2 week challenge
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Beeps, that sucks! I can't believe that?! How they get a platform at your office is beyond galling. Good for you for walking out. What was the challenge? How many people you could get to sign up for their scam?
Speaking of, maybe you remember when I freaked out on the waxing salon for selling HCG? well, all these weeks later she wrote to me saying she wanted to explain more fully. It was polite but still crazy about how HCG works and works for everyone including her, her boyfriend, her mother and the nurse that sells it because she lost all this weight and doesn't have to take any drugs anymore for diabetes and high blood pressure or something.
Shannon, I think $10 a month is a great deal for Planet Fitness, if it is convenient I would go for it. I have never been to Planet Fitness, not sure if we have them, I go to 24Hour.0 -
Shander- I think it's a personal call on the gym. I LOVE being able to go to the gym, I can get away from the dogs barking at the neighbor's cat or the kids wanting to join in on Mommy's push ups. But for me, because we only have 2 gyms to choose from and the cost for both DH & I to go is too much for us to consistently afford. I opt to do workouts at home, aside from the months DH works at the gym in the summer (thus lending me free membership for those months). I also LOVE the availability of all those beautiful heavy weights. However, there are also so many free resources on line (bodyrock.tv, hulu.com, toneitup.cometc) that offer great workouts at home. Now granted it isn't heavy lifting, which again I won't deny loving. :bigsmile: It's just a matter of what you think will work best for you. I know in the beginning of my little fitness adventure, the gym held accountability for me. Paying that fee made it a whole heck of a lot easier to get my butt there 100% of the time. Now that it's become more second nature, workouts at home aren't missed but admittedly they were when I first started. A change in environment can be a good thing too. Something new to spark your interest in the fitness field. I apologize for the ramble. And just my humble opinion, I just think that both the home option and gym option can be fit to meet your needs. Whatever works for your schedule. :happy:0
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The 'challenge', it turns out, is just any "personal challenge goal". So, if someone signs up (and buys the product), they might say their challenge is to "lose 20 lbs" and another participant might say their challenge is to "lost 20 inches". Whatever!!
THAT'S THE HILARIOUS PART!!
We could have set this up on our own, and then, perhaps, as a corporate GROUP said, "in 90 days we are going to lose a combined total of 300 lbs. and 300 inches" and then held meetings to offer support to each other, tips, exercise regimens, etc.
But, NOPE. That's not it. 6 people "signed up" and paid their $299 for the "Bodies by Vi" program. Now, every week, the solicitors come into the office and weigh and measure up those 6 and ask them "how it's going" (and get them to buy MORE product).
Lame. Lame. Lame.
I just think it is AWFUL. I've been here 2 years, and for awhile we had a fledgling little exercise group who would walk at lunches, or do yoga together, or try some "jump-and-pump" or whatever. And, that little group fell apart when I decided to devote my lunch hours to weight-lifting at the gym. Which made me VERY SAD for them, because these ladies REALLY were trying to incorporate "fitness" into their daily plans. Now, these same ladies are NOT the gals who showed up for this "meet-and-greet" (they were SMART enough to stay away!), but, that "meet-and-greet" is taking place in the training room where we used to hold our fitness sessions.
Bad trade.....fitness sessions GONE - MLM scan IN.
Absolute insanity.0 -
Omg, Beeps, I am angry just reading this! There are so many things wrong with that situation (all of which are you fully aware of) it just makes my blood boil for you! Hmph. My company's fitness challenge looks better and better!
Shander - It's up to you on the gym but for me personally, I couldn't meet my fitness goals without one, and having one has been amazing. I say its worth trying to see if its worth it. Do they have trial memberships??
So I did the bod pod yesterday...it was really cool and easy! I bought a package of 4 and my bf and I went. My body fat was higher than I would have liked (25% vs. 21% with calipers) but it just gives me something to work towards. I am going to go again in 8-12 weeks I think and see what sort of progress I can make. While I was bummed initially the more I thought about the more I always had the same body whether the measurement said 21 or 25. It's sort of like wearing size 2 or size 6 jeans - you're wearing them all the same! Mostly I am just happy to have a reliable form of measurement! Did you know that even when done correctly calipers have a 8% error range???? Sheesh.
The sort of selfishly bright side? I was .2% lower than my bf...obviously guys should have generally lower body fat. Just motivation for him to be a little more consistent
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Kate-Glad the bod pod was as cool as expected. It's definitely a good tool to see where you are at and awesome that you have that to keep you progressing the next few weeks. You really seem spot on with your training. Your burns look good and you are super consistent. I'm sure you will continue to see progress. Definitely!
