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| Recipes | Layered Chocolate Cake -- Need Suggestions! | Jul 24 2008 23:41 (UTC) |
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| What is your opinion of a white chocolate frosting between the layers with slices of banana on one layer and slices of strawberry on the other? For example, Frosting 6 ounces good-quality white chocolate (such as Lindt or Baker's), chopped 12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature 3/4 cup powdered sugar 2 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract 3/4 teaspoon fresh lemon juice Stir chopped white chocolate in top of double boiler over barely simmering water until almost melted. Remove from over water; stir white chocolate until smooth. Cool to lukewarm, about 4 minutes. Beat cream cheese and unsalted butter in large bowl until fluffy. Gradually beat in lukewarm white chocolate, then powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and lemon juice. |
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| Recipes | What do you put in your Salads? | Jul 24 2008 20:36 (UTC) |
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| Have to admit I haven't read through previous posts but here are a few that have made my salads a little more exciting: herbs: my faves are basil, cilantro, sometimes parsley chopped up veggie patties like Gardenburgers (the ones that are made of beans/grains/etc, not the ones that are trying to taste like meat) I've also done steamed veggies (or microwaved frozen veggies: carrots, broccoli, red pepper, chestnuts, etc) with soy sauce and a few peanuts over lettuce. Throw a sweet italian flavor chicken sausage in too for extra yum :) |
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| Fitness | Front Squats | Jul 23 2008 05:12 (UTC) |
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| But how do you work toward the clean grip if you're not trying to use it? | |||
| Fitness | Front Squats | Jul 23 2008 04:19 (UTC) |
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| Back on the original topic of the front squats with the clean grip: my shoulders get tired before anything else does. Even with a 24lb body bar. Does this just mean I need to work on endurance in my shoulders? |
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| Fitness | Front Squats | Jul 23 2008 03:32 (UTC) |
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| And then you repeat the whole thing, or just from the squat part? So it's basically squats with the bar held in the crook of your arms? | |||
| Fitness | Front Squats | Jul 23 2008 02:41 (UTC) |
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| Re: floggingsully's words of caution: the dip station arms bend up at the ends, which would prevent the bar from rolling forward. The bar tipping could be a problem. And yeah, I wasn't going to try the straddle-wiggle. It'd be tough to get out of there with a broomstick, so forget a weighted bar. I'm mostly bummed because I can't do NROL4W as written. |
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| Fitness | Front Squats | Jul 22 2008 21:23 (UTC) |
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| NOTHING. I'm actually a bit disappointed but it is a women's gym and apparently their goal is to cater to women rather than educate them. (end rant) Anyway, the closest thing there is is the bench for bench press. The arms are not adjustable, and I'd have to straddle the bench and then walk forward until I clear it, and maneuver the bar because there is equipment nearby that the bar would run into if I just walked straight forward. If that makes sense. The one alternative that may work is the dip station -- I could put the bar across it and get under it that way. |
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| Fitness | Front Squats | Jul 22 2008 03:38 (UTC) |
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| Thanks, Melkor. How do I get the weight up there and into the crossed arm grip? | |||
| Fitness | Can someone explain deadlifts? | Jun 17 2008 22:23 (UTC) |
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| OK that makes me feel better. Deadlifts have such a reputation for hurting people's backs that I was getting a little nervous. I am concentrating on keeping my back straight and pushing through my heels, but the last reps get pretty challenging! Anyway, I hope I can lift some really heavy stuff soon :-P Thanks melkor for a speedy response! |
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| Fitness | Can someone explain deadlifts? | Jun 17 2008 22:02 (UTC) |
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| Adding to this question: I've started doing deadlifts as part of NROL4W. I'm still in stage 1 doing 2 sets of 15. I feel my glutes/hams, but also feel my lower back, esp toward the later reps. Does this mean I'm doing it wrong? | |||
| The Lounge | Boston area: cats to good home | May 22 2008 13:13 (UTC) |
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Trust me, it's on Craigslist. Boston and NH. And Petfinder. It is difficult finding adult cats a home during kitten season, and I am just trying to reach out to as many people as possible. Thanks, dm! :-P |
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| The Lounge | Boston area: cats to good home | May 20 2008 23:53 (UTC) |
