"Fitness Club" Thread

[Chuck]

SB: A couple of reasons come to mind:

1. Eating healthy makes you more you. And you’re awesome.

The results take time, but for me I feel like as I get more fit I’m more myself. Having had a chance to meet you, I can qualitatively say that you’re doing yourself and all of us a favor by being more yourself. You’re awesome now. Imagine that concentrated!

2. You’ll probably live longer.

And that’s good for all of us, too.

3. Are you short on sleep?

Being tired all the time will definitely increase your appetite. It does for me. When I’m short on sleep I want to eat all the time. Try getting a full 8 hr, or if you can’t at least know that your appetite will try to screw you over. It’s easier when you understand what’s happening.

4. Eating right speeds workout recovery.

I’m doing heavy (for me) strength training, which means I hurt like hell after each workout. (I did chest today, so my right shoulder is killing me and my triceps ache.) Eating the right foods afterward makes the pain go away faster. (As does Advil.)

5. You can EAT MORE low-fat food.

Seriously, when you want to eat, a little bit of something won’t do it. Eat something low-cal and low-fat and you can eat more of it – and be more satisfied.

Hope that helps. We’re all with you! You can do it!

[dxf]

I need a little inspiration, guys.

But all I want to do this week is eat Nutella (this is unrelated to workouts, as I am currently on schedule and looking forward to tomorrow’s session).

Remind me why I should eat things that are better for me. Please and thank you.

Stah’bux:

I hear ya. And I can relate: I have a serious peanut butter problem. Thank God it’s too thick to put in a syringe and inject, or I’d be allllll strung out on it. I have good weeks and bad weeks resisting its call.

It sounds over-dramatic, but I’m starting to look at my peanut butter problem as an addiction issue. I handle it best once I’ve been quote-unquote clean for a while, and the stuff is totally out of my system. One little taste, and next thing you know, I’m eating more and more.

Cold turkey is tough, but in my experience, I’m either on the stuff or off it.

That said, I’m on the stuff. And there’s no recovery until I fully decide I need to make the change.

You can do it.

ps. Going back to TKD class is working out so far. When I work out more, I get hungrier, so thanks to Chuck for the hunger advice. I’m hurting in places I’d forgotten I had. But in a good way.

[phazedout]

hi folks, been a while sinc ei checked in here si I thought I’d give ye a wuick update.

weight’s all over the place so I’m not monitoring at present, I’m focused on recovery rate and designing meself a new programme. Follwing the hour long personal trainer session I was unutterably knackered but still didn’t ache anywhere near as much as after, for example, my first power plate session. I did a 7 AM workout yesterday and have another PT session (one hour) in about 25 mins (lickily my gym is only a 5 mnute drive away.

On that, you may ask why I don’t walk to it, I could, it’s not that far but I push myself in these workouts and to be honest I can barely make it the 300 yards back tothe car afterwards, a mile and a half home would kill me, that is in the plan though, workout intensely for an hour then col down on a stroll home.

I’m trying to gently encoruage @pernfann to post in this thread too, she’s taken up walking and is building up intensity and distance nicely, if you’re reading this hon, I’m proud of ya.

I shall tweet and facebook post workout via dailymile.com gonna leave the house now, wish me luck.
wolverines fwump
Phaze
on the “highly anticiapted Kobol’s last gleaming on bsg watch tonight, assuming housemate wanders outside forra bit” ID

[pernfann]

You know, no offense meant to anyone, but I had never intended to post on this thread. To be quite honest, I haven’t even been reading the thread, but repeated mentions of my name do tend to catch my attention.

Phaze - thank you hon, you have no idea how encouraging your support has been for me. And yeah, I guess you succeeded on getting me to post in this thread as well

[Starbuccaneer]

3. Are you short on sleep?

Being tired all the time will definitely increase your appetite. It does for me. When I’m short on sleep I want to eat all the time. Try getting a full 8 hr, or if you can’t at least know that your appetite will try to screw you over. It’s easier when you understand what’s happening.

Yes. This. I’ve been anxious and also feeling kind of sick and haven’t slept much this week at all. When I have slept it’s been poor quality. I worked late tonight–got home past 9–but I am going to finish up here and get in bed early with half a Tylenol PM and a Sleepytime tea.

Stah’bux:

I hear ya. And I can relate: I have a serious peanut butter problem. Thank God it’s too thick to put in a syringe and inject, or I’d be allllll strung out on it. I have good weeks and bad weeks resisting its call.

<snip>

ps. Going back to TKD class is working out so far. When I work out more, I get hungrier, so thanks to Chuck for the hunger advice. I’m hurting in places I’d forgotten I had. But in a good way.

