Posts by paularuck

Original Post by reners76:

Thanks Guys,

I appreciate all your comments. I think i will just stick to good old fashioned eat less, excerise more. I'm just a little confused. There is so much advice out there - eat more protein, less carbs. I tried this, mainly for weight loss but also because I had a yeast overgrowth in my tummy and I wanted to control it. I did, for a time but when I started slowly intergrating carbs and some sugars (fresh fruit) into my diet, my weight just exploded. So I think its back to having a good breakfast, smallish lunch and an even smaller dinner. Plus working out three times a week. Sometimes my calorie intake is just over 1200 but I am still 84 kilos. Its driving me nuts. - plus i am pre-menstrual right now so this thread will probably sound like I am completely nuts.

Anyway - i will keep you all posted.

Renee

 Renee:

try limiting your non-vegetable carbohydrates to the post-exercise period.  Your body is primed to burn them right after exercise (either strength training, intense cardio or at least 60 minutes of lower intensity exercise).  You may have a poor tolerance for carbohydrates, which would explain the weight gain even after slowly introducing them back into your diet.  If that's the case, it's even more important to keep the junk carbs out of your diet.  I've had some really good results by simply timing my intake of starchy carbs (whole grains) to the post workout period, and eating vegetables anytime (preferably with every meal, with a piece or two of fruit thrown in as well).

Good luck!

Original Post by floggingsully:

Original Post by carolann5111:

Here are my 2 cents---I am a yoga instructor (and sometime pilates). Yoga WILL make you stronger  and more flexible AND help your back . depending on the type of yoga! ALL of my personal research and experience, and the published research will support that . Do NOT do a "power" or Ashtanga class if you are new... too easy to get injurred. Live instructors are better than DVD's for beginners....Pilates is great for your back and core and is partially designed FROM yoga. Plus the deep breathing and concentration is great for stress reduction (helps when you have kids!) PLUS you can do yoga WITH kids!!! MY suggestion would be to find a community class and take a few weeks with an instructor than try a DVD or two. please contact me directly if you want more info!

Um, how to you increase the resistance in yoga? if you can't increase resistance you can't get stronger?

how does forcing your back into an unnatural position make it better? the lower back was designed for stability, not flexion and twisting

have links to any of this research to support yoga helping people's backs?

 http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0689/i s_8_53/ai_n6178087

Studies related to relief of back pain and yoga are mostly anecdotal.  However, I did find this article with reputable references that concludes yoga can be a beneficial therapy for those with back pain.  I know from my own personal experience as an instructor that yoga has helped many of my students with not just back, but other types of muscuoskeletal problems -- is this benefit real or perceived?  I don't know, because I'm not a scientist -- I just know what I see and what my students report to me.  Yoga for relief of back pain should not involve severe twisting motions -- just because you are in a yoga class does not mean that every pose will help you -- you need to seek assistance from a teacher that has experience with back issues -- some may even need to find a yoga therapist rather than a teacher to access a much higher level of knowledge and support. 

My own husband suffers from herniated discs in the cervical, lumbar and thoracic spine -- his back goes out on a regular basis.  His physical therapy exercises, which he does every day, and which were given to him by a qualified physical therapist, are all yoga based.  In amythyst girl's case, she openly admits that she did the movement knowing that it was something she probably should not do.  This is not intended as a criticism of her, so please don't take it that way -- you need to do what you know is right for your body, no matter what anyone tells you.  If you know from past experience a particular type of movement is going to aggravate some condition that you have, then don't do it -- period.  It doesn't matter what the instructor says -- he or she cannot see inside your body and can only give generalized advice.   I have turned away students because their issues  were more serious than I am qualified to handle.  That's what physical therapists and yoga therapists are for.    The types of postures that would be appropriate for someone with one kind of back issue could be totally inappropriate for someone with another kind of issue. 

There is a place for yoga in a well rounded fitness routine.  It should not take the place of weights or cardio and should definitely not take the place of good medical intervention when there is an injury in question.  However, I firmly believe yoga is, and can be, extremely beneficial in many scenarios.

I am a yoga instructor and would like to encourage you to try yoga, as it can most definitely help to strengthen your lower back muscles and alleviate the pain you are having.  However, a big caveat -- you need to be sure you are doing the poses correctly.  The only way to really and truly do that safely is to take a class with a certified yoga instructor, preferably one with experience in injured populations.  Back problems are nothing to mess around with, and you can seriously make your problems worse by doing the postures (or any exercise for that matter) incorrectly.  You may not even be aware of the damage you are doing until pain sidelines you again.  Yoga poses that are known for being "good for the back" can cause serious injury if not done correctly -- even a simple Cobra pose can make things worse if done wrong. 

