SBF2 Reboot Boogaloo! Nov 16

cp005e

Good question. For me, it's 3 things: overall health (I want to live for a long time and enjoy a good quality of life), appearance (of course! stupid jiggly bits), and feeling capable of doing what I want to do, physically. One of the big "a-ha" moments for me was when I went hiking with a co-worker during a work trip a few years ago. He's in very good shape, and had done a similar hike on his own the day before, and recalled it as being "not too steep". I, on the other hand, ended up huffing and puffing and embarrassed. In May, we got the chance to go on some similar hikes on the same work trip - and I had no problems. :bigsmile: I think my next functional goal like that may be working on pull-ups to complement the push-ups - I would feel cool knowing that I can climb a tree or a wall if I want to.

The appearance one is tricky for me now. I know that I'm not overweight any more, but I still have a "list" (do you guys have these?) of parts I don't like. I'd rather not see my ribcage at the top of my chest or on my sides, I'd really rather have a nice defined bum instead of one that just kinda melts into the back of my thighs, and I wish the back of my arms still didn't look jiggly when I'm not flexing them. So I keep trying to balance my attitude - I'm still working on things like cardio and strength training that might help me lose the jiggly bits and possibly cover up the bony bits with muscle tone. But I am also trying to accept the fact that where I carry weight and build muscle is largely genetic, and may not be something I can change (or something that would be worth the amount of effort it would take to change). I think you hit it on the head, Mary, when you said "look the best I can." I just need to figure out where that is (probably not like a TV star!), and not let myself worry too much about it as long as the other two goals are being met.

Novella boogaloo!

Edited to add: With all that, I forgot to post my goals today! :embarassed: Pushups and running tonight.

lotusfromthemud

Oh man, that's a good question. Really, really hard, actually.

I know that my motivation is completely selfish. My husband loves me just as I am, I don't feel like my health is in danger by my current weight (which is in the high range of healthy).

Mostly, I want to feel and look strong. I want my body to function as well as it can. I know that when I was heavier, every thing was harder. But, as to why I still want to drop ten-fifteen (depending on the day) more pounds. . .or at least lose some fat. . .I feel like right now I have this extra layer of cushion that's disguising me as a person who doesn't work out. Right now, I feel strong, and know that if the bus is coming, I can sprint to catch it. I know that even during a flare-up of fibro/athri., my body will not completely fail me. Still, I would, in short, like to look a little more badass.

As far as the work to be done. . .I know that for me I have to learn to live around the fact that very early on, I learned to use food as a coping skill. I think I am actually a food addict on a lot of levels (grain carbs and sweets especially) , food acts on me exactly like a drug would to numb bad emotions like fear/stress/anger. I feel like if I'm able to let go of some things (deep things, roots of fear, etc. . .) then I won't need it anymore. I have my days where I can see this happening, but if I get piled on too much. . .it can slip away easily.

As for today, I just finished a killer weights workout. It's a simple circuit of "heavy lifting" I found: of "5x5s or failure".

I did:
5 sets of 5 squats with 30 pounds (the heaviest dumbells I have are 15s)
5 sets of ten push-ups (these were really hard in set 4 and 5)
5 sets of 5 overhead presses (with the heavies)
5 sets of holding plank for 30 seconds (or whenever I collapsed)
In between sets, I moved things out of my living/dining area that didn't belong. (there were lots!)

This looks like nothing on paper, but was really hard.

I've been seriously pondering canceling my gym membership lately. It's a big expense (due to my big-city-rich-neighborhood location it's about 80 bucks a month), especially coupled with yoga passes. I'm trying a workout schedule that concentrates on less cardio, and I own quite a few sets of dumbells. The only thing that worries me is when winter really hits, walking outside will be much harder (I do, however, own a large collection of cardio DVDs). The class schedule at my gym doesn't line up with my current schedule, and I've been researching the effect of a lot of cardio on the immune system/cortisol levels. (it actually doesn't look very encouraging to me. . .especially since I notice that I'm getting sick every time I have a "good" workout week) At my gym, I can actually put my membership on hold if I want, so I'm considering trying it. Thoughts?

I win at novels boogaloo!:flowerforyou:

kjllose

MM I think your questions are good ones too. Everyone has their own reasons to want to lose weight. But I do think we as people obsess about it or we ignore it and just get fatter.So where is the middle ground? Of course all the marketing ads would have you believe you have to be a size 0 to be accepted by the majority of the world. I think it comes down to health. Are you healthy? Can you do an activity that doesn't leave you winded. Yesterday I went out and dug up 4 wide beds of carrots and I was huffing pretty badly by the end of it. So for me the answer is easy more exercise means more agility and ability to do the kinds of outdoor activities I think I should be able to do at 51. My family will love me no matter what so I don't do it for them. But I also think everyone has some self esteem issues about weight. I know I feel better about myself when I have a waist:laugh: :laugh:. I like how smaller clothes look on the smaller me too. But I also know that if I don't exercise then I usually end up mentally beating myself up and that isn't healthy. So I have to learn how to be nicer to myself when I can't fit that exercise in or I ate something that wasn't particularly healthy for me which happens more than I like. So I think you should ask yourself questions and I think when you ask them in a thread people start thinking about them so its nice that you share them.

