Beginning to exercise again. I have a love hate relationship with exercise. Once I "get into it", you know, begin a routine, do it every day, and start to see results, then of course I love it. It's getting to that seeing results part that sucks. Last spring, I was down to my lowest weight in almost 10 years. I was at 177. Then I broke my damn foot. I know, excuses, excuses, blah blah blah. I keep thinking, "Where would I be if I hadn't broken my foot? Where would I be if I still broke my foot but kept my eating on track?" Ah, there is no easy answers, only today that I can move on and keep trying.
I have been a little nervous to start exercising again since I started taking phentermine just because I have heard that so many people have troubles with rapid pulse, etc. I have been feeling great since I took it. I wired up my heart rate monitor and hit the treadmill. I know, treadmills are sort of boring, but I have a special treadmill treat! I am not a huge tv fan, but there are a few shows I like. Most are cop shows I watch with my husband. My guilt pleasure, shhhhh, don't tell anyone, is Desperate Housewhores. I mean Desperate Housewives. HAHAHA! I love that show! Watching those gorgeous skinny women keeps me chugging along like you wouldn't believe! I have the first few seasons on DVD and I am into season 3 now. I NEVER let myself watch it on tv, never seen it once, and I can ONLY watch it on the treadmill.
Anyway, back to starting with phen again! I found that I had to be VERY careful or my heart rate went way too high. According to all the date I put into my heart rate monitor (height, weight, age, and a resting heart rate test) my absolute maximum heart rate should be 181 BPM (beats per minute). To lose weight, I should be exercising a minimum of 6 hours a week. My heart rate monitor works with three zones. Zone 1 is 109-126 BPM, Zone 2 is 127-144 BPM and Zone 3 is 145-163 BPM. I should spend a little more than half of my time in Zone 2, and the rest in Zone 1. Right now, to lose weight, I should avoid Zone 3. Normally, a nice brisk 4.0 MPH (miles per hour) on the treadmill keeps me right at the upper end of Zone 2. Now, with taking the phentermine, I need to stay under 3MPH to keep my heart rate there. Interesting, and concerns me a bit, but I kept it down. I was surprised because I really don't think my pulse had increased with taking the phen, but it's a common side effect that I am keeping a very close eye on! I HIGHLY recommend a heart rate monitor to anyone taking phentermine. Very useful tool to keep a close eye on your health.
So, I walked on my treadmill yesterday, and Conor (my middle son) and I did his paper route this morning. 40 minutes, 404 calories! WOOHOO! I know my heart rate was in Zone 3 for a lot of it because there are a couple big hills on our route. It feels good to be on track again. I am hoping that I will once again start going to the YMCA after Thanksgiving. I know when I get into the routine of going there every day, I succeed so much faster. Anyway, I decided I would start logging in all my HRM stats on a Facebook photo album, and anyone that wants to peek at them can see them here:
I just take a photo with my cell phone and upload it straight to Facebook when I am done exercising. Gives me a nice record of what I did! And keeps me accountable!
I do not want to be on the phentermine forever. I am only using it temporarily to get my eating back under control. I am trying to use this time to work again on portion control and getting back into my good exercise habits! My weight has gone up and down this week, but I really am not sure I lost anything. My friend and I are doing Wednesday weigh ins, so I will try to check in here then!
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