I recently joined a 30 day challenge to workout 20x from now until July 4th. So far so good. I'm looking to build muscle and am trying to learn how to do it.

I was still posting in the May chat... I'll put it down to some brainfog...
Anyweez... here goes:


My stats from last week:

* Still low on steps, but a bit better... 63k for the week. I think I have to acknowledge that I'm stepping less during summertime.
* continue to read Becks flashcards: check.
* 2 fitness sessions / week: I let it slide again last week and while my weight went down, I'm also a bit afraid I've lost some muscle mass.
* Lose a bit: 71,8 moving average, which is a good loss from last week. But with the thought that it might be muscle. Anyway, it is a good pound from maintenance, I'm really getting there !
* Biking and diving: 2 dives last week, some daily biking to the bakery and pub. I might start to add those little trips to my total. The plan was also to bike to work today, but the weather will be too hot this afternoon, so I went by car instead.

My goal for June is to get between 70 and 71 and start the gym again.

49yrs / 5'3
CW 132
GW 125

Hello friends, long time no chat! But first, @Antiopelle I'm so sorry for your 🐈 loss. 😞 that is very hard!

I've mentioned that I coach my daughter's soccer, but this year I went up a volunteering notch and did myself in. This year I am the coordinator for our local youth recreational soccer league which means many hundreds of kids between 12 and 18yrs old being assessed and sorted onto dozens of teams, uniforms ordered and distributed, coaches found and trained, schedules planned and posted online, and fields booked and more. Oh, and I'm still coaching as well. Basically I've been at the soccer fields every evening and worked more on soccer than i do my real job (which was also really busy!) for the past 2 -3 weeks. Very rewarding now that things are rolling and kids / parents are happy but it's been very very stressful to keep all the shi*t together. Please everyone kiss your local volunteer for all their hard work!

Meanwhile, I barely kept up with logging and I haven't made it to a single one of my own soccer games yet but the good news is that I mostly kept up my strength workouts and I haven't really gained a pound. Running up and down reffing kids soccer games will burn 🔥 calories, I tell you!

In other news, I am proud to report that I ran my 10km in 59:30 on June 4! Did it in under an hour despite hills, heat and not training for it! I was VERY sore after and worried I had pulled something in my hip but all is well now. I also ended up running it solo but that's OK. A bit of alone time is a lovely thing these days.

Glad to be back ladies. Happy June to us all! (Hint hints, June 22 is coming and it's gonna be a big day!!! Woot woot!!)

My stats from last week:

* Still low on steps, after all the torrential rains we've had, we are now in the middle of an official heatwave! Yesterday we were sweating just from watering our garden... go figure.
* continue to read Becks flashcards: check.
* 2 fitness sessions / week: I let it slide again last week now with the excuse that it is too hot. Also the passing of Max had me more sedentary than usual.
* Lose a bit: 71,4 moving average. I'm afraid to say that this loss is due to mourning. I know stress eating, been there before, but somehow grief is restricting my throat and stomach and I have physical difficulty swallowing. I guess this is where the saying "having a lump in my throat" comes from.
* Biking and diving: 2 dives last week, some daily biking to the bakery and pub. I might start to add those little trips to my total. I won't be able to bike to work this week neither as the heatwave will continue at least until this weekend.

My goal for June is to get between 70 and 71 and start the gym again.

Today was my first day outside for anything remotely strenuous in days. (I'm actually "Mandycat_Virginia now after moving from Florida in 2022.) Richmond's air quality was nothing remotely as bad as farther north but "vulnerable groups" were still advised to play it safe. By the time you're 77, you're vulnerable to a lot of things: bad air quality, heat and humidity, severe cold, butterflies ..... So I decided to use my rowing machine and rebounder to keep moving.

49yrs / 5'3
GW 125

June 1: 132
June 18: 131

Hello all! IMO cat and dog stories and pics are always welcome. I hope you're doing well @Antiopelle.

