chevalrose

Workout 4 days a week at a gym:

Tuesday: 10 minutes on elliptical. Strength upper body (30 minutes in total)

Thursday: 10 minutes on elliptical. Strength lower body (30 minutes in total)

Saturday: 10 minutes on elliptical. Strength core (30 minutes in total)

Sunday: Cardio, 30 minutes on elliptical.

I have an hour lunch at work everyday. I usually walk or jog a mile or two with stretching afterward. I'd like to maximize my workout to lose some fat and tone up a bit more. What can I/should I do to expand my lunchtime workouts? I need them to be about 30-45 minutes long so I still have time to eat.

I'm thinking about what I should do for my lunch workout. I really don't feel like taking the time to walk the 2 miles I usually walk...but will jogging 1 mile be equivalent or will I be sacrificing some calorie/fat burn?

I've started running in short bursts during my walking regime and lately my knees have really been hurting. Is this normal, will it go away, or could the running be creating a problem for my knees?

I have one credit card that I'm trying to pay off. I have 2 savings accounts...one that I put $200/month in and don't touch and my immediate savings as my "just in case" fund that I put $100/month. I should be able to pay off my credit card by August if I continue saving and paying it off, but should I just use my "immediate money fund" to pay it off sooner? I'm planning on buying a car in October if all goes well.

Details: I have $1600 left to pay, I was planning on paying $400-$500 a month until August. I currently have $350 in my immediate savings account.

I'll be finishing up my associates degree in the fall. I'm still confused as to what I might want to pursue after I graduate. Currently my employer pays for school (it has to be "business related"). Which means they'll pay for an HR program or web design, but not massage therapy. I would probably do web design and massage therapy together if I chose that route.

If I do massage therapy it would have a large focus on equine and equestrian massage. Web design would probably be similarly focused to horse or animal related businesses. HR, I'm interested in, but not as much as the other two. After I graduate I would be able to have my own health insurance if I went down that route.

Any advice about these potential career paths?

I'm possibly interested in getting into a Human Resources career. Is is a full filling job? I assisted an HR when I worked in retail and I'm sort of assisting the HR where I work now (it's convoluted...) and I really enjoyed it. I'm a very organized person and I think it might be a good fit for me. I already have a possible school in mind that offers a Business Administration - HR concentration program (B.S).

What are the pros and cons of a HR career?

I'm interested in getting into the web design field. I don't really know where to start though. I have already created a website with my general CSS knowledge (I would post it, but the person I make the site for has not maintained the hosting fees). Ultimately I would like to own my own small web design firm. Do I need to go to school? Where do I look for schools?

If anybody could shed some light on how to get into this career that would be great. Thank you!

My boyfriend and I have been together for 6 years, been living together for 2 (we're only 21 and want to wait until we're older to marry...and save money). We currently split the bills down the middle with two checks. I'm the one that keeps track of the bills and it's a pain in the butt to get him to write checks. I was thinking about making a joint checking account where we put the amount of our bills into every couple of weeks, and then use automatic withdrawals. One of us would have to change banks (I have Citizens and he has Bank of America). Do you think this would be a good idea and solution?

Im 21 and have been told I have pretty good credit (I know it was somewhere around 750 back in April, and I haven't made any late payments or anything). I have had a few store credit cards that I've canceled probably about 3 years ago (Victoria's Secret, Gap, and Sears). I currently have 2 credit cards now that I've been maintaining since the beginning of me having credit. One of them I KNOW wont drop the interest rate, I've asked (it's 19% for purchases above $250...it's a student "starter" card. I have a $6000 limit). The other, I'm not sure about yet, that has a 13% interest rate and I have yet to ask if they can drop it, that has a $5000 limit.

I also have a Best Buy card with $2000 charged if that matters with $2500 limit that I recently opened for a laptop. I also have a student loan in deferment while I'm in school, that's ~ $8000.

