Hey you fitness and exercise junkies...

[BillCobit]

Hey you fitness and exercise junkies...

There are several of us who engage in regular cardio sports - cycling, running, mountain climbing, etc. What are your thoughts on usefulness of a new forum category "Active Lifestyle" or something to that effect?

There's really not a published body of knowledge around exercising with valve disease, guidance on recovery and training, etc. I was thinking it might be useful to have a place where we can ask each other our personal experiences, share articles, whine a little bit and do some occasional shameless boasting about our progress and accomplishments.

Whaddy'all think? If there's interest, maybe we could talk our friend Ross into setting up a forum topic.

[Les]

What a great idea. It could serve not only as a forum for valvers who exercise regularly, but hopefully provide information and motivation to all that it's OK to "Step Off The Porch" after valve surgery.
_________________
Les AVR '93 / '95

[MarkU]

Sign me up.

:) Mark

[rajeevg]

Great Idea!! Sign me up.

Rajeev

[Joe Gutstadt]

You have my vote for adding this topic to the forum.

I like being healthy and fit and plan to stay that way.

Your body and heart will thank you.

Avid Power Walker-Concept2 Indoor Rower-Resistance
Weight Training ...............and alot more.

There's nothing like the feeling you derive when you
are in that 'ZONE'.

[Granbonny]

It's starting off to look like it might be called...Active Lifestyle of Male Valvers..:D :D :D :D Speaking for myself..I get plenty of exercise..cleaning house, cooking, walking the dog (and Granddog for a week) doing the laundry, and taking care of a very active age 11 year old Grandson (Sports, school, ect.) Just read where raking leaves for an hour can burn many calories off.:p :p Now grant you..I let hubby do these chores the first few months after VR.:D :D :D and he was happy to do them...:) :) He and I do walk every day at 11 a.m. around our local park...and after dinner for about 1 mile........and I feel great everyday.....:p :p :p Don't get mad at me guys:D :D Let's see what the other Ladies think...I'm 18 months out from surgery and in pretty darn good shape for an age 63 year old. Bonnie

[pillarpaul]

If the bandwith prevents it (or if we don't want to add another standalone forum) perhaps the "Recipes" forum could be folded into a "Fitness & Nutrition" forum. I always enjoy conversations about both and I consider myself a "junkie" on both.

Paul

[MelissaM]

Just got back from a 2+ mile hike along the mountains, sure was gorgeous. Count me in as a fit, but not fanatic valver.
I vote yes.

Melissa:)

[Rain]

Ya got my vote! :)

I love sharing good recipes....... and a good arm wrestling match ain’t bad either! :p

[fyrfytr]

You can count me in. I enjoy walking and trying to stay in shape.
Take Care

Dave
_________________________
Surgery: 4/21/03
Aortic Aneurysm Repair
AVR, with a St. Jude Mechanical

[bvdr]

Well, for years I lived a very active life and had enough energy for two people. I feel like I am now recovering not so much from heart problems but from being a VEGETABLE!

Cardiac rehab is helping to keep me on track. I think I overdid it a little because yesterday I did have some definite chest pains and actually stopped for a bit until it passed. I am still on a monitor there and including a heart rate of 128 everything was pretty normal for me. I didn't want to tell them at first because I sure didn't want another ER visit....particularily via an ambulance. It passed with just a few minutes rest and I didn't even have to take a nitro. It surprised me because I had been doing more without any problems but that was before I had cardiazem added back to my med list.

I am walking on non-rehab days for about 30 minutes and after reading this thread I felt so inspired I went and rode my exercise bike for 15 minutes. So even though I have a long way to go I sure would love to have a thread where people do share their progress and achievements and encourage each other ..........and whine a little too when needed



;)

[Perrster]

Good thinkin' Bill! I look forward to participating in this new Forum as soon as Hank and Ross "cut the ribbon."

Last, but chilly-brrrr golf round today. I always stretch and do weights at home, but looking forward to re-starting my gym routine this fall-winter.

Dang, I just realized I forgot to set my clock back so it's 4:30 in the morning instead of 5:30!

Cheers!

