Well there you go... brilliant post. Thanks! :D

hehehe... thank you

LISTEN TO ME! hahahaha

Excellent post Elizabeth !!!!

You rock.... thank you for sharing your knowledge with us, I for one really appreciate it, I have never been one with the working out so I have to remind myself to do it and then remind myself how good it is for me while I am doing it, soon it will be habit!!!!

I knew you come through for us, Elizabeth!.. you made some excellent points about strength training... I used to concentrate more on cardio, but now it's just a minor player compared to strength training... it's not always easy to find the right balance, but it can be done...

Thanks for a SUPER post!..

A good article on About.com... Why You Need to Exercise

hugs :hug:

I agree - VERY, VERY helpful. Your post is helping me refocus. I've been frustrated with the scale (1 lb in 2 weeks) and my waist measurement has not moved an inch! :devil:

However, all my pants are looser and I can actually see a difference in my legs, arms and, most importantly, my backside!! I can tell that fat is disappearing and I'm seeing more lean muscle. So, I think exercise is going to be key for me to see faster improvement. I'm adding back in yoga (for my back) and some light weight training and walking this week as soon as my new gym opens tomorrow! I'm looking forward to it. :carrot:

Thanks for all your great advise and thanks to everyone else for sharing their success, frustrations and journey!

[QUOTE=deinekatze;3421757]I believe IP just knows that people don't usually know an "in-between" mode... they are either all gong ho about working out and sweating and go crazy or sit at home...QUOTE]

:)Thanks Elizabeth for the wonderful information (and so clearly written for my LCB :D)!

Question for you: I've recently added strength training (but only my arms/chest) to my exercise routine of pilates, running and mountain biking. I'm considering adding strength training specifically targeting my legs, but am wondering if my leg muscles are already being worked enough through the cardio I'm doing. (When I run it's on varied terrain and biking is 50/50 hills and flat. I have leg "issues" (don't like the flab!!!) and want/need some desperate toning done on them, but am having a hard time knowing how much is enough. Any thoughts or advice?

Thanks in advance!

[QUOTE=makeitmatter;3424769]No, you are not "over doing it" for your legs if you add weight training to them, I actually think you would benefit so much! You are using you legs a bunch so they really could use the muscle build too. Go for it! Do resistance training on your legs 2 to 3 times per week, you should see results with that

Tracking Progress
 

A little set up - I've been pretty stalled in actual scale weight loss. I can see improvement in areas but that scale has been stuck for WEEKS - 1 lb in 3 weeks!! (TOM was in there) I have been entertaining thoughts of quitting IP - thinking it just wasn't working for me though its very successful for many of you.

But over the last couple days, I've added in VERY light exercise - walking the dogs 1 mile, riding the bike with the kids, as many sit ups as I could stand (not that many), some very light squats, push ups, etc. And, it MOVED! 2 lbs!! :D

I'm feeling a little more optimistic and even more relieved. So, I will continue the activity, amping it up gradually so I don't over do it and will continue to monitor loss with exercise.

EXCELLENT NEWS! as they say, It works if you work it!!!!

you will feel so much better, day by day! Happy for you :D

[QUOTE=deinekatze;3426359]Thanks Elizabeth! I'll add legs in tomorrow with the pilates and arms.

Hope you're feeling better today!

[QUOTE=makeitmatter;3428373]Thanks...I am...much!

I've read quite a bit on here recently about the shake weight. Has anyone used it with success? Elizabeth- mind sharing your thoughts on the product? Thanks!

hahaha... I just can't get past the silly ads and how much fun we have all made of it... I touched one and realized you are the one doing the shaking and not like the thing vibrates...heck get a can or something and shake that LOL

JK... I truly couldn't say... i just laughed at it so much...

ok tell you what... I will get one today and give you my review... I can see how it would work as it targets your muscles isometrically. In the mean time enjoy the clips LOL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWTCs2HYHWw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eqi1RUzKRyc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-0heZupT1I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYDFmEH7ob0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zc381zH_IeU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOJrpVg51Y8

Just got back from a 2 mile jog.

:)

It's amazing how much easier it was considering I'm not carrying around 20 extra pounds.

Hopefully the scale will reward me too. Hopefully....

Drink lots of water and it will... be patient... more than anything watch your inches!

Oh LOL! That last video was especially hilarious. Never heard of the 3 minute legs machine before..

I have flab
 

When I started IP, my coach told me not to exercise. Since I didn't exercise anyway, this was alright with me. I have walked in my pool all summer for an hour per day, but not at an aerobic rate. I now have a lot of flab in my arms, thighs, and gluts. I have lost 61 pounds. My arm flab is the worst and would love to hear from anyone that has had success at tightening this area. I have been playing with 3 pound weights, but nothing significant. I still have over 85 pounds to lose so I am worried because it is only going to get worse. I love the diet and I am so hopeful for the first time in many years.:carrot::carrot::carrot::carrot::carrot::car rot::carrot::carrot::carrot::carrot::carrot::carro t:

Two great exercises for working these muscles of the upper arm are dumbbell biceps curls and triceps kickbacks.

Dumbbell Biceps Curls


Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and your arms at your sides. Hold a dumbbell in each hand, your palms facing your sides. Exhale, and keeping your elbows locked against your rib cage, curl both arms three-quarters of the way up to your shoulders, rotating your wrists as you lift, so your palms end up facing your shoulders.
Hold for a beat, focusing on squeezing your biceps. Inhale, and slowly lower your arms to the starting position; repeat.

Triceps Kickbacks


Hold a dumbbell in each hand, palms facing your sides, and stand with your feet hip-width apart, with a slight bend in your knees. Bend forward from the waist so that your torso is nearly parallel with the floor. Bend both elbows so that your upper arms are locked at your sides and parallel to the floor (your forearms should be perpendicular to the floor).
Keeping your upper arms still, straighten your forearms behind you until the ends of the dumbbells are pointing toward the floor (so until your arm is all stretched out without locking your elbows). Hold for a beat, then inhale and slowly lower your arms to the starting position; repeat.

do 3 sets of 15 of each every other day ;)

Thanks Elizabeth - I will start today.

Eating less than 1000 calories a day, I am afraid my body has been going into starvation mode. I understand that IP is meant to burn fat for fuel - what kind of exercise do you suggest to start out with?

I was swimming for an hour twice a week but that had me worn out and feeling weak.

Thx,
Elle

I started off walking for at least an hour a day but no I am on week 4 day 2 of Couch to 5k everyother day and then walk for an hour on the days i don't do c25k.

something as simple as walking at a fast pace will do , but you should do that more often. IP provides you with plenty of protein though... if needed you can add one more packet to your day...if you feel that weak.

I advice to do some resistance/weight training always but not sure what you are used to. By doing weights you are strengthening your muscles and it does burn fat/calories longer than cardio alone.

Eli- I used to do the curves circuit but haven't for about 6 mos. Maybe I will check around for another gym.

Think I will try walking & see how it goes, need to do something to shake up my metabolism. :thanks:
(Did 25 minutes of fast pace walking on lunch hour today at work, up and down the air conditioned hallway :flame:)

If you can join a Gym do it... avoid the classes for now... unless it is Pilates or Yoga. Remember you wan to stay in the lower heart rate area (look through previous posts here so you can see why)

I was worried that my week off exercise while I went on a trip with my parents was gonna mess me up, but maybe not!.. according to this Shine article, How Long Does It Take to Fall Out of Shape, a week-long break can actually be good for me... I'll just have to jump back in & see how it goes...

Thanks for some great info, y'all, while I was away...

hugs :hug:

"Secret shortcut: Cardio levels decrease faster than strength--the magic of muscle memory. To take advantage of this phenomenon, during hellish work weeks, do just one set of five strength exercises--studies show that 50 to 90 percent of your strength gains come from your first set (though when your schedule eases up--to build muscle and ward off bone loss--go back to 2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12 exercises 2 or 3 days a week)."

another reason I HIGHLY recommend strength training ;-)

what we were taught is that when you are doing High Intensity cardio then with a week off it would be challenging to go straight back to the same... as in you lose some of it.... seeing as how we are NOT supposed to do all of that I think you will be more than fine. For muscles as you read, it takes longer to lose that.

A break can be good to kind of shock the system into things again...but not as much if you take breaks quite often LOL

you will be just fine, just keep going and your body will adapt

stay away from SODAS!
 

not necesarily exercise related but I thought you all could appreciate this tid bit of information....

Prof. Dr. Carlos Alexandre Fett Faculty of Physical education at UFMT with masters in nutrition at UFMT Laboratory of Medical fitness and Metabolism -

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU FINISH DRINKING A CAN OF SODA **

First 10 minutes: 10 spoonfuls of sugar strike your body, 100% of the recommended total daily allowance. You do not vomit immediately from the extreme sweetness, because the phosphoric acid cuts the taste.

20 minutes: The sugar level in the blood explodes, bringing about an insulin spurt. The liver responds transforming all the sugar that receives into fat (which is a lot at this particular moment).

40 minutes: The caffeine absorption is complete. Your pupils dilate, the blood pressure raises, the liver responds pumping more sugar in the blood current. The receivers of adenosine (not sure if that is the right word as I translated this article) in the brain are blocked to avoid dizziness.

45 minutes: The body increases the production of dopamine, stimulating the centers of pleasure in the body. (Physically, it works like with the heroin.)

