View Full Version : January Exercise
I see that we don't have an exercise thread for the month yet so I'll start one.
I'm still just doing my daily walking and I won't be making any changes in the next two weeks since I'm doing such a drastic carb reduction. But I'm looking forward to adding some new stuff mid-month. For now I'll make sure I don't use the low-carb thing as an excuse to stop exercising.
Bastelmutti
1-2-12, 8:30pm
I started my new year's resolutions early this year, so I have been exercising about every other day. Sometimes I do a couple days in a row, then take a day off. Mostly I have been riding my exercise bike and doing reps with hand weights, but need to mix it up. I found a couple of DVDs in the drawer - yoga conditioning, abs and an all-over exercise ball workout - so those will be rotated in. Also, in combination with the exercise, I have been trying to have a couple of days per week where I have a smoothie for breakfast and/or a salad for lunch, especially when I know we will be eating out. Mainly I want to be fitter, but I also have 20 lbs. or so to drop, so I'm hoping that will help.
I'm doing a self-challenge like this: http://fitarella.com/2011/12/12in12/ and my challenge for January is at least 30 minutes of exercise every day, so I may check in with you all just to stay accountable.
I am alternating "harder" days with "easy" days, and today was one of the latter, so just a half-hour walking on the treadmill while I listened to the book The New Good Life.
Your challenge sounds fun pug! And I like the idea of alternating hard and easy days.
Yesterday I did 30 mins of yard work and then walked for about an hour. I'm starting to get a lot of my energy back and I'm looking forward to being more physical in a couple of weeks.
Took a brisk walk on the way home on MOnday. Planned to go to the gym yesterday but discovered it was closed for remodelling -- grrrr! So walked some more around the neighborhood and got some errands done.
Will walk more today, I suppose. Gym won't open until jan 12th. Grrrr again....
lhamo
Last couple of days have been an hour and a half of yard work and thirty minutes of walking each day. It's been great, gentle exercise with lots of fresh air and sunshine. I feel the urge to be more physical - last night I dreamt I was doing sit-ups! :0! But since I'm really low-carb right now I want to be careful. I don't want to sabotage myself by overdoing it. So today I have another day of yardwork planned but I'll do a few more hours though since we're getting lots of sun today.
It's the week-end and my calendar says that I met my goal of 30 minutes + of exercise every day! Yay! 3 hikes, 2 runs, 2 strength training sessions, and today's exercise was interesting: Volunteering at the local Christmas Tree drop-off and hurling christmas trees into neat stacks for 4 hours. I feel like superwoman (and I smell like a car air freshener :D )
Yay pug!
I spent 45 mins rollerblading with the grandson on Saturday and 1.5 hours on Sunday at the park. We went on the swings, climbed the ladders and rock walls, rode bikes, ran, rollerbladed - we all came home tired and sweaty. It was too much fun.
Congrats pug! And what a nice variety of exercise.
I'm still doing my daily walking. Seems so boring to keep typing that each time. Especially with you rollerbladers running around!
Congrats to all of you making progress.
I'm setting a short-term goal - just seven days in a row of at least 15 minutes of yoga each day. If I do that much over the next seven days, it will be progress.
I'll check back in and let you know how I'm doing.
Best,
Elizabeth
The gym is open! I've gone to workout twice, with decent results both times. Actually a bit surprised that it wasn't harder. Need to work a bit to get my speed back up on my running, but I think it will happen quickly. And it feels good to be getting back to the weights again. I haven't put on any weight in spite of not exercising, but I know I have lost muscle/gained fat. So need to get back in the groove and get those ratios changing again.
I did manage to fill in around the edges with some powerwalking while the gym was closed. So I feel like 2012 is off to a good start in general.
lhamo
I have been doing physical therapy for my arms; they are losing their endurance; pt has helped me to keep up my strength; changed my posture; and i can still incorporate aerobic exercise
dh got free passes to the "fancy" athletic center; we normally go to the Y; other than the locker rooms; i wasn't impressed; the pool was old and dirty; and wasn't deep; but i tried my modification of my free style stroke; it worked out great; couldn't believe how long i was in the pool; so am commited to do more swimming this year!
I did about 30 minutes of yoga today so have completed Day 1 of my seven days of yoga. It felt great.