I work too much and therefore I sit too much during the day. I try to do morning workouts because evenings are busy with baseball, soccer, ball hockey (kids or mine). In all the busy-ness, I've been pretty good about how much I eat recently. I've increased my protein and it's really helped. And I'm still running once or twice a week.🔥

I've definitely gained muscle and lost fluff over the past month or two. I have to say, my legs are looking strong! 💥 My glutes need work and always will (my sister calls it our hereditary pancake-butt 😆). My upper body and core are getting nice and strong but my shoulders especially still need definition. But I see progress! My strength circuit class is stopping for the summer - eek - so I need a replacement plan. I ❤️ the teacher. He comes over and loads up my weights, tweaks stuff and knows how to challenge me. He sees my strength potential and knows I'm no wimp. 💪

I'm not sure the online stuff does it for me anymore. It was OK over the pandemic but I can't get motivated to do it online anymore, even though I heard about Caroline Girvans new series. @CeeBeeSlim, you doing her new one? What's your secret to just getting it done!? Even if I start a video, I get distracted and bored after 20 mins.

I'm on leave for the next 2 weeks. I have 5 blissful days off at home, cleaning, organizing etc while the kids are in final exams and end-of-school-year potlucks etc. Then we fly out to the Rocky Mountains for a real vacation of hiking, biking, white water rafting and hot tubs! My kind of active vacation in nature. All to celebrate my 50th birthday on June 22! 🥳(Plus kinda a belated for my husband who turned 50 during covid). 😀

It goes without saying that I don't FEEL 50. In fact, I'm in better shape now than I was at 40yo when I was chasing 3 toddlers and had no time for myself. Other than laughlines, a few grey hairs, saggy boobs and the crepe-y skin over my abs from 3 pregnancies (that I don't think I will ever get rid of, no matter how fit I am), i dont THINK i look 50 😉. Anyone got the secret to aging gracefully...and getting rid of loose skin? 🤣

31 yo/5'5"
HW (2012): 148.3
June 12: 117.4
CW: 115.7
BF (navy): 19.6%
Goal: 17%

Current measurements
Waist (narrowest): 25
Around navel: 27
Hip (widest): 36

After more than a decade of trying and often failing to lose weight and feeling embarrassed by my body, I finally have less than 5lb left that I want to lose now (really just vanity weight), and I feel great but it's also been quite challenging. I've been maintaining about 116-120 since September, which is the longest I've ever been able to maintain weight loss in my life (though I was actually trying to lose still, but I feel good about the maintenance). I find it hard to be patient. I get into short phases where I'm really motivated to focus on my eating and my body and other phases where I'm so busy with work deadlines and am so stressed (though also I love my work) that I just don't have the energy or care and often turn to food in response to stress.

For food, I've been tracking cals and macros (though i'm not great at hitting my macros--not enough protein and too much carbs). And I've been doing Intermittent Fasting, which is one of the biggest things that helps me eat less--that and not drinking alcohol. I've been eating 1200-2000 cals a day (averaging around 1600), and my calorie deficit has been anywhere from 250-700 depending on the day.

For exercise, I've been going on long bike rides and/or walks every day to take advantage of this gorgeous summer weather and am trying to focus on building the habit of strength training because I eventually want to build some muscle and be able to do a pull-up. I'm hoping I can stay consistent enough to reach my goal of 17% body fat in July.

My strength training routine right now is this. I do 3-5 sets of everything (5 on a good day, 3 on a lazy day). For the hardest ones, I start with my max number and drop it down by one each set. For the ones I can do 15 of, I need a heavier weight but don't have one. And then I usually end up taking 1-2 days off per week.

Every other day (push)
Pushups (on fists): 8-7-6-5-5
Bodyweight tricep extensions: 3-5 x 8
Shoulder press: 3-5 x 15
Lat raises: 3-5 x 10
Bicep curls: 3-5 x 15
Squats: 3-5 x 15
Glute raises: 3-5 x 15
Crunches (90 deg): 3-5 x 15
Leg raises: 3-5 x 15

Every other day (pull)
Pullups (band-assisted): 8-7-6-5-5
Hanging leg raises (knees bent): 8-7-6-5-5
Inverse rows: 3-5 x 5
Hanging scapular pulls: 3-5 x 10
Crunches (90 deg): 3-5 x 15
Leg raises: 3-5 x 15