2014 TypeC Health and Exercise Challenge

[Udog]

Maybe it can just continue informally among anyone who wishes to continue past the official end date? We could all kind of just try to keep each other accountable by bumping the thread regularly.

I think that would work, actually. You'd lose a few people, but the core group seems pretty strong.

What does such a job entail? I may be interested in helping out and pushing myself at the same time back.

It's pretty easy. Every two weeks, you post who is still participating, and then @Mention the people who you hadn't heard from in 7 or more days. I use an Excel file to keep things sorted. (Also, feel free to join in. We still have over a month left with this thing. )

My main issue is that I'm trying to cut back on internet usage, and once I'm online to post in the thread I tend to... stay online for the rest of the night. Kind of like telling a recovering alcoholic to drink 1-2 glasses a wine to help prevent heart disease.

 

[Udog]

Week 20 Update:

I started the second phase of P90X3. I like it more than Phase I - it's more focused on lower and upper body training, and the plyometric workout is easier on my knees than Agility X from Phase I. I also adjusted my schedule so my rest day is on Monday and Yoga X is on Thursday (a skippable workout on my busiest day). That should make things a bit easier.

Instead of the usual update, I've been thinking about where I am now compared to January when we've started. I've only lost around 10 pounds, but I have also gone down 2 belt sizes. (With me, that correlates to ~20 pounds of fat.) Some XL Shirts are starting to fit me, and my XXL shirts are starting to look baggy. While I don't know if I've gained 10 pounds in muscle, I have clearly put on muscle. You can see muscle lines that have never existed before, especially in the chest, shoulders, and where my biceps and forearms meet at the elbow. I still have a long journey ahead of me, but it's a clear and noticeable start. So, that's pretty cool.

Also, people that haven't seen me in more than 6 months have all commented on the weight I lost. I'm not quite at the point where people who see me on a daily basis seem to notice, but that's okay.

My progress is slower than it could and should be, but I wanted to spend an update noting that I am making progress.

 

[Ivy]

Food- really good this week. Stayed in my target calorie zone and enjoyed reasonable amounts of deliciousness and got enough protein. 7/7.

Activity- decent. Hit my steps goal on 4/7 days this week.

Sleep- pretty good. I did stay up too late one night trying to get some extra work done to get ready for the holiday weekend, but I've more than made up for it this weekend. 6/7.

I did end up quitting T25, [MENTION=4722]Udog[/MENTION]. I found I was dreading it and hating every minute of it, and if I've learned anything in the past few months it's that this shit has to fit into my life and be at least tolerable, preferably enjoyable. I can't be putting square pegs in round holes- I can't keep that up long term.

 

[Udog]

I did end up quitting T25, Udog. I found I was dreading it and hating every minute of it, and if I've learned anything in the past few months it's that this shit has to fit into my life and be at least tolerable, preferably enjoyable. I can't be putting square pegs in round holes- I can't keep that up long term.

Yeah, you definitely made the right choice to quit. Exercise needs to be a positive experience, even if we can acknowledge that it can be a grind at times. The people who exercise almost every day of the week over years love to exercise. They aren't Gods of Willpower - they just created a routine that they enjoy doing.

 

[Udog]

Week 20 Participation List

Well, sadly we have lost a couple of people over the past few weeks. While spring and summer weather is good for the mood, it also seems to bring in a busier schedule. To those that are still with us, great work! I know it's not easy. Still, learning how to adjust our schedules and handle curve balls is a critical skill for a healthy lifestyle. I'm glad we continued this through the winter and into the spring.

Here is the updated list:

Coriolis
INTJMom
Ivy
Kasper
kyuuei
Randomnity
Udog
Urarienev

Also, [MENTION=9811]Coriolis[/MENTION], [MENTION=1125]INTJMom[/MENTION], [MENTION=4324]Kasper[/MENTION], [MENTION=4939]kyuuei[/MENTION], [MENTION=206]Randomnity[/MENTION], [MENTION=14015]Urarienev[/MENTION], please remember to give us an update.

 

[Evo]

My main issue is that I'm trying to cut back on internet usage

Yea, I have cut back on my net usage. That's why I haven't posted as much in the past couple weeks. Cause I do the same thing.

My progress is slower than it could and should be, but I wanted to spend an update noting that I am making progress.

