traildoggie
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Post by traildoggie on Mar 3, 2017 16:31:25 GMT -5
caffe latte my bike computer tracks mileage, time, speed. I have a wrist watch to time things also. on our treadmill I need to grasp the bar in front with both hands to get a heart rate reading even wearing the strap. it was much easier to glance at a wrist watch. the chest strap is comfortable, I don't know I'm wearing it. I have probably 5 or 6 but they are OLD. and there are compatibility issues. our spin bike takes about 10 minutes before it will register anything from the chest strap, and then it's as if it gets a number and "keeps" it regardless of whether I go faster or slower so I have to keep pushing HR to get the reading re done. I should probably get a newer chest strap but just haven't done it.
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cafelatte
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Post by cafelatte on Mar 6, 2017 13:08:00 GMT -5
Is it just the two of us these days? Where is everyone else? I still haven't bought the monitor as I just can't seem to make a decision which one to get. I think I will have to look at some in person rather than online. DS has the apple watch and it measures heart rate too, but I don't need to spend $300. He bought it last year with his fantasy football winnings (after 3 years of coming in second  ) and really likes it since it makes him look at his phone less too. I'm still doing well with my WW-like apps. I am tracking diligently and still mindful of what I am eating. Even though I am on maintenance I register at least a couple of oz lost each week. I'm walking regularly still on the treadmill too. I am mixing it up with the random program since it's the best one the incline will work on automatically.
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traildoggie
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Post by traildoggie on Mar 6, 2017 17:16:32 GMT -5
Hi café latte... I guess we're walking this thread by ourselves. I'm no expert on monitors currently available. I have no interest in calorie burn or syncing the monitor with anything else, so I'm not real motivated to spend money to upgrade anything. I record the time and intensity on the WW site, and write it on a paper calendar. looking at the paper calendar with month after month filling up is a much bigger motivator than anything else. the tm, elliptical and spin bike give me a calorie burn but it's not always reality based so I don't use the data anyway. I would look at things in person if you can. take apple watches... expensive and big, I wouldn't want one. I don't care about a lot of the functions people seem to want lately. cousin and wife have fit bits they spent $200 each for, but it doesn't help them exercise. I mainly want time and distance. I wouldn't mind heart rate but it's not worth $300 to me. hope you find something that works for you. we had a trip to LA for a wedding last week. off program for a bit. not exactly dropping pounds quickly. I'm down about 4 from December.
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cafelatte
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Post by cafelatte on Mar 13, 2017 13:39:24 GMT -5
Just popping in to say hello and bring the thread up.
Val, great job on registering a loss since Dec. I know how hard it is for you to see the scale budge. I agree that travel makes it hard to stay on the program. Hope you had a good time at the wedding.
Not much happening this week, except it's cold and I don't feel like being out in it. There are some flurries out too, and we may end up with up to 2" of snow, but I'll take that over what the NE is supposed to get any day. I can't wait for the spring weather to return but all I really want is for summer to be here!
Hope everyone is doing well.
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traildoggie
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Post by traildoggie on Mar 14, 2017 10:36:56 GMT -5
I have been coming in at 30 points plus or minus 2 every day but I don't lose on that without a lot of exercise. so am holding steady. the trip was pretty awful, I am not a fan of southern California for anything so it was only to support SIL. DH and I aren't big partiers so although it was good to see family, it was way too much money to throw away on a trip we didn't like much. whatever. done! last time we will do that. everyone is now married finally.
my birthday is coming up soon and I asked DH to find me some sort of monitor that isn't overly expensive or too hard to use. I'd be happy with a replacement polar wrist watch if it is still accurate with existing chest straps . will see what he comes up with. it would be interesting to see what my heart rate is while road or mountain biking too. our weather has been totally miserable... cold and rainy day after day no, not snow, but tedious. no outdoor activity for a while.
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cafelatte
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Post by cafelatte on Mar 14, 2017 14:15:38 GMT -5
I know what you mean about such trips. It seems like weddings and funerals are what bring families together when nobody lives close. I'd rather it be a wedding than a funeral though.
I still haven't looked for a monitor in person. Let me know what your DH ends up getting you.
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Post by traildoggie on Mar 18, 2017 11:48:48 GMT -5
cycling isn't all the same we have a spin bike for indoor work, and then road bikes and mountain bikes. road biking is ( for me) longer mileage. speed and hills or a head wind make it more difficult. a mountain bike can be more difficult with hills and rough terrain but usually mileage is much less than road biking. a spin bike can be hard too. I would like to get a decent HRM to see how hard I'm actually working. DH is getting me something for my birthday, so I will be surprised and hope whatever it is ... works! my birthday is the end of this month so I don't have to wait long. I'll report back on how it works.
we always go at it pretty hard. we did a 2 hr mt bike yesterday that was 6-7 miles. some of the hills are very tough going up, but then it balances out by being almost no effort to go back down. on a road bike we would go closer to 25 miles in 2 hours. I think the overall energy output is similar.
