Ok... Doing it, making a fitness thread

HumerusMeg

Hi all,

So I've been thinking about making this thread for sometime now, and have put it off because, well I don't exactly know why. It has occurred to me that just the fact that I am putting myself out there doing this that I will indeed have that extra push I lack currently on sticking to my goals...

The whole basically living alone (since my roommate is gone all the time) and grad school creates enough of a stressful environment that I have cravings I just want to hit... and it needs to stop unless there is an occasion for it.

When I started all this I was 178.8lbs, 5'10" waist 33.75 inches, hips 40 (shutter...) and thighs 24.5... just yuck. BMI was ~25.6 and body fat 25%

And I know that you guys are an amazing community, and you say I'm hot, but the self confidence of a turnip is really getting me down, especially when I have practically nothing on for lab practice in PA school weekly.

I promise I'm not going for the anorexic diet, I would just realistically like to lose a few inches, feel better about myself, and if the scale could tip in the favor of 160 I would be so very happy.

Presently over the last couple weeks I have gotten down to waist 32, hips 39, and thighs 23.75, current weight today was 172.4, BMI 24.7 so progress...

Calories are presently around 1550, and runs, P90x and yoga have been occuring when I'm not cramming medicine into my ears :)

If any of you amazing people out there have any suggestions, comments etc I would love them. I'm not afraid of the truth, and honestly it probably would help.

So thanks to all of you in Icrontic for being an amazing community... You guys rock! Progress updates to come

Ivan

primesuspect

I cannot recommend the keto diet highly enough. It's cheap, easy to stick to, and it freaking works.

Thrax

You could probably just cut your calories by a few hundred per day (safe) and continue with you workouts as they stand.

HumerusMeg

This is where I stand as of today

BetsyD

I have heard great things about P90X as far as workouts go, and running has done great things for my body :D Yoga I'm not a fan of, I prefer Pilates Reformers, but thats a slightly pricier hobby and not available in all communities.

I can not stress enough though how important food is to being able to lose and maintain weight loss. Every fitness website I visit, magazine I read, all stress it but i didn't believe it for the longest time. Weight loss is 80% food, 10% exercise, 10% consistency.

If you just want general "diet" tips mine are: Eat lots of fruits and veggies, eat chicken and turkey. If you are going to eat heavy carbs stick to whole grains (and actual whole grains not the stuff that says "made from whole grains"; everything starts as *whole grains* at some point in the process). Track everything you put in your mouth. (Sparkpeople is great for this.)

For example my average day:
Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs
Midmorning snack: carrots
Lunch: Apple with Peanut Butter, Lite Babybel, plum, (sometimes 3oz of turkey breast too)
Afternoon snack: grapes
Dinner: Chicken with veggies over quinoa.

I drink a glass of water (works out to about 12oz in my spill-proof-computer-accepted-work cup) with each of the above meals and sip on the stuff between meals.

I also drink a big coffee each day but I track the "additions" (sugar, milk, whatever) as part of my daily food tracking too.

Cheers & good luck on your new healthy life style.

HumerusMeg

BetsyD said:

I have heard great things about P90X as far as workouts go, and running has done great things for my body :D Yoga I'm not a fan of, I prefer Pilates Reformers, but thats a slightly pricier hobby and not available in all communities.

I can not stress enough though how important food is to being able to lose and maintain weight loss. Every fitness website I visit, magazine I read, all stress it but i didn't believe it for the longest time. Weight loss is 80% food, 10% exercise, 10% consistency.

If you just want general "diet" tips mine are: Eat lots of fruits and veggies, eat chicken and turkey. If you are going to eat heavy carbs stick to whole grains (and actual whole grains not the stuff that says "made from whole grains"; everything starts as *whole grains* at some point in the process). Track everything you put in your mouth. (Sparkpeople is great for this.)

For example my average day:
Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs
Midmorning snack: carrots
Lunch: Apple with Peanut Butter, Lite Babybel, plum, (sometimes 3oz of turkey breast too)
Afternoon snack: grapes
Dinner: Chicken with veggies over quinoa.

I drink a glass of water (works out to about 12oz in my spill-proof-computer-accepted-work cup) with each of the above meals and sip on the stuff between meals.

I also drink a big coffee each day but I track the "additions" (sugar, milk, whatever) as part of my daily food tracking too.

Cheers & good luck on your new healthy life style.

Thanks so much Betsy!!! :) I appreciate your advice

MAGIC

Thrax said:

You could probably just cut your calories by a few hundred per day (safe) and continue with you workouts as they stand.

I'd agree with this. Plus keep a water bottle around and drink it. Also it sucks, but cut beer out. That helps.

HumerusMeg

MAGIC said:

I'd agree with this. Plus keep a water bottle around and drink it. Also it sucks, but cut beer out. That helps.

beer/liquor will not be hard to quit considering I have like 1 beer every 3-4 weeks, so I'm good about that. Thanks for the suggestions guys <3

LazarusXero

I did a couple rounds of P90X and it will definitely help with the reduction of inches. I'm not a big guy, but I did drop two inches from my waist in a couple months... I also lost my "love handles" and was able to take quite a bit of extra fat off the rest of me. Mostly though, I swapped fat for muscle, however I didn't have a lot of weight to lose.

Then I went on a running kick and before I knew it, I was back at the weight I was in high school... Although, this was probably due to serious mileage (avg of 40 per week)...

All in all, I agree with Thrax and MAGIC: Workout as you have been, keep up with the diet, drink lots of water and cut out as much alcohol as you can. Alcohol can slow down your metabolism and will be a deterant to your overall goals...

Finally, just watch how far you drop your caloric intake though... When doing P90X and other workouts, you want to be able to have enough fuel to get you through the workout and also the rest of your day as you'll be burning alot of extra calories from the added effort. I also recommend Sparkpeople for tracking of foods/drinks/snacks...

But the one thing that helped me the most above anything was a workout buddy. My cousin came over every morning at 4am for 6 months to do P90X with me... If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be who I am today... If you can, find someone to workout with, or find someone online that is doing the same workouts to keep you going... Misery loves company!

HumerusMeg

LazarusXero said:

I did a couple rounds of P90X and it will definitely help with the reduction of inches. I'm not a big guy, but I did drop two inches from my waist in a couple months... I also lost my "love handles" and was able to take quite a bit of extra fat off the rest of me. Mostly though, I swapped fat for muscle, however I didn't have a lot of weight to lose.

Then I went on a running kick and before I knew it, I was back at the weight I was in high school... Although, this was probably due to serious mileage (avg of 40 per week)...

All in all, I agree with Thrax and MAGIC: Workout as you have been, keep up with the diet, drink lots of water and cut out as much alcohol as you can. Alcohol can slow down your metabolism and will be a deterant to your overall goals...

Finally, just watch how far you drop your caloric intake though... When doing P90X and other workouts, you want to be able to have enough fuel to get you through the workout and also the rest of your day as you'll be burning alot of extra calories from the added effort. I also recommend Sparkpeople for tracking of foods/drinks/snacks...

But the one thing that helped me the most above anything was a workout buddy. My cousin came over every morning at 4am for 6 months to do P90X with me... If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be who I am today... If you can, find someone to workout with, or find someone online that is doing the same workouts to keep you going... Misery loves company!

Thanks, that is mostly my problem, I loved working out with Spenceforhire when I was home over break, but now in grad school. I am overwhelmed with things to do, so I don't have anything force me to take the time out to work out... And next semester is supposed to be a disaster, so I am seeing if I can get in habits for diet etc and make some progress before I am forced to lose my momentum.

LazarusXero

I completely understand. I had a full life before I was working out as well. Just know that you always find time to do the things you find important, whether it means waking up early, staying up late, or re-arranging a schedule a little. I find that I often swap out the less important details (TV, wasting time surfing) for those that I find more enjoyable (reading, working out, running) and I'm the better for it...

Like you said, make it a habit and it will be second nature before you know it!

Oh, and GOOD LUCK!!!

MAGIC

HumerusMeg said:

Thanks, that is mostly my problem, I loved working out with Spenceforhire when I was home over break, but now in grad school. I am overwhelmed with things to do, so I don't have anything force me to take the time out to work out... And next semester is supposed to be a disaster, so I am seeing if I can get in habits for diet etc and make some progress before I am forced to lose my momentum.

Get a Snap membership, I go every day. (: I can bring you as a guest if you want to check it out first.

HumerusMeg

Been using myfitnesspal.com, and I like it thus far, will have to check out the spark avenue as well.

Magic, I already belong to a gym, plus have P90X at the apartment and teaching yoga, so as of right now will not be doing snap. Thank you for the suggestion though :)

HumerusMeg

Crap, I should update this hehe!! So, since starting this journey of fitness progress, again after the dreaded holiday weight gain... and oh it was bad this year I should say, I have went from 180.6 to 171.2 :) So, lost a grand total of 9.2 lbs! As well as, body fat is now down around 23% Working towards the goal of 160-162, I am hoping to hit the mid 160s by ICSP. Have been rocking the 1200-1300 calorie a day diet with exercise when I can. However, that doesn't happen much so its mostly running up and down the 5 flights of stairs at school daily during my breaks from class, and abs/yoga during breaks to stretch. As lets face it, humans can only sit still for so long listening to a lecture.

MAGIC

Congrats Meg, doing well.

HumerusMeg

thanks Magic <3

WagsFTW

Doing great! Excited for you. Keep up the good work, hot stuff!

WagsFTW

Any updates?

HumerusMeg

holding pretty steady, was thinking of updating hehe you read my mind.

-waist is now 31.5, and hips 38.... still making progress. Holding around 171lbs however I am noticing body composition changes, so hopefully I still have lots of room for improvement!

Thanks for asking :)

HumerusMeg

Checking in since its been a month since my last update!

I am now at 170.6 lbs, so improvement but not by much. However, have lost another inch off my hips, now 37, and and inch off my waist now 30.5! WOO BMI is now nl weight! So I am pleased, much more to go imo though... want to lose another 10 lbs if I can by the end of the summer

Wattyz

you got this! Congrats!

HumerusMeg

thanks @wattyz :D

Tushon

Keep up the good work! Composition will keep changing even if the numbers don't shift that dramatically.

TheAlertHusky

Wow! Good job! And you can take this as a creepy post by some random but you're looking great! and well you've gotten me thinking...I'm 220...I could stand to lose a few as well. Ah well.

JBoogaloo

That's fantastic! Keep it up!

HumerusMeg

WOOOO made it into the 160's! 169 baby :D