I’ve been wondering how you were doing, @mom60. Hope you hear good news on your knee.
Oh boy! Look forward to hearing about the training. Are you still going to do the race if it’s raining that day?
Made it to the 5:30 am class today. It wasn’t terrible and I could do it pretty easily, but today’s focus was on arms (a problem for me) and core (a strength for me). Lots of pushups and burpees, hammer curls, bicep curls. The core portion was the kind of workout where you could hurt your lower back fairly easily if you had no exercise experience but the trainers circulated around the room regularly offering corrections, adjustments and modifications. I saw two women I knew from the Pilates studio which was nice.
Rain, schmain. I’ve got money invested now. I’ve done a couple of them already, rain would be unusual. What always makes me hesitant is that I’ll likely have to take a rest day from my programming the day before and the day after. That’s what I don’t like.
I’ll lengthen my Sunday runs for the next few weeks and add a few miles during the week, but that’ll be my training. That and my workouts are plenty. I’m not going after any course records, just trying to survive the boredom mainly, since the last 6 miles are up and back on the Great Highway (Ocean Beach) with sand dunes on both sides.
Bicep curls. Ever since Geico made the “Gym Bro” commercial, that’s all I ever think about when someone mentions bicep curls.
I’ll see how I feel at the end of the 30-day challenge (yoga, meditation, and Whole30) and keep what works for me. I don’t beat myself up if I eat a bit of something not on the plan. Last night my H cut up strawberries and blueberries after dinner and he put some plain Greek yogurt on the berries—I ate it even though dairy is not allowed on the program.
Today I did a hips and hamstrings yoga class followed by a Pilates tower class. Really liked the Tower class, which the studio only offers once a week.
I had to google the Geico gym bros! Happily I’m just a wimpy woman. Yikes.
The main reason I started working with a Pilates trainer was because of the difficulty scheduling equipment classes. Limited offerings, booked the minute they’re available.
Adding meditation has been really helpful to me. I did an online course through the Chopra center that I thoroughly enjoyed. I’d like to go on one of the retreats but I have my travel for the year booked.
Well, we’re about halfway through January. How is everyone doing with their respective challenges?
For the past few years, I’ve done the Lululemon/Strava 40/80 km running challenge. I wanted to do it this year, but decided at the beginning I would set my goal to be the 40 km. Happily I was able to complete that and continue with my Pilates sessions and boot camp without injuring myself or being exhausted. I’m hoping for a discount code as a reward! Last week I went to two camps and a stretch session and met with a trainer there. I am really happy I overcame my anxiety and tried something new. This week my goal has been to attend 4 camps plus a squat goal. Squats are something I was supposed to do regularly as part of my PT and just neglected. I have some accountability with the trainer and support from the other women at the gym to get it done. Monday was core and upper body; yesterday was balance, agility and speed; today was leg day so I’ve got 3 of the 4 for the week. Tonight is my last advanced Reformer workshop.
I have to say I feel really refreshed with my workout routine. I’m working with the trainer to adapt my PN diet and incorporate some carb cycling into the mix. The nice thing is you can have as many meetings with the trainer as you want as part of your membership. They all have impressive backgrounds and all of the correct credentials. I want to lose a few pounds - there’s a Caribbean vacation on the horizon for me - and start thinking about a fall race. My brain is in the right place.
Congrats on getting your 40Km done. Let is know if you get a discount code and how much!
I am halfway through my January challenge. Still alive on the silver level (3 miles/day) and actually doing around 4. It has made me step up my mileage. Am trying to be thankful that I own a treadmill instead of being bored as it has been the thing that has saved me.
There is an upcoming dust-up at work. Looks like one of the members of the management team is going to be let go as soon as a contingency plan can be thrown together. One of the owners, in frustration, chewed out the team earlier this week. I caught some of the fire, right there in front of everyone. It was unpleasant, but I survived & I didn’t cry.
All of that to say…work stress + continued irregular work hours + taking on more work projects has blown me off course.
Dog walks have been very short. Drinking too much coffee and not enough water (urine never lies!). I’m sleeping, but not waking up rested. Zero weight lifting sessions. A blizzard roared through overnight, and the temperature is going to drop like a stone. I just want to curl up and go back to bed, but I have to knock off some work tonight, for Monday.
Gah!
H had his torn rotator cuff fixed earlier in the week too (operation went well). So, he is home 24/7 and that is super weird (I work from home a lot).
I know I’ll feel better if I can get some more exercise in. At least I’m not diving into bags of candy or drinking too much!
