Denise Austin - Shrink Your Female Fat Zones - uses light weights and the stability ball part is optional - variety and ab work - not too difficult - some don't like her voice (I think it's funny) - collagevideo.com gives you video samples of all DVDs Jillian Michaels - has 3 DVDs that are okay (if you're into challenging, all are effective, and have variety) - Shred is tough; No More Trouble Zones uses weights; Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism - no equipment - NMTZ is probably the best IMHO Denise Austin also has Get Fit Daily Dozen and Ten 5-Minute Target Toners Jari Love has a few that I love - the cover looks intimidating (a bit); variety only weights, and fabulous instruction - effective - Get Ripped and Get Ripped to the Core. I both of these and some others at Ross. Ross has great DVDs at super prices at times. Kathy Smith is not bad either. I like her. Lift Weights to Lose Weight, etc. I have a few of those. I would first head to Ross and see if they have good ones. Then, depending on what others say, head to Target or Suncoast Video (has great prices also if there's a mall near you with one), or online.

Michelle, and here I was, thinking that I'm the only person who's actually read this gem of a book and loved it. Well, very nice to meet you. :grouphug: I'm re-reading it. That's how much I love it. :D Now, on to read everyone's fabulous posts on this thread, since I can tell that this thread is a great one. :)

Ancestor was Prime Minister of Iran and was strangled to death. He was, according to many sources, and this is not just my opinion (since I don't really give a hoot about genealogy), the most fair, just and honest person in that government. He wouldn't take bribes, hence his murder.

:iagree: :lol:

I try, but I really need to work on this. I keep procrastinating ... think I read these on Flylady or something like that. Before tossing out stuff, ask yourself: • Does it lift my energy when I think about it or look at it? Trust the feelings in your body. Does it make me feel good? • Do I absolutely love it? Does it really inspire me or is it just ‘nice”? Does it also have sad associations in my life? • Is it genuinely useful? If so, when did I actually last use it? When, realistically, am I going to use it again? • Will I have found a use for this within the next 10 years? The answer is nearly always no. • Look at each thing and ask: Do I love you? Do you make me smile? Do I have a place for you? If the answer is no – out you go!

Me too. I used to drink milk like it was going out of style. Milk is apparently the #1 acne culprit. Followed by white sugar.

Believe it or not, eyebrows are really important and can totally change how you look. On top of that, having well-groomed eyebrows makes you look more put-together even if you don't wear make up. I never wear make up. I have my naturally thick and busy brows waxed once a month. Do what you need to do. If waxing is a splurge, then after professional waxing you can maintain the shape yourself by regular tweezing afterwards. Charla Krupp says that getting your eyebrows done is like a 15-minute facelift. It can really lift up your face. Finally, don’t pluck out any gray hairs, since brows thin with age and you might wind up with no brows at all. SLEEP ON BACK IF YOU CAN OR WITH A SILK OR SATIN PILLOWCASE I’m never able to sleep on my back. I got a satin pillowcase from amazon, which, apparently helps with hair loss and facial creases. I love that Paula’s Choice line of products can be used for the eyes also. Don't bother with Strivectin. SCAM from all that I have heard. I have not yet used Retinol, but may as I get older. I know that it helps to fade age spots and you can use it on your hands, lower forearms, and even your decolletage. I'm reluctant to use it because of adverse health effects and liver damage. I'd rather have aging on my skin than health problems. ;) I have read that every woman over 40 should consider Retinol. I may wait until I’m 45 or 50. I’ll see. This from a friend on another board: Retinol is the only medical proven cream that will stimulate collagen growth. Everything else is smoke and mirrors. There isn't anything on the market that compares. Don't bother with Strivectin. It doesn't work and is ridiculously expensive. Retinol is the only real proven topical cream that reduces fine lines. Retinol is like taking a whip to an old horse; it goads your skin into making fresh new collagen. I have not read much good about the OTC retinols, and the studies that show real improvement all are based on prescription strength Retin As. Tretinoin is the generic of Retin A. Retin A can be drying because it comes in a base that is made for teenaged acne not old aging ladies. Renova is Retin A in a less drying base, but the active ingredient is exactly the same as Retin A. Despite Madison Avenue and heavy marketing, no cream has ever been proven to reverse skin aging except retinol. Retinol is the magic bullet. I know that you need a prescription. I know it isn't cheap. But it works. We women pour billions of dollars into buying creams and potions that don't work, but then we balk at actually paying the money for something that does. Retinol works if your skin can tolerate it. Some people cannot tolerate it because it is too drying. If anyone needs specific Retinol tips, since you need to exercise great caution, let me know. I try to brush my teeth after drinking tea or coffee. Both cause stains. Other foods like red wine and berries can cause stains. Genetics can play a role too; some people just have teeth with a yellowish or off-white appearance. Dingy teeth are aging, and whitening them doesn’t have to be expensive. Charla Krupp says every dentist she’s asked promises you can get the same effect from the drugstore-bought Crest Whitestrips as from costly professional treatments. HOW TO FEEL & LOOK 10 YEARS YOUNGER OVERALL - from the same Retinol friend: Aerobic exercise 5-6 times a week Pilates or Yoga 3x/week Drink lots of water Eat a Mediterranean Diet Make friends Retinol Take care of your teeth! Invest time and energy in your personal spiritual/intellectual life Have good s*x/love and be loved I laugh a lot. I've always been this way. Dh says that this is one of the reasons he married me. He doesn't laugh nearly as much and he says he needs this in his life. I used to get into trouble for this at school and even in college. "The most wasted day is that in which we have not laughed." :D I still have not colored my hair and may very well allow myself to go gray naturally. If you do want to dye your hair, Charla Krupp says, getting hair professionally colored is the one beauty indulgence not to skip. You want your hair to have a variety of subtle tones that look natural, a brightening of color around the face to counteract the darkness caused by wrinkles and dark spots. Do-it-yourself dye jobs often result in a wall of one color and that looks frumpy. She suggests talking to your stylist and asking her how to make the color last longer. Maybe tone down the highlights so it’s not so obvious when the real color comes in.

