Quote :

"How long are you considering extended? It's not possible to hold 100 percent for very long (like more than 20ish seconds) for anyone. So don't feel like you are out of shape because you can't."

Right, and that's the whole point. I can't all out sprint for longer than about 25 seconds. I do want to improve my recovery time (which I have) while also getting faster. Some of that is achieved by pushing myself as hard as possible while running, and some of that is lower body routines.

8/18/2011 5:23:16 PM

I was talking to punchmonk with that comment btw.

8/18/2011 5:27:40 PM

Master Lee made class crazy hard today... I was a little skurred when I saw I would be in class with a brown/red belt, a purple belt, and a yellow/orange belt (though she was really lazy today.. it was a little weird)


I now hurt, but at the same time accomplished I learned a lot of new stuff and Master Lee was impressed with some of my kicks (though I need to work on my side kick like whoa)


but I got dat 190% awesome roundhouse kick

8/19/2011 12:10:53 AM

Man looks like it'll be next year before I do this. Not overweight but I could use some toning.

8/19/2011 1:03:53 AM

I'm not a part of this thread, but figured I would share some of my progress.
I'm down from 240 to 220lbs after one month of watching what I eat and aiming for an 1800 calorie/day diet. 220 is what I weighed 2.5 years ago, and I'm aiming for 200 which was 4 years ago.

8/19/2011 11:09:49 AM

I was going to go to the gym today before work

But instead my fiance convinced me to have sex and take a nap with her

8/21/2011 10:20:44 PM

woo hoo!!! in about 3 weeks i have a shoot (first one in a while), which may get canceled but im gonna pretend it's for sure.

i now have something to work forward to!


3 weeks = imma try and drop about 5-6 lbs.

a little extreme but totally doable.


of course weight will NOT be my only measurement, but we'll see

8/22/2011 9:04:30 AM

Congrats on the shoot! That's exciting! What kind of shoot? Fashion? Lifestyle?

5 to 6 lbs is totally reasonable if you're cutting for an event. Ask any high school wrestler.

Eat clean, meager rations (Oregon Trail), double your workouts and avoid sodium.

Honestly, dehydration on the shoot day will do wonders for that lean, sculpted look.

[Edited on August 22, 2011 at 9:33 AM. Reason : s]

8/22/2011 9:31:54 AM

thanks! it's for fun.
it's ummm.....fashion?
i cant really explain it because it's a guy who has a really, unique style.
no payment.

and then i may be walking in a show the following weekend!


but what makes this the most interesting is that i can't really workout very vigorously because of my new tattoo!!


im gonna just have to walk my caloric intake and just do tons of walking for about 2 weeks and then maybe i can amp it up a bit.

[Edited on August 22, 2011 at 9:39 AM. Reason : im honestly just really excited i have something to work toward ]

8/22/2011 9:34:42 AM

That should easily do the trick then.

And actually, walking is probably one of the better exercises for modeling. You won't get bulky muscles.

8/22/2011 10:04:53 AM

thats what ive always heard but i was too scared to try it!

ive been working out hardcore for son long that i feel like if i just turned it down that much then i would put on a ton of weight.


but since the wedding/ school/ and now this tattoo, my working out overall has decreased DRAMATICALLY and i havent really gained all that much....so im much more comfortable with it now...make any sense?

8/22/2011 10:06:51 AM

As long as you adjust your diet accordingly, you can easily cut back on exercise. It's good to do some cardio to keep your heart healthy ... and do some weight-bearing exercises to help with bone density. Even then, walking and pushups are weight-bearing exercises. You'll be fine!

When I work out less, I get smaller. Which brings me to a question:

I'm going to have my wisdom teeth out soon. I know this will dramatically affect my diet, workout routine, etc. How long til I can get back into my normal routine? Is it normal for me to gain or lose weight after wisdom tooth extraction?

I've already lost about 3 lbs because wisdom tooth pain makes it difficult to eat. It's not good. And I'm lactose intolerant, so shakes and smoothies don't work.