Turns out we do get the same discount at Lululemon (25%) for the 40km or 80kms. Looked for you on Strava, @sabaray but you must be hiding your identity these days! I missed the 80km by 4kms for reasons related to pneumonia and weather, so I was glad to get the email awarding me the discount!
Oh, I’m there, just preferring not to share with everyone. Just doing my thing. I haven’t been running much so attempting the 80 seemed foolish.
Pretty good rain coming down here but that didn’t deter the pups. Relaxed walk with them today and a lot of squats. Bitter cold expected here tomorrow.
Strava is an app many athletes and recreational runners use for training - tracking runs, pace, hill elevation, all kinds of stuff I have no need for. There are leaderboards and all kinds of monthly challenges where you can see how you stack up against others. Users can connect with each other to offer support, kudos or coaching support. I do not choose to share my data publicly and there are other users I have specifically blocked so even when a run is public (as it needed to be for the Lulu challenge) they couldn’t see it. It’s a great tool, but it’s really too much for my recreational jogs.
In 12/09 I weighed around 200 pounds, having lost over 50 pounds in the months after D’s graduation. That was the easy part. For a long time, all I cared about was what the scale said. Hours of exercise, restricted calories, anything to move that needle. Facebook reminded me this morning that four years ago I was wishing for a box of donuts as stress eating was about to commence! Today I want to be fit. I eat a healthy, whole food anti-inflammatory diet and don’t count calories. My weight has held steady in the 145-150 range and I’m now focusing on body composition changes. This works for me. I want to grow old.
Life has a way of throwing you all kinds of curveballs. I can say that exercising has helped me cope with a lot over the past few years. From walking the dogs, to mastering the jackknife and Teaser, to training for races - all of these activities have boosted my ability to live my best life. I’ve had time for reflection and problem solving. I’ve had feelings of success and accomplishment when I badly needed to. I’ve even formed new friendships in real life. I’ve learned a lot along the way.
At one time, I couldn’t imagine not posting here, but the only constant in life is change and for me, it’s time for one. This thread had a great run and if I could leave you all with one thought - It’s never too late to start taking care of yourself. Keep working on living your best life. You won’t regret it.
Thank you @sabaray for starting this thread. I know that it has played a major role in helping me change my own life through fitness. I will miss your posts here very much.
All the best to you.
@sabaray I hope you will pop in on occasion - I don’t post here much but have been inspired by and learned from you as I have gone from 235 to 145 and discovered I did indeed have an athlete side of myself! Wishing you much happiness.
@sabaray Add me to those who have taken inspiration from you. I don’t post often on this thread as I’m not a big runner nor am I into major lifting. I’m just a 58 year old woman who wants to be fit and live a lifestyle that will allow me to fully live life as I age.
When you started this thread I had slowly put on lbs and I had come back from a trip to Costa Rica where I realized being out of shape was a very real thing and it limited my ability to fully enjoy my travel with my family. I had watched my Mom get less mobile as she aged and I didn’t want that for myself. Getting into exercising was hard for me. Like @yauponredux I didn’t consider myself athletic. I grew up being called skinny bones jones. In high school and college my nickname was the 100 lb weakling. I was able to eat whatever I wanted and not exercise and not gain an oz. that all changed with children. I also had always felt uncoordinated so stepping into exercise and sports was scary.
Two years ago today I stepped back into the gym after a 25 year absence. It was scary. I remember it being Martin Luther King Day and I ventured into a class at my gym that I knew nothing about. The next day I went to a strength training class where the 4 lb weights felt so heavy and I struggled to even do half the reps. @sabaray as you shared your journey to good health it encouraged me to keep on trying new things. I love reading about your Pilates journey. It has encouraged me to think about a Pilates goal for the year.
One thing I would like to say is that by sharing our experiences, our strengths and our struggles we help those who come after us. When you share for yourself it also can be inspiration for others. For many of us who have been on CC for a long period of time it is sad when longtime posters fade off into the unknown. With that said I hope you reconsider and continue to share your journey.
You guys are the best. Thank you. I’ll be here from time to time, as long as the thread remains open.
@mom60, pick a Pilates goal because I’ll be asking you about it. And @sushiritto, I hope you’re not offended, but when you first started posting here…well, let’s just say I kept hearing the Planet Fitness lunk alert. I was wrong and appreciate you challenging all of us to get out of our comfort zone. You remind me of iDad and trust me, that’s a compliment. A huge compliment.
