I wear size 12 jeans-10 sometimes-medium/large shirts. I’m almost 5-10 and weigh less than 160. But I’d like to weigh 145.

Anyway, you look great, probably have way more energy than you used to and are skinnier than me so that’s skinny aplenty. :P

Everyone is different, but I went to a gym religiously and it never worked like changing my diet did.

Honestly, I haven’t got a ton of time at the gym anyway: usually the way it works is meet there at 2, get changed, do my workout, change back into street clothes, the end. In an hour. And often my boss is late so that cuts in too. Not that I want to make excuses, I’m sure I could stay later with her and not get paid but I don’t really want to set that precedent. I worry that working for no pay will turn into this slippery slope and I don’t work enough hours to make a living as it is.

I meant to join the gymnastics club around the corner but we were away on the first week so I slacked on that too.

I guess I have to also remind myself that I am a person who has never, as an adult, exercised and it’s all a new thing to me. And I wish we lived near Shannon’s brother who is-apparently-the king of crossfit. Mr.Armwrestling and all that…he’d be a fun gym partner!

Re: running — from what I’ve been told by trainers I’ve had, that kind of running is really not enough to get your cardio up, you need to be running for a minimum of 20 minutes even if you’re doing intervals, and your “rest” intervals seem too long and too easy to me. For example, if I’m doing running intervals, the “rest” interval will be 9-10km/hour — fast walk won’t really cut it, even if it feels like hard work.

We have many different interval routines to keep it interesting for me, if you’d like some examples:

warm up walking briskly at 6km/h for 30secs, then running gently gradually increasing up to 9km/h, then:

1 min 9km/h
1 min 10km/h
1 min 11km/h
1 min 12km/h
1 min 10km/h
1 min 11km/h
1 min 12km/h
1 min 13km/h
1 min 11km/h
1 min 12km/h
etc.
developing an +1, +1, +1, -2, +1, +1, +1, -2 pattern.

Or if you like to play with the incline, stay at 9/10km/h, no incline for 2 minutes, then a hill of 4 for a minute, no incline for 2 minutes, hill of 6 for 1 minute, etc. and increasing till you reach your limit, then decreasing progressively.

Or even just keep increasing speed at a rate of +1km/h every minute up to the hardest you can do, then back down in one minute increments.

Also try not just doing intervals, but also having days where you do long distance runs. I find the first 20/30mins are the hardest, then after a while it becomes addictive and you don’t want to stop! that’s how I found out the machine turns itself off after an hour and a half, haha.

But all this… and I’m not really any the skinnier for it, because I am hungrier and eat more. I am leaner though…

I would ditch the sissy machines and do some free weight stuff that works a couple of different muscle groups at once. Like, instead of doing the bicep curl machine, you can grab a pair of dumbbells and a stability ball, put the ball between your back and the wall, and do a squat into a curl, or a squat into a press. You get more done in less time.

If your gym has a smith machine, there’s a lot you can do with heavy weights that don’t require a spotter. I use one to do presses and back squats on my own. Plus you can do push ups off of it (so that you can keep your knees straight instead of bent, thereby engaging your core).

I would definitely check out New Rules of Lifting for Women if you get a chance — they have six months’ worth of strength training that you can do 2-3 times a week and see results from. I was doing it for awhile but fell out of it because of a new job, moving, blah blah, but I’m planning to start it up again this week. It really is fantastic and has a lot of great recipes and stuff too.

I eat like crap too. I refuse to give up sweets and booze. REFUSE.

The other real problem with my workout is that we go to the gym when it’s technically closed. There is no one there to spot or to offer tips or help.

Here is what I’ve been doing lately at the gym: 10 minutes on the treadmill but I do 1 minute fast walk, 1 minute run (so, I think I set them at 3.8 and 7.2) with no incline. Often I am a suck, like today when my groin muscle was hurting, so I stopped early. Then I do ‘sissy’ weights (THANKS!) pull downs, fly thing, leg lifts, crunches, other stuff, 15 each and I do 2 rounds but sometimes 3. And then on the lazy bike for as much time as I have left with the fan blowing on me. It’s the best part.

I will look up Crossfit.

And I know my diet isn’t the best, that’s no secret. But I love fudge. I find that I am SO hungry all the time, now with the gym business, and often I’m hungry at inopportune moments, like at the mall or whatever which leads to unhealthy eating. I mean to bring fruit with me but that doesn’t really ever happen.