Rocked it on the treadmill this afternoon -- 23 minutes running out of 30 minutes, top speed 10.5 km/hr (I could only do 2 minutes of that), but then threw in 3 more minutes at 9.5 after a walking interval of 2 minutes and before a 2 minute cool down. Broke 4km (hit 4.1, actually). I want to see how long it takes me to break 5km in 30 minutes. I hope I can manage that by the end of the month, but we'll see. I won't have access to the gym for a week while we are visiting inlaws for lunar new year, so may have trouble running that week (the weather is below freezing there even in the daytime now). I will try to get out for a good power walk every day, though -- DH will probably want to join me and we will need it knowing all the food that is going to be around. Lunar New Year is like a week straight of Christmas and Thanksgiving thrown together -- everything very food centered and hard to say no both out of politeness AND because stuff is generally so good. Dumplings, yum.....
Yes, powerwalking shall be needed.
lhamo
Wow, lhamo, it sounds like you are in great shape.
I completed Day 2 of my 7 days of yoga. I'm super-inflexible - have to warm up sometimes just to touch my toes! - and I know it's only going to get worse as I get older if I don't make a commitment to doing yoga every day. I feel SO much better when I do it, and I sleep better
Been running pretty regularly this fall -- maped out a long run for Saturday, wanted to go 7 miles. During the last part my legs were getting tired and sore. I looked at my watch and thought wow, this is taking me a lot longer than I had anticpated.
I got home and went to "mapmyrun.com" and looked at my route - opps - I didn't map the last big loop. Total miles ran 9.33
I WAS sore Saturday evening, but by Sunday a.m. was great!
Way to go, Greg44! Amazing what we can do when we don't even know we are doing it.
Wow, Gregg -- that was some run! Good job.
Had to run some errands on the way home yesterday, so no gym. Will go this afternoon. May it be so :)
lhamo
Impressive, Gregg.
I got through day 3 of my yoga today.
I took down about three dozen large firs and pines last month to protect the house from wind storms and fire.
So much of this winter's exercise program will be splitting and stacking *a lot* of firewood. I've been putting in about 1.5 hours a day.
Every other day, my daughter and I are fencing with rapier/saber, or knife fighting with Bowie, about an hour or so.
I spend about 2 hours a day practicing Tsoi Li Ho Fut Hung kung fu, which I've done for ~35 years now.
I walk the dogs about an hour or so a day.
Most days perhaps 1-2 hours with kettlebells. If I watch a movie on TV, it's while swinging the kettlebells.
And about an hour a day shooting, which is *sort* of exercise.
And my wife and I often exercise together, perhaps an hour or so a day.
What breed of dogs do you own, Bae? I bet they are large, can't see you walking small ones.
What breed of dogs do you own, Bae? I bet they are large, can't see you walking small ones.
Basset Hound and Portuguese Water dogs, it's an odd assortment.
Kicked it up another notch at the gym this afternoon -- got up to 4.25 km in 30 minutes! I'm not sure I can make my target of hitting 5.0km in 30 minutes by the end of the month, though. I don't want to break or tear something! But I'll keep trying to make modest incremental improvements.
Hit 66kgs on the gym scale fully clothed, which means I am actually at 65kgs. One down, five more to go this year. If I can hit that goal I will be VERY happy indeed. I haven't been at that weight since I was in grad school and exercising pretty much every day pre-kids.
lhamo
Way to go, Greg44! Amazing what we can do when we don't even know we are doing it.
...and that will be the hard part, when I run my "long run" this Saturday, now knowing exactly how far it is!
Way to go, lhamo. I think you're smart to not try to hard to get to 5 km in 30 min if it seems like it's pushing it. I know so many people who got injured just be exercising a little too enthusiastically after a long break.
I completed day 4 of my seven days of yoga.
I do love hounds--we had a beagle one time and he bayed when he heard sirens. I enjoyed that sound.
Portuguese Water Dogs are popular for being nonshedding for people who have allergies.
I had a Bichon Frise for 13 years--she was the best dog I had ever had--not a mean bone in her body, didn't growl or bite anyone, non-shed, non-allergenic, and perfect for someone living in an apartment.
I got my exercise by taking her for walks several times every day.
I think you have a great combination!
I completed days 5 and 6 of my 7 days of yoga.
I love this thread; so good to see progress. I started a weight training program on December 23rd. This has to be about the eighth time in my life I have started such a program. This is the FIRST time I have sustained it for nearly a month. So I have been lifting (very little weight but many reps!) three times a week, doing an interval workout on the treadmill or elliptical trainer three times a week, and doing this KILLER yoga flow on Saturdays. Tomorrow, assuming I get there, will be my fourth yoga class.
I have increased weight in several areas (meaning I am lifting more) and along with the low carb thing, parts of me are tightening up. Yahoo! I think that one difference for me this time is that I am 1) focused on enjoying myself in the workout rather than pushing and 2) I take the day off if I feel particularly tired, rather than pushing through. My past history (of everything in my life) has been to push far too hard and then backslide, due to fatigue or even injury. So I am trying to see this as a life change not a temporary measure.
