[raisingirl]

Heh. I should suck it up, shouldn't I? It's an old Diamond Back mountain bike (not a hybrid -- in fact, I don't think hybrids existed back then) from the very early 1990s. I'm not positive of the bike's frame size, but I'm 5'2". I'm not saying I'm selling it, just THINKING about selling it.

[voodoo_princess]

octinoxate - i'll be happy to post here if it won't be a hassle for anyone.....
Back to the matter of PROTEIN, as brutalbunny was asking....
At our house we do the whole "the MORE protein, the BETTER" kind of thing. We eat flank steaks, sirloin, tenderloin, boneless skinless chicken boobies, packages of sliced sandwich meat (yup, that's right!), boiled eggs / egg whites, peanutbutter, beans.....
CARBS can be your friend too but you gotta remember to BURN BURN BURN them out and not let them gather around your belly! Carbs help with energy (in active people).
Also we employ an eating system known as VOLUMETRICS. It's based on caloric ratios and ENERGY DENSITY of foods. The lower the E.D. the MORE of a food you can consume....
E.D. is figured by dividing the calories per serving by the grams per serving.... so, if we look at salsa and the calories per serving are 15 and the grams per serving are 33 then, salsa has an E.D. of less than 1 (actually .45454545) so salsa can be eaten in quantity..... as long as the total calories per serving is LESS than the total grams per serving, the food should be a LOW E.D. food..... the higher the E.D. gets, the LESS of that food you want to eat. It's like getting more bang for your buck, foodwise. Your tummy is essentially FULL of what I refer to as ZERO FOODS, or full of nothing BAD.
We supplement also. I personally use Universal Animal Cuts (morning only), 500 mg Vit. C chewables, Tonalin 1000-CLA (with meals), SlimQuick (afternoons only) and a multi-vit....
And I snack on Honey Stinger natural energy bars.
My caloric intake per day is usually less than 1500 total and most of what I eat is protein foods and veges.
I use the excercise ball for doing push ups and sit ups and hack squats and I walk and ride my bike. I do between 70 and 100 pushups per day to tone my arms and chest. The position of your arms when you do push ups determines what muscles get used and tones. I do elbows fly-ed and elbows tucked to work my chest and triceps. As for the leg bulking thing.... I got no problem there, I just need to re-tone mine. I got meaty legs by being a dancer for 8 years (prior to my injury) and by pushing HEAVY weights. Leg presses will help with the leg bulk up. I press between 300lbs and 500lbs with my legs, depending on what I'm trying to do. Start off low and work yourself up. Some people recommend lifting to "muscle failure"..... I don't like doing that but it's whatever you like.
When I do lift weights, I do sets and reps like 3 @ 15 or 5 @ 10 depending on what I'm lifting and what area I'm working out. I really think as long as your doing SOMETHING active, do what makes you happy and makes you feel good about yourself. I no longer push the heavy weights too often but I get a huge sense of pride and self worth by doing my excercise ball, so it works for me. Sure, I'm still a tubby wubby, but not as much as before and I'm pretty ok with my progress. It's all about you and what works for you and makes you happy. I will be more than happy to share recipes and such if anyone wants to try some protein loading or VOLUMETRICS eating and I even have an equation for figuring what your caloric intake should be based on height, weight, age and goal..... just let me know.
Sorry if the post was too long.....

[risala]

Arm-temis! WTF? I'm glad you got it all straightened out but ugh that is annoying. Strong, muscular arms on women are the hottest thing ever. On men too, but on women they're totally underrated.

Raisin! Suck it up and get back on the bike! ;) Actually, I'm kindasorta in the market for a new ride... what are you selling??

Sorry BrutalBunny, I know nothing of that kind of stuff.

[_octinoxate]

voodoo, I would love to read your novella-length post about sports nutrition! Would you mind talking about this stuff here on the board?