I have kicked my peanut butter problem. It became a real issue when S and I moved in together because it’s protein and I was eating a whole lot less meat fairly quickly. It had to be stopped. Nutella is a craving I get about once a month and I manage to resist it about half the time. I actually would like to try making my own because it’s too sweet. I just want the delicious fattiness of semisweet chocolate and hazelnut butter. I don’t want the sugar.

I did give in to the call of the delicious choco-hazelnut spread this week. But I’m still exercising on schedule. So that’s something.

Glad you’re getting back to to tae kwon do! Sounds fun as well as good for you.

[Julie]

I finally got back into the gym yesterday for the first time in three weeks. I had injured my shoulder and wanted to give it time to heal and was afraid of it hurting more. Thankfully, we were able to adjust the workout so that it would put less strain on my shoulders. I was running every few days but I can tell my muscles have gotten weaker. But I feel better with my WOLVERINES! from yesterday:

4 Turkish get-ups (ea. side - done with a heavy bag over my shoulder instead of holding up the kettlebell)
8 thrusters
16 burpees
32 band woodchoppers (ea. side)

And my food addition:
Starbuccaneer, check out Justin’s Nut Butters for a possible replacement for Nutella, their hazelnut/chocolate. It’s an all-natural company that is focused on being good for the environment, etc. I have tried a few of their different butters and the hazelnut/chocolate one is delicious, less sugar content and tasted very close to regular nutella. I like it especially because it’s dairy free. You can order from their website or find it in some health food stores, like Whole Foods (in Atlanta they have it in a store called Alon’s which is local).

[Starbuccaneer]

Starbuccaneer, check out Justin’s Nut Butters for a possible replacement for Nutella, their hazelnut/chocolate. It’s an all-natural company that is focused on being good for the environment, etc. I have tried a few of their different butters and the hazelnut/chocolate one is delicious, less sugar content and tasted very close to regular nutella. I like it especially because it’s dairy free. You can order from their website or find it in some health food stores, like Whole Foods (in Atlanta they have it in a store called Alon’s which is local).

I love you. First you find me an AMAZING wedding photographer, then you give me an alternative chocolate hazelnut spread. Next time I need a time machine, I know who can deliver…

Hey–I can buy this in DC! They sell it at all the grocery stores in Georgetown! (even the Safeway)

[phazedout]

primarily directed at Audra, I’m never sure how many calories I burn but that device I saw you wearing at the meet up, I assume it tracks how much energy you’ve consumed , day by day, hour by hour. Could you possibly tell me what it’s called , also if I can find more information on it (for example is it compatible with android phones) I think this would be useful in my weight loss and weigh mantinance program.

If anyone else knows more about this device, please let me know.
Phaze
on the “Off to personal trainer in just under 90 minutes, it was a hard workout on thursday but here we go again” ID

[Julie]

I love you. First you find me an AMAZING wedding photographer, then you give me an alternative chocolate hazelnut spread. Next time I need a time machine, I know who can deliver…

Hey–I can buy this in DC! They sell it at all the grocery stores in Georgetown! (even the Safeway)

Yay!! So glad I can be of help(s). That’s what friends are for!

That’s great that they sell it near you! It’s really good! Maybe they’ll have it in the smaller packets, then you can limit to one packet per craving? I hope you like it!

[madamruppy]

I’m in the exact same boat, about two weeks ago I hyperextended my knee somehow and I haven’t been able to do leg exercises since.

Oh you poor thing, I do understand that one too. Hope your knee is feeling better and you can get back to your full workout.

[madamruppy]

Okay, just back from a week in MD with my friends. It was a great time and the weather was great. I was good and mostly ate well and drank little alcohol and no soda. I did a bit of walking and tried not to push it. I fell through my deck the night before I left while packing the car and when I got there I was ordered not to walk anywhere but use the golf carts. For the most part I was good about that but did walk when I could Will be working on getting back on track this week and to the gym as much as possible.

[WV_Lou]

…I’m getting a little introspective on this topic because I realized over the weekend that I have very nearly met the initial goal I set for myself when I started working with a trainer: get back into as good a shape as I was in before injuring myself. I’m there. But I am really enjoying working with someone who can constantly challenge me to try something new/different/harder. So I am trying to determine what’s next–what am I working toward?

Whatever ideas you have, please share!

Hey Starbuccaneer,

I think this is a great question. I wish I had a really good answer. I’m focusing primarily on a) feeling good about myself, and b) getting into the body mass index category where my risks for various diseases and health threats go down. Maybe you can add those to the list of possible goals.

Lou

[WV_Lou]

I got back from my 50-mile march last week, and I’ve been trying to get caught up with life. The march was amazing. I was able to combine fitness, nutrition, and social justice!