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| Bumping to try again! | |||
| Fitness | Dumb Question....About Running? | May 15 2008 19:08 (UTC) |
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| I have to offer a word of caution in the face of all the positive comments: Watch your knees. I don't know what you weigh, but you refer to yourself as a "big girl". Knees weren't really built to take the impact of long-distance runs, and much less so if the impact is increased by excess body weight. If you're not set on running, I might pick something else. I know that running is hardcore and becomes a "way of life" for people but maybe you could be a swimmer or elliptical-er :) as your way of life instead of a runner (and maybe in the future, an ex-runner with bad knees!). If you are set on running, please get some good shoes (maybe professionally fitted), replace them often (there are guidelines for this online), and stop at the first hint of joint pain. When muscles hurt, they recover and maybe even get stronger. When joints hurt, they tend to only get worse... |
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| Fitness | Exercise Substitutions | May 08 2008 22:20 (UTC) |
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Oooh thanks! In the video it looks like his knee is moving up as he bends it, which wouldn't happen in a hamstring curl. It says to do this in the instructions; is there some anatomical reason? For the leg extensions I tried them standing up with the cable. I could barely leg-extend one plate and had to hold my leg in place for support. I wonder if I'll have better luck with the hamstring curl. |
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| Fitness | Women interested in clean eating for fat loss-- | May 08 2008 02:50 (UTC) |
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| This thread seems to have died a little so at the risk of flooding iamme again... Here's my beef with clean eating: I feel like when I eat "clean" (or even mostly clean) for a while, and then I have one meal with dessert, I blow up immediately. I don't know if it's because I don't usually have as many carbs in my system and so I retain water? But seriously, within hours my pants don't fit the same. And I feel like if I were eating less clean, maybe I wouldn't have the perfect body, but maybe I'd have a body that could tolerate these kinds of meals. And these kinds of meals WILL happen, at least in my life! Anyone else notice this or is it just me? |
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| Fitness | is too much exercise bad for you? | May 03 2008 04:21 (UTC) |
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| You know if anything... people overtrain to make their muscles smaller. So maybe you're on the right track if you're trying to lose muscle? Though I'm not sure why you would. Probably losing the fat would be more beneficial to health and looks? | |||
| Fitness | Ok who stole my protein?? | May 02 2008 14:28 (UTC) |
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| Actually, I think leiela's question was extremely valid because these protein shakes seem to go against the advice to "3. Eat natural foods ... that fit within 'non-processed'...". I'm no expert but there seems to be a disconnect that goes along with what alevin said: "when eating clean turns into: how much protein powder should I add to each meal, something has gone weird." I think it's the difference between eating clean for health and eating for muscle building. It's like there's a difference between eating healthy and eating low-calorie: a lot of things that are added to low-calorie foods may be chemicals, foreign compounds, etc that they body may or may not know how to deal with, at least in large enough quantities. So yes, protein powders are processed and do have unclean ingredients; at the same time, the protein in them is lean, and if you have them in liquid form, your muscles can absorb the protein very fast. Whether to include the powders in your diet is YOUR CHOICE. If you'd rather get the protein from "clean" foods, then go for your egg whites, lean meats, etc. If you like the convenience/taste/variety of the protein powders and don't mind the other ingredients in them, then do that. You will find people who tell you that the "other" ingredients will hinder your progress, and you will find people who tell you they won't. And it may not just be a difference of opinion; I'm guessing people's bodies actually respond to these things differently. So I guess I would say if you're eating clean for health (i.e. strictly unprocessed), then you may want to skip the protein powders. If you're trying to get tons of protein, then maybe you like the protein powders. At the end of the day -- your call. In the book "In Defense of Food", Michael Pollan makes suggestions for healthy eating (some of which I agree with more than others) but one of his suggestions that stuck out in my mind was, "Don't eat anything your grandmother wouldn't recognize as food." Now, I have a very forward-thinking grandmother... but I'm guessing protein powder was never a part of her diet growing up! :-P And iamme I'm not out to knock your advice, I really appreciate you taking the time to help so many people out! Just had a different opinion here that I wanted to get across. And sorry for the long-windedness :) |
