2014 TypeC Health and Exercise Challenge

[Coriolis]

1. Improve eating habits, specifically eating between meals.
I've been staying on the bandwagon fairly well with this. It helps that I'm not bringing home so much work - I can physically keep away from food and get engrossed in other (enjoyable) things, which is a big help.

2. Get more exercise: at least three times each week, in addition to martial arts practice.
I did manage 4 exercise sessions this week - not sure I can do it every week. This upcoming week is unlikely due to travel, but should have no trouble getting in the usual 3. I am a bit disappointed not to be seeing more progress with the exercises themselves, though. I would think the more difficult ones would become easier after a few weeks. Still, better for them to be a challenge than not.

3. Weight loss.
No net improvement. Had picked up a pound or so, but got rid of it as fast as it came. I'm looking forward to the warmer weather. I just don't feel like eating that much when it is warm.

 

[Kasper]

Will check in tonight [MENTION=4722]Udog[/MENTION]

Random question for people, how would you work out the ideal approx intake of calories per day that is right for you (cut, maintain or bulk), without relying on a calculator to tell you?

 

[Kasper]

Cardio

Cycling	Distance	Time
Mon 24 March	-	-
Tue 25 March	-	-
Wed 26 March	5.6	19:55
	5.8	16.35
Thur 27 March	5.6	21:15
	5.8	17:20
Fri 28 March	5.7	19:45
	10.8	41:20
Sat 29 March	-	-
Sun 30 March	17.5	55:55
	56.8	3:12:05

1. Log 40 bike rides by 7 April: 11
2. Ride to work minimum 3x a week:

3. Log minimum overall distance of 45kms per week:

Strength/core

	Push-ups	Weights
Mon 17 March	-	-
Tue 18 March	170	60 Min
Wed 19 March	-	30 Min
Thur 20 March	-	-
Fri 21 March	-	-
Sat 22 March	48	50 Min
Sun 23 March	-	-
	218	140 Min

4. Push up challenge:

6. Weights set 3x per week:

Diet

	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner
Mon 17-March
Tue 18-March
Wed 19-March
Thur 20-March
Fri 21-March
Sat 22 March
Sun 23 March

6. Market shopping once a fortnight:

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

8. Limit beer to max 7 per week: 7

9. Consume 3 meals per day min:

Am working on point 9...

 

[Randomnity]

Random question for people, how would you work out the ideal approx intake of calories per day that is right for you (cut, maintain or bulk), without relying on a calculator to tell you?

For figuring out maintenance the alternative to a calculator is tracking absolutely everything you eat and drink, very precisely, for awhile and seeing how stable your weight is. If your weight (and activity level) stay stable throughout, it'll give you a more accurate result than a calculator. Calculators are nice to give a starting point, though. I used a formula from my government website* to calculate what they recommend for maintenance, since that seemed slightly more science-based than all the random ones floating around. Takes into account activity level, age, gender, height, weight, etc. I'm not sure how hormone treatment affects that, but I'm guessing there must be info on that somewhere out there.

And then typically people recommend around 20% increase/decrease from maintenance for bulking vs cutting. Some people do more but the more drastic diets (and bulks for that matter) tend to be more unhealthy and less sustainable (both physically and mentally). Less is also fine, just makes it a bit slower.

*edit: in case anyone is curious and wants to see how much the canadian government thinks you should eat:

Male 19+ TDEE = 662 – (9.53 x age [y]) + PA x { (15.91 x weight [kg]) + (539.6 x height [m]) }
Female 19+ (not pregnant/lactating) TDEE = 354 – (6.91 x age [y]) + PA x{ (9.36 x weight [kg]) + (726 x height [m]) }

PA coefficients for sedentary (walking around for "regular activities" only, plus <30m/day exercise), low active (30-60m/day moderate exercise like walking, but not counting walking around for "regular activities"), active (60m/day moderate), and highly active (60m/day moderate + 60m/week of intense activity like cardio) respectively are:

Male - 1, 1.11, 1.25, 1.48
Female - 1, 1.12, 1.27, 1.45

I'm not really sure what activity level I am but probably closest to low active at the moment, which gives me TDEE=2195. That seems a bit too high for what I actually eat so maybe I'm fooling myself with the "low active" (sigh). Sedentary gives me 1978 which is probably closer to my actual maintenance. If you play with the numbers, height affects it a lot which I guess makes sense, but the formula doesn't account for body composition, exact activities done through the week, and slight metabolism differences. They do say you should adjust it based on your actual caloric intake and corresponding weight changes.

