were well intentioned. I remember my grandmother telling me repeatedly how much she hated being fat. She prayed not to be fat. She prayed my mother wouldn't be fat. (Both my parents were fat. I don't have a good picture to show you, plus they are both still living, might not like it.) Grandma prayed I wouldn't be fat, etc.,  My grandmother never saw a thin day in her life, and that is sad. 

My pattern of dieting has never stopped.  I do not know that it ever will.

Then I had a daughter. I never prayed my daughter wouldn't be fat because whatever she was I would love her. I did vow to never diet her, and I didn’t.

She always ate whatever she wanted. I’m not advocating that method. It was reactionary anti-dieting. I am sure it led to dental issues, but she’s not fat.  She is also a model.  Follow her on Instragam Lily Lindquist.

 I don’t know if fat people carry a gene that makes them unable to process certain foods. I don’t know if fat people have a gene that made them carry more weight when they moved from physical labor to brain labor. I do think aggressive dieting can make you so hungry you compensate for it in a meal that is too large. The Bible says the iniquities of the father carry over to 3 and 4 generations. Is that how long it takes to learn? I don’t know.

I am my own work in progress and my own experiment. I know it can be learned.  You may have fat genes, but you can overcome them.

I Am A Viking

I was walking on stage at karaoke when Johnny Caruso stretched out his hand and offered to help me up.  “I got this,” I told him and walked on stage.  “But Marian, I wanted to help you.”  Note to self, must remember, men like to be helpful.  My parents raised me to be self-reliant.  I cannot tell you the number of times my father drilled into me, “You are Viking.”  Vikings are self-reliant.  Vikings travel the world taking what they need.  Vikings establish new territory.  No one conquers Vikings, and during the world wars they remained neutral.  Nothing is better than being Viking. 

I have eight great-grandparents, only two were Viking.  Those two hold the hallowed position of being my father’s father’s parents which endowed me with the awesome Swedish last name.  In the United States, a Swedish last name on a female conjures up the image of a statuesque, beautiful, blonde, blue-eyed, liberal, sexy woman. 

Viking self-reliance extends to my core.  I saw a friend at karaoke and asked where her husband was.  He hurt his back moving the mattress.  I acknowledged mattresses are heavy.  I told her I am working on a project involving rock, which is also heavy.  I was thinking about buying a wheel barrow but it is a single project.  Once it’s done I would have to store the wheel barrow.  It’s not worth it.  She asked how I was moving the rock.  Hauling it by the bagful.  She thought I was nuts.  No sweat, I am Viking.  When I buy the rocks at Home Depot they ask if I want help getting them in my car.  Absolutely not, I had no trouble getting it on the cart, I can load it in the car.  What do they think I am, a wuss?

When my daughter was little she wanted Christmas lights on the outside of the house.  That is filthy work.  I did not hesitate getting up on that ladder and stringing the lights amidst the dust.  Heck, I painted the entire house by myself.  I am a Viking.

Even a Viking has limits.  When Lily was little I purchased a swing set from Toys R Us which was no more than a quarter mile from my home.  I paid $40 to have it delivered.  My mother asked why.  Because the box weighed 200 pounds.  I cannot lift or move a 200 pound box.  It was being delivered to the back yard.  Then I was paying a man to assemble it.  She shook her head in disbelief. 

A company was going out of business and offered my daughter a 6’ framed mirror.  She wanted it.  Would I pick it up?  I met her at the business.  She shows me the mirror and tells me it is heavy.  I lift it, its okay.  I had already put the car seats down.  There is a man working on the asphalt.  “Ma’am, can I help you.”  He asks.  “I’ve got this.”  I tell him, “But thank you, I appreciate it.”  We load it in the car.  We go back upstairs to peruse the rest of the stuff the company does not want.  The owner looks at me and asks, “How did you do that?”  “Do what?”  “Lift that mirror.”  “I’m very strong.”  I tell her.  “I am a Viking,” I tell myself.  “That’s unbelievable.”  She says incredulously.  “I work out.”  I add. 

Being Viking extends beyond housework.  When I was pregnant I was told if I wanted an epidural I must preregister.  Two weeks before Lily was born my doctor asked if I preregistered.  No.  “Why not?”  He asked, “Do you hate yourself?”  I registered.  I do not hate myself.

A lot of people ask what kind of weight loss surgery I had.  None.  This is often followed with, “You/She did it the right way, diet and exercise.”  I lost 110 pounds with diet and exercise, but you do whatever you need for yourself.  It is your body.  I am not here to tell you there is a right way or a wrong way.  If you want to lose weight I encourage you to get yourself there however you want.  You do not always have to be a Viking.

Diet Soda and Belly Fat

If you are a female who was old enough to drink soda in the 1970s I am sure you were introduced to Tab, drink of the gods.  Yes, long before Diet Coke there was a strange tasting diet cola named Tab, all females drank it.  Tab does not taste like Diet Coke and is probably an acquired taste.

In 1980 I went on a school trip to Mexico City.  The first thing all us girls wanted when we got home was Tab.  We craved it.  We talked about it when we were together.  Wish we could have a Tab.  Alas, there was no Tab in Mexico City.  There was also no drinking age, so we subsisted on Sangria, cerveza and tequila, much to the chagrin of our chaperones, who succeeded in getting us banned from the hotel bar.  But money talks, we bought alcohol directly from the back of the bar.  

Fast forward to 2015, I am still keeping tabs on my weight, and I occasionally enjoy a Tab.  My refrigerator is stocked with them.  When I am invited to a BYOB event put on by one of my former high school classmates, I bring a 12 pack of Tab.  Most do not know Coca Cola still makes it.  Tab excites them, takes ‘em back. 

You can only imagine my mortification when I read an article last week that said a study showed taking out all other factors, even one diet soda contributes to weight gain and dangerous belly fat.  NOOOOOO!!!!

I had to put that to the test.  On Saturday all I ingested was coffee, water and Tab.  I did not eat anything to eliminate all outside factors.  Yes, that’s the kind of crazy I am.  Prior to beginning this experiment I weighed myself and measured my waist.  Throughout the course of the day I drank 3 Tabs, which is 2 more than I would drink on any given day. 

The next morning I again weighed myself and measured my waist.  My weight was down 5 lbs. which I expect to see back as soon as I eat.  My waist was down an inch.    

From this very small sample I conclude occasionally partaking in a diet soda will not increase my belly fat.  I think people who drink diet soda tend to have larger bellies than people who do not that’s why they are drinking diet soda, they want their belly to be smaller.