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Well-Trained Bodies January


Soror
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Bodyweight circuit and yoga for shoulders and neck this morning. Weight is up 2 from holiday weight gain (better than the up 3 on Friday). The usual January goals--get eating back on track using My Fitness Pal as necessary, drop the holiday pounds (and if another 1 or 2 jumped off that would be fine), exercise 6 days a week and aim for 30 min, not 15-20! I'll start up with 30 days of yoga but may only get 2 per week done.

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Posted (edited)

At the moment, I'm focusing my fitness goals on increasing day-to-day movement and mobility. I'm still recovering from last year's injury (maybe this is a new normal?). I lost my zeal for strength training with so much limitation so I'm focused on the minimum with this.

Today so far: 30 min walk; up next short mobility + strength

January's goals- 

Daily mobility practice- I started working on this a few months ago but have been increasing my frequency. I'm currently reading Built to Move and incorporating the practices from this- a lot I was doing and some are new. The main author is a well-respected PT who has been talking about mobility for ages. I'm still aiming to sit less. This came into focus with the injury as sitting caused lots of pain. Now, my body tolerates more but I want to make sure my sedentary time is not too high for health. 

Outdoor time/walking- I'm doing the 1000-hours outdoors challenge. I'm aiming for 50 hours outside this month with the decreased temps and shortened daylight. I'm loosely aiming for 1 hour on the weekdays and 5 hours total for the weekend. I'm upping my step goal a bit as well. Aside from Christmas Eve and Christmas, I hit my goal every day since October 13th. Being outside more I'm increasing my walking time but also will be using that time for work around the house and yard as there is always plenty to do. Dh and I are still hiking most weekends.

Strength - 2x a week- short basic routine- primarily bodyweight

Food- Aiming to keep protein and produce intake up. I'm loosely aiming for the 800 g a day but I'm eyeballing it most of the time. Trying to keep my plates 1/4 protein, 1/4 complex carb, and 1/2 produce.

Body composition- I'd like to lose around 2.5-3 lbs to get back to my preferred weight. 

Sleep- practicing good sleep hygiene most of the time. I think have broken my dependence on gabapentin for sleep. I finally didn't need it for pain but when I tried going off of it I got rebound insomnia. It seems to be mostly subsided now. Sleep isn't perfect with the changes in hormones with peri but it's ok- eating well, being active with plenty of time outside, and keeping my vit D level up helps.

Edited by Soror
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I am jumping in with some very slow-paced fitness goals for this year.

I do not need to lose weight, but do need to increase muscle tone and become stronger. I have disc issues and cannot do any strenuous exercise, including swimming. Over many years, my fitness has faded away and I have ceased to be active. Beginning to reverse that trend this year, I hope. Baby steps for this almost 60 yo. 
 

I have joined the Y and replaced my running shoes.

For January, my goals are to walk outside 3-4x a week, to get a personal trainer at the Y who can help me develop a good routine and teach me how to use the equipment well, and to begin participating in a fitness class of some sort.

I may need to invest in some athletic clothes, leggings or sweatpants. 

Edited by ScoutTN
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I played 2 hrs of ladies doubles tennis, which is fast-paced and really fun. At one point, I leaned into a shot a little too far and fell sideways. I won the point (Yay!) but ended up with abrasions on my lower leg and elbow. 

I also got in a very nice dog walk in the afternoon. 

This year I want to keep up with the daily walks in the woods with the dogs, play tennis about 3x/week, add in regular stretching and some light weights to prevent injuries. Avoiding falling will help, too! 🤪

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Somehow my blood pressure has become high, how did this happen?  Like really high, for me.  So I'm committing to this thread for the year.  I hiked on New Year's Day to buttress my belief that what you do on New Year's you'll do all year.  A longer hike up a mountain on the 2nd, then just a mile yesterday after having a tooth pulled.  I'm a mess from three weeks away and I need to pull it together.

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I wasn't feeling great yesterday - perhaps allergies from unseasonably warm weather. I only did the morning dog walk, then rested for the day. Today is cold outdoors and I'm feeling much better. Got the morning dog walk in, and will also do the afternoon  dog walk. I'm scheduled to play singles tennis tomorrow morning.

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Sorry you felt bad @Harriet Vane and  @wintermom.

@Laura Corin I'm so glad you can work from home while you recover.

Welcome @ScoutTN and @Eos I look forward to hearing about your progress.

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I forgot my mobility work yesterday. I planned to do it in the evening but we played some games and I ran an errand with dh.

Today- short mobility + short strength training. 

Yesterday- 4 hours outside doing odd and ends in the yard and chatting with the girls. 2 hours outside this morning/afternoon doing yardwork and hanging with the girls. I'm at 10 hours outside so far. I'm going to try and hit 20 hours this week.  We're continuing our break from school this week and work is still light from the holiday slowdown (school is out so less DFS referrals). 

