<p>Yeah. Me, too. I’m just trying to honor the spirit of phase II of this program. Reps dropped from 12 per set in phase I to 8 per set. The idea is to bump up the weight so that it is really challenging on the 8th rep. I’m closer to the edge on some exercises than others. The alternating DB bench press with the 30 lb and 35 lb dumbbells is right at my limit – at least for the way I’m doing them with only the shoulders on the stability ball. </p>
<p>The 55 lbs I’m usiing for the split squats is pretty much all I’ve got in me. I’m not lookin’ to hurt myself doing bad reps with too much weight. Those are good reps, back knee all the way to the ground on every one.</p>
<p>Tell you son to load up all the plates on one DB and go after his bench presses with one arm at a time. It’s terrific, combining serious strength work with core stability training.</p>
<p>I ended up taking the day off from my workout today. My knees were bothering me yesterday so I did limited leg stuff yesterday. Hopefully tomorrow get in and get my workout. The main reason I didn’t workout was I got called into work which threw off my schedule. Ended up working 10 hours today which is enough of a workout for me working with PT patients all day…</p>
<p>I don’t know about you, but these damn mini-bands are doing a number on my hips and butt. I’m not sure if it’s the Valerie Waters monster walks or the Big-X lateral walks, but the outside of my hips are sore has heck. Actually, I’m pretty much just sore all over from these workouts these days. No pain. Just a general muscle soreness.</p>
<p>I ordered one of the black mini-bands. They are much lower resistance above the knees than at the ankles and that really does seem to work the legs a little differently. For $2, it’s nice to have the options.</p>
<p>I’ve substituted the two mini-band walks for the quick lateral shuffling warm up exercise in NROL4A.</p>
<p>Only had 35 min for exercise tonight, so ran 4 miles. I did not plan on exercising, but DH convinced me to hop on the treadmill and get going. For dinner I served whatever was left of the weekend feast: buckwheat pilaf and macadamia nut crusted halibut.</p>
<p>I have heard about psyllium husks but I didn’t realize it was a supplement. I will definitely check it out. I do probably get enough fiber but several things I have read recently make a persuasive argument that fiber really helps keep insulin levels steady and thus avoid the creation of fat. These articles argue that 20 - 30 grams of fiber is the minimum for health and that more like 50 grams is closer to optimal. </p>
<p>And sadly I don’t eat a lot of vegetables. I need to find a healthy quick way to cook them. The only raw veggie I like is carrots, which has a surprising amount of sugar.</p>
<p>I just watched the video with the green mini-band. I wonder if getting my butt in shape would compensate for the bruises on my head when I ended up falling over . . .</p>
<p>It’s pretty easy to stay upright for the mini-band walks. The ValSlide reverse lunges are another story completely. There’s a YouTube of Jennifer Garner doing ValSlide lunges on the Ellen DeGeneris show in 6-inch heels! All I can say to that is, “you go girl!”</p>
<hr>
<p>I can’t believe I’ve survived the hopping in the NROL4A warmups.</p>
<p>a) Hop forward and back over an imaginary line on two feet, ten times.</p>
<p>b) Hop sideways and back over an imaginary line on two feet, ten times.</p>
<p>c) Hop forward and back on left foot only, ten times.</p>
<p>d) Hop foward and back on right foot only, ten times.</p>
<p>It sounds easy, but not for an ol’ (formerly) fat guy. I tweaked a knee on the lateral hops one day, but otherwise I’m intact. No sprained ankles. I’m even starting to cover some ground on the two legged hops. The single leg hops are truly pathetic – more like just barely hopping up and down, but at least I don’t fall over any more.</p>
<p>I’ve been doing this in my warmup for a couple months and it is fantastic at improving range of motion is practically every joint in your body. It’s five easy steps, starting from a standing position with feet a little wider than shoulder width, angled slightly out. I like to pause for a split second at each of the five steps to really feel the stretch:</p>
<p>1) Bend at the hips, keeping legs straight and grab your toes.</p>
<p>2) Still holding your toes, bend your knees and drop your hips.</p>
<p>3) Still holding your toes, straighten your back, lift your chest, and head, arms pushing knees apart, weight on heels.</p>
<p>4) Let go of toes and raise arms overhead in a “Y” position. This position works the core like crazy. You may not be able to hold it.</p>
<p>5) Push through heels to stand up.</p>
<p>If you are like me, it will feel like the rusty Tin Man at first, but it is fantastic for limbering up ankles, legs, knees, hips, back, and shoulders. Five of these is a great way to get ready for workout or just to start the day. It’s also fantastic for learning the squat position.</p>
<p>You see that all the time with smokers. They beat the hell out of themselves for being “bad” and smoking a cigarette when they are “trying” to quit. Food is the same way. We turn it into this “being good” versus “being bad” morality play and every temptation triggers an internal “should I” or “shouldn’t I” debate. The reality is that the very fact we are having that debate means that we’ve already lost the battle. The whole thing is giving food (or cigarettes) power over us.</p>
<p>It never gets easy until you find a way to actually change the way you think, to somehow get to the point where you visualize the benefits of being an ex-tub of lard or ex-smoker as being better than the benefits of eating junk food or smoking. Then, the desire goes away and you can simply acknowledge the temptation by saying, “Yes, of course I would like to wolf down a tube of Pringles (or smoke a cigarette) because that’s what I’ve done for years, but I’m a fit person (or ex-smoker) now. I don’t do that anymore.”</p>
<p>It’s no longer a question of “good” or “bad” and no more beating yourself up. It won’t work for cigarettes (because of the physical drug addiction aspect), but with becoming more fit, an occassional splurge even works to your advantage. One of the great things about eating sensibly and exercising is that you can have the occasional treat without feeling guilty because it’s the exception and not the rule.</p>
