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Weekly fitness check-in here!

catgirl

Veteran

I've managed to blow this off for a few weeks, but I'm inspired by Celia to restart a weekly post. What a hard time of year this is to watch your eating and exercise, with all the other things to do in the day. Or is it just me?

We've had horrible weather (warm and rainy!), so all my plans for skiing with the dog were ruined. I have gotten back to climbing regularly, which feels SO good and feels more like a therapeutic outlet for me than exercise. Need to work more on aerobics somehow - I'm not good at indoor biking or running, and the weather is too nasty for outdoors.

In terms of eating, not great but not terrible - I have been avoiding sugar, which is good, and craving it less. But the Thai buffet is a siren song!

Does anyone do Zumba here? My husband saw a class at the gym and said he thought I'd love it. I am super-uncoordinated at dance and aerobics, so will that be a problem?

Chime in here with your updates, triumphs and complaints!

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15 replies

Latest reply was from Queen Mum

celia

Veteran

Hello Una
Due to recent events I'm watching my food and trying to compile a series of yoga exercises to do at home.
My plan is to give myself a day off every week ,food related.Somehow it's easier to eat healthy foods during the week if I know that on the weekend there will be a day when I can eat my chocolat and, in the case of this week have a Christmas dinner with yummy food(which for me is salmon, shrimp,lobster and maybe some prosciutto, I know weird combination).

Sylvie

Veteran

I'm still getting back into working out after my *mumble*weeks long fall off the exercise bandwagon with corresponding weight gain.

The good part is that I don't look like I've gained weight. If it wasn't for the scale, I wouldn't even know I was up at all. Maybe it's because of all the awesome YLF-approved clothing?

Last week I ran 3 miles on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday. This week I will workout on Tuesday and Thursday (weight training classes or 3 mile runs). Then I'm going to be traveling for the next two weeks so I'm not sure if I'll be able to workout at all.

I do Zumba and love it. You have to find a teacher whose style works for you - I've been to some pretty amazing and pretty crappy teachers. Even if I can't do the exact same step as the teacher, I fumble through it and do my own crappy version. The important thing is to keep moving and have fun. You don't burn any fewer calories if your left arm is up instead of your right arm.

Mo

(website)

Veteran

Hmm, sort of derailed here but not off the tracks fully. The long weekend in Miami kind of started the ball rolling with too much to eat and drink and no workouts. Since then, I've gotten in one 3.5 mile run and my nightly push ups and ab moves, but not much else. The wine seems to still be flowing freely as well - sigh. Technically I weigh the same but I could be feeling more 'fit' for sure.

rae

(website)

Veteran

I'm excited to be able to move again! We got a new fitness game and a dancing game for the X Box - the latter is really helping me, since dancing does not feel like a chore. Especially when I "dance battle" with hubs. I also went for a run for the first time in 3 months yesterday.

On the food end, I'm trying to turn it around. Getting a lot more protein in and way fewer carbs... my body does not like carbs, especially high-fiber whole grains and such. Protein and salad for lunch today, but next time I need to pack more, because I'm still hungry!

chewyspaghetti

Veteran

I'll jump on the bandwagon.
This has been an incredibly difficult time for me with diet/exercise. I have osteo arthritis in my back, so it's very important that I maintain my weight (or even lose some again, since it has crept back up). But, because of my health problems (which the professionals can't seem to agree on, but I am leaning toward believing that most of it is caused by bulging discs in my back now) it is very difficult for me to get the grocery shopping/cooking healthy done, and just about impossible to do any exercise or be physical outside of the pool. On top of that is the holiday parties/food. I have stopped the aquatic therapy that I was doing- it wasn't working and I can use the pool at the gym to get a more complete workout anyway. So I'm trying to swim more and still do some of the therapy strengthening, wear my back brace, and getting ready to start seeing a chiropractor about my back. I'm trying to really watch what I eat, but I'm not doing a very good job. I'm finding that small changes/equipment make a big difference in how comfortable my water workouts are, so I am planning on ordering a few more things to make the pool as productive as possible.
One good side effect of my seizure medication is that I can't drink alcohol with it- so I don't have to wrestle with that demon.
Una- Zumba is really fun. Give the class a try and see what you think. We have oen teacher at my gym that is super funny, and it doesn't matter if you are coordinated or not. Beware though, it's a whole culture- you will find Zumbees with special crazy outfits, props, and shoes for classes. Some people get really obsessed with it.

Diana

Veteran

I've been pretty good about sticking to my plan to work out every other day or so! (This despite the fact that I've been feeling a bit crummy and generally run-down but not full-on sick for the last few weeks - I think I have major SAD this year.) And last week I was able to button up my "skinny" jeans (which are actually bootcuts, hee), which haven't fit for a while. They are still majorly tight and rather muffin-toppy but hey, at least they close now, right?

