Active April Challenge 2020
baconslave
Posts: 7,018 Member
It's Active April folks.
Time to get moving.
I know, I know! How the hades are you going to get active when you're stuck in your home like some awful apocalypse movie? NEAT, all of the bazillion YouTube vids and workout streaming services, home gym, walking outside in areas where you can distance from people-that's how.
We can do this!
No need to make your "heart gargle in your throat." Unless that's what you're into.
Active April is about making your goal an improvement in your fitness. As Elizabeth Benton always says, "Whatever constitutes an improvement for YOU. Do that."
So whether you want to train for a 5k or 10k, start HIITing your head off, or just start exercising, period, it's all good.
If your exercise is already on-point, but you'd like to increase your daily NEAT burn, that's a great target as well. (What is NEAT, consult this thread from which I have been inspired: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10610953/neat-improvement-strategies-to-improve-weight-loss/p1)
Go ahead and post your goals.
Update us daily and receive encouragement, workout suggestions, and support from your compatriots in the challenge.
Go get it!
Time to get moving.
I know, I know! How the hades are you going to get active when you're stuck in your home like some awful apocalypse movie? NEAT, all of the bazillion YouTube vids and workout streaming services, home gym, walking outside in areas where you can distance from people-that's how.
We can do this!
No need to make your "heart gargle in your throat." Unless that's what you're into.
Active April is about making your goal an improvement in your fitness. As Elizabeth Benton always says, "Whatever constitutes an improvement for YOU. Do that."
So whether you want to train for a 5k or 10k, start HIITing your head off, or just start exercising, period, it's all good.
If your exercise is already on-point, but you'd like to increase your daily NEAT burn, that's a great target as well. (What is NEAT, consult this thread from which I have been inspired: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10610953/neat-improvement-strategies-to-improve-weight-loss/p1)
Go ahead and post your goals.
Update us daily and receive encouragement, workout suggestions, and support from your compatriots in the challenge.
Go get it!
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Replies
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In my reports for this challenge, I suggest we report our specific workout. So that's what I'm going to do. My goal this month is to move back up to the 20lb dumbbells for my strength workouts and increase strength. I had been using them, but I got a shoulder injury and deloaded to 15 but it's been slow going getting back up there. Due to chronic fatigue from my Sjogren's bullcrap (yay
) my strength isn't always there, and I've been unable to progress for a long time. We'll see what I can do this month.
Also, keeping NEAT up is a struggle. I homeschool which is pretty sedentary most of the day as I have to sit in the same room as my younger kids or they just screw around for hours and get nothing done.
I'm good about getting my cardio days in. But I need to add one exercise day on the weekend more regularly. Let's see if I can work that in.2 -
Hoping for 20 minute walks after each meal (our neighborhood is rural). That's it for now. 2 -
As we are staying at our very remote, small cottage for the foreseeable future, my activity is fully dependent on the weather. I am struggling with the emotional aspects of this chaotic time, so movement is about the most I can commit to for April! It would be awesome to over-perform this month too
Bring on the spring weather!
My goal is steps.
5 days @20,000
10 days @15,000
10 days @10,000
5 days @5,0000 -
I'm in... I just want to average my 10K steps a day - and work my way up to doing the Couch to 5K thing...2
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Thank you @baconslave for the Active April!
1. Mini Break workouts (10 min x 4, 5 times)
2. Eat low carb
3. Limit drinks to weekends
4. Close all 3rings on Apple Watch (stand, move, exercise) daily.1 -
I’m in for April!
I’ll focus on portions and cutting back on mindless snacking. My macros are good but CICO is not where I would like. Exercise is second nature but I’ll keep a focus on NEAT and closing all three rings on my watch as well.1 -
I’d like to get in on this. With 5 of us (3 teenagers) all in the house at the same time now, this is a needed physical AND mental challenge.
Daily:
Improve NEAT/Daily Steps by taking a break from sitting at the computer every hour for 10 minutes as much as possible. If I can’t walk away due to being on a call, I’ll do a little desk dancing 😉.
Get outside to walk the neighborhood at least once a day when the weather is nice or use the treadmill when it’s not.
This will be my starting point as I ease back into things. Thanks for starting this!2 -
@aquariansmb You found it! I have 4 kids. 2 teens, 1 tween, and the youngest is 9. They are all high energy and when they get bored OH MY WORD save me! Wishing you sanity.
Anyone who wants to keep incorporating mindfulness in their goals are more than welcome.
It's April 1st, folks. We woke up to snow on the peak of the mtn across from us. Since I'm stuck at home, I wouldn't have minded some on the ground for us as well. It wasn't quite chill enough last night.
