withervein Member

Do you live in a larger city or smaller town in Japan? I lived in a rural-ish city on Shikoku and there was a great community center where you could pay 300 yen each time you went and exercise as long as you wanted. No membership, not expensive and decent equipment that you could use on your own schedule. Might be worth…

I also use Nuvaring and I switch them out and right back in to skip periods entirely. I've not noticed any difference in weight gain/loss and I haven't noticed any hormonal issues other than the fact that I still have my emotional wonkiness about once a month. Xp

Diet Soda > Soda Water > Diet sodas. If you must have fizz, you'll avoid calories with diet soda. If you drink it exclusively, you might have some sodium issues.

Mmm latkes. *makes grocery list including 8 tons of potatoes*

This, really. My family is somewhere between eating pure prefab crud and having an average interest in healthy eating. I love them anyway. They may not be able to whole-heartedly enjoy the changes I've made for myself, so they don't have to eat what I bring, but I'm gonna eat that store-bought pumpkin pie (hold the cool…

See, I'm doing the opposite, replacing one prefabricated food-like item (creamer, margarine, fake sugar) with actual FOOD (milk, butter, honey). I just can't stop reading labels now and there's so much man-made junk in things labeled fat free, low-cal that I just figure it's not doing anything better than making my pee…

Commit to cooking one dinner a week from scratch. If you do this already, add one. Replace one processed additive in your diet with a real substitute (i.e. toss out the "creamer" for your coffee and use milk or real cream. Your body will use the food rather than just pass the chemicals) There's a couple Oh, one more! Give…

You can very easily eat whole foods rather than supplements and have a good effect. Grab a box of raisins and a handful of nuts, drink a glass of milk. I have been trying to move further away from putting prefab foods in my body as much as possible these days. Tastes way better.

So, this is what happens when you feed the trolls, kids.

This. If you can't imagine getting punched or expecting a cold shock, try this: Sit tall. Suck your belly in as far as you can, push it out like a kid pretending to be pregnant, then find the middle (keep your back nice and tall). Now just tense your midsection, its not quite pushing out, but the middle gets more solid.…

Are you literally jumping on the scale before class, then right back on after? That way lies only madness and maybe dragons. You are going to see wild fluctuations because you drank some water, blew your nose or had a slice of apple. You could be wearing different shoes or need to take a poo. How often do you weigh…

Boxing is a great way to build bone density, from what I've read because it's stimulates your bones to build up to take the repetitive smacking of the bag. You don't need to go all out on the bag either, but slowly build up to it. You also want to load weight on the bone along its length, for example squats, not leg…

When you use a Tanita, the results you get very greatly on your level of hydration. Did you take the reading at the same time each day? Drinking 2 glasses of water an hour before can make a big difference because it's on electrical impedance and water is a conductor of electricity. Impedance is not the best method of…

I do an hour or so 2-3 times a week of focused exercise. This tends to be just right for me working 10 hour days and still having to do household stuff and walk the dog and all the other that sits out there. I don't find that outside of work I spend much time on my butt, so while I may not be in running shoes, I'm still…

Any guy who comes over to tell me I shouldn't be lifting so much because I'll hurt myself/I'll look like a man/my ovaries will fall out.

Moving comfort makes some highly regarded workout undies in various styles. You can find em on amazon, athleta and a few other sites.

Folks, it seems the Kool-Aid is flowing in both directions. Love Crossfit or hate it, please leave the sniping at the door.

Because dogs rely on their pads for being able to take off, stop, etc. I would be hesitant about putting booties on your pup. Might check with your vet to see if they have a footpad cream to help heal the crack safely. I've heard not to use hand cream for humans, though because it can over-soften and dogs paw pads do need…

My SO thinks definition is sexy. His only hope is that I don't get "skinny". Lucky me!

This is a great place to start for someone with the equipment she has. One thing I will recommend to the OP, a lot of women don't have much upper body strength and tend to give up on pushups. You have a stability ball, so you said, so you can do your pushups with your legs/belly on the ball. It takes a bit of weight off…

It depends on what you are doing. You can use bells for speed work and endurance, or you can use them for slow, structured movements, see Turkish Get-ups. You can do the same with regular dumbbells. There is nothing magical about a kettlebell it's just an unevenly-balanced weight. So are clubbells and other old-timey…

Do you want to strengthen the hip flexors? or get smaller hips? Because exercises strengthen, they do not spot-reduce. You can strengthen you hips (and also your back/stomach) by doing Stiff-legged deadlifts, good mornings, full sit-ups, and other excercises that get you bending fully at the middle.

Daily dog-walks 30-60 minutes depending on weather. Kickboxing class 120-180 minutes weekly including kettle bell circuits, jumping rope and lots of heavy bag work. Raking leaves, mowing grass, scrubbing floors, trucking laundry baskets up two flights of stairs. Lifting things up and putting them down. Dancing while I…

I think they are round, heavy and fun to move around in wide arcs. They leave me winded and achey and relaxed. They are another way to excercise. It's hard to respond to a very vague topic. What do you actually want to know?

You could always see if your college has group exercise classes for cheap. Find something fun that you can do with others. I took yoga, which made me feel good, but then i started training with weights to supplement the yoga so I could hold the positions longer. Now, I am taking a kickboxing class and working in some extra…

I was a rower for years, and my schedule doesn't allow it now. I'm 5'8" as well and the last time I was near a scale, I was 186. If you go by BMI, yeah, I'm overweight. I however have gone from a size 16 to a 12 and I maybe sorta might be able to do a 10 in a few months. I do kickboxing for an hour 2-3 times a week, weight…

How about remembering that if you take a bite it's not going to kill you and remember that part of life is enjoying it, not just beating yourself up over every calorie. Take a small portion (half a brownie, one cookie, two crackers and some dip) and go start a conversation. Fill the rest of the plate up with stuff from the…

I've got a dauschaund/rat terrier/something much bigger pound puppy. He's about 3 years old and he loves to go for walks/runs. I'm a terrible runner, but it works out pretty well. We go about 3 miles, we walk one lap at the park so he can sniff everything out and mark stuff. Then we run the second lap and he does pretty…

Basically, they don't actually want to to try, from what I see. Probably so they don't have anyone who knows how to deal with injury on site.

If you want to have muscle, you will need to eat. Plain and simple. Increase your calories by adding in things with extra protein and good fats. Fish, nut butters, whole grains, milk. You can add those calories with a slice of whole wheat toast, smeared thick with peanut butter and a glass of milk as an extra snack and…