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Getting back in shape sucks


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Guys. I need to do this. This last pregnancy pretty much sucked and I'm still feeling its after-effects. I took waaay too much time to recover (and I'm sure somewhere in there it went from "recovery" to "lazy"), and now even my big kid has put on weight. As soon as summer ends I need to get him back into some sort of physical activity. I'm probably going to look into a membership at the Y because there's a lady from our homeschool group who leads a kids PE class there 3 times a week, and they have childcare for the little one. (Yay childcare for the Lukenado!! I love it when Luke gets to be on someone else's watch for an hour. He's a walking disaster waiting to happen.)

So anyway. I just got a new fitness tracker/planner from the clearance section of Hobby Lobby because I have a planner addiction problem but also because pretty stickers motivate me. I'm also thinking about getting a Fitbit or something similar because I'm a numbers driven person as well. Do any of you have one that helps you track things? I'm a tracker. Checking off boxes and filling in blanks practically turns me on.

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I love my Fitbit. 4 other work friends have them as well as my mom and brothers, so I'm always in a competition for steps with someone. I have a flex 2 which is perfect because it's water proof and can track my swims as well as land based exercise. It's amazing how much a steps competition can motivate you to move.

 

I also just started getting in shape. P90X 3 with exercise and diet components and training for a half marathon are the route I'm taking. Haven't started the running yet and I'm already exhausted most days.

 

Good luck to you!

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Guys. I need to do this. This last pregnancy pretty much sucked and I'm still feeling its after-effects. I took waaay too much time to recover (and I'm sure somewhere in there it went from "recovery" to "lazy"), and now even my big kid has put on weight. As soon as summer ends I need to get him back into some sort of physical activity. I'm probably going to look into a membership at the Y because there's a lady from our homeschool group who leads a kids PE class there 3 times a week, and they have childcare for the little one. (Yay childcare for the Lukenado!! I love it when Luke gets to be on someone else's watch for an hour. He's a walking disaster waiting to happen.)

 

So anyway. I just got a new fitness tracker/planner from the clearance section of Hobby Lobby because I have a planner addiction problem but also because pretty stickers motivate me. I'm also thinking about getting a Fitbit or something similar because I'm a numbers driven person as well. Do any of you have one that helps you track things? I'm a tracker. Checking off boxes and filling in blanks practically turns me on.

I got a Withings set of devices. Step and heart tracker, smart scale that measures densities, wireless blood pressure cuff-- they all sync an app so I can track everything. They work great when I make use of them.

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I have a Misfit Shine - it tracks steps and sleep. I paired it with the MyFitnessPal app to track calories and nutrition, too. They have helped me produce about three years worth of data that tells me about what works and what doesn't for me.

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I'm losing the weight pretty well, but not really doing much to actually get "in shape." Exercise has taken a backseat to more important things, like a new job. I'm working on gradually getting up earlier so I can fit more exercise into my day.

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Cerina, I would get a Fitbit. Everyone has one, and there's the social aspect. If you're competitive you'll love trying to beat your friends. If you start getting into a specific type of activity, you can get something different. Garmin is also pretty good. I have a Polar A360 because I do a lot of heart-rate based interval training and I wanted something more customizable. Although I've recently decided I need a GPS based running watch since I've started running and my Polar way overestimates my distance and pace despite counting steps accurately (I must have a short stride). If any of you are into running, I'm currently taking recommendations, but I think it's between the Garmin Forerunner 25 and the Polar M400. Cashmere?

 

I just did my first 5k and now I'm thinking about doing a 10k. That's probably as far as I'll consider running, a half-marathon sounds miserable, quite frankly. I'm pretty much limiting myself to an hour straight of running. Anything longer than that, I just don't have time for. Next 5k is at a winery! Whee!

 

Cerina, I'd recommend joining the Y both for yourself and the kids. They seen to do a lot of homeschool support, which is great. Just remember, you can't outrun your fork. Even pretty intense exercise won't combat weight gain if you don't change your eating habits. Working out just makes you look better naked.

