[February Well-Trained Bodies]

I am exhausted these last couple of days, possibly because of not enough sleep lately. Skipped the private lesson yesterday, as there was no way it would be useful. Went for a short run/walk with DS, then did 45 minutes of easy biking, which I barely managed to finish. Planned on a run this morning, but I could barely move around the house after I got up, so skipped that. Maybe a private lesson tonight, but it will depend on how I will feel when I get there.

@wintermomI also think it depends on mileage. Sometimes I technically get 5 days, but 2-3 of them could be barely jogging 1 mile or so. So far for me it is the longer runs (4-5 miles right now) that leave me feeling it the next day or two. Skiing is not an option here without 2-3 hour drive, and I am scared *watching* cyclists when I am driving, let alone actually trying it on the roads 🙂

[February Well-Trained Bodies]

I did a short run this morning, had  a lovely walk with DS, and hopefully will get a bout or two to fence in the evening (it is questionable, as almost everyone is at Junior Olympics, so it will be very empty tonight)

On 2/14/2019 at 10:25 AM, Monica_in_Switzerland said:

@OlgaLA I have that same feeling about running.  I think because I can completely mentally zone out for most of the run, it's almost a meditative state.  

------------

I watched a youtube video on exercise motivation and it was more like a series of tips or mantras to live by.  There were two that stuck in my head, and I've tried to follow them this week:

- Never miss a Monday workout

- Never go three days without a workout.  

I really liked how simple those were.  

Here was my funny thought while out running this evening:  "Running is so simple; you just need some comfy shoes."  Then I looked down at myself and added, "and a GPS watch, a smartphone, a heart rate monitor, wireless headphones, flashing safety lights on my shoes, and a headlamp."

So simple.  Back to nature and all that.  😂

 Three days is way too many for me. I am trying for something every day. It doesn't matter how short or easy, but it has to be done, just to check the box.

And I only use a fitness tracker and a smartphone, in addition to shoes, of course, and a good supporting sport bra, so I guess I have a long way to go 🙂 By the way, running on the streets is dangerous even during the day. I was running today in a bright red jacket, hoping to be visible in bright daylight, and still a car didn't stop on the stop sign, although I was half way through the intersection. Went right in front of me, and only because I stopped.

[February Well-Trained Bodies]

23 hours ago, wintermom said:

I'm in the same boat with tennis. I don't play enough for that to be my only exercise. I've been able to find alternative forms of movement that are lower impact than running. In the winter it's skating, skiing and snowshoeing. In the spring, summer and fall it's cycling and hiking. Maybe you can find something you love to do that is easier on your joints than running? It's no fun feeling pain every time you exercise.

There is often a "build up" period where muscles are sore, but joint pain is different. Are you warming up and stretching? That can often help. You could also look into your running technique. Sometimes we put extra stress on certain body parts due to running style. I had a friend who is a running coach look at my running style. She gave me some very helpful tips that minimized my hip pain.

 I did stationary biking, which helped with stamina, but it doesn't help with mood at all. I don't know what it is about running, but it totally energizes me for at least 36 hours. Nothing else so far had the same effect, and I have really low energy throughout the day (as in I rarely make it without a nap) so it is really important to me. I only started running 6 weeks ago, and tendons also need time to adjust, actually more time than muscles, so I think I'll try running for a while longer, paying attention to not doing too much too soon. We'll see if my body can adjust. I had tennis elbow bout when I started fencing more seriously, so maybe it is something like that with running, too,  something that I'll get used to. 

I ran 3 miles yesterday morning, and had a private lesson. It is going to rain for the next 2 days, so we'll be inside. I don't  recognize California.

[February Well-Trained Bodies]

9 hours ago, wintermom said:

When I was training Taekwon-Do and running at the same time, it was just too much strain on my legs. I wonder if the strain that fencing puts on your ankle and knee joints make them more sensitive to the extra strain and pounding from running?  The areas of pain you seem to be experiencing aren't the typical ones for runners. Those tend to be hip, outer knee, and heel (plantar fasciitis). 

 It is certainly a possibility. I still hope that if I introduce it slowly enough I manage to combine both without hurting all the time. Plus, this year due to scheduling conflicts I feel like I don't fence enough for it to be my only form of exercise. Most weeks it is just 2-3 hours total.

I woke up today feeling totally exhausted and with a headache, so I spent most of the morning thinking if it would be better to cancel the private lesson. I finally decided that I can manage to push myself for 25 minutes and it actually went pretty well.

[February Well-Trained Bodies]

3 hours ago, wintermom said:

Which part of the body are the tendons located that become painful? 

Glad your competition went well. That would not be fun to have to compete against a family member - especially as one of you would be eliminated. I hate elimination tournaments. Round robin just seems a lot more bang for the buck. 