I try to have at least 1/2 of each meal be veggies and/or fruit. I try (but definitely don't always succeed) to juice veggies and have one juice a day. My parents do this daily. Consume 5-7 Servings of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables a Day. One of the most conspicuous things about the diets of the five longest-lived populations is that they all include large amounts of fresh fruits and vegetables. The most important anti-aging aspect of fruits and veggies is their high levels of antioxidants. As well as host of other benefits, antioxidants protect tissues from cross-linking, a process that causes arteries to stiffen and skin to wrinkle. To test your cross-linking, put your hand flat on a table surface. Take a pinch of skin from the back of your hand and pull it upward. If it springs back, your cross-linking damage is minimal. The longer it stays raised, the more cross-linking damage you have. The amount of antioxidants that you maintain in your body is directly proportional to how long you will live. You could say that one of the commonest causes of aging is a fruit and vegetable deficiency. Another benefit of fruits and veggies is the high-fiber content. Fiber improves digestion and ensures skin-damaging toxins are flushed from the body. Try to eat 2 carrots daily. Carrots keep your skin smooth. They’re rich in carotenoids - antioxidants proven to reduce damage caused by UV rays and even protect skin from future sun exposure Spinach and other dark green leafy veggies slow down the aging process. Red Peppers are rich in Vitamin C – reduces wrinkling and dryness of Include protein at every meal. Protein provides the essential amino acids that the body uses to repair and regenerate the cells for maintaining skin’s tone and elasticity. The body can’t store protein for future use, so it’s important to consume lean protein at each meal – poultry, eggs, beans, and some dairy products, such as plain yogurt. 2 tsp cinnamon daily is loaded w/manganese and helps skin look more radiant and younger Eat plenty of fish, nuts, seeds, and olive oil – these healthy fats are all necessary for radiant, supple skin. I also LOVE Carlson's Fish Oil - has a ton of health benefits and I'm convinced that it helps the skin. Sugar triggers the formation of free radicals, which damage the skin’s supportive collagen strands. Regular exercise, particularly yoga, improves blood circulation to skin, feeds skin cells, and makes the skin glow. Yoga improves skin’s elasticity, strength, and firmness. I get facials about once every 4-6 weeks. They’re much cheaper here, so I'm blessed. I know that if we lived in the U.S., it would be real luxury. I love Paula's Choice of skin care products. The most important factor with skin care is daily maintenance. Not that I always do. Give your neck and décolletage the same treatment as your face. Change even one thing in your skin care regimen every 6-12 months to jump start more impressive improvements in skin tone and texture. Otherwise your skin goes into a sort of maintenance mode. Wrinkles aren't typically what make a woman look old, but loss of something called "brightness". Cellular build-up and clogged and enlarged pores can make skin look dim and dull. Nothing beats having facials, but if you can't afford them, you can do so at home. One of the keys to keeping skin young is regular and gentle exfoliation. I love Exfolia Cloths from amazon I also love Paula’s Choice BHA Gels. The purpose of these acids is to remove the dead cell layers which cause loss of skin brightness. They contain salicylic acid which helps with pore problems. Always be more gentle than you think you need to be! Exfoliating scrubs used twice a week will help with blackheads and increase brightness. If you use one of the scrubs, the particles should be smooth and feel like sugar in your hand. If they are too big or rough, they can tear skin. Go for a gentle product with a manufactured exfoliant - like micro beads - versus a natural exfoliant like seeds or pits because the rough edges can actually cause little scratches on your skin and cause more damage in the long run than help. This is one time natural is not necessarily better! Use only your ring finger to massage a manual exfoliant on your face as it has the lightest touch - even though it feels so good to REALLY scrub! Always be more gentle than you think you need to be! Always err on the side of babying your skin. Mary Kay Time Wise Microdermabrasion – the entire Mary Kay line is good Biore strips are great for cleaning pores I have heard good things about the following, although I haven’t tried any of them yet. Sephora Microdelivery Peel Neutrogena’s At Home Microdermabrasion System Olay Daily Facials Clarity Scrub pHisoderm pH2O Anytime Nurturing Scrub with Gentle Microbeads With Clarins' Bright Plus HP Brightening Peel, $42 at Sephora and Sephora.com, you really see immediate results. You put this peel on with a cotton pad and never have to take it off, and it really perks up your skin fast. You can really see it work, too - if you do one side of your face and not the other, you can actually see how much brighter your face looks! The older we get, the brighter we want our skin to look. We want less age spots, less discoloration and less unevenness, and this peel is a great extra little boost that you can give to your skin every few days.