Short story boogaloo

yoginimary

V- I would look for a gym that you could "pay as you go". So if you go to a class, or the gym, or whatever, it's about $10-$13 per visit. If you used it once a week, you would pay less than your membership now.

lotusfromthemud

V- I would look for a gym that you could "pay as you go". So if you go to a class, or the gym, or whatever, it's about $10-$13 per visit. If you used it once a week, you would pay less than your membership now.

My gym actually offers this. . .but I'm not sure if they do it for the gym facilities or just the classes. I will check on it. I hate to spend money right now for something I don't use.

mechanicmom

Thanks ladies! Y'all are the best pebbles a girl could ask for! :smooched:
Karen, no I can't do things like I want to without getting winded. So that's one reason I work out. I want to be able to hike up a "mountain" (hills in this area) and get a good work out but not feel so exhausted. I admire people who jog up and down hiking trails (CP ).
I definitely use food as a coping mechanism. I have an example that just happened to me this morning. We went to the store and got a basket full of groceries, checked out, and none of my credit cards wouldn't take! I had no way to pay for food! :blushing: That has never happened to me and I was mad and embarrassed. I had to come home and get my debit card, which I never use and go back to get the food. My thinking while all this is happening? "I'm going to go to McDonald's for lunch! I deserve it!" I don't even like McDonald's! I didn't eat there. I came home, but I did drink a serving of coke for lunch. :noway: So I didn't have complete victory over my food coping issues. :ohwell: But I'm really enjoying it! LOL I also had the mindset of not having time to work out or having the motivation anymore. I really do have time and I will do it. I just don't want to. I have to since I drank that coke.
V, about the gym I think either putting it on hold or paying as you go are good ideas. You can see how you do without it and still be able to go back if you want. I've never been to a gym...ever. I'd go if I had money to go, and also if I had a friend to go with. I don't know how to use any of the machines. :laugh:
Okay, I'm done. Thanks for your input everyone.
Soul-searching continues boogaloo!
MM

mechanicmom

Happy Friday!
I stepped on the scale this morning and it was down 2.5 pounds! Granted, it's the same 2 I lost three weeks ago, but it still counts right? It was closer to 152 than 153 so that means there's a half in there too! I hope it sticks!
I think the house is falling apart. Now the dishwasher makes an off and on buzzing sound when it's running. :grumble: Maybe I should run it empty and see if it still makes that noise.
Alex and I are going to Bible study this morning. It's the last one until January. We are having a lunch afterwards so I'll have to have my red flags handy and my blinders over my eyes. There will be dessert. There always is. I am going to do my best (which is never good enough, but I'll do it anyway). Maybe the loss this morning will help me stay focused.
I'm also trying a banana/mango smoothie this morning. I like banana/blueberry. I hope I like this one too.
I'd better get ready to go.
TGIF!
MM

lotusfromthemud

Congrats on the scale movement, MM. And the phrase "my best . . .which is never good enough" sort of breaks my heart. Think of all you do that is amazing! Seriously, there is so much. Your best is very, very, very good.

My jeans are looser today fresh out of the washer, so that's feeling pretty good.

It's a scheduled day off, but I'm already pondering ways to sneak movement in. I feel better! As in, not sick anymore! I feel like doing cartwheels (but I can't do cartwheels). I hate to say it, but I think laying off the wheat seriously contributed to this. I haven't had any in a week, and I am currently almost not congested at all. Dang. And also, hooray. I'm trying this new workout protocol that involves either body weight resistance or lifting pretty heavy two-three times a week, long, but slowish cardio on other days and hard, fast cardio once a week. Other than long, slow cardio. . .the other workouts are 20-30 minutes long. We'll see how long I can do this for, already I feel like "that's all?" when I'm done working out. Help! I'm addicted to torture! That being said, if I can keep from getting sick, see muscles and lose stubborn weight, I'll be sold.

Sneaky activity day boogaloo!:flowerforyou:

yoginimary

Ditto to what V said, MM.

Granted, I only (for me) biked to the store as exercise, but I had a major self control day yesterday. We learned how to decorate sugar cookies - so I spent about 3.5 hours around frosting and sugar cookies. Then I went to book club - apple pie. Didn't have a single sweet. Didn't even lick a finger. Not that I'm that crazy about sugar cookies or apple pie - still, I saved my dessert for something I like more (whatever that happens to be this weekend :bigsmile: )

Today - yoga and gym. My chest felt all tight yesterday. Maybe at cat slept on it? Still a little tight today. Hopefully it will be better by gym this afternoon.

