<p>300 calories is a lot to burn. I just walked 30 minutes at a fast pace on the treadmill and burned 175. Good luck!</p>
<p>300 calories is indeed a lot to burn. I just did a quick back-of-the-envelope calculation about how high a mountain I’d have to bike up to burn 300 calories: I’d have to climb about 1400 feet of elevation to burn that much. (Interestingly, for hill climbing the speed doesn’t matter, for normal cycling speeds.)</p>
<p>Thanks for all the replies. Vinyasa or Power sounds like just what I’m looking for. Thanks, justamom. </p>
<p>I also know several women who have abandoned other forms of exercise to focus exclusively on yoga. They have travelled the world (literally) to attend yoga retreats. Big on the mind-body-spirit connection thing. Not my thing. But I’m really resolved to integrate a more intense yoga class into my routine. One where I can feel stretched out, maybe a little bit centered, and where I don’t feel like I have to spend an hour on the treadmill afterward to get a workout!</p>
<p>“I’ve seen a number of people become dependent on it as a way to manage stress.”</p>
<p>LOL…that would be ME. But for me, it’s not just stress. If I don’t do it regularly, my body stiffens up and hurts (like it did before I did yoga). </p>
<p>It’s funny, I try to do it at home but can only stick with it for about a half hour and that’s not enough for my body. My class, which I try to go to at least twice a week, is an hour and a half. It’s hatha yoga and combines stretching with strength building. </p>
<p>Don’t just do yoga though. I walk…a LOT (or hike in the warm weather). And bike. My
body can’t take running anymore but I seem to be in denial about this since I tried it again the other day. And my back hurts. Yoga (today) made it feel better though. But I still wish I could run 
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<p>That’s one thing about this thread. The tips are great, but, really, everyone has different needs. One might lose weight by eating a certain way and it wouldn’t work at all for another. Can’t hurt though to know and monitor what you’re eating (and how your body reacts to it) plus add some regular activity. Hard to argue with that…</p>
<p>abasket: Have you tried walking on a pretty steep incline on the treadmill? At a 10% incline, 3MPH or so, you can burn calories pretty efficiently.</p>
<p>^^^ Toneranger, I know JUST what you mean. “Oh…that’s enough chaturangas (or dolphin, or utkatasana) for me…” I need someone to tell me to be quiet, suck it up and do some more. </p>
<p>wjb, if you can take a class right after a run/bike/some other form of cardio it is an awesome double. There is a yoga class right after the Zumba class that I teach, and I often stay because it feels good to do yoga when I’m already nice and warm. I’ve tried yoga after strength training…that’s not so pretty. Lots of trembling going on!</p>
<p>So what am I doing in between posts about yoga and sugar? Baking bread! And there’s my issue. I love to cook, and I love to eat. Someone upthread suggested thinking of food as fuel. Not going to happen here, although I have respect for that attitude. I grew up with a food-as-fuel mom. I hated it. To my mom’s great credit, she and my dad are both 90 plus years old now, and in reasonably good health. But I still would not want to embrace the Spartan approach she took (long before it was fashionable – anyone remember Adele Davis?) or impose it on my family.</p>
<p>Pilates can be a good alternative to Yoga. It really strengthens the core and quickly develops great, defined muscles in arms, legs and abs. There are some decent home reformers that can slide under a bed. I swear by mine.</p>
<p>When DH was losing his weight, one thing I found was the faster he lost it the more motivated he became. At a half pound per week I think he would have quit. 2 pounds per week was what worked best for him, he really saw results after a month and had no problem staying the course. Lost 40 pounds in just under 5 months. Then we were happily surprised that with a modest exercise regime he was able to increase calories by a lot and still maintain his weight.</p>
<p>We really don’t feel our way of eating is Spartan, we enjoy small portions of everything. Recently went to Italy and enjoyed pasta, pizza, gelato and lots of great foods–just in much smaller portions than we (especially DH) used to eat.</p>
<p>I’m the one who talks about food as fuel and I also love to cook and bake. I just learned to make different foods that we now find equally enjoyable. What I mean by fuel really is to eat what you like but at the right time. Carbs before exercise, protein after. Protein for a snack at night.</p>
<p>wjb…l love to cook and eat too! But I have adjusted and certainly don’t view what I’m doing as spartan. 20 years ago, my specialty items were Spaghetti Carbonara (eggs, bacon, cheese, cream, lol) and cheesecake. Now I love searing scallops, or fish with healthy ingredients like fire roasted tomatoes and artichokes. There’s plenty of healthy cookbooks out there…I tend to read them and then casually put ideas into practice. Cooking is a lot more forgiving than baking, so I don’t need exact recipes. My h tells everyone I’m a great cook so I must be doing something right!</p>
