H&F 1/2

[katespade]

This seems like a good time to start these up again. 
Is anyone still interested in a weekly H&F check-in thread?


What are your H&F goals for 2018?
What are your plans for this week? (Fitness, nutrition, meal plans, etc.)
How can we help each other with accountability?
AWs/Vents/Randoms/etc?

[katespade]

wineandcheese - I saw that you worked out this morning - Way to go!! What kind of workout did you do?

[wanderingenough]

What are your H&F goals for 2018?
Health: I think this is health related. I'd like to get a real skincare game in place. I'm thinking figure out a better daytime/nighttime regimen to help with aging. I also want to make an appointment with a dermatologist to see what can be done about all of the age spots/hyperpigmentation on my face (i.e. the giant freckles amaranth has commented on liking). I'm worried though because from exploring online it looks like a chemical peel might be my main option and that looks scarrryyyy!

Fitness: Right now I do a 30 min class 4-5x a week. If work allows, I'd like to start getting there early and adding in some time on the rower or stretching. I've been having shoulder issues for a few months, which are making pull-ups painful. However, my goal for the year is to maintain my strict pull-ups without doing any damage.

What are your plans for this week? (Fitness, nutrition, meal plans, etc.)
Gym Tuesday through Thursday. If I can get there Friday morning, that would be a bonus!

How can we help each other with accountability?
My H and I order 5 healthy meals a week from a local food prep company to lighten the burden on me with food prep. We divide those between lunches and dinners. Quick and easy dinner ideas for the other meals would be a HUGE HELP to keep me on the straight and narrow with eating. I'm talking really quick. From fridge to table in under 30 minutes. Right now, my go-to healthy meals are sheet pan bakes with sausage or chicken and veggies.

AWs/Vents/Randoms/etc?

I put on about 5lbs last summer with my beach vacation and cruise. Not much in the grand scheme of things, but I can not get rid of it. That's my focus for the first few months of the year.

[katespade]

What are your H&F goals for 2018?
Complete Project Mass workout program.
Yoga workouts an average of 3x/week.
Deadlift 150 lbs (5 reps).
Squat 150 lbs (5 reps).
Bench Press 100 lbs (5 reps).
5 unassisted pull-ups.
Run a 5k.
ETA (thanks to wanderingenough 's reminder!) - Start following a regular skincare routine. I have everything I need to take care of my face, I just need to start using it! 

What are your plans for this week? (Fitness, nutrition, meal plans, etc.)
January is going to be a pretty gentle month for H&F because of our kitchen renovation. We don't really have time to go to the gym right now, so I'm going to focus on getting into a yoga routine this month. I'm doing a 30 Day Yoga Journey through Yoga with Adriene, which starts today. I might add some cardio workouts later in the month, but for this week I'm just doing daily yoga workouts.

How can we help each other with accountability?
I just really enjoy checking in here and sharing progress with each other. I can't think of anything specific that I need for accountability - Just participation from others so I don't feel like I'm talking to myself in here. lol.

AWs/Vents/Randoms/etc?
Does anyone have any fitness watch recommendations for a non-runner? I've been thinking about buying one, but they all seem to be designed for running/cardio and my focus is weights/strength. I'd like to track things like movement, energy, and effort, and I don't need fancy features like GPS because I'm not going anywhere. I also don't want something small because I have tiny wrists, and I don't want to spend a ridiculous amount of money.

[katespade]

wanderingenough - I agree that skincare is health related! That's definitely one of my goals, too. I have everything I need sitting on my bathroom counter, I just need to motivate myself to actually use it on a regular basis. lol.

Any hints or tips or tricks for getting strong enough to do pull-ups?

[wanderingenough]

katespade- Good ways to train those muscles are to try and hold yourself in the top position of a pull-up for an extended time period (30 secs, 60 secs, etc). It engages those lat/shoulder muscles you need to build. Once you have that down, try negative pull-ups. Start at the top and slowly lower yourself down halfway. Other than that, I learned by working my way down with bands to support my weight. Similar to the machine I think you use, but makes it tougher. If you google "pull up bands," you'll see what I mean. I started with a green (I think). Then two red, one red, then nothing. Each band equals some amount of support. (I'm making this up) But for instance the red band supports 10lbs of body weight. Once I had one strict pull-up, I totally dropped the bands entirely in all workouts. No matter how long it would take me and how many times I'd drop from the bar, I'd only do strict pull-ups. Hope that helps!

[wanderingenough]

Can we talk about how I posted in here talking to katespade about H&F (from my computer) and then logged my lunch in SparkPeople ---and now IG is blowing me up with ads about health/fitness/diets/apps/etc on my PHONE. The interwebs is such a creepy stalker.

