I am so glad you found us! I walk too. And I was doing REALLY well and then fell off the wagon. I have kids and their school was winding down and I was sick for two weeks (STILL getting over it, it's been a beast). Anyway, those are my excuses! It's hard to carve out the time. One thing that helps me keep walking is I listen to books on audiotape. I get them on my phone. I pick really good books, lol, so I WANT to go walk and listen to it. I used to have a walking buddy but she started a new job and our schedules didn't match, so I had to entertain myself some way.
I'd watch your heart rate. I do think that is really high. Do you have a fitness watch that monitors it? I think that would be worth the investment. I have one and you hit a button and it tells you your heart rate and some will light up if yours goes too high. Then you back down. You're tall, so your BMI is not what I thought which is good.
I was trying intervals before. Walk at a brisk pace and then go really fast, short of running for 1.5 minutes and then brisk for 5 and then the faster pace for 1.5 minutes. You can try that if it doesn't cause tachycardia for you.
I do think a physical is essential for us all. Blood pressure check and lab work. By the way, what is your resting pulse? And the other area that they look at with pulse is how fast you recover. It gets high and how quickly does it come back down. The faster, the better in shape you are.
How many times do you walk a week? I need a motivating partner. ha, and then I want to add in some other things. Light weight lifting is very good for you and helps keep metabolism going longer than a strict cardio regimen. But again, a physical would be great to discuss with your doctor as weight lifting does increase blood pressure a bit immediately following.
Congrats on quitting smoking! That in itself is a huge thing but sorry about the weight gain. I never smoked but I guess found comfort in food. And working nights is notorious for throwing things off. So, also glad you switched back to days.
Hi there! Welcome. We can be exercise friends! :<))) The thing is, for heart health, you have to start out. However, your max heart rate during exercise of 191 is too high. What activity are you doing that results in this high heart rate? Can you lesson it? At your weight, age and what appears to be level of fitness, walking where you can increase and decrease the speed and duration might be a good fit. Tell us what your exercise has been lately? I am also a moderate exerciser concerned with heart health. So, I wasn't kidding about being exercise friends. Have you had a physical lately? Any other heart concerns? High cholesterol, blood pressure, ext? Your BMI may be high but I don't know your height. I'm hoping to decrease my bmi myself. Anyway, give some more details!