 

[Firebird 8118]

Okay, time for another update:

I did mention last time that I had run 5 1/2 miles alongside my brother. Since then, I've tried to keep myself active more often this week. Sure, my leg muscles were a bit sore for a while, but now I think I've become more accustomed to moving about more.

Still gradually shifting my diet - now I've been replacing ice cream with Greek yogurt (which is quite nice, by the way ). And still drinking plenty of water.

This upcoming Sunday, I will be running with my brother for 7 miles. Hope I can achieve this next milestone!

 

[kyuuei]

Will check in tonight [MENTION=4722]Udog[/MENTION]

Random question for people, how would you work out the ideal approx intake of calories per day that is right for you (cut, maintain or bulk), without relying on a calculator to tell you?

I use three vague, loose rules:
1. Eat until you're a little more than satisfied. Don't be stuffed, but don't just eat to satisfy. I know people say that, but I find that I'm hungry like 2 hours later if I just eat until satisfaction. I need a full hour to digest, and then I'm fine, and that's perfect for me. You should eat until your plate is done, talk or text or browse a bit, and see if that feeling gets worse for better. If it gets better, or if there's just a little leftover, it isn't awful to eat it.
2. Use hand and plate sizes. If it's a standard sized dinner plate: 1/2 of your plate should be fruits and vegetables, one quarter each of meat and/or grains, and a sprinkles worth of cheese or shake of oil is about what you should see. At least 2 heaping handfuls of salad, or two hands cupped together for other vegetables and fruits. One palm-sized worth of food (or one handful) of meat and grains each is sufficient for a meal. Oils, butters, etc. should be about the size of your thumb after the bendy-joint if you gathered it together in a little thumb-shaped mass. A small juice glass of milk or dairy is sufficient dairy for the day.
3. Know your high-calorie foods vs not. It's easy for me to eat a smaller portion of something (say, a solitary sandwich with nothing else) when that sandwich is made of brie, avocado, spices and vinegar, and veggies, because that's a high calorie food.. Avocado is loaded with fat, and so is cheese, two pieces of bread more than make a handful's worth. In comparison, if I ate that little saucer's worth of spaghetti-squash spaghetti I'd be dying like 20 minutes later.
4. Eat two snacks between your meals. Eating something small and satisfying (I've been loving these date snack rolls at the local store.. just dates sprinkled with coconut and an almond shoved in the middle) between breakfast and lunch, and again lunch and dinner. You get a better feel for how hungry you are, and what your body is craving, when it's not starving and wanting ALL the things.
5. Finally.. I've switched to eating raw desserts. Lately it's only been banana ice cream (just frozen bananas and mangoes blended into mush and topped with blended strawberries and blueberries that were pureed into sauce) and cookie dough bites (oats, almonds, chocolate chips, vanilla, and cinnamon) but I plan on trying to make other things soon too. It creates 6 meals--and I feel like if you eat healthy food six times a day, you'd have to be crazy to not get minimal calories necessary and probably more.

If you're worried about too many calories? I use substitution dieting, and currently I'm meshing it with raw vegan food diets, and its been working out swimmingly for me. Find the recipe you want, change it to include vegetables, and boom, you've slashed the calories off of it. I like skinnytaste the best.. but there's other sites and recipes.

 

[kyuuei]

That reminds me! It's April! I completely forgot.

I'm upgrading my eating plan--to raw fruits and vegetables for breakfast and lunch with a little dairy, dates for a snack, and a juice for my other snack, and still whatever I want for dinner, and raw desserts. I got a couple appliances I've been long wanting, and sooo happy to have now: a food processor, and a juicer.

