Well, my elliptical gets delivered tomorrow.
I feel like I’m letting you down fitness clubbers! my work hours have suddenly exploded and I haven’t gotten a full workout in since Tuesday, and to top it off I’m helping my parents move tomorrow so its unlikely I’ll get one in then 
gotta get back on track!
Don’t worry about it, just think of it as active recovery plus helping your parents move is a workout - your activity is going to be up - you’re not just sitting on ya arse 
I have no pull up in the gym so this is my best option - I’m curious to know what benefits the narrow grip has - probably more biceps than back…
On the second video, when I face towards the stairs, I can put my feet up on the stairs and do inverted rows. The things you have to do to get a home workout 
I just wanted to give an update: I’ve finally gotten serious about tracking what I eat, using an app on my iPhone, and despite work being super busy, have used my bike trainer and the nikefit app on my iphone for a couple of work outs and have lost 3 lbs this past week. I’m also drinking more water (instead of reaching for a snack) and seem to be sleeping better too. I’m at work right now but will get in a nice long (16+ mile) bike ride later today.
I think you’ll find that this little corner of the forum is something we all visit and post to for our own benefit. The more helpful the Fitness Thread gets for you, though, the more I bet you’ll find yourself posting more to lift others’ spirits and offering encouragement. It’s pretty nifty.
WOOT! Good for you!
BKitty–I know from Twitter that you did go for the Friday run and kicked its ass. Yeah, WOLVERINES!
So I actually have a perplexing update and question for y’all.
Last week was really rough. The federal budget mess made for long hours at work, then events conspired to make Thursday and Friday really, really intense roller coaster rides of elation and despair and exhilaration and fear. I had a great evening last night with WavilyEmily but didn’t get quite enough sleep as a result.
This afternoon I had my regular Saturday appointment with my trainer. I told her that I was stressed out and had a bad week. We got going and I was working hard and feeling some of the yuck starting to melt. But then I burst into tears.
Like full on, couldn’t really control myself, got all runny nosed, totally embarrassing crying.
Hanna was great and assured me it was just all the stress and had us shift into stretching out and wrapped us up early but told me to go get some extra cardio.
This is not something that has happened to me before. I really, really hate crying in public. Call it a silly stereotype but I am too much of a tomboy for that sh*t.
Thoughts? Advice? Am I just a crazyface?
Alright SB, I know your pain with the crying. God I feel like crying just reading about it. I’ve cried more in the last 6 months than i have in years. Given your level of stress last week it’s not surprising that it happened. It’s just really inconvenient where it happened. But, in my not so professional opinion, your trainer is right. You found a release & the dam burst. First thing you need to do is once again remember, it’s OK. Sure it’s a little embarrassing but, you’re not an automaton, it happens and that’s OK. Take the stress throw it into that cardio & let it go.
I’m having a bit of an issue that I’m not sure what to do long term about. I’ve really decided to buckle down & get in regular workouts not just walking & stairs at work. Real honest to goodness workouts. The ones I have been doing are overall workouts. It combines strength, abs & cardio into one routine. When we move into the cardio for the first time, half way through the circuit I have trouble keeping going. I think it’s because I’m not breathing right. By the end of the workout I’m tired but able to push through because I am actively making myself breathe. Any suggestions to make this easier to remember? You’d think it would be easy, but apparently it’s not!
Second issue, I have discovered my clumsiness is not just me being a bull in a china shop. I have balance issues. I believe it’s due to multiple sprains in both ankles. They are both weak, my right one worse than the left. Any suggestions on how to work on that? I have been standing on one foot as I brush my teeth which seems to help but I get tired of doing it lol! It’s also a bit discouraging to practically fall on my face while doing something as simple as brushing my teeth!
For Aset, who asked what I’m doing to improve my balance:
Hanna has me trying lots of different things. We use a bosu ball a lot.
