NPR Fitness Group

[Kyle]

Good luck, Ron!

[Phoebe]

Hang in there, you can form the habits you want!

[Iantha]

I'm down 27 lbs, Paul is down almost 125. I've hit a plateau but am hoping that in a few weeks things will start to move again. Mountain biking, almost daily trips to the Y, lots of walking, and better eating have been good to us.

Also, a huge thanks to the gluten free and vegan communities for pushing for better food options in stores and restaurants. That's been a huge help to us.

[Phoebe]

This is so great! Feeling better, making progress at things you want.

I am pretty pleased because last year my husband bought me a necklace I could not wear due to it being tight around my neck and looking ridiculous, but I have been shrinking gradually all over and now can wear it.

[Phoebe]

The gradual shrinking continues, gradually. I'm at this weird point where the very idea of "what should happen" has changed, because I finally re-awoke to the possibilities of what my body is or is capable of doing, and how that is tied directly to thoughts, habits, sleep, attitude, etc. It's not that I want the same body I had ten years ago, shrunken down some; I want the body I had as an athlete, except now suited to my current age, and parts of it have arrived, which is pretty nice and astonishing. Different things are happening, all for the good. I am so grateful, oddly, that I was angry enough to make a real change in life. Once that pool of anger-fuel is burnt up, it leaves something much different and better in its wake. I also found out about food - in short my whole way of eating and feeding my family was messed up and had to be rebuilt.

[Phoebe]

How is the fitness going? It's maybe getting to be tolerable weather, I hope?

I have a squat question/challenge:
How long can you hold a squat position? Not a halfway down position like my kid has to do in gym class, ouch! but just a normal squat with your butt down below the knee crease, hanging out resting there? Feet flat on floor. I thought I could probably squat like that for an hour but NO it's definitely a single digits thing! Trying to increase that digit. What do you think, anyone feel like squatting for a while? Nobody here will do it with me, they either dismiss me as no real challenge or they know better than to try and start down that whole road of squatting challenges.

[Tahlvin]

I've leveled out in terms of weight loss, with it hovering around the 177-180 pound range. But I'm generally as healthy and as fit as I would like. Although the plantar facitis has been bothering my left foot. I stopped running for a few weeks and did stationary biking instead, but that didn't seem do anything. So I started running again, and it actually got a little better. Go figure. I just can't walk around barefoot as much as I'd like without it starting to hurt, but other than that, it's not too bad.

I'm not sure how long I can , as I haven't really tried it to see how long. What sort of squat are we talking about here? Just the sitting-on-a-chair-that-ain't-there type? Wall squats? Or Jackie Chan squats?



I do a leg workout just about every Friday that involves doing wall squats for 90 seconds, single leg wall squats for 60 seconds (alternating legs every 10 seconds), and 2 reps of 30 seconds chair pose, and a Groucho Marx-squat walk, all of which I do while wearing a 20 pound weighted vest. Plus a bunch of other leg moves that I do while wearing the vest and holding 2 30-pound dumbbells. Plus the 90 minute yoga workout every Thursday. Add in the running, and I've got pretty toned legs with good endurance, so I'm guessing I can hold a squat for a good while. I just haven't bothered to time it.

[mimekiller]

Once weather cools down(indian summer in CA) I plan on dragging out the bike, ZERO IDEA if the downstairs flower shop will hear any vibrations so I need to lumber inside their and go hey I'm going to do this bike thing please tell me if its awful sounding down here.

still in the 240, XL t-shirt range, would love to go into 2020 in my 220s haha!

[Phoebe]

Do that planking like RBG!

[mimekiller]

a personal milestone but in October 2016 I was told to hit the bricks AND pound sand after essentially finding out I was to much of a embarrassing fat ass to ride the Harry Potter ride at Universal

Well I returned October 2019 and I could fit quite easily! Even tho I almost had a PTSD attack getting into the testing chair it was a great experience haha

[Phoebe]

Congratulations, a win is a win!

I really want to be in the gym this AM but am not quite well enough; it would aid the mental state.

[Phoebe]

Fitness thoughts: I can't buy anything at the store that I don't want to eat (i.e. abuse) at home. I can pass up anything at the store, since the tiny reward of saving money is involved, and ditto at a drive thru, but if it's in my home it's mine and I get to eat all of it, right? So it can't come home.

Yet I have many surplus kids in and out of the house all weekend and they already find us weird enough without having broccoli thrust at them as the only snack, so I got a bunch of junk food and now I need to not eat it. Am drinking coffee instead. Boo. Halloween also sucks with the massive candy situation. I can't see, hear about, encounter the candy. Luckily my diet has been low-sugar enough that, say, a bite-size Twix is sickeningly sweet and no longer brings pleasure. What I'm saying is that eating too much vegetables has made me stop enjoying Twix. WTF. I love having muscles. It's worth it. This coffee is better than Twix damn it.

[Phoebe]

How goes it with the fitness? What is your current plan or short term goal?
I'm at this point where I either stop losing weight or start changing my diet more, but I like food. So do I like food more than I like losing more weight, or am I willing to be fatter if it means I get to eat/drink more?
Some things can be accomplished by swapping e.g. white carbs for good veggies. But at some point there's a number of calories going in that doesn't match the goal and I find myself unwilling to give up any of the joy of food. Like I don't want to go from 100 to 94. But damn, wouldn't that slight change be worth it? Also why can't I just suck a few pieces of fat out of my body with a little straw and move on in life?

[Tahlvin]

Exercise has been put on hold due to chest cold and work travel. Hoping to pick it up a little bit this week, but I have another work trip next week, so it’ll be light. I’m hoping to get back to normal the week of Thanksgiving.

[Phoebe]

Let's suppose you wanted to get someone to do a little bit of working out, but they were busy tired and reluctant to do anything that would lead them down the path to joining your crazy fitness cult. What would be an easy and appealing way for a guy to do a little something every day?

[Tahlvin]

Depends on the person. But if you have a tread mill, or a stationary bike, and the person spends a bit of time each day sitting around reading or watching TV, then it's possible to read or watch TV while walking on a treadmill or pedaling a stationary bike. Even a little bit of time spent doing that will help improve cardiovascular health.

[FlameBlade]

Chances are, some gyms now lets you log on to Netflix while working out. A solid workout is an episode of Deep Space Nine.

[Tahlvin]

Finally getting back into shape after the cold and travel. And now I have surgery on my ear on Wednesday, and will probably have to avoid exertion for a month or so.

[Phoebe]

Oh, I hope it goes well! You have had a rough month.

[Tahlvin]

Not expecting any issues. They are just going to open the eardrum, clean out some hyperplastic fluid, make sure the artificial bones in there are still in good shape, then put tubes in to help keep fluid from building up. Yes, I’m almost 50 and getting tubes in my ears for the first time ever.