[voodoo_princess]

brutalbunny - email me and I would love to chat with you about these questions you have.... I am no beacon of health (I'm lazy and have a broken spine) but my Mr. is a bodybuilder and nutrition nut so I can really help you out on some of the things you want to know..... He thinks I don't listen to him when he's preaching to me about this stuff but I do.... I'm just too embarrassed to go to him for help since he's Mr. Healthy and I'm Mrs. Tubby Wubby.... anyway, I may not practice what he preaches but I certainly know all about nutrition from a bodybuilders standpoint, and you might be able to adjust the info to suit you......
littlegreenbasket@yahoo.com
I have so much to tell you that it would be a novella length post so.... email me if you want.... I have recipes too! Super delish stuff!

[brutalbunny]

I'm feeling SO confused about calories and fat & protein & the like.

Okay, so I got that 1 gram protein = 4 cal, 1 g carb=4 cal, and 1g fat= 9 cal. But how do I know how much I should have of each? I've been trying to gain some tone along with overall weight/fat loss. I have skinny legs and I want to thicken them up, I also want to add muscle to my flabby arms. Anyway... one website (a bodybuilding one) suggested an almost absurb amount of protein (1g per lb) so I cut it down to about 100 g protein a day with remaining cals divided reasonably between fat & carbs (keeping under 35 g fat). Anyway, now I'm seeing all this stuff about high protein (over 50 g) being bad.

I'm definitely not doing a "low carb" diet and I know I'm getting TONS of fiber and water.
So I guess this long drawn out question is: is too much protein really bad? It all comes from lean sources (fish, chicken, & supplements). I mean, I feel I've gained more muscle mass this summer compared to last and I really like that!

I hate how all studies have at least one other conflicting study. I just don't know what to do with myself.

[raisingirl]

Artemis, you can flex for me anytime.

Well, guys, I haven't been on my bike since my near-death by car crash more than a month ago. I don't know what to do. I'm sure I would regret it the moment it's out of my hands, but I'm entertaining thoughts of selling the bike. That's kind of an extreme thought, isn't it? Should I just toughen up? Move to the country? Sigh.

[kittenb]

My $0.02: muscular arms on women or men make me want too lick that person. It can be very embarressing when I work out.
I love doing arms weights. It is such a great stress reduction. I wish I enjoyed cardio that much.

[amilita]

Glad you got that straightened out, artemis. Good for you for talking to him about it!

My gym has a reopening date of June 12...I hope it happens! I have been eating very crappily, thus I feel like crap. Bleh! I need to get back in the habit of cooking...I haven't been for the last month or so. Gotta eat some veggies. I think I'll make this corn, avocado, tomato salsa/salad tonight. Yummy.

[artemis27]

You all rock. Thank you for understanding!

I talked to the owner about it on my next visit and he was completely apologetic. He swears up and down that he didn't say "too" big, that he said "really" big and that he meant it as a compliment. I know what I heard but also believe that whatever he said, he did not mean it as an insult, especially because we are friendly and have been for a while. We then went on to have a good conversation about gymgoers and how so many women sell themselves short by not weightlifting and how so many men sell themselves short by not doing anything to help their flexibility. All of his attitudes were aligned with mine so I'm willing to chalk the whole thing up to a misunderstanding of some sort.

In any case, sharing this story gave me a chance to flex at a party on Saturday and everyone oohed and aahed over my biceps so my ego has been sufficiently stroked!

[pepper]

oh artemis i'm just sitting here laughing. that the OWNER of your gym could feel intimidated enough by a girl's pipes to come on over and critisize her is HILARIOUS! whoo, his thang is prolly the size of my thumb. sorry, but really!
angela's arms always made me feel like running out and buying some free weights. damn but she looked so freaking good when she had those pipes, colour me jealous 'cause i wanna look like that one day.
one of my girls is a circus freak and she could bench me easy peasy, that's how ripped she is. her arms and the abs, OMG, she's a rock! all over too, including her amazing tushie. that look is the shit man, who cares what that loser said.

[crazyoldcatlady]

the whole arm thing reminds me of-- i think it was angela basset?-- who got shit a couple of oscars ago for having some ripped guns. comments like "man arms" and the like.

i thought they were bad ass; any hollywood bitch can take diuretics/coke/colonics/starve themselves, but those arms you have to work on.

in other news, i feel utterly large and toxic. this whole month has been a hedonistic barrage of eating, drinking, and smoking (only when drinking, which was often). i looked at recent pix on my digital camera, and i feel like i'm inching toward late-Elvis territory.

i'm trying real hard to not freak out, but gaining 10-15 lbs in about a year fucks with my head. if i can just keep myself on track with the yoga, i think/hope it will spur me to more aggessive work-outs/eat better.