8/22/2011 10:25:54 AM

i was back into working out 2 days after my wisdom tooth was out.
i was only sick and/or in pain for the day it was done and the day after.
i was back to mostly normal foods after that!


however that was one tooth and my stitches fell out in less than a week.
i healed really quickly.


i know a girl who had 2 out last week and is still hurting

8/22/2011 10:28:33 AM

That's reassuring! My bf says I can't lose more weight. But wisdom teeth are making that challenging. Eating is very painful at the moment. Thank God for avocados.

Looks like all four of mine are coming out. I suppose the pain depends on whether they're impacted or not. And on how steady-handed the oral surgeon is.

[Edited on August 22, 2011 at 10:33 AM. Reason : f]

8/22/2011 10:32:14 AM

Week of nothing but drinks and drugs, I gain a fucking Will Smith Movie



Gonna fucking KILL IT this week to make up

8/22/2011 10:36:37 AM

Did my first ever Crossfit workout this weekend with my sister and brother-in-law.

I'm feeling it pretty bad today. I pushed myself way too much past failure and it's going to take a while to recover (chest and legs are sore as fuck).

Now I have to figure out if I'm going to give this Crossfit thing a try. Time for some cost/benefit analysis.

8/22/2011 10:43:03 AM

kicked it back up a notch this past weekend

took a gamble and went to a local sprint tri to see if it was sold out

luckily they had room, but, unluckily, I left my goggles in my other gym bag

the ones i bought there sucked

but I had a very good time racing

I need to sign up for more races, it gives me a goal to train for and helps with motivation

8/22/2011 10:47:13 AM

Quote :

"And I'm lactose intolerant, so shakes and smoothies don't work."

Lucy have you looked into unsweetened almond milk? that's what i use instead of skim milk now.

8/22/2011 10:51:20 AM

I've tried Silk almond milk and didn't care for the texture. I've only tried samples at the grocery store, but haven't mixed it with anything. Perhaps it would be good in a smoothie? I don't care for smoothies though. I actually can't stand most fruit, hence the dislike for smoothies.

Love veggies. And the only fruit I like is tomato and avocado. Not the best for smoothies.



[Edited on August 22, 2011 at 10:55 AM. Reason : w]

8/22/2011 10:55:15 AM

so this "unlimited bootcamp classes for a month" popped up in my livingsocial today for my area http://livingsocial.com/deals/64195?msdc_id=340&ref=Deal082211_340_1637email

I think I might try it and see what my results are

8/22/2011 11:24:16 AM

i actually found a great avocado smoothie recipe the other day. i havent tried it yet but i have it bookmarked to try it soon (in the next week or so). maybe you can be my tester

http://wholefamilyfare.blogspot.com/2010/08/green-smoothie.html

[Edited on August 22, 2011 at 12:21 PM. Reason : edit link]

8/22/2011 12:20:40 PM

Avocado rules.

I don't know about putting it in a smoothie, though. That sounds gross.

8/22/2011 12:21:52 PM

i don't either but i'll try anything once

8/22/2011 12:22:13 PM

Yep, I'll try anything once except for heroin and homosexuality.

8/22/2011 12:24:23 PM

That sounds fab! I love avocado ice cream (though I can't eat it). This sounds really similar, but healthier!

Is that part of the juice fast? I love savory drinks (V8) and hate sweet (can't even do OJ) so this sounds perfect. I'd go for a Bloody Mary or Dirty Martini over a Cosmo any day.

I started to watch the doc this weekend (Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead) and it's good! Can't wait to finish it.

8/22/2011 12:43:46 PM

juice fast quickly morphed into an all veggie diet plan - like on a vegan level pretty much. i had to add in some whole grains and a bit of protein because i wasn't taking in enough calories and was getting loopy/cranky.

8/22/2011 2:08:55 PM

Just started my gray belt training for MCMAP. 1 hour of techniques followed by 40 minutes of ground fighting. The longest round I went was when I was the 'bull' in the bull pen. 10 minutes straight. Fought 5 back to back 2 minute rounds against 5 guys.