Hold a lunge pose with my front foot on the ball and do bicep curls with hand weights
Jumping from one side of the ball, onto the ball, to the other ball, on repeat
Alternating regular sets of various arm exercises with a set performed balanced on one leg and a set balanced on the other leg
Crunches on a normal fitness ball
I am seeing small improvements so far. Will let you know how it goes.
Since you have a weak ankle you might want to start by checking with a doctor or a trainer or something to see what you can do to strengthen that or at least make sure not to hurt it. That could definitely impact the what you choose to do to work on balance.
Oh, and at least some small part of my problem is that, as my podiatrist has put it, I have really weirdly shaped feet that cause me to roll my feet more than I should. There’s not to much I can do about that, so I’m doing all I can to work around it.
I guess I’m in a chatty mood today!
Xer01, as far as a scale goes, all of what people have said about it is true. I was very worried about getting a scale & having to face it on a regular basis. But, as Chuck said it is data, important data I needed to have. Also one thing I had to wrap my brain around is your weight DOES fluctuate on a daily basis. It depends on hormones, food intake, water intake, excrement, temperature…so many things I can’t even name them all. Know that, be OK with that & weigh yourself as you see fit. The best time of day to get as accurate a weight as possible is first thing in the morning. Get up do your morning bathroom routine & weigh yourself naked. You have emptied your bladder, any food has been digested from the night before. For me I weigh myself once a week & that’s it. The same time every week. It helps to eliminate outside factors.
Some of you have asked me how I’ve done what I’ve done. Sometimes I wonder myself. For me it’s been both personal & public & at times completely surreal that people are interested at all in what I’m doing. it really starts with what made me decide to do it in the first place. A friend of mine asked me if I wanted to do Weight Watchers with her online. I wasn’t sure I wanted to do that. As it happens I went to the doctor the next day & they weighed me. I was uncomfortably close to 300lbs. That number scared the crap out of me, I told myself 20 years ago if I ever came close to that I’d do something about it, so i decided I was going to. I had also recently turned 40. I spent my 30’s overweight, depressed & alone, I have no intention of living my 40’s the same way. On top of all that I went to the meetup 2 weeks later. Seeing Chuck & Audra & how well they were doing with their lifestyle changes really inspired me to stick with it. I also talked a LOT with Appollymy about what I was doing. It all just seemed so simple, why the hell not? Easter was a couple weeks after that, I was able to eat the things I always had but with smaller portions & I was still within the plan! Wow! I can do this!
As to how I’ve stuck with it? It’s several things really & they work for me, they won’t necessarily work for you. Weight Watchers works for me mostly because it’s about boundaries not limitations. Some people need hard & fast rules about what they are allowed to do. I share many things with Sean, chief among them is I hate people telling me what to do. If you tell me I can’t have something I want it, I want it now. So hard & fast what I can & can’t eat does not & will not work for me long term. I had read in many places that people with long term successful weight loss share one thing in common, every single one. They all eat breakfast. Now, i am not going to get up any earlier. I can & will have the best intentions, when the alarm goes off, I’m hitting snooze, not getting up. So I decided I’d do the instant breakfast shakes, it doesn’t take long to make & I can drink it as I get ready in the morning. I also decided it was very important to me to eat real food, not “diet” food. This is because after I’m done losing I have to go back to eating. I have changed a lot of things, but I still eat many of the things I always have. I’ve just adjusted them to fit the new way I eat. I am religious about my tracking, the app helps a lot, if I had to write it down I wouldn’t. Reporting every week on my Twitter & Facebook helps me stay accountable to what I’m doing. I also get great feedback & support from it.
Many people applaud me for my “willpower” & my determination to stick with it. Believe me when I tell you if that was all that was happening I would have quit a LONG time ago. So many people have helped me keep this going many of whom don’t even know they did. It’s a bunch of little things from what I’ve already mentioned to the little changes I am constantly noticing as it goes along. I’m never hungry I eat pretty much what I want I just have to watch the portions I eat, I never did that before. It has been a long time, but I knew it would be from the beginning. It’s been a lot easier than i thought it would.
