The Score So Far (Health & Fitness)

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Jersey Girl
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Re: The score so far (Health & Fitness)

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Jersey Girl wrote:
Mon Jan 03, 2022 4:36 am
Over the past year I stayed around 112-114. Of course it fluctuates. Last week I got on the scale at 117.8 and immediately said...uh,no. Screeeeeeeeeeeew this! I owe every single extra pound to Ghirardelli Snowmen and I am not exaggerating here. I also lost all the food anxiety that I had so that's another reason for the uptick. I finally started eating again though I still stick to small portions...the Snowmen did me in!
I don't post on this thread much because I don't step on the scale every 5 seconds of my life and I'm still in the trying to incorporate daily stretching. It's amazing how I can suck at one little thing, but there it is...and I offer that for anyone who would like to change their diet and fitness towards the positive. A few years ago I was cooking on all 4 burners. Now? Back to square one and trying to make myself get on the floor and stretch every day. How pathetic is that. I mean all it takes is actually putting one's behind...on. the. floor. Let's face it I totally stink right now but I'm sure I'll get there.

I did set intentions for the month of January. One was to start the sequence of exercise. There is hope! It's still January! :lol:

Anyway, here's the current deal.

1/2/22 117.8

1/14/22 116.8

1/24/22 116.0

So...that is what reality is for me. When you hear folks talking about 'those last ten pounds'...that's what I'm always dealing with if I see that I'm putting on unwanted weight. It's only about, I dunno, 5 pounds but still it matters to me. I haven't set a "goal weight". I really don't do that because weight fluctuates and it'd drive me totally nuts watching it flip flop around.

I'm basically just eating well and yes, the Snowmen are still looking at me but I am NOT making eye contact. They can wait for a blizzard when I'm snowed in. I guess these unwanted pounds were holiday pounds. They'll go away.

I know they will.

ETA: I just wanted to add that when I started this thread that I think I was 136 or 138 at the time. I don't know if I ever shared that.
Last edited by Jersey Girl on Mon Jan 24, 2022 8:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: The Score So Far (Health & Fitness)

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Ceeboo I wonder if you are reading here? I know you were trying to get in gear and either that didn't happen or you decided that going away from this board and your thread was more beneficial to your efforts. Maybe you are out there doing well and meeting your personal goals. Maybe you threw your hands up in defeat for the time being.

We've all been there. I've been there. I'm trying to get out of that stuck place right now and putting it here on the screen in journal form.

Cards on the table and I may have said this somewhere in this lengthy thread that originated in Prison. I started this thread for two reasons.

1. Because I wanted to change my own level of health and fitness. Hold myself accountable publicly.
2. I put it in Prison in the hopes that FAQS might come into it with the rest of us.

I kept saying I put it out of the main traffic so it wouldn't be noticed too much. I put it out of the main traffic and stuffed it into Prison because FAQS was there and I thought maybe he could have a place to discuss without HIM getting noticed too much if he chose to join and not be mercilessly mocked and derided.

He never really came into the thread but I think this may have been the thread where Cam extended a hand of support to him. People have been in and out of here and provided SO much encouragement and inspiration to me not to mention offering practical food and exercise ideas. You can see how different we all are in our attitudes and how we go about things. I think it's SO beneficial for that reason because one person can set off a positive chain reaction in another person to the benefit of both.

Look at how old and lengthy this thread is. Over the years I've stopped and started my own practice numerous times. When I went silent on the thread was when I was "off". Not doing much. Not paying attention. Hanging out in valleys instead of hitting peaks. Maybe life wasn't going so well for me.

Anyway, Ceebs, if you are out there and want to get back "in". Fire up the thread you started or come into this one. There's plenty of folks here who are in the same boat and who will offer encouragement.
We only get stronger when we are lifting something that is heavier than what we are used to. ~ KF

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Re: The score so far (Health & Fitness)

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Jersey Girl wrote:
Mon Jan 24, 2022 8:45 pm

I don't post on this thread much because I don't step on the scale every 5 seconds of my life and I'm still in the trying to incorporate daily stretching. It's amazing how I can suck at one little thing, but there it is...and I offer that for anyone who would like to change their diet and fitness towards the positive. A few years ago I was cooking on all 4 burners. Now? Back to square one and trying to make myself get on the floor and stretch every day. How pathetic is that. I mean all it takes is actually putting one's behind...on. the. floor. Let's face it I totally stink right now but I'm sure I'll get there.
I don't find that pathetic at all, I find it incredibly human. I'd probably encourage you to not be so harsh on yourself but I'm sure you know what motivates you by now. Getting back into any rhythm is difficult, it takes time and discipline and tenacity.