Please take the time to obtain some instruction, either from a yoga instructor or a qualified physical therapist (also a great source of back strengthening exercises).  Talk to your doctor about a prescription for a short course of Physical Therapy.  Many of the stretches that a PT will teach you for your back come from yoga.

Since I cannot see you to evaluate you, I would hesitate to recommend any specific postures for you -- I can't emphasize enough how important it is to get the proper instruction.  I will tell you, however, that in order to strengthen your back, the muscles of your core (which support your back) need to be strong as well.  As I believe floggingsully recommended, planks are excellent for strengthening your entire core, but again, they need to be done correctly in order to be effective and not further exacerbate the issues you are having.  Be sure that your body is in a straight line when you do them -- have someone look at you to be sure your bum is not sticking up or dipping down, causing a swayback.  If you can't do the plank on with your legs extended with good form, feel free to drop to your knees and begin there. 

I hope that you will get some assistance from a qualified PT and/or yoga professional and will soon be on your way to recovery!

Good luck!

Original Post by kizzichan:

Original Post by paularuck:

Original Post by kizzichan:

Ohhh, ok I see I missed bobs' post.  Interesting.  Yes, that sucks.  But that is Philly for you.  Not all Philadelphians are upstanding characters, but then not all of any region is.  They happened to be 2 scary guys who really wanted Obama to win and were willing to resort to threats to get what they wanted.  I agree that it's scary because some people are like that.  Some people really are making this election out to be about race other than politics.  But I think most people know the issues.  In any election, you'll get people that'll vote on one superficial factor over important issues - I'm sure people down south probably ragged on Obama supporters.  Such is the nature of racism, but if I believe one good thing about Obama getting elected (and me disliking Obama so means this is really a good thing) it is that the nation has shown us that the majority of it has been able to overcome racial discrimination.

Whoa, whoa, paularuck.  Can I see some source for where you're getting that information about the parking?  Philly's mostly liberal, I HIGHLY doubt the police are trying to discourage "certain groups" from voting by threatening them with parking tickets.  How would the police know whether someone was voting a certain way?  And I've lived in Philly, I lived there 12 years, and I know some cops - they have better things to do.  They're not wasting their time on this garbage.

Bobs again: I don't think Obama would let scary terrorist-type people in his national security force, though.  What you said about Fox is interesting, though, it's very true.  However, the liberal posters are right when they say Fox is biased.  Fox is biased in the same way CNN is biased - no more, no less.  They are both equally infuriating to me.  Apparently CSPAN is the best for less bias, according to my brother, although I don't watch the news because it makes me angry with all the reporters putting their own spin on things.  Regardless, I think it's important that networks not censor the truth in an effort to get their point across.  But this is a rather useless comment, as that's not shown any signs of changing.

Beautiful poem.  Absolutely lovely.  I can't believe a young boy wrote that!

 The information came from a good friend who was working the polls and ended up going door to door to dispel the rumors -- that's all they were were rumors -- the police or anyone official had nothing to do with it -- that was the point -- they were scare tactics concocted by those who were trying to prevent people from voting.  It doesn't take much for a rumor, no matter how unfounded, to become fact once it starts making the rounds.  I did not say the police were doing this -- I said there was a story being circulated by those who sought to prevent certain groups from voting that this would happen.  I am from the Philly area also, so I understand the demographics also. 

Ohhh, alright, I misunderstood what you were saying.

Rumors! ;)

Original Post by bobs9895:

Original Post by nuggetkong:

Original Post by bobs9895:

Back to the original topic, does this scare anybody?

Did anybody see the news from Philadelphia on election day where two Black Panthers, one of which is a poll watcher and the other carrying a nightstick, were blocking doors and intimidating voters trying to enter the building? Comments being made that a black man was going to win the election no matter what. And they they were tired of white supremacy?

Probably not because as far as I know it was only on FOX news. Yet again, the major networks blocking any negative news about Obama to suit their needs.

Can you imagine these types of people most interested in joining Obama's national security force?

Scary indeed.

 

....um, how is that negative news about Obama? If there were KKK people blocking a door, I wouldn't be all "Look at what McCain did!" The actions of a few crazy people does not always reflect the actions of the person they're acting crazy for. Since when has Obama had any ties to the Black Panthers? As far as his security force, are you being serious? You really think they'd even consider that? Or are you just saying it would be scary if they were? Which is kind of a moot point, because it would be equally as scary as skinheads wanting to be in the security detail for McCain. Or is it just beacuse he's black and the people who are acting crazy are black that you're saying that....?

You sound like you're just determined to be scared regardless of how scary the thing that's freaking you out actually is.

