On Oct 30, 4:45 pm, Steph Peters
<i...@sandbenders.demon.co.uk.invalid> wrote:

Just buy a used bike. You can sell it before returning from vacation.
If you lose money on the transaction, you can regard the loss as a fee
for renting the bike.

On Oct 30, 7:45 pm, Steph Peters
<i...@sandbenders.demon.co.uk.invalid> wrote:

Its interesting to realize that a rowing machine is perfect exercise
for knees.  You deserve a prize for your adherence to a great diet and
exercise routine for 1/2 a year.  You could give yourself a break for
the week while you are away but  perhaps your physical therapist can
give you floor exercises to do, maybe even some kind of a yoga
routine. How about bringing a jump rope along?

On Oct 30, 4:45 pm, Steph Peters
<i...@sandbenders.demon.co.uk.invalid> wrote:

You dont have to 'walk fast' to reap benefits from walking - you'll
only get to your destination faster ;-)
If you want to vary your walking, like adding some hills or stairs
thats fine to up your heart rate, but beyond that just walk for like
an hour a day - its totally underrated.
I've known people who went on vacation to great eat places like Las
Vegas (buffet heaven) or Italy (pasta!) and ended up actually losing
weight on vacation because they walked everywhere and wore off
whatever they overate.
Add in some indoor room exercises, watch your food intake, and I think
you will do just fine
There's alot of good exercise examples here that you can do with
little to no weights:
http://www.sparkpeople.com/myspark/ex/all_exercises.asp

joanne

On Oct 30, 7:45 pm, Steph Peters
<i...@sandbenders.demon.co.uk.invalid> wrote:

I think the point of "cardiovascular exercise" is to raise your heart
rate.  You can do that with floor exercises.  Get one of those heart
rate monitors and check it out if you dont believe me.  Just crunches
and push ups done multiple times will raise your heart rate into the
proper zone and you'll have the added benefit of looking better if you
keep it up for the correct period of time.

I'm back from my holiday so here's an update on how it went.  I did more
indoor strength exercises than I do at home, adding in some of the ones from
the website Joanne suggested.  I tried to do sun salutations, but the part
that involves getting down on the knees to a pushup position hurts too much.
I was able to find a bike to hire, so I rode about 60-90 minutes all but two
days.  The bike only had 3 gears and the bottom one was still a bit hard to
push, so I had to go slowly - spinning fast in a lower gear is much better
for the knees.  So it wasn't as good exercise as it could be, but a lot
better than none.

On the food side I had some treats and there was a lot more fat in the food
than I eat at home.  However I did manage mostly to make healthy choices.
German breakfasts with umpteen sorts of bread rolls and cheese are
delicious, but by having fruit first to fill me up on I was able to be
satisfied with just one roll, whereas before I would have eaten two.  The
midday meals were salad, soup, main course and puddings with lots of cream.
I filled up on salad, skipped the soups as I don't care for them much, ate
less main course than I used to and substituted fruit for pudding on all but
two days.  Half of the days I avoided mid-afternoon coffee and cakes by
being out cycling, on the others I had cake but took only half of the
offered portions (or less).  Evening meals were salad, bread and cheese,
with a small hot dish which was usually something very fried or otherwise
high in fat, like pancakes, fried egg on cheese on toast, fried potatoes or
cheesy fritters. Evening meal was the time I found hardest to restrict
myself to smaller portions and the healthier items, probably because I am
used to eating more in the evenings and less at lunch.

But overall I did alright.  I came back 2 pounds heavier than I went, but
that will go in a day or two.  And it was very satisfying that several
people told me they only recognised me by my voice and my glasses, being
confused by a different haircut as well as the weight loss.

Steph
238/173/119