Speaking a bit more generally here, I think as humans we often fall into the trap of believing that doing the right or best thing should be easy, when that so often isn't the case. It would be much easier to phone it in as a partner to you spouse, as a parent, as a caretaker for yourself. Being present and engaged in all those areas is dang tough because even as one improves a little it one area it often highlights another where more work is needed. It becomes about the small daily battles of improvement in your life, racking up little wins that culminate into something much larger.

I find that if I lose sight of those victories it can become overwhelming, forest for the trees kinda stuff. Don't forget to celebrate when you do get your stretches in, when you do have a day where you feel better, where you do make positive food choices. All that stuff really adds up.
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Re: The score so far (Health & Fitness)

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Xenophon wrote:
Tue Jan 25, 2022 2:12 pm
Jersey Girl wrote:
Mon Jan 24, 2022 8:45 pm

I don't post on this thread much because I don't step on the scale every 5 seconds of my life and I'm still in the trying to incorporate daily stretching. It's amazing how I can suck at one little thing, but there it is...and I offer that for anyone who would like to change their diet and fitness towards the positive. A few years ago I was cooking on all 4 burners. Now? Back to square one and trying to make myself get on the floor and stretch every day. How pathetic is that. I mean all it takes is actually putting one's behind...on. the. floor. Let's face it I totally stink right now but I'm sure I'll get there.
I don't find that pathetic at all, I find it incredibly human. I'd probably encourage you to not be so harsh on yourself but I'm sure you know what motivates you by now. Getting back into any rhythm is difficult, it takes time and discipline and tenacity.

Speaking a bit more generally here, I think as humans we often fall into the trap of believing that doing the right or best thing should be easy, when that so often isn't the case. It would be much easier to phone it in as a partner to you spouse, as a parent, as a caretaker for yourself. Being present and engaged in all those areas is dang tough because even as one improves a little it one area it often highlights another where more work is needed. It becomes about the small daily battles of improvement in your life, racking up little wins that culminate into something much larger.

I find that if I lose sight of those victories it can become overwhelming, forest for the trees kinda stuff. Don't forget to celebrate when you do get your stretches in, when you do have a day where you feel better, where you do make positive food choices. All that stuff really adds up.

Oh yes, absolutely. I am definitely putting my humanness on display here. It's impossible for any of us to keep all the balls in the air every single day of our lives because well, life, and it's unrealistic to think we can. I learned new language to express that. Your real self vs. your fantasy self. Those two concepts work against each other and there are days when you have to accept your real self and your real life and your real mood and your real issues and you just lighten up on yourself because you really can't live up to your fantasy self. You really can change your daily practices and replace a negative habit with a more positive habit...all of this is part of being human. I've done it myself when I set about transforming my daily diet.

Our lives are a mixed bag and we are a mixed bag. I say just note your successes and don't beat yourself up when you stumble. I don't know about anyone else but baby steps is always where it's at for me.

So...although I haven't kept up with my January intentions (remember the month isn't over yet! :D ) for daily stretching, it's not like I'm sprawled out on the couch staring at a television. That's not me and I have plenty of successes in other areas so I use those as a reminder that I really can get in gear and meet my January intentions which isn't a long list, it's just two things.

I haven't been immobile. One thing I do almost every single day is dance. Example: Last night while cooking chicken soup for a family member who is waiting for Covid 19 test results, I asked Alexa to play certain songs that I can cha cha to. My kitchen is big enough to dance in. Benefits: Dancing the cha cha works on and warms up the muscles of your feet, ankles, and calves, and it's a smidge aerobic as well. I also do faster and other types of dances in the kitchen so I get in my movement where I can get it. ;-)

If I happen to fall completely short of my January intentions, they aren't going to be deleted. I'll roll them over into February.
We only get stronger when we are lifting something that is heavier than what we are used to. ~ KF

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Re: The Score So Far (Health & Fitness)

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So...I wanted to share this for anyone who is reading and who has never practiced Yoga. There's a youtuber that I check in with from time to time and she recently demonstrated a Vinyasa Flow with an instructor...she did the whole session on camera. Now...there are tons of Yoga videos available on youtube or for purchase, and I've mentioned Esther Ekhart here before who has short videos on youtube and also a membership for online classes that are full session. Ekhart is top notch!

I thought I'd just like to put a link to this one here because it's male and female doing the whole session start to finish. My impression is that some men think that Yoga is for women and there are folks who say they can't do Yoga because they can't get into pretzel positions. Yoga really doesn't require pretzel positions at all. You can do those more advance positions and there are all sorts of styles of Yoga but this one...is Vinyasa Flow and it's my personal preference.