Yes. :) It's best to start slowly and very gradually build up. I read this and thought to share: When choosing your weights, use this easy test: Grab a dumbbell and try to perform 10 reps of a move. If you can’t do them all w/good form, it’s too heavy. If you can easily perform more than 10, it’s too light. You should start to feel a normal burn around the 8th rep. I'd like to check this one. Thanks for the suggestion. :) Someone on another forum once mentioned that she uses light weights on pretty much all the Leslie DVDs, regardless. I often do the same, or at least where she does the arm and upper body movements.

Arnold Schwarzenegger exercises strenuously or did exercise strenuously last I checked. He's obese according to the BMI charts. When I used to run on average 28 miles a week, I was, at times, marginally obese. Not so when I did this in my teens, 20s, and early 30s. But once I entered my mid-30s, I had to really watch what I eat. Running was doing squat when it came to weight loss. I have a friend who does intense 90-minute workouts 7 days a week and she is obese. A family member does the same and he is obese. Hours on the stairmaster every single week. Obese. I'm talking about weight here, not body fat or measurements. Just weight and BMI - not body fat%. clothing size, waist measurement, health - again, just weight. Weight is about calories in and calories out. Not everyone who runs or exercises strenuously for 6 or more hours a week is necessarily disciplined with regards to their intake. If you are, which it sounds like you are (whether it's age, genetics, discipline, or just plain old good luck ;)), then count yourself blessed.

Thank you so much. :grouphug:

Calvert?

We are almost done with it and we love it.

:iagree: :lol: I have a round face and will always have cheeks. I'll soon be 43. Some say I look younger. I don't know. I think it's just important to be happy, content, and to have a good attitude. I'm always a little on the plump side (to say the least). I don't dye my hair and likely never will. I never wear make up. Just lip balm from time to time. Diet is key. Staying out of the sun also. Or at least avoiding the peak hours. Laughter is essential. • Exercise for half an hour a day • Eat a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains (and low in fat and refined sugar) Much of beauty is being healthy. No beauty regime will mask poor health forever. Exercising and drinking water are two basics that will serve everyone. • Spend an hour a day taking part in stress-reducing activities, such as yoga or meditation - I very seldom get to do a whole hour ... Some more tips: Wear sunscreen and remember to apply it to your hands! You can always tell a woman’s age by looking at her hands. The hands never lie. Wear a wide-brimmed hat. More tips later ... off to watch "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" with dh. :D :D :D

The hcg diet is going wonderfully for me so far. I'm so not a diet person.

:iagree: I just started the hcg diet and am loving it so far. No hunger at all. I am so not a diet person. Exercise for weight loss alone, no longer works for me. The only thing that does, is eating much, much less.

Agreeing with both posters. Standard Process, although, sadly, I can't get it here, is excellent. Dh has loved it every time he's used these. Never heard of Nutrilite,but will look into them Yes, do not use Walmart, Costco (for the most part), or Centrum brands. I usually order ours from vitacost or amazon. Reading reviews helps. If I could, I would just get everything (or at least as much as I could from Standard Process). These ones I know from personal experience are good: Carlson’s Nature’s Way New Chapter Organics NOW Enzymatic Therapy Solgar The Vitamin Shoppe Garden of Life I've heard many times that the following are very good, but I have not yet tried them. Rainbow Light Nature’s Plus Nordic Naturals Health from the Sun Jarrow Member’s Mark Pure Encapsulations Puritan’s Pride Shaklee Darwin’s Vitamin World Zone Perfect Metagenics As Peela once so wisely suggested, I avoid supplements from multi-network companies.

