JCC 2021 Fitness Goals

Goals:

Physical: More stretching, walking and getting back into those exercise vids.

Mental health: Staying calm and happy. Laughing more. Being creative.

Diet: Back to more greens, less processed food. I’d like to be veggie several days a week again.

Supporting everyone here. This is a great thread! We are doing it.

 

Got depressed last night and broke my 3-days-a-week-no-alcohol rule. Didn't even enjoy my last glass of wine, but I didn't have the courage to pour it down the sink, so I forced it down.

On the upside, my run today felt really good. By the end I was really hitting my stride, running at a faster pace than when I started. I hope more of my runs are like that. Nice weather for it, too.

 

@soitscometothis Glad you are running again.

 

For some reason I shed some 25 pounds during the lockdown last year when I wasn't even trying (I guess not going out to stuff my face regularly made that easier) and my wife decided to actively get in shape. I followed her lead and started to watch what I ate and exercised more regularly. I want to get below 200 lbs. by the end of February and lose at least 30 more lbs. by June.

 

I ran 12k today and had my first significant hill run in months. The uphill was okay, if on the slow side, but the downhill was tough. My legs started hurting shortly after I started the descent. I wasn't expecting that to be the case.

 

It's actually the downhills that get to a lot of people when they run the Boston Marathon. Anytime you run a marathon or long distance, try walking down the stairs the next day. You should feel it.

 

My goal is to keep jogging 10 - 15 km per day (when possible). It is winter and the sidewalks are slippery so my jogging has been cut down to once a week instead of every day. The pandemic has meant the gyms are closed and no indoor sports like hockey (normally I play goalie a couple of times per week).

I started jogging at the end of July and as of mid Dec had shed almost 50lbs. If I can drop another 40lbs in 2021 that would be awesome, but I tend to always find what I lose, so even if I just keep off what I already lost, I will be happy.

 

Was it bone, or muscular pain? When I have knee pain it usually is worse on the downhill, the impact is much harder. My sister has complained to me of the same thing.

 

Running down long steep hills sometimes gives me shin splints. I avoid those as much as possible.

I finally got my first 5 mile run finished this year, didn't walk any of it. I wish I could say it was nonstop, but about a hundred yards after I started a neighbor came out to talk for a couple minutes, and then when I was halfway up the big hill my shoelace came untied and I had to pause a few seconds to fix that. Still, I made it the whole way running. Maybe tomorrow I'll get it all nonstop.

 

I actually got more intentional exercise last year than I had for many years before that. I think I had been using the walks at either end of my 45-minute commute as an excuse not to do pretty much anything else.

My husband is a marathon runner and likes to work with weights to make the running easier. I know I'll never be as fit as he is, but at least we have a lot of equipment at home, it's only a matter of me actually using it. So I try to get in two sessions of weights and two sessions on the stationary bike every week, and at least a 20-minute walk outside on the days I don't do anything else.

I'm obese, so the exercise I've been doing doesn't really show yet, but the main thing is that I can feel it, I'm growing some muscles under all the flab.

 

This time it was muscular. I think the old legs are just out of practice with the pounding involved with downhill running. I have had joint pain in the past but I think it was mostly the result of too much road work. I try to stick to the trails as much as possible these days.

Well done to everyone for getting stuck in with their goals.

 

What a beautiful morning! Had a wonderful run. Also I checked out Lidl this week because they had a grand opening near me. Absolutely nothing special about this store, EXCEPT their California Veggie burgers. Just some frozen burgers, but I put one in the oven last night with my sweet potato fries and it was the best damn Veggie burger I've had since the restaurant I used to go to at the mall pre pandemic closed.

 

So far, I’ve dropped 4 lbs in 2021. If I can shift another 10, I’ll be back to me pre-lockdown weight. The snow has also started to melt, so I’m hoping the pavements will be ice-free tomorrow and I can get out for a run.

 

I've lost weight too since this began mainly because all of my jeans keep threatening to fall off.

 

Today I ran 8k in hot weather. I really enjoy running in the heat, as long as I'm prepared, and fit enough to cope!

By the way, when I say heat, I mean South Island of NZ heat, which is rarely that hot. It was 28C/82F.

 

So far so good for me--I've missed a day here or there but am still working out most days.

I am also realizing how pitifully weak my core and upper body is. Seriously, I can't even do one actual push-up. I don't even think I'm doing the modified knee-down ones right either. I was searching YT the other day for "how to work toward being able to do a push up" vids. Oh, the shame of doing "wall pushes"

edit: on a more positive note, though, my energy levels are fantastic and my body just feels so much better as I go through my day. Really want to keep that going once the work **** hits the fan soon...

 

You might find wall pushing can be useful if you do enough of them - still a form of exercise. Plus press-ups are as much about coordination as strength.

 

Began using Google Fit for the first time. Also getting a Fitbit as a birthday gift. Anyone have suggestions on which one? My wife has the Fitbit Versa 2 and loves it though that is $150 as it's not on sale. I do not like spending that much on myself so I am hoping to find a good one that is a bit cheaper.

 

well then I may be doomed As my husband often notes, I am one of the most uncoordinated people he's ever seen

 

My coordination is pretty awful!

 

I had no idea how bad my coordination was @Jedi Ben until I started trying to do a plank with alternate arm/leg up in the air. I literally do not have the coordination to do it. I keep lifting the same arm and leg up! It gives my wife a great laugh though.

 

Yes, exactly @Luke 02. I am doing these bodyweight classes on Peleton, and I have such a hard time with that exercise and anything that requires that type of coordination. There's another one where you are on your back and supposed to lift your right leg, while keeping your right arm extended straight up and moving your left arm back behind you in sync with your right leg lifting. I cannot get it right for the life of me!

 

So far I have walked on average 24k steps a day not bad at all