Today is a cardio day for me, but since it's wet and cold out it will be either the Dreadmill, or 5 Boosted Miles by Leslie Sansone for me today. Also making sure I get 11 or 12k steps today.
Get your bodies moving today, me hearties!4 -
Ok here are my goals as they spill out of my brain LOL
My oldest (29) bought me more handweigts for Xmas so now I have 2, 3, 5, 8 and 10 lbs weights. I need to use them a minimum of twice a week.
Cardio (walking, aerobics or biking) needs to get done 3 days a week if I'm going to get back on the weight loss/fat burning train.
Will check out the NEAT link for more info. I know I can always improve on that.2 -
Very excited for Active April. I'm not going to let the COVID get me down.
1. >15,000 steps daily (Fitbit data)
2. > 3,000 calories burned daily (Fitbit data)
3. Low carb < 35 net and low calorie < 1,500 day
4. Close the active ring on Fitbit. Set at 250 an hour. I have a sedentary job so I usually get up and walk in place for awhile to get the blood flowing.
Good luck everybody! Guess it's not luck, it's a lot of hard work and persistence, so we can do this.2 -
I'm in! I have two sons living with me, 21 and 19. We brought in youngest sons weight set yesterday in house (cold out in garage. Not that I was doing any reps, he he...) I'm down from 200 to 174.4 haven't seen that number in forever! I started writing down what I eat on a piece of paper. I need to start logging, and get on weight set and just start!2
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4/1 was good:
BEAST everyday
eat within goal everyday
no alcohol everyday
I'm not going to worry about the food, my protein was high and my carbs were within goal, and I'll give it a few days to get back into the swing of tracking and the new goals.2 -
Day 1 in the books. We had a break from rain today so my son (15) and I took two short walks around the neighborhood. I’m enjoying the time not just for the fresh air and break from the inside but also these nice bits of quality time.
Definitely was moving a lot today and closed all 3 rings on my iWatch.3 -
1 1/2 mile walk while on break from work. Done. I hope to get that up to 3 miles/day for as long as I can.
Eating as well as possible. We're in the land of bare grocery stores and have been on lockdown for weeks, so we're eating a lot of beans and rice. It is what it is for now. It's hard to get fresh vegetables and we're rationing our meat supply (we have a decent amount for now, but who knows how long it will have to last?)6 -
1. Mini Break workouts (10 min x 4, 5 times)
2. Eat low carb
3. Limit drinks to weekends
4. Close all 3rings on Apple Watch (stand, move, exercise) daily.
4/1 ✔everything but #3. I had one drink.
I signed up for the OTF Marathon challenge for April. Will see how it goes!
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4/1
Exercise was good today, calories were mediocre. I think I can do a little better and will try to push myself these next few days.2 -
4/1 check in
1. >15,000 steps daily (Fitbit data), got it! 15,350
2. > 3,000 calories burned daily (Fitbit data), got this one too, 3,142
3. Low carb < 35 net and low calorie < 1,500 day, success
4. Close the active ring on Fitbit. Set at 250 an hour. got it!
Goals will be easier if able to get outside, the weather has been pretty good, 50's and no rain with normal Spring winds.
@Cadori , so sorry to hear about empty food shelves. Our area is having trouble keeping paper products and bread stocked but has been able to keep up with meat, dairy, and canned vegetables for the most part. I hope to score some toilet paper this weekend, I haven't been able to find any since this COVID started. My sister has been blessing me with rolls.
Everybody stay safe out there...
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1 1/2 mile walk while on break from work. Done. I hope to get that up to 3 miles/day for as long as I can.
Eating as well as possible. We're in the land of bare grocery stores and have been on lockdown for weeks, so we're eating a lot of beans and rice. It is what it is for now. It's hard to get fresh vegetables and we're rationing our meat supply (we have a decent amount for now, but who knows how long it will have to last?)
It's like that here, too, though we were able to make it mid-AM Saturday and got some milk and lettuce and broccoli crowns. Carrots. And some fruit. A couple bags of frozen broccoli cuts, which are indeed mostly cuts.
We made sure to take only what we needed and not more. But there weren't more than a couple packages of chicken (we got one) and the bigger slabs of meat no one had gotten yet since they are pricier due to the poundage. So we did get a pork shoulder and a ham. Which in our family doesn't last as long as you'd think. But I bet you know what that's like. And we have no excuse here in NE TN as our reported cases are low (they aren't testing) but people are just being hoarding jerks. I hope things look up for you soon. 1 -
4/1:
Got in a Dreadmill walk of 1hr 20min. Inclined the whole time, as it is ancient and the incline is a structural setting. I literally have to turn off, get off, lift up the walking deck and do something to the legs to change it. So not as many steps as one would like but the effort was there. Got between 11k and 12K steps so I know NEAT was locked-in.
