2015 Health and Fitness Challenge!

[great_bay]

I have no idea how you guys are able to do running training for months. I always end up quitting. When I peaked doing jogging, I was able to do 8-9 miles at least in a 8 minute pace.

I just weight train in my room with weights for 25 minutes and walk around town doing errands for an hour. You shouldn't spend time exercising more than half an hour.

 

[kyuuei]

I just weight train in my room with weights for 25 minutes and walk around town doing errands for an hour. You shouldn't spend time exercising more than half an hour.

I realized that 1/2 an hour a day sometimes doesn't cut it. Working it as a maintenance thing, yeah. I've even done 15 minutes a day challenges and they worked fine for getting the blood pumping and getting the body moving.. but for goal-based work? Not enough time. 1/2 an hour a day alone won't make you drop weight, or gain muscle while still maintaining other areas of fitness. Now, if you're already active and, say, you don't really count hiking/walking/running/swimming that you do frequently, and you claim 1/2 hour a day for weights alone? Sure.. but if you're sedentary or unhealthy-active like at my job (lots of standing, sitting in one place or just short bursts of walking) 12 hours a day.. I found anything less than 40-45 minutes isn't enough to maintain.

 

[kyuuei]

I skipped my first day yesterday. I could have worked out, but I just really wanted to spend time with my boyfriend, eat food, and relax. And I did. It was glorious. I'll circle around to my missed day and complete it on the 26th, but I was definitely okay with missing the 13th's workout day and just chilling out. I also ate Hardee's for dinner hahaha because it's my favorite fast food burger place ever.

I've realized that I might not be able to meet my 3 mile run goal this year. I know I can work my way up to my usual 2 miles, but I think I'll give it to next year to train for running.

On the bright side, I've been going to physical therapy 2x a week as of this past week, and they're getting me a foam roller! Yay! So I'm going going to be doing some new and improved work on my hips from a dude that's pretty passionate about his job. He wanted me to ice my bursas after I finish working out... so I've just been putting my hip directly onto the stone floor hahaha

 

[INTJMom]

I just realized I didn't check in on Sunday.
I exercised on Sunday... don't remember what I did ... oh, I remember... I skipped Wednesday.
Went to an all-you-can-eat Chinese food buffet... Union meeting.
Couldn't make myself do it on Thursday instead.

I have to say, though... it's a good thing I do these workouts because I really do see the effects.
Last Saturday I was able to climb a small mountain with my kids.
I needed a little help at a steep part and sat down to rest,
and my son made me a walking stick which was quite helpful and I could feel the sore muscles in my back from using it,
but I recovered very quickly and wasn't sore at all by the next day!
That is real progress!
Of course, 15 years age when I was 41, I had no problem climbing it at all.

 

[INTJMom]

Sunday Check-in!
I did both my Wednesday and Sunday full body workouts.
I have not got started doing my 30 minutes on the bike - 5 days/week.
The bike is just there in the living room taking up floor space.
I really need to get back to it.

 

[INTJMom]

bad week
didn't exercise wednesday or today

 

[INTJMom]

Last Sunday... forgot to check in...
but I was disappointed with myself for not having exercised last Wednesday, though I did on Sunday.
Seeing my last post, I guess that's an improvement.

 

[kyuuei]

I haven't posted in a while! And that's because life got stupid busy. I went down to Texas, fixed a bunch of things that were very important, and got super sick, etc. I also ate like.. complete garbage food the whole time too.

I'm currently 137 lbs. Which, to be honest, I'm pretty comfortable with.. but many of my clothing items I have? Were taken during a time when I was only 126 lbs (all through nursing school when I was running ragged constantly) so some of these items are no longer fitting on me. I think I can strike a decent pose with 130 lbs if I were to gain more muscle than I have now. My eating habits aren't really horrible here at the house, they aren't the best and I'm still adapting to cooking for 1-maybe-2-at-times-sometimes.

