You know .. you're right .. I can't keep off the scale .. It was driving me nuts ..

I like the stability ball .. there's no jumping around and the dvd that came with it is quite peaceful and surreal .. only problems with it .. dvd is not a complete workout so I will need to go purchase a good one .. and you may feel a bit clumsy trying to balance on it .. it's not difficult and you'll pick it up quickly .. you'll get a good workout tyring to pump it up .. I needed something that wouldn't stress my back when trying to work on abs and this seems to be perfect for it. Target has a good selection of them .. they run anywhere from 20 to 40 dollars.

A stability ball is also good for pushups if you have bad knees or not much upper body strength. If you put the ball under your hips, it's easier because most of your weight is supported by the ball. You can eventually work your way out where the ball is under your lower leg for a more (way more, lol) intense workout.

thanks for that lil tidbit of advice .. the dvd doesn't show any pushup movements .. i wish it would have been a better dvd

Wow, the stability ball sounds perfect for me, then, with my back and knees and apartment situation. I'll have to start saving up for one.

Tonight, I bought the full version of FitDay for my PC. I'd been using the free online version and liked very much. It's VERY different (much more complicated) but not impossible to get the hang of. Lots and lots of bells and whistles. Too early to make a full judgement on it, but so far, I like it a lot.

i bought that back in january .. used it faithfully everyday .. then something happened .. don't know what it was .. i think i just lost interest .. i'm trying to get myself back in to using it again .. I hopped on my scale this morning .. looks like i'm 3 lbs down this week .. i need to go purchase a new scale though .. this one doesn't seem to be very accurate .. i have to keep adjusting it to zero .. heard of any good ones out there?

I've been happy with my Tanita scale. I can get on and off 20 times in a row, and get the same weight every time.

Down 3? Great job! I'm down 2.5 this time. I've been looking for some old photos of myself for comparison, but I just can't seem to find anything from my heaviest days. Perhaps that's a good thing

I am scale shopping, myself. It's not exactally that I don't trust mine, I just would like one that gets a little more precise. Mine goes by half-pound incriments right now. I suppose that's fine in the long run, but I've been a bit gung-ho lately. I don't really have a lot of money to spare lately, anyway, so it's probably best that I stick with my old one. Although, I wonder what the lifespan of a low-end digital scale is...

I went to Target and found a stability ball for $10.88. You're right. It is quite a workout blowing that thing up! It didn't have the best instruction book with it, so I'm not sure if I'm blowing it up right. I'm afraid of overinflating it, but at the same time, I feel like I'm sinking too far when I get on it. The booklet did have some good dumbell exercises in it, though, so I hope I get it figured out soon!

my stability ball didn't come with very good instructions on how much air to blow into it either .. just said that when you sit on it .. your thighs should be parallel to the floor .. i'm going to go look for a dvd for it today .. also a scale .. i see you are setting mini goals for yourself .. i'd like to join ya if you don't mind .. maybe it will give me more motivation ..

i need to lose some muscle .. any ideas? I have quite muscular legs .. how do you trim those down .. i've never liked them .. especially my calves .. they are too bulky ..

Well if you have a low body fat percentage, then you can focus less on leg exercises. Don't walk on an incline or do as many lower body exercises. However, if you don't have a low body fat percentage, losing fat will help with that. Fat takes a lot more room than muscle. Below is a great example pic.

If you can reduce the fat by exercise and weight loss, you'll see that your legs are not as bulky. The excess fat is much bulkier than the muscle it is wrapped around.

I've gone about as far as I can go with the pump, but it still feels like my knees are sitting too high. It might be my imagination, though. I should have my husband look from the side and tell me if I'm parallel. I spent some time last night getting a feel for the balance of it. Tonight, I think I'll try some of the stretches shown in the instruction book. I really ought to check the library's collection to see if they have a ball workout dvd. It would be just to convenient if they do...

I set the mini goal last night. I saw some other people doing it, but at first thought nothing of it. When I updated my tracker, I wished it could move faster. So, I thought the sight of a mini tracker moving quicker might give me more motivation. I figured that I want to do what I can to lose about 2lbs per week, so I figured that 8lbs in a month would be good. I hope it works! I think it'd be a great idea for you to do one too

As far as losing muscle, that's a toughie. It sounds like losing the actual muscle would hurt more than help, though I don't think that's quite what you meant. Do you have a library nearby? A lot of times I find it helpful to grab a few exercise books and compare them side by side to decide what I actually want. You can also find all kinds of workout videos to try out (613 for the dewey number ) Today I picked up a Pilates DVD to see if I like it before I go out and buy one. I once saw a workout video that is designed to give you a lithe body like a dancer's, but I don't remember what it was called. I want to call it "Muscle Ballet", but I'm not sure if that's right.

our library here has a good selection of exercise dvds/videos .. i didn't see any for the ball though .. i couldn't find any at walmart either .. i'll have to check out target .. i've managed to acquire quite the hefty calves .. i've had them for an eternity .. thanks to a lot of bike riding and rollerblading .. i was asked a couple of weeks ago by the technician doing a nerve test on my back .. "did you play a lot of sports in school" .. well .. no .. none at all .. I'm thinking he's asking because I'm in there for back problems .. he then says "I was just curious where you got those massive calves from" .. in one sense .. they are nice .. in another .. i think they are too manly .. I used to be able to press about 300+ a few years back .. I know I need to stop doing that if I want to lose some of it .. I'd just like to see them trimmed up a bit ..

it's getting so hot and ugly here .. makes it hard to want to be out and about .. i feel like i get a workout just trying to get to the school and back without passing out .. i'm so not looking forward to the further rise in heat ..

i purchased a digital scale and i already don't like what it is telling me .. i'll weigh myself tomorrow morning and see if it is still deceiving me.

You'll probably find your legs changing shape as you lose more weight, anyway. You might want to wait and see how your calves react to the change. Things might even out proportionally.

If you can find clothes made with Coolmax™ instead of just cotton, it's worth it. I have a top and some socks made with it, and it really pulls sweat away from your body. Sometimes it helps just to be a little drier!

Hopefully once your new scale will be nicer to you once it gets to know you! I'm going to hang on to mine for the time being. I usually weigh myself three times in a row to make sure it's right. Most of the time, all three readings are the same, but every once in a while, I'll get an oddball number. Not very far off, but still different. If it does that any more frequently, I'll resume shopping for a new one.

i'm going to have to keep my old scale around so that i can measure how much i've lost .. the new scale has me above my starting weight .. how sad is that? Talk about depressing.

Yikes! Well, at least the scales are calibrated with themselves, so the progress tracking is accurate no matter which one is right.

I wish my body would just get used to jogging already. The soreness that comes with a new exercise program is driving me nuts! I can't give up, though. I really need my knees to get stronger before it's too late for them. I don't know why, but I've become obsessed with bone health lately.

maybe the media has promoted bone health a little more lately?? today has been a bad day for me .. i'll need to get back on track tomorrow .. i guess i need to start a journal and log down my meals .. maybe i'll be good then ..