10 Minute Solution: Pilates DVD - Sculpting and some other moves - weights and stretches (the usual). I love mine and I love the color I chose. Make sure to get a half size bigger. They do fit very tight and snug. I used to take a weekly yoga class on the beach and loved that. :)

Just thought that I watched some videos of these on You Tube this morning while drinking my tea and almost choked from laughter :lol:. Yes, I agree that they are a bit weird to say the least. :D Still waiting a few more weeks for mine to arrive. Excited and can't wait. :D

Thank you :). I'd never really heard of this. Will look them up.

I LOVE this idea. :D On another board, I start the same exact thread every morning. Very motivating and encouraging. I'll try to post as often as I can. My problem is that I usually check in to the boards at the very early morning hours only, so I may be a day late in posting. Today I did 10 Minutes Pilates from my new DVD. Really like this. and some other stretches and moves

I myself am partial to elliptical machines. Love them. Gentler on knees than most other options. Maybe some of these will help: http://www.livestrong.com/article/30215-top-rated-inhome-cardio-machines/ http://exercise.about.com/cs/exercisegear/bb/home_fitness.htm http://exercise.about.com/od/cardiomachinesresources/Cardio_Machines_Resources.htm http://www.askthetrainer.com/best-cardio-machines.html http://www.prevention.com/health/fitness/cardio/how-to-buy-a-cardio-machine/article/dde27d7de14d6110VgnVCM20000012281eac____

Stacia, thank you for this :D. Dd wants me to order it for her. I know she'll love it. Also, based on all the glowing reviews here - Mrs. Mungo, Spy Car, etc. - I know it's something that she will like. 2 Questions: 1. Should I have her read it herself OR should we do this as a read-aloud? Dd loved the Lemony Snicket books. I started those off as read-alouds, but ds and I could not stand them. Are these similar? 2. Is there a link as to how often the NPR Book Club will change, basically to know what their next book is? Do they have an actual link for their kids book club? The link posted here seems to only be for this book. Thank you. :)

Well, at least you have a library. Ours has fewer books than we do in our own home. :tongue_smilie: It would be great if you could convince your library to order one of the ballet DVDs. I can't wait to receive mine and have heard such great things about it. I feel that this is what my body needs :). Debbie, me too. No dance-y stuff for me. ;)

Natalie, I can't answer about best juicers. I've been juicing for more than 15 years on and off. Many of my juicers have died. So now I just buy the cheapest ones and replace them every year or two. Seriously. I got tired of spending bundles of money on juicers that were going to live for the same amount of time as the cheap ones. The absolute worst juicer I ever got was this one at Costco. Because of that, I will never get a Jack La Lanne juicer again. I mistakenly believed that Costco only sells the cream of the crop. Not so. This was horrible. I would do my research and consider the reviews on amazon, especially the distribution of star ratings, if you KWIM. For example, that juicer I linked has 42 out of 155 people giving it a 1-Star - basically 27% hated it. I'd really like to see this movie. I keep hearing about it. I think you can also and I applaud your spirit and positiv-ity (not a word, I know). :) I've never been able to. I would love to if I had no distractions and commitments - a break from the kids - and zero responsibility. I have replaced ONE meal a day with juice - mainly veggie juices. But never gone all out. Just replacing that one meal has helped me lose weight in the past. Maybe I should try it again. This post is encouraging me to do so. :D Most juicers come with their own recipe books. This book is fabulous and I love it. Some of my thoughts/tips on juicing. Wanted to share in case anyone's interested. I try to juice daily or at least as often as possible. I juice veggies for the most part, and seldom juice fruits, since they say that too much fruit juice raises insulin levels. When making juices for our children, however, I add a little bit of fruit – usually an apple. Adding an apple or some grapes is also great for those who cannot stand the taste of veggie juices and are just starting out. Any good juicing book will give great recipes as well as all the benefits of various juices. My favorite one is Juicing for Life. There are many others, but that’s the one I have and like. I like to rotate my juicing recipes and vary the vegetables. As with any food, if you keep juicing the same veggies day after day, you may develop food sensitivities to them. Variety is important. My reasons for juicing: 1. I believe that regularity of and ease with bowel movements are probably amongst the most important measures of overall health. A healthy person should preferably have at least one bowel movement per day. Also, it should not be painful, take too long, or involve straining. Bowel movements should be easy. There should be very little time for magazine reading ;)! I notice a huge difference in this area when we juice as opposed to when we don’t. 2. Juicing helps to detox the liver. The cleansing and health of the liver is essential to overall health. The liver has many important functions – mainly to clean the blood and to remove toxins and waste. 3. One of the most important measures of health is a well-balanced pH system – one that is just above neutral and slightly alkaline. Pretty much any disease and health disorder (ranging from acne, to the common cold, all the way to cancer), simply cannot survive in a system that is alkaline. Vegetable juices are great for alkalizing. A good friend of mine, who really knows her stuff about natural healing, once told me that maintaining a healthy pH balance and lymphasizing are the two best things one can do for overall health. 4. Most of us know that the more raw foods we can eat, the better. Juicing is a great way to do this. For those who reject juicing because of the lack of fiber, yes, of course fiber is essential. Most of us need even more fiber than we’re currently taking. To me, juicing is an excellent way to get even more nutrients than I would otherwise. When I see the amount of veggies that I juice, I know that it would be very, very difficult to eat all those veggies. I see juicing as an addition to a high-fiber diet. Besides, from what I understand, juicing removes mainly indigestible fiber, which your body cannot absorb anyway. The only downside of juicing is the amount of time it takes to prepare the veggies and to clean the juicer. The latter really and truly can be an absolute pain! But the benefits of juicing far outweigh this. After juicing, you should drink it within a few minutes, or the enzymes will be destroyed from exposure to air. Within 20 minutes the enzymes are all oxidized. Sounds like the approach I take. :) Thank you so much for this very helpful piece of info, Lisa :grouphug:. I never knew. Here I was thinking that I simply must get one someday. Karen, I haven't seen the movie. Could you please send a link as to which one you got? Thank you. :iagree: Juicing is wonderful. These words are gold. So very, very true. Amy, if it were me and I was just starting out, I would buy a decent-priced juicer and get hold of a good juicing book, such as the one I mentioned above. Then focus on juicing just once a day, as Tibbie mentions above. And then I would look into the whole ETL approach, which, is not really easy to do and may be quite challenging. In other words, I would start slowly with just one juice a day. Just my 2 cents.