Tonight for dinner: I made cauliflower 'rice' stir-fry with mixed vegetables and korean BBQ grilled chicken on top. The kids are over tonight, so for dessert we made chocolate dipped strawberries (using carob powder, coconut water, dates, cinnamon, and vanilla for the 'chocolate'), and chocolate drizzled cookie dough bites (since I forgot chocolate chips). I'm freezing bananas so I can make banana ice cream with chocolate drizzle and fullyraw coffee for breakfast. I'm going grocery shopping tomorrow for juicing fruits and vegetables and picking up some mulberries and stuff for some more fake wine so I can pretend to drink my sorrows away while I'm studying.

Also, I FINALLY went running today. It felt amazing--as in, it was awful. I ran the whole two miles, so I feel happy about that. I also coughed up all 5 months of laziness and allergies the whole way back walking. My nephew wanted to be more like me suddenly, so he started spitting on the ground too.

 

[Udog]

2. Get more exercise: at least three times each week, in addition to martial arts practice.
I did manage 4 exercise sessions this week - not sure I can do it every week. This upcoming week is unlikely due to travel, but should have no trouble getting in the usual 3. I am a bit disappointed not to be seeing more progress with the exercises themselves, though. I would think the more difficult ones would become easier after a few weeks. Still, better for them to be a challenge than not.

Are you getting enough sleep and proper nutrition? We get stronger during the recovery phase - our workouts are just the catalyst.

Otherwise, slow gains on harder workouts is not uncommon. I consider a single extra pushup, or a couple of additional reps, over the course of a week to be pretty normal.

Random question for people, how would you work out the ideal approx intake of calories per day that is right for you (cut, maintain or bulk), without relying on a calculator to tell you?

I like Randomnity's response. Start with a calculator or guideline, journal your food for a week or two, and then adjust. I've been preferring the eyeball method (1 protein = 1 palm sized portion, etc) these days.

If you are having difficulty, try to aim for maintenance at first. Eat until you are no longer hungry, but before you start feeling "Stuffed". Then, learn your body's "real" hunger cues. Not the ones that make you crave junk food, but the ones where your body's performance is being impacted by the lack of energy available. (Can't concentrate, your stomach hurts, you get jittery, have a headache, feel weak, etc.) Eat when you start feeling like that. If you ate something and feel really hungry again 1-2 hours later, you probably didn't eat enough, or didn't get enough protein/fat.

Once you figure out a diet that is good for maintenance, losing / gaining weight is easier. Just adjust how much you eat / exercise based on your goals.

Of course, I'm only resorting to this meticulous method because everything else failed to work for me. Right now, I'm focusing largely on maintenance and it seems to be working.

 

[kyuuei]

If you are having difficulty, try to aim for maintenance at first. Eat until you are no longer hungry, but before you start feeling "Stuffed". Then, learn your body's "real" hunger cues. Not the ones that make you crave junk food, but the ones where your body's performance is being impacted by the lack of energy available. (Can't concentrate, your stomach hurts, you get jittery, have a headache, feel weak, etc.) Eat when you start feeling like that. If you ate something and feel really hungry again 1-2 hours later, you probably didn't eat enough, or didn't get enough protein/fat.

Usually I find that if you wait until you're hungry at all--you really need to get a move on eating. Even when I'm not totally hungry, or I know a meal is in an hour's time, I still eat a small snack. Nothing huge--just a banana, or some dates or something.. but it's enough for you to walk into a meal with a clear head. Especially useful when dining out, too..

 

[Udog]

Usually I find that if you wait until you're hungry at all--you really need to get a move on eating. Even when I'm not totally hungry, or I know a meal is in an hour's time, I still eat a small snack. Nothing huge--just a banana, or some dates or something.. but it's enough for you to walk into a meal with a clear head. Especially useful when dining out, too..