Well, they travel. I never know which one will act up. The worst was at the back of my knee, where the hamstring? connects to the knee (two obvious tendons on the back of the leg just above the knee). I felt it at every step faster than a slow walk. It is gone now, but took about a week of rest to heal. I stopped everything, except light stationary biking that week. The most lingering one is on outside of my foot, below and in front of the ankle bone. That one doesn't affect my walking or running, I cannot feel it at all when I am wearing running shoes, but after a run it tends to get inflamed and hurts to the touch and when I try to move the foot to the side. And then there is my lower back and the arch of my left foot. I think the hips only hurt once in the very beginning and stopped soon after I added some low squats to my days. So, is there anything else that I still can overwork?  🙂 Oh, and I kind of figured out what makes my shins hurt, so those are also fine now. Honestly, sometimes I feel like I am ready to fall apart, but then I put myself together and go do something else.

I know what you mean about eliminations. Fencing tournaments usually consist of two rounds - round robin style pools of 5-7 people, and then based on the results direct eliminations. I do have to admit that it makes it fair, without having to fence 20-300 people. And let's not think how many bouts they would have to arrange even for a small tournament otherwise 🙂 .

[February Well-Trained Bodies]

On 2/9/2019 at 7:22 PM, wintermom said:

@OlgaLA  Hope you start feeling better soon. Have you just started back into running? I had a lot of muscle pain and exhaustion when I started skate skiing again. Now things are good. 

I played doubles tennis this evening. Two matches of 1 hour each. It was a lot of fun. I played really well and was happy, though didn't manage to win either match.  I also went for a hike in the woods this afternoon. I tried snowshoeing during part of it, but the snow was very deep and really hard. I wasn't worth the effort slugging through that when there was a nice path smoothed out by fat tire bikes. 

Thanks! I have just started running, period 🙂 Seriously, it was the first time ever I run 1km without switching to walking a few times. But unfortunately, it is not the muscles that bother me, it's tendons. I am trying to start very gently, but still usually something hurts for a day or two. My main problem is that I feel like running works like a drug on my mood and energy levels, and it is something none of my other activities does.  I really want it to work, but I am afraid that doing it more will make me do it less or not at all, kwim?

Soror ~ I am having PMS as well. Sleep is terrible, I am feeling hot, tired, depressed, and hungry most of the time. Hopefully, it will end soon.

The competition went well. I have forgotten how much fun it is. I did OK for me, actually better than I expected, but in direct eliminations round I had to fence DD 😞

Today I am going to take DS on a short run/walk, and then fencing in the evening. Mondays are hit or miss in terms of length, but I kind of hope for a shorter version, as my thighs are a little sore after the competition.

[February Well-Trained Bodies]

Most of my January was great, but the last few days of it and the beginning of February are hard. Every time I run, I have some pain for a couple of days (a different one every time). If I don't run, I feel like throwing a temper tantrum (I don't, but I surely want to most of the time, and holding it all back is hard) or alternatively I am super exhausted. Grrr. Plus, my eating is far from great, and I feel boated, probably the first time I actually notice it. I blame it all on hormones.

I registered for a small local competition this Sunday. Most (all?) of the people are much better than I am, so it is going to be interesting. I just hope my hormones don't act up too much.

[Step counter help plz]

 @Murphy101Maybe next time you go for a walk, turn on the app on your phone and start recording exercise/walk. Let your tracker hand be free/swinging. It will track the distance through GPS and calculate the right stride length for you. It shouldn't be too long, just a few minutes of you normal walking. It might reset it.

[Step counter help plz]

24 minutes ago, Pawz4me said:

I had two Fitbit Charge HRs. I never had any trouble at all with them not counting steps while I was pushing a shopping cart or while not swinging my hand for any reason. Nor did they count hand movements like folding laundry. On the whole I found both of them to be very accurate at counting steps. Not durable at all, but accurate while they worked!

Have you checked your settings to make sure you have your stride length entered correctly? I'm assuming the Blaze works the same and that you do still enter your own info as far as height, weight, stride length, etc. The only thing I ever did to my HRs to (I think) increase accuracy was to adjust the setting as if I was wearing it on my dominant wrist when in fact the device was worn on my non-dominant side. 

 

It is raining, everybody is busy with their own stuff, and I have nothing better to do, so I just tested it. Standing still and swinging arm as if I am walking accurately added steps. It's trickier when walking without swinging arm. It did add steps, but only if I traveled more than a certain distance, and then less than the number of steps I actually took. So, walking around my small kitchen holding my arm stable in front of me did not add steps. Walking along my long hallway did, but in increments of 10, and after the same distance, not after the same number of steps. It also doesn't add stairs if I am carrying anything upstairs, but does it when my arm is swinging.

