blablues

BMI is so useless that it seems like even an imperfect body fat percentage measurement would be better. According to BMI, my healthy weight as a 5'9" women is 130-169. But, I measure my bodyfat/muscle using a scale with the electric resistance pulse and according to that my lean mass is 130lb. If were 20% fat, which is fitness level for a woman, I would weigh 163lb - barely in the normal category. If I was an average/acceptable 25%-30%, I would be in the overweight category according to BMI. Even with an imperfect bodyfat score, these numbers are way off.

I agree with this, for sure. First, I love the Saucony Kinvaras and have since the first version they came out with that they were promoting at City Sports Philadelphia with a free gym bag. But I have high-arch feet and I need that extra cushion - it has really reduced a lot of my knee pain. Second, it does depend on you, especially on the type of feet you have. From what I've seen, if you're flat footed the Vikram might work really well for you. If you don't know what you are, a local running store is a good place to find out.

Just wanted to wish you good luck with getting back on track. It can be hard when life events mess up the healthy routines you're trying to form. Your brain literally has embedded pathways of your old habits just waiting for you to slide back into them before your new habits get as firmly embedded. My only advice on the exercise is to try different things and find the one you like (or at least hate the least) since that will help you stick to exercise. And things like music and audiobooks can make walking and running and such more enjoyable and pass by faster.

@sumdawgtwigg: Thanks. @Laureleye: When I do cook, which isn't often, I tend to make big batches, figure out the nutrition for the entire batch, then portion everything out so I have 200-300 calorie packages that I can put in the freezer. It does work well, I've just had other things being a higher priority right now (two grad classes, exercise, work, friends, just about anything else I enjoy lol). On the rare occasion I cook after work, I do what you described with just a couple extra portions for the next day or for freezing. Assuming I get in on the next challenge, I think one of my goals would be to cook once a week as a start. As for deficit it's not a strict 1000 - just up to 1000, usually I'm at around 950. And, no, I didn't specifically check with my doctor, though now that you mentioned it vaguely remember telling a doctor about it at some point in the past without issue. -1000 is pretty widely accepted as the most you can healthily cut down for 2lb a week of weight loss. I've done this diet several times over the past 10 years. I'm more worried about being careful that my body doesn't go into starvation mode, but so far I still get hungry right before my next snack, so it's going well. I've done -750, as well, and -1000 (or 950) just works better for me. Thanks for asking, though.

I also have the Jaybird headphones and love them. They barely hit the under $100 goal at retail of $99, but there are ways around that. They are $88.70 on Amazon, and you can find coupons by googling for it - like this site. Currently the JF3ME coupon works for 10% off and free shipping.

Nice to meet you. I also love Skyrim, and I'm looking forward to the Elder Scrolls Online game that I believe is supposed to be coming out this year.

I've had the BodyMedia link armband for about two weeks now and I think it's working well so far. I sync it with MyFitnessPal, which is where I track all my calories, so it helps me determine how much I can eat for the day based on how much I've burned and trying to acheieve a 900-1000 calorie deficit. I recommend using MyFitnessPal for the calories since their database is much more extensive. I do wear it every day, most of the day - I only take it off to sync it and charge it and to shower. I found it to be accurate when comparing the calories burned estimate from my heart rate monitor during a workout to what the bodymedia said. I really got it so I could track those random calories burned (or not burned) when I'm not exercising - extra steps an so on. Before the Bodymedia, I used Fitbit, which was inaccurate in calorie counting and I lost or washed 3 of them in 6 months. The BodyMedia is much easier to keep track of and not lose. For the rash, in two weeks I haven't had that problem, but I do make a point of moving it around to different spots in my arm so no one area is always underneath it. Things I don't like include their website - it's just not as nice with as good a feature-set as Fitbit or MyFitnessPal - but they charge you to use it. I also don't like that they give you more calories to eat in the beginning of the day, based on what you've burned on other days with exercise, instead of working with your base calorie burn and working up as you exercise. Their point is that they want you to keep trying meet those high expectations for calorie burn, but I know on some days I won't exercise at all, or I will have a lower calorie burn exercise. So I end up doing extra math to figure out what I should be really eating for the day so I don't run out of calories to eat at before dinner. Hope that was helpful.

