Correct me if my anecdotal evidence is wrong, but I was under the impression that "The Pill" has a similar side effect.

Glad to hear spinning is going better. I used to teach 90 minute classes ("Survivor Spin") back when my gym allowed deviation from the one-hour, one-teacher format. I once had a student tell me she threw up after, and I felt I had done my job right. Jello legs are good, too, though.

an old wives tale is when facing such a situation where your metabolism is ramping up, along with getting older, and your luckily enough to start easily burn up fat, maintain a healthy diet of the "good fat" - real butter, olive oil, etc. word is that, eating the good fat keeps the good fat on you, like all of those parisian & italiam women (i.e. monica bellucci).

also, not sure how big your butt is but a big butt is better than no butt. curves are a good thing. plus, if you're looking at just slimming down one area, i'd recommend targetting that area with weights, yoga, pilates as opposed to general overall fat burning activites. you could also ease up on the spinning - go less frequently.

(yeah, I sound like I know what I'm talking about)

the pill does increase boobage, but does not decrease buttage, as far as i know. and in general i'm not really concerned with losing weight - i've always been happy generally with my weight (fluctuates from 130-140, i'm 5'8). just looking to tone up since i am stay puft and all flabby. and if i must ingest gallons of olive oil to keep my curves, so be it!

Happy generally with her weight, unless Tommy, Susan, and I (and alcohol) are in the vicinity.

That's right! Dove Wars II!

well, most of the time i do feel like there's pressure from men and "society" or whatever to be thinner than i actually am, which is ridiculous because i'm not overweight. but i think in general i'm a lot more comfortable with the way i look than most women. but you must admit that there is some insane societal pressure on women if people like susan and i sometimes feel like we aren't thin enough. or is that our own faults?

I think it's almost impossible for Americans not to feel bad about their weight. One thing I noticed as my crowd entered its thirties was that the women had more or less made their peace with their bodies, and the men started to obsess, and diet, and exercise as much as they could, and even started talking about their weight a lot.

Reading over my comment, I'm not sure it sounds tongue in cheek the way I meant it.

I think about my weight a lot, too, and it's hard for me to say how much time I spend thinking about it compared with other guys. Whatever self pressure there is for men, it pales in comparison to the societal expectations of women. So, no, I don't envy you, and I don't blame you.

Still, a cognitive dissonance enters in whenever I hear that stress expressed by slim, attractive women like you and Susan.

I also focus on my weight, personally, but in maintenance mode. I used to be 35-40 lbs heavier than I am now. I'd always been kind of doughy, up until my sophomore year of college, at which point I decided to take a more deliberate approach to it. Now I just generally try to eat right, and occasionally set small, attainable goals for myself before trying to gain it back at the gym.

I know Catherine thinks I think about this and my general fitness routine too much -- she's probably right. It could reasonably be called narcissism, but from my perspective it's more about feeling like I'm fully in control of myself.

Of course I'm sure this will all go to hell when my metabolism changes in a few years. And that'll be fine -- as Kriston said, the pressure is obviously a lot lower for guys.

in that case, forget the cardio (not entirely though) and focus more on weights. let your natural metabolism (more muscle, higher the rate) take care of burning fat rather than relying on boosting your heart & energy levels up for spurts during the day.

my wife likes the results she gets with focussing more on weights rather than solely do cardio work. it helps her stay at a more balanced look, rather than get "skinny"

yeah, i used to freak out about my weight a lot, especially since my senior year of high school i gained about 20 pounds. but i shed it through college, just by walking around and not eating like a pig, and i try to maintain just general normal eating patterns now and exercise 3-4 times a week. i used to be a lot more anal about my weight than i am now. in fact i can't even remember the last time i weighed myself.

but i still can't deny that occasionally i feel like i'm not skinny enough, though i always remind myself immediately after that it's a silly thought. i guess in general i'd rather be 10 pounds over my Very Ideal Weight but still be happy and drinking beer and eating bbq.

I've tried to get her started on weights, but without the male ego payoff of lifting heavy things, it didn't take. C'mon Catherine! Don't you want to be like Buffy? Think of how hard you'll be able to punch people!

i really like cardio, though, much more than weight lifting. i develop muscle tone really easily and i'd rather just get toned through running or spinning than weight lifting. not that i don't think it's beneficial, especially for osteoporosis. but i just enjoy cardio more.

but hypertrophy! muscle mass burning calories! and such and such! curse your slow-twitch fibers.

it's just the opposite for me. weightlifting, with its long periods of inactivity, arbitrary goals and ridiculous male hierarchy, is fun. cardio makes you actually do stuff. it's torture.

...and you get all sweaty & stinky and stuff. it's for the birds

i AM going to take a "Kombat Kickboxing" class next week. apparently it involves lots of punching and boxing and pushups. awesome.

Men, it seems to me, face a combination of pressure to look good (less pressure than women, but still pressure) with a very intense pressure to never admit to any insecurities, which always makes it hard to judge what the global situation is.