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stroutman81
Posts: 2,474 Member
I think I'm fighting an uphill battle since starting an active group from after so many groups already exist on MFP is next to impossible. But I'd like to give it a try. I'm going to be inviting some people from my friends list. If you find yourself here, I'd love to hear from you. Please answer any or all of the following questions to let me know you're here and get this party started.
1. What made you accept the invitation or join?
2. What's your biggest challenge when it comes to your fitness?
3. Why are you enough right now?
4. How do you define a successful day in your life?
1. What made you accept the invitation or join?
2. What's your biggest challenge when it comes to your fitness?
3. Why are you enough right now?
4. How do you define a successful day in your life?
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I'll go first.
1. N/A
2. I have trouble honoring hunger and satisfaction (rather than full) when eating out with friends and family.
3. Today I feel enough because I feel that I provide so much love to my family and so much value to my clients. Please note this doesn't imply I don't yearn for continued growth and learning. I most certainly do. But it feels pretty damn good to regularly check in and remind myself why I'm also enough right now.
4. Each day I strive to improve a little more in some capacity. Maybe it's learning one new thing. Maybe it's getting a little stronger in a particular lift. Maybe it's figuring out a way over or around an obstacle that's been blocking me. Maybe it's writing a new article for the website. I'm not solely out to increase my fitness. I simply want to get better at the things I value the most in my life - from family and hobbies to coaching and fitness. One way I ensure this is happening is by deciding each day, in my journal, 1-5 things I want to accomplish in the day ahead... and I'm very specific here. I can share more about this if you're interested.0 -
1. What made you accept the invitation or join?
While I feel that I've learned an amazing amount about working WITH my body, honoring it, and nourishing it, menopause is an "all bets are off" time for me. I'm trying to learn more as my body changes.
2. What's your biggest challenge when it comes to your fitness?
I'd say right now it's fatigue. Again, being menopausal, my sleep is affected, my hormones are constantly shifting, and I find myself tired more than I used to. Again, I'm trying to honor that, by listening to my body, and doing more exercises like yoga and Pilates.
3. Why are you enough right now? I've maintained my "new" healthy lifestyle for nearly 15 years. I've beaten the odds, and I feel like I really made some great decisions.
4. How do you define a successful day in your life? If I can be present, and mindful, and respectful to those I interact with me, and of myself.1 -
Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »1. What made you accept the invitation or join?
While I feel that I've learned an amazing amount about working WITH my body, honoring it, and nourishing it, menopause is an "all bets are off" time for me. I'm trying to learn more as my body changes.
Menopause is definitely a trying time. Hormones are powerful as hell... so when they start doing their thing... the playing field can change pretty drastically.
Here's a decent article on it, if you haven't seen it:
http://www.precisionnutrition.com/all-about-menopause2. What's your biggest challenge when it comes to your fitness?
I'd say right now it's fatigue. Again, being menopausal, my sleep is affected, my hormones are constantly shifting, and I find myself tired more than I used to. Again, I'm trying to honor that, by listening to my body, and doing more exercises like yoga and Pilates.
Trouble falling to sleep or just experiencing disruptive sleep?3. Why are you enough right now? I've maintained my "new" healthy lifestyle for nearly 15 years. I've beaten the odds, and I feel like I really made some great decisions.
Definitely beat the odds. What do you chalk this up to? Your approach? Your resiliency? Your environment? What?4. How do you define a successful day in your life? If I can be present, and mindful, and respectful to those I interact with me, and of myself.
Love it. Thanks for sharing.1 -
1. What made you accept the invitation or join?
I have done really well with my fitness plan but I want to keep learning from others' knowledge & experience.
2. What's your biggest challenge when it comes to your fitness?
Time, stress & responsibilities. I am currently a SAHM to a 4.5 yr old girl. 'Nuff said, right?
3. Why are you enough right now?
Considering how tired I can be with being a 47 yr old first time parent to a young child and all the difficulties that go with that, I'm doing pretty well. I workout 5x week, get outside to hike and garden. I've gotten my anxiety & depression under control. I've even managed to complete the biggest art commission of my career in the last year.
