ElizabethOakes2 Member

This! And if you over-wear it, you actually weaken your core muscles. Not what you want if you're looking for fitness. Try planks and deadlifts instead of corsets.

Here's my two cents worth. :) You can put in a penny jar and save it up, or spend it. That's up to you. You're trying too hard too fast and blowing yourself out. :) Slow down! That weight didn't suddenly jump on yesterday and it's going to take time to get rid of. You need to be making serious lifestyle changes at this…

Yes, ovulation pain is common, BUT it does make sense that if you're having new pain that you haven't experienced before, you should get it checked out and get an ultrasound or CT if possible to make sure nothing is wrong. I know quite a few women like trjjoy whose doctors told them it was 'normal', and to take ibuprophen,…

They don't recommend wrapping anymore, because it restricts your breathing and can lead to pneumonia, (especially if it already hurts to breathe.) I took a fall of some rocks (Hmmm...apparently post back surgery people aren't supposed to climb rocks... doctor was NOT happy with me! LOL ) and busted a rib two years ago,…

Patience and start slow and build. :) By the time I had my back surgery, I was weak as a baby, have nerve damage down my left side, and practically had to learn to walk all over again. The muscle weakness is kind of terrifying, but yeah, as long you're not having pain, just keep building a little more distance every week…

I've run a number of writing workshops online- Here's my thought. Weight loss, like creativity and art, is something highly personal. People are sensitive, afraid, even terrified, of asking questions and putting themselves out there. I think the number one answer to getting people to return to threads and participate in…

If it's in really good condition, I donate it, but if it's scuffed/worn/stained (A lot of my old work jeans have sharpie stains where my inventory pens leaked in my pockets) I repurpose. I have several 'denim jeans' book bags, a few stuffed-sweater kitty beds, etc. There are lots of great fun ideas for repurposing on…

I spent 125 for my Vivofit with heartrate monitor and it's just fine for swimming, but I wouldn't try ocean diving with it. Also, I find the heartrate monitor tends to slip around if I try anything other than breaststroke or backstroke, something about the core-body turn to breathe shifts it. I only use it every couple…

Thanks, Nikolaos! All good advice. :) Part of my brain is still in 'dancer' mode and chants "Work through the pain!" even though I know it's the wrong thing to do. I'm learning!

This. No one talks much about the disassociation. Sometimes, I'll just take a minute to stand in front of the mirror and think, "Oh, hi. That's me there, with the waist and the hipbones and the leg muscles." Since my partner and I are doing this together, it's not just my body I don't recognize. I'll hug him and he'll feel…

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day don't count. They're like annual free-for-all days. ;)

For a New Years Eve treat we went to our favorite steak house and ordered our old usual- Prime rib dinner for two. We got half way into our meal and realized we were full, too full for dessert. We came home with enough food in boxes for two days worth of lunches! We just can't splurge like we used to. I've also noticed…

HURRAY! Oh, how well I remember that frustration, just not understanding what was wrong with me. :) Yay for having an answer!

Me, too! It's hard to get those steps in when the commute is from the bedroom to the desk, with changing out of pajamas optional. And when I'm working on a proofread, it's really really really hard not to reach for snacky things all day long. What I learned is that I have to make time for me, before I can make time for my…

This. Your body will tell you when it needs to rest, all you have to do is listen. Rest days are great days to the fun things that I wasn't fit enough to do before, take my friend's kids to the beach or the amusement park, meet up with friends for barbecue and frisbee, etc. I was unable to move for a long time because of…

The vivofit only sees 'hand movements', and they have to replicate something it recognizes as steps/exercise. It's better to record your DVD work separately. I hula hoop for fitness and the Vivofit sees some of it as 'steps' and shows I was 'active', but it's calorie counts are way off unless I wear the heart-rate monitor,…

WOOT! Congrats! I reached it a few weeks back and it was an amazing feeling. I've thought of myself as 'obese' now for so long, that it's been a huge mental shift for me. Hope it is for you, too!

The neighbor had my car blocked in so I grabbed my husband's car this evening to pick him up at the train. It wasn't until I got home and was getting out of the car that I realized that the seat belt chest strap stayed where it's supposed to! It didn't ride up my fat chest and try to choke me, or slide around at all. I…

Both, if that's what works for you. I weigh once a week, and measure once a month. Every ten pounds, I take a new set of pictures. But like I said, find what works for you. I found once I stopped obsessing over the scale and shifted my focus to how far I could get on my daily walks, how far I could swim, etc, I felt a real…

I just log it under the general "Strength Training" entry, and then make a note in my exercise diary of what I did.

I figure, I just have to run faster than any zombies that are chasing me, so as long as they're "Living Dead" type, I'm good...

I was just told I had this yesterday (I started a thread earlier today.) Someone recommended the ARC Trainer so I'll have to see if my gym has one. I've been referred to phys therapy, so we'll see what my PT has to say. I just hope this isn't like my back, where I did months and months of physical therapy, and…

Ooh! I'll check. I can't use a lot of the 'elliptical' type machines because the side-side motion puts strain on my spine but from reading about the Arc it has a bunch of different settings. Thanks!

Before my back surgery, swimming was the only exercise I could do. I lost 20 pounds in the months leading up to my surgery, AND I was comfort eating like crazy during that time because I was in critical, chronic pain. One thing about swimming- A study in Britain showed that swimming was ineffective for weight loss, but…

They offer a free trial work-out. Go try it and see. If you're fairly new to working out, and don't want a lot of the heavy free weights, etc, it's kind of fun. I really liked the recumbent bikes they had at the one near me, but they don't have a pool, so I never became a member.

I found once I shifted my focus to overall fitness, I stopped obsessing about the scale and what I'd be like in the future. I started walking, and every day pushed myself a little further, then started jogging part of my walk, and as I felt my body get stronger and I became less winded, I realized that losing weight was…

You might also get an allergy test. I discovered that soy, which was supposed to be super-good for me, is something that my body doesn't digest and that's why I was getting so sick at night!

I don't count PMS weeks. I weigh, log and ignore. It's all water weight that hops on for the ride and then rushes out after. It's not really a true fat-loss 'woosh'. :)

Weight loss isn't linear- it can go up or down a little here and there. You don't say how often you're weighing, but a couple things you might check: Are you using the same scale in the same location? Are you weighing at the same time of day? ( I go up a pound or two throughout the day as I eat, drink water, etc.) As…

Yes, you are sedentary. MFP logs exercise calories separately, so log your exercise into the exercise diary and it will add the calories for your exercise. :) (MFP's calorie counts for exercise tend to be a little high, so you might want to only eat back half of those.