The organizations that put the march together fed us all week, and we usually had a choice between vegetarian and vegan meals. If you would have told me that I would eat almost no meat all week but not miss it, I would have laughed heartily. But somehow they managed to feed us proper amounts of good food and satisfy my hunger.

Then again, walking up to 11 miles a day and drinking water non-stop probably curbed my hunger somewhat.

I lost a few pounds in that week, and now I’m just trying to figure out how I can incorporate some of the fitness and nutrition habits from the march into my regular life.

PS - They did feed us peanut butter sandwiches for lunch, but it was in moderation. Also, I felt like if I demanded more food, I’d be taking it from somebody else who was there on the march. Too bad I can’t duplicate those circumstances at home.

[Chuck]

Thought I’d take a moment to update everyone on my progress, or lack thereof. I’ve been beating myself silly with 2+ hour workouts at the gym five times a week with little to no change over the last couple of months. After looking over everything with my trainer, it looks like my diet’s to blame. I was eating the right number of calories in the right mix, but too much processed food. (It’s easy to do as once you find a few things that work, it’s tempting to just eat them to keep things simple.)

So two things: First, after adding almost 15 lb of muscle (and some fat, yuk) I’m back on a calorie-deficit diet. I’ve been running burn + 250 to gain weight, but now I’m back to burn = 500 to 700 to lose some again. (Truthfully we’re just trying to adjust my body composition, but you kind of have to yo-yo around 10 lbs or so in weight sometimes to get it right.) Second, I’ve mostly ditched the cereal and bars and stuff, replacing it with entirely whole food.

It’s been hard. I’ve been used to eating more, so of course I feel hungry all the time. I’ve been getting back in the swing of making high-volume low-cal (and high-protein) meals again, which has helped. It’s always nice to have a full plate when even when you’re eating low-cal.

On the other hand, I definitely feel better, and my metabolism is kicking back up (which I can see from higher burns when I’m doing the same stuff). This is definitely a good thing.

Anyway, today’s lunch, which I think is a pretty decent example of high-volume low-cal:

Cucumber and tomato tuna salad: 240 calories (2g fat, 13g carbs, 44g protein)

Hope everyone’s doing well, and wish me luck on sticking to the new(again) diet.

[Julie]

Thought I’d take a moment to update everyone on my progress, or lack thereof. I’ve been beating myself silly with 2+ hour workouts at the gym five times a week with little to no change over the last couple of months. After looking over everything with my trainer, it looks like my diet’s to blame. I was eating the right number of calories in the right mix, but too much processed food. (It’s easy to do as once you find a few things that work, it’s tempting to just eat them to keep things simple.)

So two things: First, after adding almost 15 lb of muscle (and some fat, yuk) I’m back on a calorie-deficit diet. I’ve been running burn + 250 to gain weight, but now I’m back to burn = 500 to 700 to lose some again. (Truthfully we’re just trying to adjust my body composition, but you kind of have to yo-yo around 10 lbs or so in weight sometimes to get it right.) Second, I’ve mostly ditched the cereal and bars and stuff, replacing it with entirely whole food.

It’s been hard. I’ve been used to eating more, so of course I feel hungry all the time. I’ve been getting back in the swing of making high-volume low-cal (and high-protein) meals again, which has helped. It’s always nice to have a full plate when even when you’re eating low-cal.

On the other hand, I definitely feel better, and my metabolism is kicking back up (which I can see from higher burns when I’m doing the same stuff). This is definitely a good thing.

Anyway, today’s lunch, which I think is a pretty decent example of high-volume low-cal:

Cucumber and tomato tuna salad: 240 calories (2g fat, 13g carbs, 44g protein)

Hope everyone’s doing well, and wish me luck on sticking to the new(again) diet.

Good luck! That lunch actually looks great and I think I will take a page from your book and have that for my lunch tomorrow : ) Your body does adjust with you as you continue your work outs so it’s great to see that you have a trainer helping you figure out diets, etc. to work out what will continue to keep you on the way to your goals. Keep it up!

[Julie]

my update: again I haven’t been great. Didn’t work out over the weekend at all after doing the last killer Crossfit workout on Thursday. Birthday shenanigans got in the way. I need to wrap my head back around taking clothes with me to change into after work and just hit the gym on the way home. I was expecting summer to be calm after the excitement of my brother’s wedding, but alas. So here’s to rededicating some time into working out to keep up my fitness which I know will help me to sleep better and have more energy during the day.

[phazedout]

aaargh.

Time wounds all heels, to quote the late great DNA.

