amyindm Member

seconding the C25K program idea... because if it's something new to her, even if she's interested, she may get easily discouraged if you just "go run". By having very attainable goals that are laid out, you guys can celebrate her achievements and her progress. It's also less likely to give her the discomfort that so often…

I distinctly recall doing the Buns of Steel videos in my friend's basement. This was sometime in high school. Ha! Edited to add: I don't know if this qualifies as "workout program" but I was in 2nd grade and our school had an afterschool track program. At practice we had to run around the perimeter of the school grounds a…

Pretty much the same as the OP. I do most of the shopping so by default everyone eats better. I still keep some "treats" in the house but they're treats, not staple parts of the diet and we have far fewer of them around. I'm fortunate that my husband is absolutely on board with eating more whole foods and our little boys…

incline - on a treadmill, which has even ground, I think it will probably help as long as it's not too severe and you give your legs rest too. The plus side is that you'll strengthen your butt more, which will help your knees out. If it irritates them, lay off it for awhile. At my PT's clinic I had to walk backwards on a…

The stronger you get, the better your knees will do. Often knee pain comes when you have a weak butt or hip issues, from what I've learned through my own crappy knee experiences. Before I was allowed to elliptical or walk I rode the bike a lot. I swam too but I know that's out for you. Keep strength training, it will help…

I know that my physical therapist has recommended that you don't go into super low lunges if you have knee trouble. You can engage the gluts a bit more by twisting slightly as you dip down into the lunge without killing your knees by going super deep. Give it a try!

Usually the "hated exercises" come during a group class for me - boot camp type or cardio conditioning class. Burpees aren't fun but I can manage. My abs are really weak though so any crazy long sets of ab work do me in. That's probably a sign that I should be doing more consistent work on them in general ;) As for most…

I think I read that the fat in coconut oil are constructed in such a way that they aren't converted into cholesterol the same way that other saturated fats are. It's metabolized differently. I'm not a scientist though so it would be interesting to hear more about this. ETA: the TYPE of coconut oil apparently matters too -…

Thanks for posting this! I tend to undereat sometimes, and that fear is so ingrained in me from years of unhealthy dieting. Posts like this are a great reminder of what the body needs to function well. Congrats on the weight loss and healthy habits!

Greek yogurt is worth every calorie (IMO!) and if you're eating lowfat, PLAIN greek yogurt the calorie count is really low. The protein count is so much higher than regular yogurt and like another poster mentioned, if you compare plain greek and lowfat yogurt side by side they have similar calorie counts - yet the Greek…

Oh sure. This sounds fun!

Good for you for recognizing that you are falling into a place where you don't want to be. Depression falls upon me this time of year and I have to fight against it. I want to lie around and eat. But what keeps me from falling into the pit is taking care of my body. It's a changing of your framing of the issue that…

I haven't tallied a monthly goal yet. I swim about 3 days per week and at each swim I do anywhere from 1500 m to 2000 m total. I do a lot of workouts from http://ruthkazez.com/swimming.html to help me structure swims and make it more fun. I'd like to do maybe one longer swim per week - we'll say my new goal is 2500 on my…

Geez what is wrong with people?? Do they designate the pool for specific things at certain hours? I belong to a YMCA and we have times where there is only lap swimming, only lessons, only classes, only open swim, etc. For open swim they usually leave a few lanes open but I don't normally go then because there are so many…

Ha! Thanks for making me smile this morning. Regardless of how humans might be designed to function, I love endurance sports. I miss being able to run after having hip surgery and look forward to someday getting back to those long runs.

I am super interested about the minimalist running too. I have heard people say they have to ease into doing it. My physical therapist did say that I need to run more on the balls of my feet and not strike with my heels. I've been rehabbing from hip surgery so I'm only trying it in the pool right now. It feels weird but…

In general, please please get some good running shoes - and most importantly, get them fit at a running store if you can. For a long while I had nagging ITB issues in my knee and hip. While under the care of a physical therapist they noticed my running shoes that I wore for my workouts and asked me why I was wearing motion…

it sounds sort of like a girl-friendly version of p90x, and gentler in the beginning phase. It has workout and nutrition components and a website to track things.

You will feel so much better and less bloated if you pack your own things or pick up items at a grocery store like the other posters mentioned. It's a lot cheaper over the long run too! Even if you have to eat in your car, seems worth the trade off to me. The sodium counts are terrible and I almost always end up spending…

I'm so glad to have found this group! I heard the phrase 'clean eating' after reading Oxygen magazine and browsing some of the Eat Clean magazines and Tosca Reno's books. I really love to cook but in the last few years haven't taken care of my body and it shows. I wouldn't say I am on target 100% of the time but our…

I love spices for flavoring, and for things I want to be "sweet" like a smoothie, sometimes I find that instead of adding sugar to already sweet fruit, a splash of vanilla gives it a little more of a desserty taste. The other posters I agree with - real food tastes so good when the ingredients are high quality.

Knitting up my first pair of socks. I'm not sure if I have the patience for them or not... such tiny needles! That said, I have done a ton of lace projects so I decided I needed to find out what all the fuss was about over handmade socks. My sock-knitting friends are obsessed! I have teacher gifts just about finished -…

amygoesribbit on ravelry :)

I noticed that this week too... I was looking for lower fat cream of mushroom soup. One brand's "regular" version had the same amount of fat and calories as another's "reduced fat" version. Reading labels definitely pays off!

Same build too, it's frustrating. I've always had a tummy and then after popping out three huge boys via c-section I have wrecked ab muscles plus tons of hanging skin that only gets worse when I get thinner. When I reach my goal weight and maintain for awhile I think I'm getting a tummy tuck!

Thank you, helpful info there! I love HIIT too, mostly because I have a short attention span and I'm so focused on going back and forth that I don't have time to get bored. Ha! I think I'd miss the endorphin rush if I never did a lot of high intensity cardio.

You can make a circuit with strength moves and do them without stopping to get some good cardio while also strength training... no equipment needed, especially at first when you're just getting started. There are gajillions of premade workouts for this, I find a lot on websites for fitness magazines. Good luck! Try…

Not sure what you mean by "toning" -- because seeing muscle tone really comes from a combination of fat loss and increased muscle mass from what I understand. Cardio is great for blasting calories but the more muscle mass you have the better your metabolism functions... which means she'll burn more calories all day. I…

You can use a Body Bugg or a heart rate monitor to get a pretty good estimate of what you're burning while you work out. HTH!

You really should feel like you can say "I can't eat this" though! Family mean well but they're often major food pushers. If you think it's going to be an event where things are going to be full of unhealthy offerings one trick is to eat some healthy, filling things before. That way you can have a few courtesy bites but…