Perpetual Healthy Eating and Fitness Rant & Rave thread

[Courtney]

Court,
Do you have a basement in your new place?
Workout area!!

Yes ma'am!  The treadmill is already set up! 

I have a fabulous on-site gym at work, so I'm not looking to do too much more right now.  But I love having space if I decide I want to!

[BobM59]

Do you have weights in the basement? Belong to a gym?

Yes, and yes.  They do not have heavy ropes or kettlebells unless you buy time with a trainer though, which is a ripoff.  My basement weights are a pretty good set of dumbbells from P90X.

[cgraz]

That is a ripoff - they should have some kind of group training class with the kettlebells or something. People would love that. They're being pennywise, pound-foolish, or something.

Have you done P90X?

Can you do CrossFit? I know it's the trendy thing right now, but mr. cgraz was in a similar position - weight loss but also loss of strength/muscle for various reasons - and he has really been loving CF for helping him build back some upper body, which has never been his strong area. Plus all those squats are bringing his booty back, and I'm not going to complain about that. 

I know it's expensive, but maybe if you did a short round of classes, then you could learn some stuff you could do on your own. One of my friends does all kinds of CF workouts at home and has her own kettlebells, balls, etc. I think she follows blogs that post daily workouts or something. She does not go to CF gym.

[BobM59]

I do have P90X at the house; I've done it in the past multiple times.  I'm not a rockstar at it, but I do enjoy it.

I've thought about CF - I've got a few good friends that are WAY, WAY into it, but it feels like such a dramatic change, and could be really time consuming.  With baby girl due in 6 weeks, I'm thinking of just dropping 1 or 2 runs per week in favor of lifting heavy (at least until we get re-situated).

My other concern is that weight management has always been SUCH a pain in the ass for me.  As previously mentioned I have a natural inclination to being really heavy - I don't want to lose ground on all the fat I've burned, or on my speed, which is best ever.

There have been lots of good suggestions, I think I just need to man up and try out something - be it P90X, CF, kettlebells, etc.  Thanks to all that gave some good ideas!

[Lintu]

Yesterday I stepped on the scale after two weeks of only kinda sorta monitering my eating and I was at my low weight still!  So happy about that.  I do pretty much log my food but have gone over ALOT.. I guess maybe not terribly over when I calculate my exercise.. but really, some days I had 2200-2400 calories and I still sort of lost. I do get some type of exercise ( usually running and elliptical on an active rest day) at least 6 days a week, but I was also kind of injured a bit from my fall and a pulled groin over the last two weeks.

I am convinced some times that the more I eat (obviously within reason and good healthy whole foods) the more I lose or stay stable... so strange but maybe there is something to this theory of holding onto weight if you aren't getting enogh calories.

I wonder if yoga is helping?  I don't burn that much but maybe something about it?

This has always been my experience.  The more I eat, the lower I stay.

[Courtney]

I do have P90X at the house; I've done it in the past multiple times.  I'm not a rockstar at it, but I do enjoy it.

I've thought about CF - I've got a few good friends that are WAY, WAY into it, but it feels like such a dramatic change, and could be really time consuming.  With baby girl due in 6 weeks, I'm thinking of just dropping 1 or 2 runs per week in favor of lifting heavy (at least until we get re-situated).

My other concern is that weight management has always been SUCH a pain in the ass for me.  As previously mentioned I have a natural inclination to being really heavy - I don't want to lose ground on all the fat I've burned, or on my speed, which is best ever.

There have been lots of good suggestions, I think I just need to man up and try out something - be it P90X, CF, kettlebells, etc.  Thanks to all that gave some good ideas!

A former PRTer/CHer (I am not sure how much he posted here) is very into CF, and he has talked about how much his running improved as a result.  I was surprised!  But you do some plyometric stuff there, which I'm sure is good for speed.  I just started CF on Tuesday with their Elements class at my local place, and watching them do a real workout while we learned was crazy.  They were lifting HEAVY weights.  Most of the workouts aren't super long, which I like.  The gyms are always pricy, but mine offers an option for 2x week, which is cheaper, so I think I'm going to go that route, because I work out with a trainer 2x a week at work (free) and it's all weights.  The other thing about CF is that it's all high intensity interval stuff, so you are getting your heart rate up and should be burning massive calories.  At the end of our Elements class, after we'd done a billion squats to work on form, we did a mini workout, which was 5 min of AMRAP (as many reps as possible) of 5 pushups, 10 situps, 15 squats.  My heart was thumping at the end of it! 

