Hi Everyone,

Roughly following Melissa's suggestions:

Let's do a Tuesday, Nov 4 through Wednesday, Nov 26 challenge.  This is a total of 23 days.

Here's my suggestions for points:

1 for 20 min of cardio, 2 for 40 min of cardio, 3 for 60 min of cardio.  I pasted Carol Joy's explanation of target heart rate (THR) below.   (For those who didn't know Carol Joy, she is a fitness trainer who organized challenges here and because of knowledge as a trainer could also give we posters advice on our workouts.  She mysteriously stopped posting in mid-August.) Each of us needs to be sensible and follow our doctor's instructions.  Even without health problems, any of us needs to gradually increase our aerobic level and duration.

1 point once or twice a week for a day off from cardio (particularly if someone does the 60 min once or more per week, then 2 days off from cardio probably makes good sense).

1 point for strength training; aim for at least a 20 to 25 min session; if we alternate upper and lower body workouts, then 4 or 5 of these a week is okay.  Obviously, if we do whole body strength training, we should do no more than 3 a week. 

1 point once a week for a weekly weigh-in and tracking (no details needed in the post, just simply that we did it).

Last month, Kathy began counting 90 minutes of leaf-raking as equivalent to 20 min of cardio.  I don't have any problems with us making trade-offs like that.  A trade-off like that makes our lives work, gives our workouts some variety, is certainly within the spirit of the challenge and the Alli program, and Kathy's approach on the points is quite conservative.

Time permitting, I'll tally the points once at the mid-point and at the end of the challenge.

I believe the only difference in the above and what we have been doing are the items with the bolded text.  I'm not planning on a challenge on this board in December. 

In my warm climate, the weather is now mild and beautiful so my husband and I took a nice walk today.  I hope everyone had a wonderful, healthy and enjoyable weekend!

Jane

Below is Carol Joy's explanation of target heart rate:

How do I calculate my THR zone?

We will use a variation based on the scientifcally proven method called "The Karvonen Formular"...the accurate method (unless your heart is smaller or larger than 'normal' or medications you take affect your HR), used by Fitness Professionals and endorsed by the American Council On Exercize (ACE). The formula is adjusted for ease of use and does NOT consider your Resting Heart rate as the longer method does; however it is used as a good predictor of how hard you are working.

The simplified method (not taking resting heart rate into consideration) is this:

 220 BPM (a newborn HR)
- __ YOUR age

=__ YOUR Predicted Maximal Heart Rate

NOW, since you know that number...

 ___ Your Maximal HR                                       ___ Your Maximal HR
x 70% Lower training zone                               x 80% Higher training zone

= Minimum Herat Rate for your training           = Maximum Number

You should be within this range for a safe and effective workout!

Using MYSELF as an example:

  220 Newborn                        169                   169
-   51 My age                          x 70%               x 80%
=169 My Maximal HR            =118 BPM         =135 BPM      (BPM= Beats Per Minute)

I should be between 118-135 beats per minute.

This sounds great.....my son and I rode our bikes several times today since it was such a nice day.....

lets each elect to get  healthier for november...

melissa

 sounds like a plan ladies..   i'm in!!

Kathy - Wishing you the best during these hard times that you're going through.  Hopefully, your soon-to-be-ex will cooperate and not make your divorce difficult or contentious.  I've been reading the "50s" board and plan to introduce myself so I'll "see" you over there.

Melissa - Thanks for the encouragement.  I have the normal up or down of a lb. or 2 and consider that normal.  Yesterday, I was up a total of 7.2 lbs. in a little more than a week.  My blood pressure was up somewhat and I had some signs of some fluid retention.  I took the diuretic for the first time in over a week and my weight decline 5.8 lbs. overnight.  Based on my improved blood pressure, a daily diuretic is over-medicating but no diuretic appears to be too little.  I'm going to take the diuretic every other day for a week or two and take the results to my general practioner; I'll see if she thinks that's a good plan. 

Sandy - Since you travel a lot for your work, your schedule is probably crazy plus you're probably dependent on restaurant meals so that probably makes it harder for you to lose.

Laura - Hope all is well with you!

Also posted this on the Oct. challenge ... I thought none of you saw this so I added here, too.

Jane

 Hi! Yes, count me in as well...its been a busy weekend here and I didnt get on line until now....

FYI - when I run/jog my heartrate goes up as high as like 168 ish -- which is always max for me (I am 47) - my old trainer told me to average 140 - 145 for target and slow down when it goes up over 150ish, which is how I consistently monitor it. I wear a monitor each time I run so I dont overdo it and am trying to keep it under 150, which is hard for me to do, but I am trying and it is getting better, as it used to go upwards of 175......  I am unfortuneatley very busty (italian thing!) so I was told that is why my heartrate goes so high - the extra weight up top like that puts added pressure on your chest....etc. -- But I am going to try harder this month to keep it more consisent, starting tonight with my after work run!

:)Laura

I'm in too, but in case you didn't see it in the old October stuff, I will repeat it.  I hurt my back.... think I overdid my ab workout.  So any way.. I will be not be exercising for a few days, but will jump back in as soon as I can.  Hopefully it will heal fast.

Sandy