2014 TypeC Health and Exercise Challenge

[Randomnity]

Week 14 update: apparently I'm falling apart. bah

-right shoulder is in rough shape off and on for past few weeks, no idea why. I discovered last week that my form was off a bit for pushups (well, depending who you ask, OMG everyone says different things) and I think that was the culprit, not really sure though. It's also hurting when I'm at the computer, so it might be some kind of RSI related to that. Or from spiking at volleyball. Or lab work. Too many possibilities, bah. It isn't severe pain but it doesn't feel right either.
-ankle is also in rough shape, still, 2 weeks after pushing it too hard at soccer (no specific injury).
-knees keep feeling wonky the day after I do splits stretching, which worries me. I did them on Sunday but skipped the rest of the week, although I did throw in a few related stretches throughout the week, like pigeon

-I did all 3 nights of bodyweight, but skipped pushups on the middle day because my shoulder hurt. Shoulder felt better on the last day so I did them again. It hurts again today though.


Goals for next week:

1) ask doctor about joints when I see him next week, that probably won't go anywhere though, if so plan a day to visit walkin sports medicine doc, prob not next week though. I already have 2 frickin doctors appointments next week and I'm overdue for eye doctor visit too, ugh. Why are there so many appointments. I probably should skip volleyball because of my shoulder, but it's playoffs, so....yeah, not happening. I'll have a break for a couple months (!!) after next week though. But I really need to work on my back and shoulder strength for seakayaking in May (next month ahhhh), so I need to solve the shoulder pain issue soon.

2) continue with bodyweight exercises but skip pushups entirely and do other arm exercises only on uninjured side, for the entire week. I should probably skip planks too.

3) splits stretching I'll leave open to do if I want (I think doing it 5 nights a week before was too stressful on the knees), but make sure to take it easy when I do it.

4) since I'm skipping some of the arms stuff, I'll have a bit more time, so I'm gonna aim for 2 sets of 8 reps this week instead of the 1 set of 10 I've been doing, and see how that goes.

 

[Ivy]

I hope you get your shoulder issue worked out. I never fully appreciated sports-related repetitive use injuries until I played roller derby. It took a shit ton of foam rolling, ankle/knee braces, and sports massage to keep my rickety old body going for that. And sports massage is damn expensive!

 

[Randomnity]

Yeah, it seems so backwards, get more active and end up tearing yourself down more in the end. But now I'm hooked, haha. I really should try sports massage, I've heard good things. I'm just a cheap bastard.

 

[Ivy]

It really helped. It wasn't a relaxing, enjoyable massage, though. There was a lot of discomfort since I had some myofascial adhesion that he needed to break up in my shins. But it really did make a difference, and he always rewarded my hanging in there with a few minutes of nice relaxing massage for normal people. I would rate sports massage as above getting a tattoo but below childbirth on the pain scale.

 

[INTJMom]

Injured myself last Monday (shoulder), and 1 day off turned into 2, which turned into 3, which ended up with me not working out for the rest of the week.

I'm feeling better though, and today was a good day. I'm back to my level 2 routine. The plan is to stick with it for 3-5 weeks and then gauge if I'm ready for P90X3.

Sorry to hear you injured yourself, but glad you're feeling better.

 

[INTJMom]

It really helped. It wasn't a relaxing, enjoyable massage, though. There was a lot of discomfort since I had some myofascial adhesion that he needed to break up in my shins. But it really did make a difference, and he always rewarded my hanging in there with a few minutes of nice relaxing massage for normal people. I would rate sports massage as above getting a tattoo but below childbirth on the pain scale.

I have a therapist who does 30 minutes of massage for $35.
Been doing it for over 30 years... very knowledgeable.

 

[INTJMom]

My report for this past week:

I remembered to do my Ab Crunches every morning.
I've gone from doing 10 to doing 12.
I forgot to do my wrist curls this week.
I just got done making myself do my video routine, even though I really didn't feel like it.