I think it depends on your goals. If you are trying to gain muscle and bulk up - definitely. Same likely goes for maintaining weight, as well. However, for those who are trying to lose weight, that feeling of "slightly hungry, but still feel good" is the sweet spot where your body is telling you it's burning fat. You just have to learn to live with that feeling while you are trying to lose weight.

Knowing how long it takes to go from "slightly hungry" to "hungry" is a good thing to learn, though. When I start to feel slightly hungry, I know I have about 1-2 hours until I should eat, and if I wait much longer than 2 hours, I'm going to be hungry enough that I'll eat just about anything that's in front of me.

 

[Kasper]

Cardio

Cycling	Distance	Time
Mon 31 March	-	-
Tue 1 April	-	-
Wed 2 April	5.5	19:30
	11.7	36:00
Thur 3 April	5.5	19:35
	5.7	17:25
Fri 4 April	5.5	20:20
	5.7	20:00
Sat 5 April	-	-
Sun 6 April	24.7	2:21:35
	64.3	4:34:25

1. Log 40 bike rides by 7 April: 3
2. Ride to work minimum 3x a week:

3. Log minimum overall distance of 45kms per week:

Strength/core

	Push-ups	Weights
Mon 31 March	-	-
Tue 1 April	130	45 Min
Wed 2 April	-	60 Min
Thur 3 April	-	-
Fri 4 April	-	-
Sat 5 April	-	-
Sun 6 April	140	60 Min
	270	165 Min

4. Push up challenge:

6. Weights set 3x per week:

Diet

	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner
Mon 31 March
Tue 1 April
Wed 2 April
Thur 3 April
Fri 4 April
Sat 5 April
Sun 6 April

6. Market shopping once a fortnight:

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

8. Limit beer to max 7 per week: 4

9. Consume 3 meals per day min:

 

[INTJMom]

Next week, we will have reached the original projected end date for the Exercise Challenge. For those that care to share, how do you guys think you did for the first 3 months? Are you proud of your progress? Do you have any lessons learned that you are going to take with you for the next three months? ...

Well, for the most part, I think I did well. I think I only majorly missed on 2 weeks.
If it weren't for this thread, I doubt I would have done it at all,
so for that, I am grateful to you, Udog, and to the other people here also participating.
It's a LOT harder to do it alone.
I am thankful for you all!

And to check in for this past week, I reached all my goals.
I have started wrapping my knee for a few hours at night and I had a lot less pain in my knee this week.
I did my exercise program this morning with my ankle weights back on.
Being faithful and sticking to it is the hardest challenge for me.

 

[Kasper]

For figuring out maintenance the alternative to a calculator is tracking absolutely everything you eat and drink, very precisely, for awhile and seeing how stable your weight is. If your weight (and activity level) stay stable throughout, it'll give you a more accurate result than a calculator. Calculators are nice to give a starting point, though. I used a formula from my government website* to calculate what they recommend for maintenance, since that seemed slightly more science-based than all the random ones floating around. Takes into account activity level, age, gender, height, weight, etc. I'm not sure how hormone treatment affects that, but I'm guessing there must be info on that somewhere out there.

And then typically people recommend around 20% increase/decrease from maintenance for bulking vs cutting. Some people do more but the more drastic diets (and bulks for that matter) tend to be more unhealthy and less sustainable (both physically and mentally). Less is also fine, just makes it a bit slower.

*edit: in case anyone is curious and wants to see how much the canadian government thinks you should eat:

Male 19+ TDEE = 662 – (9.53 x age [y]) + PA x { (15.91 x weight [kg]) + (539.6 x height [m]) }
Female 19+ (not pregnant/lactating) TDEE = 354 – (6.91 x age [y]) + PA x{ (9.36 x weight [kg]) + (726 x height [m]) }

PA coefficients for sedentary (walking around for "regular activities" only, plus <30m/day exercise), low active (30-60m/day moderate exercise like walking, but not counting walking around for "regular activities"), active (60m/day moderate), and highly active (60m/day moderate + 60m/week of intense activity like cardio) respectively are:

Male - 1, 1.11, 1.25, 1.48
Female - 1, 1.12, 1.27, 1.45

I'm not really sure what activity level I am but probably closest to low active at the moment, which gives me TDEE=2195. That seems a bit too high for what I actually eat so maybe I'm fooling myself with the "low active" (sigh). Sedentary gives me 1978 which is probably closer to my actual maintenance. If you play with the numbers, height affects it a lot which I guess makes sense, but the formula doesn't account for body composition, exact activities done through the week, and slight metabolism differences. They do say you should adjust it based on your actual caloric intake and corresponding weight changes.