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| Fitness | Is weights before cardio absolutely necessary? | May 01 2008 15:20 (UTC) |
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| "Interval training, running, high-resistance cardio machinery, or other intense cardio activity is a no-no ..." How does this jive with RFFL, which has you do 8 sets of Tabata intervals after a killer workout? |
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| Fitness | Women interested in clean eating for fat loss-- | May 01 2008 14:03 (UTC) |
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iamme thanks for offering to put this thread together. I'd add to your list:
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| Fitness | The Bulgarian Split Squat! | Apr 26 2008 17:54 (UTC) |
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I wanted to bring this post back from the dead because I am in need of some advice! When I try this exercise, my back foot (the one that's raised) cramps up and hurts so bad I can't finish a set. It's not fron dehydration... just from the positioning, maybe from putting a bit of weight on it? One thing that helps is to reposition it, if this makes sense, so that the bottom of the toes are on the chair, instead of the tops. Like if I was standing on the tiptoe of that foot, rather than having the foot upside down. But in all the videos I've seen of this exercise, that's not how it's done. Suggestions? |
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| Fitness | HELP! I am bored with my exercise!!! | Apr 26 2008 17:14 (UTC) |
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| I'm with tri-fun on upping your # of pushups and I'd also add that you don't need to do anywhere near that many crunches. You could try lunges instead. If those are easy, try them with your back leg raised (toes on a chair or something) so your front leg is working that much harder! | |||
| Fitness | Jillian Michaels 30-day Shred | Apr 25 2008 21:23 (UTC) |
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| I checked out Jillian's Making the Cut from the library and tried Day 1 today. Holy cow! I don't know if I could do any of the circuits as written. Mostly what got me was the plyo-y (Burpies, Squat thrusts, Mountain climbers), which I wasn't incorporating in my lifting routines before. Anyone know how similar these are to the 30-day shred workouts? |
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| Fitness | Need a fast, effective workout for busy days! | Apr 24 2008 15:20 (UTC) |
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| Real Fast Fat Loss takes about an hour but along similar lines, I've found that you can get through an effective full-body weight routine in a half hour. Do 3 sets of 8-12 or so of: squats pullups deadlifts pushups Do these in a circuit to minimize rest time and maximize heart rate. Change the order or the # sets of # reps/set to suit you. Also you can sub in or add other compound exercises like lunges or mil presses, and variations like single-leg squats, stiff-leg deadlifts, etc. Just make sure you lift HEAVY (for you -- to failure). |
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| Fitness | active = more calories, overall? | Apr 24 2008 03:40 (UTC) |
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| This would be my input: If, after doing this for a month or two, you've maintained weight, then it's right for you. If you've lost more weight than you expect (more than your calculated deficit adds up to) then you're burning more. "Fit" people may have a higher metabolism if they have more muscle. Muscle requires more energy to keep alive than fat, so people with more muscle burn more calories even just sitting around. There are energy expenditure calculators out there that take your body fat % into account, if you've had that measured, but keep in mind most measurements of it aren't so accurate. The most surefire way is to monitor how your weight responds to this lifestyle over time, and adjust accordingly if necessary. |
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| Fitness | Confused about calorie deficit - will i ever lose weight? | Apr 18 2008 00:36 (UTC) |
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| jesiika how old are you? You say "quite young" and there are many teenagers (and sometimes younger!) around these forums. Anyway, if you're a teen, then there are different calculators you should go by. Unfortunately I don't have one to link you to at the moment, but do some googling. If you're still growing, it is important for you to get adequate nutrition. Worry about being healthy, not about maintaining large deficits... | |||
| Fitness | Understanding Body Fat Percentages | Apr 11 2008 21:40 (UTC) |