Love this thread (as I rather embarrassingly catch up on some old threads ;)). Lori, fabulous review. Absolutely wonderfully organized and much appreciated. :grouphug:

“Overexercise—for a variety of reasons—actually makes it harder to lose weight. Overly strenuous exercise—especially combined with insufficient sleep, unrelenting stress, and poor eating habits—can push your body into survival mode, raising your level of the stress hormone cortisol. Cortisol’s job is to boost energy levels by any means necessary. If these levels stay high for too long, cortisol starts breaking down the cells in nerves, muscles, and bones, converting them into energy. In the short term, it’s a rush. In the long-term, it’s debilitating. Cortisol has another job: storing energy where the body can get at it quickly. And guess where that is? In the most accessible place, biologically—belly fat. Ongoing high levels of cortisol lead to weight gain, fatigue, nervousness, and possibly osteoporosis (loss of bone mass).” We all need to move more, yet this doesn’t necessarily mean that we need to stress our bodies at the gym. Our leisure-time physical activity (including things like golfing, gardening and walking) has decreased since the late 1980s, right around the time the gym boom really exploded. Very frequent, low-level physical activity — the kind humans did for tens of thousands of years before the leaf blower was invented — may actually work better for us than the occasional bouts of exercise you get as a gym rat. To burn calories, the muscle movements don't have to be extreme. It would be better to distribute the movements throughout the day – functional fitness such as housework, walking the dog, raking the leaves, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, walking while carrying groceries, walking instead of driving when possible, etc. It's how much you eat, not how hard you try to work it off, that matters more in losing weight. You should exercise to improve your health, but be warned: fiery spurts of vigorous exercise could lead to weight gain. http://www.thefactsaboutfitness.com/articles/aerobicexercise.htm http://nymag.com/news/sports/38001/ http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/08/27/earlyshow/health/main5269114.shtml http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/04/phys-ed-why-doesnt-exercise-lead-to-weight-loss/ There’s a Gary Taubes video where he talks about how when we increase our exercise, our appetites naturally increase to adjust. Conversely, when we reduce our caloric intake, our bodies naturally reduce their energy output to adjust. The video is long, but definitely worth watching! He describes (in general layman's terms) the biochemistry of how weight gain and loss occurs, and it's very valuable information. http://webcast.berkeley.edu/event_details.php?webcastid=21216 - someone here posted this and it's really very interesting.