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Guest El Chalupacabra

Kind of curious about fit bit, and never used one. I currently use a step counter on my Galaxy Note Android. What does a fit bit offer over what a smartphone step counter app offers? Are they more accurate?

 

Currently, I try to walk 5 miles throughout the day. Between a morning walk, and walking during the day at work (have multiple buildings I work out of, and constantly going back and forth), I usually average 4-5 miles. I am looking to getting back into jogging in the mornings at some point (replace my walk with jogging, then maybe running), hopefully by September or October. I have to take it slow before jogging regularly because I have to lose some weight before doing that, so that I don't re-injure myself. I have pretty bad ankle and food pain just walking right now, but I walk anyway, because I enjoy it. The thing is my ankles are shot from old injuries back when I was younger. I used to do trail running, and had a couple really bad spills where I turned my ankles badly, and they never healed right and haven't run or jogged regularly in years. I would love to work up to the point of eventually running 3 miles in the morning on a Mon -Wed -Fri schedule, and at a moderate pace (like an 8 minute mile pace). Any suggestions on that from any of you runners? Keep in mind I'm old!

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I just did my first 5k and now I'm thinking about doing a 10k. That's probably as far as I'll consider running, a half-marathon sounds miserable, quite frankly. I'm pretty much limiting myself to an hour straight of running. Anything longer than that, I just don't have time for. Next 5k is at a winery! Whee!

 

Congratulations on doing your first 5k! I wish I had never tried going much further than that. Training for, and then running, a 14k wrecked my legs for awhile because I wasn't at all ready for that, despite many months of running regularly at that point. I've seen various articles since then alleging that a 5k is the ideal distance for most people (though I don't know how accurate they were). I wish I had seen them before, though, because getting out of my running routine really killed my fitness level and helped me get back into all sorts of bad habits.

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5K is about it for me. My knees can't take it as I get older.

 

For those of you with health insurance getting a fitbit may actually pay for itself in that some plans offer discounted rates if you log your fitbit readings. Mine even pays for it. I usually use the iPhone health app though because the fitbit wrist things never stay on long enough or last.

 

Some lady I worked with at school last year didn't eat her salad with salad dressing. It was just spinach, a protein and tomatoes.

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Kind of curious about fit bit, and never used one. I currently use a step counter on my Galaxy Note Android. What does a fit bit offer over what a smartphone step counter app offers? Are they more accurate?

 

If you get a GPS-enabled one, a lot more accurate, but you usually just use GPS for running or hiking because it drains the battery. I wore an old-style pedometer until recently, I found it tracked the same as my wrist-based one, so at least my baseline is the same. My Polar is pretty damn accurate in terms of steps, it doesn't track floppy arm movement as extra when I'm weightlifting or rowing. It knows when I'm sitting, standing, moving, or running, which blows my mind. I think that would really be the difference between your phone and a wrist-based one, but if you're wearing it in your pocket or on your hip, you may not be having that problem anyway. Based on what you tell me below, I'd probably recommend a Garmin Forerunner 25 (cheap option, but also bulky) or the Garmin Vivosmart HR+. My husband has the Vivosmart but we didn't get the GPS option on his because he's not actually running. Or you can just download Strava on your phone, which will track you via GPS.

 

Currently, I try to walk 5 miles throughout the day. Between a morning walk, and walking during the day at work (have multiple buildings I work out of, and constantly going back and forth), I usually average 4-5 miles. I am looking to getting back into jogging in the mornings at some point (replace my walk with jogging, then maybe running), hopefully by September or October. I have to take it slow before jogging regularly because I have to lose some weight before doing that, so that I don't re-injure myself. I have pretty bad ankle and food pain just walking right now, but I walk anyway, because I enjoy it. The thing is my ankles are shot from old injuries back when I was younger. I used to do trail running, and had a couple really bad spills where I turned my ankles badly, and they never healed right and haven't run or jogged regularly in years. I would love to work up to the point of eventually running 3 miles in the morning on a Mon -Wed -Fri schedule, and at a moderate pace (like an 8 minute mile pace). Any suggestions on that from any of you runners? Keep in mind I'm old!