Thank you so much for warning me and thank you for the suggestions and link. As luck would have it, ds and I went to about 4 different stores and managed to accumulate enough caramels from each place. Worked out really well. :) Thanks again.

I'm slowly (although too slowly for dd's liking), weaning myself off my frumpy clothes. They're slowly dying out and being thrown in the trash. Frumpy feels fine around the house. Right now, I'm wearing a somewhat frumpy and shapeless T-shirt with bike shorts. This is my at-home attire. No one's really going to see me. I'm about to make breakfast and do some cleaning. I no longer dress frumpy when I go out. I have to admit that I did when dc were very small. Dressing was not my top priority then. We live in a very looks-ist society and it has a rather small town feel. Heaven forbid if I run into people that I know or even don't know. I no longer want to dread seeing others and have to hide behind aisles or clothing racks, etc. if you KWIM. I don't have to always be dressed to the nines. I rarely am. I just prefer to look decent, presentable, but never frumpy. Frumpy would embarrass my dc. They're at that age. Dd is very much into fashion. This is one of our many bonding points. She actually sews and designs and is a tiny bit of a celebrity here - (very minor), so no, it really would not do for me to be frumpy ... but even if she wasn't, I no longer like being frumpy. I am trying to dress nicer - as nice as I can afford and so forth. I hardly ever wear heels, simply because they do a number on my feet and knees. I don't wear make up. My hair is turning grey and I will probably not dye it. But I do like to have regular cuts, etc. Have my brows done and facials. The most important thing is to be happy and content. Mind you, how I look is quite a determinant as to how I feel. :iagree: I cannot believe that I wore a denim jumper a few times when my dc were very small. Mind you, I was so overweight, that's all that would fit me. I have reached a point in my life where I try my utmost to avoid such people. :glare: I like to look nice, but I never, ever like to judge what others choose to wear, etc. That's their business. My only pet peeve: I really dislike extremely long hair on most. Straggly, ratty hair that needs a serious trim, that is ... :001_huh: I'm so big on regular trims. Oh and I also loathe harem pants. Dd and I cannot stand them. :lol: :iagree: :iagree: :iagree: Very well said. Your words are gold.

There were no caramels to be found here as of yesterday and unlikely to be found today. Dd thinks we should be able to heat this up and dip the apples in. My recipe calls for individually wrapped caramels, but this should be okay, right? Thanks so much. :)

Yum. Sounds better than the rather boring turkey one I had. :D :grouphug: :) I'm creating an entire word document full of Nutella recipes to try out. :D

Okay, that would seriously annoy me :glare: :lol:.

Have you seen this recent one? I don't know if any exercise program will help with weight. Not by itself. Unless you seriously restrict intake, particularly if you wish to lose all the weight within 3 months. Someone here posted this a while back: "Great bodies are made in the kitchen and improved in the gym." Yes, this is a very good one. Just be careful of injury. Quite common for many, including yours truly. Many have chosen to do modifications. Off to look at some of the other links and suggestions here. Love these threads. :D Right now, I'm really, really in love with starting ballet-based workouts. Can't wait to get my DVDs. :D There have been a few threads on it lately.