Re: Next Week... [MENTION=4722]Udog[/MENTION]
I am going to be away from home on vacation next weekend, so I won't be able to do my video routine, but I will still be able to do my Ab Crunches every morning.
I don't think I will have my computer with me, so consider THIS my CHECK-IN for NEXT Sunday, as well.


Have a great week all... and Happy Easter/Passover.

I'll be back April 27, barring the unforeseen.

 

[Coriolis]

Week 14 update:

1. Improve eating habits, specifically eating between meals.
I feel like I am making general progress on this, in the sense that I have less desire to eat between meals. I hope this means that I am weaning myself off the bad habit, by getting better at distracting myself with other things and just not being around where food is.

2. Get more exercise: at least three times each week, in addition to martial arts practice.
I had only 3 official exercise sessions this week (i.e. workout video), but got out bike riding once, and spent part of the weekend doing yard work, so I'm starting to reap the benefits of better weather. Also did lots of extra martial arts practice for a belt test on Thurs.

3. Weight loss.
Well, no news here. Will work on adding a 4th exercise day, either workout video or cycling/hiking/etc outside and see if that helps.

As an overall side benefit, I am starting to feel like I have a bit more energy. I have more motivation to exercise and don't have to force myself to do it; also more energy when doing daily tasks.

 

[kyuuei]

Im loooovving the 30 minute work out DVDs. They're helping me work out even when I'm strapped for time.

A huge thunderstorm rolled in, so it'll be nice and boggy back on the trails when I go running in a couple days.

I made black-bean brownies for dessert tonight. They were pretty tasty! Though next time, cocoa powder vs cacao powder, cocoa powder is better for baking than cacao in terms of masking flavors. Still it tastes like chocolate-y goodness for 140kcal a piece + the protein and fiber of black beans.

 

[Udog]

I just wanted to let you guys know that I haven't forgotten about ya. I'll post the list tomorrow - today turned out to be far more busy than I expected.

 

[Ivy]

Food goal: continue to avoid binging, stay in a calorie range that incorporates a very small deficit from my TDEE, and hit a daily protein target. 7/7 this week.
Activity- 6K steps a day. 6/7 this week.
Sleep/Stress- 7-8 hrs at night, early afternoon nap. 5/7 (the other two days my nap was late in the day). I also read a thing about how people who take naps are more likely to die before 65, which sucks for me because I am very attached to my naps. Doing some more research about that- hopefully it was a one-off study that won't be repeated in other studies.

 

[Udog]

My update:

Another "eh" week. I did go out and play my first tennis match over the weekend, though. Last year when I started playing, I couldn't even get through a single set before I was running on fumes. I did so much better this year - I was still going really strong after the first set even though it went to a tie break (in other words, it was a long set). So despite the continued frustrations I experience, it was really uplifting to see that I've actually made noticeable and usable progress since this time last year.

This week is off to a strong start. I'm also contemplating getting a personal trainer. I'll be making the calls later this week, hopefully, to see if what they offer will be worth what they charge.

 

[Udog]

And we had a pretty good turn out this week, so here's our participation list:

Week 14 Participation List
Coriolis
INTJMom
Ivy
Kasper
kyuuei
MorningStar
Randomnity
Redbone
Udog
Urarienev

Also, [MENTION=9883]Redbone[/MENTION], please be to the giving of us a report of your progress, post-haste!

 

[Kasper]

Haven't posted for a couple of days, will catch up soon, things went well last week, with the Easter holiday and other stuff this week will be a bit of a mess though.

 

[Redbone]

Last week before Friday was good. I went to PT, they killed me and did a good job with it.

This week has been a bust. Not feeling great since Friday and my resistance straps are staring at me from atop a stack of books. I'll see what happens for the rest of this week. Cancelled PT Monday and today. My diet is okay beyond some cookies I had (I deserved them, dammit!!!!).