I could not walk in to wokr yestyerday or do my personal trainer session this morning as I’ve injured my right heel, shooting pains go up me leg every time i app,y pressure to it, so no exercise for me this week apart form a power plater session on monday, I’m annoyed as I was doing well and had planne dto do a quick gym workout in the hotel I am staying in for the wedding, guess that won’t happen now.

OK I’ve had me moan now, I’d still like to encourage the rest of you, ye are an inspiraiton to me, (unable to) wolverines argh
Phaze
on the “parents are driving me mental, no wonder i moved 165 miles away” ID

[pernfann]

I know it’s frustrating to not be able to work out how and when you had counted on, but all in all, my Phaze, you ARE doing a good job, and I’m proud of you.

[Starbuccaneer]

Thought I’d take a moment to update everyone on my progress, or lack thereof. I’ve been beating myself silly with 2+ hour workouts at the gym five times a week with little to no change over the last couple of months. After looking over everything with my trainer, it looks like my diet’s to blame. I was eating the right number of calories in the right mix, but too much processed food. (It’s easy to do as once you find a few things that work, it’s tempting to just eat them to keep things simple.)

So two things: First, after adding almost 15 lb of muscle (and some fat, yuk) I’m back on a calorie-deficit diet. I’ve been running burn + 250 to gain weight, but now I’m back to burn = 500 to 700 to lose some again. (Truthfully we’re just trying to adjust my body composition, but you kind of have to yo-yo around 10 lbs or so in weight sometimes to get it right.) Second, I’ve mostly ditched the cereal and bars and stuff, replacing it with entirely whole food.

It’s been hard. I’ve been used to eating more, so of course I feel hungry all the time. I’ve been getting back in the swing of making high-volume low-cal (and high-protein) meals again, which has helped. It’s always nice to have a full plate when even when you’re eating low-cal.

On the other hand, I definitely feel better, and my metabolism is kicking back up (which I can see from higher burns when I’m doing the same stuff). This is definitely a good thing.

Anyway, today’s lunch, which I think is a pretty decent example of high-volume low-cal:

Cucumber and tomato tuna salad: 240 calories (2g fat, 13g carbs, 44g protein)

Hope everyone’s doing well, and wish me luck on sticking to the new(again) diet.

Processed foods are SO HARD to avoid. Between our stereotypical crunchy lesbianness and my health consciousness, S and I do a pretty good job of it, but I can by no means achieve the goal of cutting processed food out of my diet. Good luck with shifting around the nutritional inputs. I know you’ve been working really hard to get the right balance of new muscle/final weight loss. You can do it!

my update: again I haven’t been great. Didn’t work out over the weekend at all after doing the last killer Crossfit workout on Thursday. Birthday shenanigans got in the way. I need to wrap my head back around taking clothes with me to change into after work and just hit the gym on the way home. I was expecting summer to be calm after the excitement of my brother’s wedding, but alas. So here’s to rededicating some time into working out to keep up my fitness which I know will help me to sleep better and have more energy during the day.

Birthday plus brother’s wedding are pretty good reasons to have an off week. Going straight from the office to the gym always helps me–otherwise I just get too tired and either wimp out entirely or am so tired by the time I get there that my workout is lame, and because I’m just so proud of myself for getting there at all, I let it slide. Good luck!

I had a so-so last week. I missed a cardio workout and was unable to make it up in the gym so I took a long walk with S on Sunday instead. It’s something but not the same as 50 minutes of high intensity. Also, as I mentioned, all I wanted was to sit around and eat Nutella. Add to that the two-day staff retreat and my nutrition got seriously off track. However, I brought my own breakfast to the second day of the retreat and ate mostly iceberg lettuce at the barbecue. (At this barbecue, to which we were encouraged to bring families, they served delicious ribs, super mayo-y coleslaw, cinnamon-sugar apple slices in gross corn-based sugar syrup, amazing smelling buttery corn muffins, and brownies. And iceberg lettuce. Vegetarian S and cranky me were kind of annoyed.)

All you can do is move past it, assess what didn’t work, and do it differently next time. That’s what I’m doing. Had a great workout yesterday. Ran farther and longer than I have since November and followed it up with 5.6 miles on the bike. Have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow to take care of my foot. Ate very well today and got all my veggies in.

[Julie]

I am getting back on track! Surprising myself : ) I took a Crossfit class on Saturday which killed my legs but I did go for a run on Sunday and yesterday. Today I’m planning to go to either a BodyPump class or run again, depending on whether or not my thighs are working after I sit at my desk all day.
My shoulder is still not in the best shape, I’m thinking I should go see a dr, but I really don’t want to try finding one or pay for it… I hope that continuing to take it easy on it and slowly build the muscles again will just make it stop hurting someday.

How is everyone else doing with their WOLVERINES through the summer?