Health/Weight loss resorts

[TooFrugal]

5. Here's the lecture for the first night:

I will have to watch the whole Gardner video when I have more time. I don't do well at all on low carb. Maybe because I am not insulin resistant.

I have been trying different diets and tried the low carb again a couple of weeks ago after people on this forum were raving about it. After about 24 hours I was getting headaches, my skin started turning red and I felt terrible. My skin was so bad it started scaring my husband, who noticed ithe redness even before I did.

I went back to low calories and my skin went back to normal.

 

[Martha]

Martha, I have seen you post lines like that on at least two occasions.

has an early retirement and all that free time been a difficult transition ? That's my great concern going foreward.

Let's see. How many times can I write this post and erase it? Not enough. No, the free time is not a problem. The funny thing with ER is that life goes on and bad things that can happen when you are working can also happen when you ER.

 

[Martha]

What about something like Nutrisystems?

I tried that food. If I had to eat it I certainly would lose weight.
Yuck.

 

[WhoDaresWins]

I like the idea of going to some place you might want to visit and using the local gym. Seafood is great for dieting (if it's not deep fried) so a beach location would be nice. Also a location where you could do lots of walking, hiking, cycling, swimming, whatever you enjoy.

Years ago my husband and I rented a condo for a week on the upper West Side of Manhattan (near Lincoln Center). The condo came with a membership to the nearby Reebok Club. We enjoyed working out every day and also did lots of walking around the city. Since we had a kitchen, we ate out only once a day. Unfortunately, I love deli food and there were many nearby.

Or an all-inclusive resort with lots of sports activities? Usually the buffets offer low-cal options to pick and choose from. Would be nice to also intersperse some off-resort sight seeing.

 

[5j404]

Martha I understand what you are talking about and have often thought a jumpstart would be great. Here is one place that has programs and isn't too costly . I ve never used it but my sister has been there for yoga training sesssions Kripalu - Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health - Get inspired. Explore fresh perspectives emotional wellness, physical health, and spiritual sustenance.

 

[Martha]

Thanks 5j, I did like that they have pictures of people chunkier than I am on their site. That's always a relief

 

[Nords]

I tried that food. If I had to eat it I certainly would lose weight.
Yuck.

There. Fixed it for you.

Hey, it's called "Tastes worse, more filling"...

Perhaps if the only food we were going to eat wasn't so tasty then we'd eat less of it.

Personally my weight-control challenge has never been eating too much-- it's been not working out enough.

 

[TromboneAl]

I also like the roll-your-own idea.

Come up with a two-week exercise program based on your research on the Internets. Write up a detailed schedule with exercise, hiking, sightseeing, etc. Travel to some interesting city, say Las Vegas, Sedona, or Chamberlain, SD, and stay in a POSH hotel. Eat the right stuff, and pamper yourself.

Spend as much as you can, and you'll probably still save money compared with one of those resorts.

 

[Orchidflower]

Atkins works wonders for me...only problem is I get so constipated with no fiber. Nobody else seems to have that problem with Atkins that I talked to, and I have tried all the suggestions like cooking in alot of butter, oil and so forth. I love protein, love Atkins cause I did lose weight...just that darned side effect (poop!) (Or no poop...).

Only thing that ever works for me is cutting my portions (no, OF, you are not a truck driver or a construction worker so quit eating so much) and working out...just the "starting" is a booger.

 

[audreyh1]

Come on down here Martha. See if you can rent a site in Retama Village - they might not all be gone, or I'm sure available for Nov and Dec at least. We have a pretty decent gym, and lots of space for walking and biking.

Audrey

 

[TromboneAl]

Atkins works wonders for me...only problem is I get so constipated with no fiber. Nobody else seems to have that problem with Atkins that I talked to, and I have tried all the suggestions like cooking in alot of butter, oil and so forth.

That's actually a very common problem. It can usually be solved by 1-2 tsp of psyllium fiber per day. That's the active ingredient in Metamucil, but Metamucil also has a lot of sweeteners (either sugar or other stuff).

After that, it got progressively more unpleasant, and after a month I was ready to kill for a carb.

There are some very clever alternatives to carbs. For example, fried pork rinds dipped in sour cream are just as good as potato chips or Fritos.

This stuff:

Carbalose.com: Home of Carbquik bake Mix and Other Low-Carb Products

can be used to make brownies (use erythritol instead of Splenda).

These chocolate bars are great, although expensive.

You can make your own ice cream or whipped cream using liquid sucralose.

And a big rib-eye steak sauteed in butter can go a long way towards compensating for cravings.