I have some mini veggie quiches I made with eggs that would have gone bad before the trip to eat for breakfast along with some miso soup and toast and butter for the next .. Oh I dunno... 7 days. XD I work 6/7 days as of tonight. I'm cooking a big batch of veggie-rice-and-meat mixture for each of my lunches which will be about the same, and I have fruit for a snack at work as well. Chocolate milk for an after work-out drink, and oatmeal for breakfast juuuust before I go to bed. I'm going to make it when I leave work and eat it in the car. It'll get pretty boring after 7 days, but I'll have a break right in the middle where I can relax a bit and eat something different. Better to not have to worry about what I'm eating or if it's enough though.

 

[INTJMom]

Missed check-in on Sunday Nov 8, but I am glad to report that I did my exercise program twice last week.

 

[INTJMom]

I didn't do my exercise program last Wednesday, but that's because I spent 6 hours cleaning my house.
I figured that was enough.
I DID do my program on Sunday morning, for which I am very proud of myself since I went out of town on Friday and I was pretty tired Sunday morning.
I almost didn't do it, but since I slid by on Wednesday, I stuck to it.

 

[Dyslexxie]

I ran a half marathon 2 years ago but since I've totally abandoned running. Now I'm all about the weight training but I need more cardio. Does anyone have any advice on getting back into running? Please keep in mind this means indoor...it's hell outside where I live, and there's no effing way I'm going out there and running unless Matt Bomer is at the end to give me a hot chocolate.

 

[nonsequitur]

I ran a half marathon 2 years ago but since I've totally abandoned running. Now I'm all about the weight training but I need more cardio. Does anyone have any advice on getting back into running? Please keep in mind this means indoor...it's hell outside where I live, and there's no effing way I'm going out there and running unless Matt Bomer is at the end to give me a hot chocolate.

I was only doing weights for a long time because I was trying to build muscle. After surgery I'm banned from weights for 6 months but was allowed to run (hate running) so I started what you're trying to do about 4 months ago.

Started with walks 'cause rehab, then slow jogs just to increase distance, then the South East Asian haze hit and I had to move indoors and run like a hamster on the treadmill. What are your goals? Are you planning on doing another half/full? Or running to complement the weights and lean out a little? Or to improve aerobic capacity?

If it's the latter 2, just running high intensity intervals a couple of times a week on the treadmill is a good start. It's the most efficient and the least boring way of doing cardio. Another option is to bump the incline to the highest setting and walk for 10-20min, it'll still be pretty effective. My lifting friends who don't want to lose mass do that, pretty simple. It's a whole other matter for long distance running (as I've learnt) though..

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

Down to 243. Fell off the wagon with my diet for a bit.

By the end of the day I'll have run 8 miles this week.

 

[kyuuei]

^ Pretty awesome!

I fell off my bandwagon too. Between my "vacation" to Texas, not having anyone interested in a healthier life style with me, having no one to even set examples for, blaaarrghhh it's been bad. On top of that, Steroid injections in my hips did not go well that time either. Turns out I have steroid flare reactions to these injections, and they really don't help like they should.. it's super rare, so of course I would have it. Thanksgiving I had an awful thing happen--I bought a dress I thought fit, and had a couple seams literally strain to the point I felt them pull out a bit while moving around after eating. And I was like.. Yup, that's the last straw. My good pair of jeans feel tight, and a dress that fit me in the store is straining when I eat a bunch.

I built a plan.. and I am debating joining a gym--the dreaded word--just for the winter months. I'm thinking I could stop by after work with a change of clothes, change out, work out, change back into warm clothes and head home... I could bring a tablet and use the wi-fi to get my work outs. I'm going to investigate it after work tomorrow and see how warm they keep it.. if they keep it warm enough to wear shorts in I think I'll definitely be down for that. For $10 a month I can afford that shit.. and I can stop by after work so it'd be pretty nice... Run on a tread mill, lift some weights, etc. If not, then I'm just going to get a small heater and blast it in the living room an hour before I work out and get myself some 15 and 20 lb weights. My boyfriend thinks I can just build a fire.. he has no idea how scared of fires I am.

