HELP!!! I wanna lose weight!

[Prissfit1908]

You have named some of the the most common factors that women have to deal with when it comes to working out: 1. lack of time and 2. easy on the knees.

As you noted, elipitical training is a great workout that can really pack a heck of a caloric burn and it's nearly impact-free. However, like any form exercise, it can get monotonous. Also, you may need to increase your minutes of cardio since it sounds like you are already in good condition. The body does get stagnant quite easily, and a new challenge of a few extra minutes or a higher incline is just the thing to keep you on your toes, no pun intended.

If you can devote 45 minutes to cardio, it doesn't all have to be at one station. You can spend twenty on the recumbent bike on a "ride in the park" battling some grueling hills, and then jump on the eliptical for twenty-five minutes. That will give you spice of life, and still get your heart rate up and help you burn fat. Just be certain not to take too much time between machines if you want to stay in the proper heart rate zone.

Also, remember that every little bit of exercise counts. Take the stairs over the elevator, take that parking space off in the cut (as long as it's a safe, well-lit lot), etc... I do calf raises while I clean the kitchen and while I take showers. I also wear ankle weights around the house. Every little bit counts!

I highly recommend surfing ivillage.com for some great tips on squeezing fitness into a busy lifestyle. They also have great nutrition tips for women.

So basically, my answer is if you have a little block of time and you want to get in a cardio blast, the eliptical machine is a great way to go. But, I would also recommend that you occasionally try 45 minutes broken up. Here is my personal workout when I'm really short on time (upper body):

5 minutes on eliptical (working hard)
set of push ups (fast but very controlled)
25 crunches (control is key)
set of lat pull downs
5 minutes on eliptical (working hard)
set of push ups
25 crunches
set of tricep kickbacks (free weights; focusing on form)
5 minutes on eliptical (you should be sweating by now )
set of push ups
25 of crunches
set of dumbbell presses (overhead; watch that form)
5 minutes on eliptical (really pushing yourself now, girlie)
25 of crunches
set of push ups
set of dumbbell curls
3 minutes on eliptical (pushing as hard as possible)
2 minutes cooling down on eliptical

*you should spend about five minutes doing the push ups, crunches, etc... between your time on the trainer. I cannot stress how key form is during this training. It's easy to get caught up in the pace of it and miss out on the benefits if you're not careful.

On days when you plan to focus on your lower body, you would keep the crunches, swap lunges for the push ups, and throw in sets of lower body exercises (i.e. leg curls, presses, calf raises). This would really give you the most benefit when you are pressed for time! After a workout like this, you still have time to shower and get that wig together!

Hope this helps! Talk with you soon!

[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.

[toocute]

Can I just say I am always in AWE when lovelyivy posts about diet/exercise and nutrition...then I feel guilty about slipping from diet. lol.

Prissfit1908 I will hop on your bandwagon and will post more later(I have to work sometime lol) There is another certain somebody on this board I'm going to get on your bandwagon also. I have to send her a PM

[Prissfit1908]

Or is that 8-minute Tae-Bo video longer than eight minutes? I swear it's at least 15! I bought six of those videos from HSN/QVC (one of the two) a couple of years ago for $30. Two basic, two advanced, 8-minute and a video to help you could use with a punching bag/stand. They are great! As a matter of fact, I did one of the basic today and I thought my thighs were going to fall off! I mean, I literally had to yell out after it was all said and done. Whew! Billy is no joke!

Has anyone tried Winsor Pilates? I have long adored the Pilates technique for keeping my core very strong, but I am budgeting and I let my gym membership go. That means no more Pilates classes for me since I definitely can't afford to go to a Pilates studio. But I have found that the Winsor DVD's are wonderful.

Toocute, welcome to the bandwagon! I know it's some more folks who want to join! Don't be shy! We can do this together. It'll be like Weight Watchers only free and no meetings. Okay, so it won't be anything like WW, but it will still be fun to do it together!

[lovelyivy84]

Originally posted by toocute
Can I just say I am always in AWE when lovelyivy posts about diet/exercise and nutrition...then I feel guilty about slipping from diet. lol.

