Appalachia7 Member

Original poster, if you are still reading, do you mean the books by Cynthia Sass, and colleagues, some of which were posted in Prevention magazine? If so, I think they are effective in that they contain many recipes, snack ideas, and meal plans in the books that are both tasty and healthy, keeping calories under control. I…

A long story which I will save for another time, but for the past two years I did Crossfit, then heavy (for me) barbell and weight training in the gym, and was not seeing the results I was hoping for. Also, the time spent driving to and from the gym, and paying for the gym, was also an issue for me. So I'm trying something…

I just sent a join request also.

Oh, and I think maybe I do need to lighten my weight a bit and focus on the glute squeeze more, as this past time I did 3 sets of 100 lbs, 4 reps (that is heavy for me :-), and ended up with a bit of a sore neck from bad form.

Thanks everyone for all the input!! It has made me feel better that they are helping. Squatting heavy makes me about equally lightly sore over pretty much my whole body. I am definitely working (not going through the motions) when I squat and I am definitely going deep enough (a little below parallel for sure, but I don't…

Arditarose - I also own Strong Curves. i was doing it at home for a while but got to the point where I needed to move to a barbell and heavy weights for the squat, deadlift, hip stuff etc. Do you do your hip thrusts and glute bridges in a public gym? I have just started doing glute bridges at the gym with a bar bell, I'm…

I still do some of the exercises here and there, but I've started doing crossfit and its hard to find time to do both.

Hi! One thing I noticed when looking at your food diary, are you sure you are logging all your calories? I noticed a few items like 'stir fry' and 'roasted Brussels sprouts". Did you make those without any oil at all? It's possible you did, but I know when I make stir fry, I use oil, but try to keep it right at 1 tbs or 1…

As another working mom with young kids, I sometimes run or do Insanity first thing in the morning (with only coffee/skim milk in my stomach). I actually feel really good when I do fasted cardio, but most of my morning workouts are only in the 25-50 min range.

I am new to this group but have been doing SC "bootyful beginnings" for a couple months now. I do a lot of modifications from the back because despite the fact that I belong to a gym,and have a gym at work, I do most of my weight training at home with just hand weights so far. I'm at the point where I need to move up to…

I am about like you - just a hair under 5'5" and my weight currently fluctuates from around 135-140 but mostly I'm in the 136-138 range. (But I'm 43). I can look good in clothes but really need to lose about 5 lbs around my middle / muffin top. I really would like to get where I'm fluctuating between 130-135 instead. I…

all great advice above. My personal take is that I also tend to overeat when I'm overtired and trying to keep myself awake. If you are able, go to bed when your child goes to bed. Then make up the extra time by getting up early before your child. I personally am less 'snacky' in the morning.

I recently purchased Strong Curves.I really like it so far. I started with the Bootyful beginnings workouts and this week I will have completed the first program (weeks 1-4) and will move on to weeks 5-8. I have been doing it either 3 or 4 times a week, and I do think my butt is starting to have a nicer rounder shape. I do…

I am trying to "up" my daily protein also. Personally I try to stay away from nuts and nut butters as much as possible, the very high fat content packs in the extra calories and makes them hard (for me) to regulate. There are plenty of other higher fat, lower fat protein choices like non- or low-fat cottage cheese…

You look amazing in both the 124 and 137 photos! Just different physique but both nice. Did you find maintaining 124 with calories and cardio too difficult / unrealistic to maintain, or did you go to the weights just to get stronger?

I just started Ripped in 30 (still on Week 1 so no progress to report). It is a fun workout but my complaints are similar to Resolve2Bs in that I'd rather the cardio be replaced with weight lifting exericises. Also - doing combined exercises with the same weights are not as effective for me - if I am doing a weighted squat…

I would suggest reading up on Pauline Nordin's butt building exercise information. She has a website. I am apple -shaped also and her Butt Bible exercises have really helped me.

Feel free to add me - I'm fairly new here also. I am 43 and looking to add some over-40 lady friends to my list for motivation and commiseration. I am soon to embark on my second month of insanity and find the calorie logging / food diary part of this website to be most beneficial.

I can stick to 1,200 in a day if I eat very little calories during the day. I stick to coffee (with very little milk and sweetener), do my workout first thing in the morning (Insanity) on a mostly empty stomach. Then I get through the day on a lot of raw veggies and small amount of fruit and a 35 calorie laughing cow…

When I was pregnant with my second child, I also had a two-year old, plus worked a full-time job outside the home. My advice to you is to prioritize your health (meaning fit in the exercise), your 2-year old, your husband, and then everything else comes later, if you feel up to it. Even if you feel sooo tired, just go for…

For me too - eating breakfast just leads to too many calories over all throughout the day. I can do Insanity just fine first thing in the morning on an empty stomach (with just a small amount of calories from coffee, skim milk, and xylitol or small amt of sugar). Plus I am naturally not as hungry in the mornings. I get by…