I built a food list and I'm going to work on that this week.. getting everything bought and tended to.. but I really do need a deep freezer. I have trouble making meals the way I used to and pulling them out for the next day without freezer space to do it in. I had 2 in my old house.. I have.. 1/3 of one here. hahaha. I'm getting a couple silicone bowls to freeze soups in. I'm going to do some smoothies and take them with me to work, let them thaw in the fridge and drink them before I leave work in the mornings, when I'm warmed up from moving around so it won't feel funky to drink. I'm gonna stay on a dinner at dinner time and breakfast at breakfast time schedule.. so sweet potato pumpkin oats for the week with some aged gouda cheese, and I'm going back to my plan of having veggies as the star of each dish with everything else being the accessory. Veggie based with a bit of meat style Sloppy joes getting cooked for the next day and I'm going to do some lentil gravy and lentil balls + scotch eggs for another dinner... tuna and veggie salad with cranberry salsa, broccoli kale cabbage coleslaw, some homemade pickles, tofu chocolate pie for dessert..

I'm ready. After tonight for sure I am ready. I'm sick of not being strong.

 

[kyuuei]

Went on a super fun hike the other evening with a friend of ours it will be raining the next few days so I'll be training indoors. We're trying to plan out putting up an obstacle course in our yard--how fun would that be to play on?!

Today I've been cooking my ass off. I got in gear and ate up thanksgiving like I said I would, and now I'm on the tail end of prepping everything before I take a quick nap, work out, and shower and head on out to work. (I'm going to be a bit miserable switching back from days to nights, but that's okay. I hope the rain helps me sleep more.)
- Leeks and onions bagged up for future cooking since I needed them for recipes
- Finishing up eating Tofu Chocolate pie and the cereal I bought for breakfasts, but afterwards I have all the ingredients I need for sweet potato-banana-oats for breakfasts
- Made a bunch of green smoothie concentrates out of a bunch of fruits and veggies (which is the only way I figured out I can use up a giant bag of mixed fruit for $3 at the grocery store when just the two of us live here.) so I'll have a couple weeks' worth of just pop it into a jar with some water, shake it until it dissolves and go. Still looking for a cheap nutribullet or vitamix on clearance somehow haha.
- Currently cooking a big pot of green soup. I posted a tutorial here. http://www.typologycentral.com/foru...e/23744-kyuueis-cook-book-15.html#post2564101 It is a VERY complex recipe full of elaborate steps.
- I made some chicken salad out of some leftover chicken leg quarters. Ingles (a grocery store here) had already cooked baked chicken leg quarters, like 8 of them, for $2.99! Serious?! It costs me that much just to buy those things uncooked! Hell yeah! So I ate that for dinner last night, and a little for breakfast this morning while I cooked. The rest got shredded into chicken salad.
- I got some turkey ground up for sloppy joes.. with some leftover veggies I prepped I'll have a field day in the near future.
- Marinading and freezing some chicken thighs for a future dinner as well. For now, I'm content to eat oats, smoothies, sandwiches, and soup. Once those run out, I have my back ups.
- I cooked up a couple brats to have a quick and really satisfying lunch while I cooked all of this stuff too.
- I created some homemade spicy pickles and I'm digging them so much... a soy sauce, lemon vinegar, sugar, and red wine vinegar + salt, red pepper flake, and water base with daikon, cucumber, onion, celery, carrot, and sushi ginger. Omgggg is it good. A lightly spicy and delicate pickled flavor.
- I grabbed some 1000 day old gouda from TJ's and that stuff is amazing. Gouda is a great source of vitamin A and K so drinking it with some milk means you have all the ADK+fat's you need.

