Posts by larsa000

I love the downhills.  On my way to my parents house I always take the bigger hill so that I can have more downhill time

The whole point of a post-workout snack is that you are refuelling your muscles and your body is better able to put the food you eat right after your workout towards rebuilding than later.  The most important thing is to keep in mind that you don't want to eat so much that you have more calories going in than you expended.  For example, walking briskly for half an hour (expends 150 cals) and then eating a muffin (anywhere from 300-500 cals) is not a good plan. 

A little protein and a little carbs together are good and many people recommend low fat milk or chocolate milk (with or without protein powder) because it's a good source of protein, low in fat, has some carbs and is convenient.  A slice or two of turkey and a rice cake works.  A high protein boost is ok, but I'm not a fan of the taste and it seems so artificial.

Cellulite is a certain type of skin where the skin is attached to what's underneath, but only some points of the skins are tightly attached (where the dimples are).  When whatever is underneath that type of skin holds it taut then the 'dimples' aren't as noticeable. So for you fat had been holding your cellulite taut and now that there is less fat the cellulite is more noticeable. 

What you can do is to increase the muscle in the area by doing strength training and then muscle will be what is stretching out the cellulite area and it will look better than it does currently. 

The location and amount of cellulite you have is mostly genetic and there isn't much you can do about unfortunately.

Do you find that you are breathing harder than if you were just walking?  If not I would just log it as walking or walking with stroller.  I take my kids in a double stroller and the total weight is about 100 lbs between children, stroller and all the stuff I bring along and yeah when going uphill it's hard work, but on flat stretches the wheels do most of the work, so I just log it as walking briskly.

The best exercise is the one that you will do and continue to do.  Especially for beginners.  When you are first starting to exercise you will see improvements from almost any kind of increased movement.  As you get more fit, then other options may become better, but for now it sounds like you are doing what is working for you, so keep it up

I found that putting on a really engaging movie or show to watch while running helped me forget how far I had gone and go further.  Put a towel over the time and distance and just go for as long as the movie or show lasts.

Pickles are low cal and crunchy.  Very high salt though.

Yes. I'm very sure he wants one.  He loves, loves, loves gadgets of all sorts and has been talking about getting one for a while now.

All I have to say is Holy Cr@p!  No wonder male gymnasts have the bodies they have.

Congratulations on your first triathlon!  I did my first one this summer too and it was one of my best experiences ever.

Congrats on your running milestone!  It is a great feeling to meet a goal.  Good for you

My main reason for working out is to be a good role model for my kids.  I have three girls and I want them to grow up to be strong, fit women.  Last week my four year old told me that she needs to eat lots of vegetables and exercise like me so that she can be big and strong too and I just about burst with pride.

I also mostly workout for health reasons.  I want to be the grandma who has the energy to play with her grandkids and run around the yard and go for bike rides.  The fact that I feel good after a workout and look better now that I'm in better shape are great but secondary.

The best time to exercise when you will actually do it.  If you find that you are most motivated to exercise at night and would never be able to get out of bed for a morning routine, then exercise at night.  Like a previous poster said though, if you exercise too close to bedtime you might have a hard time falling asleep.

Today hasn't been the best day for me.  Sundays never are.  I got to sleep in though (yay).

10 am 1 c Vector cereal with 3/4 c skim milk

12 pm Spinach salad with 1/2 hard boild egg and 1 tbsp buttermilk salad dressing

2 pm 1 c Chocolate high protein boost

3 pm Homemade protein bar from NROLFW

4 pm Skor bar and bottle of diet coke (broke down and bought them when I gassed up my van on the way to work)

6 pm Vegetable, barley and pork soup

(so far approximately 1500 cals 45:25:30 carbs:prot:fat)

I'll probably have a snack later tonight, possibly cut up apples with peanut butter or something of that nature.  I really like cottage cheese with raw cashews, but since I'm at work I don't have any cashews).

I did a weight workout for 1/2 and hour and intervals for another 1/2 hour today.

Original Post by pegamoose:

Original Post by larsa000:

Something to keep in mind with swimming too is that your heartrate tends to be about 10 bpm slower than if you were doing the equivalent intensity on land out of the water.

um, what? Explain to me how this works. Ask any swimmer if their workouts are "easy." I do, however, agree that it's not easy to lose fat while swimming, just because you eat back so many calories. You do gain a lot of muscle, though.

In my opinion, it's the best exercise. But I might be biased.

 I wasn't saying this to imply that swimming is easy.  I swim twice a week and think that it's great exercise. I said this because you need to adjust your training zones if you are swimming, because if you try to push yourself to get your heartrate up to your land training zones you are going to be in hell and not able to keep going.  When I'm doing a fast front crawl and pushing myself really hard my hr is still only going to be about 150 even when at the same exertion while running it will be 160-170.  Your body naturally down regulates your heart when you are in the water, partly due to the change in temperature and natural cooling effect of water.  I personally go by exertion in the water and not hr because of this phenomenon.

http://www.new-fitness.com/swimming.html

"Beginning swimmers need to know that ones resting heart rate decreases 10 beats per minute in water, and maximum heart rate decreases by 10 to 30 beats. The heart puts out just as much blood as in other exercises because it pumps more volume with each stroke, but more slowly. No one is certain why heart rate decreases in water, but the lower temperature and lesser pull of gravity in water may be the cause. In any case, if you know what your exercise heart rate should be, that number should be lower by at least 10 beats when you swim. Swimming is a good sport to take up if you would like to increase your muscle and strength endurance. It is also good for increasing your stamina and improving your cardiovascular system by improving the bodies' use of oxygen and allowing the heart to work less strenuously."