[lovelyivy84]

Thanks for the tips!

I am trying to be more active in other ways, and have found a lot of different ways to work it in with my day- I work on the third floor of my building and almost always take the stairs (and I am up and down those stairs several times a day, so it adds up), and I have a nice long half-mile walk to my job. When I first started here I leaned out because of the increased activity. But then I stopped going to the gym regularly for cardio due to time constraints and I went back to what I think of as my body's set point.

At this point I do my resistance workouts at home- I have an array of dumbells and purchased a barbell a while back, so I am able to increase intensity periodically. Plus it's just a lot more fun than cardio, and thus easier to stick to, lol. It's just the cardio that I have fallen down on.

*Sigh* I will just have to recommit myself to fitness this winter I guess. I don't foresee myself getting back to the level of perfection I was at last winter when I was absolutely precise about what I ate and when I exercised because I am now employed, lol. But I am just trying to think of ways to make everything tighter.

ETA: My upper body workout looks like this:

warmup: Tae Bo 8 minute blast
3 sets of 10 reps of:
bench presses
barbell rows
military press
pull ups
50 pusu ups (no reps/sets)
biceps- either concentration curls or hammer curls
tricep kickbacks or dips

lower body is simpler:
3 sets of ten reps of:
squats (sometimes more than 3 sets on this one- my lower body is much stronger than my upper body and without a squat machine at home it's hard for me to handle that much weight across my shoulders with good form- my lower body has no problem squatting it, but lifting and putting down the weights can be downright dangerous if I am working the muscle to failure)
lunges or step ups with a tall box
dead lifts
calf raises

I increase weight periodically so I am always pushing myself. I have a whey protein shake right after I finish so that my muscles have plenty of amino acids to repair the damage I've just caused.