Thanks, I like the first option as I don't know what to do with the calculations, just waiting on some kitchen scales so I can track more accurately. There is no definitive answer out there on what calculation is more accurate for me to use and I can end up with a big point difference. The Mifflin-St Jeor calculation for BMR gives me 1410 or 1576, in respect to bone density the former is more accurate, in respect to muscle mass the latter is more accurate *shrug*, then if I add in no exercise my TDEE is 1892 or 1692, ofc I am exercising so it gets pushed out with an even bigger gap, if I go with sedentary the Canadian calculation gives me 1978 or 2378 and all these numbers frustrate me because if I go with the wrong figure I don't get the results I want, so the manual option is probably best.

I use three vague, loose rules:
1. Eat until you're a little more than satisfied. Don't be stuffed, but don't just eat to satisfy. I know people say that, but I find that I'm hungry like 2 hours later if I just eat until satisfaction. I need a full hour to digest, and then I'm fine, and that's perfect for me. You should eat until your plate is done, talk or text or browse a bit, and see if that feeling gets worse for better. If it gets better, or if there's just a little leftover, it isn't awful to eat it.
2. Use hand and plate sizes. If it's a standard sized dinner plate: 1/2 of your plate should be fruits and vegetables, one quarter each of meat and/or grains, and a sprinkles worth of cheese or shake of oil is about what you should see. At least 2 heaping handfuls of salad, or two hands cupped together for other vegetables and fruits. One palm-sized worth of food (or one handful) of meat and grains each is sufficient for a meal. Oils, butters, etc. should be about the size of your thumb after the bendy-joint if you gathered it together in a little thumb-shaped mass. A small juice glass of milk or dairy is sufficient dairy for the day.
3. Know your high-calorie foods vs not. It's easy for me to eat a smaller portion of something (say, a solitary sandwich with nothing else) when that sandwich is made of brie, avocado, spices and vinegar, and veggies, because that's a high calorie food.. Avocado is loaded with fat, and so is cheese, two pieces of bread more than make a handful's worth. In comparison, if I ate that little saucer's worth of spaghetti-squash spaghetti I'd be dying like 20 minutes later.
4. Eat two snacks between your meals. Eating something small and satisfying (I've been loving these date snack rolls at the local store.. just dates sprinkled with coconut and an almond shoved in the middle) between breakfast and lunch, and again lunch and dinner. You get a better feel for how hungry you are, and what your body is craving, when it's not starving and wanting ALL the things.
5. Finally.. I've switched to eating raw desserts. Lately it's only been banana ice cream (just frozen bananas and mangoes blended into mush and topped with blended strawberries and blueberries that were pureed into sauce) and cookie dough bites (oats, almonds, chocolate chips, vanilla, and cinnamon) but I plan on trying to make other things soon too. It creates 6 meals--and I feel like if you eat healthy food six times a day, you'd have to be crazy to not get minimal calories necessary and probably more.

If you're worried about too many calories? I use substitution dieting, and currently I'm meshing it with raw vegan food diets, and its been working out swimmingly for me. Find the recipe you want, change it to include vegetables, and boom, you've slashed the calories off of it. I like skinnytaste the best.. but there's other sites and recipes.

That's handy, thanks. You may like my new favorite recipe blog, I'm not raw vegan (I do dairy and eggs) but I do incorporate a fair amount of raw vegan foods in my diet and the deserts and snacks she has are sooooo nice, my fridge and freezer are now pretty well stocked with foods she's inspired =D

I'm more concerned with noticing the difference in being under in calories so my body is metabolising slow v being at a somewhat stable place with food so weight loss is slow or counteracted by muscle gain, I'm not entirely sure how to determine that. I'm eating more than I used to and am getting hungrier (and eating/drinking when hungry vs ignoring like I used to) without feeling like I'm losing energy (I think), which I presume is a good thing. I just don't know for sure though.

