Diet and Exercise Questions

I was searching the links in the thread for the DV Fitness Club and I came across:

"There is a simple guide to determine if you are excercising hard enough. The first step is to find the upper limit of your heart rate. You can find this by taking your age and then subtracting it from 220. So for example, if you are 35 then the upper limit would be 185. Once we have this then we can use it to determine whether we are reaching an ideal level of 60% to 80% of the upper limit. Most trainers agree that the heart needs to reach a rate of 60% - 80% of the maximum for a sufficient cardiovascular heart rate."

What is 60-80% of 186? Sorry, but I truly suck at math and even basic subtraction is difficult for me.
Another thing, my resting pulse is usually in the 90's... walking through Walmart will get it to 120 easily and quickly.
I've always had a horribly fast pulse. I had to wear a heart monitor to school when I was a teen because of it and palpitations but nothing was discovered from it.
Should I take that into consideration when planning my more vigorous exercise routine?

I've been to nutritionists in the past. My diet is "hopeless". In 1996 and 1997 I was diagnosed with gallstones and then deuodenitis (sp). I have stomach troubles mostly gas related and almost daily "ulcer" discomfort/pain.
I live off of carbs, junk food and fast food because I also have a food phobia of sorts (I'm afraid my food has gone bad and don't trust what I buy after a few days- a week if it's a TV dinner).
Fruit and veggies don't agree with me at all. Will I likely build up a tolerance if I force it for awhile?
If I can't change my diet, can I still lose weight and tone eating mostly carbs?

Thanks for any helpful advice or suggestions.

You're fairly young. Aim for 145 for weight lose, 175 for cardio

Thanks for the reply :)
I weigh 128 at 5'5" but I'm aiming for around 105. I *know* that's unhealthily thin, but other issues make me want to take off the weight. But more than that, I want to tone but I don't know how to do the one without doing the other :lol:

Then aim for about 165, but don't worry about it too much. Just run.

You also might want to learn to lift light weights. Lifting creates muscles, muscles burn fat.

Many thanks.
I can't run though because of problems with Ehlers Danlos Disease, but I do love brisk walks :)

Did you see a physician before going to a nutritionist? If you have a good physician, he/she might be able to give you more advice on the best way to form a diet and exercise plan that takes your current physical status into consideration. If you physician referred you to a nutritionist, I'd recommend re-visiting the nutritionist with new information about what seemed to work and what didn't (if you haven't already) and work with them to form a new plan.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Zhaylin

I live off of carbs, junk food and fast food because I also have a food phobia of sorts (I'm afraid my food has gone bad and don't trust what I buy after a few days- a week if it's a TV dinner).
Fruit and veggies don't agree with me at all. Will I likely build up a tolerance if I force it for awhile?
If I can't change my diet, can I still lose weight and tone eating mostly carbs?

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Fresh foods are a great deal better for you as they don't have the additives and preservatives found in pre-packaged/pre-prepared foods. If you have a hard time keeping food for extended periods of time, perhaps you could go shopping every couple of days and just buy less. Buy what you need to get you through until the next time you go shopping. Canned food keeps for a very long time, and there are a lot of really good soups available that I highly recommend. A can of Progresso soup is enough for two meals (cutting down on the cost).

Also, keep in mind that the dates on the packages are usually "sell-by" or "best before" dates. Depending on what they are, the food/drinks keep for up to a week or so after the date (for perishable items), In that case, it would still be a matter of buying less and eating/drinking it sooner.

As far as the fast food and junk food, it's convenient, but you can make much healther alternatives if you cook/prepare them at home. A burger at a fast food restaurant can contain between 300-1000+ calories. For (ultimately) the same price or less, you can buy very lean ground beef (which you can cook ahead of time and then freeze), lettuce, pickles, whole wheat buns, etc. and make it yourself.

Depending on how fruits and vegetables are making you feel, you can take something to aid in digestion. Ask around and see what's worked for other people. Do you know what it is that bothers you? Is it the iron (spinach), fiber (most fruits), or gas-inducing vegetables (cauliflour)? If you can isolate what's causing the problems, you can work around them. I assume that your body would eventually become more accustomed to eating fresh foods, but I don't know for certain.

Thanks for the very thorough reply.
It's been years since I've seen a nutritionist and back then they were encouraging me to gain weight. I have over the years because my metabolism has slown down (no diet change), but now I want to get back to my previous weight.
Ehlers Danlos Disease affects my knees most of all. I hyper extend them. If I had worn my leg brace as a teen instead of hiding it in my locker to avoid being called "Robo-girl", my knees probably wouldn't bother me as much now-a-days. Bing of "normal" weight however means they hurt daily. When I weighed 105 pounds (being 20 pounds underweight), they didn't bother me often.

As for food, my situation is made all the worse because I don't have consistently running water in the RV. Everything I cook is on or in aluminum foil which I can then throw away. I've not tried cooking hamburger on that, but I will try. I do cook Cornish Hen and chicken livers on and in the stuff which I love eating. I then throw the foil away.
From what you've written, it seems I have themost problem with fiber. I always have trouble with gas but I can't connect it to anything I eat or don't eat- it's usually triggered by stress and from chewing gum. Dairy also doesn't agree with me all the time (I call myself lactose sensative).

I bought some slightly more healthy food yesterday when I went shopping- some Lean Gourmet TV dinners, some frozen veggies and more water. Now I just have to stick to them and try adding some fruit (I love bananas, berries and melons but they go bad before I eat them all).

Thanks again.

I have an exercise question.
I did a lot of stretches and some pilates earlier then moved on to some of the old karate I used to take as a teen... well one of our punishments anyhow lol
My instructor called it the boxing shuffle... a boxers shuffle with kempo punches with alternating hands with the elbow of the other swinging back hard and our knees forever bent properly. If we were really bad he'd make us do that for an easy 30 minutes.
I didn't even last 10 now. And I take back what I said about not working up a sweat easily!
I quickly remembered one of the problems I had back then when I ran into it again. I don't know if everyone has this problem or if it's related to Ehlers Danlos but whenever I throw a hard punch my elbow seems to almost dislocate- I feel a grinding and a snap.
If it's a common problem, what can I do about it?

Thanks.