Beeps- Ugh. I can understand your frustration. Everyone here at work is on the 'drink a shake for weight loss' mission. Everyone walks around with their blender cups. Now, don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good protein shake after a workout. But I've also learned that it's more than just a meal replacement. I have to DO something to GET something. I don't bother trying to explain how I do things. For one, I might be doing it all wrong and Lord knows even if it works for me, it might not be best for them. Plus If they are comfortable with eating pizza for lunch and then replacing their breakfast with a shake, I figure it's one step towards something. I just hope that one step leads to another and so on.
We are having massive thunderstorms with rain and hail right now. It's crazy. The lights are going off and on. Wicked crazy. I had planned (and did) Jillian Michaels 30 day shred with my Mom this AM and figured on an afternoon run. But looks like that will have to wait until the rain passes. It's NASTY out. The gym I've been using for running only has 2 treadmills and they are both out of order so unless it starts shining soon....I'm screwed. LoL. I'll find somewhere to fit it in this week. That's why I've left Sundays as my rest day with the thoughts if I miss a workout, I can easily make it up Sunday.
Eats were great yesterday and have todays planned as well. Looking forward to more quinoa at lunch. I definitely enjoy that. Plus my iherb.com order should be here today and I purchased some new things to experiment with. Should make for a good cooking/baking Sunday!0 -
Beeps- That sucks, especially because you were really looking forward to the challenge and support
Shander- For $10 a month I would definitely join the gym, and like beeps said cut down on drinking and you will more than make up for it and feel better about yourself
Reese- They better get those treadmills fixed ASAP! I do that too though, plan on Sunday being a rest day in case anything comes up during the week
My 2 week challenge is going well. I ate what I planned the past 2 days and got my workouts in. Also no drinking, which is actually becoming easier for me. I was really used to my glass of wine every evening, but I'm getting used to not having it. Everyone keep up the good work!0 -
Hi ladies!!
Beeps - that really sucks!! Perhaps you could start an actual fitness challenge in your company?? if you are quite high up I am sure you would have some sort of pull?
Shander - $10 a month?! If that is all my gym cost I would be in heaven! If you think about it its like $3 per week, and I am sure there is something in your life that you can cut out or reduce to be able to afford it - like perhaps not buying coffee? or something like that?? I know even for myself, the cost of going to the gym isn't the greatest fee to have to pay all the time - however its really all about priorities - I no longer buy coffee during the week, instead I make my own for example... and that saves me more than enough $ to afford my membership.
Chloe - Keep it up! I know it was hard for me at first as well as I use to drink wine every night. But I have not had 1 glass in the past 9 weeks!! Don't get me wrong, I am very much looking forward to one when I am done this compeition, although I definitely won't be going back to those bad habits. It is definitely hard though - society puts so much pressure on us to have a casual drink here and a casual drink there - but really it's not that good for us - and why does everything "social" have to revolve around food or drinking??.... continuing after this competition I am going to take a stand wtih my friends to challenge us to do things togther that don't require either of those things...and it doesn't have to always be workout related either... I am hoping we can find a balance.
My fiance is coming home tonight so I will have him take my halfway pictures tomorrow... stay tuned!0 -
Kate-how does the bod pod measure body fat? Is there an error rate? Also, did they tell you your BMR and TDEE? I just wondered how it compared to the calculators available. I did not know calipers were so unreliable! why bother? I kinda knew the only way to measure body fat would be to die and have the fat separated-ha
ASchief, can't wait to see the halfway pics!
Reese-be safe! I kinda like thunderstorms, haven't had one for awhile but in Colorado, they should start next month maybe.
I was supposed to work out tonight but I am going to do tomorrow and Saturday instead.
I am pleased that I got on the scale after a week of eating higher cals and there has been no change. I was prepared to talk myself off the ledge, I kept telling myself to not get on the scale after a week but then I thought, I should at least be able to say, yeah the scale went up at first... but it didn't. hard to get my head around how I can be eating well over maintenance (4 days a week) and then on lifting days, I don't even know how many calories I am burning but it seems to be working and it's nice to not be hungry!0 -
Kate, I knew that the calipers weren't particularly reliable (I had heard a +/- 5% variance.....8% is AWFUL!)....which is why I haven't wasted my time with them. When I finally plunk down time (and money!) for an appropriate body fat test (in the water, right??), I hope I'm closer to 20%. I know I'm not there, yet....
mama - I love thunderstorms! Your nutrition planning and exercise planning is REALLY great - I think it's improved to the point of being near *perfect*. Good for you! Inspiring, for sure!!
Chloe - when I first abandoned alcohol (i.e. no liquid calories!), it seemed odd....now, it seems odd when I *do* go out and tie one on!! Funny that.