[_octinoxate]

In total agreement that this guy's comment was out of line and insecure. But what I really want to post about is how awesome buff arms are. Get 'em as big as you want 'em, girl. I've only started to get a wee little bit of muscle in my arms lately (from doing kickboxing... I don't lift) and damn it feels good already. I like feeling stronger. I wish I had all that upper body power, the convenience and independence it would mean (being able to move furniture on my own, etc.), and the guns to show for it! Rock on.

[divaintraining]

Yes, write the letter and call his behavior not only rude and ill-mannered but deeply "unprofessional". Is it a franchise that he owns, because then you can threaten to contact them or just go ahead and contact them directly. I would imagine companies have policies about franchise owners critiquing clients like that.

[divaintraining]

Yes, write the letter and call his behavior not only rude and ill-mannered but deeply "unprofessional". Is it a franchise that he owns, because then you can threaten to contact them or just go ahead and contact them directly. I would imagine companies have policies about franchise owners critiquing clients like that.

[ris]

So, I'm sitting here, eating my post-run bagel, listening to PJ Harvey, when right in the middle of reading Artemis's post, the song, Who the fuck? came on--as in WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? Seriously. That kind of shit infuriates me. Would he have made the same comment to some beefed-up guy? Not bloody likely. And I was thinking the same thing, Too big for what? Perhaps he's afraid that they're big enough to beat his misogynist ass. You should be congratulated on your buff arms and all the hard work that went into them, not criticized. I agree with Cinegirl. Write a letter. Threaten to quit and dispute it if they continue to charge your credit card.

</rant>

[cinegirl]

that guy is an ass and should never have said that to you. you should write a letter threatening to quit & get a free month out of it.

unless you've bulked up because you're taking steroids, you should be proud of your arms. call them STRONG. that's beautiful.

[msgoofball]

artemis, i wouldn't take it personally. he's just being an insensitive jerk..not that i am excusing his behaviour in any way.

In fact, i would have probably quipped back something about how insensitive he was to my non-stick arms and then made reference to his anatomy in a very derogatory way. yeah i would go there.

personally, i like toned, strong arms in a woman as opposed to the stick arms you see. I even like thicker arms, cuz you know there is muscle under there...just my 2 cents.

[artemis27]

Snafooey, I'd say that if you've been to enough classes to know that you're doing the poses you return to over and over again properly (like Downward Dog), then you're probably okay with a good video. In-person classes are always ideal, of course, but the $$ adds up...

I am steamed. When I was on this thread years ago Risala nicknamed me Arm-etris because I'd developed some nice tone in my arms. The tone is still there, and it's more pronounced now because of my weight loss. The OWNER OF MY GYM told me that my arms were getting "too big." WTF? Too big for what?? (Well, I know what he meant, but...) I've been known to chastise women (even on here, sorry!) for making statements about how they don't want to "bulk up" too much in the arms, and I've always thought that's ridiculous, because it's rare the woman who actually bulks up. My arms aren't even that big, for chrissakes! Or if they are, it's because of FAT, not because of my muscle--if I quit lifting weights my arms might get marginally smaller but they'd look infinitely flabbier. I'm just mad.

And worse, I hate that there's a negativity attached to what I see in the mirror now. After all these years of pushing the body love, a snotty remark can still rattle me. I worked hard for these arms, dammit! (Don't worry, I'm not going to de-tone myself. But I admit that it was upsetting, and not just on the WTF level.)

[ladylibrary]

i really want to take some yoga classes but i don't have the money right now. but keep it up catlady and in no time you will a flexible hottie kicking yoga's ass!!

i have been keeping up with the strength training and i feel pretty good. i already see some new definition in my arms and calves. woo-hoo!! my upper body tones up so quick but my legs are soo stubborn. i must have done a million squats and lunges (or at least that's how my body feels) and i haven't noticed much difference. i know it takes awhile but, you know, im impatient.

hope everyone is going strong!

xoxox