My stride length is set to automatic, but the way it sets the stride depends on GPS-enabled (via my phone) walks/runs, and I have been running with mine, so the stride is likely different between running outside and walking inside.

Oh, and I have Fitbit Charge 3, not Charge. Sorry, I missed the number.

I do believe that the number of steps is about right for me, as I run around my kitchen more often than fold laundry 🙂

 

[Step counter help plz]

I have Fitbit Charge. It counts wrist swings really. I got about 1k recently folding laundry 🙂 If you carry something in that hand or hold someone's hand it will not register steps. Basically, make sure that your arm swings with every step.

[Well-Trained Bodies January 2019!]

Due to various reasons, I'm missing fencing till Thursday or even Friday. I ran yesterday, and then took DS for a walk. Ended up with over 20K steps for the day. Today was another walk with DS with some running included. I am trying to get him moving more, as fencing for him is just not enough (since he is younger, he can't really do open fencing, as there is nobody his level there). We started doing C25K-like program through Zombies, run app. So far he likes it, but he is OK with regular walks as well. I might do some bike tonight, but my knees are slightly tender, so I'll try and decide if bike irritates them or not.

[Well-Trained Bodies January 2019!]

15 hours ago, lynn said:

Today I finished day 40/80 day obsession .  I had to pause on some of the core work to get all reps in.  Side plank oblique pulls are tough so I take it slow and when I fall over i get back up to get through it.  It's a work in progress.

Hope everyone has a great week.  

Congrats! It's totally ok to take it slow and in several attempts. Trying to get everything done fast and perfect on the first try usually leads me to just dropping it altogether. 

[Well-Trained Bodies January 2019!]

On 1/26/2019 at 5:12 AM, hshibley said:

I ran on the treadmill twice this week and I think running with the incline to replicate road run caused a calf strain 😢I can put some weight on it but I’m basically limping around. I’m hoping it heals quickly. 

 

Feel better soon!

20 hours ago, soror said:

 

Strength training today. Did back squats for the first time in awhile, they were rather meh, only went up to 85#. Tried next week of my pull-up program but forgot how to do the one move, most watch the video again. Otherwise I've been too lazy. 

 

 

Thanks for sharing your workout plan! And sometimes lazy is good!

17 hours ago, wintermom said:

It was great! I felt really strong. I think the skiing have really helped the strength in my arms. Plus my racquet was restrung recently, and it feels really nice. 

It's great that skiing helps your tennis!

________

I may have overdone it last week. After Saturday run instead of the usual high I just felt half-dead, even though I felt normal during the run itself, not really pushing myself. Now, 48 hours later and after very easy two days I am still not sure how I feel. Or it could be the middle of my cycle and my hormones are out of wack again.

 

[Well-Trained Bodies January 2019!]

On 1/23/2019 at 2:54 AM, soror said:

Yesterday was a blah day, stupid body. I was *this* close to puking at the gym. I was not going fast at all but I overheated, UGH. It was going well until that. Hangs and crawls a smidge easier, push-ups smoother and lower. Today is a new day!

 I hope you are feeling better! And way to go on those push-ups and crawls and hangs. My hands don't like hangs at all. Maybe that's what I should add...

On 1/23/2019 at 8:16 AM, Ravin said:

I narrowly made my step count yesterday. Today will be more challenging.

 You can do it!

23 hours ago, wintermom said:

Yay! I got out skiing this morning with ds. It was snowing quite a bit, and we were the first ones out on the trail, so it took a lot of effort to break trail, but it was great to get out there! It's so nice to have the arctic freeze lift - at least for now. 😉

Sounds beautiful!

I woke up early today, and decided to go for a run before I needed to take DD to CC. Another 2.5 miles. A bit later I had a private lesson, and that is it for today.

I am not feeling hungry anymore, but now I am feeling sleepy . Not sure which is better.

[Well-Trained Bodies January 2019!]

On 1/21/2019 at 4:31 AM, IvyInFlorida said:

I am also feeling very paranoid about getting injured right now.  Well, more injured than I already am since my foot pain hasn't cleared up yet.  My son and I have another martial arts belt test on Saturday, which means that this week our classes will focus on punching bag work and sparring.  Usually those weeks are the toughest on my body.  I'm going to get back to my regular every day exercise routine this week, trying to avoid putting stress on my foot and using some tips on healing plantar fasciitis pain that I've been gleaning from this site.  🙂

Good news, though!  I weighed/measured myself today, and am down 5ish pounds and almost a 1/2" off my hips!  If only I could make my chest measurement stop decreasing along with everything else...

Hope your foot heals fast! And congrats on losing weight/size!

