essterne Member

You've gotten off to a great start, but now it's time to build a fitness regime that you can keep up for the rest of your life. Staying on track and meeting your goals has to lead to general lifestyle changes. Commit to working out 20-30 minutes a day and finding ways to be more active in your every day life. And…

I have a small cup of chocolate milk after workouts. You need to replenish some of the resources you expended with all your hard work!

I typically have a can of Progresso soup every day. There are lots of varieties, so you don't get bored, and you can find calorie values that range from 160-400 calories per can depending on how you plan your meals. They're pretty good quality, and even though the sodium can be little high (1/3 your daily intake) that…

You might want to look into bodyweight-type exercises. You can usually incorporate weights if you want the extra effort, and many of them can be done in quite cramped circumstances (I should know, I currently live in a shoe box). You may also want to get a couple free weights in a good size for your fitness level as those…

Just like chiptease said, if you hate traditional weight lifting, but want to strength train, go for body weight exercises. I was never interested in it before, but after building up a routine with squats, lunges, push ups, and lots of other types of moves, it's actually fun. If you try to focus on incorporating moves that…

Maybe just some peanut butter (if you're not allergic). It's packed with calories and nutrition, and delicious to boot. If you feel up to it, maybe spread it onto some apple slices to get in some fiber, water and carbs. You might also try eggs, they tend to be soft and easy on the stomach if that's been the issue. Also…

Squats and lunges are both good for increasing muscle tone around the thighs and legs, and I've found that taking up bicycling also did my legs a lot of good (not to mention excellent cardio). As for getting rid of fat there specifically, you really can't spot-reduce that way. You've got to get leaner and slim down overall…

Scheduled workouts are six days a week. M-W-F are free weights for arms/legs, then Tu-Th-Sa are body weight exercises for core strength. After that, every day is at least 20 minutes of cardio, usually my bike trainer. On Saturday I'll up that to 45 minutes because that's how long an episode of White Collar is (gotta get…

I second the advice above to try tracking to make sure you're getting enough of the main nutrient categories. We do tend to crave things we need. As for late night cravings, try apple slices with peanut butter. That will give you a crunchy, sweet, savory treat that's full of healthy fiber, protein and fats that you need.…

I have the same thing for breakfast every day: two fried eggs. You can always boil the eggs if you are worried about the butter. I have noticed that a nice dose of protein in the morning (and eggs are super cheap and easy to cook) really helps keep down hunger until lunch time. A great simple dinner is to chop up half an…

You've made some really big changes in a pretty short amount of time. Good for you, because they seem to all be in good directions! But, like any major change, it takes a lot of time to readjust to your new "normal". There's research that indicates that your body gets used to a certain metabolic level and a certain weight,…

At my heaviest I was 130 lbs, and didn't feel good. I looked okay, a bit heavy, but the kicker was body fat percentage. I was kind of one of those "skinny fat" body types. So, I started doing cardio every day (thank god for bikes) and worked in some weights to build up my muscle mass. I ended up losing 20 lbs (and…

You might also consider resting muscles in between weight workouts to let them recover. If you want to keep up daily workouts, then you can focus on upper body and lower body on alternate days. Cardio can and should be done every day, but try to change up your workouts every so often so you're doing things your body hasn't…