powersgray

The first day I didn't wear shoes, and quickly learned my lesson from then on! They aren't new by any means, maybe a few years old, but not with a lot of use or worn down.

I would be, had my dumb knees held out. This is my second day with no Jillian, and my knees are still just as painful. Boo! So disappointed, because I really enjoy the workout.

Maybe I spoke too soon on my last post. I'm on Level 1, day 6, and for the last two days I've had knee pain, even after modifying some of the cardio moves. The pain is mainly when I land, so it hurts going down stairs and really really hurts even when I land out of a very slight jump. Any kind of slight twisting move on my…

During the first day my knees hurt doing jumping jacks, in a not-good, sharp pain sort of way, which persisted for a day or so. From then on I decided to modify the jumping jacks, so now I stay in place while jumping and move my arms. Much easier on my knees and still gets the heart rate up. I also pay really good…

Hello! I'm 36, married, no kids, with a demanding job. I'm just 5 feet tall, and started out at about 114 pounds, and after a month of eating better and just doing some elliptical work, I'm down to 111.5 before starting the shred this week. I'd prefer being around 100 pounds. I'm pear shaped and tend to carry any extra…

I'm just 5 feet tall, and started out at about 114 pounds, and after a month of eating better and just doing some elliptical work, I'm down to 111.5 before starting the shred this week. Most people think I don't need to lose weight, but I'm more the "skinny fat" I suppose, and not as in shape as I'd like. I'm more…

I like to yell back at Jillian. Some of what she says is motivating, and some of it I get tickled by. "...kicking herself IN the *kitten*..." gets me giggling every time during butt kicks. ;)

I did Level 1, Day 3, tonight! Feeling sore still, but not nearly as bad after Day 1. I can keep up pretty well, except my pushups stink (I can't go down very far), and I've modified the jumping jacks to jump in place since otherwise it seems to really strain my knees. I do find I really have to concentrate on form, and…

I also need to pick up a HRM, I suppose. Any opinions on what one to use? Are they actually accurate? Like if I used it on the elliptical, would it be a better reference than the machine's estimation of calories burned?

Well, I think for now I'm going to go ahead and try to get around the 1200 mark daily, and see how it goes. I'll add back in more calories that I had originally restricted before I started exercising more. It just doesn't make sense to me to stuff yourself if you aren't hungry, but maybe my metabolism suffered when I…

Wow, that's crazy, I'd be eating more than before I started trying to lose weight! I get that by increasing exercise I need more calories, but it seems like I'd be breaking even more than anything. Again, I'm not sure why different calculators have different outcomes.

On the TDEE, I'm a little confused. I've tried this with a few calculators, and all have widely different results, by the way. Any one in particular to recommend? Judging by one calculator, my BMR is 1121, and with 6x week exercise, my TDEE is 1688. Subtracting 20%, it's 1351, which seems like a lot to me. Is that right?…

Thanks for the replies so far. All this is new to me! I do carry most of my extra weight around my middle/butt/hips (I'm pear-shaped), and while I know these areas can't be targeted for weight loss, that's where I'd like to lose/tone the most. I do eat peanuts/peanut butter and cheeses just about every day to up my…

Today's my day 3! My knees were killing me yesterday, but somewhat better today.