I am posting mostly because I want lots of ways to be accountable to keep this up. So now I have gone public: gotta keep at it!
Finally got to run this a.m. -- we have been having solid rain/wind in the Pacific Northwest and it is hard to peel myself out of my warm bed at 5 a.m. when I can hear it raining and blowing outside.
Did a 4.59 mile route - good solid pace. I map my runs at Mapmyrun.com Free site to map your runs, walks, hikes, bike rides, etc.
It saves me having to drive around measuring my runs + it tells you the elevation change on the route, which is kinda cool.
I need to join this challenge. I am a few weeks from my third trimester of pregnacy and I have a history of gestational diabetes, so I want to stay healthy.
Complicating my exercise efforts are a few facts. 1) It is winter so my favourite exercise, walking, is not an easy option anymore and 2) I hurt my back a week ago and it's not totally healed yet.
For the moment I am trying to start small and do 5-10 minutes of exercise after each meal. That should help with any blood sugar issues and it's doable. I got out my exercise ball and have been doing a few things to help stretch and strengthen my back as well as some basic calistenic-type stuff. It's nothing fancy, but it's better than nothing and relatively easy to accomplish. I need it to be easy to accomplish.
I'm going to join in. I was "prescribed" exercise the last time I saw my doctor. My weight is fine but I'm entering perimenopause and also struggling a bit with seasonal depression and anxiety. The exciting thing is that the exercise helps my mood so much! I started at 30 minutes 3x a week (mainly jogging on treadmill or Wii yoga/strength). New goal is 45 min 4x a week plus extra outdoor walks here and there when the sun is shining.
One incentive I've added is to watch movies while I use the treadmill. If I really get into something and then can't see how it ends unless I'm on the treadmill it's very motivating :)
I'm inspired by all of your stories. thanks!
Congrats, leslieann and greg on your progress, and welcome Stella and sunnyjoe.
I made it through my 7 days of yoga, so I'm going to set the same goal for the next 7 days - at least 15 minutes of it a day for 7 days straight. I've always had trouble with consistency, and reporting here helps a lot.
30 min on the treadmill, ran straight for 26 minutes at 9.0 km/hour and polished off 4.25 km again. I think my next strategy for pushing that toward 5.0 will be to up the speed by .1 km/hour for the running portion every time I run. I don't think I'll hit 5.0km in 30 minutes by the end of the month -- especially considering I won't have treadmill access while at my inlaws for the next week, but should get there in February if I can keep up that pace of speed increase.
I already passed my goal of 12 workouts a month for January. And doing fine on the weight front, too. Yay me!
lhamo
lhamo
I dreamed I was running last night so figured that was my cue to jump out of bed and exercise ;) I've been aiming for 5k on the treadmill because eventually I'd like to be able to do a 5k run. Lhamo, the 30 minute goal is a good one! So far I'm just under 40 minutes.
Have a good weekend everybody! Oh and a little extra exercise on the agenda here--there's snow to shovel.
Did a repeat of last saturday night - a 9.33 mile run. One tired puppy, but I did it!
i have been having problems with my feet; tenndenitus from too many urban hikes; so am now going to the pool to exercise; was able to exercise for about 50 minutes; 30 with the water belt; and 20 doing a slow free style
today dh and i are going to do our sunday hike; i have to get my outdoor activity in at least once a week even if i have to deal with the foot pain later
fidgiegirl
1-24-12, 8:24am
I am feeling better in my gut now and ready to try exercise again. My challenge now is that my Y passes that I won in a silent auction expired, so I'm back to (unnecessarily) agonizing over where to go work out and working around community center hours, etc. I am reluctant to join a gym because I haven't gone a TON of times whenever I have had a membership, but it's been a lot less stressful, too. When I had the pass, I just went to the Y. Done. No thinking about it.
So putting something out there and making it public: I am going swimming tonight. I will go straight from work. If I come home, I don't go back out to do exercise.
iris lily
1-24-12, 10:02am
It's been one month since I re-started a walking program (a few days before Christmas) and I'm happy to say that I've walked 30 minutes each and every day. Much of that had to do with our gorgeous, balmy, unusual weather here. Only 2 or 3 times was I forced to stay in the house and "walk" with Leslie Sandstone and the girls on a dvd.
fidgiegirl
1-24-12, 8:31pm
I went swimming for 20 minutes. My ears were bothering me when water went in :( Ear plugs next time. Felt good.
For January. Zero. Storming and wet and cold + being a wuss, = I haven't done a lick of exercise.