My weight seems to be relatively stable, fluctuating up and down around the same numbers, but my TDEE table says that it trends down a little, .25-.5 lbs a week. I took some measurements today, and I lost around 0.5 inch off my waist and hips (I didn't measure my chest 🙂)

I did an hour of stationary bike on Monday morning, and felt really tired all day. In the evening I went to fencing, hoping to do 2-3 easy bouts. Well, the class had odd number of people, so the coach had me suit up and jump in.  So, instead of easy 20 minutes I got 50 rather intense ones. Today I did a private lesson, and went for an easy run, concentrating on making it really easy. Still managed to break a couple of personal records 🙂 Tomorrow is hopefully an easy day with just a private lesson.

[Well-Trained Bodies January 2019!]

6 hours ago, hshibley said:

That’s so true.  I live in the area hardest hit by hurricane Florence. The few weeks where everything was closed and there were too many trees down to go for a walk were so hard to remain in a good mood with out exercise as an outlet. 

The past week was pretty good. I liked the trx class and I was able to get in a 7.2 mile hike Saturday in addition to my planned workouts. 

 Sounds like a great week! WTG!

 

5 hours ago, soror said:

So, you think the running is too much- causing the hunger and some pain?

WTG on the goals! I made very modest ones and have made them. My step count is up, my goal for the year was to get back to 10k a day so it is ok that I'm not already there every day.  I've had good and bad days but the overall trend is higher relative to last year. Since the beginning of the year I've done strength training 3x a week- some days aren't great but I'm showing up, the last 2 weeks I've been at the gym 3x b/c the kids have had a Sat session of TKD. Weight is down a bit, I'm not sure if I'll hit the tentative goal I had set for the month after the hormonal wonkiness but some is better than none. 

WTG last week! There is so much connection between the mental and physical!

I did lifting/bodyweight work yesterday. It was a good workout. The pull/chin-up work is still kicking my butt but perhaps a bit less, I'll continue on w/ the week 1 work next week as well. Let's see how many weeks it takes me to accomplish the week 1 goals, maybe by the end of the month I'll be up for week 2 🙂 I like the progression, it is a different approach than I've taken and I think it is working some accessory muscles that have been neglected w/ the crawling and hanging. Every time I'm hanging I think of the fitness show Strong I watched and this guy could just hang minutes on end. I'm doing 1 min deadhang now and 30 sec with chin over the bar. I could probably do a hair more but that much is HARD. 

I scrolled through to see if I'd already talked about this here but couldn't find it so forgive me if I'm repeating myself. I turn 40 in June. In the past, I'd always thought I would be someone to set some massive butt kicking goal for the year, really prove myself physically. BUT here I am and it is approaching and I'm not in that headspace. I'm at a place that is ok with not pushing myself so hard, taking things a bit slower, more accepting and gentler with my body and I'm happy about that, this is where I needed to be although before I would have thought I was giving up, no I'm just playing the long game and realizing that my body now cannot take the pushing and that is ok. I push too hard I end up down and out- I've found a good level that I have been able to sustain and that is worth a whole lot.

 

Nah, not too much. Just takes some time to adjust 🙂 I am going to stay at this level for at least a couple more weeks, then we'll see.

On the big goals and age... I do need huge goals for motivation, but I am totally paranoid about overdoing it and injuring myself. I do push myself, but I also listen to my body and keep my overachieving brain in check all the time. Slow and steady will take me closer to my goals and faster.

 

4 hours ago, Carrie12345 said:

I got two gym days in this week. I had to do it by going at night once, and on a weekend once.  I am officially not a night or weekend gym-er, lol. I want my weekday mornings back!  But at least it got done.

 You did it, which is what counts!

4 hours ago, lmrich said:

Need to join back in the conversation and motivation you wonderful ladies provide!

I did awesome last week - 3 days at the gym lifting weights. Got my steps in every day, to my more than 30 minutes of active time in every day. 

BUT the week before - migraine so nothing. AND I got another migraine or cold or something hit me last night. 

I also developed a new allergic reaction to something in my favorite salad - most likely the shrimp so my body could be reacting to that as well. 

Stay warm everybody!

Yay on awesome week! And sorry about migraines and allergy 😞 I'll ignore stay warm comment - I went for a run this morning wearing a t-shirt and leggings, and halfway through I was thinking I need to buy shorts 🙂

I did another run this morning. 3.3 miles. Tried to concentrate on not tensing muscles that shouldn't be tense, like my shoulders (I had a bad shoulder cramp on Tuesday). So far nothing hurts. We'll see if I eat everything in the house later.

[Well-Trained Bodies January 2019!]