Thanks for reading my mind.  I didn't say I was scared or freaking out.  But I appreciate you assuming you know all about me.

I asked if anybody thought the situation was scary.

And I also didn;t say in any way this reflected on Obama.  Once again you took my words and twisted them.

My point was mostly how in our society we still have jackasses doing these things.  And more to the point, the media does not fairly reflect such.

Are you going to argue that if it were skinheads or neo-nazis the press would not have reported it?  If so, you're quite naive.  Those two idiots in Tennessee had heavy coverage.

As for the national security force, I was simply asking if it were thought these might be the type of individual attracted to such a thing.

In the future, you might not want to read into what people write and inflect your own opinions and prejudices into what they write.  I can tell you when you read something I write, you can pretty much take it at face value.  No need to read anything more into it.

 

 Bob:

I think you are misinterpreting the reason for the Panthers presence.  It was not to intimidate white voters; rather, it was to try to prevent poor black voters from being intimidated into not voting.  No one was there to threaten or intimidate anyone, but rather to offer protection.  It is very sad to say that tactics are used against poor miniority voters to prevent them from exercising their right to vote, but those things do happen -- in Philadelphia and across the country.

Also in Philadelphia was the story of how certain groups of voters were targeted and told that if they showed up to cast their vote on Election Day, they had better be sure they didn't have any outstanding warrants or parking tickets, because the Philadelphia police were going to be there arresting people with outstanding traffic warrants when they came to vote.  Ridiculous -- and utterly despicable. 

No matter which side tries to intimidate -- it's flat out wrong.  Unfortunately, it's a fact that most of these tactics are targeted at poor minority people.

Calorie estimates are just that -- estimates.  The best way to get a more accurate estimate of the calories your body burns during any activity is to wear a heart rate monitor programmed for your stats during the activity and see how those numbers compare to what CC says.  I wouldn't put a lot of stock in what appears on the website of the company who is making money from the program -- I would view that information skeptically until proven otherwise.

Spiro -- I've done Body Pump, and frankly, I prefer lifting on my own.  I feel that I get a better workout that way.  While you definitely have fun in a Body Pump class (the group dynamic and music are usually good), I find that if I used as much weight as I need to challenge my muscles, I would either injure myself or be way behind the class as you need to constantly change up the weights in a very short period of time.  The injury worry comes from the fast pace of the workout -- lifting heavy weights and moving quickly really don't mix. 

That said, I do feel there's a place for Body Pump in your workout repitoire; I've gone to classes during active recovery weeks and just used light weights.  Sometimes if motivation is REALLY lacking, I'll go just because the group dynamic has a tendency to perk me up

Thank you Emily!

Original Post by alevin:

You mean workout 1? There are 6 of them in stage 7.

A - Barbell Squat - 2 sets, 6-8 reps, 90 sec rest

B1 - Static lunge, rear fult elevated - 4 sets, 15-20 reps, 30 sec rest
B2 - Pushups - 4 sets, 15-20 reps, 30 sec rest
B3 - Barbell Romanian deadlift - 4 sets, 15-20 reps, 30 sec rest
B4 - Dumbbell bent over row - 4 sets, 15-20 reps, 30 sec rest

Congrats on getting to that point!

 Alevin:

Thanks so much for this --  you saved my Monday workout

This is an awesome program -- I'm loving it!

I would also like to second the recommendation that if you haven't already done so, to bring Hospice in.  The men and women who work in Hospice are angels on earth.  When my husband's dad passed last year, we brought them in near the end.  How amazing they were!  Not just for Dad, but for all of us.  They helped us to help him die, and they were there for us all afterward.  I just got a call from the Hospice counselor a week ago because it was a year since he passed, and they wanted to know how we were all doing. 

Spend time with him, help him to make this difficult transition.  You will be glad you did, even though it is incredibly difficult to let someone we love go.  I find that by thinking of the body as a house for the soul, and that the soul does not die, but moves on, helps.  Every time I hear my mother in-law's wind chimes ring outside my sliding door, I feel it's her way of saying hello, and that she's okay. 

Allow yourself to feel whatever you feel -- there is no right or wrong way to grieve. 

Congrats!  I have been trying to accomplish a chin up -- even a proper negative -- as part of the NROLFW program.  I am finishing up Stage 6, where we are supposed to do negatives.  Because I was unable to keep my body stable on the regular bar, I started doing them on the Assisted Pull-Up machine, and I was certainly able to make improvements, but just not quite enough to do it without any assistance at all (30 lbs of assistance was the best I could accomplish).  I WILL keep working on it -- it's one of those things that just nags at you until you do it :).

Again, congrats on the accomplishment -- for most women, it IS a real accomplishment!