[QUOTE=Greg44;63366]Did a repeat of last saturday night - a 9.33 mile run. One tired puppy, but I did it![/QUOTE...
Nine miles? Or a mile in 9.333 minutes?
[/QUOTE]...Nine miles? Or a mile in 9.333 minutes?[/QUOTE]
9.33 miles - according to Mapmyrun.com. and did I mention I was one tired puppy?!
it's been a while since i've visited this forum. however, the exercising has been going well. it's been unusually warm this winter in the northeast so i've been running fairly jogging and do some hiking with the dog. my wife and i plan on running a 5k or two together this spring.
i hope everyone's exercise regimes are going well!
...Nine miles? Or a mile in 9.333 minutes?[/QUOTE]
9.33 miles - according to Mapmyrun.com. and did I mention I was one tired puppy?![/QUOTE]
Well, I for one am impressed!
...Nine miles? Or a mile in 9.333 minutes?
9.33 miles - according to Mapmyrun.com. and did I mention I was one tired puppy?![/QUOTE]
Well, I for one am impressed![/QUOTE]
Why thank you...I want to run a marathon...maybe in the fall. It's one of those "bucket list" things.
2 mile run this a.m... was shorter than planned - the bathroom was calling if you get my drift. One of the downfalls of early a.m. running, I know TMI!
So far I have lost 50 lbs on my quest to better health. :)
So far I have lost 50 lbs on my quest to better health. :)
Wow, Greg -- that's really impressive! How long have you been working on it?
I have unfortunately gone back UP to 66 kilos -- a casualty of too many jiaozi and bing this past week, I guess. Not too worried about it though -- I was at 66 at the beginning of the month and quickly got back to 65 with some focus on better eating and exercise, so I know it will go down again. Had a really bad sleep last night so only put in 30 minutes on the treadmill today, and at a slower pace with more walking than last week, but did 3.5 km in that time so better than when I first got back from the US earlier in the month. And I pushed myself to run an extra 5 minutes when I really felt like walking. Every little bit counts.
lhamo
Ihamo - I started back the first of September. I looked in the mirror and said - you know, this just isn't working for me! Changed my diet, increased my running and haven't looked back since. Still got more to go, but I did not go on a diet, I changed my diet - big difference.
Surprising how much easier it is to run not carrying an extra 50lbs around!
Oh my goodness -- that's amazing! Well done. I know what you mean about it being easier to run without the extra weight -- I've only lost about 20 lbs, but if you told me a year ago I would ever ENJOY running, I would have laughed in your face. Now I look forward to it.
lhamo
After being sick for a few days, I am back doing yoga. Today and yesterday, I met my goal of at least 15 minutes, which was impressive for me because I have family visiting, and I normally don't take very good care of myself when I have visitors.
In addition to the yoga, my family and I walked about 4 miles today - just checking out sites in the neighborhood at a leisurely pace, but since some of it was uphill, it was an okay mild workout.
30 minutes on the treadmill, 2 min walking warmup followed by intervals at 9.0 km/hr (5 min), 9.5 (5 min), 10.0 (5 min), 10.2 (2 min) and 10.5 (1 min), with 2 minute walk breaks in between. 3.6 km total in 30 minutes. Then tried a new weight strategy outlined in the book "The Perfect Science of Slim" which I read over the holiday. Definitely feeling the results in my muscles a couple of hours later! Will be interesting to see if this weight routine is as effective as he claims. I'm still going to keep doing my running/swimming as I find the endorphin rush after a good aerobic workout is really beneficial for my overall mood. but doing 10-15 minutes of weights 1-2 times a week and having it pay off in a better metabolism sounds good to me!
lhamo
I'm happy to report that I've finally moved beyond just walking! Woo-hoo!!! Two weeks ago I added the Jillian Michaels 30-Day Shred, about 5 days a week which I hope to increase to daily. This is my typical schedule: in the morning I walk 20-30 minutes and shred, and then I walk at least 30 minutes in the eve - an hour or 90 minutes if I run into my walking buddy.
I was already feeling really good but when I added the shred my energy went thru the roof! Dh said I made him tired just watching me :). I love the shred because I can feel my muscle mass building almost from day one and the energy is just amazing. Now on the days when I don't shred I feel slow. I noticed that my eating plan is helping with the exercise too. I have much more stamina than I used to.
I'm going to bed much earlier than I was. I read for an hour before bed and that makes my evenings very relaxing.
Glad to see everyone else's success in the exercise department! It sure makes winter less dreary, doesn't it?
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.5 Copyright © 2024 vBulletin Solutions Inc. All rights reserved.