3 hours ago, soror said:

I turn 40 in June, my Mom had a hysterectomy at a young age. My grandma had her last kid at 36 and mom said menopause was h*ll for her and lasted forever, hoping that's not my fate. I used to take melatonin intermittently for sleep but found getting my thyroid regulated and magnesium glycinate worked better for sleep for me (and I'm very touchy w/ melatonin even something like .5 mg can make me feel drowsy the next day.) I do feel better than I did last week, I guess we'll see how this cycle goes, I'm hoping there is not a repeat of this! Today's workout was better than Thurs but I managed to get a floor burn from army crawling. My appetite seems to be back to normal too, I can see how peri can cause the weight gain! 

 

Everyone is different. I do not react to melatonin at all as far as sleep is concerned, although I did have some sleep problems when my cycle first started getting weird. I sleep OK now, although not as well as I used to. No more sleeping in till noon for me. Unless I take Nyquil. Then I am out for 20 hours. I also tried magnesium and ended up having weird chest pains even with low doses. As I said, we are all different. And even genetics will not predict everything. Too many factors involved.

I am still not sure what is the cause for my hunger. I went for a jog Friday morning and was hungry all day. Today I am fine. We'll see tomorrow after the run. 

So, I did 1hr bike on Thursday, 2.4 miles on Friday, plus just over an hour of fencing in the evening. I actually noticed a difference while fencing. I was much more relaxed and was less tired by the end. On the sad side, I started having slight discomfort in my left foot after Tuesday run, which was almost unnoticeable, but it is in my left foot that I use for propelling my lunges in fencing, and it got worse after fencing. I actually woke up a couple of times last night because of shooting pain there. It's OK today, but I don't like it.  I went and ordered new fencing shoes, as old ones are getting beat up. I do need a good support due to high arches, so might be that, too. I went for a 35 minute walk today as my only exercise (MFP thinks it was "brisk" 🙂 ).

As for goals, I am actually ahead of my 30min x 5 times a week so far. Weight is holding steady.

 

[Well-Trained Bodies January 2019!]

31 minutes ago, soror said:

Do you think it is peri? Mine kept getting shorter last year and got down to 21 days IIRC but it was a gradual thing and then started getting longer again and had been regular, then bam it's 10 days + shorter. I know the thyroid is tied to the cycle too so I don't know if it is that or hormones but I'm not a fan I've not felt great for a week now, hoping after this period is over I get some energy back. Stupid bodies!!! 

 I think it is. My mom was done at 47, and I am 43, so timing looks right. Mine started getting shorter about 3 years ago, just a little at first, like 26 days, then I started getting terrible headaches during the first 2 days of my period, and my sleep became terrible. Around that time (2.5 years ago) I found an article about melatonin being involved in regulating female hormones, so I started taking it. Cycle went back to 28 and headaches disappeared, as long as I didn't miss too many days taking melatonin. A few months back it started getting wacky again though.  31 day, then 23, then 14. I did have to switch my melatonin pills around that time, as the old ones were discontinued. Maybe I should look into a different brand again. Or maybe nothing lasts forever. In any case, I definitely don't enjoy perimenopause.

[Well-Trained Bodies January 2019!]

On 1/16/2019 at 7:05 AM, hshibley said:

Not right now. I’m trying to increase my distance to get my 5k time down. I’d like to be closer to 30 minutes then try a longer distance. 

 Sounds like a good plan! Good luck! I am still figuring out what I want to do with my running.

 

4 hours ago, soror said:

Walked w/ friend yesterday, ended up w/ 8k steps. Still not feeling the best and had a horrible headache all evening. This am my period came out of the blue at day 17, making my last cycle 16 days, seriously. hmmph. Don't know what's up with that but sure hope that was a fluke and I'm feeling better soon. Tonight is lifting, hoping for a good workout.

 Sounds so familiar. I got my period two days ago on day 15. l also spotted all two weeks and had continued br**t tenderness, although it usually stops on day 1. Once it all stopped, the period came. Grrr. But at least at all stopped, so I hope for a "normal" cycle this time. The old one can keep that hunger, too.

Felt meh yesterday, so only had a private lesson (and ate 😉 ). Today it is still raining, so I am staying home and doing the bike. Tomorrow's forecast is no rain, and I don't have to take DD to college, so I can run in the morning.

[Well-Trained Bodies January 2019!]

On 1/14/2019 at 9:27 AM, hshibley said:

I ran my 5k Sunday morning. I ran the whole way with a time of 33 min 17 sec. I was really pleased. I’m looking at running another 5k in March. I’d like to get my time closer to 30 mins. We’ll see. 

My general plan for the week is 1 spin class, 2 strength classes, 1 yoga, 1trx class and week 1 of Hal Higdon’s novice 10K training plan (2.5, 2 and 3 mile runs). I’ve never done the trx class before and I’m not that coordinated so we’ll see how that goes 😁🙄

 Congrats on the 5K! Are you planning on racing 10K, too?