Prissfit1908 I will hop on your bandwagon and will post more later(I have to work sometime lol) There is another certain somebody on this board I'm going to get on your bandwagon also. I have to send her a PM

I was unemployed. I had a looot of time to do research, lol. And I'm also vain so there ya go!

As of right now I am trying like everyone else to be good. I have all the information I just need to modify my behavior. It's really difficult (says the person who had a soda AND cookie with lunch!).

Soror Prissfit- the Tae Bo tape only FEELS longer, lol. I bought it a while back and lost my copy so I dl'ed it off of kazaalite- trust me I watch the timer while working out! It is indeed 8 minutes.

I am not a Pilates person. For flexibility and peace of mind I MUCH prefer yoga, and I just feel that pilates is falsely marketed as a possible replacement for weight training. That and the spot reduction myth are the ones that really annoy me!

[Prissfit1908]

Soror LovelyIvy,

I know what you mean about the false advertising that surrounds Pilates and lots of other forms of exercise. However, as long as you have a realistic outlook on what to expect, you won't be sorry. I would not recommend Pilates to someone who had 50+ lbs to lose and had not set foot inside a gym since junior high. Pilates works well for someone who is already in decent shape and wants to increase flexibility, tone and ab/back strength.

I like yoga as well. If you get the Oxygen channel, I would recommend you try the 6:00 a.m. yoga show M-F. But if you're a purist, never mind. The host is entertaining and the music is grooving, which can be distracting to me and my poses depending on the mood I'm in. It does, however, make doing yoga at 6:00 a.m. a little easier sometimes.

[lovelyivy84]

I am not a yoga purist, lol. But I like power yoga specifically, where you get to burn a few calories along with your peaceful meditative state. It's great! One gym I attended had tribal yoga (yoga + african dance), which was bizarre but WONDERFUL!

I suppose that pilates wouldn't bother me so much if so many people didn't buy into it. Every time I hear that someone trying to lose weight wants to use it to 'tone' it just drives me nuts! You have to lose body fat or gain muscle to achieve the effect that is referred to as 'toning', and I dont think that pilates is really the most efficient way to do it by a long shot.

Once you're already in good shape it can be a good way to introduce variety into your workouts, but for the beginner there are just so many better ways to use your time!

[toocute]

Originally posted by Prissfit1908


Toocute, welcome to the bandwagon! I know it's some more folks who want to join! Don't be shy! We can do this together. It'll be like Weight Watchers only free and no meetings. Okay, so it won't be anything like WW, but it will still be fun to do it together!

Thank you! The person I was talking about is scurrred to come up in this thread...but I'm sure she peeked at it. I'll get her in here.


I'm 5'8' 165 I want to get to 150. Anything lower and I just look skinny. I got down to 145 during my first trimester (morning sickness like a mofo) and I looked SO small. I did Weight Watchers and lost 22 pounds about 4 years ago but I'm just not motivated . I need to make better eating decsions and learn better restraint. My job and the terror toddler at home are stressing me right now (lil boy don't want to sleep at night all of a sudden) I'm going to start making changes now so on 1/1/04 I'll be ready to get really rolling.

[nikki1920]

Originally posted by Prissfit1908
The host is entertaining and the music is grooving, which can be distracting to me and my poses depending on the mood I'm in. It does, however, make doing yoga at 6:00 a.m. a little easier sometimes.

CTFU @ Prissfit1908 grooving instead of posing.. lol. That sounds like something I'd do.

lol.. I like to watch the morning workout shows on the few mornings that I wake up that early. I need to get up and DO IT along with the bright cheery people.. lol. Im not a morning person. I will join the group in working out..I'll hafta steal Mom's windsor DVD though, lol.

[rho4life]

Originally posted by Prissfit1908
Soror LovelyIvy,


I like yoga as well. If you get the Oxygen channel, I would recommend you try the 6:00 a.m. yoga show M-F. But if you're a purist, never mind. The host is entertaining and the music is grooving, which can be distracting to me and my poses depending on the mood I'm in. It does, however, make doing yoga at 6:00 a.m. a little easier sometimes.