ASheif - I'm looking forward to pictures! I keep going to your trainer's website just to see if she's popped any up there about you....not....yet!!
Amy - you're going to LOVE heavy-lifting results. I just know you are! YAY for eating more! and YAY (for you) that the scale didn't impact you emotions (this week).0 -
ok.. so I think I'm going to join!! I need to do it before April 4, thats when the special deal runs out (registration is only $10 right now too!) So I need to actually remember to do it!! I'm excited to start lifting!! I'm going to need your guidance to tell me what to do/how to do it 0
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I just finished my 2nd last Stage 3A workout. I worked HARD today. And, I tried to get the body matrix in. I did all the ordinary squats and lunges. I did ZERO of the jumping ones. I had NO more fuel in my tank and my quads were burning terribly. So, that's a "fail". But, the rest of the work-out went well. I did break out of my comfort zone and asked for a spot on my incline bench press. Truth is, I don't need a spot for the "lift" (in fact, I'm sure I could STILL go much heavier....), but I *do* need a spot to HOIST the DB's up - that's getting too hard. So, I met a nice boy (I guess he was a man, but compared to me, he's a boy...) named "Peter". And he said, "you come in here pretty often..." and I said, "yep" and he said, "yeah, I used to see you working out with that trainer...." And I said, "yep" and then I said, "have you been weight-training very long??" And he said, "about 2 years". He looked very good - so good for him!
I hope it doesn't take me 2 years to look that good....but, it might....at the rate I'm going.0 -
2 years might not really be that long-I guess it depends. I feel like I have been doing something for over a year now and haven't changed much. I remember the pic of my february break last year, not so different from february break this year. Something in Starting Strength talked about years too. Managing expectations all the time, I tell ya!
Shannon, I think there are a lot of good resources on MFP and online. If you don't want to buy the NROLFW you could try the BodyBuilding.com site-that's where they have the Jamie Eason plan, it's great because it tells you exactly what to do and how many reps and how many sets. I really did like that about it.
I think building up a good base of muscle is the important thing. It occurred to me that I don't know what my husband does, really, workout wise, he says he doesn't do squats or deadlifts, but I think he might bench press. But anyway, he maintains it without doing a lot, so my hope is that I can build the muscle now and let it burn off the fat later 0 -
Amy - a bod pod measures it through air displacement (similar to water testing). It gives you an *estimated* BMR so not much better than on here or whatever (slightly disappointing) and it has a error range of 2% or so. It's considering the most accurate testing you can get after water testing (both of those after a autopsy
That's also great news on the scale! Wooo you! Sounds like you're right on track!
Mama - Yeah, I think so. It just takes patience and realistic expectations as Amy is always reminding us hope you weathered the storm okay!
I agree with Beeps, once I cut out drinking casually I don't miss it as much. I am usually down to just my one night week of letting loose (if even that) and the last few times I have managed to log it all.
Shander - yay on the gym! Like Amy said, there's a ton of resources online, which is how I got into lifting. Youtubing exercises are your best friend! I would definitely recommend investing in new rules for women...it was everything I had learned after a year of sifting through online resources in one place and a bit more. Plus, its got a lot of structure for the routines. I would probably advise against the Jamie Eason plan - I haven't done so Amy knows more - but it involves a lot of isolation exercises which are going to be generally less of what you want than compound movements which are featured more prominently in other routines. We're always here to help too!
Beeps - good for you! Such a good feeling to have nothing left, so I don't really consider that a fail! its a fail if you got lazy and decided not to do the jumps. You'll have plenty of time to show yourself up!
On the years...I think (sadly) that's about right. I've heard multiple trainers talk about body improvement in terms of years of effort - ESPECIALLY lifting. Whelp. Oh well, at least we've already started right???
As for me, did my last stage A work out today. Man, I just didn't have anything in me today! I didn't progress on ANYTHING because just doing what I had the week before was tough enough. It's okay though, I stuck it out. You're just going to have training days when you don't feel top notch, c'est la vie
Have a great evening everyone!0 -
I'm here ladies...barely :indifferent: I'm swamped and stressed from work. Still working on reports. I'm so sorry I can't comment tonight but I did read the thread and there's lots of great stuff going on!! Keep at it ladies. We are owning this!!!
Will try to catch up tomorrow!!0 -
Shander- Glad you came to a decision your excited about! Everyone here as experimented with different routines/approaches so there is lots of information to be gathered here and lots of the lovely ladies can point you in the direction of some great material!
Beeps- I agree with Kate- that's no fail...that's pushing yourself to your max. I'm proud of you! That's awesome. You left nothing in the tank and that equates to one hell of a workout!!