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cafelatte
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Post by cafelatte on Mar 28, 2017 12:36:19 GMT -5
Hope everyone is well. Not sure who is left reading it, but anyone is welcome to join. We've been having some great weather - hit 70's on Sat.  I've been trying to be out as much as I can since I know there will be another cold spell at some point come through. We've been putting out our patio furniture and deciding what more we may want to plant. DH handles all the work, I just help decide.  I'm still doing well with tracking and am following the maintenance plan. I am back at the lowest of my goal range, so I am trying not to fluctuate up. I'm not having much luck at finding a simple heart rate monitor in person. Seems like store only like to stock Fitbits or more sophisticated monitors. I might just have to get one from Amazon or buy a Fitbit after all. I look one more time before I decide.
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traildoggie
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Post by traildoggie on Mar 29, 2017 11:33:31 GMT -5
Hi there caffelatte. I still check the thread regularly but we are on our own here. my birthday is tomorrow and I suspect DH got me a new Polar watch to go with existing chest straps. I thought he might get me something more elaborate but I don't think he did. I am not into logging and syncing everything or recording calorie burn so a lot of the monitors are wasted money. I record on a calendar and on the WW site for activity. it's kind of 'one size fits all" and it doesn't! I do a lot of weight plus cardio workouts often followed by an abdominal workout and nothing really fits from the activity list. I call it "circuit" and put in total time and let it go at that. We did a couple hours of loading and unloading a couple cords of wood, and although it was a lot of work, again no category fit very well.
ETA people I know with fitbits don't pay attention to the info after a short time. it doesn't seem to motivate them to walk more or do more. they just wear it like a wristwatch and don't pay attention. maybe my family is a bunch of lazy people!
I'm still tracking and staying close to 30 points plus/minus a few points but not losing. I never use extra points, just record when I go over. we've had a very rainy several months so less endurance activity which helps me lose. it has to stop raining someday! but not today.... it's raining. really rainiest in 40 years right now and not stopping any time soon. this is not downpours but overcast, showery, and wet surfaces. I need a break from it! we have a couple less wet days coming up end of this week.
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cafelatte
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Post by cafelatte on Mar 30, 2017 13:37:55 GMT -5
Happy Birthday Val. You share one with my DH. Have a great day!!! 
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Post by traildoggie on Mar 31, 2017 11:00:41 GMT -5
thank you! Happy birthday to your husband too. yes, it was a nice day. we went mt biking at the local tree farm. 2 hrs 10 min, 7 or so miles. the hills I thought were tough to begin with are a piece of cake now. really, rip right up them. big improvement in my biking skills and endurance. not bad for 69 yo. I am a respectable mt biker. not someone who will ride down stairs and railings or other fancy tricks, but I can ride moderate terrain and crank up some significant hills. my "new" bike is part of the reason. had it for a year and a half or so and my skill level jumped up after a few weeks on it. shifts so nicely, hydraulic assist brakes. Love it!
as I thought, DH got me a polar watch/ HRM. I wore it yesterday and it works fine. I haven't tried the watch with my older chest straps. I wouldn't wear a chest strap all the time, but if you wear it while you work out and then take it off, it's fine. like I said earlier, I'm not interested in monitoring 24/7. this is a way cheaper option than one of the more fancy monitors that gives calorie burn, and syncs the data monitors your sleep and on and on. I don't care.
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cafelatte
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Post by cafelatte on Apr 8, 2017 16:09:46 GMT -5
Hope the polar is working well for you. I've dropped the ball on one for now - I'm consistently using my phone for distance and I don't know that I really need the heart rate part for now.
It's been so nice out today - around 65F, so we will be grilling shrimp tonight. It's supposed to be 70's tomorrow and no lower than 63 in the next 10 days so it looks like Easter should be nice.
I'm still doing well with tracking. I tend to eat most of my WPs now, but I use them over the course of the weekend when we have some wine and maybe a dessert. It seems to be working as I am maintaining.
Have to run and start prepping dinner. I want to eat before 6pm. Hope you have a nice weekend.