 

[Evo]

Um... I'm like, 2 weeks behind.

Wooops.

I have been doing pretty good though for the budget I'm on. I have cut back on everything by about half because of money and time. ( stupid overnight shifts )

Weekly Rate for 14 6/10 meh, I think this was the week I was over night. I was so stressed cause of the responsibility on that shift. So I can't even remember much tbh lol.

and Week 15 - 9/10 I did really well with my salads and exercised a bunch. Mostly running/walking with the dog, and then today I did some kinda toning workout video my friend had.

 

[Firebird 8118]

Okay, so this week I once again neglected my health in pursuit of my studies. [Shame on me!]
I will try to pick myself back up again, though; I'm not giving up.

 

[Coriolis]

Week 15 update:

This has been a bad week for sticking to the exercise program, mainly due to the arrival of relatives for Easter week, and the need to attend various church services and music practices. Foodwise, though, I managed to keep on the wagon.

1. Improve eating habits, specifically eating between meals.
Due to the presence of relatives and lots of goodies, I was extra mindful of what I was eating and when, and all in all did rather well.

2. Get more exercise: at least three times each week, in addition to martial arts practice.
Only one real workout session, though several shorter walks and a bike ride due to better weather. Will need to get back on track next week.

3. Weight loss.
No loss, but no gain. Not bad, given the way the week played out.

I'm looking forward to more outdoor time as the weather is seriously improving.

 

[Randomnity]

Week 15 update:

Goals from last week:

1) ask doctor about joints when I see him next week - check, he bitched me out for trying to ask about too many things at once (apparently joint problem + routine prescription refill is one thing too many). He said to come back in a month if it still hurts so I'll either do that or go to the walk-in sports doctor, or maybe just go directly to a physio person.

2) continue with bodyweight exercises but skip pushups entirely and do other arm exercises only on uninjured side, for the entire week - Missed Sunday (poor life choices = near-allnighter and at that point I figured sleep was more healthy than exercise). Otherwise good. Even after a week of rest from exercise (last volleyball day was last Tues) and trying to be careful with it otherwise, shoulder is still sore when using the computer, which is a lot, heh. My left arm was weaker before so it'll be interesting to see if it can catch up by continuing rows etc. while resting my right side.

3) splits stretching I'll leave open to do if I want - I didn't end up doing any, meh. I'll leave it open again for next week.

4) aim for 2 sets of 8 reps this week instead of the 1 set of 10 I've been doing - done, and it went well! I even did 10 reps x 2 sets most of the time. Total exercise time was about 20 min when skipping the arms stuff, and 30-40 min when adding some stuff back in.

This got way too long (I ramble way too much) so I'm gonna tuck away my rambling thoughts and goals for next week under a spoiler for easier ignoring:

Progress:
I haven't really talked about this since I don't have a good way to track progress, but I have been taking measurements once in a while (3 random times since starting measurements in Jan) and it looks like I'm seeing some very minor changes, although it's hard to tell with the infrequent measuring, might just be variation from meals/bloating/hormones/pulling the string tighter etc:

("snug but not tight" measurement: week 8 week 13 week 16, inches different from starting point)
Waist: -1 -1 -2
Hips: 0 -0.5 -1
Ribcage: -1 -0.5 -2
Bust: +1 +0.5 -0.5
Limb circumferences: no changes overall (temporary -/+ 0.5 here and there)

Weight (on a really crappy scale) seems to have gone down by roughly 5 lbs in the last 2 months, fairly stable before that. Again, all of these might just be random variation, but it's encouraging to see anyway.