I think you're doing great! Slower is supposed to be better anyways, cause they say that you're less likely to gain the weight back. Also, I love that feeling of muscles popping up where you've never even knew you had some.



As for me:

Week 19 and Week 20

I have been walking. Which has replaced the yoga. Unfortunately I can feel the side effects of not doing yoga. But I also have been losing weight faster by walking everyday on my lunch. So it balances out I suppose.

With the eating - I have been less conscious about that. I know that I feel better when I do it. I think I have to go back to a once a week thing. Most of this lack is caused by money though. Same for yoga.

Anyways, I can feel myself losing weight, which has kept me motivated these past months. I have lost 17 lbs since January.

What's nice is that I've been playing with this for long enough to know what exactly makes me lose weight and what exactly makes me gain.

I think exercising has the biggest effect on my weight loss. So I'm going to put more energy into that aspect now.

 

[Kasper]

Week 20 Participation List

Well, sadly we have lost a couple of people over the past few weeks. While spring and summer weather is good for the mood, it also seems to bring in a busier schedule. To those that are still with us, great work! I know it's not easy. Still, learning how to adjust our schedules and handle curve balls is a critical skill for a healthy lifestyle. I'm glad we continued this through the winter and into the spring.

Also, please remember to give us an update.

Coming into winter for me which weirdly according to most is greater motivation for me, working out in the cold and wet is a hundred times more comfy than in the heat =D

Will update tonight.

 

[kyuuei]

We've been going through a horrible move.. A hoarder father, 1 hour distance between the two houses, and full time nursing school.. it's not been easy.

Still not doing any of the training I want to be doing. We should be completely moved in by June 5th, and settled in entirely by the 13th. Ish. So I'm aiming to re-adjust my expectations to basically keeping up with the move, and school.

So, while I won't be doing insane work outs, I hope to have the goals of going running on Saturday (rain permitting) and stretching on Thursday. Maybe even playing volleyball Saturday too.

Meanwhile, my diet has been horrible, and that I CAN control with some fore-thought. Tomorrow I'm packing some simple oats (maple syrup, vanilla, blueberries) to eat for breakfast, and a bagged salad and some fruit to eat for lunch at the school. I'll make a decent meal plan tomorrow and put it into action for the rest of the school days.. and.. I dunno after that. I'll figure it out.

The sort of cool thing is that while most of my family will be under one roof for a while, I'll have a small microwave and mini-fridge in my room, so I can probably set up a mini-kitchen in there for myself to hide away all my health foods and keep myself on track. I can opt in and out of meals easily because of school.

 

[Coriolis]

Week 20 update:

I had intended to update on Saturdays, then it crept to Sundays, and beyond. This has been an interesting week. The weather has been good, meaning more outdoor time and activity, which has led me to realize some things about exercise and fitness in my life.

1. Improve eating habits, specifically eating between meals.
Lighter spring/summer fare is upon us, and I find with more activity and warmer weather, I am just not as inclined to eat between meals. The key will be to stick with this through the summer, and not return to old, bad habits in the fall.

2. Get more exercise: at least three times each week, in addition to martial arts practice.
Only two exercise sessions to workout videos, but three bike rides and some yard work. All of this makes me realize two things. (1) I prefer getting my exercise through normal, needful activity, like riding my bike places instead of driving, or doing yard chores. In other words, what I want/need is simply a more active lifestyle. Things like workout videos are just a stop-gap when it is not possible to do the things I really want. Perhaps that is why I could never develop a comfortable habit of it, and it always feels forced. (2) Exercise through daily activity is fine, but does not always hit a balance of muscle groups worked, or even strength/cardio. So, I may have to think over what I do and how best to augment my summer activities.