19 hours ago, soror said:

I only got 7,500 steps today. Blah. Dd and I took a little walk and I cleaned house. I could have mopped but didn't want to, I've been doing so much cleaning the last few weeks I'm running out of steam and pressing things that need to be done. I wish the weather was a bit nicer, I don't want to do outside projects in this weather. But on the whole even this, so far crappy week, is better than I was doing in the fall.

I've been hit or miss with my food tracking and it is non-optional if I want to lose, as much as I tell myself otherwise. I do it a bit and weight starts to go done and I say, I've got this, I don't need to track. I think I need to increase my goal a bit, at least for this part of my cycle, I think that is part of the problem, so, we'll try it and see. Onward and upwards.

Today is lifting at the gym.

Adjusting the goal helps, especially if you feel hungry. But for me, it is not even that I stick to a number that helps, but that I stop and think before eating something. Like am I really hungry? You would think that you don't need to track calories for this, but it turns out I do.

18 hours ago, Carrie12345 said:

I have been STINKING at getting back into a routine. Without a routine, I'm toast.. 😞

Dd starts afternoon college classes on my planned gym days this week, so I have my fingers crossed that that will get me back on track. Except she's been really sick, so she missed her first day yesterday! Last week was full of moving things around for appointments and other important things, though I did get there for 2 workouts (1 great, 1 meh.)

I'm trying to turn my frustrations into motivation. I flexed for dh the other day, showing off, lol. I can see awesome things happening, but I keep getting bummed thinking about the possibilities if I could just get my act together. Or about how quickly I'll go backwards if I don't. It would all be so much easier if I had workout space at home, but it's absolutely not in the budget. 

On the bright side, I've been entering some of my home recipes into MFP so that my tracking weeks can be less boring!

You can do it! And good job on those recipes! I really hate doing it. I'll admit that when I track I switch to single ingredient foods as much as possible, or add minimal amounts of other things, so that I could just ignore them. Or, sometimes I add something like butter/oil/whatever to dinner separately, to balance out those ingredients in cooking. 😳

 

It was raining yesterday, so I skipped fencing. I became such a California girl :))) I did an hour of an easy bike instead. Today I planned on skipping the private lesson, as the coach was supposed to return from Europe on Monday, but he texted me in the morning, so I went. After that I had a free hour before picking up DD, and the forecast was that it won't rain for another hour, so I gave DS an assignment and went for a 30-minute run, figuring that I'll make it. I eyeballed the distance, and came .1 mile and 3 minutes short of my plan, which was lucky as I came back just as it started to rain. But I still broke my personal records 🙂 I love how easy it is in the beginning - two short runs and another minute is off from my mile. If only it could last until some decent numbers 🙂

I think my weird PMS this cycle that decided to hang around for 2 extra weeks has finally left. I am also not ravenous today. Now I am wondering if my hunger was actually running-related or hormone-related.

[Well-Trained Bodies January 2019!]

18 hours ago, soror said:

Only managed 4,500 steps yesterday. Got to the gym and not much beyond that just didn't feel very well. Here's hoping today is a better one. I did get 8 hrs of sleep (which hasn't happened in months). All of my upper body is very SORE!!

I hope today really was a great day for you!

17 hours ago, Monica_in_Switzerland said:

This week has been brutal, headaches or migraines every day.  I have no idea what's going on.  Sigh.  About half-way through the week, I did move back into keto... it totally eliminated my regular headaches last time, so I decided to stop hemming and hawing and just get started.  Today I feel slightly better, but still not headache free.  Grrr.

So sorry about that 😞 Hopefully, you will find a way to eliminate them soon!

14 hours ago, IvyInFlorida said:

Hi everybody!  I used to post a little on these threads last year, but I'm looking forward to following everybody's efforts more diligently from here on out.  Y'all are inspiring!

So I used this online tool where you measure your wrist to determine your body frame type and use that as a factor to determine ideal weight, BMI, etc.  I thought that was neat.  I hate scales because even though I'm average-ish height (5'5), I have thick, heavy bones that make the simpler weight gauges not really applicable to me.  It confirmed what I thought--about 10 lbs to go and then it's maintain, maintain, maintain.

So that's my goal, plus lower body toning and enough cardiovascular fitness to make it through my black belt test next year (3 hour test, which includes 3 straight minutes of punching bag work, AAAAAHHHH) with ease.

I did pretty well through the holidays, mostly because I was consistent with exercise and the fact that I don't have a sweet tooth.  Food-wise, I'm going to tweak my diet a little, skewing more toward salad/veggies and less bread for each meal, even breakfast.  I can't skimp on meat, cheese, or fats or I end up being absolutely starving all day.  I would like to figure out a way to not snack during the 3-4pm window without feeling like I might die before supper...  Also how to make it through PMS without wallowing in gin and tonic or cheese toast!  PMS makes me completely irrational and I can justify any bad decision, LOL.