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traildoggie
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Post by traildoggie on Apr 9, 2017 10:53:47 GMT -5
the Polar set up is just "OK" with my spin bike computer. the spin bike occasionally picks up my heart rate. uses that to calculate calorie burn. it only comes on sporadically and then sticks at whatever that number is, and I thought the chest strap would transmit the number consistently. it shows on the wrist watch, but not on the bike computer. so I don't know where the problem lies. not a big enough deal to replace but disappointing. I've used the chest strap/wrist monitor for a road ride and a mt bike. seemed accurate although it is really easy to bump the button and put it back on clock mode. it is not easy to reach over and fiddle with the button while riding! what I found was even riding 20 mph, really cranking on the road bike, the most my heart rate went to was 127 and mostly it was around 115 riding at safe legal speeds on a fairly level trail.. . I thought I was working harder than that, but compared to some exercises, cycling is pretty much legs only. I do it a lot but I guess I've adapted and conditioned and it's not hard enough! hills on the mountain bike ...more like interval work... it went higher, mid 140's which is what I want, but I had trouble bumping the button and going back to clock mode. so a semi success on the monitor. it is the lowest level one they make and is all one button. I think it was $40 so not hundreds. I'm not sure I'd buy it again but I also didn't look at other models.
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cafelatte
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Post by cafelatte on Apr 11, 2017 9:07:44 GMT -5
I've heard that monitors should only be used as a guideline, and none are perfect, regardless of price. You can always return it if it isn't up to what you were expecting. I grilled shrimp on Saturday and I believe I have developed an allergy to it. On Sunday morning, the area around my eyes were all dry and red - racooninsh. My tongue was kind of enlarged, so I took some benedryl and it helped. It happened to me about a month ago as well, but I started using a new eye cream around that time and thought it was that. I looked back in my tracker and realized I ate shrimp around that time too and it might not have been the cream  I didn't have any issues with my tongue but my eyes were worse so I didn't make the connection with food at that time. I love shrimp and most shellfish. I am thinking I need to make a Dr appt and get tested to see if it's an allergy, sensitivity, or nothing. A few years back I had an brain MRI with contrast, and they noticed a hive after the procedure. They kept me around to make sure I was okay. I remember the nurse at my Dr's ofc mentioning the same thing happened to her mom and she developed a shellfish allergy. I thought nothing of it at the time and I've eaten it many times since, and don't recall any reactions. My mom developed a hazelnut allergy last fall and had to go to the hospital. She's eaten them before many times w/o problems so these things can come up suddenly. Better to be safe than sorry.
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traildoggie
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Post by traildoggie on Apr 12, 2017 12:41:16 GMT -5
My understanding is that you need to be exposed to an allergen at least once to get sensitized before you can react. once you are sensitized, another exposure can trigger the allergic response. a bummer if after all these years you are allergic to something you enjoy. I agree you should get it checked out as if it's something you need to avoid, you need to know exactly what it is.
I'm allergic to one antibiotic as far as I know but am careful to avoid it. I'd taken it many times before, and then abruptly I reacted definitely...saw huge itchy hives popping up all over. so much for that group of drugs! Hope you get some definite information so it's clear what you need to avoid.
the polar HRM is not fancy. it will give me enough information to be worth it for road rides and mt biking. I don't plan on wearing it all the time. no way to tell why it doesn't work well with the spin bike. I suspect the spin bike computer is the issue. I haven't tried it with the treadmill or elliptical but they always worked with the older polar devices. I've been doing this a long t ime and I never intended to track and record everything.
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cafelatte
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Post by cafelatte on Apr 13, 2017 8:28:31 GMT -5
I made an appt with my Dr. for Monday. I needed to go to her anyway so no point in finding an allergist if it's something she can can test or advise on. I know a couple of people who have had reactions to shellfish later in life, so it does happen. Like you, my youngest son has to avoid 3 antibiotics - bad reactions to two as a child and one as a teenager. My older son can't take advil/motrin. Sucks.
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Post by cafelatte on Apr 17, 2017 14:16:23 GMT -5
Was at the Dr. and she confirmed NO SHELLFISH for me. No test required. The fact that I had a reaction to the contrast for the MRI and all the other things I mentioned, makes it a sure thing.  I'm going to miss shrimp and scallops the most. 
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Post by traildoggie on May 9, 2017 16:33:03 GMT -5
That's a bummer since it's something you enjoy. best to clarify though rather than wonder and worry. I worry about insect stings. I got stung on the upper thigh by what I think was a yellowjacket. I was doing a road ride at the time and never saw it. it stung me several times rapidly. I was close to the end of the ride, like maybe 1/4 mile left but had ridden about 30 miles on a warm day so my legs were fully perfused with blood from the workout. it spread quickly into a large red raised blotch that itched and hurt at the same time. I took some Benadryl and advil, iced it, but the swollen red area lasted for several days. I haven't been stung since but I worry a little. haven't been stung many times in my life but this was a stronger reaction than other times.