Today is strength so I'll need to make sure I pace around a bit and if it's dry enough out take a couple laps to the yard to make sure I get 5-6K steps today.
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4/1 check in:
NEAT was on point leading to my best active day ever according to my watch rings. Got a run on the treadmill and a dog walk.
Portions turned out well, no snacking and ended the day under calories. I wanted to continue to munch but turned my attention elsewhere and was successful!2 -
baconslave wrote: »1 1/2 mile walk while on break from work. Done. I hope to get that up to 3 miles/day for as long as I can.
Eating as well as possible. We're in the land of bare grocery stores and have been on lockdown for weeks, so we're eating a lot of beans and rice. It is what it is for now. It's hard to get fresh vegetables and we're rationing our meat supply (we have a decent amount for now, but who knows how long it will have to last?)
It's like that here, too, though we were able to make it mid-AM Saturday and got some milk and lettuce and broccoli crowns. Carrots. And some fruit. A couple bags of frozen broccoli cuts, which are indeed mostly cuts. We made sure to take only what we needed and not more. But there weren't more than a couple packages of chicken (we got one) and the bigger slabs of meat no one had gotten yet since they are pricier due to the poundage. So we did get a pork shoulder and a ham. Which in our family doesn't last as long as you'd think. But I bet you know what that's like. And we have no excuse here in NE TN as our reported cases are low (they aren't testing) but people are just being hoarding jerks. I hope things look up for you soon.
Thanks! Fortunately, since we live in the boonies, a once a month shop is our norm, so we have good supplies of certain things. And chickens! Thank goodness for the chickens...we have fresh eggs.4 -
baconslave wrote: »1 1/2 mile walk while on break from work. Done. I hope to get that up to 3 miles/day for as long as I can.
Eating as well as possible. We're in the land of bare grocery stores and have been on lockdown for weeks, so we're eating a lot of beans and rice. It is what it is for now. It's hard to get fresh vegetables and we're rationing our meat supply (we have a decent amount for now, but who knows how long it will have to last?)
It's like that here, too, though we were able to make it mid-AM Saturday and got some milk and lettuce and broccoli crowns. Carrots. And some fruit. A couple bags of frozen broccoli cuts, which are indeed mostly cuts. We made sure to take only what we needed and not more. But there weren't more than a couple packages of chicken (we got one) and the bigger slabs of meat no one had gotten yet since they are pricier due to the poundage. So we did get a pork shoulder and a ham. Which in our family doesn't last as long as you'd think. But I bet you know what that's like. And we have no excuse here in NE TN as our reported cases are low (they aren't testing) but people are just being hoarding jerks. I hope things look up for you soon.
Thanks! Fortunately, since we live in the boonies, a once a month shop is our norm, so we have good supplies of certain things. And chickens! Thank goodness for the chickens...we have fresh eggs.
Right now is when I wish we had chickens. We tried that once but they made such a god-awful mess (the kids would come in covered in it) and foxes and racoons kept coming out of the woods after them. So the first flock was the last. We live far out, too, so our pantry was already pretty well stocked (I think we've had this convo before) so we are similar, though I think we're just a bit closer to a grocery store than you all. We do have to come in to get milk and bread. I know how to make it from scratch, but there's no flour to be bought anywhere here.
I need to plant a garden but the feral cat colony across the street, fed by a well-meaning elderly gentlemen, really enjoys getting into my garden and killing all the plants. So even though I have a couple fenced in beds, they did poorly last year, the cats still get in there and it makes me want to not even fool with it. So we'll make do with whatever we can get and all the beans and rice and noodles in the pantry when we get to that point.1 -
1 1/2 mile walk while on break from work. Done. I hope to get that up to 3 miles/day for as long as I can.
Eating as well as possible. We're in the land of bare grocery stores and have been on lockdown for weeks, so we're eating a lot of beans and rice. It is what it is for now. It's hard to get fresh vegetables and we're rationing our meat supply (we have a decent amount for now, but who knows how long it will have to last?)
Good for you on doing the best you can given trying circumstances. Maybe you can order some dehydrated vegetables online? I was very impressed with the quality of the ones I bought at Winco. They only take about 15 minutes to rehydrate when making soup.
Great work on the walking!
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4/1 check in
1. >15,000 steps daily (Fitbit data), got it! 15,350
2. > 3,000 calories burned daily (Fitbit data), got this one too, 3,142
3. Low carb < 35 net and low calorie < 1,500 day, success
4. Close the active ring on Fitbit. Set at 250 an hour. got it!
Goals will be easier if able to get outside, the weather has been pretty good, 50's and no rain with normal Spring winds.
@Cadori , so sorry to hear about empty food shelves. Our area is having trouble keeping paper products and bread stocked but has been able to keep up with meat, dairy, and canned vegetables for the most part. I hope to score some toilet paper this weekend, I haven't been able to find any since this COVID started. My sister has been blessing me with rolls.
Everybody stay safe out there...
Nailed it vkrenz! nice work
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baconslave wrote: »4/1:
Got in a Dreadmill walk of 1hr 20min. Inclined the whole time, as it is ancient and the incline is a structural setting. I literally have to turn off, get off, lift up the walking deck and do something to the legs to change it. So not as many steps as one would like but the effort was there. Got between 11k and 12K steps so I know NEAT was locked-in.
Today is strength so I'll need to make sure I pace around a bit and if it's dry enough out take a couple laps to the yard to make sure I get 5-6K steps today.
that's a lot of walking! good job0 -
4/1 check in:
NEAT was on point leading to my best active day ever according to my watch rings. Got a run on the treadmill and a dog walk.
Portions turned out well, no snacking and ended the day under calories. I wanted to continue to munch but turned my attention elsewhere and was successful!
A personal best! outstanding!
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I'm in for this challenge. I started increasing my activity on a daily basis about 4 days ago. It's a necessity, really: I've got some circulation issues. My doctor told me it's a genetic thing. My grandmother had varicose veins; I have some spider veins... if I don't get enough movement, if I just sit around like a sloth, I get these painful areas in my legs. Even if I'm already wearing compression socks. These flashes of pain/sore areas go away if I get in a 20 or 30 minute walk... or dance or do yoga...
I'm counting a lot of things as exercise (as mentioned in that post about NEAT), including gardening and cleaning. Those things burn a lot of calories. I actually got DOMS from doing spring clean up in the backyard.
My goal is just to be active every day. No mileage or step goals. I hope to improve my flexibility, improve my dance technique. Safely. At home.
Report for 1 April: 10 minutes of hatha yoga; 50 minutes of heavy cleaning. I haven't done yoga for years, and I got a little dizzy after only about 10 minutes, so I stopped. Maybe it was because it was early afternoon and I hadn't yet broken my fast. IDK. I did the cleaning in my basement. Cleaning the basement has always been the lowest priority. It was filthy down there. :-o4 -
MistressPi wrote: »I'm in for this challenge. I started increasing my activity on a daily basis about 4 days ago. It's a necessity, really: I've got some circulation issues. My doctor told me it's a genetic thing. My grandmother had varicose veins; I have some spider veins... if I don't get enough movement, if I just sit around like a sloth, I get these painful areas in my legs. Even if I'm already wearing compression socks. These flashes of pain/sore areas go away if I get in a 20 or 30 minute walk... or dance or do yoga...
I'm counting a lot of things as exercise (as mentioned in that post about NEAT), including gardening and cleaning. Those things burn a lot of calories. I actually got DOMS from doing spring clean up in the backyard.
My goal is just to be active every day. No mileage or step goals. I hope to improve my flexibility, improve my dance technique. Safely. At home.
Report for 1 April: 10 minutes of hatha yoga; 50 minutes of heavy cleaning. I haven't done yoga for years, and I got a little dizzy after only about 10 minutes, so I stopped. Maybe it was because it was early afternoon and I hadn't yet broken my fast. IDK. I did the cleaning in my basement. Cleaning the basement has always been the lowest priority. It was filthy down there. :-o
Hey there!
Yeah there are places in my house too that are low priority. Like the upstairs. My hubby and I are up there exclusively, and as the areas the kids slime are more pressing, it's getting pretty gnarly. I have plans to work on that this weekend. Cleaning really can burn a lot of calories.
I do hope the regular exercise helps you with the pain.
I can get light-headed exercising before I break my fast sometimes. Maybe an electrolyte thing? Ketoaid can help. But it's only an occasional thing with me. After crouching for more than half a min and I stand up, I get lightheaded. YUCK. Very unpleasant and annoying so I can imagine not wanting to experience that again anytime soon.1 -
So yesterday was strength and I was still more than a bit sore from the previous strength session and the Dreadmill.
4/2:
I did 3 Fitness Blender videos (legs, arms, and 10 min abs.) I don't have the links. My laptop has been in the hospital. It's out but I did the workout using the backup. I also got between 5k-6k steps which is out of "sedentary" range and as much as I have time for after I spend an hour working out. I'd like to nudge that up consistently above 6k on strength days by the end of the month. I'll work on it.
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4/3
So far April has been ok. Still room for improvement re calorie counting. Just barely under all of my limits. Since I am close to goal I need to lower calories a bit but have been resistant. My head understands but my mouth doesn't.
Still no paper products or bacterial soap/wipes in my area so I keep on truckin with bleach and paper towels. 2