Exercise...still doing martial arts 3x per week.  Then 2x per week something additional.  In a couple months it will be swimming, but in the meantime, I'd like to switch from running to bodyweight exercises.  I enjoy the running since it's a guaranteed kid-free activity, but I ended up with pretty serious heel pain a couple weeks ago after I did 4 miles trail running.  I got new shoes.  Still, I think I'm going to rest from running a bit.  I dread the bodyweight stuff a little because it makes me a little achy, but I know I need to do it.

Anybody with words on wisdom on my goals/plan, please chime in!

Welcome back!

No real words of wisdom, but I am sure you can lose the weight and get ready for that black belt test! From what I remember 30 seconds of bag punching were pretty brutal. I don't even want to think about 3 minutes 🙂  Do you know what else the test includes? See if there are things like crazy number of pushups, etc, which won't be really trained during classes but you can do at home during those bodyweight sessions. Once you make/find a plan, and get used to it a little, it's not that bad 🙂 I actually think I need to add them back, as my upper body is not getting enough work lately.

I actually followed the plan yesterday, and only did a 35 minute walk in the neighborhood. Still, lots of steps, and some of the streets had a decent incline. And this morning I actually ran 5K! I was really surprised, but at about 1K I realized that I could do it. I guess I hit that spot where I felt I could run forever. I did run very slowly, slower than my last run/walk, but I didn't switch at all. I felt my hips were a little tight while I was running, but after a cool down and a nice soak in a tub, it feels fine. Due to our weather, my next run might be  on Friday, but I am looking forward to it! I just wish my family stopped being all excited about it. When I said I ran 5k, DS asked if I was going to run 10k tomorrow. And when DH decided to brag to his parents about me running, FIL asked I was running along a particular street that is really steep. Yes, of course I am going to run 10K uphill tomorrow. It is not like I need my feet and joints for anything else. DH redeemed himself by konmariing his part of the closet today though 🙂 And I found a couple of dresses from college I could fit into. I know they didn't fit last fall 🙂

As for weight, as much as I want to lose a few more pounds, I decided that with added running and accompanying stress on muscles, I should be eating at least at maintenance. If my body decides to recomp, I am fine with that, but I feel like actively trying to lose weight is not a right thing right now. I am also watching my protein levels, as I tend to go carb/fat heavy.  I did lose the 4 lbs I gained during Christmas/NY week though.

[Well-Trained Bodies January 2019!]

15 hours ago, HollyDay said:

I am unfortunately in a pain flare. 2 workouts ago, the trainer decided to "up our game plan" and see if we could move on faster.  After all the goal is to get me independent.  I agreed as things have been going so well.  Well......not so much.  I've had pain ever since.  Yes, I have chronic pain and one of the goals of working with a trainer is to reduce the chronic pain...and we have had success..until 2 sessions ago.  We talked a lot and evaluated a lot last session and I think we just agitated things that didn't want to be agitated.  We both agreed I've taken a step (or 2) backwards.

January is always a more painful month for me anyway.  I made huge changes in holiday eating hoping to avoid increased pain.  And honestly, I think it would have worked had we not agitated things.  But, in any event, the pain this January is much less than 2 years ago, and on par with last Jan.  Resting and icing, increasing tumeric, hoping to get back on track this coming week.  I did go to the gym yesterday but did mostly upper body (my pain flare is always lower back, right hip, right leg), stretching, mat work.

So sorry about that! Feel better soon!

6 hours ago, soror said:

I'm sorry Holly, I hope you are better soon 😞

________________

Yesterday was a lazy day, I did not feel the best. 5k steps but I'm calling that a victory, my last "lazy day" 9 days ago I only had 4k steps and the one prior was 3k, that's victory. I'm going to have fluctuations in my day because my energy varies so much but I'm generally trending upwards.

We do need our rest days. And 5K is great. I looked through my records, and my lazy days are 3K give or take 200.

 

My body also really wanted a rest day yesterday, but it was a fencing day, so I dragged myself there. I managed OK, but today I am taking a day off completely. I might go for a walk, but just a walk. I'll wear jeans to make sure it is a proper leisurely walk, and nothing that requires any real effort or gets me even slightly out of breath. 

[Well-Trained Bodies January 2019!]

11 hours ago, soror said:

When I crawled in bed I was at 9756, so I got back up and cleaned and paced some more and I made it 🙂 7 days average of 10k, lets see how the next 7 days go.

Hope the hips are ok, I like how running made me feel but ended up being too much stress for my body.

My hunger has been crazy the last couple of days, thank you hormones!!!