4. How do you define a successful day in your life?
Getting workout done early, keeping nutrition on point, getting outside and having a good day with my kid.
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1. What made you accept the invitation or join?
I have done really well with my fitness plan but I want to keep learning from others' knowledge & experience.
Perfect outlook. Have you heard of Carol Dweck and her mindset theory - with growth vs fixed mindsets?2. What's your biggest challenge when it comes to your fitness?
Time, stress & responsibilities. I am currently a SAHM to a 4.5 yr old girl. 'Nuff said, right?
Boy can I relate. My wife's a teacher and I'm really busy growing my business. And we have a 5, 3, and 1 year old. Sacrifices have to be made. But relating back to the growth vs. fixed mindset from above... with a growth mindset perspective... this is just a challenge for me to adapt to, lean into, and learn from.
Biggest thing is checking the need for perfection at the door, right?3. Why are you enough right now?
Considering how tired I can be with being a 47 yr old first time parent to a young child and all the difficulties that go with that, I'm doing pretty well. I workout 5x week, get outside to hike and garden. I've gotten my anxiety & depression under control. I've even managed to complete the biggest art commission of my career in the last year.
Daaayyyyuuummmm! I'd say you're doing pretty damn good. Impressed. Definitely give yourself a pat on the back.4. How do you define a successful day in your life?
Getting workout done early, keeping nutrition on point, getting outside and having a good day with my kid.
What does "nutrition on point" look like in your world, if you don't mind me asking?0 -
To me it means hitting my macros, especially protein. I do weight lifting for exercise, primarily, with walking and hiking for cardio. I started losing fat when I started getting enough protein and staying in my deficit. I'm in maintenance now after losing 22 lbs. I cook for myself and family nearly every day and I do a 16:8 IF most days, eating around 11am. I try to eat more vegetables and fruit and not rely on protein powder so much (Greek yogurt is the bomb!). I still enjoy a beer and ice cream and go out for a weekly family restaurant meal. I like to have control over my diet but still enjoy the things I like and even have weekends where I don't log my food (gasp!).0
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Hell yeah! Sound like me to a T. Although I don't count any calories. But protein is the basis of my diet. I think it should be that way for pretty much everyone. I find that for most people who don't have emotional eating issues... if they simply nail their protein and fruit/veggies targets... the rest falls into place pretty seamlessly. Especially if they adhere to a few other guidelines, like mostly whole foods, drinking plenty of non-calorie beverages, obeying their hunger/satisfaction signals, etc.
I don't do IF, though I have tinkered with it plenty and have a number of clients who do it.
And I also walk and hike primarily for cardio... and mountain bike. And I have some beers and ice cream... and I go out to eat weekly.
I'm glad you found a system that jives with you! Powerful stuff.1 -
I look forward to not counting calories someday! I sometimes take a night off and last weekend I didn't log food for two days. As expected, my weight shot up over my maintenance range due to extra carbs/calories. I got nervous but knew I could just go back to my regular plan. My weight went down to a new low this week after a couple days. Interesting!
I do IF because it fits my lifestyle and it helps me not feel deprived with the calories I get as a 5'2", 47 yr old woman. I try to eat as much as I can, though, lol.1 -
I find that the best way to move away from calorie counting it so keep doing it while incrementally building habits, one at a time, until you've developed a skill set that renders you in control without the numbers emphasis.
Examples include, all means no snacks, 1-2 servings veggies per meal, 1 fruit per meal, mostly whole foods, X grams protein per meal, feeding hunger only after feeling it for X minutes, mindful eatings, stopping when satisfied, no calories from beverages, etc, etc, etc.
I would work on one of these at a time, scaling it to meet me where I was at the time and then progressing it and automating until it was optimized and natural. Then I'd add another. Eventually, counting simply wasn't necessary.
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stroutman81 wrote: »I think I'm fighting an uphill battle since starting an active group from after so many groups already exist on MFP is next to impossible. But I'd like to give it a try. I'm going to be inviting some people from my friends list. If you find yourself here, I'd love to hear from you. Please answer any or all of the following questions to let me know you're here and get this party started.