I like Randomnity's response. Start with a calculator or guideline, journal your food for a week or two, and then adjust. I've been preferring the eyeball method (1 protein = 1 palm sized portion, etc) these days.

If you are having difficulty, try to aim for maintenance at first. Eat until you are no longer hungry, but before you start feeling "Stuffed". Then, learn your body's "real" hunger cues. Not the ones that make you crave junk food, but the ones where your body's performance is being impacted by the lack of energy available. (Can't concentrate, your stomach hurts, you get jittery, have a headache, feel weak, etc.) Eat when you start feeling like that. If you ate something and feel really hungry again 1-2 hours later, you probably didn't eat enough, or didn't get enough protein/fat.

Once you figure out a diet that is good for maintenance, losing / gaining weight is easier. Just adjust how much you eat / exercise based on your goals.

Of course, I'm only resorting to this meticulous method because everything else failed to work for me. Right now, I'm focusing largely on maintenance and it seems to be working.

Makes sense, thanks. I've been using My Fitness Pal and CHRON-O-meter at different times to map my intake, without scales they have been guesstimates though so I'll get some as a priority and do it properly, I have both on a 1200 calorie intake because I didn't know what else to put in, I'm not specifically aiming for it as a target I'm just trying to make sure I'm over that point each day, if I didn't make a point of it, I would probably be under by default. My protein intake is always on/over target but my carbs are under more oft than not, fats are over on one app, under on the other, I think they use different figures for the foods (one knows Aussie food, the other is very US-centric, I think the former is therefore more accurate and fats are okay), my diet is pretty healthy overall, I avoid junk food out of lack of interest. I can work within whatever bounds are correct for me, it's just figuring that point out that's frustrating me as I hate not knowing the end answer so I can know if I am making things easier or harder for progress.

 

[kyuuei]

Some inspiration to everyone looking for lower fat content in their diets:

- For butters: try coconut butter. It's literally shredded coconut, unsweetened, processed for about 10-15 minutes in a food processor. It sits on a countertop for about a week, and will last longer in the fridge (so you can make a portion, throw half in the fridge, and use the other half). It's a sweet, coconut-y flavor alternative to using butter on things like pancakes and in desserts and in baked sweet potatoes. (I haven't experimented with this in coffee yet.. but some people use butter in their coffee, so maybe this could be an alternative to a fattier creamer if some flavors like flavored stevia drops were added to it?) As far as things like savory mashed potatoes and all that, I'd say just go full-on awesome fatty handmade butter and carefully portion.. Because at least you're supporting local artisans and stuff by eating that way. And using smaller amounts in your cooking in general will keep the cost down. (If its expensive and small, you tend to use less... unless money is of no object.)

- Oils: There are other ways to cook foods that don't require oils. A teaspoon of oil in a big thing of pasta boiling won't destroy you--I'd stick to that. But oils are everywhere--in stove-top cooking, salad dressing, etc. Invest in a non-stick ceramic pan and then you can cook eggs like a dream without any oil at all. (Or, if you lack funds.. try soft poaching them instead with water and a little vinegar until they're cooked to your sunny-side-up delight). For marinades, try oil-free alternatives, there are plenty of them out there online. Baking instead of frying is an easy solution too (in my cook book I have an awesome recipe for cooking chicken in the oven but having a fried crispy edge without any ingredients). Salad dressings.. There are recipes out there for salad dressings that use vegetables and fruits themselves as the basis of the recipe and dressing. There are also yogurt-based dressings for bleu cheese and ranch lovers that can turn those fatty dressings into things with healthy benefits in them. If you look up raw salad dressings, there's a ton of videos on things like dill-cucumber dressings, peach-tomato dressings, etc. I think with the right herbs it'd make a superior kick to the salad without oils added in. I'm particularly fond of oil-vinegar-herb dressings, so I'm going to try using lemon juice and orange juice in place of the olive oils and see how I fair. I think adding actual olives to the salad would help a lot too.