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cafelatte
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Post by cafelatte on May 12, 2017 8:52:01 GMT -5
I'd be worrying about any type of bees as well if I were you. I had never been stung until about 10 years ago, and then I got stung a couple of times the same year. No reaction except for where the sting was. However, you mention each reaction being worse than the one before, there is cause for concern. That's what was happening the shrimp. You should mention it to your Dr. if you haven't already.
Are you still following WW? I've been doing well with tracking. Once I got back into it, I've stayed with it. I'm not in losing mode, but I have some summer clothes I've been trying on that are looser than I remember so I have some wiggle room with increasing food (for now).
We had my son's graduation from college last week from Indiana University. I can't believe the 4 years have gone by so fast. He got an degree in Accounting and Finance and wants to be a CPA so he will be prepping for the string of exams he has to pass over the next year or two. He starts his job in Sept. (where he interned last year) so everything seems to be working out for him. We're extremely proud of him and he's become a much better student in college than he was in HS (and hated accounting back then).
We were doused with lots of rain the past week - over 5" in a few days they say. Finally we have a string of warm weather headed out way - 70s and 80s after today. I am so looking forward to it.
Hope you have a nice weekend!
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traildoggie
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Post by traildoggie on May 12, 2017 12:55:19 GMT -5
Caffe latte... my DH is a retired physician. he didn't think it was cause for serious concern. it was uncomfortable but it was still a "localized" reaction, nothing systemic or outside the immediate area of the sting itself, which was multiple stings. that's why I thought it was a yellowjacket, not a bee, because that guy jabbed me several times! ouch!. it was as if the venom spread quickly because I was warm and had been using the thigh area for several hours very vigorously, and was really revved up. plus, we finished the ride although it was not far to go to the end. . but yes, I would watch carefully for anything worse.
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traildoggie
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Post by traildoggie on May 17, 2017 15:13:47 GMT -5
we had our niece and her husband here for 5 days. managed to do a massive amount of riding and hiking with them. I'm amazed we got in as much as we did. he has a new apple watch that tracks a whole range of fitness things. a friend gave it to him, and it replaced a Polar system. the apple watch thing is way too complicated for me, so no interest for me there. it gives calorie burn and heart rate but is too small and complex for my level. he's going to send me his old polar set up since he doesn't use it anymore. I haven't been able to get my new one to work like I wanted, so I will report back after I get it and try it out. I can't get the Polar one I have to work with the spin bike and it seems to beep all the time, annoying.
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cafelatte
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Post by cafelatte on May 22, 2017 8:10:55 GMT -5
Hopefully you won't be stung and need to find out your next reaction. Helps that your DH is a retired physician too.
Let me know how the other Polar works. I haven't looked at any recently - dropped the ball on getting one. DS2 has the Apple Watch and loves it for more reasons than fitness tracking. DS1 just got the Fitbit Blaze a few weeks ago - looks similar to the Apple Watch, but way less money. He likes his as well.
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traildoggie
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Post by traildoggie on Jun 20, 2017 15:56:36 GMT -5
caffelatte I guess it's only us. I got the ironman HRM & watch in the mail. it works for heart rate, not sure how it will be for things like calorie burn. it has a setting for "bike" so I'm hopeful. some things are easy to set, others more complicated. got it from my nieces DH, and he got it from a friend who moved on to something else. free is fine, and mostly I want heart rate. if I get calorie burn and something like steps or pedal strokes, that would be fine too.
interestingly, we went on an easy bike ride with cousin and his wife saturday. we are trying to get them into riding regularly. it was an easy 15 miles for DH and myself. at about mile eleven, I saw the flash of a bee... it hit me on the side of my mouth. I spit to get rid of it. so my tongue came out a little. Yep, stung on the side of my tongue. yeouch. it hurt and swelled a little but went away pretty quickly, within less than half an hour. talk about unlucky! so I am not sensitive but it was a nasty way to be sure.
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cafelatte
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Post by cafelatte on Jun 28, 2017 9:02:01 GMT -5
Oh, how that sting must have hurt. Fortunately the effects didn't last long.
That was nice of them to send you the HRM, especially if it does what you want it to. I gave up looking for now.
You are right, it's just the two of us. I often wonder how Denise is doing in retirement. It's too bad she never made it over to this new board.
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traildoggie
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Post by traildoggie on Jul 4, 2017 13:25:07 GMT -5
Yes, I wonder about her too. I think she mostly communicated with us from a work computer and once she retired, that was that.
I dropped WW again. they gave me an extra free month but I got nowhere with it this time. I don't mind tracking exercise but even tracking food this time didn't help. I didn't lose, and got tired of tracking and getting no results. then we had travel plans and I don't record then. I still eat the same..... no gains, I stick closely to the diet, so stable at 10 lbs more than I want.
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