<p>Yes, it is hard to complain about the crowds in your own home.</p>
<p>Many years ago (24 to be exact) we purchased free weights from York Barbell. We have a pulldown, a bench, a curl bar, as well as an assortment of dumbbells. We starting keeping a record of each workout, so there is no way to deny what we have done over the years. I know there are cooler machines, but this stuff is indestructible and actually very versatile.</p>
<p>We are going to buy some additional stuff on craigslist later as well, hmom! However, there is so much stuff that can go wrong with a treadmill, we decided to get the exact kind H wanted and needed, made by a local reputable company. Of course, we could have just joined a gym, but DH is “allergic” to gyms: he thinks they are the main source of CAIs, and he can’t stand crowds, too. I do not think that our treadmill will end up on e-bay any time soon because we already have a solid exercise routine in place. The treadmill will be used to supplement it when the rain is too unbearable.</p>
<p>workinprogress, when it comes to weights, I love the simple stuff as well. An assortment of old dumbbells litters our living room floor, and in addition to my nightly exercise, I get to flex my muscles every time I move them around during vacuum cleaning. May be we should add some kettlebells as well :)</p>
<p>Lost about 5 lbs but that was due to being sick. I will take what I can get. After over 2 weeks of being sick and eating a strange diet I think I am almost ready to get back to real life. Have been living on a diet of bland plain oatmeal for breakfast, saltines with peanut butter for lunch and 2 scrambled eggs with a slice of whole wheat toast and a banana here and there.
I am not sure where to start. I have barely been out of the house for 14 days now aside from going to the Dr. No exercise. I still am on antibiotics and an inhaler. Still coughing and still have some chest congestion. How to start back up slowly? Short walks? Can I push myself without getting sick again?
What are the best foods to slowly begin to add back in?
It is frustrating since I was so geared up to start the new yer right</p>
<p>Well, I don’t recommend this as a way to lose weight, but hey, you’re ahead of a lot of us!!</p>
<p>Boy, I would sure be craving some good fruit and veggies.</p>
<p>Do you like soup?</p>
<p>I made my minestrone yesterday and whenever I eat it I feel so healthy</p>
<p>1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 garlic minced
1 can fire roasted tomatoes (or any other small chopped tomatoes)
1 box (32 oz.) low sodium vegetable broth
1 zucchini chopped
1/4 head of savoy cabbage, thinly sliced
1 can navy beans (rinsed and drained)
1 T basil
1 T oregano
2 bay leaves
2 T balsamic vinegar</p>
<p>Saute onions, carrots, garlic in a small amount of canola oil (or olive oil) until softened in a large pot. Add all other ingredients (except vinegar) and bring to almost boiling. Lower heat and cook for about an hour. Remove bay leaves and add vinegar and heat just a few more minutes. </p>
<p>If I have company, I sprinkle some grated parmesan - otherwise I just add pepper to taste.</p>
<p>I have a physics question.</p>
<p>(Trust me; you’ll understand.)</p>
<p>Suppose someone weighs – oh, anything – let’s say 150 pounds. And suppose someone wants to move their weight one mile. (We’re talking mass and distance, in physics terms.) Does it take the same amount of energy to move that mass that distance in five minutes as it does in 20 minutes??</p>
<p>(I contend Yes; my physics major child says No.)</p>
<p>Does the time factor change the amount of energy required to move that mass a certain distance?</p>
<p>The reason I ask is, Can’t I just walk the damn mile? Do I really need to jog the damn thing??</p>
<p>BunsenBurner- I’m a little jealous. There are days (just a few) that I would love to have a dreadmill in the house. If I have to resort to running inside, I go to our (nice) gym and watch TV or listen to music, but it would give me more flexibility to be able to have one at home for the icy days or to do a few extra miles for a second run of the day. I don’t think we’ll do it, though. There just aren’t many days we can’t go outside.</p>
<p>I went to the gym. (As I do every Sunday.) 25 min on the eliptical, an hour on the machines. Would have done 30 min on the elliptical, but had to get ds to his Harvard interview!</p>
<p>VeryHappy, I think (but am not 100% sure) that jogging a mile and walking a mile burn roughly the same number of calories. Jogging allows the exerciser to go more miles in the same number of minutes, but if time is not a constraint then that doesn’t matter. For me, the reason to jog has nothing to do with burning calories. I jog to get my heartrate up to an aerobic level. I can use a high elevation on the treadmill as another alternative. I can’t remember all of the various reasons why exercising aerobically is helpful, but I visually my arteries getting cleaned out by all that hard pumping blood flow.</p>
<p>VeryHappy - I asked the same question this week to dh and son. What came out is energy is the same, work is not. </p>
<p>I’d always thought that running and walking a mile were both about 100 calories, but that turns out not to be quite the case. [How</a> Many Calories Are You Really Burning? | From Runner’s World](<a href=“http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-242-304-311-8402-0,00.html]How”>http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-242-304-311-8402-0,00.html)</p>