Dawn, everyone has given very helpful suggestions and tips. Sorry that the doctors haven't been of much help. Quite typical in my experience also. :glare: Very frustrating. If you don't mind my asking, where do you feel most pain? Digestive? Inflammation - which is the root of most pain - is something that many of us have. Oftentimes we don't even know that we have it. I can post lots of tips on that if you or anyone here is interested. It may very well be the wheat/gluten. Sometimes the foods we crave the most are the ones that we are most sensitive to. Someone mentioned D3 and magnesium. :iagree: If you need tips on those, I can post that as well. I hope and pray that you find relief very soon. Pain is horrible to have to deal with. :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

Same here. Been thinking of you a lot. :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

Great to know. :D I can't wait to receive mine and get started. :)

Greta, thanks so much again. :grouphug: I will. It will be a few weeks before I receive it, but I'll let you know. I'm quite sure that a chair is fine. That's what it says on their site. Not sure. I wish I had them all :D - other than the pregnancy one, of course ;). I really want to read some Gary Taubes also. One of his books has been on my wish list for the longest while. I just haven't been very good at reading non-fiction lately. Low-carb is something I need to do more consistently. I smiled at you sharing with your dh. :D My dh often teases me with my obsessions and fixations. I remind him jokingly that he has them also. Then his response was, "Honey, get all the DVDs you want." :) Of course, if I really and truly get them ALL, particularly at once, I end up feeling guilty ... :tongue_smilie: Me too. It can get quite monotonous and annoying. Has happened to me with all my Leslie Sansone DVDs through the years. I need variety. Since I plan on doing ballet-based workouts 3-5 times a week, I will need variety. Still wish the periodization system would work for us. Thanks again for everything. In a few weeks' time (probably more like a month), I will let you know my thoughts on the DVDs that I've ordered. :)

Very helpful to know. Thank you. Saw a clip with dh this morning. Never mind the funny comments from dh :lol:, I realized that it's way out of reach for clumsy me. ;) Good to know. I ordered this one a week or so ago. :D I hear you about the limited time. Very, very hard ... :glare:

Thank you so much for getting back to me on this and for all your kind and wonderful help. :grouphug: I'm so thankful to you for getting me into all this. I'm so excited and consumed with ballet workouts now. :D Yay! They wouldn't allow me to view since we live outside the U.S. :glare: Too bad. I really like Kathy Smith. Just saw a few of these. Thank you. Bookmarking them. :) Diane, thank you. I didn't know they have two. I've only seen one. I was thinking of adding one of them to my wish list. An online friend who's also a dancer type recommended it. But then I read that it's very dance-y and not as geared for the non-dance-y types like me. Not sure if it would be worth my money or not. Again, I'm not very coordinated or dance-y. The last ballet class I took was when I was a kid back in the mid '70s. :tongue_smilie:

Greta, thanks for this link. I wanted the periodization system, but downloading them doesn't work well on my PC. I think she might be coming out with new DVDs. She has two - but they seem more yoga-ish to me. I already have lots of yoga DVDs. I assume you got either the Beginner's one or Change Your Body. I've ordered the latter, simply because it's longer, and according to redsquirrel, you get more bang for your buck. Thank you so much for your very helpful and detailed review. I really do appreciate you taking the time to share :). Nope, I can't dance either. ;) Me too. I have enough cardio. Love this. :) Sounds like a great plan. I'm working on a very similar plan. I'm fully consumed and obsessed with workout plans these days and ballet-based workouts are taking a huge chunk of my brain. Not complaining. Loving it. :D I'm looking forward to receiving my DVDs in a few weeks. Thank you again for all your kind help. :grouphug:

Praying. :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

Sorry to bother everyone with this :tongue_smilie:. My reasons for thinking of a beginner DVD are: 1. because I am one ... and I want to get it right, unless if the above are clear in their instruction of course, and there is no need of a beginner DVD/s 2. I get bored easily. My plan is to try to do a ballet-based workout 3-5 times a week, if possible. So I figure if I have a few DVDs, I'll be less likely to get bored.

In another thread/s redsquirrel and one or two others recommended ballet-based workouts. I'm now totally and absolutely consumed and obsessed with this. :D I have ordered the Change Your Body DVD and the Element: Ballet Conditioning one. I also managed to get a few Lotte Berk ones just because they were at a decent price and they're good for beginners, although, they're not said to be the best. Questions: I really want to get this right. Should I also get a Beginner DVD or something like that? Or are the above sufficient for a beginner like me? I'm thinking of any of these: The Bar Method - which is shamefully expensive, but has very good reviews and is said to be good for beginners The Beginners Workout DVD? Thank you so much. :)

I will not wear sneakers on our tile floors and in the usually slightly damp kitchen area anymore. On Sunday, while making pancakes, I slipped and fell so badly. I take Flylady with a pinch of salt. Some of her advice, I've loved. Others, not going to happen. :)