Non-Scale Victories!
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I was able to finish a mile-long jog/run without stopping for the first time since high school! I'm slow as molasses (it took my just under 12 minutes) but at no point did I need to walk or stop. I'm super happy my knee and back injuries have subsided enough to do this so that only my lungs hurt, and not my bones lol.3
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I can consistently hold a handstand for 10+ seconds now! I went from being able to kick up and hold maybe 1 out of every 100 attempts to 1 out of 3. Still not nailing it every time, but I am more often than not abandoning it because I am tired and not because I lost balance.2
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I signed up for a 1/2 marathon and I am jazzed about it. Next victory: complete it3
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I played Ultimate Frisbee most Mondays this summer (a victory in itself), and yesterday I applauded myself for my improved endurance!
I need to find something similar to participate in for the fall.1 -
Honestly, y'all are so inspiring and I'm sitting here like: I trained and I didn't die.
@RMC1995 You get that mile! When do you think you'll try again?
@mom23mangos Did you follow a programme for handstands or did you freewheel it? It's one of my personal goals so any tips you have I'd much appreciate. I can do a headstand if that helps any.
@bringbackthejoy That is amazing, congratulations! What is your mileage at currently? Will you do it for charity?
@nic_27_grassisgreener I don't know if it's because I'm English or possibly stupid but I'm not sure I know what 'Ultimate' frisbee is but it sounds awesome.
for your endurance, it's incredibly hard won.
And about the not dying thing? I did not die after my first training session in 6 weeks after having an appendectomy. Lord, I feel like all I talk about these days is this surgery. Recovery is tough as balls because you get bored real quick. But yes, I had expected some wheezing, maybe a fainting episode so to just be a bit sweaty, still stable on my crummy ankles and to only mess up my combos a couple times, I was amazed.3 -
I have officially exercised for at least three days a week for the past two months. I haven't done that in 5 years since before I got pregnant with my first child. It feels so great to be active again.
I even wore shorts today and my shirt stayed down and my muffin top didn't sabotage all of the over-the-head dance moves! Nothing like showing off your stretch marks to a room of strangers, I tell you what.2 -
@glassofroses Thank you! I think I am going to try again tomorrow (weather permitting its been raining like crazy out here) or on Thursday! I think I can try and make myself run a mile every week day plus do speed walking for 20-30 minutes for every lunch break. I was speed walking for 45-50 minutes every weekday during my lunch breaks but it got too easy, so I wanted to pick up jogging
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I have eaten 5 to 9 servings of vegetables a day for the last two weeks. And, I feel really good!
I'm a vegetarian who eats way more pasta/bread/cheese than veggies, and I seemed never to be full. Switching to veggies has really helped me to feel satisfied.
Also, I haven't done much in terms of a structured work out for the last year. I'm back into it, and though I'm not as strong or as lean as I was a year ago, I know that if I persist I can get there. I frame all my goals as "by this time next year", which seems to help me to take things day to day without becoming discouraged, cause sustainable change for me takes time. I've learned from a prior lifetime of dieting, that a dieting mentality means inevitably the diet ending, and this time I'm in it for life.2 -
glassofroses wrote: »I don't know if it's because I'm English or possibly stupid but I'm not sure I know what 'Ultimate' frisbee is but it sounds awesome. for your endurance, it's incredibly hard won.
Thanks! You're not stupid, it's not a real sport! Haha. It's played on a soccer/football field, but instead of a ball you run and throw a Frisbee down the field for goals. It's mostly played by college aged folks.0 -
@RMC1995 I think you sent the rain my way because it's ugly af here. Just be careful. I find that speed walking really helps with endurance. It doesn't sound legit but it's helped me personally.
@Rosered3333 I have never once worn shorts to workout in public. I take my hat off to you. I have stretch marks on the insides of my thighs from growing as a kid and I've always been a bit self conscious of them. Really got into not caring about them this year though. If anyone is looking that closely at my groin, they're going to get a slap. for your commitment to working out. The grind of working out week after week is a hard one.
@WallyAmadeus Do you have a style of training you love? Or are you a general gym rat? I like the idea of 'by this time next year' or I did until my appendix threw my schedule out. Now I'm just happy with: this time next week.
@nic_27_grassisgreener I was sure I've heard of it but I didn't know it was played on a football field and sort of like rugby. Ironically, I think it's a bit too violent for my tastes. That is if it's anything like rugby where some dude knocks you down like a freight train without any padding. 2 -
@glassofroses - I didn't follow any program (probably should have). It's taken me over 1.5 years just to get where I am and I still have a long ways to go. I did work on other hand balancing in the meantime as well such as headstands, forearms stands, crow/crane, etc. I watched a bunch of youtube tutorials, started going to PT to get better range of motion in my shoulders and upper back. Honestly, that's what has been holding me back the most. I can't get full shoulder flexion. So my handstands are very banana back. The best piece of advice I got was to practice with your hands diagonal, like they were in the opposite top and bottom corners of an imaginary box. It gives you much more stability.