So this is Dominique Sachse who was a news anchor in Houston and recently retired. She's devoting herself to her youtube lifestyle channel, has a new book out and who knows what all else she'll do. She's a Christian lady but she doesn't push it on her channel.

If anyone reading here who has never done Yoga watches this and would like to try it, I would suggest that you DO try this and if you see a position that you feel shaky about...stay in your current position and wait for that shaky feeling one to be done...then catch back up with the flow. It's a simple as that. Another technique is to go into child pose while you wait to catch up. You do NOT need to stretch prior to or after Yoga. The stretching is part of the session.

I also wanted to say that in my experience, that the more you practice Yoga, you'll be able to take positions that you previously could not and still...there will be days when you feel like you just have to skip a few that particular day because you're not feeling the usual flexibility or your energy is low that day. Yoga isn't about competition. There IS no fail.

My first real instructor was amazing. The one thing he told us every single time was that if all you did for your hour was to sit on your mat and use the breathing technique, then you could claim to have had a good session of Yoga. So keep that in mind.

Sit on your mat or carpet and breathe for an hour while you watch this video or...try out the flow!

Flow Yoga with Define Founder Henry Richardson | Dominique Sachse
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2rxId7Oxig
We only get stronger when we are lifting something that is heavier than what we are used to. ~ KF

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Re: The Score So Far (Health & Fitness)

Post by Jersey Girl »

Yep! 8-)


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Re: The Score So Far (Health & Fitness)

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Thought I'd pop in here and drop a little challenge for everyone (myself included). I was recently made aware of the "Old Man Test" that is currently trending on social media platforms of your choice.

The first article that popped up when I googled it:
Essentially, the old man test boils down to standing on one foot, barefoot, and putting on your sock and shoe and tying it before you put down your other foot. Then, you balance on your other foot while repeating the same process.
Sounds easy enough, right? Give it a run and see if you still agree. Even with a fair amount of iso-lateral work, all my mobility work, the foot strengthening I do, this was still harder than I expected. You're going to need a good bit of flexibility, balance, and core strength to execute it. If you aren't able to do it 100% right now that is a-okay, you've got time to get better. And although this may not be the most useful skill you'll ever learn it is pretty indicative of your current balance and stability, an important aspect to focus on.

Some work to help you get there: Let me know if you tried it and how it went.
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Re: The Score So Far (Health & Fitness)

Post by Jersey Girl »

Xeno I can do that! I do it all the time. :mrgreen:
We only get stronger when we are lifting something that is heavier than what we are used to. ~ KF

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Re: The Score So Far (Health & Fitness)

Post by Res Ipsa »

Xenophon wrote:
Thu Mar 17, 2022 8:28 pm
Thought I'd pop in here and drop a little challenge for everyone (myself included). I was recently made aware of the "Old Man Test" that is currently trending on social media platforms of your choice.

The first article that popped up when I googled it:
Essentially, the old man test boils down to standing on one foot, barefoot, and putting on your sock and shoe and tying it before you put down your other foot. Then, you balance on your other foot while repeating the same process.
Sounds easy enough, right? Give it a run and see if you still agree. Even with a fair amount of iso-lateral work, all my mobility work, the foot strengthening I do, this was still harder than I expected. You're going to need a good bit of flexibility, balance, and core strength to execute it. If you aren't able to do it 100% right now that is a-okay, you've got time to get better. And although this may not be the most useful skill you'll ever learn it is pretty indicative of your current balance and stability, an important aspect to focus on.

Some work to help you get there: Let me know if you tried it and how it went.
Damn. I'm not sure I was ever capable of doing this. Can I do it leaning up against a wall? :lol:
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Re: The Score So Far (Health & Fitness)

Post by Xenophon »

Jersey Girl wrote:
Thu Mar 17, 2022 8:33 pm
Xeno I can do that! I do it all the time. :mrgreen:
Awesome! I think half my issue was never having even tried it. I'm going to start adding it to my morning gym preparation so I should master it before too long.
Res Ipsa wrote:
Thu Mar 17, 2022 8:35 pm
Damn. I'm not sure I was ever capable of doing this. Can I do it leaning up against a wall?
Don't sweat it too much, tons of videos out there of some of the buffest/fittest looking people failing. Balance and core stability is a skill you have to practice at. So if you start against the wall that would be better than nothing. that or just sit in a chair
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“If you consider what are called the virtues in mankind, you will find their growth is assisted by education and cultivation.”
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