<p>I think if you hate running, it’s fine to walk. The nice thing about running is that you are done sooner. I figure it’s better to walk than to do nothing.</p>
<p>BTW, I lost 3 pounds this week. I’m only trying to lose one a week, but I’m sure I’ll hit a plateau soon.</p>
<p>mathmom, thanks for that article. Very informative.</p>
<p>mathmom, that was a very interesting article. I always knew my treadmill overestimated the calories burned for me, because I weigh 115 pounds, and I assume the little computer figures everyone weighs about 150 pounds. However, even correcting for that, this article indicates that my treadmill is still overestimating, by a lot.</p>
<p>From the Runner’s World article:
</p>
<p>Nonetheless, I think fast walking is an excellent form of exercise for many people, and even at a pretty good clip, it is easier on your knees.</p>
<p>Sometimes I alternate running and fast walking on a treadmill, and I find that walking at 4.5 mph or faster seems to do more for weak abdominal muscles (at least it seems to be pulling them tighter). Walking fast with elevation pulls even more.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Annnnnd… the Mom beats the physics major. It takes the same amount of energy to move the mass in five minutes or in twenty minutes.</p>
<p>As to comparing walking and running, the posted articles say walking is more efficient (uses fewer calories per mile, so more INefficient at burning calories). But that’s not because of the speed of walking versus the speed of running; it’s because when running you jump up a little bit on each stride, so you’re expending energy lifting your body up as well as propelling it forward.</p>
<p>Yes, I understand the aerobic benefits of running versus walking; I was just trying to figure out calories burned.</p>
<p>I’m not averse to running; in fact, I’ve gotten pretty good at it! I ran 2.27 miles on the treadmill today, in 30 minutes. Nothing like MOWC can do, but a personal best for me!</p>
<p>Thank you, Cardinal Fang, for telling me I’m right!! Yay!!</p>
<p>Went to the club today cause it’s raining cats and dogs around here. 10 minutes on the TM, 10 on the elip and 10 on the bike followed by 10 minutes of stretching. Can’t handle more than than that…hate machines! I really want to do some weightlifting but I’m still dealing with tennis elbow.
Will try spinning tomorrow. My PT said she spins and “it makes her sweat more than any other activity.” Hmmm…</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That’s why when you do one of those max stress tests on a treadmill they used to tell us to stay in a walk as long as we could (speed and elevation were both increased with the protocol used at The Cooper Institute for Aerobics Research). It was more efficient and you could last longer on the damn thing. WildChild set an age record on the thing when he was about 11 even though all the equipment and wires they strapped on him weighed more than he did!</p>
<p>Toneranger, this has cured 2 of my friends of tennis elbow:</p>
<p>[Phys</a> Ed: An Easy Fix for Tennis Elbow? - Well Blog - NYTimes.com](<a href=“Phys Ed: An Easy Fix for Tennis Elbow? - The New York Times”>Phys Ed: An Easy Fix for Tennis Elbow? - The New York Times)</p>
<p>Not much of a bike ride today, only 35 miles. But even if I wasn’t very strong, I got the calming effect of exercise and the time to think stuff over.</p>
<p>hmom…thanks re the tennis elbow article. I am NY Times reader and saw this last summer. Ordered the thingie from amazon and it didn’t help. I went to chiro and did something called the “graston technique” and I’m about 80% healed (the rest will hopefully resolve with stretching and other exercises I’m doing). But not enough to start weight lifting. </p>
<p>So CF, you think 35 miles is a “light ride”…lol. That’s a long ride for me…
But at least I should be in somewhat good shape for my first try at spinning…</p>
<p>Wow! A bunch of us losing weight and exercising. Horray! I didn’t go to the gym today. Hubby and I went to Odessagirls college and picked her up for lunch and a movie (Lovely Bones). It’s my birthday on Wednesday, so wanted to spend time with her. We had the best time. And she is happy, which makes me very happy, too.</p>
<p>Bunsen - My time said you were on CC at 2:14 a.m. That is why I said “burning the midnight oil”. But I am on the east coast and maybe you are on the west.</p>
<p>eddie - yes, I’m just about north of Seattle, not too far from a place where really good treadmills are made 
So it was 11 pm for me. Happy upcoming birthday to you!</p>
<p>H and I went for our usual run today. We have a choice of going left or right at the stop sign at the end of our street; today we chose to go left because I saw another “for sale” sign in the distance and I absolutely had to get the flyer 
We ran very slowly, averaging 10-minute miles, but it is Sunday, after all!</p>
<p>Good job, everyone! I’m impressed, looks like everyone is doing great, and 35 miles being not much of a bike ride… Oy. I tried to ride a bike last summer and really hated the experience, but then DD broke a little secret to me: bike shorts No wonder I got bruises on my rear and she did not! LOL! When I was riding my bike many moons ago, I either paid little attention to this kind of stuff, or I had latex butt!</p>