Just put in 15 minutes on my new elliptical while watching the BSG miniseries. Just trying to ease into it a bit. Probably do 2 15 minute periods on it tomorrow.
Actually, the bottoms of my feet hurt more than my legs do.
Go, Starsaber! Easing in is important–make sure to stretch before bed tonight so you’re not sore tomorrow.
In terms of balance, go to the doctors to make sure you don’t have any structural problems with yout feet aka weak ligaments.
What I’ve found has really helped my balance is by doing one legged deadlift - Basically you hold a weight (can be real light at first) and then keeping your back straight, you pivot on one foot raising the other behind you - so you’re almost in a T shape - doing that has helped my balance.
Maybe mobility drills on your ankle could help shrug. Lunges will be good.
I just wanted to give an update: I’ve finally gotten serious about tracking what I eat, using an app on my iPhone, and despite work being super busy, have used my bike trainer and the nikefit app on my iphone for a couple of work outs and have lost 3 lbs this past week.
boonie
That’s amazing boonie. I haven’t been tracking what I eat or calories burned and I’d like to start, I think it would really help me reach my goal weight. So does anyone have an application that they really love? I’d like something I could use on my Mac.
This afternoon I had my regular Saturday appointment with my trainer. I told her that I was stressed out and had a bad week. We got going and I was working hard and feeling some of the yuck starting to melt. But then I burst into tears.
Starbuccaneer
Aw, I know how you feel. I hate crying in public too, and it doesn’t help that sometimes I’m just a big bucket of mush. I sobbed my heart out at the end of last year’s meetup because I knew I was going to miss everybody. But we’re not androids! We cry! Anyone who’s ever had a bad day should understand, so don’t feel too bad.
There’s a couple of really good apps, Nike. Sparkpeople has a nice app. A friend of mine really likes My Fitness Pal & Weight Watchers is supposed to be usable regardless of whether you pay for the program. It just has limited scope. All 3 of those apps are free.
Kind of like I cried at the end of this year’s? :o
Yeah. You’re right, though, I’m not an android. I’m a cyborg. And I still have my emotion chip and my tear ducts, so crying is inevitable sometimes.
Well, Rodney’s starting to get curious about his new roommate.
looks nice!
I don’t know why this has stuck with me, but I once heard Paul McCartney in an interview talk about how when he was younger he used to feel like he wasn’t a man if he cried or like he was somehow weak. But now that he is older, he realizes there is no shame in crying and getting in touch with your emotions.
I found that several years ago when I was working too much and stressing too much I started to get nervous in everyday situations like ordering a cup of coffee. Maybe my nervousness was like your crying. I would berate myself for not being able to control my feelings but that only made it worse. Eventually I got some counseling and learned to listen more closely to what my feelings were trying to tell me. Drinking less caffeine was one of them. Doing things to reduce my stress level was another.
It may be a very different situation from yours, Starbuccaneer, but I thought I’d share anyways.
Terrible weekend for eating. I was with friends in a cabin without much choice of the menu (and even less willpower not to “celebrate” being with friends). 60% of my calories were probably beer. I’m getting ready to log the damage. BTW, I don’t have a smart phone and have been using livestrong.com/myplate from my desktop. Big Brother is now trying to sell me variations of the food I log, but it’s been very convenient.
That elliptical machine does look sweet. The room looks really neat, too. Looks like a perfect place to exercise. I’m jealous.
Incidentally, one of my favorite malapropisms came from a conversation about fitness I had with a retired guy I know. I asked him, “How did you lose 30 pounds?!” He told me, “Three times a week, I spend about a half hour on the eucalyptus machine.”
Cool I hope you have a TV in there to keep you distracted while you workout, it is ever so much easier if you can watch something or read while on a machine.
Yeah. I’m almost half way through the BSG miniseries now.