hmmm.. I have been reading a lot about mixing up your walking. For example: walk for 5mins, high paced walk for 5mins, sprint, etc. I realize you are getting your heart rate up, down then up..which is good... BUT for someone who has become a tad bit lazy and is just walking for 30-45mins everyother day. Is that really better than nothing or is it not going to help her lose weight?

If you are doing intervals when you are walking, you shouldn't have to be doing any more than 30-40 minutes 3x per week. Intervals are like what you described, going at fast pace for 90 seconds and then slow pace for 90 second and doing this for up to 40 minutes. That is a perfect way to lose weight/fat.

when going for a lunch walk is it better to eat before the walk or after? that is to say you are walking to lose weight.

As long as you can eat 30 minutes prior to the walk, its ok to eat before otherwise I would wait and eat after your walk.

Thanks! I will let her know...and I might start doing the intervals too!

I'm interested in easy ways to incorporate ten minutes, fifteen minutes of exercise into my day and some easy, quick meals that I can make for myself and my fiance. We're both grad students and I tend to try and eat Dole fruit cups in their own juice, a few cups of frozen veggies, and some lean meats and whole grains with double fiber in my everyday meals.

How does a person who is 50 pounds or more overweight start a running program. Would you recommend they lose 30-40 pounds first or use a 10k walking program to get themselves prepared to start running?

Also looking for tips on how women with larger breasts keep themselves bound. Was considering using ace bandages in combination with a sports bra. I want to be able to jump rope and do jump & jacks.

Whats the best way to work out to "even out your body if you are unbalanced. For instance I'm smaller on the bottom (size 6) than on top (size 10). The exercises I do most, walking, running, biking really work the bottom more than the top. I don't belong to a gym so I'm looking for things I can do to shrink my top half at home.

~Michelle~

"life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage" ~Anais Nin

....and whats the best way to get rid of back fat?

~Michelle~

"life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage" ~Anais Nin

"I'm interested in easy ways to incorporate ten minutes, fifteen minutes of exercise into my day and some easy, quick meals that I can make for myself and my fiance. We're both grad students and I tend to try and eat Dole fruit cups in their own juice, a few cups of frozen veggies, and some lean meats and whole grains with double fiber in my everyday meals.

Easy, Quick workouts are things such as supersets, where you put together 2 exercises back to back, do 3 sets of each and move on to another set of 2. These are very effective. Another thing is bodyweight circuits. Here is example of ciruit:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=mx8eB_t0ABk

Always have a protein and carb at every meal or snack. Quick, easy snacks like string cheese and fruit or yogurt with protein powder are good ones.

Hope that helps!

"How does a person who is 50 pounds or more overweight start a running program. Would you recommend they lose 30-40 pounds first or use a 10k walking program to get themselves prepared to start running?

Also looking for tips on how women with larger breasts keep themselves bound. Was considering using ace bandages in combination with a sports bra. I want to be able to jump rope and do jump & jacks."

I would start out walking and use intervals to help you to reach your goals. Do the walking intervals for couple weeks and them move up to walking/jogging intervals for couple weeks and then walking/running intervals. Here is example of intervals:
HIIT involves intervals of varying intensities, some very high. Interval training can be as simple as doing an all-out sprint, jogging to lower your heart rate, and then sprinting once again. This should be done anywhere from 15-30 minutes. The advantage to HIIT is that you are burning more calories in a shorter period of time. You can perform HIIT on almost anything, such as bike, treadmill, elliptical, or even bodyweight circuits.

I have no idea about the sports bra...I have NO chest..so I can't help you out with that, but maybe someone else here would!

"Whats the best way to work out to "even out your body if you are unbalanced. For instance I'm smaller on the bottom (size 6) than on top (size 10). The exercises I do most, walking, running, biking really work the bottom more than the top. I don't belong to a gym so I'm looking for things I can do to shrink my top half at home."

Where are your problem area? Arms? chest? belly? Its hard for me to suggest exercises when I am unsure what parts need work.

"....and whats the best way to get rid of back fat?"

It's hard to spot reduce. Cardio is probably your best bet. But also doing exercises that require you to twist at the waist might help to tone that area also.

Whats the best way to work out to "even out" your body if you are unbalanced. For instance I'm smaller on the bottom (size 6) than on top (size 10). The exercises I do most, walking, running, biking really work the bottom more than the top. I don't belong to a gym so I'm looking for things I can do to shrink my top half at home.

Where are your problem area? Arms? chest? belly? Its hard for me to suggest exercises when I am unsure what parts need work.

Sorry I wasn't more specific when I asked about the upper body excercises. Basically I am just "thicker" up top in general but mostly stomach.

I'd like to know how to motivate myself to get back in the gym! (I meant to be there right now, sut never got off my butt, and went online shopping instead - again...) Once I'm at the gym, I can figure out what to do most of the time, but it's getting there that's the hard part - any ideas?

i would love to know more about how to create a balanced workout to tone up and lose weight. i used to only do cardio since i don't want to 'bulk' up with muscle, and lately i've added in weights - but i'm not sure the best way to do it - with reps, and frequency and all that.

Well, this might be a bit different than what´s been suggested but I´d like to know how you can get into being a personal trainer or how to give fitness classes (i love yoga and kickboxing, for example). I´m aware most gyms will require you get a certification and I´ve looked up some online courses (as i do not live in the US) but I was wondering what else you need, like... how do you create a good class or stuff like that. I hope someone can help me, Thanx!!!