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<p>I really just need to lose 6-7 pounds for my clothes to fit better. But to lose that weight rather quickly I need to almost starve myself. I thought that this year I’d try for a pound a month and by swim suit season I’d be there.</p>
<p>I tried yoga once. I am one of the most inflexible people on earth - I even was when I was young and active. Consequently, yoga was a very embarrassing experience.</p>
<p>missypie…no I"M the most inflexible person on earth. Honest. My whole family really. It’s in the genes. My first yoga class was interesting. I was horrible. Kept getting foot cramps. My whole body hurt after it. But I kept with it because I was SICK of being a “tin woman.” and my orthopod said it would really help my knee. It worked. I’m much more flexible now, although there are certain poses I’ll NEVER be able to do. If you find the right teacher and class, it can make a big difference. No one is looking.</p>
<p>Okay, this is what we all need:</p>
<p>[The</a> Checkup - Health and Wellness Blog](<a href=“http://voices.washingtonpost.com/checkup/?hpid=sec-health]The”>http://voices.washingtonpost.com/checkup/?hpid=sec-health) </p>
<p>Also, bad news for those of us who are inflexible like me and missypie:</p>
<p>[Poor</a> Flexibility is a Sign of Stiff Arteries | Health and Wellness News](<a href=“http://www.wellnessresources.com/health/articles/poor_flexibility_is_a_sign_of_stiff_arteries/]Poor”>http://www.wellnessresources.com/health/articles/poor_flexibility_is_a_sign_of_stiff_arteries/)</p>
<p>But good news for those of us who eat walnuts!</p>
<p>[Walnuts</a> Improve Artery Flexibility](<a href=“http://www.veganwolf.com/news/walnuts_artery.htm]Walnuts”>Walnuts Improve Artery Flexibility)</p>
<p>Yes, I have adjusted my cooking over the years, and find we no longer have the taste for very rich foods, or if we eat them, it’s in very small portions. H is also lactose-intolerant, which eliminates most dairy products from the menu. I do use feta and sheep’s milk cheeses, like pecorino. We also eat lots of vegetarian fare and dried legumes. </p>
<p>But I’ll only substitute so far, and substituting applesauce for real butter (in moderation) sends me running for the hills. And the bread I’m baking right now is NOT whole wheat. Skinny kiddo is still home from school, and if he wants homemade challah, I can’t say no. :)</p>
<p>Here’s a link to a really nice healthy eating food blog, 101 Cookbooks. Recipes are all (I think) vegetarian. [101</a> Cookbooks - Healthy Recipe Journal](<a href=“http://www.101cookbooks.com/]101”>http://www.101cookbooks.com/) </p>
<p>Another food blog I adore is Smitten Kitchen. The author all over the place – alternates between creative vegetarian recipes, especially salads, and deadly desserts (some of which contributed to my weight gain over the summer). Her photos and copy are wonderful. [smitten</a> kitchen](<a href=“http://smittenkitchen.com/]smitten”>http://smittenkitchen.com/)</p>
<p>I hope I’m not violating CC’s TOS by posting links.</p>
<p>Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal’s Personal Journal section has interesting articles regarding exercise. Google WSJ “Hidden Benefits of Exercise”</p>
<p>Batllo-thanks; that was an interesting article.</p>
<p>[The</a> Hidden Benefits of Exercise - WSJ.com](<a href=“http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704350304574638331243027174.html]The”>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704350304574638331243027174.html)</p>
<p>I found this passage particuarly amazing:</p>
<p>“One study of 3,000 women being treated for breast cancer, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, showed that for those patients with hormone-responsive tumors, walking the equivalent of three to five hours per week at an average pace reduced the risk of dying from the disease by 50% compared with more sedentary women.”</p>
<p>Y’all are making me sorry that I’m allergic to walnuts. (Not really - of all the nuts to which I am allergic, walnuts are the worst. I probably subconsciously start to scratch myself when I see them.)</p>
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<p>Those of you who just love tennis or running or swimming or other type of physical activity should be very thankful for that. It’s a bit flip to say to people our age, “Just find a form of exercise that you love” because some of us have not found that in 50 years of trying. (Okay, I enjoy hiking in beautiful scenery. I’d have to move to do that on a regular basis.)</p>
<p>missypie, I can relate to you on exercise, for sure. I am an INTJ (Myers Briggs) and as an introvert, do not like classes of any kind. I find yoga particularly irritating. People telling me what to do (even if it is ordering me to relax and to breathe a certain way) just does not translate into fun for me. In high school, I lived on a Y conference grounds in a little two-room cabin by a lake. There was a 3-mile path around the lake I walked every day after school–never saw another person on that path in the three years I lived there–and loved it. When I lived in Monterey, I used to walk down a long, steep hill to town and back every day and I have found similar walking rituals in almost every town I have ever lived in except this one, which is not a town but a hideous suburb. We so badly need to move.</p>
<p>Nrdsb4- You may find the accompanying WSJ article “Why you should Step up your Exercise” interesting.</p>