Posts by mhaskell

Original Post by melkor:

On a more serious note, because they lack the proper frame of reference for what results from serious training will be.

 This is a 50-year old woman. 

I think I have a new hero.

Original Post by pgeorgian:

i think it's an excuse. 

 Nah, it's just misinformation perpetuated by bad women's fitness magazines.

I'm 25, married for about a year and a half, and I met my husband when I was 19.  A lot of people think that's young, but really, it's all relative.  I dated several guys in college prior to dating my husband.  We were actually friends before we started dating.  In any case, he graduated a year before me and was working while I was still in school.  When I graduated, we moved in together and then about 9 months after that he proposed.  We had a year and a half engagement.  So all told, we knew each other about five years before we were married.

There was never a single point when I decided that this was the man that I wanted to marry.  As someone else said, he kind of grew on me.  We are best friends, first and foremost, and we made a decision that we wanted to be partners in life.  People will talk about how much they love a person and can't live without them, but in reality that's never truly the case.  When you get married, you are creating a partnership.  You are agreeing that you will be there for that person to make them a better person and to support them in everything that they do, and they agree to the same for you.  I could live without my husband, I could support myself financially and I certainly wouldn't physically die without him, but I don't want to live without him and I don't think that I ever will.  There will be difficult times, and times when I don't feel all gushy in love, but that doesn't matter because I've decided to make a life with him and to be partners with him.  The priest at our wedding gave a great piece of advice; "You have to make the decision to love the person every single day."

So my advice to you is to look at your relationship very carefully and make a decision as to whether or not you want to make a life partnership with your boyfriend.  Don't worry about age, don't worry about what people think, just make a decision for yourself.  If he's hurt you in the past, ask yourself if you think he'll do the same again.  Do you want to have children with this man?  Does he even want kids?  Do you?  Do you keep secrets from him or he from you?  Do you want a career?  How will that affect your relationship?  Where do you want to live?  How would you ideally set up your finances (money raises a lot of questions in a lot of relationships, so be sure to think carefully about this).  What about religion?  Talk to him about all of these things as well, because you might be surprised at some if his answers.  The pros and cons list is a really great idea, but make sure that you ask all the questions of yourself and of him. 

I should probably also add, that marriage does not automatically equate to children.  My husband and I have decided to wait several years so that we can enjoy just being together and spend our money travelling rather than on kids.  You can still enjoy life and do lots of wonderful things, you'll just be doing them together rather than on your own for the most part.  You can also still have your own life and career - I do!  I have my own friends and so does he; even though we all hang out together pretty often, they're still primarily my or his friends.  I also have a career and career goals, and he's supportive of that.  Marriage sometimes requires sacrifice, but it also requires compromise and you don't always have to give up everything.

Why does it have to be a challenge to the professor?  It seems to me that you should be able to discuss your ideas in an open forum that does not turn into a bad grade for you.  I concede that this is a bit of a naive, idealistic view of college, but I honestly think that it all depends on how you present the issue to the prof. 

For example, if you were to say "Hey prof, you're wrong!  I read this article in Cosmo that said X, Y, and Z", then yes, you will piss off the prof and not be taken seriously, resulting in a bad grade. 

On the other hand, if you meet with your professor during office hours and say, "Hi professor A, I was interested in the topic that we discussed yesterday in class so I did some additional research on it.  I found this peer-reviewed published scientific article that appears to contradict some of the things you said in class, and I was hoping that we could discuss it and you could help me better understand the findings of the study," then you've not only shown your interest in the class and eagerness to learn, you've flattered the professor by asking for his/her help. 

Some professors aren't really interested in helping students or even really teaching, so you have to understand what type of professor you're dealing with before you push the line, but I've never met a professor who will give you a bad grade for asking questions.  By not telling the professor that he/she is wrong, and just asking the question, the worst that can happen is that they won't discuss the matter with you and you can just go back to regurgitating answers. 

By all means, protect your GPA, but why not take control of your own education a little at the same time?

Hi Paula -

Somehow I missed your second post there about the interval training (#53).  Did you ever do the intervals on your lifting day, like on the weekend?  If so, did you feel a difference in your performance?  I'm interested to know what the affect of splitting it up will be, but like I said before, most likely that is what I will have to do too.

I've found that if I put my workouts off until the evening, I'll find even more excuses not to do them!  For one thing, my commute takes over an hour and I often work until 6 or 7, so I don't get home until 8, and then I just want to have dinner with my husband and go to bed.  If I workout in the morning, the only person I can blame for not getting it done is myself, which in the past has meant that I'll do it, but now I'm just tired.

Good news though - I managed to get a workout in this morning and it felt great!  It was workout B from Stage 2.  I didn't do the interval training because I ran out of time, but I think I'll be able to work that in this afternoon, or at worst tomorrow morning. 

Warning to Suburban Dog Owners

I live in a nice suburban neighborhood with a large fully-fenced backyard and have two large-breed mutts (really no idea what breeds they are, maybe husky/german shepherd).  My husband and I built a dog run for them which they love.  We put in pavers so that they're not constantly in the dirt, and they have lots of shade and a huge bucket of water.  We live in So. Cal. so the weather is pretty much always nice enough for them, but when it gets really hot in the summer we keep them inside with the A/C on. 

Or at least that's what we used to do . . .

Unfortunately, someone decided that it would be fun to take pop-shots at our dogs with a bee bee (sp?) gun.  We discovered this one day when we found a lump on Foster's chest.  When we took him to the vet, they discovered a bee bee imbedded in his skin.  Needless to say, we can no longer keep our dogs outside.  Instead, we now have to keep them indoors while we're at work, which is usually about 10 hours away from home. 

We're going to buy a security camera to monitor the yard, and then post a bunch of signs so that whoever did it won't do it again, but until that day, our poor (big) dogs live almost entirely in the house. 

Just a reminder that if you do keep your dogs outside during the day, make sure you pay attention to who your neighbors are and check the dogs for injuries.  If we hadn't found that lump, we might never have known that someone was tormenting our puppies, and who knows how far that person might have taken things.

Hi kngrant124 -

I'm also 5'5" and 25 yrs old.  Is there a reason that you're only eating 1200 calories?  That seems a little low to me.  I weigh about 135 right now and I usually eat about 2000 a day.  I'm mostly trying to build muscle right now, so I wouldn't expect you to be eating that much necessarily, but according to this calculator, which is often used be people on these forums, you should be eating about 1500 calories (assuming you're female; male would be different but even higher).  I don't think that undereating is the cause of the weight gain, but it could be part of the reason you plateaued.

My guess would be that the weight gain is due to water retention in your muscles.  You have to give your body time to adapt a bit (not too much though - you need to keep challenging yourself too) to the work you're making it do before you start worrying about the weight.  It sounds like you're on the right track as far as your health is concerned, so don't let a number on the scale mess with your head.  Note how you feel on a daily basis and how your clothes are fitting.  It's a much better guide than a scale which can move up or down several lbs in the course of one day, let alone a week or a month.

You have to treat this as a learning experience.  I don't know what your BA was in, however I would not suggest that you go work at McDonald's even if it would be better, because it doesn't give you the experience that you need to find your NEXT job.  Keep a positive attitude about it and swing things your way.  For example, you say you're working on a huge conference and sending out massive mailings.  Guess what, you now have experience in event planning and marketing.  Both of those key terms will look great on your resume and help you get that better job that you're looking for. 

Keep your chin up.  Everyone dislikes their boss at some point, but at least you only have one (think about Office Space)!  But remember that you don't have to stay there, you just have to find something better that move you in the right direction. 

Keep looking for other jobs at the University, there's usually turn over right before the start of the school year.  Keep your resume up to date and on hand so that if you meet someone that's doing something interesting, you can give it to them (maybe not right then and there, but get their email, send a follow-up question, and then send a resume after their response).  Start networking with other people.  If there's an alumni club at the University, make sure you join and attend their events to see if there's anything out there. 

In the meantime, just do what you have to do to learn anything and everything you can where you're at and develop the skills that will get you the job you want.  Take classes in anything to keep your brain active and further develop those skills and just keep smiling.  Don't let your boss get to you.  I know it's easier said than done (been there myself), but remember, it's business, not personal, and you need to do the best that you can for yourself.

Since when are infomercials NOT full of crap?

I've never bought Si6, but I've bought DVD's along the same lines, like The Firm, etc.  But here's the thing, the marketing preys on the people who are just starting out, aren't naturally athletic, or who haven't studied/read/researched fitness.  These DVDs are actually a good workout.  They're not going to build muscle, but they'll make you stronger if you're at a fairly low starting point. 
They certainly burn a lot of calories while you're diong them (before I get yelled at, I'd like to point out that I said while you're doing them, I am fully aware that strength training burns more calories over time).  So depending on your starting level, you could lose a lot of weight doing the exercises.

