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Fitness Weekly Discussion
What have you been doing lately for your own fitness? Try out any new programs or exercises? Have any questions for others about your training? Want to vent about poor behavior in the gym? Started a new diet or have a new recipe you want to share? Anything else health and wellness related?
I've had Ring Fit Adventure for a week now, and I'm absolutely loving it. I've only skipped one day to go on a long bike ride. I really hope my motivation doesn't drop off. Completing worlds and crushing bosses is a blast, and I can fit in a decent workout during lunch.
It’s such a good and fun way to get exercise in. The dance minigames they added are fun too!
I got in to a good routine of getting out for runs regularly for a while there and then we had a stretch of really rainy cold weather and I've gotten out of practice!
I'm experimenting with getting up a little earlier and going out before work while I'm working from home and it seems to be less horrendous than I remember. I think the key is consistency though.
Meanwhile where I am it's been 90°F and miserable. Even when I wake up to run at 5am it's usually around 75°F with a humidity in the mid-90%s.
I will say that doing it first thing in the morning is huge. I've been running for a long time and if I push my run off to the afternoon there's probably a 50% chance that it doesn't happen.
Additionally with this working at home situation, I find it to be super nice to be able to sit down to work for the day and already feel like I've accomplished something, makes it easier to keep the good times rolling.
My husband and I stopped eating fast food and restaurant food at the beginning of the pandemic, and we quickly realized first-hand how much of a money and calorie burden those are. At the beginning of quarantine we were saving a ton of money and losing weight effortlessly! As we were staying at home all the time though, we started to get lazier about exercise and movement in general, and we started turning to food as a form of stimulus (i.e. eating to cure boredom or simply to create an experiential spike in an otherwise flat day).
Thus, like many, we started putting on pounds (and neither of us was exactly slim to begin with). After going through that for a while, we decided to make a change. Starting June 1st, we began calorie counting and exercising regularly as a way of losing weight, mitigating underlying health conditions linked to our weights, improving our overall health, and setting new habits regarding food that we hope to continue even once everything is reopened. Together, we have lost 25 pounds so far!
I have done a good job with food but frequently let the exercise portion slip, but I am beyond impressed with my husband and his efforts. He bought a step tracker and has consistently been getting 10,000 steps a day -- often closer to 13,000. Every day. He's working from home but takes regular walking breaks to pace the house/backyard each hour; he takes our dog out on a walk before lunch and after dinner; he uses a stepper in our living room while watching TV. He has really devoted himself to this and I couldn't be prouder of him. I find it hard to notice my own self slimming down appearance-wise (instead it becomes clear through things like the fit of clothes), but I can see the difference on him plain as day!
The only downside to all this is that I have returned to my diet soda habit. I've realized that I can create one of those "experiential spikes" in an otherwise flat day by having a diet soda, which is a calorie-free way of creating a great moment for myself (I sound like an advertisement! Yuck!). Unfortunately, despite loving my soda moments, they're flat out terrible for my dental health. My dentist is going to be so disappointed in me when I finally do go back for a check-up because prior to this I'd been doing such a good job of avoiding soda and protecting my already severely damaged teeth. I've tried other, less damaging drinks thinking it was just about having the stimulus of taste, but it's a combination of the flavor and carbonation that does it for me.
I used to be a huge soda junkie, and I had to quit for dental reasons. I absolutely love flavored seltzer water. It’s cheap (store brand is just as good), refreshing, calorie-free, and it satisfies that carbonation feeling. If you haven’t already ruled that out, I’d suggest that!
I want to like seltzer, but something about it is deeply offputting to me. It feels like I'm somehow drinking "dry" liquid, and I end up more thirsty after I've had it than I was before! I'm glad it's working for you though. A lot of my friends love it and don't understand my aversion to it, but I've honestly tried multiple varieties, flavors, and brands, and it just does not agree with me. I wish it did though!
Dang, that’s a bummer. Hope you can find something that works for you!
Getting back to exercise is awesome!
I think that recognizing you're falling back in to the diet soda habit is a good first step, but also there's that saying "everything in moderation." Sometimes making the deal with your body that you'll drink one glass of diet soda a day, but in return you're going to make sure you walk X steps + X glasses of water can be a great trade-off.
The biggest mistake people make is trying to quit bad habits cold turkey, for some people they can do it, but most of us are human and when we try that we end up just falling back in to the habit even harder.
Nice! I'm in the same boat. I had been lifting from April last year to around mid-November and then stopped due to injury...but I kept eating (and drinking) as if I were still lifting. By the time the pandemic reared its ugly head, I had a pretty decent gut. But, I decided to put the kibosh on that and on April 21st I started tracking my weight, tracking/cutting my calories, and exercising regularly. I went pretty hard to get that initial weight off and slowed down the weight loss the last few weeks, but I'm down about 20 lbs. I think I managed to maintain some of that muscle I gained when lifting, too, so I look a little more fit than I did when I was last this weight. Anyhow, seeing those pesky pounds drop is always satisfying and provides a nice feedback loop that keeps the healthy habits going. And, considering the state of healthcare in America, I'd rather invest in my health now than face an outrageous bill because I couldn't be bothered to move a bit or eat well. And, as you said, preparing meals at home can be much more inexpensive than eating out!
I'm not sure if you're taking progress pics, but I'd recommend it. It can feel a bit silly and narcissistic, but it's the best way to get an honest assessment of your weight loss. I can't say I inherently feel any healthier than when I started, nor would I say I look any better. Except for the fact that I've taken progress pics and can compare myself now to when I first started. It's kind of wild, because looking at my initial state I can now say that I looked a lot chunkier than I thought I was! And the progress is pretty apparent. So, just like you have an outsider's perspective on your partner's progress, the progress pics act as that same outsider perspective for you.
As far as the diet soda habit...again, my experience mirrors yours! I've been buying 4 packs of Diet Shasta at my local 99¢ Store like mad since I've started my Quarantine Transformation®(patent pending). I'm not convinced that aspartame is the devil's chemical and think it's outrageous that some would say "regular soda might actually be better for you!", but..yea...I'm sure it doesn't do good things to one's teeth. Do you use straws? Maybe I ought to invest in straws...
Well, I guess I kinda piggybacked off your post to make one of my own.
Congrats on the positive changes! 20 lbs down is genuinely incredible!
Perfectly said. One of our main motivators for doing this is not just future health but financial safety. It's sad that's the state of the game in America (and hopefully it gets better soon).
In addition to my response to @kfwyre, I've also started running regularly, again.
I last ran regularly the month of March, 2019. My endurance isn't quite the same, but I at least managed to maintain my ~8min mile (over the course of ~2 miles), which I don't think is too bad. I'd like to one day have a 6min mile, but first I want to work my way up to running 5 miles straight.
Oh, and of course I'm still maintaining my body weight exercise routine (pullups, pushups, inverted rows, dips). I've also added 3-4 sets of ~20-30s dead hangs at the end of my pull-up sets. Makes my forearms burn like hell. One thing I've learned is that when you're in the weeds with one exercise, you'd rather be doing any other one. And when you're doing that one, you'd rather do the other... ad infinitum.