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| Just to add my two cents: I don't think it's time to increase the intake yet, if you're feeling good with the amount you're eating. Since you're losing body fat, I wouldn't call this a plateau, and would attribute the weight maintenance to muscle/fluid gains from adding weight training. If you're constantly hungry, miserable, etc, then by all means eat more; otherwise, I'd give the current plan a little more time before you determine it's "not working". Because if you're losing fat, and inches... then it *IS* working! :) Also as a side note, I wouldn't immediately believe the calorie readout on the elliptical. Those things are notorious for overestimating calorie burn. If you can use a heart rate monitor, do; if not, look up calorie burn estimates online and use them for a rough idea of what you're burning. |
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| Fitness | Understanding Body Fat Percentages | Apr 10 2008 19:23 (UTC) |
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| I'd buy that, definitely, about the fat around the wrist. So if you're borderline-medium now, chances are you'll be right where you want to be when you get to your goal! Oh, and I don't want to forget to say -- CONGRATS on the steady and consistent progress. Still going strong after a year and a half is wonderful, and your recent accomplishment with the weight training (not just maintaining but adding lean mass) is just as impressive! I love to see people take control of their weight and HEALTH -- I admire your determination! |
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| Fitness | Understanding Body Fat Percentages | Apr 10 2008 18:49 (UTC) |
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| I read a post on here (I wish links to these things would somehow automatically appear when I thought about them :) ) by a pre-med student I think who had been dissecting cadavers in a class. There was an obese cadaver and normal-weight ones. Once all the fat had been cut away, the obese looked like the healthiest of the bunch! The point here being that it takes more muscle to carry around a heavier body. Just like if a person of a normal weight all of a sudden had to carry 100 lbs around with them -- they'd build a whole lot of muscle! Conversely, your body isn't going to hang on to all that muscle if it doesn't need it. You can and should continue to put forth your best efforts at the gym to maintain as much of the muscle as you can. I don't think you need to worry about looking disproportionate. If you are losing weight, you will likely lose it from both muscle and fat (and water and bone) no matter what you do. Even if you do somehow manage to hang on to all 140lbs of lean mass, remember that lean mass is much denser than fat, and so 140lbs of that may not be as big as you imagine. I have no way of telling you what frame you have. (You can do the wrist test for a rough idea: wrap your middle finger and thumb around your wrist. If they don't touch, large frame; overlap, small frame; just about touch, medium frame.) What I CAN tell you is that the 140lbs you have right now is what your body needs to support its own weight during daily activities. It doesn't mean it's the same amount you will have at your target weight/bf%. Which is why I say... wait and see what you look like when you get there. If it comes down to it, as a last resort (and I'm not suggesting this by any means!!!) -- muscle is easy to lose. You just need to sit on your patooty for a while :-P Oh, and one more thing: if you lose all the weight and it turns out you DO have a large frame (which I'm suspecting is not the case, but I have no way of really knowing), then as far as I know there's not much you can do about it except learn to love it. So no sense worrying about it now... or ever :) |
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| Fitness | Understanding Body Fat Percentages | Apr 10 2008 18:24 (UTC) |
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Actually, both your maths are wrong. :) 140lbs lean mass at 21% body fat means 177lbs total. 177*.21=37 lbs fat. I think the lean mass includes water percentage? If your weight is staying the same but bf% is going down, that means you're losing fat AND adding muscle at the same time. Based on what I've read, this happens only when you first start weight training, for some period of time that varies based on your genetics, exercise program, and probably a gazillion other factors. So it's about right that it's been happening for your first 6 weeks, but is likely to stop soon, unless you have a genetic anomaly. After it stops, you will (hopefully) continue to lose weight if you maintain a caloric deficit. This weight will likely be a combination of fat and muscle, and your goal via the weight training will be to maintain as much of the muscle as you can, so that the overwhelming majority of your weight loss comes from fat. As far as choosing a target: I think 21% is a great target body fat %, and I think you should wait till you get closer to see what your body does on its way there. It may be optimistic to think you can actually hang on to all 140 lbs of muscle -- so in my opinion, you should continue to do what you're doing and fine-tune when the time comes. |
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| Fitness | Pole Dancing | Apr 07 2008 21:26 (UTC) |
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| How much are your pole classes? I just looked around here and it's $180 for a 5-week session, once a week for 60 mins. That comes out to $36/hr! Seems a bit steep for a group class... | |||
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