That being said, I think I've figured out what the infomercials mean by "get that long, lean, sculpted look of a dancer".  They actually mean that you're going to lose muscle!  Sure, you'll see more muscle because you're losing body fat, but you're also going to lose muscle, therefore causing you to look "leaner" and not get "bulky".  I'm not saying dancers aren't strong - they have to be to do some of those jumps and holds - but they don't have much muscle on them.  They look delicate because they naturally have a slim body type and they don't have much muscle (again, talking weight, not strength). 

Now, for some women, that's what they want.  They want to look like an anorexic twig.  Personally, I like looking strong and being strong.  I don't ever want to be targeted as weak or vulnerable because I look delicate.  I don't think I could ever look delicate anyway, no matter how much weight I lost . . . but that's beside the point.

And the "traditional weight routines make you bulky" is obviously crap, but relative to an anorexic twig, I AM "bulky" and proud of it!!

gi-jane:  I totally agree with you on this one.  In the past, I have always eaten three meals a day.  As part of a new workout and healthy eating plan, I am now eating 5 - 6 small meals a day.  At first it was very hard to do.  I didn't feel hungry at my snack times and then I would want to eat a lot more at my regular meal times than I should.  However, over the last few months my appetite and habits have changed.  I now feel full much faster and hungry more frequently.  So, now I can listen to my body more and (assuming I am making healthy choices) eat without worrying about calories.

I don't know if this is an accurate representation of what is actually happening, but it feels like over time my stomach will grow or shrink based on what and how I eat.  So if you have a problem undereating, you may need to force yourself to eat even when you're not hungry in order to make your calorie goals and then over time your stomach will "stretch" (not really but it feels like it) and your body will get used to eating more.  For people who have a problem with overeating, the reverse is true. 

I don't think that you can listen to your body when your body is so used to doing something unhealthy.  Once you get into a healthy habit, THEN you can stop planning your meals so closely, but until then you will just fall back into your old habits. 

Thanks Everyone!  I really appreciate the feedback.  I will definitely try out a couple of these to see which one I like best. 

Melkor - can you explain this:

"When having a protein shake pre-workout increases blood flow and muscular protein synthesis by 200% compared to having the same shake post-workout this difference becomes markedly less useful.

 My usual approach is to have a whey/casein blend pre-workout and then a pure whey (ON for preference) shake post-workout, but I'm an exercise geek who cares about a 4% difference :)"

What is the benefit of adding casein (and what exactly is it, other than a different type of protein)?  I'm planning on having a small pre-workout shake and then adding protein to my breakfast as well (cereal or yogurt usually).  I usually work out first thing in the morning, so my pre-workout shake would really be more like my breakfast and my breakfast would be more like a morning snack, but still pretty early in the day. 

I like weighted side bends.  You basically stand up straight, feet hip width or so apart, hold a dumbell in one hand and lower the dumbell towards your knee a few inches, then raise it back up.  You want to keep your shoulders in line with your hips (meaning don't twist your torso) and knees just slightly bent.  It doesn't take a ton of weight to feel the contraction, so start off easy until you find the right level of intensity.  Also, you might not "max-out" the muscles while you're doing the exercise (a good thing since you use your abs for everything), but the first few times that you do it you should feel sore the next day. 

I don't have the best answer to this, so I'll let someone like melkor, iamme, floggingsully, or spirochete explain it, but I do have a question for you . . .

Since you asked all men (I'm taking "guys" to mean that they are in fact all male), do you think that it could be that they don't want to see a GIRL lift as much weight as they can (or even close)? 

I'm not a bodybuilder and compared to many, I'm not even all that strong, but I DO lift wieghts as heavy as I can for 3 sets of 6 - 12 reps.  I am NOT bulky.  It takes a really long time and a lot of effort to get bulky (think fitness model or figure competitor) ESPECIALLY if you're a woman.  By lifting heavy (for you) you get a much better workout in less time.

Here's a site to check out: http://stumptuous.com/cms/index.php

I actually use the yoga toes and love them.  I do spend a lot of time in heels because I work in an office and I've found that the yoga toes really help stretch out my feet.  I doubt that they do all that they claim to do (read: fix hammer toes and bunions and plantar fasciatis, etc.) but to me they feel really good.  I sometimes get sore muscles in the arches of my feet from running or jumping rope and the yoga toes always feel like a good stretch. 

I just tried moving my big toe out and back and I couldn't do it without lifting up all my other toes or moving my foot a little bit.  I think I'm starting to get bunions as well, so I'll try doing that too.  It can't hurt right?