<p>The trick, of course, is putting yourself in the frame of mind where you no longer desire to eat like a moron (or smoke).</p>
<p>ID: Do you have any advice for people who have never eaten like a moron, but also have never really eaten consciously healthy? I’ve always been right around the middle of the healthy weight distribution, and wouldn’t be considered overweight by any measure (5’2" and varying 110-120 lbs). But I’ve gained about 5-8 lbs. since coming to college, which I’d like to lose–the proverbial “last 5” is also my first 5, which makes scale-motivation difficult. Splurges seem to be my problem; this semester, I’ve managed my diet well enough to stop gaining weight, but I still splurge too often to lose weight.</p>
<p>That’s a different kind of challenge. For one thing, the human body is changing from “kid” body to “adult” body during the college years. It is probably unrealistic to think that you can necessarily maintain your teen weight into adulthood.</p>
<p>Probably the single most important thing would be to make regular high-intensity exercise a part of your routine life.</p>
<p>I think number two would probably be to start looking at what foods with high calories and little nutrtional value can you simply eliminate completely. For example, just cutting out sweetened drinks would make a signficant difference over time.</p>
<p>Number three would probably be to get in the habit of limiting the bread and pasta you eat. Not that you have to cut it out entirely, but it shouldn’t be all day every day at every meal.</p>
<p>I recently read a book by Geneen Roth–Women, Food, and God. She argues that the way you deal with food speaks volumes about who you are. In her words: " The world is on your plate. When you begin to understand what prompts you to use food as a way to numb or distract yourself, the process takes you deeper into realms of spirit and to the bright center of your own life."</p>
<p>It’s not a diet book, but it speaks to some of the same issues related to food that the self-compassion researchers were discussing. Much of what she writes comes from retreats where she works with women on food issues–making peace with food and sorting out issues in your life.</p>
<p>I would edit this to add: “I"m a fit person now. I don’t wolf down a tube of Pringles anymore, but if I’d like to have a few Pringles, that’s OK. There is no “good me” if I eat none and “bad me” if I eat a few. There’s nothing wrong with eating a few.”</p>
<p>I think too often we beat ourselves up because we’re not perfect – e.g., we ate a few Pringles and therefore we’re fat and disgusting and filled with self-loathing. Well guess what – we don’t have to be perfect! Being fit doesn’t mean never eating Pringles; it just means eating a few, occasionally, in moderation. Giving yourself permission to have some sometimes means giving yourself permission to have a little fun sometimes.</p>
<p>I truly think that turning off that yelling conscience inside our heads that screams that we’re fat, we’re lazy, and we’ll always look terrible helps us calm down and love ourselves as we are – not perfect, but continually improving.</p>
<p>My yelling voice tells me “You’re slow. You’re a terrible runner. You’re done. You will never be good again.” I am MUCH better about it. I sulked for days back in 1983 or so after missing my marathon PR by 13 seconds even though I finished 3rd overall female in a big marathon. Little did I know I would never touch that time again!</p>
<p>That’s the thing…our eating habits may improve, our exercise habits may improve but it is inevitable that our bodies will decline. We will consume fewer calories but still gain weight. We will exercise longer but at a slower pace.</p>
<p>Well heck, I’m OK with that. I’m not going to be as speedy at age 62 as I was at age 42 or at age 22. But for a 62-year-old, I’m in damn good shape!! I can’t compare myself to a 42- or 22-year-old; that would be silly.</p>
<p>Besides, at my age, I’m soooooooo much better in sooooooo many ways than I was when I was younger!</p>
<p>Last night one of my closest friend took me out to eat. Everything about it was perfect. We split an appetizer, had amazing entrees, and split a decadent dessert. We each enjoyed a glass of wine. We both love food and as we ate we analyzed spices and flavors - she had never had daikon - we savored each morsel, and enjoyed the presentation. It was a leisurely and memorable meal. </p>
<p>Driving home, we both realized just how slowly we ate. Each forkful was truly tasted, not shoveled down mindlessly. Now I will be the first to say that I require far fewer calories than when I was younger, even just ten years younger. I also think that slow, mindful eating is rare and that most of us do a lot of eating stupid stuff, like a sleeve of saltines, just because they are handy. YMMV</p>
<p>I don’t know. I don’t feel like my body has been declining.</p>
<p>I think I’m lucky in that I have no problem with skipping the comparisons to some objective standard – whether it’s running a 5k in “X” amount of time or lifting “x” amount of weight in a bench press. The only thing that I perceive as relevant to me is that I’m lifting a little more than I did last month or that I’m a little faster on my hill walk or that I get a little less winded on a particular workout. Maybe at some point those gains will become so imperceptable, or even stop, that it will no longer be motivating, but I think I’m a long way from reaching that kind of plateau.</p>
<p>It seems to me that one of the tricks is variety. Try to change it up or find something new and different where gains are not only possible, but inevitable. For example, it’s a small thing, but one of my goals now is to do a chin up. It doesn’t matter how many chin ups someone else can do. It’s something to keep me motivated by a series of small gains towards reaching that. I’m not in any hurry. I don’t have a dead line.</p>
<p>So, if you start feeling de-motivated, just pick some area of fitness or some new workout program and make that your motivation/journey for a month or two. For example, I would bet that every single person here could make enormous strides with split squats (or ValSlide lunges) over the next 30 days – something that would make us all look better and feel better in the process.</p>