Amy- I agree. I know my DH has been heavy lifting for 2 years. He's went from real lean to packing on a lot of good muscle. I've progressively seen changes in his body throughout that time. I know he still hits his own plateaus of gaining and adding muscle. Plus we women are so different that are bodies respond differently to the stress we put them under in the fitness game. I think we have all made great strides but are still here ready to keep pushing.
Baby shower here at work today so I packed my own lunch. Hate feeling rude about not eating the buffet but I just feel much better about myself when I stick with what I know works for me. I've been feeling 100% more positive about my body (no thanks to the scale, but that's why we don't visit each other often). I still have a long way to go and goals I want to hit before I turn 30. But simple things like the 5k training and getting my HRM back so I can calculate a more accurate burn, have left me making better choices consistently and hitting the workouts like I should. I'll be glad when the gym gets their treadmills back up and running since we are expecting snow (mind you it was 62 yesterday afternoon after the ridiculous thunder/hail storm?!?)
I wanted to ask...and maybe it's because I'm getting old :laugh: but my knees are KILLING me. Even a day after a run. I remember having this issue when I did Insanity but haven't noticed it since. It's an achy feeling but it gets progressively more irritated throughout the day to the point, I'm almost babying my left knee in particular. Is this one of those, knees just getting adjusted to the pounding on the pavement things?0 -
Reese i hear ya on the whole workplace eating thing. We had a new VP start here this week and today she brought doughnuts, I feel rude not taking one because it becomes a social thing that I feel like I am not taking part in. And then this afternoon they are ordering pizza and having cheesecake to say goodbye to the interim VP. So I made something up and said I have to run out for a but and I will eat my healthy lunch then and come back and say goodbye. And I ate before I knew about the doughnuts, so I just said that to avoid those. Geez, I wish everyone had the same mentality as us when it comes to food! Also my husband was trying to get me to have a drink with him while we were cooking out last night, but I decline :happy: I know he was disappointed, but oh well!
Reese- I have always had knee issues, let me know if you find a solution. And they do seem to be getting worse as I get older. I turn 30 in November....eeek!0 -
You know what, chui?? You are RIGHT. We are ALL on the path of progress and I'm 3 months closer to a strong body than I was at Xmas time! Good point!
jen - you are always the busiest little beaver EVER!! I hope you catch your breath, soon!
mama - your posts always have a good joke in there, somewhere - so I really look forward to reading them (like not visiting the scale that often, lol!). Sorry to read about your knees. I'd really pay attention to that - somewhere I remember the saying being, "you can mess with the gods, but not with the knees" or something like that. In all of my fitness, I've lived by the mantra that if some part of my body is in PAIN, it isn't the right work-out for me. SORENESS, fine. But "pain"?? Be careful!
I'd have probably had the drink, Chloe...so, good for you to resist!! I don't like to drink alone, so if I am drinking, I want my husband to have something, too. (He doesn't drink that often - so if he asked me, I'd probably humour him and delete some other calories somewhere.)0 -
Kate, are you done with NROLFW?! What will you do now?
I think you are right about The Eason plan, I don't think I really knew what "isolated movements" really meant, but now that it's just squats, deadlifts and presses I can see that the machines in the Eason plan are more isolation.
Oh, and the work food! Donuts here today too and I had one, and pizza planned for lunch. I haven't even had it yet and I feel a little gross.
Knees, Reese, I can't really help except to say when I started running I watched this youtube video I think it was called "the chi of running" and it really demonstrated how to run, to strike on the mid-foot and that made sense to me, how it's easy on the knees, but I know you are a long-time runner so I don't mean to tell you anything you already know...
Hi, Jen. Bye, Jen:happy: we can catch up when things quiet down for you.
Chloe, that is some great self-control, I have been practicing no self control lately. I could take a lesson.0 -
oh no! Far from it! I just getting the end of stage 2 I estimate I should be done by the end of August at this rate! But the end of stage 2 does mean measurements and pictures...hoping to see some changes!
Went for a run this morning just to get some activity and pad my day for a work dinner tonight. I have it planned out though, so I should be good!
Reese - (I always call you mama...I feel like because I think "hot mama" or something, lol) Great suggestion from Amy on checking your running form - it's so easy not to think about! I have a feeling I would learn a thing or two from paying attention to that. I agree with Beeps - careful on the knees!! Also - do you have good shoes? A new pair of shoes does WONDERS.
Jen - have a great day! We'll be here when things calm down!0 -
oh, yeah, Kate, shoes! I had them do that treadmill test, they have an asssessment at Runner's Roost and studies you walking first in bare feet and then wearing different shoes, some brands are better for certain people and help the foot strike appropriately, so that's an idea.
A run sounds kinda nice. I have not been doing any cardio except a 5-minute warm up on the treadmill...0