[Mark Wagner]

"You Betcha." I wrote Ross about this same subject a few months ago, and I think he was going to get with the 'Boss'. He may be able to shed some light on it. It seems lately we have quite an influx of cardio nuts! Ross, are you listening??????????????????? :cool:

[Tom]

Count me in too. I lift weights, bike, ski, and recently took up mountain climbing. We can also discuss healthy eating, vitamins, supplements, protein drinks, etc. Now that our Marlins are world champions, I am thinking about joining a softball league too.

[mommy3]

I would welcome anything that would help motivate me to stay on track exercising.
I was very consistant on daily exercise until we made our move to Georgia...since the move....not as much:rolleyes:

[epstns]

Yeah, and count me in from the pre-surgery side of the mountain. I want to know all I can going in, so I can be more comfortable that life goes on (and can be even better) after valve replacement!

[sylviayasgur]

great idea!!!

[johnbart]

this is my first post after a couple of months of lurking around. I had my AVR done this past August and I am healing well. I post this reply as this subject hits dear to my "repaired" heart. I am not sure if you guys allow this, to promote other websites, but there is a website, www.activesurvivor.org, that is specifically geared for these types of discussions. The only difference is that it includes all survivors, cancer, stroke, heart, ect. But it is geared towards resuming or starting an active lifestyle after your particular illness. VR.com is fantastic as it helped me before, during, and after my surgery. Now I want to resume my lifestyle of running and biking and I look forward to speaking with other AVR members at activesurvivor.org. I am by no means abandoning this site, VR.com, as it has meant so much to me and still does but rather than bore members that may not be into discussing this subject frequently, activesurvivor.org will help with these types of discussions.

[BillCobit]

Thanks for the tip, John! Activesurvivor.org looks like a good site....just don't know if I can live with the rules:

"There is only one rule. No whining."

I think that might cramp my style a bit ;)

Bill

[tommy]

V alvers
A ctively
L iving with
V igorous
E xcercise
R outines
:)

[MelissaM]

Or is it. . .

V ery
A ctive &
L ively
V alvers
E ntertaining
R oss??

:D

[Les]

Tom and Ms. Rubble...Those are both good!

[Ross]

The go ahead for the addition of the Thong forum err, the Active Lifestyles forum has been approved. I'll be working on getting it started up later this afternoon.

I now return you to your regularly scheduled programming. ;)

[Les]

Thongs...er, Thanks, Hank and Ross!

[Mark Wagner]

Thank you Hank and Ross. That's awesome! :cool: :cool: :cool:

[Ross]

No problem folks. Please let me know if you see any other threads that need to be placed in here. I only went through the first pages of all forums. I did not leave redirects for the threads I moved. If I did, the forums would look like crap. Just let me know if you find any.

Thanks much! :D

[chilihead]

I'm in. Active cyclist, road and mountain. Swimmer. Part time runner. Avid chili cook and periodic binge drinker. (goes with the chili cookoff scene)

Jim
Pending Ross Procedure 11/17/03

[Granbonny]

Jim..Are you having your surgery the 17th???Ross can get it on the calendar..Bonnie

[chilihead]

That's my plan. I'm having to jump through hoops to get it OK'd by my insurance, since the surgeon I'm using stopped taking my HMO in March. I want to make damn sure I won't bankrupt my family by getting some fancy surgeon to do my valve job. I just got back from a week in Big Bend National Park. I go there every November for the Terlingua Chili Cookoff. We got 3rd place in the large showmanship category. It was 5 days and nights of camping and excessive beer drinking. I had to stop by a clinic and have the smile surgically removed from my face before I got home to the family!

Take care,

Jim

[tommy]

Jim,

Congrats on your chili. No beans about it.:D
Let us know if you find Susan.
Best wishes on the 17th.

[Granbonny]

Now..can you post your recipe?:p :p I've got the beer..:p :p oops..forgot..this is the healthy heart thread..better walk the dog.:p Bonnie

[ccrawford]

Ross - you keep pushing the AVR.com thong thing, but it seems to keep dropping through the crack - so to speak. Not much advertising space on those things these days. Maybe the law of diminishing returns ??? Chris