When I started last July, my top treadmill speed was 6 mph (10 minute mile), and I could only hold that a short time. My base speed was 4 mph (15 minute mile), and I could occasionally bump it to 5 mph for a few minutes. It was pretty disheartening. I went 3x a week religiously, and my "recovery speed" is 6 mph, I can hold 7 mph for quite some time. I'm working on a 3 minute push pace of 8 mph (I think I can do it from an endurance standpoint, but my form gets sloppy when I bump from 7.8 to 8). I can hold a 11 mph sprint for 30 seconds. I regularly get in 2.5-3 miles on the treadmill 3x a week. My 5k time was 25:57, so 8:22 miles, and I only did 2 outdoor runs to prepare, both with a jogging stroller. I lost 20 lbs in the first 4 months, not much since because I've actually started putting on muscle. Just getting active again will shed some of the weight but you have to be careful about eating. If I gave up wine, I'd probably drop the last 10, but I'd be a stressball.

 

I think 3x a week will be a good training program paired with all the walking you do regularly, but you have to start slow and not injure yourself, don't start off with high impact stuff or you'll end up with tendinitis. Get new shoes, get fitted at a running store, especially given your ankle injuries. You probably need a stability shoe. (I wear Brooks Adrenaline, which is their 2nd most stable shoe. Brooks' own website even has tests to determine your shoe, it was right on for me.) I can always tell my shoes are worn out when my ankles start bothering me. Maybe some orthotics, even? A little bit of weightlifting might not hurt, either. Don't even need a gym membership or weights, you can do a lot of body weight work like squats and lunges (once again, careful with form). Go slow or do intervals (run 1 minute, walk 1 minute, run 2 minutes, walk 1 minute, etc). Given that you're already experiencing pain with just walking, I'd go talk to a local running store, they may have advice on form or something.

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Guest El Chalupacabra

Thanks for the tips, Destiny. I think I will try out the Strava app and see how it works. My phone is pretty light weight, but it has a larger screen (phablet). My phone really does everything I care to track as it is, but I don't want to constantly have it fall out of my pocket, etc. I may get a wrist style counter as a result to track my steps and calories burned (that pretty much is all I care about at this point), but I don't think I need a GPS enabled one.

 

As for the exercise tips, thanks again. At this point, I want to work myself up to doing a light jog. I know I probably can't run more than a half mile without the need to stop, or slow to a walk right now. I have no idea what my time is, but I am sure it is horrible. My 8 minute mile goal is my ultimate goal I want to work up to, and I know I am no where near that. I'd be lucky if I can do a 14 minute mile LOL! If I am able to get there, it will take a long while for sure, because my asthma came back, in addition to being old and broken down! Getting old sucks, man!

 

I do have walking shoes (New Balance) I wear daily, but no running shoes. I do wear inserts to correct my step that cost me $500, but I know they are about due to be replaced. I don't remember what the actual defect in my feet are called, but I know it isn't flat foot. To hear the podiatrist, you'd think I had lobster feet, and belong in a freak show. But to look at them, they don't look hideous, pigeon-toed, or anything, but the outer side of my feet sits lower than the in side. That was probably what cause my feet to curl in the first place, and caused me to turn my ankles. I would like to get something to brace and support my ankles like a Velcro wrap or something.

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The GPS is mostly so that you know how far you're really going. My non-GPS Polar A360 way overestimates my distance, but steps are correct. Like I said, short stride for my height (which is already short lol). It estimated my 5k as 3.64 miles. If I had been using that to train, I would've fallen short. It also said I was running 7 minute miles because of that, not the 8:22 average I actually ran. The Forerunner 25 is pretty cheap, and sometimes you can get a deal on refurbished. The 15 is actually cheaper, but you have to sync it with an actual computer. I think I read Tom Tom makes a super cheap GPS one, too. But Strava will definitely do the job, and do it well. It said I ran my 5k in 24 less seconds, I'm actually wondering if I tripped my sensor early because I was at the very front of the corral.