1. What made you accept the invitation or join?
2. What's your biggest challenge when it comes to your fitness?
3. Why are you enough right now?
4. How do you define a successful day in your life?
1. Because you're my friend and you're a great coach. And so I'll probably learn a thing or two.
2. Biggest challenges are injury frequency and the deadlift.
3. I have a wonderful family, healthy children, I'm loved, and I love my life. I am a VERY lucky person.
4. I'm so glad you asked this question, primarily because I don't have an answer yet.0 -
stroutman81 wrote: »I think I'm fighting an uphill battle since starting an active group from after so many groups already exist on MFP is next to impossible. But I'd like to give it a try. I'm going to be inviting some people from my friends list. If you find yourself here, I'd love to hear from you. Please answer any or all of the following questions to let me know you're here and get this party started.
1. What made you accept the invitation or join?
2. What's your biggest challenge when it comes to your fitness?
3. Why are you enough right now?
4. How do you define a successful day in your life?
1. @sidesteel posted that this was worth checking out...
2. Injuries, I keep racking them up...
3. I actually struggle with this. Not afraid to admit that I am in therapy at the moment for chronic negative self talk. I guess I am enough right now because I was not afraid to admit that...
4. When I can be the best version of me each day for my family...0 -
1. Because you're my friend and you're a great coach. And so I'll probably learn a thing or two.
No doubt feel the same about you. If I grow this into something worthy, I'd actually ask you to co-moderate it with me. I don't want to waste your time with it now, and maybe co-moderating it wouldn't even be feasible given how much you to with ETP. But we'll see how things go.2. Biggest challenges are injury frequency and the deadlift.
Truth. My shoulder is acting back up. Before it gets bad... I'm nixing ALL pressing until there's zero sense of pain. I can't dig myself into the same hole I found myself last time.3. I have a wonderful family, healthy children, I'm loved, and I love my life. I am a VERY lucky person.
I get that impression about you. Definitely creates an awesome platform for accepting yourself as you are. And thankfully I'm in the same shoes. If it weren't for the energy and love I get from my family, I'm quite certain I'd be some mountain bum with very little interaction with people.4. I'm so glad you asked this question, primarily because I don't have an answer yet.
Interesting. Let's reframe it. When was the last time or two that you DID feel successful and why?
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1. @sidesteel posted that this was worth checking out...
Cool, glad he did. We'll see what becomes of it.2. Injuries, I keep racking them up...
Recurring theme it seems.
Looks like you make space for recovery, too, by way of your profile. Most of your injuries stemming from lifting?3. I actually struggle with this. Not afraid to admit that I am in therapy at the moment for chronic negative self talk. I guess I am enough right now because I was not afraid to admit that...
Respect. You acknowledge an issue and your'e taking steps to get better. Our self-narratives are so damn important. And you're certainly not alone... I encounter so many people who treat themselves like *kitten* via the way they speak to themselves.
Are you realizing any change/growth with the therapy?5. When I can be the best version of me each day for my family...
Right there with you. Even with my business.... which I love very much. It's for my family too. When all those values sync up in life... it's pretty damn powerful.
Happy to have you here!
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1. What made you accept the invitation or join? I'm a part of your community on Facebook but thought I may get additional support and views from the members of MFP.
2. What's your biggest challenge when it comes to your fitness? Lately it's maintaining my enthusiasm for it. I love it while I'm doing it and yet I struggle to be consistent, lately. I have struggled with my weight all my life and had a 4 year stretch of being 110% committed to me. I lost 50 pounds, was super lean at 127 pounds and 16% body fat. I LOVED feeling so confident and strong and healthy. Sadly, after multiple and simultaneous life changes, I fell back into my old ways and gained all the 50 pounds I lost. I have days or weeks I do great and then I fall hard.
3. Why are you enough right now? I'm struggling with that right now. I think because I'm tenacious, I want to get back up and keep fighting. Im willing to alter and adapt to fit a healthy lifestyle into my current situation...