[katespade]

Jan 2, 2018 12:28:53 GMT -5 wanderingenough said:

katespade - Good ways to train those muscles are to try and hold yourself in the top position of a pull-up for an extended time period (30 secs, 60 secs, etc). It engages those lat/shoulder muscles you need to build. Once you have that down, try negative pull-ups. Start at the top and slowly lower yourself down halfway. Other than that, I learned by working my way down with bands to support my weight. Similar to the machine I think you use, but makes it tougher. If you google "pull up bands," you'll see what I mean. I started with a green (I think). Then two red, one red, then nothing. Each band equals some amount of support. (I'm making this up) But for instance the red band supports 10lbs of body weight. Once I had one strict pull-up, I totally dropped the bands entirely in all workouts. No matter how long it would take me and how many times I'd drop from the bar, I'd only do strict pull-ups. Hope that helps!

That does help! I really need to invest in a new set of resistance bands to have at home. We used to have some, but I think they disappeared when we moved a couple of years ago. Since we have a pull-up bar at home, that might be something I could start adding to my bedtime routine or something. Just a quick set right before bed, looping the resistance bands on the bar. 

[katespade]

Jan 2, 2018 12:34:33 GMT -5 wanderingenough said:

Can we talk about how I posted in here talking to katespade about H&F (from my computer) and then logged my lunch in SparkPeople ---and now IG is blowing me up with ads about health/fitness/diets/apps/etc on my PHONE. The interwebs is such a creepy stalker.

SERIOUSLY. I'm convinced that my phone listens in on my conversations, because sometimes I'll mention something out loud to H and I'll suddenly start getting ads for it on IG. It's spooky.

[ewall]

What are your H&F goals for 2018?

Wear my mouth guard every night. My poor teeth.
Get at least 5 fruits/veggies per day. 
Walk outside more.
Journaling daily. 
Stay active throughout pregnancy and not gain a million pounds. 

What are your plans for this week? (Fitness, nutrition, meal plans, etc.)

M - workout DVD 
T - treadmill walk/run because it's too damn cold
W- workout DVD
T - walking through the airport instead of taking the plane train
F - another airport walk
S - group class at the gym

How can we help each other with accountability?

You could come take the remainder of this birthday cake off my kitchen counter...I'm really going to try focusing on less sugar. I eat healthy, but I also eat sugary crap on top of that. I don't know how to break out of it.

AWs/Vents/Randoms/etc?


There's an online fitness class pass that I want to buy, but I'm participating in the MM spending freeze. 

[ewall]

katespade, I have a Polar A370. I use it to track activity throughout the day and during workouts. It doesn't give me a ton of movement points/activity percentage for weight-based workouts, but it tracks heart rate.

[wanderingenough]

Now proboards is showing me ads for bathing suits and FITNESS BANDS. I don't want to track my workouts. katespade does! Haha!

[wanderingenough]

suzv - I actually just set a similar goal to really focus on buying high quality staple type pieces for my wardrobe. I'll be the first to admit that I'm a sale junkie and I will grab something at Target or off a sale rack because the price drew me in. I went through my closet over the holidays and made a donate/consign pile. I really dialed down what was in my wardrobe to pieces that I thought would make me feel my best. It was hard because I hate that feeling of "what I need this?" but it was also very cathartic to know that when I get dressed I'm going to be in great fitting quality pieces.

[katespade]

wanderingenough, suzv - I'm the same way! I have always been a bargain shopper, so I end up buying six of the same low-quality shirt in different colors rather than investing in one or two high quality shirts for the same price. Quantity has always seemed more important than quality to me.

I need to go through my closet, too. I'm way overdue for a clothes purge. A couple of weeks ago, I bought some storage bins for all of my business casual clothes. So much of my closet is work clothing that I don't wear now that I WFH, but I don't want to get rid of any of it because I doubt I'll be lucky enough to WFH forever. The problem is that the storage bins I bought are currently full of kitchen stuff, so my closet purge will have to wait until they're empty again.

H&F bragplaint:
I've gained enough muscle in my arms that most of my long-sleeved shirts are too tight to wear now. I've become the kind of person who wears tank tops in the middle of winter, because I'm too cheap to buy more long-sleeved shirts! LOL.

[wanderingenough]

katespade - that's probably what I need to do with what's left in my closet. It's all work clothes that are nice but I don't wear because I WFH. I can't bear to part with them because I know I'll be back in an office someday and they DO meet my "high quality/well-fitting" rule, but they also make it hard to see my day to day stuff. Storage might be my best bet.

[wineandcheese]

katespade I’ve just been doing fitness blender videos. Free and can do at home.

My plan for 2018 if to focus on my fitness level more then weight. I hate that I’m out of breath walking up a flight of stairs.

I’m late this week but I made freezer meals that made cooking dinner a breeze. I got a WiFi crockpot for Christmas from my mom so I put the food in frozen then turned it on from work a few hours later. Then I only need to make a quick side or throw a bag of frozen veggies in the microwave.

For fitness, I’m starting out with 3 30 minute workouts a week.

I think this post is helpful for me.

I did a shoulder/back/chest workout test and holy sore muscles. I thought I was going to have to ask H to help me put on a bra lol.

[HoneySpider]

A big goal of mine this year is to figure out how to have more "me" time. I got very little of it this year and it's something that needs to change. I need time to workout, or read a book, or just go for a walk by myself.

I've been really sick for the last 6 weeks or so and my average steps per day has dropped by 2k.    I want to get that back up to where it was by the time this kid is born.

I feel a lot of my health/fitness goals will truly come in the 2nd half of the year so I'm not setting anything specific now.

[bk1]

I'm with honeyspider - my big goal is finding "me" time. I am so burnt out and need to focus on my mental health as priority number one.

I've been working on making better food choices and focusing on cooking at home. I would like to add yoga to my routine but have only managed it once this week. And my yoga session was a bedtime routine with G. not a bad thing but the entire point is doing it alone so I can relax. Someone is my house always wants my attention and I am just breaking from the weight of it all.

[luv2rn4fun]

((Hugs)) HoneySpider bk1 suzv. I have similar goals...part of having “me” time is getting back into running. Even though I will likely have one or both boys with me most days it’s something I definitely need to make a priority once I get healthy again.

I also want to lose 10 lbs this year. I need to get back into the habit of taking my thyroid which would help with that goal. I was so good at doing that during TTC/being pregnant because it was so important but I have been lazy (especially since changing insurance because I don’t have a good doctor anymore and no desire to spend the time finding one) now that we are likely done with pregnancies and babies (unless DH miraculously changes his mind).

I should get back to ready my daily devotional in the morning. That was always a great routine that got my day off to the right start.

Once L drops to one nap I plan on doing more running and hiking with the boys (and DH when he’s home). I’m looking forward to having a little more flexibility in the near future!

[Deleted]

2018 Goals
Health

• Reach FitBit weight goal. I was really close after our family weight loss challenge... then the holidays happened! SO MUCH FOOD.
• Eat more vegetables. I have a vegan protein powder cookie each morning so technically I'm reaching food guide levels, but I'm constantly hungry (which is the reason for the protein cookie to begin with) so I need to replace my snacks with more veggie things... or even fruit things. Raw veggies hurt my jaw & raw fruit hurts my stomach so I need to find a better solution than avoiding them.
• Start meal planning. We got a Mini Instant Pot for Christmas so there's little reason for me to not make home cooked, proper meals most days. The challenge is finding recipes we like. The last one I converted to the Instant Pot ended up having no taste and it was supposed to be a curry!
• Treat my skin conditions. Y'all started talking about skin and I'm bad for it. Acne I obsess over, but as long as my skin isn't itchy, I forget to treat my skin conditions. 
• Find a good substitute for Powerade. I lived off it last winter to fight off dehydration and I'm having the same issue this year. Too much sugar in it, even if it's better than drinking juice or pop.

Fitness

• Daily yoga. Right now I'm doing the TRUE yoga challenge from Yoga with Adriene with some family members and I'm days behind. Plus, I'm planning on this Tuesday being my last PT session for a while so I need to use yoga as a time to focus on pelvic relaxation as a substitute.
• Walking AT LEAST 3x a week. It's so cold right now but I know how to dress for it... and we own a treadmill... I have no excuse!

Skipping this week plans since I'm a week behind, so I'll put that in the next check in.

Accountability Ideas

• I like wanderingenough 's idea of sharing meal ideas. I'm Instant Pot obsessed so I'd love those ideas particularly. I'm really good at substitutions in cooking if anyone needs help with that. It came out of my body's hatred for deliciousness but I can help with reducing dairy & red meat. 
• Tagging in the weekly thread (For those who want it). Reminding me to set goals and tell people means I have to actually think about it!

Vents
I was doing so great and then Christmas brought so much junk into our house. DH is of the mind, destroy so none of it is left, so that's basically what we did. Now my weight is up and so I feel like just working on maintaining it rather than reaching for my somewhat lofty FitBit goal. I'm just really disappointed in myself for being a pound away and then eating my way back up.

[Deleted]

I hope everyone finds some good me time this year! On that note, I have a manicure gift certificate from my birthday (October) that I need to use. I rarely have "me time" outside the house.