Category Archives: Fitness

Fitness

Tragic start to 2016

My January goals were confounded by some unfortunate happenstances:

 

 

Needless to say, I didn’t make my January goals, and February is off to a rocky, late start.

I’m scaling back my goals for the month of February. Here are the objectives:

 

  • lose 5# in February
  • stay within calorie budget for 1 week (7 days straight)
  • ramp up to 10k steps daily 
  • ramp up to 4×5 assisted pullups daily
  • ramp up to 4×5 squats/pushups daily 

 

February is also a great time to plan gardening projects. The man and I are working on some ideas on small scale landscape work for 2016.

 

Fitness

2016 Objectives

Recently I stumbled across an online calculator while skimming through my daily feeds that offered to divine my “ideal body weight” (suggested by Girls Gone Strong).

The results for this 46yo at 5’3″:

Based on the Robinson formula (1983), your ideal weight is 119.3 lbs
Based on the Miller formula (1983), your ideal weight is 126.1 lbs
Based on the Devine formula (1974), your ideal weight is 115.5 lbs
Based on the Hamwi formula (1964), your ideal weight is 114.9 lbs

Based on the healthy BMI recommendation, your recommended weight is 104.4 lbs – 141.1 lbs 

Yeeeeeeeeeah. Anybody who’s been following my weight ticker knows that the closest I’ve gotten to any of these numbers was back in summer of 2013 and 2014. I was within “healthy BMI” range for those 2 time periods, which also had a great side effect of retiring my old wardrobe.

My ultimate goal weight is set closer to the Miller formula, which unfortunately my not be realistic since I intend to build muscle. (That fantasy about being a physique model might be just way over the top crazy.)

Of course, many fitness and personal improvement blogs will tell me that my personal worth isn’t solely valued by a number on the scale. But without metrics, how does one improve and better oneself? That is the basis for sites and apps like MyFitnesspal: to provide a visible (and hopefully objective) record to help one make good decisions about health & fitness.

Personal observations over the course of 4 years using MFP:

Starting off the new year with a plan: the first 3 months of the year are critical. Staying consistent with a diet and fitness plan yields valuable insights. This is the best time to build momentum and keep fueling it. A roadmap keeps you accountable and something to look forward to.

The next 3 months are hell: I’ve managed to buck the trend of quitting after the first 30 days into the year. But it’s the second quarter of the year that I have trouble with staying on track. Spring weather and activity distracts from my primary focus of getting lean and staying on track. (It doesn’t help that it’s the start of the blockbuster movie season + my birfday.) This is the timeframe to knuckle down and reassess what works, what doesn’t.

It’s not what I eat, but how much I eat: seriously I’ve done sugar detox, Whole30, Paleo/Primal Blueprint, LCHF and Keto. While these diet plans help you keep the hunger monsters at bay, ultimately it’s the calorie deficit that yields the most weight loss. Female hormones, age, and height make weight loss more challenging and don’t always play nice with diets. However, in order to keep performance optimal, the quality of your food DOES matter.

Pets keep you happy, healthy and active: seriously, no matter what size or breed of dog you have…walk them!!!  If you have cats, play with them. Dogs and cats are prone to the same lifestyle ailments that plague humans. How many furkids are overweight/obese these days? That number is growing. You and your furbabies will benefit from outdoor activity and sunlight (vitamin D yo). Daily physical interaction and stimulation keeps them sane and well-adjusted. The same applies to human kids too!

When was the last time you did something for the first time? Something new and novel can jumpstart a flagging resolve or derailment. Buy new fitness gear or fitness clothing, join a new gym or try a different sport or program. Find new tunes to workout to. Challenge your friends or invite them to join you. Look up some new apps, find something that will inspire you. Do WHATEVER it takes to get you back on track. Because your health and longevity is worth it. This is the only body you get in life–don’t limit the price tag to maintain it.

Do warmups: coz no matter how ready you think you are, your body doesn’t always conform to ambition. Your brain is always thinking ahead, but the body is slow to catch up. Warmups are critical to injury-free workouts; it’s your body’s wakeup call to the day ahead. It’s a physical meditation on the activities you’re about to embark on.