I've resigned that I'll always be a lazy salad maker and I love nothing more than pre-assembled bagged salads. So I'm fine with that. But the rest? Definitely got a lot of satisfaction out of as much lazy cooking as possible for as much healthy food as possible.

I've been soooo so lucky that the weather warmed up for me. I think I really do have that thing where you're affected by the seasons.. when it first became cold I just crumpled up and died.

I've gotten my ass into shape and realized I needed to take charge of things. Many of my pants don't fit me, so I've been working on getting clothing I can wear to work out in in the cold, and go running in in the cold. My lovely lovely boyfriend also got me a heater, so I've been buckling down and dressing loose but warm and taking off layers as I heat up for exercising--and using the heaters in the house about an hour before I work out too.

So. BOOM! The trick is to realize there is no bandwagon. This is life. You can't fall off of life.

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

Went on a super fun hike the other evening with a friend of ours it will be raining the next few days so I'll be training indoors. We're trying to plan out putting up an obstacle course in our yard--how fun would that be to play on?!

Today I've been cooking my ass off. I got in gear and ate up thanksgiving like I said I would, and now I'm on the tail end of prepping everything before I take a quick nap, work out, and shower and head on out to work. (I'm going to be a bit miserable switching back from days to nights, but that's okay. I hope the rain helps me sleep more.)
- Leeks and onions bagged up for future cooking since I needed them for recipes
- Finishing up eating Tofu Chocolate pie and the cereal I bought for breakfasts, but afterwards I have all the ingredients I need for sweet potato-banana-oats for breakfasts
- Made a bunch of green smoothie concentrates out of a bunch of fruits and veggies (which is the only way I figured out I can use up a giant bag of mixed fruit for $3 at the grocery store when just the two of us live here.) so I'll have a couple weeks' worth of just pop it into a jar with some water, shake it until it dissolves and go. Still looking for a cheap nutribullet or vitamix on clearance somehow haha.
- Currently cooking a big pot of green soup. I posted a tutorial here. http://www.typologycentral.com/foru...e/23744-kyuueis-cook-book-15.html#post2564101 It is a VERY complex recipe full of elaborate steps.
- I made some chicken salad out of some leftover chicken leg quarters. Ingles (a grocery store here) had already cooked baked chicken leg quarters, like 8 of them, for $2.99! Serious?! It costs me that much just to buy those things uncooked! Hell yeah! So I ate that for dinner last night, and a little for breakfast this morning while I cooked. The rest got shredded into chicken salad.
- I got some turkey ground up for sloppy joes.. with some leftover veggies I prepped I'll have a field day in the near future.
- Marinading and freezing some chicken thighs for a future dinner as well. For now, I'm content to eat oats, smoothies, sandwiches, and soup. Once those run out, I have my back ups.
- I cooked up a couple brats to have a quick and really satisfying lunch while I cooked all of this stuff too.
- I created some homemade spicy pickles and I'm digging them so much... a soy sauce, lemon vinegar, sugar, and red wine vinegar + salt, red pepper flake, and water base with daikon, cucumber, onion, celery, carrot, and sushi ginger. Omgggg is it good. A lightly spicy and delicate pickled flavor.
- I grabbed some 1000 day old gouda from TJ's and that stuff is amazing. Gouda is a great source of vitamin A and K so drinking it with some milk means you have all the ADK+fat's you need.

I've resigned that I'll always be a lazy salad maker and I love nothing more than pre-assembled bagged salads. So I'm fine with that. But the rest? Definitely got a lot of satisfaction out of as much lazy cooking as possible for as much healthy food as possible.

I've been soooo so lucky that the weather warmed up for me. I think I really do have that thing where you're affected by the seasons.. when it first became cold I just crumpled up and died.