8/22/2011 6:51:37 PM

Just checking in.

Weighed in at 191 today after my run. I know it was some water weight, but I don't care.

Started at 227.

8/22/2011 7:47:05 PM

that's a hell of a run

8/22/2011 8:47:48 PM

I love avocado smoothies! They're great; I make mine with an avocado, banana, Greek yogurt, milk, honey, and as much ice as you want for consistency and frozen-ness.

8/22/2011 9:24:46 PM

^^



I don't mess around.

8/22/2011 10:30:44 PM

^ Wtg on the massive water weight loss.

^^ Avocado smoothie you mentioned sounds awesome. Wish I could eat greek yogurt. Love the taste, but my body hates it. Question: What's healthier, honey or agave nectar?



So, I just looked at my goals from Page 1. Kind of hilarious. Total failure.

Quote :

" Here are my goals thus far: 1) 100-mile bike ride, Tour de Cure, on March 6, 2011 2) Sarasota half-marathon on March 13, 2011 3) Some marathon somewhere at some time I also probably will have to lose about 10 to 15 lbs to be fast enough to qualify for the Boston Marathon. Have to figure out how to do that in a healthy manner. I'm ~130 lbs at 5'7" right now. Dropping alcohol will prob help. "

Uh. A couple of weeks after making these goals, I got a boyfriend and decided to cut back on working out to spend more time with him and focus on other parts of my life (work, love, etc).

So, the 100-mile ride didn't happen.
The half-marathon didn't happen.
And I don't care about the marathon.

I did end up losing 12 pounds due to working too much, muscle loss and being busy, but the bf wants me to put that back on. Not sure how to make that happen, but I'll just try not to lose more.

So, I suppose I should reassess my goals? It always helps to have a goal to work toward. I feel a little lost without one. My goal was always endurance performance. Not I don't have the time for that.

Aside from weight and performance, what are other ways that y'all set goals or find motivation?

[Edited on August 22, 2011 at 11:08 PM. Reason : a]

8/22/2011 11:07:29 PM

^ Good idea on the reassessment. As for losing muscle from working so much, what about taking a set of hand weights to your office just to take little mini weigh lifting breaks with?

My goals:

Quote :

"Goals for this year: 1. Get to a size where I am not self-conscious.. Slowly getting there 2. Feel great in my wedding dress 3. Run a 10K 4. Be able to squat 200 lbs 10 times (this was a goal for this past year but I forgot about it..)"

lawl @ the 10K. That's not going to happen. I have thus found I hate running, so why even force it? I was at a size I wasn't too self conscious about.. but I have since put on some weight from recent vacay + ridiculous bloat that is always coming and going (hopefully this will be worked on as of next week when I have my GI appointment ). I did feel great in my wedding dress.. until I gained a little weight from vacay but I know I will get to the size I want before the weddin'. As for squats... not sure when I'll be able to test that theory but I think with taekwondo I can get there (beefin up my legs even more!)


It's a funny thing, self esteem. In March when we had the engagement photos done, I was still very self conscious and felt like a whale during the pictures. Looking back on them, I think I was at a pretty good size. I'd like to be only slightly smaller than this pic (for health reasons)... also, please ignore my ridiculous laughing face/duck face







Oh, and as for ways of finding motivation - I think the belt colors have really done the trick for me. There's this crazy drive I have now to climb the ladder I guess, and earn a higher ranking belt. It's nice to have something that shows my hard work is paying off and isn't just a number on the scale...

[Edited on August 22, 2011 at 11:23 PM. Reason : .]

8/22/2011 11:22:00 PM

Love the belt colors as motivation. It's nice to have the extra motivation... a set goal to work toward. I think so often we aim for a weight or a look. But once we get there, we slack off.

I kind of want to set up some sort of reward system. Like, eating healthy for a week means that I can buy a new pair of shoes or a cute skirt. Something like that. Like belts. Only cuter.