 

[Retire2013]

I've been to Miraval in Tucson, Arizona, for one week at a time for several years in a row. It is the perfect place each time I visited. Delicious 5-star meals with organic healthful ingre dients, world-class exercise classes for all levels of fitness, sunshine, nice dry climate if you go any time except middle of summer. There are also stress management, meditation, classes, hikes in the Sonoran desert (for all fitness levels, etc.). The staff is knowledgeable, wonderful, and there is NO tipping allowed. All one inclusive price. Truly a lovely experience.

 

[REWahoo]

I've been to Miraval in Tucson, Arizona, for one week at a time for several years in a row. It is the perfect place each time I visited. Delicious 5-star meals with organic healthful ingredients...

I hear the "all you can eat" midnight buffet is not to be missed.

 

[Martha]

I also like the roll-your-own idea.

Come up with a two-week exercise program based on your research on the Internets. Write up a detailed schedule with exercise, hiking, sightseeing, etc. Travel to some interesting city, say Las Vegas, Sedona, or Chamberlain, SD, and stay in a POSH hotel. Eat the right stuff, and pamper yourself.

Spend as much as you can, and you'll probably still save money compared with one of those resorts.

Yeah. I have changed my mind on the whole idea. It was nice in the abstract but reality does not match fantasy. So the next step is to try to figure out another clever way to put myself on a different track and enjoy myself in the process.

 

[TromboneAl]

Not an easy task. Here are some ideas:

how to motivate yourself to change lifestyle - Google Search

 

[W2R]

I think that if I were motivated to make a change, like you are, I'd sign up for a month with a trainer at the gym, preferably a burly, handsome one (why not go for the good scenery? ) who is pretty demanding and won't let his clients get away with anything.

If you don't have a good gym where you live, then vacation for a month somewhere that does have a gym.

 

[TromboneAl]

If the idea is exercising for the health benefits, that's good. But I've lost faith in the idea that exercise helps one lose weight.

Does Exercise Really Make Us Thinner? -- New York Magazine

 

[GregLee]

I'm managing my weight and exercise with moderate success, but I doubt that any of the approaches mentioned in this thread so far would work for me. If I have to think about what I eat or whether or how to exercise, I'll eventually start making the wrong decisions. So for eating, I just have prohibitions: no sweets, no bread, nothing to eat or drink before 10am. For exercise, I do exactly the same routine every morning: run the same course for 30 minutes, do the same calisthenics in the same order for about 30 minutes -- no exceptions. I don't have to think whether to do it or think about it as I'm doing it.

 

[haha]

Losing weight, really losing it, and keeping it off is one of life's biggest challenges, short of life and death challenges.

One possibility is to kind of give up- accept being overweight, but don't go all the way to obese. Much research shows that the advantages of being skinny are over-hyped, just one more way to mess up our heads.

I don't get the idea that Martha at this point in her life is keen on a lot of difficulty. I am thin, and have always been thin- but my health is no better than a lot of people my age who are definitely not thin.

For many people, perhaps 1/2 to 2/3 or us, low carb works both weight wise and emotionally. But you have to be kind of self directed, even though it is not possible to conclusively prove that long term extreme low carb (or high protein, high fat) diets are not deleterious. Almost every day, ads, doctors, etc. will be on tv equating dietary fat with ill health. And you will not know for certain that they are wrong.

You also have to be the kind of person who is ok with pork rinds unaccompanied by beer. And, unless you live in the south, you have to be OK with going into bad neighborhoods to score your pork rinds.

Ha

 

[Sarah in SC]

True about the pork rinds, although I can testify that in the South, they are far easier to score, and in upscale 'hoods as well. Let me know if you need me to send you some for Christmas, Ha.

 

[REWahoo]

Hey, chicharrons are available in any grocery in the north as well - northern Mexico, that is...

 

[TromboneAl]

Almost every day, ads, doctors, etc. will be on tv equating dietary fat with ill health. And you will not know for certain that they are wrong.

That is so true. Recently, when I asked a grocery clerk where the pork rinds were, she took me to the aisle, and then smiled, tapped me with the back of her hand, and said "Are those things good for you?" I said "They're the healthiest thing on this entire aisle."

I view advice to avoid saturated fat the same way I view advice to hire a financial planner, time the market, buy a big house as an investment, or plan for needing 70% of your pre-retirement income when you retire.

 

[Orchidflower]

Pork rinds dipped in sour cream: Do you put anything to taste in the sour cream? Otherwise, yuk! Anything that really turned out great you put in the sour cream I should try? I'm game for this treat.


(Finally got off my duff and started in lifting weights again and working out with my old ab roller...now it starts I hope.)

 

[Sarah in SC]

I mix cumin with sour cream when I'm flavoring it as a dip, and sometimes thin it with yogurt.

 

[TromboneAl]

Pork rinds dipped in sour cream: Do you put anything to taste in the sour cream? Otherwise, yuk!

No, nothing else. Trust me and verify it yourself -- it tastes great! The chicharones are usually a little too salty, and the sour cream balances this well.