I have a pair of these, too. Love them. If the battery runs out, and I charge them every other 1 hour run or so to be safe, I have a pair of earbud headphones that came with my Samsung Galaxy SIII that work quite well.

There are some good loose leaf teas out there that have as much caffiene as coffee without the need to add cream/sugar. I've bought JavaVana Mate(light coffee, chocolate, vanilla flavours) and Rasperry Riot Lemon Mate(sweet/sour fruity flavour) from Teavana before. Due mostly to convenience, I usually use have one cup of coffee with non-sugar creamer every day (30cal for 2tbsp of creamer, but it does contain sucralose).

I found this site when I was looking up information on slow-twitch vs fast-twitch muscles and was surprised when there was a reference to leveling up in the article - I've never seen that in a fitness article. Then there was Mario and X-men...wow, nerds that workout, like me. I am an IT consultant that just hit 30 in August and have been struggling for years to balance out a desk job, various gaming addictions, a love of a food and a desire to be healthy. Lose weight, gain weight, different diets, different exercise plans, etc. The positives I've decided to take out of all of that is that I've really learned what works for me, and I've never given up for long. I am 5'9", female and 233lb. My highest weight was 250lb within the past year or so. In 2012 I exercised/dieted pretty consistantly from June to September, then fell off the bandwagon when my exercise buddy (my husband) didn't have as much time to exercise with me due to starting his grad degree in chemistry, and because of a new game addiction when Guild Wars 2 came out at the end of August. Started back up in December, focusing on doing it with my exercise buddy as optional so I would go regardless, and to help with accountability, I signed up for a year of personal training at the gym I belong to. My overall goal is based on bodyfat percentage (BMI is pretty useless for me) - I'd like to get down to between 20%-25% bodyfat by the end of 2013, and with my current lean mass at 130lb that puts me at around 165-175lb. We're also looking to start trying to get pregnant towards the end of the year, so we'll have to see how the weight loss goal may adjust itself. And overall i just want to stay healthy and continue to exercise past reaching my goal, and that mindset has really helped me keep going because exercise isn't just something I have to put up for the next year or so, it's something I want to keep as part of my regular routine even when we have kids to look after, too. So, this is my plan and what I've been consistant with for the past month: Run 2-3 days a week, 3+miles: I love running and started with cross-country/track in high school. Thankfully my local gym has an indoor track so I don't have to worry about bad/cold weather. I run in the morning, getting up at 6:30am to get it done before work. It's just the best way to start the day, and it took years and the changing of habits to be able to do it since I am not a morning person.Yoga once a week: I enjoy yoga, too, though not as much as running. Right now I use the P90x yoga DVD since its the best yoga DVD I've found to be able to do it at home. It's good for both strengh and flexibility.Weights twice a week: While I feel satisfaction from being able to do things with weights, it's not my favorite. But I believe is necessary for a healthy, strong body, so I got a personal trainer that guides me through the routine and helps me be accountable to sticking to my overall program.Counting calories for no more than 1,000 calorie deficit a day: I use MyFitnessPal to track everything I eat, and I get to eat more on the days I exercise, which helps motivate me. As for what I eat, I pick out 75% of my food for the day the night before and munch on it at work, a balance of low-fat dairy, fresh fruit & veggies, and complex cards like wheat pasta or brown rice. My biggest issue is getting too much sodium because I love salt and I don't enjoy cooking so I generally have at least one lean cuisine type meal a day.Tracking the numbers: I weigh myself once a week with a scale that also measures my bodyfat percentage, muscle percentage and visceral fat. I also measure myself once a month to see what inches I'm losing and where.It's been going well so far. This January I've lost 7lbs of fat, gained 2lb of muscle, lost 2lb overall, and not sure where those other 3lb went - might be water weight from the sodium. Anyway, looking forward to getting to know people. ~Kendra