Very interesting thread. Something that's been one my mind for a long time. Great posts here also. Sorry if some of this is repetitive. Exercise is wonderful for preventing all sorts of diseases – heart disease, cancer, diabetes, protecting the bones, lifting one’s mood, boosting metabolism, and so on. But in general, for weight loss, exercise is not all it’s made out to be. Lots of research has shown this. In terms of weight loss, diet and aerobic exercise provide only a very marginal benefit when compared to diet alone. I have numbers to prove it - since I weigh and measure on a weekly basis - the times that I have lost the most weight are when I exercise moderately (not for an hour or more a day, like I used to) and eat MUCH, MUCH less. My body has changed. It's not the body I had in my teens, 20s, or early 30s. I used to be able to eat that slice of cheesecake AND run 4 miles the next morning AND not ever gain. I can’t do that anymore. :confused: I have more recently found that that when I exercise intensely for 45 minutes or more per day, my appetite increases. I get the most results from eating much less and exercising moderately – for about 30-45 minutes per day, or at least most days. That's just my experience. Again, I have numbers to prove it. For me, weight loss is pretty much 80% what I eat and 20% what I do. As with most things in life, the usual 80/20 Principle applies. My dh (and others have said this also), say that it may be more like 90% what I eat. I'm actually am agreeing with that more and more. When it comes to weight loss, intake is huge. When it comes to overall health and longevity, exercise is essential also. I no longer exercise for 90 minutes a day, and sometimes not even every day, since it’s not always possible. I tell myself to exercise for health not necessarily for weight loss. Exercise is not a weight loss solution. Exercise is important, but it may negatively affect your weight loss for three main reasons: 1. Exercise makes you hungrier, causing you to eat more – Maybe not immediately, but eventually. Burn more calories and the odds are very good that we’ll consume more as well. I know that when I exercise very intensely and for more than 45 minutes or so, my appetite can be insatiable. "The most powerful determinant of your dietary intake is your energy expenditure," says Steven Gortmaker, who heads Harvard's Prevention Research Center on Nutrition and Physical Activity. "If you're more physically active, you're going to get hungry and eat more." Gortmaker, who has studied childhood obesity, is even suspicious of the playgrounds at fast-food restaurants. "Why would they build those?" he asks. "I know it sounds kind of like conspiracy theory, but you have to think, if a kid plays five minutes and burns 50 calories, he might then go inside and consume 500 calories or even 1,000." Gortmaker and Sonneville found in their 18-month study of 538 students that when kids start to exercise, they end up eating more — not just a little more, but an average of 100 calories more than they had just burned. 2. Exercise causes feelings of entitlement. You may want to reward yourself because you worked out so hard at the gym. People may think they can eat more, because they exercised for 30 minutes. 3. Exercise does not burn that many calories. Couple that fact with being hungrier and you may eat more calories than you burned. Exercise does help burn calories -- you just can't eat more because of it. To demonstrate the calorie intake versus exercise principle: Elliptical training for 44 minutes/500 kcal burned = 1 Honey Bran Raisin Muffin from Dunkin Donuts Kickboxing for 25 minutes and 272 kcal burned = Grande Starbucks latte with whole milk Jogging for 60 minutes and 470 kcal burned = 1 slice (1/6 of cake) of Sara Lee Cheesecake, chocolate swirl NY style Pilates for 30 minutes and 119 kcal burned = 5 pieces of hard candy To burn sufficient calories to lose one pound of body fat, you might: Briskly walk a total of 35 miles Swim moderately fast for 6 hours Dance for 12 hours Play about 12.5 hours of golf, carrying your own clubs Jog for about 29 miles At the same time, you would need to monitor your eating habits to ensure that you are not increasing your calorie-intake in line with your increased exercise! And we all know that it’s much easier to eat 1000 calories than it is to burn 1000 calories! If you're looking to control your weight, exercise is the least efficient way to do it. You'd have to run for hours to keep the cookies you ate from adding to your waistline.

The Kite Runner then wait about 6 months (or else it's Afghanistan overkill) before reading his even better book Thousand Splendid Suns - this one, by far, is amongst one of the best books I have ever read The Help The Five People You Meet in Heaven Tuesdays with Morrie - and pretty much any other Mitch Albom book – we even got the DVDs of three of his books and really liked them :) The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende and anything else by her Can't Wait to Get to Heaven by Fannie Flagg and most of her books, but this is her best :D Funny in Farsi Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett The Secret Life of Bees The Book Thief A Respectable Trade by Philippa Gregory [Harry Potter series The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy - if you can get past the first 60-70 pages (a bit boring) and don't mind graphic stuff - great story - fabulous Sleep Toward Heaven by Amanda Eyre Ward NON-FICTION The Geography of Bliss Outliers … and all Malcolm Gladwell books

Just started and loving it so far. :)

I ate them on and off, then I decided to stop, after having bre@st thermography. They told me that all flax and soy ingredients raise bre@st estrogen levels. So no more for me.

I hated Outlander. Didn't even stick it out for the first 10% if I recall, which is my usual rule before giving up on a book ;). Yes, Rosamunde Pilcher - haven't read her in YEARS - nothing amazing. Personally, I loved Girl with the Dragon Tatoo - once you get past the first 60 or 70 pages - boring. And, if you don't mind the graphic stuff. I usually do, but with this series, story was king. I couldn't put these down for the life of me. The graphic nature of it didn't bother me much at all. I sort of let it go in one ear and come out the other ... I loved, loved, loved The Help. I would love to hear what others suggest, since I'm in a bit of a reading rut now. These have been my favorite page-turners: The Kite Runner then wait about 6 months (or else it's Afghanistan overkill) before reading his even better book Thousand Splendid Suns - this one, by far, is amongst one of the best books I have ever read - both have graphic stuff - but not as graphic as Dragon Tatoo - incredible stories The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende - I couldn't stop reading this, loved it Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett - some love it, some hate it, same with everything I guess. I have other favorite books, of course, but those are what I would call page-turners. :)

I have tons of tips and info ... Here are the symptoms: Severe pain in hips and legs Struggle to get out of bed Widespread pain in several parts of the body Severe fatigue Problems with memory and concentration Headaches Migraines Dizziness Vision Problems Numbness Noise sensitivity Jaw Pain Chest Pain Pelvic Pain Tenderness to the touch Depression Anxiety Sleep Disturbances Blurry Vision Ringing Ears Extremely Painful Periods Digestive Problems – Nausea and IBS