My plan is to lose some weight through exercise alone, since I already eat pretty healthy and do not want to change my food habits. I am also not weighing myself regularly (although I am taking measurements sometimes) because I know scales makes me crazy and obsessive. This is mostly a good thing, but sometimes it's hard to see progress if you have no number to measure by...

catgirl

Veteran

I don't weigh myself daily because I get totally excited about a drop only to be back up the next day. Those must be the normal fluctuations. And I'm really more concerned about size than weight - if I weighed the same but it was all muscle I'd be much happier!

Khris, "Zumbees"? Am I going to be able to handle it?

Sylvie

Veteran

Kris, your Zumba classes sound like they have much more personality than the ones I've attended. Inquiring minds want to know - what sorts of crazy clothing and props do they have?

chewyspaghetti

Veteran

You can handle it, Una- I'd be willing to bet that classes there don't get so crazy. You know, So Cal already loves it's sweatsuits and crazy nails- zumba gear just goes right along with it.
check out the gear at the official Zumba shop:
http://www.zumba.com/shop
The big thing that I see at my gym is belly dancing belts/sashes with all the jingly coins on them.

catgirl

Veteran

Okay, I just read more about it and now I really want to try it... The outfits I could skip though. They look like something from Carnivale!

Aida

Veteran

(Una! You ski with your dog!??)

velvetychocolate

Veteran

Well, after losing a lot of weight, the past year and a half has mostly been just treading water - gaining and losing the same few pounds, and not really making any more progress. That said, I'm still pleased because it's been an extremely stressful year and a half - and even though I blipped up a few pounds, I kept working at getting them back off, and I had to do this ....umpteen times this year. I'll have to look at my calendar and double-check, but I am pretty convinced I lost the same five pounds maybe ten times this year?

I've also been on nine (nine!) trips this year. Ridiculous. Some were business, some were vacation and some were family emergencies.

At this point, I'm back to where I was before the Year of Turmoil. Yay...finally. Can't tell you how annoying it was to gain and re-lose those same pounds over and over again. Finally did it though, and haven't regained this time. Very determined, even though I can't say I've made further progress (yet!).

Food wise - it's getting better. It's usually pretty good, but throw in nine trips this year (some business, some vacation, one serious family emergency), and this threw me for a bit of a loop. I managed to ruin/wreck the latest suitcase, and this is yet another item that I'll have to replace ASAP. I didn't realize it, but I travel a lot. I've gone through three sets of luggage in the past six years.

Also - evening snacking - from the ongoing stress. I stopped the snacking just a couple of months ago. Just last week, it crept back in there in the form of handfuls of pistachio nuts. Weight creep again. I put the pistachios away - they're ok here and there, but every single night? Not a good plan.

Exercise is non-existent. Not happy about this. Need to get going on *something* soon. In the meantime, tonight's dinner is baked salmon with roasted broccoli and tomatoes.

I could use some help and encouragement to get back into exercise. In the meantime, I can't believe I gained and lost the same five pounds repeatedly this year. Looking back, I maybe lost almost 50 pounds? I really didn't - it's just that those five pounds kept coming back due to stress and me floundering....gain, lose, gain, lose, gain, lose, gain, lose - ad nauseum. You get the idea.

So that's where I'm at. Floundering a bit, but I'm not quitting.

anne

Veteran

I am having a rotten day but overall have been pretty good. Yesterday I woke with a sore throat but otherwise felt fine. I went to the pool early and swam 1.5km. I returned a couple of hours later to take my other 2 kids to their vacation swimming classes and spent 1/2 hours bobbing around in the water with my youngest. I left the pool freezing and think this may have stopped my body fighting back the cold. Around 5 pm I started feeling terrible, crawled into bed, got DH to cook tea and haven't felt much better today. I have stayed on the couch apart from brief trips to take girls to pool, try to get through the backlog of dishes to wash up and come on here.

So my plans of a week filled with intervals, long runs and weights sessions are looking in tatters! I have a plan to do a half marathon in about 6 weeks and a long distance swim the day after, so really need to get well soon.

Today is just one day however ( and thanks for reading my vent). Overall in the last 3 weeks I have maintained my weight loss and done most of my intended excersise. My running isn't great though, apart from starting interval sessions. I set out to do a 10km on Sunday and at the 4.2km mark tripped over and bruised my shin. Then I wimped out and walked home.

VC it must be discouraging, but sounds like you are doing well right now.

catgirl

Veteran

Aida, I ski-jor actually - she is on a harness and I am skiing behind her while she pulls. She loves it and we can go many miles that way. It is really a fun bonding thing to do - if your dog enjoys it, of course. Huskies are born to run and pull, so this is her instinct anyway... Here's a picture

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Queen Mum

Veteran

I feel that I am in a good groove. I'm not losing, but not gaining. Not bad for December. I'm getting a good workout in 3-4 times a week and I *try* to exhibit self control in the eating department.