 

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Just finished TKD class. I ran across the idea of bringing a small notebook so I can write down the things I need to practice more at home. I was so proud of myself that I remembered and tonight, nothing we did was particularly tricky for me. 😕

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A short walk today with dd who is recovering from surgery.  I had a tooth pulled yesterday and today my face is swollen and achey, so a short walk was fine for me too 🙂

Edited by Eos
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I am quite lazy but making daily workouts a part of my routine has been the best decision for my overall well-being. It boosts my energy and mood big time. I also plan to add stretching this month. As for supplements, I want to buy some, any BioTRUST reviews? I just want to do everything possible to be healthy and enjoy my life, that's why a healthy lifestyle is my new hobby.

Edited by Froste
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10 minutes ago, Harriet Vane said:

Aw, Laura, I'm sorry you're having such a rough time. I pray you feel stronger soon.

Thank you. I feel fine if I do nothing. It's irritating and a bit concerning though. I have to remind myself it's not yet been a month since I caught Covid. 

Eta I slept ten hours last night, which is unheard of.

Edited by Laura Corin
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14 hours ago, Laura Corin said:

I slept ten hours last night, which is unheard of.

Maybe you can reset to this as your new normal!  

My ouchy tooth kept me quiet yesterday but it's much better this morning and I need to move.  We're expecting a storm so it's calm and cold, I'm going to go up a mountain and look for snowy owls.  I've been up four times, none yet.

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15 hours ago, Froste said:

I want to add stretching to my daily routine this month.  

Same - back to my early morning stretch routine now.  Thank you for the reminder of this!

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Friday was 20 min on the treadmill. I need dh to wake up a little earlier so I can get on the treadmill a little earlier and get the full 30 min. This has been a hard week for everyone sleepwise--family, students, fellow teachers. We're still messed up from break.

Started Adriene's 30 Days of Yoga this morning with Day 1 which was good. In past years I've put pressure on myself to finish the 30 days by the end of February (I certainly can't get yoga in every day for 30 days, but even that goal was yoga about half of the days in a week). I'm not putting that extra stress on myself this year, so if I can get 2 done per week, awesome, but if it's just Saturday mornings that's awesome too. Then I have enough yoga to last well into the year without searching for a session I want to do.

Eating is still not back to what it should be. We still have low-iron college kid home, so dinners are including more meat than dh and I usually eat. And I can't do veggies with this kid (on the side, sure, but not as the center of a meal). This week we still had holiday food around, but the birthday cake is now gone and I took leftover Christmas candy to my students. I tried to get my calorie intake back to normal without using My Fitness Pal during the week (which takes time to fill out), but my weight is still up 2 pounds (and some days went higher). I think I eat well until I get home from school, and then I mentally think I have a lot of calories left in my day since I didn't eat snacks at school and I way over-do end of day eating. MFP helps my brain know that I don't have a huge number of calories left to consume. So today is entered into MFP and as dd goes back to school tomorrow I am going to try to have a better week of eating this coming week.

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I’d like to join back in for some accountability. My fitness goals this year include better eating and for my average monthly weight to move down by 1 lb. per month. I work between 50-60 hours a week, so it’s hard for me to fit in a lot, and to prepare meals that take a lot of time. Having said that, I feel like my exercise is pretty well dialed in - I row for 45 minutes every day (mostly for the stress-relief benefits!). But my eating can be atrocious at times - lots of stress eating and sometimes eating something like chips and salsa or cereal for dinner. It’s bad. 
 

What I would love is for someone to just make me a 2-3 week meal plan based on what I will realistically eat and have time to prepare. I’m just not going to eat pan-fried tofu in a 14-ingredient sauce with tons of veggies that take forever to peel, chop, and cook. I looked into a nutritionist through my health system, but they will only do meal plans for people with serious medical conditions. Any suggestions for an independent nutritionist who will make me a meal plan? 

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Week 1 - roundup-

2 short! (10ish) minutes strength training;

2 pickleball sessions (2 hours; 20ish minutes);

steps met every day;

lots and lots of outside work with 17 hours outside;

mobility 6 days (varying lengths- usually 5-15 minutes)

Food was pretty decent on protein and produce intake. Too much chocolate but as I've been in PMS I'm letting it slide 🙂

This week's goals:

Aiming for 3 short strength workouts this week- focusing on pushups, kettlebell swings, squats, Turkish get-ups(half), deadbugs.

I'll probably not get any pickleball because the courts are supposed to be closed.

I'm aiming for 10 hours outside with a heavier schedule.

Daily mobility

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

Today so far I did- did 4 sets of 10 of each move + short mobility. I plan for more mobility this evening and some outside time. My schedule is a bit up in the air so I'm not sure.

Tomorrow we have a Blue Zones presentation at the local CC. It is put on by the son of Dan Buettner. I'm very excited that they are coming here to our little town. The head of our Chamber of Commerce is very health-minded so perhaps some changes are coming. I even got dh to agree to come with me.

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@Laura Corin Hope you're feeling better soon and able to walk again. 