- Animal fats: The best thing with these is to buy lean and look up recipes. Chicken breast is HARD to cook without drying it out.. I always have trouble with it. I use recipes every single time, because without them I have to smother that chicken in garbage to make it taste decent. 97% lean meat ground beef tastes AMAZING in burgers, and they hardly shrink down when cooking, so adding some green chiles and forming them right will be all the moisture they'll need. Look for cold water fish that isn't loaded in fat either. Bacon is.. well... Bacon. Buy higher quality pieces (I have a great awesome chunk at Phoenicia that the butcher cuts into thin slices for me.. like almost sandwich-meat slices..) and cook them by themselves, and blot them very good when they're cooling off and crisping. They're thinner, with more meat and less fat, and still a ton of flavor. There are things out there like hot dogs and sausages that aren't full of garbage that make for easy, fast meals, and they're lower in fat content too. I'd say take a little fat over a bunch of additives, but if you buy high quality meat the rest of the meal sort of comes together.

 

[Udog]

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.

 

[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. 5/7 this week. Seriously, this Withings Pulse has been the best purchase ever. I highly recommend it.
Sleep/Stress- 7-8 hrs at night, 1hr nap. Based on some feedback from [MENTION=4722]Udog[/MENTION] I did some research and decided to scrap the nap part of the goal and just work on taking my naps earlier in the afternoon to see if this helps promote nighttime sleepiness, but still try to get a full cycle in the nap. 5/7 this week.

Good stuff! Feeling re-energized and motivated again.

 

[Coriolis]

Are you getting enough sleep and proper nutrition? We get stronger during the recovery phase - our workouts are just the catalyst.

Otherwise, slow gains on harder workouts is not uncommon. I consider a single extra pushup, or a couple of additional reps, over the course of a week to be pretty normal.

I generally have good nutrition, but rarely get enough sleep!

Weekly update:

1. Improve eating habits, specifically eating between meals.
This was a bad week for food. Not so much eating between meals, but eating too much at meals. I was travelling, and in a situation where meals were served to us as a group. Very tasty, but not always healthy, plus beer/wine etc. I know I picked up an extra pound or so, but it's already off as a result of normal eating the last 3 days.

2. Get more exercise: at least three times each week, in addition to martial arts practice.
I managed 4 exercise sessions this week, but two were substandard due to travel. The fitness room at my hotel turned out to be under renovation, so I did the same videos I do at home, but did not have proper hand weights. Now that my habits here are consistent, I need to focus on making the sessions more productive, and making progress with strength/stamina etc.

3. Weight loss.
See above. Still looking forward to warmer weather. It's coming . . .

 

[kyuuei]

Whoo! !!

Anyways, I've been pushing out some p90x3 and running once a week and it feels great!

My juicer rocks and drinking a huge juice for breakfast has been awesome. Salads for lunch, fruit for snacks, and whatever I want for dinner and banana ice cream for dessert! I had crab cakes last night.

I noticed it's far easier sticking to this during school.. at home I'm more likely to eat breads during the day too.

I created a 52 week healthy plan for my parents and this week they're kicking it off with a no table salt rule. Right now they can cook with it, but they can't use it at the table or to finish off a dish.

 

[Evo]

Guh, I'm a little late but....

Week 13

Weekly Rate: 8/10

I figured the crunch in moneys would affect my eating. But I'm deciding that I'm not going to let that get in my way.


Also I am pretty sure I'm doing ok with the mental/emotional stuff. So I'm going back to just food and exercise.

But I will be adding sleep to my goals soon.

 

[Firebird 8118]

Right, so here's my update:

Managed to run a total of 7.5 miles on Sunday, keeping at my dad's pace (yay! ). As usual, I'm still drinking plenty of water each day, and eating more fruits (this week it's bananas and pears). Just hoping that I'll be able to run 9 miles next time I'm on that track...