[teawithsunshine]

when I stared on my New Year's pledge to start including pilates this week, I think I did too much in doing both the legs & stomach in addition to a hard workout on the treadmill.

My arms were just about in pain since last night and I ended up taking aleve (something I generally don't do unless my muscles are really in pain ).

They're better now, and I ended this week's three sessions of pilates with legs only. I also did a slightly easier workout on the treadmill this evening, using less arm support for walking and more on legs (I have a balance problem, so handlebars are very helpful to keep me centered and focused on exercising).

I think because I'm starting a new muscle routine (pilates) and increasing my incline/speed on the treadmill, I'm just gonna do another week of the same routine before I include pilates for the stomach (and then later on, add dumbbells for arm toning/strength building).

After trial and error (and man, don't I feel the error! ), I think it's best to just keep easing into doing new things instead of doing it all at once. I think I got a bit too excited about including pilates and stuff.

what I'm kind of dreading is either staying the same weight or going up a pound or 2 due to muscle building from increasing the treadmill incline and/or pilates for the legs. I won't know until monday when I go on the scale & weigh myself, but I guess I'll just be satisfied that I'm at a lovely 195 lbs

I also think I'm slightly nervous. I mean, I want to continue seeing the pounds drop away on the scale (I'd only have 6 lbs to go before seeing 189!). I haven't been in the 190s or under in over 15 years - close to 20 years. I have no childhood memories of being thin. I guess I just want to be able to keep going and hope I don't hit a stall this coming weigh-in. That's all (at least for the moment! ).

~ tea

[anastasia]

if you[re in that much pain you probably pushed yourself too far. it's easy to thyink "well i'm fit so any exercise is easy" and then you push yourself hard and regret it the following fmorning. i felt it with my first karate session but now, 3 in, it's not nearly so bad. i think it's when you use new muscles (cos with pilates you will) and you just have to take it easy and train them.

[JayEll]

It always is amazing to me how many people seem to think that they can go from basically sedentary to exercising full-out all the time.

Although some muscle soreness goes with the territory, severe pain could mean that you are injuring yourself unnecessarily. So, I think you're right to consider scaling back your exercise a bit, at least until your muscles and tendons can catch up.

Also, you can't gain 2 pounds of muscle that quickly. No one can. If your weight is up, it could be from your injured muscles retaining water.

The main thing in weight loss is the food. Exercise is important--don't get me wrong--but I have read that more than 80% of weight loss comes from food restriction. The exercise helps reduce loss of lean body mass and improve fat burning metabolism, so it's a good thing, but stay with the food plan.

Good luck!
Jay

[Pandora123a]

Just came back from four days at Canyon Ranch. I got to attend several lectures there and work with some fitness professionals. The information was incredibly helpful.

The biggest thing I learned is that there is no such thing as "toning". To build muscle you need to work to the point of exhaustion (which they say should be between 8-12 reps) no more than three times per week. (Two if you are over fifty.) Muscle is built during the "repair" that comes from exhaustion. "Toning" is a myth, it doesn't build muscle, it just is part of the calories burnt from moving more.

They also spoke about the lingering "fat burn" effect of high intensity exercise which they recommended for twice a week. When you increase your level of exercise to a very high level for a relatively short period (say 20-30 minutes) your metabolism spikes and it takes a while to return to normal.

Their recommendations were 5-6 days of aerobic exercise with two of those days being high intensity shorter duration, and the remaining days being 45-60 minutes longer exercise at a lower intensity. Then two days a week of strength training to build (and maintain) muscle mass. Stretching should be every day!

Great trip...I learned a lot!