3. Weight loss.
No change.

 

[INTJMom]

sorry... I had company this weekend...
but I DID do my exercise routine on Sunday morning!
And I did my ab crunches every morning except one...
I just plain forgot and even though I thought of it a couple times later in the day,
I never got around to doing it.
So I didn't do it perfectly, but I did well.
[MENTION=4939]kyuuei[/MENTION] *hugs*

 

[Kasper]

Cardio

Cycling	Distance	Time
Mon 19 May	15k	54:45
Tue 20 May	11.3k	37:55
Wed 21 May	10.9k	36:25
Thu 22 May	11.1k	37:45
Fri 23 May	9.9k	43:00
Sat 24 May	21.1k	1:15:00
Sun 25 May	k	00:00
	79.3k	4:44:50

1. Ride 50kms per week:

Strength/core

	Weights
Mon 19 May	00:00
Tue 20 May	00:00
Wed 21 May	00:00
Thu 22 May	00:00
Fri 23 May	00:00
Sat 24 May	00:00
Sun 25 May	00:00
	0:00:00

2. Weights set 3x per week:

Diet

	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner
Mon 19 May
Tue 20 May
Wed 21 May
Thu 22 May
Fri 23 May
Sat 24 May
Sun 25 May

3. Market shopping once a fortnight:

4. Add one new option to meal plans each week:

5. Consume 3 meals per day min:

 

[Coriolis]

Week 21 update:

A disappointing week. I felt all week like I was coming down with a bug (never really did), and had very limited energy, poor appetite, etc.

1. Improve eating habits, specifically eating between meals.
Well, poor appetite does lead to reduced food intake.

2. Get more exercise: at least three times each week, in addition to martial arts practice.
I managed to get in a walk on several days, and felt better yesterday and did some yard work (wood cutting - good exercise), but no workout videos or anything more strenuous. Hopefully next week will be better, now that whatever it was seems to have gone by.

3. Weight loss.
Lost a pound, but probably due just to poor appetite.

 

[Randomnity]

please remember to give us an update.

I've been travelling! /excuses

So last week and the week before are total lost causes. I have been pretty active though - kayaking and lots of day hikes, plus hours and hours of walking. Really sore today from a pretty intense hike yesterday. Totally worth it, though. Also, sea kayaking was freaking amazing. I think I belong in the ocean.

I'm still away from home Tues/Wed so can only do Thurs this week. It'll probably be pretty tough to get back into it but I'll do my best. This is the make or break moment since if I can't start up again now, I probably won't for a long time...so I'll try hard to get back to the routine starting Thurs.

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

Helped my lady friend move several days last week.

Didn't get to play tennis, but I feel like I got my exercise in.

 

[Ivy]

Food- good. I went over my TDEE one day, but no big whoop. 6/7.

Activity- I forgot to take my Withings Pulse off the charger for a few days so I'm not sure whether I hit my steps target or not, but I took a walk 3 days this week and used RunKeeper to log those walks, so I know that I walked at least 3 miles (which is about 6K steps) on those days. So let's call it 3/7, just to be on the safe side.

Sleep- I feel terrible today because I couldn't sleep after Game of Thrones so I only got about 4 hours. I can't believe I used to do this regularly. Ugh. I did okay the rest of the week, though. 6/7.

 

[Ivy]

Food- good.

I'm just going to quote the only important part of my post. "Food good." It certainly is, self. It certainly is.

 

[Ivy]

Oh, PS: had my annual physical today and it looks like I'm down 27 lbs from my top weight last year. I must have lost some before I started this challenge back in January.

 

[kyuuei]

I've been going crazy moving the house and this week I should be all caught up.

The plan is to restart the 30 day challenge from week 1every other day. I'll work out outside too instead of inside, and I'll go walking for at least a mile after it.

The other three days I'll do p90x and an hour of stretching on my rest day.

If I go to volleyball meetup I can skip that workout day. And I can substitute a day for running and Sprint walks.

Every morning I'll stretch for 15 minutes for physical therapy. And every day I get in my car I'll do physical therapy for my jaw and neck at red lights and in traffic.

My diet is soup and sandwich for lunch, some ice box cake and something stereotypical for breakfast, and a salad for a snack before dinner to curb eating too much during the evening meal.

 

[Udog]

I took last week off, from both exercising and dieting. I'm slowly getting back into things this week.

 

[Ivy]

I couldn't really think of a better place to put this, and I didn't really want to start a new thread for it, but stuff like this really helps me:

Teen Tennis Star's Success Is A Powerful Argument Against Body-Shaming

Here's a young woman who is tearing up the courts, and two years ago the US Tennis Association attempted to keep her out of the US Open unless she lost weight. FFS, she's a TENNIS STAR. She's active, healthy, and gorgeous.

It's not all about the number on the scale. It's about activity and health.