I also find that I will do cardio on my own (mostly) and that I need extra accountability for weights, so the group atmosphere of CF and my training group at work are a big help.  I've been lifting now for over a year, 2 x a week, and I'm amazed at how much stronger I am.  I've doubled my weight in nearly everything.  More than doubled in a couple areas, and I can now do about 15 pushups on my toes (I can't get ALL the way down, but it's big progress).  A-maz-ing as far as I'm concerned. 

[cgraz]

Ditto to what Courtney said - and also that the workouts are quick. My friend who does it all at home loves that it can be 20 minutes sometimes. So maybe not totally time-consuming, depending on where you go with it.

As for me - yoga and pilates have definitely helped my core strength and also muscle tone in my arms and all over. I think it's the inversions in yoga and all the chaturanga (yoga push-ups). That has given a big boost to my running, for sure. And it has made me more in tune with my body as far as food and exercise in general.

I think this might be the week that I hit that number I've been chasing for the past couple of months. I'm not sure if that is a good thing! What do I do next? Maintenance scares me a little. I haven't been here before, and have always been a little fluffier, so I am sort of afraid of losing where I'm at if I change the plan I've been following. Guess I won't know till I get there. And the half marathon is coming up...May 11th. Getting closer. Eep!

[merigayle]

I just bought a CF groupon for when my spring racing season is over next month.

[triciaflower]

Finally coming up for air.

Schedule about to change tomorrow. So I WILL make time to run! I haven't run in 4 weeks. I will have no more excuses. I will have lots of rest. So running is totally on the agenda for this weekend!! WOOT WOOT!!!!

It may only last a couple of weeks. But I'll take it. The weather is beeyooteeful.

[cgraz]

Woot woot! When the weather starts to get so nice, it really is something to look forward to, to get out there!

So I hit it, The Number. I clicked my WW plan over to "maintenance." I'll still track but with more points, which might be perfect timing so I can eat more with long runs going to do for the half.

[merigayle]

Woot woot! When the weather starts to get so nice, it really is something to look forward to, to get out there!

So I hit it, The Number. I clicked my WW plan over to "maintenance." I'll still track but with more points, which might be perfect timing so I can eat more with long runs going to do for the half.

congrats!

[Ice Cream]

I got the Fitbit Zip two days ago.  I wore it yesterday for the first time, and I was interested to see that I think I move much more than I actually do (aside from the running).  I had over 21,000 steps, incl. a 7.3 mile run.  I thought that I reached close to 10,000 steps just from all the daily activities I do, excluding the running.

I do not know how accurate the calorie burn estimate is...  But this is a fun little tool for fitness, and I can see how it can help one move more.

[wherestheportojohn]

Woot woot! When the weather starts to get so nice, it really is something to look forward to, to get out there!

So I hit it, The Number. I clicked my WW plan over to "maintenance." I'll still track but with more points, which might be perfect timing so I can eat more with long runs going to do for the half.

Yay!
One comes the rough part....forever is a long time to maintain.

[cgraz]

Yeah, I am finding it hard to think of the state I'm in as something more than a temporary one. Weird. I guess I could start by acknowledging the state I'm in, to begin...I keep reaching for the wrong size clothes and I can't commit to buying anything, really.

[Run Amok]

Yeah, I am finding it hard to think of the state I'm in as something more than a temporary one. Weird. I guess I could start by acknowledging the state I'm in, to begin...I keep reaching for the wrong size clothes and I can't commit to buying anything, really.

Yeah... me too. Or I put something on and am shocked that it's huge on me. Or I buy clothes and they are too big. But, just do it. Just commit. The problem I have is getting rid of the big stuff.

[wherestheportojohn]

Get rid of it!!

[merigayle]

I am at a point where i think i need to toss the skinny clothes in my closet. Seriously, 1/2 of my closet of clothes i have not fit into since before i was pregnant 4+ years ago

[witchypoo]

leptin

[Magic Microbe]

 This is the fifth day of headache. It must be allergies but I am miserable. It makes eating right really hard when I feel like crap.

[cgraz]

Crap, that sucks. Have you taken anything for allergies or for the headache itself? Hope you get some relief. Drink lots of water.