Battle of the Bulges

Thank you all for the responses given to my question about activity points, etc. I’m a bit of a ‘googler’ when it comes to these things so I found an answer that made sense to me AND it was on the Weight Watcher’s website.

First, Steph was right. I think for any of us that have gotten our butts in gear, a big KUDOS to you (and me too) because in addition to eating right, exercising is right up there with getting us on the path to the smaller butts that we know we all want. And it can be DAMN hard to get our asses off the couch and get movin’ so let’s not discount what it takes to do it!

Second, I also think we need to be sure we are eating enough for our bodies to survive and actually BURN calories. Sometimes that involves straying a bit from the formula and figuring out what is right for us. After all, we are uniquely made right? For example, there are some of you that are near your goal weights and have decreased your caloric intake drastically because of your weight loss and then presto, chango, you stopped losing weight. And then when you increase your caloric intake a bit (by way of Points), the weight starts coming off again. Why is that? I’ve read on someone else’s blog that she figured out the calories she was eating came out to about 900+ calories a day… She stayed within her points and was doing what the program said she should do, but the weight refused to come off. Little changed by way of exercise and foods she was eating but still, the scale was stubborn. She figured out that she was eating way too little for her body and when she increased her food intake, she started losing again. When I see a grown woman eating less than 1000 calories each day AND exercising, I have to ask the question, WHO is that healthy for? You have to know I ask these questions from the perspective of someone who has struggled with eating issues, both over and under eating.

Third, I don’t think that activity intensity needs to be subjective or a guessing game. WeightWatchers along with many other health websites gives us a formula to use to figure out our activity intensity. I read on this site the three different tests you can use to measure activity intensity. Basically, you can do one of three things: 1. the talk test 2. determine if heart rate is in the target zone 3. perceived exertion. Interesting and helpful, I thought.

I was thinking today that what may be moderate intensity for one, may be high intensity for another. For me at 182 pounds, it takes a lot less effort for my heart rate to get within the maximum level than it does when I am 40 pounds less. I don’t agree that most activities are not high intensity. I think that it needs to be taken into account who is doing them. I may be able to walk up a flight of stairs without getting winded (and btw, I can’t right now) but my grandma who weighs over 200 lbs may not be able to speak when she reaches the top. And I’m sure if I took her heart rate, she would be near if not over 70% of her maximum heart rate.

After all that, the other thing I was poking around on the internet looking for an answer is “when I earn AP, do I have to use them all?”. Again, I found many subjective responses, which if you haven’t noticed, I prefer a more black/white answer. I LIKE FORMULAS! Some said, eat them if you want. I had a leader that said you MUST eat them ALL. I’ve read that you eat them if you need them. How do you know if you need them? Is your stomach growling? Are you ready to faint from exhaustion and lack of food? Can some of you share what you do with your AP? What works for you guys?

Ok, so I found my answer on the WW website…

Here is the link if you are interested in the full article:
The Article

Below is the estimated formula for measuring your maximum heart rate:
220 minus your age in years.

So for me, that would be 220 - 29 = 191 MHR

Now the level of intensity is as follows:
40-54% of MHR for me that means 76.4 to 103.0 - Low intensity
55-69% of MHR for me that means 105.0 to 131.8 - Moderate intensity
> or = 70% of MHR for me that means 133.7 and over - High intensity

I got a comment about high intensity should be something that makes me breathe so hard I can’t talk but I’m never like that on the elliptical. I am breathing harder than normal and am tired but am never so out of breath that I can’t speak. I guess that’s what the site means about “perceived exertion”. The thing is my heart rate was over 150 then ENTIRE time.. and at many points was in the 160’s. To be safe, last night I calculated my activity points at moderate activity so that I didn’t overestimate but now it looks like I should have used the high intensity measure. What do you guys do?

Ok, I know I’m a bit of a sicko and could have come up with a less provoking title..but.. naaaaaaah.

So, I went to the gym tonight as planned and thought I would do cardio for a half hour and then strength train on the nautilus equipment. I don’t know what came over me but when I got on the elliptical and manually entered in how long I wanted to be on it.. I hit the little up arrows and when I saw my normal “30″ I kept going.. 35… up, up.. 40.. 45. I have to admit when I saw that number I hesitated a little. But I then I said to myself, I did 35 the other day, why can’t I do 45? And THEN I continued upping it until I got to 60 freakin’ minutes! I pretty much negative talked myself thru the whole session. Instead of saying I could do it, I said “I think I can’t, I think I can’t”. Remind me never to quit my job and become a motivational anything. 30 minutes in I said to myself, ’self, you’ve gotta be freakin’ kidding. You’ve got 30 minutes MORE of this AND you’re staring at stupid sports center on tv because your blind ass didn’t notice ESPN was on the tv in front of my elliptical BEFORE you started.’ I hate that. I don’t know how or why but I kept going. And I kept looking over at the other tv screens while I listened to the tv on my mp3. The people next to me kept thinking I was looking at them. I know this because I kept getting funny looks from them out of the corner of my eye. Anyhoo… The last 15 I just about died but then the now so tiny Ricky Lake was on talking about her lifelong struggle with weight and OMG, maybe I haven’t seen her in a while but she looks FANTASTIC. She started out as a size 24 (well who starts there?) and now after diet and exercise is a size 2 and weighs 120 something.. The story was interesting and inspiring at the very least. I mean, I have about 40 something pounds to lose before hit my goal but that’s not impossible and some people would KILL to have only that much to lose. Guess in a weird way, even though it’s a struggle, it’s a blessing. Anyway, my point in mentioning that is good ol’ Ricky was a good ol’ distraction and while watching/listening to her story, I was able to finish up and barely notice

My question is… how do I count my activity points. My heart rate was above 150 the entire time. Is that high activity or moderate activity? HELP.