 Yay! You did it! And I hear you about hunger. I feel like I eat something, and 30 minutes later I am starving again. I upped my calories and I am still hungry. I don't think it's hormones in my case, though. Or maybe it is. This cycle is crazy for me.

I still feel my hips, but they are getting much better. I can walk and run, but when I stand up, I walk funny for a few seconds. I still went out to run, as it makes me feel so much better energy-wise.

8 hours ago, Ravin said:

I have decided to accelerate my step count increases. I have been increasing 300 steps/week as long as I reached the goal 3 days that week. I haven't missed a weekly increase in quite some time. So, I'm going to start increasing my goal 300 steps every time I hit three days at the current goal. This should still result in increases at least weekly, but could also go faster than that. Once I hit 12000 steps/day, I'm going to start adding additional exercises besides walking.

Sounds like a great plan!

6 hours ago, lynn said:

It looks like everyone is off to a good start this year.  Today concludes phase 1 of 80 day obsession.  I lost 4 lbs but gained some core strength and good toning.  At 51 I'll take those results.  I have discovered and am a little discouraged that I can only go up to 15lbs dumbbells or i aggravate my back issue.    Thats only 30lbs for most leg exercise I am hoping if I continue working on my core i could eventually go up to 20lb dumbells.  Any suggestions to stay where I'm at or keep working on it.  

It's hard to say what would be better. I can only suggest listening to your body and thread carefully if something aggravates anything in your body. With improved core strength you are likely to be able to handle more weight, but don't rush. 

4 hours ago, Margaret in CO said:

The treadmill arrived yesterday, and bless dd's soul, she spent 2 hours putting it together. It made it SO much easier to get that last mile in last night. Did 10 yesterday. And I'm down another lb.  

 Nice! Having equipment at home does make using it easier! And congrats on another pound!

 

Yesterday my run/walk turned out to be the only exercise for the day. DD needed to go to orthodontist, and since it was an emergency visit, it was only available at the time when I could have taken a private lesson.  No fencing today, so I did another run in the morning. I pushed it a little to hit exactly 5K. Of course, now 2 of my apps disagree as to how much I ran and how fast, and they managed to update each other in a circle, so now I need to sit down and figure out which one out of 4 runs I need to keep 🙂 That aside, they promise rain for 6 out of the next 9 days my weather app shows 😞 I guess I'll be back on my bike next week.

[Well-Trained Bodies January 2019!]

6 hours ago, soror said:

Sorry you are sore, hope it is better soon 😞

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Monday- 8.5 k steps

Tuesday- 11.5 k steps + lifting at the gym- much smoother than Thursday. I switched back to higher reps, lower weights just b/c that is what I wanted to do, at least for now. I also taught a yoga class for kids at the library (and practiced it at home w/ my kids)- about 40 minutes total but nothing too intense- obviously. I decided to start working on this MOVNAT progression, except I couldn't do it all, well not all and my lifting too, I guess I'm rusty on my crawling!

If my steps are 10k today then my last 7 day average will be 10k... Will I make it??? I've got nowhere to go today and would LOVE a lazy day w/ this busy week so I'll have to work for it today 🙂

I've only taken a couple of small walks with that too, mostly that is working around the house and yard and when you walk that much around the house and yard everything stays pretty clean because I'm looking for things to do to keep busy instead of randomly walking- that's a win-win! 

ThanksI I am feeling better 🙂

You can do it! Although I know it can be hard. A few days ago I had something like 9456 steps just before bedtime. Those 500 steps are not a lot, and can be done at home. I spent a bit of time how crazy it was just to walk around the house for 10 minutes. I ended up not doing it, but I kind of regret it. So, do it!

And cleaner house is one of the things I enjoy about my fitbit. In addition to steps it has "active hours", so every hour I try to get up and do something to get that dot. Got 9 out of 9 yesterday 🙂

I did about an hour of fencing on Monday. Yesterday I started the day with a 30-minute walk. I did jog a small part of it, just to get my heart rate up, but I was a bit afraid to hurt myself, so I was super slow and careful. I do like how it makes me feel after, so I want to continue. Hopefully, I'll be able to run soon, but even just walking is great. I do feel like it makes me more hungry though. Then I took a private lesson, and finished it off with an intense 30-minute bike session. I noticed that bike is the only thing that really gets my heart rate up.

I am afraid I am getting a bit addicted to all the cool apps though.

  OK, off to finish my coffee and head out for a walk.

[Well-Trained Bodies January 2019!]

I really should have stuck  to my goals of 5 workouts a week, but no, I decided to try running. 30 minutes. Slow, with some walking. Felt pretty happy, but since I returned home my hips are killing me every time I sit down and then try to do something. The muscles are sore, too, but I think the main problem is tendons (IT band around the hips, according to Dr. Google). Not fun at all. I hope if I sufficiently warm up, fencing will be possible tonight.