I've gotten my ass into shape and realized I needed to take charge of things. Many of my pants don't fit me, so I've been working on getting clothing I can wear to work out in in the cold, and go running in in the cold. My lovely lovely boyfriend also got me a heater, so I've been buckling down and dressing loose but warm and taking off layers as I heat up for exercising--and using the heaters in the house about an hour before I work out too.

So. BOOM! The trick is to realize there is no bandwagon. This is life. You can't fall off of life.

Sounds like you are on the right path!

My GF and I have been cooking a lot more, and been focusing on eating right. That's really the most important part to losing the weight. Had some Leek and Potato detox soup the other night that was bangin. I've actually really gotten into cooking myself and that has helped the budget and eating better immensely.

I just finished up a 5k on the treadmill the fastest I've ever done it (which is still admittedly pretty slow) and weighed 235.75lbs when I got back from the gym. Probably the lowest for me in a few years. Hoping for 230 by xmas. Ultimately I wanna get down to 210 or 200 before I start lifting again. Thanksgiving was tough for me. I probably put on 5lbs that weekend. But the weight came back off really quick. My close fit a little better, but I haven't really noticed too much of a difference.

I'm really trying to stay disciplined with the food and drop the weight as fast as I can, because I want to being able to eat fun stuff again sooner rather than later. I've been thinking about getting back into cycling as opposed to starting to get into longer runs as I much prefer biking to running.

Hope all is well and the holiday season is treating you and your BF well!

 

[fetus]

I used to run for a solid 30 minutes 3-4 times a week. I've lost almost all of that now. If I could get my lazy ass out the door, everything would be okay. The problem is the motivation. I've lost my fitness. I've got no momentum.

 

[kyuuei]

I used to run for a solid 30 minutes 3-4 times a week. I've lost almost all of that now. If I could get my lazy ass out the door, everything would be okay. The problem is the motivation. I've lost my fitness. I've got no momentum.

I think this is the fallacy that stops me sometimes as well. But the reality is you did it out of habit, there was no secret mojo.. Austin Powers taught us that our mojo is always within us. But seriously, when something interrupted your habit, you didn't adjust is all. Life changes. It's alright. Maybe you can only run once a week now.. maybe it's not going to be for 30 minutes. Maybe you only have 15 minutes. Just do it. What you can, when you can.

No motivation to get up? Maybe it's time for something new. I never run in the winter. It's not my thing. I'm a summer runner. I used to swim in the winter... here in my new town, I'm struggling to find something, but I'm working on it. I'll get there. You will too. Maybe change it up and just do SOMETHING outside for those 30 minutes. And you'll find that motivation. Or do something inside.. save yourself the weather.

 

[kyuuei]

Been going running with my running group. It feels pretty good actually. I feel like I'm almost ready to winter run on my own, but the motivation of others around definitely helps me.

 

[kyuuei]

Happy Holidays healthy-life friends!

I saw a post that was something to the effect of showing a super crowded train station or concert with the words, "In two weeks the gym be like.."

I can sort of understand the frustration for gym rats. You pay to go there, and some circumstance means for a month or two itll be more crowded. But, eff you man, if you can't appreciate people trying to take initiative then gtfo. It isn't YOUR gym. Build one if you never want people on your equipment.



In other news, I'm building my meal plan for the next couple weeks right now. I haven't been calorie counting for the last 2-3 months. I checked my weight last night: 60kg (just below 135 lbs). Weight means nothing. It really is a number. I feel fatty because I am gaining fat and not muscle. I feel my muscles not as strong in my daily life. It is the muscles I crave, not a particular number. All that terrible eating and I didn't swing drastically.. so yay healthy life! I stay active, do what I can when I can, and I enjoyed my holidays.

But, I LOVE setting new years resolutions, and last year I made one to run 3 miles which I did not meet. But I didn't forget about it.. and I'm ready to try again. I didn't get stronger either.. I was on my way there when life happened. But I got stronger in a different way, which is now freeing me up to get stronger physically. And I'm still enjoying my substitution diet con veggies-whenever-I-can-with-food.