[lovelyivy84]

Everyone in this thread is doing so well, y'all are inspiring!

I had surgery in March, after which I lost about 10 pounds (the anaesthesia in my system made everything seem almost metallic tasting, which was so nasty). I haven't gained any of that back. Since my recovery, I've been on the road for my job , so I haven't been in the gym. Instead I bought a tae bo dvd and I've been doing it pretty religiously in my room at nights, lol. The tae bo dvd is GREAT for the abs. For those looking into slimming down in the waistline, the best method to go about it is to increase cario. Depending on your body type, our bodies hold fat in different areas. THe only way to trim down your mid-section is to reduce the layers of fat that cover it. Core exercises don't do that. What they do is to build muscle in your core, which has a WEALTH of benefits- the core muscles are key in almost EVERY form of exercise and help with better posture.

The hotel I've been staying in has a gym and I use their free weights as well. I work out with weights twice a week, once for upper body, the next for lower body. I like it waaaay more than cardio, which I can only ever think of as a necessary evil.

Now that I've been told I'm going to Paris in September I am going to kick it all up a notch. I'm not sure what eating plan I'll follow (probably a variation on low carb a la south beach, since studies are reflecting that people lost way more doing low carb than other kinds of dieting) but I am working out daily going forward (one day of rest). My goal is to drop at least one size before heading to Europe.