Yay!!!! i'm glad I'm not the only one who does this. I would not recommend this to someone who has never done yoga at a studio b4. The first couple classes it really helps to have a real live instrustor help you with your form. But, on days when the alarm goes off and I need a quick workout to jump start the day, this fits the bill. I have some tapes as well, but after a while you start to remember what's on them. Inhale's [name of the oxygen yoga show] instructor at least mixes up the poses so it doesn't get boring. Be warned, there are a fair number of push ups in most of his classes, and you may be feeling it the next day!

[Prissfit1908]

I am so sore, ya'll. I'm the kind of sore that you forget about until you go to stand up at work, or put your pants on, or to get out of the car... It's a very good feeling. I've missed it.

I did Tae-Bo yesterday and Pilates today. Tomorrow, I think I will hit the gym for a good 45 minutes of cardio.

Mama gon' work it out! Mama gon' work it out!

[Prissfit1908]

Although I am not catholic, I have a confession to make:

Many of ya'll know I've been a tad stressed out lately, right? Well... why did I get home from work last night (midnight) and proceed to order a medium pepperoni pizza? My greedy behind ate all but two pieces... which I ate for breakfast this morning. How many hail jenny's (as in craig) should that warrant? I call myself exercising and drinking lots of water and detox tea all day today like that is really doing something... Ignant.

Oh thee well! Tomorrow will be better.

[toocute]

Originally posted by Prissfit1908
Although I am not catholic, I have a confession to make:

Many of ya'll know I've been a tad stressed out lately, right? Well... why did I get home from work last night (midnight) and proceed to order a medium pepperoni pizza? My greedy behind ate all but two pieces... which I ate for breakfast this morning. How many hail jenny's (as in craig) should that warrant? I call myself exercising and drinking lots of water and detox tea all day today like that is really doing something... Ignant.

Oh thee well! Tomorrow will be better.

See...this is me almost everyday. I start out cool. Egg whites on a toasted roll, Cup of coffee, fruit or something light for a snack, then BAM lunch time rolls around, peeps start ordering chinese or fish (there is a jamming little ghetto fish spot on 3rd ave. who would have though fried whiting in mid town manhattan??) and I just lose it. No self control...no restraint. I come home still full from lunch so I don't eat dinner. If I do it's a bowl of cereal or something light.

*le sigh*

When I get back from Milwaukee I have to get it together,

[lovelyivy84]

Have you thought about having a more substantial breakfast then?

Why not add some lean turkey sausage or bacon or the morningstar sausages?? Or have the whole egg. It only adds 60 calories and a lot of the nutrients are in the yolk. You might as well finish it as long as you don't have like five eggs per day.

If you eat more food early it might help you control the cravings later in the day.

PLUS you are having a lot of carbohydrates in the morning and when it comes to assuaging hunger...they're not the best. The effect on your blood sugar levels will mean that you're hungry in a shorter amount of time. You might have better luck feeling full for longer if you add the lean protein and a little more fat in.

Originally posted by toocute
See...this is me almost everyday. I start out cool. Egg whites on a toasted roll, Cup of coffee, fruit or something light for a snack, then BAM lunch time rolls around, peeps start ordering chinese or fish (there is a jamming little ghetto fish spot on 3rd ave. who would have though fried whiting in mid town manhattan??) and I just lose it. No self control...no restraint. I come home still full from lunch so I don't eat dinner. If I do it's a bowl of cereal or something light.

*le sigh*

When I get back from Milwaukee I have to get it together,

[toocute]

Originally posted by lovelyivy84
Have you thought about having a more substantial breakfast then?

Why not add some lean turkey sausage or bacon or the morningstar sausages?? Or have the whole egg. It only adds 60 calories and a lot of the nutrients are in the yolk. You might as well finish it as long as you don't have like five eggs per day.

If you eat more food early it might help you control the cravings later in the day.

PLUS you are having a lot of carbohydrates in the morning and when it comes to assuaging hunger...they're not the best. The effect on your blood sugar levels will mean that you're hungry in a shorter amount of time. You might have better luck feeling full for longer if you add the lean protein and a little more fat in.

Thank you lovelyivy...that's a thought. I also thought about the 5-6 mini meals thing. I did that once before and had good results.

After this wedding look out!!!!!

Where is everybody else??? HELLO OUT THERE!!!!!