Recently because of emergencies I've had to charge ~ $2000 on each credit card. I was thinking of applying for a new credit card with a lower rate and transferring the total $4000 and just having that one card. Will the "switching" of cards hurt my credit score? Should I just have ONE card or stay with 2 like I have been? I haven't been using these cards, just paying them off a few hundred $$'s at a time. Should I wait to pay these off, then apply for new cards and cancel these?

Does anybody else get the feeling of almost emptiness after reading a really good book or series? It's happened to me a few times, but it's just so weird. It almost feel like the characters "left me" or something...it sounds so crazy, but I just want to shed a few tears.

I just finished the Twilight series...this is whats brought these feelings up most recently.

How do YOU move on?

I'm looking for healthy and yummy lunch ideas for work...now I'm not saying it has to be "diet" healthy, but not like greasy junk.

I mean theres the gold ol' sandwhich standby and soup, and the left overs from the dinner before...but I want to find something else that I can bring to work other than the usual all the time...something easy to prepare at work.

BTW - we have a toaster oven and microwave.

Any ideas?

My boyfriend and I would like to move to Scotland somewhere in the next few years. What process do we need to go through? I've read about Visa's but they have me kind of confused. What exactly do we need to do to immigrate over there?

We don't neccesarily want to live there forever, but a 3-4 years at least.

I'm trying to lose weight, 10/15lbs, only because I'm on the cusp of being overweight, but not quite yet.

I've already changed my diet, eating better foods through out the day in smaller amounts rather than 3 meals a day. I take the stairs when I can, park further away from places, drink water constantly.

I don't like wasting my evenings going to a gym after work. What are some at-home exercises (no machinery) that will help me burn off this fat? Will simple crunches, lunges, and stretching work?

Is this a good diet? I'm trying to lose some weight and eat healthy.

Fruit Smoothie on the way to work.

Whole grain english muffin with natural peanut butter and OJ or Whole grain cereal w/ 1% milk and OJ. Maybe some Tea with honey.

Salad with chicken and vinaigrette or Turkey and cheese w/ lite mayo on whole grain bread

Carrots and Hummus

Dinner of a protien, veggie, and starch.

I'm trying to not starve myself by eating more snacks rather than huge meals, but generally less portions and healthy foods. I also drink water all day long.

I have 2 male rats (suposed brothers) just about a year old now. I take them out of their cage for around 3 hours a day, just to hang out on the couch with me. They aren't very playful, and usually chill under the blankets, or hang out on the top/sides of the couch. They don't seem very playful, but I dont know if its just because Im not stimulating them enough? I've even put small toy balls in their cage, which they seem to have no care about...they just like to 'sit on their bums' as it were.

They just seem very lazy. Is this normal? Should I be stimulating them more?

My employer recently said the receptionist and I have to eat lunch in the breakroom (for "apperance" reasons since we can be seen at our desks). Do they have the right to do that? I HATE eating in the breakroom, I'd rather eat in my car. Its just so stupid!

My rats were free roaming on my couch. One of them started to lick my whole hand and kind of shuffle his front paws around. Then he started to nibble and bite me (they have nibbled before, but nothing paintful), these bites were harder, and he bit me once pretty hard. He's never done this before. What was he doing? Was he playing, or showing dominance? After he bit me the hard time I put him on his back and he stopped biting and just kept licking me. And peeing on me.

PS - This was after I had just given them a bath, dont know if that has ANYTHING to do with it.

Im 21 years old, live in NH, and Im making about 30K a year (grossing about 23K). Im putting 8% of my 1280/biweekly salary into my 401(K). Would you say Im well off for my age?

I stock chemicals in our Fab durring the week (Mostly Acetone, Methanol, and 2-propanol, but also some acids). I wear gloves, and the bottles arent opened, so Im not exposed to fumes. Do you think this could have an effect on me in the long run? Could it reduce the chances of pregnancy. Again, Im not "working" with them, just moving the bottles from one place to another wearing gloves.