vamessedup

Snow hiking has been fine, I usually start out with a smartwool longsleeve, fleece & rain jacket. Plus hat & gloves, sometimes my smartwool leggings if it's really cold. I always end up being really warm &stay pretty dry, even in the rain. Hike in the woods, the trees shield much of the rain. Anyway, I go out twice a month usually on Friday mornings. Perhaps we should setup an invite-only NF group on meetup.com for organizing local outings. Anyone interested could request an invite here. Just a thought...

I was always envious of my classmates who could schedule their classwork in such a way that they weren't running around at the last minute or staying up waaaay to late to finish it at the last minute (like me- I'm a fantastic procrastinatrix). Those sound like great goals, anything that can help make college less hectic and stressful has got to be a good idea!

This, this. A thousand times, THIS! Not expensive, comfortable, comes in 32DDD & has pretty serious bounce control.

TJ Maxx & Ross are hit and miss when it comes to inexpensive workout gear. For hiking clothes, I've gotten a couple tech shirts that I wear hiking at Target, found some decent used gear at Value Village, and shop the garage sales at REI. Also, Kohls has frequent sales.

Late in the season? I've been out hiking every month this year. I actually prefer winter hiking, as long as the snow's not too deep... Went up Bandera today, it was hot as hell!

I'd double check your lotion to see if there are petroleum byproducts in it, I find that's the difference for me between lotions that absorb well into my skin and those that don't. I've always been a big fan of burt's bees milk & honey. I will also second the coconut oil suggestion, I used that a lot to moisturize when I was traveling in hot/dry tropical climates. Plus, it makes you smell delicious.

My Lunaire Maximum Control sports bras are amazing. They keep the girls secure, aren't crazy expensive, and I can get them in a 32DDD. Just ordered another one since one of my 3 is about to bite the dust...

I came here expecting a rant on that terrible book Skinny Bitch...

Haha, my link is broken because of the language filter. Original url includes b!tchitrainlikegoku and was changed to *****itrainlikegoku. Try a different link

Good for you for identifying trigger foods. I try not to keep things like that at home, if I do...it's a big backslide. How are you planning to track your exercise? Fitocracy is pretty great, also websites such as sparkpeople.com and http://www.livestrong.com/thedailyplate/ are great tools to monitor both food & exercise.

Pushups are my weakness as well, it's a tough exercise. I know some people advocate doing full-body pushups against a wall or bench rather than on your knees because it forces your core to engage more. There are some good examples of how to progress through the different types of pushups in this convict conditioning illustration.

A lot of the things that you describe in life sound like me. As a kid I shied away from sports because it would trigger exercise induced asthma. As an adult, I haven't had much of a problem with it- I don't know what's caused the change but I know I've been happy for it. Cardio still causes me to get intensely red in the face, but I'm no longer gasping for air. Similarly, I notice that I'm always in the best shape when I'm traveling. Being on your feet all day, carrying a heavy travel backpack around town- it makes all the difference. I think it also doesn't hurt that most places outside the US don't use high fructose corn syrup as a sweetener in their food & drinks. Not that sugar is good for you, but the body processes HFCS differently than it does sucrose. Good for you to aim for cutting out sugar drinks- I've been in a on again off again relationship with soda for years. It's so difficult to kick- but worth the effort.

Hello fellow Washingtonian The Pacific Crest Trail? That sounds awesome. I have a copy of Cheryl Strayed's Wild on my shelf to read next. This really is a great state for outdoorsy adventures!

While I appreciate the feedback, I don't feel that I was being unreasonable and he seemed to be ok with it. In this specific program you start out with 2 sets of 15 reps with 60 seconds of rest between sets- by the time I'd put down the bar back in the bench press rack, had a sip of water and answered his question I was about ready to start my second (and final) set. Additionally, I'd spent 5-10 minutes waiting around for other equipment to free up in a gym with a rather large collection of free weights. It also doesn't help to be a not very fit women amidst a sea of very fit men where there's a palpable "your workout isn't as important as mine" attitude. The lesson I learned: don't go to the gym at 8 PM if you want to complete a workout in a timely manner. At peak hours it's feels very much like that friend who always says,"You gonna finish that?" as they're grabbing food off your plate and putting it in their mouth.

Working on phase 1 of NROLFW myself. Grabbed an Olympic barbell off a bench rack today to use for dead lifts, and the moment I put it back between sets someone asked if I was done using it. The gym was pretty busy, but I'd already stood around waiting for one guy to free up the only 50 lb barbell in the entire gym for quite some time and he wasn't moving. I made a little joke about the other barbells all being in use and he moved on. Seems that's the way it goes when the gym is busy. If it's not, I wouldn't worry about it as long as you put everything back where you found it.