4. How do you define a successful day in your life? One where I learn something new or overcome an obstacle.1 -
1. What made you accept the invitation or join? I'm a part of your community on Facebook but thought I may get additional support and views from the members of MFP.
Glad you're here, too. I still want to keep the FB group rolling strong but figured it might be easier to build a community through MFP given the captive audience.2. What's your biggest challenge when it comes to your fitness? Lately it's maintaining my enthusiasm for it. I love it while I'm doing it and yet I struggle to be consistent, lately. I have struggled with my weight all my life and had a 4 year stretch of being 110% committed to me. I lost 50 pounds, was super lean at 127 pounds and 16% body fat. I LOVED feeling so confident and strong and healthy. Sadly, after multiple and simultaneous life changes, I fell back into my old ways and gained all the 50 pounds I lost. I have days or weeks I do great and then I fall hard.
You say you lose enthusiasm. Can you get more specific with it, though? What tends to knock you off the rails after you get rolling for a couple weeks?3. Why are you enough right now? I'm struggling with that right now. I think because I'm tenacious, I want to get back up and keep fighting. Im willing to alter and adapt to fit a healthy lifestyle into my current situation...
I think it's important to embrace all that we are today. That we want to get better doesn't mean that we're not good enough right now. In fact, it's that I'm good enough right now that I believe I deserve to keep growing, learning, and improving.
When we're coming from a place of inadequacy, I think a lot of shame and spite wind up poisoning our efforts.4. How do you define a successful day in your life? One where I learn something new or overcome an obstacle.
Simple, yet great answer.
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stroutman81 wrote: »1. @sidesteel posted that this was worth checking out...
Cool, glad he did. We'll see what becomes of it.2. Injuries, I keep racking them up...
Recurring theme it seems.
Looks like you make space for recovery, too, by way of your profile. Most of your injuries stemming from lifting?3. I actually struggle with this. Not afraid to admit that I am in therapy at the moment for chronic negative self talk. I guess I am enough right now because I was not afraid to admit that...
Respect. You acknowledge an issue and your'e taking steps to get better. Our self-narratives are so damn important. And you're certainly not alone... I encounter so many people who treat themselves like *kitten* via the way they speak to themselves.
Are you realizing any change/growth with the therapy?5. When I can be the best version of me each day for my family...
Right there with you. Even with my business.... which I love very much. It's for my family too. When all those values sync up in life... it's pretty damn powerful.
Happy to have you here!
Injuries: Combination of lifting and the risks of being active outside the gym. Latest injury is a strained, possibly torn ACL. Was playing soccer with my kid and his friends. Went for the ball, planted, POP! Have a strained anterior deltoid that I suffered in the gym doing a pull up / overhead press superset. At 44, recovery does not come as quickly as it used to...
Therapy: Yes I am. You don't realize how bad you treat yourself until someone (a therapist) asks you the right questions to make you see it. I want to set a good example for my son for how to be a calm, assertive, positive and confident man. It's funny because on the outside that is what people tell me I give off. It's on the inside I struggle.
Happy to be here. Hoping to learn a lot and if I am lucky, teach a little...1 -
stroutman81 wrote: »1. What made you accept the invitation or join?
2. What's your biggest challenge when it comes to your fitness?
3. Why are you enough right now?
4. How do you define a successful day in your life?
1. I'm interested in anything that promotes self love because it's something I'm trying to learn/do.
2. just generally having to stick to a small amount of calories because up until I went on an atypical antipsychotic which (hopefully temporarily) *kitten* up my metabolism, I could always eat whatever I wanted, as much as I wanted, and not gain a pound if I tried. going from that to only eating 1200 calories a day was tragic lol.
3. I'm doing the best I can with what I have to work with at this moment
4. could be a number of things. maybe a really good workout where I was able to add weight to something I'd been stuck on, or maybe I did an awesome job of sticking to my calories, or maybe I managed to fit in a really satisfying amount of a treat, or maybe I got along with my boyfriend particularly awesomely, or maybe I had a particularly fun day with my boyfriend's kid without any tantrums (from me OR him, haha), or maybe I successfully socialized, or maybe I got something done that needed to get done, or maybe I felt perfectly good about taking a lazy day for myself. etc etc etc0 -
Injuries: Combination of lifting and the risks of being active outside the gym. Latest injury is a strained, possibly torn ACL. Was playing soccer with my kid and his friends. Went for the ball, planted, POP! Have a strained anterior deltoid that I suffered in the gym doing a pull up / overhead press superset. At 44, recovery does not come as quickly as it used to...