Sam, you look so cute in those pics! And even if you gained a little during vacation, that's no big deal since everyone gains during vaca. Sounds like the dojo is a great outlet for channeling the stresses of school and wedding planning.

I would love to start doing Cirque du Soleil ribbon training. A pretty cool workout. But there's just the challenge of finding the time to do it. I work 50+ hours per week and commute nearly 100 miles per day.

Time to figure out how to find a happy balance.

8/22/2011 11:43:03 PM

Yikes, agreed. Is it something you could do on weekends? Or are your weekends pretty packed already?

This may sound silly, but a few of my bffs from high school and myself are rewarding ourselves with stickers. No lie. We each bought a calendar and have nice stickers for days where we were extra good and stickers for every day we work out. It's a good motivator

8/22/2011 11:54:58 PM

I'm officially back in Hungary and I'm excited about getting back into my routine since this summer was crazy. (Two and a half months of vacation... I mean seriously).

Needless to say, I'll get some wedding photos up soon. I didn't hit the 200 lb mark for the wedding, but I still feel good about where I was.

That being said, during my stay in the US I definitely put on some pounds. I'll weigh in the morning and post. The workouts and diet uber-control start again in a week. Gonna let myself get used to this time zone first.

8/23/2011 2:07:29 AM

^^ I need some awesome Lisa Frank stickers then! Those were the best. I wonder if you can still find them in stores. That's a cheaper alternative to clothing. Though I may do a larger incentive for bigger successes. Like going a week without wine.

I may also get back into a real sport, like tennis or golf. That's easy to do on weekends. And you build muscle while doing cardio.

^ Weren't you doing low-carb? Is it hard to do that in Europe? What's your cuisine like in Hungary? And what do you do for fitness there. Since you gained in the us, is it harder to stay slim here? Just curious.

8/23/2011 7:00:49 AM

No, I haven't done low-carb since high school. It was nice then, but every time I tried it since then it didn't really work for me. It's also just a way to get skinny-fat.

It was hard for me to keep the weight off in America because I was literally on vacation for two and a half months. I didn't stay one place for longer than a week throughout the whole thing. Being back in Europe gives me consistency with my schedule.

Also: My wife and I cook our own food here. Our diet in the USA was whatever was available wherever we were staying. It didn't work out too well. (Plus the "NOM NOM I WANT TACO BELL AND OTHER FAST FOOD!" factor came into play since we don't have those here)

8/23/2011 8:20:14 AM

^Please explain your assertion that low-carb dieting is just a way to get skinny fat

8/23/2011 8:28:07 AM

well, working out at 5am caught up to me this morning.

guess it was bound to happen eventually.

sthuper sthressed a work right now, and been busting it hard and that's been carrying over into my sleeping habits being complete shit. i tried to go to bed at 11 last night, and planned to get up at 430. not great i know, but was necessary. tossed and turned all night, by 4 i was tired of not sleeping, so i got up and got moving. read a little while.

went to the gym, to workout quasi-fasted, as has been my routine.

felt tight warming up, did some extra stretches.

started ramping up on my squat pre-routine, and the warm up weights felt really heavy, and just not... right. when i do squats first thing in the morning i usually take a lot of extra care to stretch out well, after warming up starting out with just body weight "third world" squats, empty bar, load a little, load a little more, etc.

by the last warm up weight set, i got a little loopy. drank some water, thought it was just from being tired.

got one set in at working weight, and whoa boy got really light headed, everything started turning dark... close to passing out.

sat down, didn't pass out, got to where i felt ok, got my shit, and went home and ate. hands were crazy shaky the entire time putting together some breakfast.

ate 5 eggs, two plums and some milk, felt a lot better.

put in my last two days worth of food into livestrong, wondering if i had been undereating... sure enough, with the way i've been not paying attention to eating right and the like, instead of a ~250 cal deficit, i'd been on about a 1600 cal deficit per day for two days (before even subtracting out estimations for exercise). after having lifted on sunday, ran on monday, trying to lift this morning all on essentially no sleep and no fuel, i was really fucking up the way things should have been going with my body.

whoops.

initially i wanted to go back this afternoon, after trying to stuff my face with chicken and things. now, thinking i should probably just not, and get out of this brain fog and nap. or something. idk. just irritated and dumb, so kinda venting on here. it's really frustrating to me to not be able to do what i want to do.

8/23/2011 9:04:34 AM

Your body is prob dying for some sleep. Maybe catch up on sleep today and let your body start healing a bit. The stress, sleep deprivation and starvation isn't good to sustain.

I think solid sleep is one of the most important factors when you're trying to feel healthier.

8/23/2011 9:24:04 AM

Quote :

"I kind of want to set up some sort of reward system. Like, eating healthy for a week means that I can buy a new pair of shoes or a cute skirt. Something like that. Like belts. Only cuter."

my "reward" system is if i eat health monday through friday - i can have 2 cheat meals on the weekend. although as i type this i am eating a red velvet cupcake from The Cupcake Shoppe. whoops.

i have learned i can't beat myself up all the time. i still have 7 pounds to go and they've been kind of hard to get off. i know by eating this cupcake today, i will just have to work a little harder in my work out this afternoon.

8/23/2011 10:01:00 AM

Quote :

"I kind of want to set up some sort of reward system. Like, eating healthy for a week means that I can buy a new pair of shoes or a cute skirt. Something like that. Like belts. Only cuter."

yessss!! me too

8/23/2011 10:08:10 AM

Quote :

"it's really frustrating to me to not be able to do what i want to do."

Agreed. This has been my biggest issue lately.

Also I totally want to get stickers now.

8/23/2011 10:21:14 AM

^^^ I thought of you this weekend! It was my bf's dad's birthday and he can't have gluten. So I made GF red velvet cupcakes using the Betty Crocker GF mix and some other special ingredients to make it a little more than just a box of cake mix. Turned out awesome! Couldn't tell it was GF!

Holy acronyms.



Anyway, gotta figure out a good goal and reward. Apathy is high.

8/23/2011 10:31:35 AM

6^

just some helpful advice...you should never do a static stretch before you lift (let the flaming begin). the best way to warm up is to do it on a bike or something fora few minutes and then do the lift you will be doing, increasing the weight each set until you get to the first working set. don't stretch between sets unless you are a serious bodybuilder.

static stretching will sap your strength. you can do some dynamic stuff or plyometics, but save the toe touches and standing quad stretches for post workout or on your off days.

it will make a HUGE difference.

8/23/2011 10:40:27 AM

I'll add to the stretching comment....

If you are going to do stretching before lifting, stretch the antagonist muscle group.

For example, if you are about to bench, stretch out the lats.

If you are about to dead lift or lowbar squat, stretch out the hip flexors.

8/23/2011 10:44:44 AM

Quote :

"^^^ I thought of you this weekend! It was my bf's dad's birthday and he can't have gluten. So I made GF red velvet cupcakes using the Betty Crocker GF mix and some other special ingredients to make it a little more than just a box of cake mix. Turned out awesome! Couldn't tell it was GF!"

awwww hahah i dont have a gluten allergy though - what was thought to be gluten is actually sulfites! i can have gluten with no problems yay bread!

8/23/2011 10:54:26 AM

^^ sweet, guess i've been doing it quasi right

i wasn't really clear there, but i usually warm up rowing or on the bike for like 8 min increasing levels quickly... when i was talking about being well stretched out doing squats in the morning it was more with dynamic "stretching" by performing the exercise super duper deep with low weights and another level of warm up weights. instead of ramping quicker which i'll do if i go in the afternoon.

waking up and going directly to squatting seems like a good way to hurt yourself.

however, i do statically stretch my hip flexors prior to squatting. my hips suck. ill look into dynamic hip stretches to do instead.

static stretching post workout is still a good idea though right?

i appreciate the feedback.

8/23/2011 11:01:40 AM

^^ I know. I just remembered that you had been on GF for a while. I'd be sad without sulfites/wine.

8/23/2011 11:19:46 AM