Don’t shortchange yourself on sleep: No matter how cool the app or fun the game or binge-worthy the show/movie, go to bed! 7-8 hours is a guideline, but it’s not realistic when you work out, juggle a career and family, have injuries or sickness to tend, amid all the other adult responsibilities of life. The older I get, the more sleep I need to heal, repair, recharge. I see more strength and weight loss progress when I get more restful sleep.

Health & fitness should not become a religion or a fad: while these things improve your quality of life, health & fitness should not supplant life (with few exceptions). Life should not revolve around your workout routine or dietary choices. H&F should improve and augment your life, and help create a better version of you. How many hours you spend in the gym is not the measure of success. What you omit from your plate is not the only determinant of happiness in life. Thou shalt not worship the gods of iron or cardio (amen, Nia Shanks). H&F are disciplines that help you make better decisions, form worthy goals and achieve success.

Finally, the one terrible wisdom that everybody should remember and take to heart: YOU CAN’T CHANGE OTHER PEOPLE. You cannot force them down the better path. No matter how dire the need for intervention, people MUST choose for themselves and must take the next step to health and fitness ON THEIR OWN. You can be supportive or be an example, but trying to proselytize will get you nowhere. A loved one could be on their death bed, but bending them to your will does no good. They must decide for themselves, take action for themselves, be accountable to themselves. Transformation must be embraced, not coerced. Be a positive influence; don’t troll, abuse, tyrannize, or bully them into good health. Shame and guilt are not the path to healthy behavior. However, trust and encouragement can produce amazing results. Even hope can be a powerful motivator.

And now I want to thank the following resources for helping me on this journey to H&F:

  • Mark’s Daily Apple/Primal Blueprint
  • Bodyrecomposition by Lyle McDonald
  • Mark Rippetoe’s Starting Strength 
  • Whole30/Dallas & Melissa Hartwig
  • StrongLifts
  • Girls Gone Strong
  • Nia Shanks
  • Scooby’s Home Workouts
  • Paleo for Women
  • Zen Habits/Leo Batauta
  • Nerd Fitness
  • Mr Money Mustache
  • SuppVersity
  • PCC Blog/Progressive Calisthenics
  • Jimmy Moores LLVLC
  • Tim Ferriss
  • The Bulletproof Exec

 Here’s to finding many more resources and discoveries in 2016.

 

Fitness

2015 A Year in Review Pt 1 (maybe)

2016 is just around the corner, and I am back to pore over recent posts, diary entries, and app/Keep notes to see how far I’ve come in personal growth, including health- and strength-wise.

So far the biggest most obvious change in life and circumstance is being a new home owner. As of July 2015, I moved out to a semi-country setting within a recent surburban neighborhood just east of Denton, far north of Dallas. This change re-introduced many challenges and responsibilities of being an adult, including paying higher bills ontime and staying on top of general household maintenance duties. Trying to stay organized on top of longer drive times to-and-fro also introduced a lot of stress and time-management issues.

We adopted 3 furkids this year, two babies and one 100+lb adult, all of whom demanded extra care and attention, not to mention medical expenses. Keeping a household full of sane well-behaved furkids required us to continuously engage these kids physically, socially, and mentally–sometimes to the point of exhausing our patience with them.

Moving to a new place encourages a natural curiosity of what the environment offers, and so the attraction to explore the restaurant scene in and around Denton, Little Elm and Frisco was hard to resist. The lack of shopping variety in our immediate neighborhood also invited unhealthy food choices at times. There were plenty of excellent discoveries with the side effect of expanding waistlines and increased scale poundages (not to mention lighter wallets).

With my diet straying far from ideal for the rest of the summer into the fall, I was not surprised to gain 8-10lbs in such a short time, which essentially returned me back to my starting weight in late 2011-early 2012. Despite that I was doing more low level cardio this year than in previous year, I could not out-walk my fork. A not-so-drastic change in work circumstance didn’t contribute much to weight loss..and in a couple of instances, made healthcare somewhat more difficult to obtain.