This weekend we are going to the Empty Bowl fundraiser - you pay $15 for a handmade bowl - wait in line, then you get soup and bread. I can be pretty picky about my soup - hope they have a good one.

Resistance is fertile , boogaloo

cp005e

Ditto here, too, MM - you are way more than good enough. Remember - you are not your diet! And congrats on the scale movement. Mine looked down again today, too, but we'll see if it survives next week.
V, let us know how your new workout plan goes. I like the idea of body-weight type resistance training (like pushups, pull-ups, or yoga when you guys do it ). Limiting the torture is good, though.
Wow, Mary - impressive self-control! That is amazing. I'm thinking of getting another cupcake for my dessert, probably tomorrow after I put in a very solid day of cleaning. I can't believe I have houseguests coming on Monday - ack! I seriously need to hire a cleaning service (not sure how I feel about the word "maid" ).

I was pretty proud of myself yesterday - I ran for 4.25 miles, at varying speeds from 5.2mph to 7.0mph (which I managed for one mile). It seemed harder, though - I wonder that maybe I'm not getting quite enough other cardio in to keep up the pace. I think I'm going to need new running shoes, though - the ones I have are only a couple of months old, but I have been getting lots of bruising on/under my toenails when I run. :frown: My other big accomplishment was getting through day 2 of week 5 pushups - that's the week where it switches from 5 to 9 sets. :noway:

I am always verbose, boogaloo!

mechanicmom

Thanks ladies. Y'all are so sweet! I have always felt like everything I've done has been half-hearted, so I guess that's where my comment came from. I didn't eat a lot at lunch but I did eat a piece of cake and some sort of little cookie thing. I don't know what my problem was but I was totally anti-social today. I felt nervous and awkward and I don't know why.
Anyway, I'm going to put Alex down and get a work out in. A little sleepy today since I woke up at five-ish due to thunderstorms.
DH brought me roses yesterday to make up for the grocery fiasco, and the cat was just up there "eating" them. I picked her up off the table and "dropped" her on the floor. She didn't land on her feet! She struggled to get her hind legs around. Admittedly it was kind of funny but I felt bad for her because she is an older cat. She let me love on her so she isn't mad. lol
DH just got home. I don't like working out in front of him (or anyone else). Maybe I can go for a walk/run? Or I'll clean house for two hours or so.
MM

lotusfromthemud

Workout plan for the day: clean the whole house. A lot. :grumble:

I hate cleaning, and a month ago, we hired a cleaning lady. I felt guilty the whole time, like I should be helping her or something. It felt weird to have a "servant". I think if she could come when I wasn't home, I could do it. But, for now I feel like I want to save the money and do it myself. I'm having people over next weekend for American Thanksgiving, and the place isn't messy but dirty. (floors haven't been cleaned, etc. . .) so I have a lot of scrubbing to do. I'm pretty good at keeping clutter to a minimum, but bad at scrubbing. I have lots of wet dusting, and countertop cleaning, and floor dusting/ polishing on the old hands and knees (the whole apartment is hardwood that hasn't been refinished in 50 years, I'm guessing).

Also, I managed a walk home from the subway yesterday (it was lovely and didn't rain). It's only a half hour walk, but it's all uphill and I had my backpack so that made it feel like an actual workout, especially after all the squats the day before. Also, I made it my weird goal to take all stairs I came across, and to go up them two at a time. (actually, many people do this. . .so I didn't feel too weird ) I was talking/walking to my teaching with a colleague and when we hit the stairs I looked at her mischeviously and said "Two at a time!" and she didn't blink an eye.

Have been doing well on my goals this week. In fact, I haven't had any wheat or sugar and don't really want any. I may just roll them both over and have too much of both at the dinner party next week. Also, having a vegetable (or two or three) feels automatic with every meal now. Progress! The new workout schedule feels pretty slacker, so I may up the intensity of the weights next week. I may need to go buy heavier weights, or go to the gym now that I don't sound like someone with a horrible disease. (I've decided to keep the gym for this month, but track how many times I actually go. With winter coming, I hate to not have it as a back-up).

Ah, I'm chatty to procrastinate from the cleaning!

Whistle while you work boogaloo!:flowerforyou:

cp005e

V, my plan is exactly the same! Although I still have a lot of clutter so my scrubbing probably won't be as deep as yours. We have family coming on Monday, and then just got a surprise request from a good friend to babysit for them tonight (two girls, 1 and 3). So now I REALLY need to make sure the downstairs is both clean and reasonably child-proof by 5:00. (laundry and upstairs will have to wait until tomorrow) Eek! No more computer time for me!

Unfortunately, I may not get my cupcake as a result (the place is mainly open during the time that we'll be babysitting). Our friends are bringing over pizza when they bring the girls, though, so I'll try not to overeat.

Cleaning boogaloo! :grumble:

yoginimary

Oooh, saving dessert for next week, what a good idea. We will be staying at a nice hotel, eating more than one Thanksgiving dinner, the possibilities for dessert are many. Thanks V! I skipped dessert last night - so I will skip it again tonight.

Today is get rid of stuff day! Also need to get some exercise in. It's damp right now, but I think it should clear by the end of the day. So bike ride and maybe a walk. I moved the treadmill yesterday (should have counted as weight lifting), so it's not near where the kitty sleeps. It looks funny in our formal dinning room, but I can look out the window or watch t.v. now. I would love to change that entire room into a "gym". Haven't convinced husband yet.

Letting go, boogaloo

mechanicmom

Wow. Y'all are busy! I've been cleaning too. I have a long ways to go before the house is the way it should be but I'm not ready to tackle that yet. CP, you will have so much fun with those little girls! You'll have your hands full but it will be fun! V, don't overdo it on the cleaning! Mary, way to go on getting rid of stuff. I need someone to come over here and help me figure out how to do that!
I only got three work outs in this week so far. I'm going to try to work out this afternoon, even in front of hubby if I have to. The scale was still down this morning! Whew I thought it would be back up the 2 pounds. That motivated me to work out today. I'm kind of out of energy so I don't feel like doing it. Maybe after lunch I'll be revived.
I'm just really excited about the scale going down. 3 more pounds and I'll be back in the 140's! I would guess it's been at least six months, maybe even a year since I got below 153. I'm at 152.5. And it will probably go up next week thanks to AF. Why does my body time my monthly over the holidays? :grumble: At least I will feel justified for eating pie or whatever. :laugh:
I'm chatty now. I'll go. I am having a mushy moment and wishing I could just give each one of you a big hug! :smooched: I'm such a weirdy.

Mushy Mel

lotusfromthemud

Update:
I ended up doing a little de-cluttering and then getting sidetracked by organizational projects I've been putting off. (which are sort of productive, but not visibly so) Then, since it wasn't raining and not too cold, my husband and I went for a long (almost 2 hours) walk. The house is still covered in cat hair, so, um. . .oops. I ended up drafting a plan to do a little cleaning every other day this week (which will actually make the house look better, I think)

yoginimary

We got $140 for our books and dvds. That was a nice surprise (I was guessing about $60). We now have a bookshelf that can leave the house. I want to do closets next. Oh, and I'm going to rearrange so the treadmill is in this room (office) and declutter the living/dinning room. I wish I had the courage to sell stuff on Craigslist - part of it is husband being in computer security, he's paranoid (understandably, from all the attacks he deals with).

Got lots of walking in yesterday, but no yoga. I hope to get some yoga in today, but at the very least, I'll go to the gym.

We ended up at Thai food last night, so dessert was easy to skip. Going to the Empty Bowl Project today. You buy a handmade bowl (some are done by kids), you fill it with soup, and all the money goes to the food bank. There are some famous bowls you can bid on as well (Bruce Springstein, Joan Biaz, Lance Armstrong (of course), etc). It's so popular that it's spreading across the nation. It's our first year to go though.

Feeding the hungry by eating soup, boogaloo!

mechanicmom

Good morning. Short post as I am on my phone and at church waiting for service to start. I did shred yesterday in front of hubby. Told him not to look. Lol. Today is a day off but I may try to do something. I'm making progress so I want to keep it up. The dress pants I am wearing today fit better than last Sunday so that was encouraging. I'd better go. Have a great day!
MM

lotusfromthemud

Another lovely unseasonably warm day here in the great white north! I have a teeny sense of dread that we'll pay for all this mildness come January.

Today, I am very excited because I'm going to Bikram later. I checked my calendar, and I think it's been over a month. Oof. So, my goal today is to just stay in the room and not push too hard. I am the queen of pushing too hard. I would love to figure out how to balance on the razor's edge between pushing into getting myself sick and pushing into getting myself healthier.

I get mushy sometimes, too Mel. I have an elaborate fantasy sometimes that I could go trail running with CP, or to Mary's yoga class. . .or to feed the ducks with you and Alex, or snowshoeing (not yet, though) with Karen or pick Arianne's brain for health advice. . .I have seriously never had internet "friends" before, so you're not alone in your mush. We are all good pebbles. (hey, I wonder what adventure Wanderin' got off to?)

Bikram boogaloo!:flowerforyou:

edited to add: just couldn't finish an apple because it was too sweet. Who is this person using my body? Cool.