 

I had some great ankle braces in college and high school, but they got misplaced. Now I have a McDavid wrap that works pretty well, but I haven't had to use it in years, thankfully. Is it underproneation? Pretty sure I do that as well, hence why I'm concerned with sloppy form. I know how bad an ankle roll can be just jumping into the air. No desire to do it at 10 mph, I'd be out for months and I would probably need PT.

 

Really, just take it slow to start. Walk when you need to walk, maybe set a target for time or distance. Good luck!

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Really, just take it slow to start. Walk when you need to walk, maybe set a target for time or distance. Good luck!

That's exactly what I do. No injuries yet. I feel it in my back mostly when I push it on weekends to almost 8 miles. We're in the 100 degrees temperatures with humidity in San Antonio so I have to get out early to walk or by 9 AM it's unbearable. I've found some great jogging paths that are all shaded. When it's finally too hot to actually do this I'm reverting to swimming laps.

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Day 4 on a vegan diet. Not that I was in bad shape before, but I figured I'd give it a shot. So far so good. Really don't miss meat at all.

 

One thing I will say is that when you don't eat fatty foods, you don't get the satisfaction of being hungry immediately. I know a lot of folks focus on the taste, which I get, but on top of that it takes a while for the food to settle and feel fed.

 

And yeah, I hate to say it because I know how people love food, but the secret to losing weight is diet. I think free weights are awesome, I've been working out off and on for 30 years now, but ultimately what makes you thin is not eating shit food.

 

If you can't give it up, that's fine. Just don't complain about being fat.

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Day 4 on a vegan diet. Not that I was in bad shape before, but I figured I'd give it a shot. So far so good. Really don't miss meat at all.

 

One thing I will say is that when you don't eat fatty foods, you don't get the satisfaction of being hungry immediately. I know a lot of folks focus on the taste, which I get, but on top of that it takes a while for the food to settle and feel fed.

 

And yeah, I hate to say it because I know how people love food, but the secret to losing weight is diet. I think free weights are awesome, I've been working out off and on for 30 years now, but ultimately what makes you thin is not eating **** food.

 

If you can't give it up, that's fine. Just don't complain about being fat.

 

Not only that, but you need substantial exercise to use up the food you eat. Part of the problem is most people simply eat too much. And too much crap. But you don't need to be a food Nazi or super anal about food simply to stay in shape. But people's lifestyles are far too sedentary, couple that with eating shit... its no wonder so much of the population are in the state they are in.

 

Surprised you're eaten vegan. Right on. I'm not Vegan or even vegetarian at that but I do eat a lot of vegan and vegetarian food. We hardly ever cook meat at home (mostly because the apartment is small and cooking meat stinks the place out) but If I go to a quality restaurant for dinner I'll splash out on a nice cut of meat.

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What I find amazing is that you can watch an anti smoking commercial and then immediately see a commercial glorifying fried chicken. No wonder people don't do something about their diet until it's too late.

 

And btw I'll never go 100% vegan. I just figured it was best to try to stick with it during the week. I'm gonna totally pig out on the 4th.

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Well I guess I'll find out on the 5th.

 

The other part of that is that my family will totally freak out when I tell them that I've been doing this. Food is such a huge part of any family gathering. A friend of mine is also trying the vegan thing and all she gets from her coworkers is contempt, temptation, and judgement.

 

You really are on an island when you try something different diet wise. That's one of the things that's tough about it.

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There's several vegan and vegetarian restaurants in LA that I actually love. But I think for me it's a cuisine not a lifestyle.

I may have asked you this... But you ever been to Flore in Silverlake? That place blew my mind.

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I could never go vegan because I love eggs too much. Seriously, I need them to function. But on the other end of the spectrum, I wonder if people who do keto/Atkins are constipated a lot since they pretty much hate all sources of fiber. Sports nutrition people make me crazy. You pretty much have to live on protein powder and air plankton.

 

Driver, do you really use Strava? They suggested you as someone to follow because Facebooks. Do you cycle or run/walk?

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