@PinkTulip Welcome back to the thread! I'm in a similar boat as you, with good exercise but needing to work on healthy eating. All the best!

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

My goals for Jan and Feb are to keep up with my daily dog walks in the woods, tennis about 3x/week, and fixing up my eating patterns. I've already had some good progress on eliminating cookies and chips post-Christmas, replacing with more healthy snacks.

I also need to get more intentional about my weight-training and stretching for injury prevention. Perhaps a visual check-list or something to help remind me to get them done daily might help. 

I'm also going to keep going with alcohol-free beverages. It's improved my sleep so much! I wasn't a heavy drinker by any means, but I've really noticed a difference in my sleep by cutting out the occassional hard cider after tennis.

Edited by wintermom
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After two days of no coffee and lots of supplements, my bp is definitely lower!  So I went for a real hike today and went slowly enough that I didn't have to stop and breathe.  No snowy owls still.  I fear they've found a winter retreat they like better than here.  Also followed tracks in the snow near the house and did a morning stretch/plank routine.

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I've been so sporadic since injuring my leg a few years ago . . But I've recommitted. . . and my overall health is doing better.  Hey, I was walking around and noticing it wasn't making me ill the way it normally did and thinking - I could get back on the treadmill without making myself ill - about five minutes before twisting my ankle.


last week, every day, I did
a chair yoga practice, either Yoga by Kassandra or Pagoda Yoga (Please, thank you, very good . . . while you're begging her not to kill you . . . I wish I could include inflections in her voice.  so softspoken, so polite, but she pulls no punches.)

some other exercises -tried several different things, a short core workout, a hip opener that is also supposed to release tension (it's interesting), and some wall-pushups (my wrists can't currently handle a plank).

a few odds and ends that were more experiments.

Then my massage chair for 30 minutes, and I have some leg massagers for an hour (I do that one while working on the computer)

I rewarded myself for a week well done with a long hot mineral bath soak, and some other don't do often enough pampering.

Have done most of them for today, just a couple things to finish up.  and it feels good . . . 

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One week into the new year, and I’m still on point with my food. I’ve been keeping track of things on My Fitness Pal, and haven’t had any of my regular stress foods (soda, sweets, etc). I’m trying to keep the momentum going, but also give myself some grace if I’m not perfect. 

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Gentle 18 minute walk.  I no longer had a pain in the centre of my chest but my lungs still feel a bit tight.  I'm going to leave it at least another week before I walk up the hill again.

Yoga is due to start next week.  I will delay starting back (it's very vigorous) for another few weeks.  I've already paid, but I can double up on sessions later if necessary.

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2 minutes ago, Laura Corin said:

Gentle 18 minute walk.  I no longer had a pain in the centre of my chest but my lungs still feel a bit tight.  I'm going to leave it at least another week before I walk up the hill again.

Yoga is due to start next week.  I will delay starting back (it's very vigorous) for another few weeks.  I've already paid, but I can double up on sessions later if necessary.

I went with dh to a few yoga classes, and was surprised at how brutal they were. Perhaps it was more an indication of my lack of fitness than an objective assessment of the class, lol, but surprising none the less.

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Just now, knitgrl said:

I went with dh to a few yoga classes, and was surprised at how brutal they were. Perhaps it was more an indication of my lack of fitness than an objective assessment of the class, lol, but surprising none the less.

It depends on the style.  You might prefer 'restorative yoga'.  I'm pretty keen on Ashtanga, which is tougher.

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19 hours ago, PinkTulip said:

One week into the new year, and I’m still on point with my food. I’ve been keeping track of things on My Fitness Pal, and haven’t had any of my regular stress foods (soda, sweets, etc). I’m trying to keep the momentum going, but also give myself some grace if I’m not perfect. 

I found seriously increasing my protein intake significantly reduced sweet/carb cravings.   jme.

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Nothing at all yesterday, unfortunately.  I got a lot of errands done and a stressful three hour zoom.  Today I woke up and remembered the hotel pool where the kids and I spent many winter days, I might go and use their equipment and maybe even swim.  It's pouring rain and blowing a gale.

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Just lots of rain here. The watch weather showed a snowflake for the weekend for awhile but that's gone now--not going to get as cold as they thought. So just rain.

21 min fitbymik cardio followed by one of her 5 min cool down videos.

eta: I lied--the snowflake is back for Saturday. We shall see.

Edited by Ali in OR
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Yesterday, I got on the treadmill for 25 minutes. TKD class was cancelled this evening due to weather. I should be able to get some pattern practice in, and maybe stretching. I woke up with a migraine this morning, so won't be pushing myself, though I am thankful meds have made the rest of the day tolerable.

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22 hours ago, gardenmom5 said:

I found seriously increasing my protein intake significantly reduced sweet/carb cravings.   jme.

I'm finding this is working for me, too. Also, not bringing sweets and other snacks into the house helps! If it's right there in the kitchen, it's tough to avoid snacking. As long as dh brings home sweets I don't really like, all is good! 😊

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