Oh, and btw - anytime I run any length of distance I feel like if I didn't die it's a NSV. LOL1 -
Thanks for asking! I like work outs where I can focus on progressive goals. For me, that is weight training and HITs. I do free weights and the elliptical trainer. It suits my personality that I track my progress by reps/weight and by caloric burn. Once a year, I get my body fat measured at our gym (there is some very fancy piece of equipment which gives me bodyfat/lean muscle/water by part of body) and I also do a "tower run", where I run up 54 flights of stairs as quickly as I can. Those of part of what I think of as my annual physical (which I also get)...they give me indicators of how much muscle I'm building and my cardio vascular health. Last year, my BF was 18% and last tower run, I did 54 flights in 11 minutes. I'm happy with those numbers, and I just want to sustain them. My big challenge is that my bodyfat with menopause has shifted and now I look like like an hourglass and more like a refrigerator!
I always say that I'm going to do Pilates, yoga or spinning, but the fact that I always say I'm going to do them, and I never do probably means that I'll probably always being saying that, and never doing it. I find that the solitary way I work out works especially well for me because they are like moving meditations--whatever is chattering around in mine is worked out of my system by the time I'm done.1 -
@mom23mangos Thanks for the insight. I was just thinking about what you said about shoulder flexion and I should ask my physio because I definitely don't want to pop a shoulder.
@WallyAmadeus It's nice to have that drive to keep pushing to get those higher/weighted reps but not be blinded by it. The BF% thing, it's like a BodPod? I've never had mine measured professionally but I keep track from my initial weigh in on my home scale to now so I know the change in % even if I don't know exactly what I am. And congrats on a strong tower run. That sounds impressive. I'm sure your hourglass is just waiting for you to open the fridge door.
Pilates has never interested me because I don't find that I have a particularly strong core, definitely not now that I've had holes poked in it. I did yoga for awhile but it wasn't particularly challenging as it was an all abilities class and I'm hypermobile so I was always at the most advanced variation. That being said, yoga is really good for mood as well as your body and it's something you can YouTube if you ever really get the urge. And I hated spinning. Way too complicated for not very much pay off imo. I know people who love it so it's like all things for all sorts.
I always say I'm going to join the gym but it has never happened in two years so we can assume that ship has sailed. I honestly find treadmills terrifying. Martial arts suits me great as it's learning, so my brain is constantly engaged, and putting to use my freakishly bendy long limbs. The goal is, assuming I don't mess up, to be starting my advanced belts in mid-2018 (Red, Brown, Brown 2 and Black) regardless. The joke? I never wanted to grade for my belts. I have been dragged to every single one of my gradings because at my core, I'm just happy to learn. The same with actual fighting/sparring. I don't have a single inclination to punch anyone once let alone multiple times but my friends drag me into it every time. There is only so many nos you can say before you just cave.
I did my first sit ups since my surgery today! It was a pyramid style warm up and I thought I was going to have to crunch it out but I did all of them. I started off with strict push ups but to protect my stomach I went down to my knees just to prevent excess pressure.
Oh and a silly one. I started doing a roundhouse kick when we were supposed to be doing a sidekick, and while shouting abort repeatedly, I managed to save it and rotate my leg/hold my core strong enough to support the change.1 -
Yes, I hear you...though in a vastly different context. Our son was born via an emergency c-section (it was a foreshadowing of his personality that he refused to emerge via the traditional route.) I remember went back to the gym and resumed ab work outs way earlier than had been recommended, and while I powered though it, it prolonged my recovery. Not to mention, that the first time I did a sit up, I almost smothered myself in my post partum belly!
I think you hit on something: Find the routine that works for you and which you can sustain.0 -
@WallyAmadeus I was born 6 weeks early...just because I could I suppose. It's funny actually, my mum's due date for me was March 17th and to this day I get this wrinkle of disgust go through me at the thought of that being my birthday. It's like it was written into my DNA that I'm not a fan of the month of March at all, which is why I decided that I was going to come out in February.