50 minutes: The phosphoric acid pushes calcium, magnesium and zinc to the large intestine, increasing metabolism. The high doses of sugar and other sweeteners increase the excretion of calcium in the urine, that is to say, you are urinating your bones, one of the causes of the OSTEOPOROSIS.

60 minutes: The diuretic properties of caffeine go into action. You urinate. Now it is guaranteed that you will eliminate more calcium, magnesium and zinc, of which your bones would need. As your sugar high drops you will undergo a sugar shock. You become irritated. You will already have eliminated everything what was in the refreshment, but not without first also eliminating things which your organism will need.

And this is what some give their children? This is why diabetes and obesity exist at such young ages, AVOID giving sodas as a reward for finishing his food (hamburgers, hot dog, pizza, etc) especially coke. Do you really love your children? Think about this before drinking sodas.

as long as you are working DIFFERENT muscles you may, Otherwise I would probably not do it.

Try to do 10 mins of cardio in the am to warm up just before the weights and then finish AFTER the weights with more cardio... I find you have more time and energy that way

That's pretty much how my workout goes... I've found that if I do some cardio after strength training, I'm not as sore the next day... something about burning off/using up lactic acid???, I think... keeps the cardio from being quite so boring too... plus, if I don't have time for the whole workout, I've at least gotten the most important part done, the weights (kettlebells, in my case, which also provide some cardio)..

btw, I bought a new 25 lb. kettlebell today... I've been using a 15 lb... haven't tried it yet, so tomorrow will be the first day for it... probably will be able to do only swings with it to begin with, but if it's like all the previous weights, it won't be long before I can do other stuff too... when I first started using the 15, I thought it was way too heavy, now it's feeling pretty light... I never much liked dumbbells, but I love kettlebells...

Yoga, however, remains my favorite part of the day... I've learned the postures well enough that I don't have to watch Rodney Yee in his tight bike pants anymore!!!.. I can just listen to his soothing voice & that makes it all much better & more effective than trying to twist my neck around to see what the heck he's doing...

hugs :hug:

Today was my first day back on workouts after being gone all last week, & wow, was that article right about cardio levels decreasing faster than strength!.. couldn't quite make it through my regular cardio time, but got in all my kettlebell (KB) workout... tried out the 25 lb. KB, 3 sets of 10 swings each... I think I could've done more, but didn't want to push it too hard the first time & raise my heart rate too much... after that, the 15 lb. really seemed light!.. funny how that works!.. yoga was delight as usual...

hugs :hug:

Thanks Elizabeth. Like your new picture/avatar.

Yeah the cardio falls off really quick...believe me, I have felt it myself!

What work out are you doing with the kettle bells? I only ask because another trainer I know pointed out a Jillian Michaels video on his Facebook where she is instructing on Kettle Bells and all of us trainers about died when she kept saying to lock the knees... HUGE no-no...it was painful to watch and honestly I was SHOCKED to see her advising that...be careful!

Well thank you so much... I am working on my weight loss too so I update them now and again LOL.

Ok. I'm sure this is answered somewhere already, but I can't find it.

I'm rather steadily losing lean muscle mass instead of gaining it. I picked up the amount of exercise I'm doing weekly last week in hopes to see some rise in the percentage, but nothing happened. In fact, it dropped a little.

My coach suggested adding in an additional pack (for a total of 5 daily) and see if that does anything. I can't afford 5 packs a day.....

I was thinking maybe some light weights or something? Apparently my 2 mile jogs are doing the opposite of what I intended for them to do.

Help?

You answered yourself right there...too much cardio and no weights... you will be losing muscle mass that way. Do resistance training for sure! We all need it to protect our bones... and don't freak out over the scale when you do... look at the inches more than anything...Look back on this thread so you know what I am talking about

WEIGHTS WEIGHTS WEIGHTS!

:no: No, I'm not using Jillian's... I had already read bad things about it before I ever got my first KB... I actually started with a 5 lb. Danskin & it came with a DVD, Gin Miller was the gal on the video... so I learned with that, plus watched gobs of online videos... since then, though, I've developed my own workout & don't use the DVD anymore, but I still check out videos on the Internet pretty regularly... it really is hard to believe Jillian would advise locking the knees... you're right, huge no-no!..

hugs :hug:

I know one or two other people on the board were in the same place as you. They were told to add real protein not a packet. I was told by my coach I could substitute for the packet: 2 egg white or 1 whole egg or 3oz chicken or fish. Maybe your coach would allow for this.

I am sure he is concerned about you getting the most out of your protein. (packet protein is 96% + bioavailable) where the other real food proteins are 65 to 70% bio available. It means you get more bang out of the packet. HOWEVER if you can't afford it, you still need the protein so, discuss your real food options. You can't build healthy muscle without the tools. You need protein and amino acids. Try using the jelly and blueberry drink more often as a 4th packet.

I agree with Carla... do get some protein in you but also add resistance training to help further loss