Food thoughts:

I doubt the mild exercise is doing much, although it can't hurt. It's probably more just watching what I eat - I haven't been directly changing my diet or trying to eat less, but I have been tracking pretty well over the past 4 weeks and have been eating more "clean" foods than usual as a result (it's dumb but I feel happier/proud writing down "good" foods in the log). It also helps because I tend to avoid the really high calorie meals/snacks when I see there's a better option that's just as filling (ex: I used to routinely eat 4-6 hashbrown patties as a snack, at 130 calories each...now I feel mildly guilty if I put an ungodly amount of calories in the log, so I'll make one to start with and see if I want another one later). I've also been watching when the calorie count goes too high in a day and trying to eat past that only if *actually* hungry. I've been doing so-so on protein, not as high as I'd like but not awful.

My vague goal, for very slow-but-hopefully-steady muscle gain and fat loss, is to stay around 1800 calories and ~20% (90-100g) protein per day (averaged over a week). I'm not sure how hard I'll push myself to get there, cause I don't mind tracking but I'm pretty resistant to actually "dieting" for many reasons. I might be able to swing it by pre-planning a few meals (definitely not all) to make it easier to hit that target. I'm already pretty close overall - 3 weeks of tracking averaged 1824 cal with 83g protein, but it varies a lot day-to-day (838-2600 total range, but most days 1600-2000).

I'm avoiding the cut/bulk thing even if it does get better results, because I want more of a lifestyle thing and I don't think I could do those cycles long-term. Similar reasons for keeping it very slow - I'm not in a rush, and I want to painlessly adjust longterm lifestyle rather than constantly putting a lot of effort in.

Goals for next week:

1) make a plan for joint healing, doesn't matter what, just don't put it off again. Also try to take the glucosamine/chondroitin pills I impulsively bought awhile ago on the off chance they do anything. I have them already, and it's not like they'll hurt.

2) No weight-bearing shoulder exercise until I stop noticing shoulder hurting throughout the day. Continue trying to rest it the rest of the day. Maybe I should do some dedicated stretches though (especially while at the computer), don't know if that would help or hurt. Once shoulder doesn't hurt during the day, try exercises with very light weights and see how it goes, stopping if it feels sore. That's what I did yesterday (2.5lb) and it was fine, but feels a bit sore today, so if it's still hurting by tomorrow night's workout I'll skip those exercises entirely.

3) Replace planks with another ab exercise that doesn't involve shoulders. I did V-sits (stationary, not sit-ups) for last night's workout and that seemed to work well. It was adequately hard, for sure! They twinged my lower back a bit as I got tired so I'll have to be careful to avoid that.

4) continue with doing 2 sets of everything else on days I'm not doing the shoulder exercises, and maybe sometimes when I am, if it isn't too long. I get antsy if it gets much longer than 30 min, but much less than that and it isn't really a workout, so there's a fine balance.

5) Weather permitting, break out the bike this week and start to get into biking shape! Also walking outside more! I'll be walking/biking to work full time starting May 1, when my bus pass expires. It'll be a really short trip now that I've moved close to work - it's about a half hour walk so probably a 5 min bike ride (!!!). I'm not really sure if I'd rather bike such a short distance (and deal with traffic, sweating etc) or just walk, but I'll probably be too impatient to walk. Walking is arguably healthier though, less chance of being run over by a crazy/incompetent person, and not that long really (bus now takes ~20 minutes door to door), plus I can listen to music. I'll probably alternate both at least until I work through the start-of-bike-season soreness.

 

[Udog]

Solid week for me, except for Easter and a party where I may have imbibed upon too many refreshments. I worked out M, T, W, Th, and then did the P90X3 Fit Test on Saturday. It practically is a workout, since many of the tests consist of going to failure. I managed to pass the test, minus the pull-ups. (I did admittedly need help with some pull-up bands. I boughtthese things.

Oh, and I bought a Zumba DVD occasionally do in the afternoon. I figure it's a good step towards my eventual dance lessons.

Overall, I haven't lost weight, but my belt has finally gone down to the next notch. My upper body is noticeably more muscular, too. Not anything crazy, but I can tell. So I am getting stronger and fitter... just slowly.

Today I started the P90X3 once again. Will report the results next week.