How did those workouts feel, do you remember? I'm just curious as I don't really know anyone who has had to rehab their abs, and it's really hard to know what's okay and what's too much, tbh. From what I can tell my abs are in relatively good shape but I might have a bit of scar tissue that needs stretching (length wise) on my left side as I've been getting a bit of aching after training. I had what I would liken to a stitch while running in the warm up yesterday, I took 10 seconds and I was fine but other than that I don't get any pain/aching/twinges but I'm not trying to fully rotate and at speed yet. I'm taking the rest of the week off as I've got a cold now and I don't want to possibly tear something if there is something going on. So we'll see what happens next week and what my doctor says at my 8 week check up.
But yes, you're right about being able to sustain your exercise. In the long run, you'll be so much happier just from the endorphins. But even from watching the people I know, you can see them sort of just give up on eating well when the exercise goes to the wayside. A bit like, why bother? The point of exercise is to be healthy, regardless of what you eat. Obviously the two go hand in hand and you can't outrun a bad diet, but you can minimise some of the issues by not having so much internal fat. So even if your diet is maybe lacking one week, you're not completely shooting yourself in the foot if you're still working out. And there is so much going on in the fitness world now that it should be something fun and isn't just a treadmill or a weights rack if that's not what you're into. There's pole fitness, acroyoga, barre classes; people need to just get out there and try things. I mean, I just picked my dojo out of a Google search because I was interested in KB, showed up and never left.
I feel like that exercise point veered off but I just mean that sustainable exercise will always be a good thing and people need to embrace doing what they love rather than what they think they have to.1 -
Hi All! Hope you are enjoying your week thus far. I just wanted to drop my brief NSV in this discussion while I'm thinking of it.
Im in a competitive climbing league right now. And last night was week 2 of our competition. I had to compete in 7 individual routes. I was able to complete 5 of them. And get halfway up (partial credit) the other two climbs. It took about 2.5 hours until I was fully finished. Lots of climbing and I maintained my energy and focus. I'm really happy with my hard work!5 -
It has been quite a few years...but I just remember feeling winded and "twingey", also as if that part of my body was very vulnerable. What helped: Physical therapy so I learned how to work my core without the traditional crunches/bicycles (lot of planks, e.g.) and just, frankly, following doctors' orders. I really wanted to get back my pre-pregnancy shape as quickly as possible that I pushed my body and my body pushed back with continual back pain.2
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@2tall4thisworld That is some rocking endurance!
@WallyAmadeus My doctor's orders regarding my training were 6 weeks, ease back into it, no contact, which I followed so in theory it should all be fine. He even said that some aching would be normal. Still going to get checked out though as I had originally booked the appointment to talk about sparring but yeah, that's not happening for another 6 weeks at least. I worry about hernias and things like that (there's no history in my family so that helps) because like I said, I don't know anyone who has had lap surgery or even abdominal surgery so my information is sorely limited. Googling on the internet just gives me anxiety.
If anything I think I probably went back to it a bit too cold, not really working the bodyweight exercises beforehand, and I had very little resistance from my body when I did go. I wasn't out of breath/my endurance was fine, my flexibility was unchanged so everything just felt fine. Like normal. Doesn't mean things are normal though. I'll start working on my plank/side planks from now then. It'll be good for my arms too. Thankfully so far my back is fine. Honestly everything is fine apart from this bit of aching. I wouldn't even waste painkillers on it. However, that being said, I am taking this as a sign that I need to be careful. I am highly considering waiting till after the break (21st-29th) and try to start again then just in case I've pulled a muscle. Use the time in between to strengthen what I can. 0 -
Upon reflection, in my case not only was I postpartum, but I had been on bedrest (which was kind of nice with a newborn cause I was waited on and I didn't have to feel guilty.). I'm wondering if you are on bedrest, or something close to it, if you actually lose some muscle. Or, if not on total bedrest, then mostly prone.
I've just found that my body is a very efficent feedback loop..if I'm pushing myself too much, my body will let me know...first whispering softly with an ache or two, and then thumping me on the head with something I've pulled.0 -
@WallyAmadeus Your cardiac function begins to decrease rapidly at two weeks but I think it's 4 weeks for muscle, I'm not too sure. I didn't find that I felt any different till about 5 1/2 weeks and I just felt a bit squisher around my obliques but I kept my protein pretty high considering I wasn't working out (80-100g). But yes, I wasn't on bed rest but I had dislodged scar tissue from behind my belly button at 3 weeks and I was very hesitant to push it. I can and do push ups/sit ups just fine. Apparently running is my issue as it must elongate my torso. For boxing you naturally roll the shoulders inwards and hunch a bit to protect your body.
I think being in tune with your body is a great gift. I don't always get it right personally which is why I really want to try and err on the side of caution this time round. I've had a not properly rehabbed ankle (I was 9, I don't think I really understood how important it was) come back to bite me in the *kitten* many times and I am definitely not looking to play that ball game again.0