Hell, I'm 35 in a week and I can tell I don't recover like I used to. I've resigned to avoiding particular exercises that I just don't tolerate anymore. They're not worth the risk for me. For example, I love benching, but no matter my setup, no matter the intensity... it wrecks my elbows and shoulder. Playing field's always changing and if we want to thrive we have to embrace adjustments.Therapy: Yes I am. You don't realize how bad you treat yourself until someone (a therapist) asks you the right questions to make you see it. I want to set a good example for my son for how to be a calm, assertive, positive and confident man. It's funny because on the outside that is what people tell me I give off. It's on the inside I struggle.
That's great. Hopefully that trend continues. I think the most important quality I've ever developed in my life was introspection and awareness. Which is the basis for a lot of what you likely do with your therapist... with things like cognitive behavioral therapy and such.
I'm glad it's helping. And yeah, the better your relationship with yourself, the better the experience of you everyone has around you.
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ObsidianMist wrote: »1. I'm interested in anything that promotes self love because it's something I'm trying to learn/do.
It's a skill. And like any other skill... it takes practice. Hopefully this community grows into something that can help you with it!2. just generally having to stick to a small amount of calories because up until I went on an atypical antipsychotic which (hopefully temporarily) *kitten* up my metabolism, I could always eat whatever I wanted, as much as I wanted, and not gain a pound if I tried. going from that to only eating 1200 calories a day was tragic lol.
Phew, that's rough! I'm not even kidding... I think I'd just be fat. I love food too much.I'm doing the best I can with what I have to work with at this moment
Great outlook. I find so many people tightly gripped fixed concepts of themselves. And because of it, everything is viewed in extreme terms. Even if tons change around them, like in your case, they cling to the notion that their fixed concept of themselves should remain as was.
Obviously it's no way to cultivate a healthy relationship with yourself.
*kitten* changes. And like it or not, but we change. It's best to embrace is with acceptance and flexibility. We'd all be a lot happier.could be a number of things. maybe a really good workout where I was able to add weight to something I'd been stuck on, or maybe I did an awesome job of sticking to my calories, or maybe I managed to fit in a really satisfying amount of a treat, or maybe I got along with my boyfriend particularly awesomely, or maybe I had a particularly fun day with my boyfriend's kid without any tantrums (from me OR him, haha), or maybe I successfully socialized, or maybe I got something done that needed to get done, or maybe I felt perfectly good about taking a lazy day for myself. etc etc etc
Awesome.
How often do you reflect on what you did well?0 -
stroutman81 wrote: »1. What made you accept the invitation or join?
2. What's your biggest challenge when it comes to your fitness?
3. Why are you enough right now?
4. How do you define a successful day in your life?
1. I've been following your "Relatively light people trying to get leaner" thread for a while and saw the link you posted. You sound like you have a good head on your shoulders, and the group name and purpose matches my goals, so I joined.
2. Though I do set check points, I tend to be a little rigid with my workout schedule. I need more methods of flexibility for training. My greatest challenge, however, is that I have "Shiny Object Syndrome." While I'm very good at maintaining and improving physical flexibility and cardiovascular health, I'm not very consistent with any strength training program. All programs seem so amazing. I always find new videos and programs that look interesting, and I hop from one program to the next. Since May this year, I've started a dumbbell M/W/F total body routine, and I'm determined to stick this one out. It's been a bit over a month now, and I honestly feel like I'll maintain consistency now, but I have to fight the urge to try out other lifting programs I find online.
3. I am enough because I always have the capacity to grow. No matter where I am in life, I am capable of improving myself every day, and that means I am enough.
4. Oh boy. Hmmmm..... I guess success for me is not regressing and/or making progress in at least one area of life.2
