Leaping_Lemur Member

I've had tendonitis/arthritis problems in one knee. I started doing box squats maybe two months ago (to get the form right), then started doing dumbbell squats a few weeks ago. No problems so far. I'm thinking of moving on to proper squats in a while (maybe after I've raised my weight a bit on the goblet squats), but I…

I bought a bench for $50, and a few dumbbells (bought them new, but wish I'd poked around craiglist). Not quite sure what I've spent in total but I'm sure it's under $150 (which is less than a few months' gym membership). Since you're starting out, just buy a few of the lighter dumbbells (5, 10, 15, and 20 will suffice --…

I bought an HRM a month ago. I find that cycling is the one activity that MFP consistently *under*-estimates my caloric burn. That's probably because it's very windy where I live, so that adds a lot of resistance when I bike. Most other activities MFP within 30-40 cals of what my HRM tells me. (Mowing the law, on the other…

Best of luck, Artsy! When I was a teen I had aspirations of being a professional writer ... even submitted a few stories to magazines. As a published academic, I suppose writing is part of my job description, but it's not the same. And I know what you mean about not wanting exercise/counting calories to define you. I've…

I bought a Polar FT4 about two and a half weeks ago. It quickly has become an essential part of my workouts, and I wear it when biking, walking, lifting. I've worn it in the pool three times, and it seems to do a fine job of measuring my heart rate. Some people warned that HRMs don't do well in chlorinated water, but I…

I eat them all back. Sometimes I go over. I've lost 21 pounds since joining MFP four months ago. Over the same time period I've lost 2.8 inches off my waist, three inches off my navel, 1.8 off my thighs and a half inch off both my chest (armpits) and calves. I went from trousers with a 38 inch waist (relaxed fit, getting…

When I make smoothies I try to use raspberries -- loads of fiber. I just bought some frozen pomegranate seeds -- really high in fiber, though I haven't tried them yet. Apples are great too. Beans, as noted, are high in fiber and protein.

Bump. (Especially for the replies to bellesouth18's query).

Thanks for the replies everybody. I'm going to bring my bike in the local pro shop and see if I can get the handlebar raised. And, since I haven't done any maintenance on it in a decade, might as well get their advice about that as well. And I'll definitely get a pair of gloves as well.

Bump (because there's some great advice here and I want to digest it later).

You put your age, weight and gender into the settings first, right? So it takes account for that. It's an estimate, like anything else -- but as it's based on your heart rate it's generally more accurate than the MFP calculators.

I bought a panini maker, and keep corn tortillas on hand. That way I can whip up a cheese quesadilla (or a bean quesadilla or a veggie quesadilla or whatever) whenever I want at home. It's cheap, fresh, satisfying, 200 calories or less (that's if you use cheese, less otherwise), and you know exactly what goes into it.

It only works to the extent that you're honest with yourself. It's not magic. If you track what you eat, and eat less than your body burns, you'll lose weight. If you neglect to track your snacks, or grossly underestimate the amount you're eating (tip: weigh everything, at least until you develop a good sense of how large…

I'm approaching an important weight milestone (and my original long-term goal, though I'm now going to go at least 10 pounds further, maybe more), so I've just ordered myself a Polar FT4 as my reward (along with some goop to keep it stuck to my chest while swimming).

Bump -- this is something I've wondered about for a while. I'd like to get an HRM, but I do a lot of swimming as one of my main forms of cardio and if I can't use it there I'm hesitant to make the investment.

Scott Herman has some really nice videos. He offers complete workouts, which don't appeal to me, but he also has loads of 2 minute videos showing specific exercises (dumbbell fly or whatever you want). I've found them to be very useful.

If you have a tape measure, you can calculate your body fat percentage here: http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/mbf/ I checked mine with calipers this weekend, and the tape measure method only differs from the calipers by 1%.

Stir fries are great for veggies. And they needn't be spicy. Tip: add peanut butter! That, with a dash of soy sauce, ought to make any vegetable taste great, even to folks who don't like vegetables.

Congratulations! I passed the same milestone last week. I'm not too focused on my BMI but it felt very nice to no longer be obese.

Bump for later (and thanks!)

I checked when I got home and discovered that it's actually 8 pair of brand-new Dockers. That's over $300 saved! Maybe I should put that towards a personal trainer at the gym. I know the back of my closet is filled with shirts that were too tight last year, too. A lot of people here say they're going to buy new clothes…

I forgot to mention a bench, which several people brought up. It's indispensable, and lets you get so much out of your dumbbells. You can do a bench press, kneeling one arm row, lying fly and others. I bought mine at Academy Sports for fifty bucks. They usually retail for closer to $100, depending on whether you want one…

I love swimming -- it's my favorite cardio activity. I never did it competitively, though my son (age 8) has really gotten into it and joined the swim team. In an ideal week I'd swim 3-4 times, though I'm weight training now so I've cut back. But I managed to swim a mile today, for the first time in a year. Anyway, feel…

Buy some heavier weights. You can do loads of stuff with dumbbells, and they're not too pricey (especially if you're just wanting to use the lighter end of the range). I started a few weeks ago with the 5 and 10 lb ones I'd had sitting around for years. I bought a pair of 15 lbs, and soon found that I needed more for at…

Some of the amazon reviews for the Polar HRMs note that they don't work very well in highly chlorinated water. Unfortunately the pool that I mostly use is highly chlorinated (it's a YMCA, gets lots of kids ... best not to think about that too much). My wife has a chlorine allergy and is okay being near (not in but on the…

Thanks for the replies! I hadn't even considered the issue of a chest strap! I gather the ones with straps are much more accurate than the ones that are just a watch? Not sure if I could gather up the courage to wear a chest strap at the pool. I'm not a hard-core competitive athlete and probably don't want to create the…

I'm in! I started doing the plank about 3 weeks ago, having never done one before. My abs were shaking like jelly after 30 seconds when I started. Yesterday I got up to 1 min 15 sec! So I'm in. I'm going on vacation next week, and won't have access to pool or weights, so I imagine I'll be doing the plank every day.

Feel free to add me. I'm trying to keep my friends list fairly small, but I'm always looking to add people who are supportive and interactive.

That's almost exactly where I am -- 2.2 pounds to go and I'll be merely overweight! Looking forward to getting there. (Unfortunately we go on vacation next week, so I'm not sure quite when I'll hit it.)

I definitely have not been creative enough in my smoothies! I just tend to throw in some milk, protein powder and frozen fruit. (This is a thread about vanilla powder, but if you've got chocolate then try the following: 1/2 scoop chocolate protein powder, 1 cup milk, 1/2 cup frozen raspberries and 1 T peanut butter. Tastes…