I had also hit my 5RM with the StrongLifts program and couldn’t get past the physical and mental barrier. It seemed the heavier the weights, the more my balance and form suffered; and in my head I just couldn’t focus on the needed corrective actions. When I resumed lifting after my move (sometime in latter half of August), I was more interested in quickly regaining my losses, and was inattentive to the detail of low and slow progression. The expensive upgrade to my squat rack didn’t really do much to increase my strength (though it was easier to store and organize my equipment).

Speaking of upgrades, I picked up a new optical HRM (Scosche Rhythm Plus) and a few more apps to inject some variety in my record keeping and fitness tracking. These discoveries allowed me to easily jump back into a somewhat regular schedule of exercise. The gadget geek in me craves the new and the novel, but the sober me realizes that I need to see measurable improvement before investing in more fitness toys. This elevated my expectations of my tools, increasing my affection for my newest apps (Instagram and Wahoo in particular) while decreasing my satisfaction with the MFP app (lack of tech support and the UA acquisition being of primary excuse).

I’ve come to end of recounting the most visible and impactful laundry list of things and events in this posting. I may have more to say before the last days of 2015 draw to a close. Stay tuned.

Fitness

June check-in and review

May was a complete bust as far as goals went. Being a birthday month, I gave myself full license to eat, and eat badly I did. I still kept up with my lifting routine and incorporated some morning cardio while the mild weather held out…but those goals I planned back in January didn’t happen.

So let’s review the report card:

CHALLENGE JAN 1-JUN 1: 5×5 SL 3x Weekly 

I did fairly well with this challenge, missing a few days and at least one straight week that I could remember in recent memory. I enjoy lifting in general, and I do notice that my weaker, less motivated days tend to coincide with those TOM hormonal periods…yech!

CHALLENGE JUN 1: Sz 4 by June 1

This pairs up with my lose 15# in 15 weeks challenge which was a bust. OK, didn’t happen, not really…except for that one size 4 dress I bought at Dress Barn that fit me fabulously (which means I’d wear a sz6 petite)…otherwise, I’m still wearing small shirts, medium sweaters/cardis for outer layers, and size 6 jeans. Still a vast improvement from a couple of years ago. 

CHALLENGE JUN 1: 15 Unassisted Pullups by June 1

Well I had thought that I could belt out 15 pullups in one set, but this is a much harder challenge than I originally believed. I can do 3×2 sets/reps of pullups, and belt out 10 total in a day, but never came close to 15 yet. I believe I still need a lot of upper body strength and lower bodyweight to achieve this.

AND THE OTHER CHALLENGES… 

Some minor tasks like reading a book a month and attending an opera/musical kinda fell to the wayside. I did get the Doggy Dentals done in April–no doggy dentures for my pups!

From my last March check-in (yes, I neglected to post April and May), I did obtain some fractional plates which I’ve implemented in my training. Because of difficulties pushing past my bodyweight in squats, I’ve gone back down in weights to work on my form. 

Certifications and other learning: somewhat on hold. I briefly picked up some Duolingo and Codecademy courses, but haven’t really progressed far. One thing about all the craziness at work (company is splitting in two) and sticking to a workout plan is that there aren’t enough hours in the day to get a full night’s sleep. 

One major life change that may have an impact on my workout schedule: I’m moving to a new house. The house hunt in April probably caused my infrequent blogging…but I’m happily anticipating getting my own girl-cave which I’ll be outfitting into a kickass home gym. Woot woot…I’m already filling out my wishlist at Rogue Fitness!

More posts to follow! 

Fitness

End of February review, March challenge

Feb 16-Feb 28 Challenge goals:

  • SL5x5 3x weekly: check
  • 5×20 pushups daily: check
  • 3×5 assisted pullups daily: check
  • 10k steps on non-lift days: inconsistent due to weather restrictions
  • Calorie plan 1221 kcal non-lift, 1526 kcal lift: first week did great, 2nd week went off plan.
Mar 1-Mar 15 Challenge goals: