SoWell Work Out Support Thread

[KISH7374]

SJ, very good post, I bow to your knowledge. That was very good advice to someone and hopefully many will follow.

 

[scooterbug44]

I motivate myself by choosing a lot of short term goals and picking a body part to focus on (don't mind my butt as much if I feel my arms are toned etc.) Then instead of having to keep myself on task/disciplined for long periods of time I have quickly approaching deadlines - a beach party, special event to dress up for, hot date etc. that I know I have to behave/stay focused until.

Another way to keep yourself from skipping is to institute the every other day rule. You HAVE to exercise a minimum of every other day, so you can only skip today if you exercised yesterday, and now you'll have to exercise tomorrow.....and you don't get freebies for exercising 2 days in a row.

 

[Paula]

A couple of things. Have someone take your swimsuit photo today. Study the photo of yourself and envision which physical attributes you want to change about yourself. Keep that vision with you at all times. Place the photo in a drawer and forget about it. After 90 days, take that same swimsuit photo again. Dig out the older photo and note the difference.

Also, when you are working out, forget about reading a book or watching tv. (Listening to music could be okay.) When exercising, focus your attention on the muscles which you are stretching, relaxing, and contracting. See through your skin into your mind and muscles, and really focus on your muscles burning, creating new muscle tissue and burning fat.

I think it is really important to be able to see the future you. Don't expect to stand in front of the mirror and note immediate changes after working out. The truth is, that you will most likely notice your increase in strength prior to seeing a change in your physical appearance. Generally speaking, you need to work hard through the first 90 days before you will notice much of anything, other than pain, but when you do begin noticing the change in strength and looks, the changes are more noticeable, more often. One last bit of advice is to forget about the scales. Muscle weighs more than fat, and muscle burns fat, even after you finish working out. IMHO, way too many people focus on weight, rather than health. If you want to measure something, measure your strength -- keep a chart of how much you lift or how many reps you completed. Measure how your pants fit. Measure your percentage of body fat. These are far more important than your weight.

Good advice, SJ. My key to success (and it's been very successful so far) is that my focus was very much on just getting healthier -- into the normal weight zone, normal body mass index, normal everything. In fact, I told the trainer that I didn't want to do so much that I may have injuries in the long or short term -- didn't want to overdo any of the exercises. I wasn't focused as much on the body shape itself (except I did request toned Beach arms from the trainer and she did a great job with that). The body shape came as a result of focusing on the health and lifestyle benefits and building new habits/routines and breaking old ones. In fact, by focusing on life style/health rather than my shape, I ended up exceeding my initial goals (weight, BMI, clothing size, even blood pressure). I'm so impressed with what healthy living and changing routines/habits (and portion control) can do! I think this lifestyle change is going to "stick" more than any diet. Frankly, it doesn't even seem hard now (diet doesn't; exercise with trainer still does) and the way I'm eating is quite pleasant. And I'm at the point where I'd quit parts of my job before I'd quit exercising. So, my advice would be:

1. Do it for health reasons.
2. If you do the healthy routines/habits then you will become whatever the healthy version of you is supposed to be.
3. Get a trainer that matches your personality/goals -- you're basically paying someone to help you take care of yourself (this was especially important to me because I spent a lot of my time caretaking). This isn't critical for everyone, but I'm someone who never stuck to any particular exercise so the discipline, teaching, and support I get from the trainer has been wonderful. I may have to figure out how to be committed even without a trainer but for now I hope to keep working with her twice a week for at least another 6 months. What she does so well is planfully mix up my routines so we work on different muscles. She thinks of things I wouldn't have thought about.
4. Do the online health assessments at http://www.realage.com or http://www.livingto100.com to see if your current lifestyle is a healthy one -- that's part of what got me motivated and I reassess myself every few months. It's useful and motivating to see if your current habits are adding or subtracting years from your life.

My real challenge will be to figure out how to keep up the eating/exercise routines when travelling for work/vacation. I haven't had that challenge yet, but we're travelling a lot for vacation this summer AND I go to Hong Kong for work for about 9 days in a few weeks. The food in Hong Kong is amazing and abundant... and all paid for by someone else... and so conveniently cooked by someone else and beautifully presented... and I think I'm going to cry now... and then I'll get to work figuring out what my new travelling habits/routines are.

 

[Smiling JOe]

Paula, I'm sure you know that are plenty of exercises which you can do which do not require a gym. If you don't know, ask your trainer to help you discover some. I've learned that the only way to stick with a program or lifestyle is to not break from it. Think of it like breathing -- it is something that you must figure out how to do, no matter where you are. Your life depends on it. I can guarantee you that if you stick to your work outs while traveling, you will be proud of yourself, and if you don't stick with the work outs, you will regret that you didn't. It really doesn't take much time to do a 40 minute workout in your hotel room, but the difference you will feel in your body and mind will be great.

 

[dbuck]

Most hotels now have some sort of exercise room but you can always throw some resistence bands into your suitcase. They look pretty wimpy but can be very challenging. I will admit that it would be hard to do 40 minutes with just resistence bands, but something is better than nothing.

 

[Paula]

Thanks, SJ and DBuck.

I agree SJ that it has to be part of everyday life and most of the exercises I do at the gym with the trainer don't require any machines. Just weights. So I keep some at home and at my office and even bought some for the cottages. ANd I even have exercise ideas that are weight resistant but don't require weights. You're right that I'll feel very good if I stick to a healthy routine -- it will be the first time I do that when travelling! But I've seen other people do it (they're the people on the plane who aren't drinking wine, are eating light, and go to sleep rather than stay up all night watching movies).

Dbuck, I have resistance bands and the trainer gave me some exercises and I can get ideas online as well. So, I'll throw those in my suitcase. I forgot about them. Thanks. I'll have to remember to pack my workout shoes and shorts, too.

So I guess my best plan of action is to create a "hotel workout plan", one to do in the room, one to do in the hotel gym so I have a plan when I get there. Even if it's just 30 minutes of weight resistance training every other day and then 30 minutes of walking on the other days, it will at least keep me maintaining. If I don't put a plan/routine in place, then it probably won't happen.

Frankly, I think just discussing this publically on this thread is a way of getting support and that is probably the most important thing! Thanks.

 

[scooterbug44]

I find that staying active and eating healthy & appropriate portion sizes goes a long way in helping you meet your fitness goals. I typically eat an appetizer and a dessert or split an entree when dining out because the serving sizes are so off kilter.

Little stuff like parking further away, taking the stairs instead of an elevator, and doing exercises during TV commercials really adds up.

Having realistic goals is also a biggie. Not only are the pictures you see in magazines airbrushed like crazy, the people pictured are incredibly unhealthy.

Good posture makes you look 5-10 pounds lighter, and what men find attractive is 5-10 pounds heavier than what women think, so sit/stand up straight and you just lost 10-20 lbs!

 

[seacrestkristi]

Check this stuff out if you like your greens They have energy tabs too. Green and full of good stuff. It's called Greens Today. They even have a work out formula with whey protein. A skin care person told me about it first because of its cleansing qualities as well. Like when you eat too much fried stuff, junk food, etc. I it cuz it makes you feel so dern healthy after drinkin' one down. Kinda filling too. www.organicfrog.com. ;-)
Hey are there any other turbo jammers on here? I take that dvd and my core secrets with me when I'm travellin'. They use 5 lbs weights too. Does anyone else use the big ball? I that thang for lifting and chest and ab work. Now if I would just quit eating so dern much

 

[Paula]

Hi seacrestkristi: I haven't tried the whey protein stuff yet, but probably will soon. What's a turbo jammer?

My training continues to go well. My hotel workout includes sit ups, arm dips, push ups (not the floor ones - I can't stand those -- I do them higher up with my hands on a counter or something -- someday I may do them on the floor), some leg exercises. I figure if I just do some of the basics when I travel and use the gym in hotels when available, I'll be doing enough to stay fit on the road. The eating is more difficult, but if I eat a lot in the evening one day, I'll have my low-cal yogurt/low-cal home made granola mix in the morning and eat a light lunch. That usually helps me catch up again.

We're driving to Maine right now for vacation and I packed the weights in the back of the car (I also have a set in our trunk in SoWal), so I'm hoping I'll be inspired to do them there.

Ok, we're getting back on the road now...

 

[seacrestkristi]

Mornin' Paula This was a grayt idea for a thread. I need all the info and support I can get. Aren't you smart taking your weights with you
I ordered Turbo Jam off an infomercial I saw in Sowal. It's a series of workout videos with some funky music and an instructor named Chalene Johnson who is all spunked up. She just makes you feel good. I had my oldest gull check it out. She approved it, and she is certified in Stott Pilates so I know its not hurting me anyway. One of the videos is called turbo sculpting and its with 5 lb. weights for 40 mins. The other workouts in the series are more cardio,mixed with strength, then there is ab jam. That's what I really need to focus on. That and stopping overeating. I food a little too much. ;-) I got some 5 lbers waitin' on me in Sowal too. It just makes you feel so good when you're done. Chalene says it's the days that you really don't feel like working out is when you need to think about how good you feel when you're done. Uhoh, I think I may be brainwashed. I keep sayin' that to myself all the time. :roll: