Health: Healthy Challenge, Winter 2018/19

[TheGreenWizard]

One month to go! Chime in, people!

I'm doing pretty well, considering I just had my annual junk food weekend (don't ask; for anyone health conscious, it's appalling). The thing is, "pretty well" won't cut it! So for the next month it's double-down time, with a singular focus on trimming the waistline. Nothing but salads for me for a while!

I'm curious what that Annual Junk food Weekend is... But I can presume what it is. Hehe

I started going back to the gym this past week while I'm off from work (huzzah winter recess).  Noticing that the exercises are leaving me sore and tired but in a good way. I also noticed that I need a shit tonne of more sleep so that my body can recover appropriately. We'll see how that works out for me when I go back to teaching on Monday. On the plus side, hubby has said he wants to go to the gym as well and we'll be starting that next week.

Diet has been ok - were a bit tight on money now so I haven't been able to to stick with our Mediterranean diet as much. Been looking for recipes that are on the cheap side but still healthy.

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[Ashmire]

Diet has been ok - were a bit tight on money now so I haven't been able to to stick with our Mediterranean diet as much. Been looking for recipes that are on the cheap side but still healthy.

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I've found that a simple pot of lentils with peas or spinach and some chopped bell peppers or tomatoes, drizzled with a bit of olive oil and red wine vinegar plus a dash of garlic, makes a good inexpensive meal that is fairly healthy.

[Altair]

I'm curious what that Annual Junk food Weekend is...

For the last 35 years or so, I go back to Boston (where I went to college) every Presidents Day Weekend for a 24-hour science-fiction movie marathon: sitting in the dark with a bunch of other crazy people in an old-school movie theater for nonstop monsters, mutants, rocketships, robots, time travel, transdimensional realities, aliens, androids, and the like.

During this weekend I'm not only permitted to eat anything I want; I encourage the consumption of the vilest junk food I avoid like the plague the rest of the year, and in massive quantities, to help me stay awake through the 24 hours (because if my mouth is chewing, I won't fall asleep).

Popcorn (with real butter!), Pepsi, Funyuns, more popcorn, Oreos, Pop-Tarts (frosted cherry), peanut M&Ms, a McDonald's burger with fries, more popcorn, a chocolate shake with chocolate sprinkles mixed in (or as they say up there, a chocolate frappe with jimmies), Raisinettes, an entire bag of Pepperidge Farm Brussels cookies, still more popcorn...and of course the traditional talismanic candies of the SF movie marathon: Starbursts, Milky Ways, and Mars bars.

When it's all over, my body is in full rebellion from the combination of sleep deprivation and dietary toxic shock. I'm so disgusted that I easily avoid all these things for an entire year, until the next marathon. (Except popcorn. That's a year-round dietary staple.) And my brain has been flooded with stories and images from the sublime to the ridiculous.

I love it!

[Altair]

I've found that a simple pot of lentils with peas or spinach and some chopped bell peppers or tomatoes, drizzled with a bit of olive oil and red wine vinegar plus a dash of garlic, makes a good inexpensive meal that is fairly healthy.

This sounds not only insanely healthy, but delicious.

[Altair]

Update us here in this thread periodically on your progress

2 weeks to go! Roll call, y'all!

As for me, a mix of failure and success:

FAILURE: I found my tape measure at the bottom of a drawer, finally. I wrapped it around my waist, expecting good news...and the evil thing taunted me with a measurement of 35 INCHES! This is far from my 32-inch goal. In a panic, I ran to my closet and grabbed the aspirational 32-in.-waist slim fit Banana Republic jeans I'd bought near the start of our efforts but as yet never worn...and they fit me! (Albeit snugly, but that was in the thighs and butt thanks to muscle; the waist was good.)

Lies of the fashion industry!! What the hell, man?

So achieving a true 32-in. waist in only 2 weeks is out of the question, because I'm not going to starve myself (unsafe, and even then, I probably wouldn't get there), nor am I willing to sacrifice that much hard-earned muscle, which trimming down in that time frame would certainly mean.

Nonetheless, I'm continuing my efforts for the next 2 weeks, to see what I can do safely and reasonably.

SUCCESS: I like what I see in the mirror. I've trimmed the waistline down despite numerous obstacles (the holidays, the junk-food weekend, a family tragedy, inclement weather in the Northeast U.S. that limits how much I can go running and biking), any of which could have been the excuse to throw in the towel. I've accepted now that at my age, and with my build, 32 inches just ain't gonna happen; but I look and feel pretty cool anyway.

If there's one lesson to take from the preceding confessional, it's that it's never too late! Make the most of the remaining 2 weeks--even if effectively you're just starting!

[Hariti]

2 weeks to go! Roll call, y'all!

Mostly failure; I'm more aware of how and when I sleep, but It's not been consistent. Life's been hitting hard this winter.

[TheGreenWizard]

2 weeks to go! Roll call, y'all!

As for me, a mix of failure and success:

FAILURE: I found my tape measure at the bottom of a drawer, finally. I wrapped it around my waist, expecting good news...and the evil thing taunted me with a measurement of 35 INCHES! This is far from my 32-inch goal. In a panic, I ran to my closet and grabbed the aspirational 32-in.-waist slim fit Banana Republic jeans I'd bought near the start of our efforts but as yet never worn...and they fit me! (Albeit snugly, but that was in the thighs and butt thanks to muscle; the waist was good.)

Lies of the fashion industry!! What the hell, man?

So achieving a true 32-in. waist in only 2 weeks is out of the question, because I'm not going to starve myself (unsafe, and even then, I probably wouldn't get there), nor am I willing to sacrifice that much hard-earned muscle, which trimming down in that time frame would certainly mean.

Nonetheless, I'm continuing my efforts for the next 2 weeks, to see what I can do safely and reasonably.

SUCCESS: I like what I see in the mirror. I've trimmed the waistline down despite numerous obstacles (the holidays, the junk-food weekend, a family tragedy, inclement weather in the Northeast U.S. that limits how much I can go running and biking), any of which could have been the excuse to throw in the towel. I've accepted now that at my age, and with my build, 32 inches just ain't gonna happen; but I look and feel pretty cool anyway.

If there's one lesson to take from the preceding confessional, it's that it's never too late! Make the most of the remaining 2 weeks--even if effectively you're just starting!

Not gonna lie, this challenge has been a challenge for myself. I know I wanted to do this but I've struggled hard to keep with it given demands from work as a teacher and being sick for most of this challenge. But let's see what my goals were ...

I really want to be in on this, so here we go.

I want to restart my workout regime of going to the gym at 5:30 AM four times a week after the holiday season (mid January). At the same time, once I'm back home, I'm going to start meal-prepping for my hubby and I to help with our body weight goals of him losing 20 lbs by November 2019 and me going down in my body fat percentage from 18% down to hopefully 15% (gotta redo the math on that though)

The failure is the meal prep and having the money for it all. I want to do it but I'm exhausted by the time I get home, or we don't have the money to get the food we need for meal prep (as of writing, hubby got a job so we'll be able to get substantial groceries now). Another hitch: hubby stress eats and that gets Uber expensive.

Successes: I sorta got back in the gym routine. I'm finding that if I do my workout in the mornings, I have more pep to my step for the kiddos and for getting work done. I just need to figure out my sleep routine and care more about myself instead of others.

As of now, I weigh approximately 186 lbs. Not sure what the body fat Percentage is on me - I'll measure when I get home tonight.

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[Ashmire]

2 weeks to go! Roll call, y'all!

As for me, a mix of failure and success:

Nonetheless, I'm continuing my efforts for the next 2 weeks, to see what I can do safely and reasonably.

Much the same---things got chaotic with new job and weather-related health issues, so I just haven't been doing as much as I should to exercise and eat right.   However, I did reach my secondary goal with that board-break( only slight downside is that I did it with one of my practice strikes instead of when planned, so I don't have a video).  Edited to add: I can photograph the actual board if anyone wants to see it, but... it's just a standard 1x10 pine shelf from Lowe's that is now smaller.

[Altair]

Mostly failure; I'm more aware of how and when I sleep, but It's not been consistent. Life's been hitting hard this winter.

If you're more aware of how and when you sleep, then I'd say that's partial success...esp. in light of how much you're dealing with right now.

[Sefiru]

2 weeks to go! Roll call, y'all!

I have greatly improved my e-fish-iency! (sorry not sorry.) Tried cooking a salmon filet in the bamboo steamer today, it worked pretty well.

Also I did some egg recipes and didn't have digestive problems, so that wasn't an allergy. I'm now buying the six-packs instead of dozens so they don't get too old.

Next project: avocadoes.

I ran to my closet and grabbed the aspirational 32-in.-waist slim fit Banana Republic jeans I'd bought near the start of our efforts but as yet never worn...and they fit me! (Albeit snugly, but that was in the thighs and butt thanks to muscle; the waist was good.)

Lies of the fashion industry!! What the hell, man?

Have you measured the pants? What is their actual waistband? (At least men's pants sizes have some relation to reality <envy> )

[SunflowerP]

Next project: avocadoes.

Omnomnom! Contrary to the impression one often gets, avocados are really easy to work with, very forgiving, and don't require Perfect Ripeness. (Having once upon a time been quite intimidated by avocados, or really by all the things people claim about them, I'm now rather proselytic about Do Not Fear The Avocado, but I won't proselytize further here - if you want me to wax rhapsodic about them, start a thread in Food & Cooking.)

Sunflower

[baduhmtisss]

It's been a good long time since we as a group took up one of these, so let's see who wants to commit to a healthy challenge for Winter 2018/19.

The idea is:

to announce a health and/or fitness goal in this thread, so that we can all hold each other's feet to the fire and offer tips and encouragement


HINT: Pick a goal that's specific, measurable, and attainable

• Beginning with the impending solstice, strive to achieve your goal by the equinox on March 21
• Update us here in this thread periodically on your progress

Up All Night (for those of us participating for all or part of the evening of Dec. 21) may play havoc with the first day, but that's OK; there'll still be 3 months to do the work, whatever health/fitness goal you choose. Who's in?

I'm just now seeing this, but I'm in too. I've already started, just not had very much accountability lately.

My goals are: exercise 3x a week and do both cardio and strength during my exercises.

Ideally, by winter 2019 I'd like to lose 20lbs and be down to 190. My ultimate goal is 150, but we'll have to see!

[Sefiru]

I'm now rather proselytic about Do Not Fear The Avocado, but I won't proselytize further here - if you want me to wax rhapsodic about them, start a thread in Food & Cooking.

It's always been the mouthfeel that's been a sticking point for me. I would like to like avocadoes, if that makes sense. I'll probably make a new thread about it; I'm looking at a rather different kind of learning than prep skills.

[Aisling]

2 weeks to go! Roll call, y'all!

Further proof that I'm running way behind...  just a few days left now.  I've managed 15 of the 30 planned strength training sessions. However, I have built enough core strength that I'm able to do vertical knee and leg raises on the power tower.  For that reason alone, I'm calling the season a success. 

[Altair]

Nonetheless, I'm continuing my efforts for the next 2 weeks, to see what I can do safely and reasonably.

Final* result: 34-1/2 inches, by the tape measure (NOT the jeans size). At my age and build, I'm very happy with that, and though I may try to nudge it down to 34, I'll let that happen very gradually and focus on maintaining things for the next few months, when my schedule goes berserk.

Post your final* results, folks!

*"Final" only in that this first full day of spring (or autumn, S of the equator) was our target date...but I firmly adhere to the notion that all our efforts are an ongoing project, and it's never too late to tackle the objective anew!